BIFF SHORTS: LOST TREASURES

Stories of love, loss, longing, and letting go. Total runtime is 75 minutes.

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THE MISSING PIECE

Alma Jodorowsky (Dir), 20 minutes, France / Greece, Western New York Premiere

In English, French + Greek (Modern) w/ English subtitles.

Following the death of her grandmother, Alma travels to Greece to find the missing part of a piece of jewellery that her grandmother gave her before she died. During this journey of self-discovery, Alma will work through her grief to ultimately find another missing piece: that of her own desire to live.

Written during a trip to Greece following the death of her grandmother, the director blends fiction and documentary in an intimate narrative. The use of her grandmother’s actual voice is thus interwoven with a fictional story brought to life by non-professional actors met on the island of Amorgos.

Many thanks to Manifest Pictures.

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MIAZEL

George Dogaru (Dir), 17 minutes, Romania, Western New York Premiere

In Romanian w/ English subtitles.

The dystopian future depicted in "Miazel" is one in which Romania's ethnic minorities are sent to labor camps. A common citizen's life in this new society takes an unexpected turn once he is suspected of descended from impure Romanis.

Many thanks to Mailuki Films.

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A SEPARATION

Alexandre Ayoub, (Dir), 9 minutes, France / Lebanon, North American Premiere

Director Alexandre Ayoub in attendance.

In Arabic + French w/ English subtitles.

A young Lebanese woman struggles to build a life in France while remaining emotionally bound to the country she left behind. Caught between two worlds, she confronts the guilt of leaving, the pressure to belong, and the painful question of whether moving forward means letting go.

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OLD MAN AT THE BAR

Alexander Jeffery (Dir), 12 minutes, France, Western New York Premiere

In English + French w/ English subtitles.

Two French waiters closing up for the night have their routine upended by a mysterious old man who may have shown up for more than just a late night drink.

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A LIGHT INTO A VOID

Lin Chen (Dir), 14 minutes, USA, New York State Premiere

Director Lin Chen in attendance.

'A Light into a Void' begins with eleven Hi-8 tapes recorded by the filmmaker's late father. Recovered through his original DV camera, these fragile images and sounds are interwoven with 16mm and Super 8 footage, tracing grief, family memory, and the ways recording media preserve, damage, and reshape the past.

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CLOSE

Robert Ripley (Dir), 5 minutes, UK, North American Premiere

Keane finds a box of his absent father’s negatives. He prints the images in a darkroom’s red glow. As he and his mother Diane look through distant exposures from the half-past, the prints expose a life that was always out of frame. Closure leads them back to the shoreline, where Keane reframes what remains.