Calgary European Film Festival: Short Film Night

Gaia’s Children

2026, 13m, Canada / Ukraine
Genre: Magical Realism, Arthouse
Director: Roman Hense
Story by: Vernon Frolick

A Ukrainian teenage girl, uprooted by war and the murder of her family, wanders through a foreign city in a dissociated haze. Seeking help but unsure whom to trust, she falls into the hands of a false church that promises healing but poisons her instead. That betrayal invokes a mysterious intervention by Grace, which gifts her the experience of another life: a powerful, fragile and brief existence. Resurrected once more, she is freed. Blending mysticism with the psychology of trauma, the film explores exile, betrayal, mythic transformation and the enduring human spirit.

Ad lib

2025, 3m 23s, Canada
Genre: Drama, Psychological
Media: Stop-Motion
Director: Victoria Chirciu

Caught between her family’s expectations at the dinner table, a young woman escapes into a surreal theatre stage inside her mind. There she must piece together her identity and decide whether to keep playing the role she’s been given.

Vaterland or A Bule Named Yanto

2026, 25m, Germany / Indonesia
Genre: Fiction, Drama
Director: Berthold Wahjudi

When German-Indonesian Yanto, in his mid-20s, visits his younger sister in Yogyakarta, he expects a simple reunion—until he realises she belongs more effortlessly than he ever has. As envy and dissonance between siblings surface, Yanto’s journey becomes a bittersweet exploration of mixed-race identity.

Dammi

2023, 19m, France / UK
Genre: Drama
Director: Yann Mounir Demange

Returning to Paris, his birthplace, a man moves through memories of his past and surreal fragments of the present, searching for connection with his estranged father. On his journey, he meets a French-Algerian woman who welcomes him into her world. As their intimacy grows, he is confronted with his shame and fears while exploring his lost Arab identity. Behind Paris is Algiers.

All films at CEFF are presented in their original language with English subtitles. The 15th Edition of the festival runs from November 6 to November 15, 2026, at La Cité des Rocheuses Theatre. You can view the full program on the CEFF website.