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GRAFSTRACT

Short documentary film by Dan Perez about Bronx artist SinXero and his TAG Public Arts Project…

Bronx
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GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance | A Short Documentary Film

by Dan Perez
written by Dan Perez

Filmed in the Bronx back in the summer of 2014, my short documentary film “GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance” has just completed a rather surprising three year film festival run that included screenings in 13 different countries as well as Los Angeles (where it won the “Best Street Art Film” award at the 2015 New Urbanism Film Festival), New York City (2016 Bronx International Film Festival) and several states in between.

The film is now available for public viewing (scroll down to watch the film subtitled in Spanish or Italian) and you can read up on on all the who, what, when, where and why on the film’s official page. So enjoy the film and feel free to let us know what you thought of it in the comments section below (and feel free to share!). Thanks, in advance!

Here’s the film:

GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance from DanPerezFilms on Vimeo.

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La película subtitulada en español:

GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance [SPANISH SUBTITLES] from DanPerezFilms on Vimeo.

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Il film sottotitolato in italiano:

GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance [Italian Subtitles] from DanPerezFilms on Vimeo.

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GRAFSTRACT

From Left: James ‘Sexer’ Rodriguez, myself, SinXero, and John ‘Crash’ Matos [Day 1]

GRAFSTRACT

From Left: Chris Stain, Billy Mode, James ‘Sexer’ Rodriguez and SinXero [Day 2]

GRAFSTRACT

From Left: Luis ‘Zimad’ Lamboy, James ‘Sexer’ Rodriguez, SinXero, and John ‘Crash’ Matos [Day 3]

GRAFTSRACT

Me and my “Production Assistant”, my daughter Miranda. That’s a wrap!

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Taranto Italy
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Official Selection: Festival Internazionale del Cinema Documentario | Taranto, Italy

by Dan Perez
written by Dan Perez

Very happy to announce that my award-winning short documentary film GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance has been named an official selection and finalist of the 3rd edition of the Festival Internazionale del Cinema Documentario – Premio Marcellino de Baggis in Taranto, Italy. The selection will mark the third screening of the film in Italy (grazie!).

The festival, which is named after award-winning Italian cinematographer and director Marcellino de Baggis (who passed away in 2011), aims to create awareness for the documentary film culture as well as promote the history and beauty of Taranto, a coastal city in Southern Italy. Our film will screen on May 4th, full schedule HERE.

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GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance, a film I directed, shot and edited, was filmed in the Bronx, New York City, back in the summer of 2014 and tells the story of J. “SinXero” Beltran, Founder & Creative Director of TAG Public Arts Project. With the help of some of the world’s top street artists, SinXero’s mission of “Enhancing The Visual Landscape of Urban Communities with Art” is becoming a reality in the birthplace of graffiti, The Bronx.

The film won the Best Street Art Film award at the 2015 New Urbanism Film Festival in Los Angeles. The film made its NYC premiere at the 2016 Bronx International Film Festival and has also screened at film festivals in Spain, Sweden, Albania, Turkey, Mexico, Chile, Scotland, Romania, Colombia, India, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary and Italy. Very excited that the film is continuing to reach new international audiences.

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/116378964[/vimeo]

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Italy
BlogFilmsGRAFSTRACTSound and Vision

Official Selection: Pentedattilo Film Festival, Italy

by Dan Perez
written by Dan Perez

Very happy to announce that my award-winning short documentary film GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance has been named an official selection of the 10th edition of the Pentedattilo Film Festival in Southern Italy. The festival kicks off on December 7th and runs until the 11th. My film will screen on Friday, December 9th as part of the 5:00pm documentary film block (full program HERE).

Pentedattilo (Calabrian Greek: Pentadàktilo) is a ghost town in Calabria, southern Italy. It is situated at 250 meters above sea level on the Monte Calvario, a mountain whose shapes once resembled that of five fingers (whence the name, from the Greek “penta” + “daktylos”, meaning “five fingers”). The town was founded as a colony of the Greek city of Chalcis, in 640 B.C.(!)

Pentedattilo was severely damaged by an earthquake in 1783, which led to large parts of the population migrating to the nearby municipality of Melito Porto Salvo. Pentedattilo was abandoned more than 40 years ago and remained completely uninhabited until the 1980s when it was partially restored.

Today, the ancient village of Pentedattilo is Calabria’s touristic and cultural icon and in recent years it has become, due to the intense restoration and cultural promotion efforts, a “case study” which made it a privileged destination for a diversified touristic flow. The Pentedattilo Film Festival plays a part in giving back to this unique village its fascinating peculiarity, promoting an active and sustainable artistic restoration. If you happen to find yourself in southern Italy, stop by this truly unique film festival.

Italy

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GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance, a film I directed, shot and edited, was filmed in the Bronx, New York City, back in the summer of 2014 and tells the story of J. “SinXero” Beltran, Founder & Creative Director of TAG Public Arts Project. With the help of some of the world’s top street artists, SinXero’s mission of “Enhancing The Visual Landscape of Urban Communities with Art” is becoming a reality in the birthplace of graffiti, The Bronx.

The film won the Best Street Art Film award at the 2015 New Urbanism Film Festival in Los Angeles. The film made its NYC premiere at the 2016 Bronx International Film Festival and has also screened at film festivals in Spain, Sweden, Albania, Turkey, Mexico, Chile, Scotland, Romania, Colombia, India, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Hungary. Very excited that the film is continuing to reach new international audiences.

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/116378964[/vimeo]

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Szolnok Hungary
BlogFilmsGRAFSTRACTSound and Vision

Official Selection: International Film Festival of Fine Arts | Szolnok, Hungary

by Dan Perez
written by Dan Perez

After closing out the Festival Internazionale del Cinema d’Arte in Milan, Italy this past weekend, I am now very happy to announce that my short documentary film GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance has now been named an official selection of the 9th edition of the International Film Festival of Fine Arts in Hungary. The festival kicks off this week on the 12th and runs through Sunday the 16th. My film will screen on Saturday, October 15th at 3:30pm [full schedule of s HERE].

The International Film Festival of Fine Arts takes place in Szolnok, a city in central Hungary about 60 miles from Budapest. Its location on the banks of the Tisza river, at the heart of the Great Hungarian Plain, has made it an important cultural and economic crossroads for centuries (its earliest recorded history dates back to 1075!). The festival selects films that present or reinterpret pieces of art by means of cinematic methods or deal with the life or certain stages of one or more artists or art groups. They welcome works that discover certain tendencies or periods of fine arts or their social context.

The festival attracts film and art scholars as well as enthusiasts, renowned artists, journalists and musicians, and features numerous panel discussions and art exhibits. So, if you happen to find yourself in or around the historic city of Szolnok this week, stop by and check out the fine films as well as the fine art.

International Film Festival of Fine Arts

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GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance, a film I directed, shot and edited, was filmed in the Bronx, New York City, back in the summer of 2014 and tells the story of J. “SinXero” Beltran, Founder & Creative Director of TAG Public Arts Project. With the help of some of the world’s top street artists, SinXero’s mission of “Enhancing The Visual Landscape of Urban Communities with Art” is becoming a reality in the birthplace of graffiti, The Bronx.

The film won the Best Street Art Film award at the 2015 New Urbanism Film Festival in Los Angeles. The film made its NYC premiere at the 2016 Bronx International Film Festival and has also screened at film festivals in Spain, Sweden, Albania, Turkey, Mexico, Chile, Scotland, Romania, Colombia, India, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy and now Hungary.

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/116378964[/vimeo]

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Milan, Italy
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Official Selection: Festival Internazionale del Cinema d’Arte | Milan, Italy

by Dan Perez
written by Dan Perez

Very happy to announce that my award-winning short documentary film GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance has been named an official selection (and will make it’s Italian premiere) of the Festival Internazionale del Cinema d’Arte in Milan, Italy. The festival, now in its 15th year, opens this week in Milan, Italy and runs from this Wednesday the 5th until the 8th. Our film will close out the festival on the evening of October 8th.

The Festival collects movies that celebrate the universal language of cinema and art; the different expressions of art that describe a period, interpret an artist’s world, or draw an artistic-aesthetic portrait. Art and cinema as social occasions for growth, evasion, historical and sociological study. The festival features four days of screenings, special events, and meetings with guests from the entertainment world and culture.

It’s a shame I wasn’t able to attend the festival personally but I am extremely honored to have my film screened at such a prestigious festival such as this one. If you happen to find yourself in Milan, stop by and check out the great films. Here’s the trailer for the festival…

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GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance, a film I directed, shot and edited, was filmed in the Bronx, New York City, back in the summer of 2014 and tells the story of J. “SinXero” Beltran, Founder & Creative Director of TAG Public Arts Project. With the help of some of the world’s top street artists, SinXero’s mission of “Enhancing The Visual Landscape of Urban Communities with Art” is becoming a reality in the birthplace of graffiti, The Bronx. The film won the Best Street Art Film award at the 2015 New Urbanism Film Festival in Los Angeles. The film made its NYC premiere at the 2016 Bronx International Film Festival and has also screened at film festivals in Spain, Sweden, Albania, Turkey, Mexico, Chile, Scotland, Romania, Colombia, India, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and now Italy.

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/116378964[/vimeo]

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Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Official Selection: Jahorina Film Festival | Bosnia and Herzegovina

by Dan Perez
written by Dan Perez

Very happy to announce that my award-winning documentary film GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance has been named an official selection of the 10th edition of the Jahorina Film Festival in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After almost 3000 submissions from over 100 countries, my film will join 110 other international films which will screen at the festival which runs from September 14-18 (schedule TBA) in the town of Pale near Mount Jahorina, which hosted the women’s alpine skiing events of the 1984 Winter Olympics in nearby Sarajevo.

The Jahorina Film Festival, which this year celebrates its 10 year anniversary, focuses on films in four categories: “Cultural Heritage” (films whose content relies on cultural and artistic heritage of their origin countries), “Natural Heritage” (films whose content relies on natural heritage of their origin countries), “Ecology (of soul)” (films that pay special attention to the importance of the preservation of natural environment or the purity of human soul), and “Tourism” (films that promote touristic potentials of their origin countries).

Also very happy to announce that I will be making the trip to Pale and will be in attendance during the screening of my film and also touring what appears to be a most beautiful country – one that has come quite a ways since its bloody past of only 20 years ago. Looking forward to meeting all the good folks from the film festival and watching some great films. See you there?

Jahorina Film Festival

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GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance, a film I directed, shot and edited, was filmed in the Bronx, New York City, back in the summer of 2014 and tells the story of J. “SinXero” Beltran, Founder & Creative Director of TAG Public Arts Project. With the help of some of the world’s top street artists, SinXero’s mission of “Enhancing The Visual Landscape of Urban Communities with Art” is becoming a reality in the birthplace of graffiti, The Bronx. The film won the Best Street Art Film award at the 2015 New Urbanism Film Festival in Los Angeles. The film made its NYC premiere at the 2016 Bronx International Film Festival and has also screened at film festivals in Spain, Sweden, Albania, Turkey, Mexico, Chile, Scotland, Romania, Colombia and India. And now Bosnia and Herzegovina.

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/116378964[/vimeo]

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Colombian Urban Art Film Festival in Bogotá THIS WEEKEND!

by Dan Perez
written by Dan Perez

Happy to announce that my award-winning short documentary film GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance will screen THIS FRIDAY, September 2nd at the first edition of the Colombian Urban Art Film Festival in Bogotá. The film will screen in the 5pm-7pm block of films on Friday at the famed Cinemateca Distrital, one of Bogotá’s oldest independent film theaters.

The Colombian Urban Arts Film Festival will focus on screening audiovisual works that focus on urban art and artists from national and international filmmakers through various exhibitions throughout the city. A city with a rich (and infamous) history of graffiti and politically-charged street art.

Bogotá already had a thriving graffiti scene when in 2011, Diego Felipe Becerra, a 16-year-old street artist who called himself Tripido, was shot dead by police while painting pictures of Felix the Cat on the walls of an underpass. The police invented a story that the boy had robbed a bus and when this was proven untrue, the city came out in protest.

With all the negative media coverage, Gustavo Petro, then mayor of Bogotá, issued a decree to decriminalize graffiti and street art painting to help promote what was seen as a new form of artistic and cultural expression, but with the agreement that public buildings and monuments should remain free from graffiti.

Bogotá’s liberal attitudes have attracted some of the world’s top street artists but street art being what it is (Rules? Seriously?), it is still an uneasy peace that exists between graffiti/street artists and the authorities. Bogotá, however, remains one of the best places in the Americas for street art. So if you happen to love street art and find yourself in Bogotá this weekend, stop by and check out the films…

Colombian Urban Art Film Festival

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GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance, a film I directed, shot and edited, was filmed in the Bronx, New York City, back in the summer of 2014 and tells the story of J. “SinXero” Beltran, Founder & Creative Director of TAG Public Arts Project. With the help of some of the world’s top street artists, SinXero’s mission of “Enhancing The Visual Landscape of Urban Communities with Art” is becoming a reality in the birthplace of graffiti, The Bronx. The film won the Best Street Art Film award at the 2015 New Urbanism Film Festival in Los Angeles. The film made its NYC premiere at the 2016 Bronx International Film Festival and has also screened at film festivals in Spain, Sweden, Albania, Turkey, Mexico, Chile, Scotland, Romania, Colombia and India.

GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance [SPANISH TRAILER] from DanPerezFilms on Vimeo.

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Bloomington
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Official Selection: Middle Coast Film Festival | Bloomington, July 28-30

by Dan Perez
written by Dan Perez

Very happy to announce that my award-winning short documentary film GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance has been named an official selection of the Middle Coast Film Festival in Bloomington, Indiana. The film will screen on Friday, July 29th in the 11:30am-12:30pm block of films at the Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center.

Middle Coast Film Festival is Bloomington’s first interactive film festival, bringing the best international and national short and feature films, web series episodes, and music videos at four separate venues in Bloomington, Indiana. Their mission is to not only provide their audience in Indiana with some of the best films out there, but to showcase the vibrant arts community in the Midwest. Over the course of the weekend festival goers will enjoy panel discussions, Q&A sessions, and multiple networking events at local studios, restaurants, and bars with filmmakers from all over the world.

Very excited at the opportunity of having my film screened at a fast-growing festival that truly focuses on indie filmmakers and the arts. If you happen to find yourself in or around Bloomington, stop by and check out some of the great films being shown. You can find information on all film HERE.

Middle Coast Film Festival

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GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance, a film I directed, shot and edited, was filmed in the Bronx, New York City, back in the summer of 2014 and tells the story of J. “SinXero” Beltran, Founder & Creative Director of TAG Public Arts Project. With the help of some of the world’s top street artists, SinXero’s mission of “Enhancing The Visual Landscape of Urban Communities with Art” is becoming a reality in the birthplace of graffiti, The Bronx. The film won the Best Street Art Film award at the 2015 New Urbanism Film Festival in Los Angeles. The film made its NYC premiere at the 2016 Bronx International Film Festival and has also screened at film festivals in Spain, Sweden, Albania, Turkey, Mexico, Chile, Scotland, Romania, Colombia and India.

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/116378964[/vimeo]

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Fort Lauderdale
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Film Screenings! RedEye: Reality Reimagined, Fort Lauderdale

by Dan Perez
written by Dan Perez

I’m very happy to announce that my award-winning short film GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance will screen at the RedEye: Reality Reimagined arts festival in Fort Lauderdale THIS SATURDAY July 16 at 6:30pm. Also screening will be a short video I shot and directed called Wall 2 Wall Women: Miami’s Female Street Artists which was filmed in the Bird Road Art District in Miami and features local artists Diana Contreras, Jenny Perez, Aquarela Sabol, Michelle Vazquez of Yuhmi Collective, Amanda Valdes and others.

RedEye is presented by ArtServe, an award-winning non-profit organization that provides programs, events, business opportunities, and facilities that help local and emerging artists turn their art into business. Through private and public funding, ArtServe, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, has developed a series of programs aimed at strengthening and assisting local artists and nonprofit cultural groups in their business-related and marketing efforts.

RedEye is a night packed with live music, live performance art, film, food, fun and more. The event features a live mural painting (by local artist David Lavernia), an UnPlugged stage, film screenings, a dramatic short play and a spoken word salon. Again, it kicks off Sunday, July 16 from 6-10pm so come by and say hello – hope to see you there…

Artserve

GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance, a film I directed, shot and edited, was filmed in the Bronx, New York City, back in the summer of 2014 and tells the story of J. “SinXero” Beltran, Founder & Creative Director of TAG Public Arts Project. With the help of some of the world’s top street artists (including NYC graffiti legend CRASH), SinXero’s mission of “Enhancing The Visual Landscape of Urban Communities with Art” is becoming a reality.

The film won the Best Street Art Film award at the 2015 New Urbanism Film Festival in Los Angeles and has screened at film festivals in Mexico, Sweden, Spain, Scotland, Turkey, Romania and India and made its NYC premiere at the 2016 Bronx International Film Festival.

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/116378964[/vimeo]

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Wall 2 Wall Women is another short film I shot and edited in the summer of 2014 here in Miami. The film documents the Wall 2 Wall Women project that featured South Florida’s top female street artists taking on a 300 foot wall (along with sweltering heat, humidity and daily thunderstorms!) in the Bird Road Art District. The short film runs just over 10 minutes long.

Redeye Reality Reimagined

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Also screening at the festival is Project Mone’t – an award-winning documentary short about a young artist who exorcises her demons through the creation of a beautiful monster made of steel. Looks like a terrific film – come check it out…

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMFUrfjJKlg[/youtube]

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And the other film to be screened is another award-winning film, El Mar Y Él, a tragic-comedy about a man’s quest to flee Cuba during the 1980 Mariel Boatlift. The film screened at the Cannes Film Festival’s Short Film Corner in 2015…

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/115369110[/vimeo]

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Join me at the RedEye: Reality Reimagined for for film, food and art!

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Cluj-Napoca
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At the ClujShorts International Short Film Festival in Romania

by Dan Perez
written by Dan Perez

So this past week I traveled to Cluj-Napoca, the second most populous city in Romania and the unofficial capital of Transylvania, to attend the screening of my short documentary film GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance at the ClujShorts International Short Film Festival. I knew from pictures I saw on the internet that the city of Cluj-Napoca was going to be lovely but I really didn’t know what to expect from the film festival (I’ve been disappointed at film festivals more than a few times before) but I can gladly say that this film festival truly exceeded my expectations.

First of all, it’s run by people who are passionate about film and about creating an exceptional film festival experience for its guests. Secondly, the festival is surprisingly well attended (I’ve been to past screenings of my films where there were less than 5 people in the theater including myself) and lastly, the folks there were as warm and friendly as you’ll ever meet. I mean. what more could you ask for?

Being an attending filmmaker, I had the opportunity to hold a lively Q&A session after my film screened (most of the people in this city know a good amount of English) and afterwards, I got to chat with some of the people who make this film festival happen. As a filmmaker, this was one of the most rewarding film festival experiences I’ve ever had.

So a big thank you to Anca Andreea Pop, who first notified me about my film being accepted and was so helpful in planning my trip to Cluj, Ana Silvia and Mihai Man for their great hospitality and energy, Rareş Stoica, Artistic Director of ClujShorts, and his lovely wife Nico Stoica, Director of Asociația Persona, an arts and culture organization who produce and organize ClujShorts, Ioan Pop-Curșeu, President of the ClujShorts Jury and all the good folks who helped make this visit for me and my wife a most memorable one (you know who you are).

Oh, and if you’re a filmmaker looking for a film festival to submit your short film to, put the ClujShorts International Short Film Festival high on your list. And if you can make it there, you won’t be disappointed. Promise.

Here are a few pics of me during my Q&A session (photographed by none other than Mrs. Perez)

ClujShorts International Short Film Festival

ClujShorts International Short Film Festival

From L-R: Rareş Stoica, Artistic Director of ClujShorts, his wife Nico Stoica, Director of Asociația Persona, Mrs. Perez, yours truly and Ioan Pop-Curșeu, President of the ClujShorts Jury

ClujShorts International Short Film Festival

Here’s the lifeblood of this fast-growing film festival: L-R Ana Silvia, Anca Andreea Pop and Mihai Man

ClujShorts International Short Film Festival

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Oh, and I also got to see some terrific short films at ClujShorts – here are a few to watch for…

Viaje a pies (Travel by feet), by Barcelona based animation filmmaker Khris Cembe

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/142493385[/vimeo]

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Un mal trago (A Bitter Taste) directed by Spanish filmmaker Mireia Juárez

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/116412060[/vimeo]

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777 a terrific student film by Cluj-Napoca based filmmaker Aron Rudics about a middle aged man who loses everything due to his slot machine addiction. Here’s a behind-the-scenes video…

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8dT-OLQ6wQ[/youtube]

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Random Attempts [Olağan Denemeler] directed by Cyprus based filmmakers Doğuş Özokutan Çiftçioğlu and Vasvi Çiftçioğlu is the story about a young woman who cannot take the monotony of everyday life anymore and attempts to take her life but fails. Again and again.

Random Attempts

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Orșova which was shot, directed and edited by Romanian filmmaker Sebastian Văcăriuc

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/127599040[/vimeo]

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