by Nigel Hicks
The 83rd Venice International Film Festival kicked off on September 2, premiering new feature films from the likes of Danny Boyle, Werner Herzog, Cédric Kahn, Casey Affleck and May el-Toukhy, among mostly men. On the flipside, you have 50% female/male filmmakers spotlighted on Sala Web, screening 12 short films from the Orizzonti and Out of Competition sections.
Available to view online from 10 September until 30 September, and powered by Festival Scope, the shorts include Paper Plane by first time director Saoirse Ronan, and Australian entry Mothmama by Jessica DiCosta, whose 12-minute drama explores a relationship between mother and daughter deteriorated by the judgments of others. “It’s an incredible honour,” DiCosta said about her film premiering in Venice.
Other shorts are from countries such as Chile (Una Fortaleza), Ukraine (Silence), Hungary (Tesztpalya) and Greece (Tropic of the Mourning Gecko). Cross cultural clashes recur as a theme with A Few Moments of Happiness by Lebanese-French director Shaden Safieddine Tazi, Head of a Camel by Korean-American Shannon Lee, and Man Made Lake by Annie Ning, which is the story of a gated community in China, and a French woman’s demands for answers.
Italian Tommaso Acquarone’s short Angelo Azzurro (My First Day of Summer) is a follow up to his successful short I Miei Occhi, from 2021. Other contributors are experiencing their first taste of directing, like Colombian Salim Jaller whose Los Poderes is a black and white short about a rudderless teenager.
Sala Web promises to allow “audiences to discover short films featuring innovative aesthetics and expressive styles in global cinema.”
All 12 short films are available to view for free here from 10 September 2026
