There are many lost souls that wander through the films which make up the shorts selection of the 2023 edition of the Locarno Film Festival. As people are looking for a connection and something to grab on to, they find a world that is often indifferent and intolerant, and an existence in which isolation is the norm rather than the exception.

In the Pardi di domani Competition for shorts, this is typified by As If Mother Cried That Night, Hoda Taheri’s follow-up to the brilliant Mother Prays All Day Long which premiered in last year’s competition. Dealing with themes of immigration and race and intertwining them with ideas of sexuality and intimacy, Taheri’s latest film navigates the spaces between provocation and introspection and is an astonishingly bold piece. The same goes for Paradise Europe, in which directors Leandro Goddinho and Paulo Menezes examine Berlin through the eyes of a gay Brazilian immigrant. Not only is the film a fascinating character study, it is also an indictment on the solipsism of much of modern society as well as the disparate and often abusive power structures that still exist. It’s another daring and provocative piece of work that lingers in the mind.

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Leonardo Martinelli – a winner of the Golden Leopard in 2021 for short Neon Phantom – makes an eagerly awaited return to Locarno with A Bird Called Memory, following a trans woman trying to find a bird called Memory who is trying to find their way back home. As in his previous work, Martinelli blends realism and the dreamlike to tell a beautiful story about searching for hope in an unforgiving city. Also anticipated is Kinderfilm, the latest film from directing collective Total Refusal. As with previous films, this one takes place entirely within the realms of a video game. But the film eschews the documentary-like approach of its predecessors to create a more experimental and absurdist piece of work as an NPC in GTA V tries to fathom the nature of his existence.

Other films to look out for include Hilke Ronnenfeldt’s brilliant A Study of Empathy which is playful and moving in its exploration of human needs and interactions, whilst Scorched Earth takes Hitchcock’s Rear Window and – through adding a dash of the surreal – turns it into a searing comment on modern society. Animations on offer include Carolina Sandvik’s bold The Lovers, a visceral examination of the effects of a relationship, and the hybrid film Z.O, a dark piece of work about the way the anger of youth can turn into the regret of adulthood.

Other shorts worth looking out for outside of the international competition, in the Corti d’autore section, include Corina Schwingruber-Ilić’s latest documentary Being There, a clever and timely look at tourism and excess that is the perfect follow up to her multiple award-winning documentary All Inclusive, as well as the dark and inventive sci-fi film Intelligence from French director Jeanne Frenkel and Cosme Castro. French director Betrand Mandico will also showcase his short Rainer, a Vicious Dog in a Skull Valley, which displays all the gory and transgressive excess alongside the philosophical musings on art and humanity that typify his work.

The full list of shorts screening at Locarno 2023:

Pardi di domani – International Competition

De Imperio - Alessandro Novelli (Portugal)
Paradise Europe - Leandro Goddinho, Paulo Menezes (Germany)
A Study of Empathy - Hilke Rönnfeldt (Denmark/Germany)
As if Mother Cried that Night - Hoda Taheri (Germany)
Making Babies - Éric K. Boulianne (Canada)
I Look into The Mirror and Repeat to Myself - Giselle Lin (Singapore)
Kinderfilm - Total Refusal (Austria)
La Vedova Nera - fiume, Julian McKinnon (France)
The Guard - Amirhossein Shojaei (Iran)
A Bird Called Memory - Leonardo Martinelli (Brazil/UK)
Full Night - Manon Coubia (Belgium)
Pray - Caleb Azumah Nelson (UK)
Scorched Earth - Markela Kontaratou (UK/Greece)
Slimane - Carlos Pereira (Germany)
The Moon Will Contain Us - Kim Torres (Costa Rica)
The Currency - Sensing #1 Agbogbloshie - Elom 20ce, Musquiqui Chihying, Gregor Kasper (Togo/Germany/Taiwan)
The Lovers - Carolina Sandvik (Sweden)
A Tortoise's Year of Fate - Yi Xiong (China)
Z.O. - Loris G. Nese (Italy)
The Waves - Yumi Joung (South Korea)

Pardi di domani – Swiss Competition

]ALEXX196 & the Pink Sand Beach - Loic Hobi
Duck - Elie Chapuis
Jaima - Francesco Pereira
Last Night - Lea Bloch
Night Shift - Kayije Kagame, Hugo Radi
Ever Since, I Have Been Flying - Aylin Gökmen
About a Cow - Pavla Baštanová (Czech Republic/Switzerland)
Remember, Broken Crayons Colour Too - Shannet Clemmings, Urša Kastelic
Searching for the 5th Direction - Matthias Schüpbach
The Island - Julien Pujol (France/Estonia)

Corti d’autore

Been There - Corina Schwingruber-Ilić (Switzerland)
My Mother Is A Saint - Syllas Tzoumerkas (Greece)
I Used to Live There - Ryan McKenna (Canada)
iNTELLIGENCE - Jeanne Frenkel, Cosme Castro (France)
Loving In Between - Jyoti Mistry (Austria/Sweden/South Africa)
Kill 'Em All - Sebastian Molina Ruiz (Mexico)
Nocturne for a Forest - Catarina Vasconcelos (Portugal)
Rainer, a Vicious Dog in a Skull Valley - Bertrand Mandico (France)
The Passing - Ivete Lucas, Patrick Bresnan (USA)
Valley Pride - Lukas Marxt (Austria)