Diversity has always been a key part of the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. With the competitions of the French-based festival – which will take place between 30 January and 7 February next year – consisting of 144 titles, there is plenty of opportunity to showcase filmmakers from all corners of the globe who bring different perspectives and views on the chaos of modern life.

Sixty-four of these titles will screen in the International Competition, an eclectic selection of shorts that run the gamut of genres and styles. Included amongst them are fresh new titles that have started to garner recognition. These include Magid / Zafar (UK), Luis Hindeman’s claustrophobic and tense movie set amidst the chaos of a British Pakistani takeaway that is fresh off a BIFA win for Best Short, and Loynes by Dorian Jespers (Belgium/France/Macedonia/UK), a brilliantly rendered Kafka-esque nightmare that has continued to impress audiences since it bowed during the Directors’ Fortnight this year.

Whilst fiction films make up the vast majority of the International Competition, there are also animation and documentary delights to be found that examine a wide variety of subjects, amongst them the animation Winter in March by Natalia Mirzoyan (Estonia/Armenia/Belgium/France), a delicate and haunting piece of work in which a couple flee Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, and – fresh from a world premiere at Locarno and an international premiere at IDFA – the documentary Air Horse One by Lasse Linder (Switzerland/Belgium), which is a wry look at a prize-winning race horse, Legacy, and the complexities of equine air travel.

The National Competition encompasses 51 films – amongst them nine co-productions – that prove why France is one of the leading producers of short films in the world. The selection will showcase festival favourites such as Coyotes by Said Zagha (France/Jordan/Palestine/UK), a powerful thriller that premiered at Venice, and the equally affecting Vultures by Dian Weys (France/South Africa), which screened at Cannes. With works by students at French films schools such as La Fémis, there is also the chance to experience brand-new films from a new generation of French directors.

It is perhaps indicative of the state of the world that out of the 24 films that make up the festival’s Lab section, which delves into the surreal and experimental, 12 are documentaries. Dealing with the pressing issues of the day, they include Death of a Fantastic Machine (Sweden), in which – after their feature And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine [+lire aussi :
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The festival’s XR section, dedicated to VR films, has grown in stature over the past few years, and the five films screening will include Impulse: Playing with Reality by Barry Gene Murphy and May Abdalla, an account of people living with ADHD, narrated by Tilda Swinton.

Outside of the competition, the festival currently promises a season of films from Southeast Asia and a retrospective entitled “Holidays”, in which shorts will celebrate escaping from the grind of everyday life by going on vacation.

More programmes, as well as the industry events happening at the Short Film Market, will be announced over the coming weeks.

The full list of films in competition can be found here.