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4TH 2021
PBIFF SELECTED

Coal for living

Motlalepule Papi Mofokeng

Coal for living is a short documentary about Subsistence coal mining and the struggle against poverty, unemployment, and intolerance set in Emerlo Wesolton Mpumalanga South Africa. According to statistics Mpumalanga produces 83% of the total amount of coal in South Africa. Indigenous energy resources base is dominated by coal, about 77% of South Africa’s primary energy needs are provided by coal. South Africa has 251.3 million tons of coal production in the world.
Illegal mining cost South Africa R5bn per year, even though it could be argued that informal mining pre-date formalized industrial mining as we know it today, and that illegal miners, just like subsistence farmers in South Africa’s rural villages and townships, are simply continuing a culture that has existed for many thousands of years.
A community of Weselton Mpumalanga defied the public image of Zama-zamas(illegal miners) as ragged, gun-toting men ready to kill at any time. Men and women continue subsistence mining culture by digging for coal, working long hours a day, and earn between R500 and R1500 per shift, risking their life’s to put bread on a table for their families.
Through a series of on-scene footage and interviews with community members who benefit from this subsistence mining operation, We hear characters share their personal stories, speaking passionately about hard work and anticipation, heartbreak, fear, and hope. Although
deeply saddened, the community’s spirit was not shaken. We follow two community elders who are the main artisanal behind the operation, they share their skills with the community, they also share responsibilities on day to day running of the operation. We find out if subsistence coal mining does serve the community and tell the story of Weselton community dwellers who making living from subsistence coal mining. We try to understand why are they risking their life and if they do understand the dangers surrounding subsistence mining, their economical state, and children involved in mining.

HELP

Zalán Bata

The Revile

Emre Ergenç

In a period when the resources of the world are exhausted, life is about to end and people are in need of water, people try to adapt to these conditions of the world. The change of air has also caused burn injuries on people’s bodies and people cannot go outside without protection during the day. Our story begins with our individual representing humanity waiting for rain in a storm. A raindrop from the sky falls on your face like a spit. While our individual, who enjoys one drop, looks enthusiastically at the sky for other drops to come, the sky opens and the burning sun emerges. This is a revile response of nature to man.

SK5161

Minni Katina Mertens

A coincidental swipe connected Josefine and Ólafur during the lockdown. When the world is put on pause, there’s another dawning – on the screen in your palm.

Li Paradisi (The Heavens)

Manuel Marini

Lucia owns a family olive grove together with her brother Donato, but her trees have stopped producing as they once did because of a parasite that caused most of the trees to dry out. In a difficult process of acceptance, Lucia embarks on a journey between present and past where her identity as a human being is at stake.

PLuma, in quarantine

Ruben F. Stremiz

What did we do in quarantine?
During the pandemic, health authorities recommend staying safe at home. For many, this effort involves making changes in their daily lifestyle. The world is no longer the same. This animated short shows us some moments in the quarantine of Pluma, a friendly pig that has to adapt to this new way of life during the pandemic.

Extracted: Shimulala

 Jessie Chisi

Konkola Copper Mines – a subsidiary of the UK-based mining giant Vedanta – has been polluting the main water source of surrounding villages in Chingola, Zambia for nearly two decades.
The community of Shimulala is one of the worst affected. Villagers have reported illnesses within the adult population after consuming the toxic water, but for young children it is proving deathly.

Children’s planet

Lukas Noel Larsen

In this documentary, children are asked about their thoughts on climate change, how conscious they are of the consequences of human actions on the environment, and what they hope for in the future

LAATASH | Thirst

Elena Molina

The Saharawi women face the thirst of the hamada, the curse of the desert, every day. They’ve built their refuge in a land where no one could survive before. For more than forty years they’ve been holding out and taking care of their people there. They ensure every drop of water is distributed according to the needs of each family … and they wait. But there’s an even more terrible thirst in their throats, for which they find no relief.

Accessing Portals

Alina Adela Chis, Iulia Chirculescu

Accessing Portals presents a vintage scene, set in the 1940s, where a writer manages to open a portal by using a magic typewriter so she could see her late lover once more. However, nothing seems to stop her in joining him on the other side… 

The story encapsulates the idea that the written word of a book is not only a living memory of our own fantasy but also a portal that holds the invitation to another realm. It is up to us whether we accept the call of crossing on the other side.

Hear Us Out

Anej Golčar

Hear Us Out is a short visual poem dealing with the problem of miscommunication between people and nature. Told from the perspective of an old tree that has witnessed a long-lasting human-induced chain reaction that ultimately led to the destruction of the ecosystem.

Home Isolated

Carlo Mihail

The film tells the story of a homeless guy who realizes that he is alone on the streets. Later he finds out that the whole country is under lockdown.

The Glass Room

Luqman Qasemi

She will hug us again. There is a glass between us, that will finally be broken by her smile.

Rahmat creel

Behzad alavi

Rahmat bagheri is a retired man that other people called him RAHMAT CREEL… every week he is going near a lake around the ZANJAN city to fish out as other hunters but his hunt is different with others…

Little Gestures

Richard O’Hanlon, Daniel Brand- Sinyinza

7 minutes

Christian Schneider

Julia is a victim of sexual violence. Rubens is a police inspector who lives a failed marriage. They don’t know each other, until their destinies intersect.

Red bean

Yu CHEN

An individual who is suffering from the obsessive-compulsive disorder and forced to migrate to outer space, he misses his mother and homeland. However, the only response to his calling his mother is an endless busy tone.

DIJAMEH

Amirali Mirderikvand

a young man is looking at his grandfather’s photo in an old home, so he remembers the actions of his grandfather in past…

2018