Future Shorts film festival returns to Baku in March
By Nigar Orujova
Future Shorts, the biggest pop-up film festival covering 90 countries, 325 cities and an audience of 45,000 people, announces its 2013 winter season in the Azerbaijani capital Baku in March.
The Baku part of the Future Shorts festival, taking place for the first time this year, will last only a day at 28 Cinema Club (28 Shopping Mall) and kicks off on March 10 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. local time. Tickets for the festival have already been put on sale in the 28 Cinema Club box office.
Future Shorts Festival continues to be the world's largest and boldest pop-up film festival. Anyone anywhere can set up a screening and become part of this global community of film lovers and explorers.
From January to March 2013, the Winter Season 2013 features seven of the best cutting-edge short films from all over the world.
A special highlight comes in the form of Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner "Fishing Without Nets" (Kenya, 2010), a fascinating story of pirates in Somalia told from the perspective of the Somalis.
Future Shorts further presents the colourful animation "Marcel, King of Tervuren" (USA, 2012), alongside Woodstock Film Festival Jury Prize Winner "We're Leaving" (USA, 2011), the documentary-cum-horror film "The S from Hell" (USA, 2010), alongside the surreal coming-of-age short "Candy Girl" (UK, 2012) and the humorous love story "Lovebirds" (Czech Republic, 2010) that reflects similarities between avian and human life, accompanied by "Seeds of the Fall" (Sweden, 2009) from Oscar-nominated director Patrik Eklund.
Showcasing the most exciting short films and filmmakers from around the world in amazing venues, Future Shorts is continuing to build a massive screening network and powerful community -- highlight screenings from the Autumn season including Clockenflap Festival in Hong Kong, launching at the Fers Function House in Mongolia, Edge of Arabia in London, screenings at the British Library, the Technology centre in Taiwan, a collaboration with the London School of Economics, are just a few examples. The Autumn Season was screened in 42 countries and 135 cities. For the first time the Festival partnered up with PEN International and Malaria No More UK.
Future Cinema, the creators of Future Shorts and Secret Cinema, create large-scale cinematic experiences, fusing feature film with music, theatre and live performance. Conceived in 2005, Future Cinema is famed for taking audiences on multi-sensory rides that have become genuine 'Don't Miss' events. Future Cinema also operates as an agency, bringing talent to creative projects and developing innovative experiential campaigns for brands, new releases and other third parties.
Future Shorts is the product of 10 years of audience development, experimentation and of reacting to the demand for another way of experiencing film. Since 2003 Future Shorts builds a new audience for film across the globe and developed a platform for filmmakers that allow millions of people worldwide to engage with their work.
The festival is supported by YARAT! Contemporary Art Space, a non-commercial organization founded by Aida Mahmudova in 2011, which is dedicated to the promotion and popularization of contemporary art in Azerbaijan.
YARAT! aims to provide educational initiatives including lectures, seminars and master classes on a variety of related topics of contemporary art. Besides exhibitions and master classes, YARAT! brings the Future Shorts film festival to Baku.
Public interest in the festivals, which have become traditional in Baku, showed that movie lovers in the city are fond of such short films.