Facing One's Devils

Running time: N/A

How do you face old age, solitude, teenage frustrations, a child's cruel and disheartening world? All of the characters of these different stories find their own personal way to come to terms with their lives' predicaments. In Marcus Han's Burning Bridges, escaping yet another boarding school, Jeremy is left with the horrid prospect of staying at home with his neglecting parents. While attempting to avoid confrontation, he meets Kara whose sadness reflects the oppressive world her husband has confined her to. In A Small Domain (Grand Jury Prize For Best Short Subject Film at the 1996 Sundance Festival), Britta Sjogren reconstructs the last two days in the life of a 95-year-old kleptomaniac. On the eve of her wedding anniversary with her late husband, she decides to put an end to her life. Will an impulsive act change the course of her decision? In Mark Ward's Clinic E, a black comedy about sharing love and HIV, a man receives an anonymous letter informing him that an ex-lover has tested HIV positive. While waiting for the result of his test, his search for the identity of the letter's author takes an unexpected turn. Meeting Daria, a coming of age fable by Joelle Ehre, tells the story of Aggie, a high school freshman whose secret body brace isolates her from other teens. Will Daria, a young girl murdered in Central Park, help Aggie overcome distress? When reality is too hard to face, imagination seems to be one of the primary ways in which children escape. In Paul McCall, a comedy by Benjamin Hershleder, to evade the harshness and dangers of real life, Paul escapes into an eccentric, imaginary world where he always prevails. In Laura of Albania, Margret Run depicts the life of a nine-year-old Albanian girl who sought asylum in Germany. Laura resorts to a creative, somewhat nightmarish, imaginary world to balance the lack of beauty her everyday life. - Hayet Ennabli