She was born on March 4, 1962 in Aranjuez, but grew up in Santander (Cantabria), growing up in the neighborhood of La Albericia. She studied journalism at the Complutense University of Madrid. She started working in Radio Minuto Fórmula de la Cadena SER, as an announcer and control technician.

Her first appearance on television was in the musical program Aplauso, in 1979, as a contestant in the section La juventud baila, presented by José Luis Fradejas being in third place behind Edel Bezanilla and the Madrid-born Rosa María Velasco, who won a prize of 25,000 pesetas. Professionally, she would debut with Javier Basilio in the contest Don Basilio’s boat, which was broadcast on the program of Jesús Hermida Por la mañana (1987-88). Later she went on to present a children’s program called Cajón desastre (1988-1991). She presented the contest of Un, dos, tres … together with Jordi Estadella (1991-1993).

Manhole
Vidhu Vincent
India. 2016. 86 min

Manhole is a Malayalam movie directed by Vidhu Vincent depicting the life and struggles of a manual scavenger’s daughter. The film was adjudged the Best Film of the year 2016 by the jury for the Kerala State Film Awards 2016 and the Director of the film was selected as the Best Director of the year 2016. This made Vidhu Vincent the first woman to win the Best Director Award in the history of Kerala State Film Awards since its inception in 1969. According to jury chairman Apurba Kishore Bir, Manhole was the unanimous choice among the jury members for convincingly bringing the plight of the marginalised on screen.

The film was also chosen as one of the only two Malayalam films in the competition category of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) 2016. This has made Vidhu Vincent the first woman director to enter the competition section in the twenty-year history of IFFK. Manhole is the first feature film directed by Vidhu Vincent. The film also grabbed the FIPRESCI : Best Malayalam Film Award during the IFFK 2016. The film was selected for the award “for the raw reality with which the film sheds light on the persistent inhumanity of manual scavengers in India, despite its being legally banned, in a cinematically eloquent manner.”

Sand Castles
Akash Basumatari, Arjun Chavah, Maanvi, Priyamvada Jagia
India. 2015. 24 min

What is a ‘home’? Is it the same as a house? Or does it mean something else? Sand Castles or Raeton ka Mahal (2015) is a film that looks at homelessness in Mumbai through the eyes of people living on Girgaum Chowpatty. In the process of looking at ‘home’, the film discovers intertwining issues of sustaining livelihood, stereotypes about the poor, dignity and self-respect, ineffective laws and unreal demolitions in the city. When Tulsi Thakur, one of the many living in Girgaum Chowpatty is able to find a house, the questions assume another form, unravelling the unending struggle for a roof to live in the ever changing, harsh and liberating city of Mumbai.

A Gentle Night
Qiu Yang
China. 2017. 15 min

In a nameless Chinese city, a mother with her daughter missing refuses to go gentle into this good night.

QIU YANG

CONTACT

Wouter Jansen

info@someshorts.com

Her sudden jump to the popularity takes place when in 1979, after being crowned Miss Madrid, she becomes winner in the Miss Spain Contest, celebrated that year in Lloret de Mar. In addition, she would be Semifinalist in Miss World 1979 and 2nd Lady of Honor in Miss Europe 1980. The notoriety reached allows her to start her career as a model and above all, make her first incursions into the world of interpretation. Only a few months after winning the contest, the director Pedro Masó claims her to play the small of the children of Alberto Closas in La familia, the third of the titles shot around the adventures of a large Spanish family .

During the eighties she developed a discreet cinematographic career, intervening in not especially memorable titles like the revenge of the black wolf (Duel to death) 1 (1981), the black wolf (1981) (both of Rafael Romero Marchent), the last penalty (1984), by Martín Garrido or Pareja enloquecida seeks mother for rent (1990), by Mariano Ozores. She also made incursions into the environment of international co-productions, working in meals at home (1984) and the armor of God (1987), along with Jackie Chan.

Since the nineties she has focused her appearances on television (in which she debuted in 1983 with Las Pícaras, which she followed a year later Los Desastres de la Guerra, along with Sancho Gracia), and she has been able to find introducing (Rich and Famous, 1990, magazine broadcast by Antena 3 in its first months of existence) and performing (Amor de papel, 1993, telenovela shot in Venezuela, La forja de un rebelde, 1990, by Mario Camus, Calle nueva, 1998, The family … 30 years later, 1999, The secret, 2001 and In the name of love, Televisa 2008).

Footsteps
Hannes  Thor Arason
Iceland. 2017. 13 min

An elderly man goes about his daily routine until his grandson shows up and is eager to play football with him. Their mismatch on the football pitch is quickly apparent, with the youngster running rings around his senior. The old man with a bruised ego and full of reminiscence of his youth begins to prepare for their next encounter.

HANNES  THOR  ARASON

A native of Iceland and a former inhabitant of Rome and Toronto where he received his degree in Film and Media Production in 2014. Hannes likes to combine the many influences from the different cultures in his works.

Hannes’ first short film Happy Endings premiered at the Montreal World Film Festival in 2014 and screened at various festivals in Europe and North America including Atlanta Film Festival and Stockfish European Film festival. The film was nominated for a Canadian Cinema Editors Award.

In 2017, Hannes was nominated for the Icelandic Music Awards for his music video to the song Neon Experience by the artist Júníus Meyvant.

His second short film entitled Footsteps premiered at the Giffoni Film Festival in July 2017.

CONTACT

Hannes Arason

hannes.thor.arason@gmail.com

Gaze
Farnoosh Samadi
Iran/Italy. 2017. 14 min

On her way back from work a woman witnesses something happening in the bus and she has to decide if she reveals it or not.

FARNOOSH  SAMADI

Farnoosh Samadi is an Iranian filmmaker. She graduated from The Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome. She co-wrote three short films with Ali Asgari, More Than Two Hours (2013), The Baby (2014) and The Pain (2015). She also codirected with him, The Silence, which premieres in Cannes in 2016. Gaze (2017) is her second short as a director.

CONTACT

Wouter Jansen (Some Shorts)

info@someshorts.com

Everything is fine
Mansi Nirmal Jain
India. 2017. 18 min

A middle aged woman wants to end her 35 year old unfulfilling marriage and seeks the support of her daughter who struggles to accept this decision.

MANSI  NIRMAL  JAIN

Mansi Nirmal Jain was born and raised in Delhi and moved to New York in 2012. She is the writer-director of multiple award winning shorts such as Everything is Fine, Lunch Lady and Custody. She co-wrote and associate directed a Hindi thriller called Moh Maya Money, which released across Asia in 2016 and was well reviewed for its script and dialogues. Mansi’s first feature, Time to Go was a NFDC screenwriting lab (2016) selection. Her latest short film, Chhuri had its world premier at MAMI 2017. It stars Anurag Kashyap, Tisca Chopra and Surveen Chawla.

Mansi is a MFA screenwriting graduate from Columbia University, School of the Arts, New York City. Before becoming a writer-director she worked as an Assistant Director for Rajat Kapoor on Ankhon Dekhi and spent a summer studying directing actors and directing at Harvard under Marcus Stern.

CONTACT

Mansi Nirmal Jain

mansinirajain@gmail.com

Juice
Neeraj Ghaywan
India. 2017. 14 min

Brijesh Singh is having a house party to which his colleagues have been invited. Only big boys are aboard this ship, filled to the deck with loud laughter and casual sexism. Brijesh’s wife Manju (a superb Shefali Shah) is the captain elsewhere – in the kitchen. Manju and the wives of Brijesh’s colleagues are hard at work cooking goodies to go with the drinks. The men gossip about their disapproval of a new female colleague. One suggests that she should not have been hired in the first place and then apologises to Manju. She gives the faintest hint of a smile and leaves.

In the kitchen, the women discuss the pros and cons of marriage, bringing a child into the world, and balancing domestic duties with careers. Both genders have made their peace in their respective worlds, or so it seems.