Hosted by Tulane University’s School of Liberal Arts the Language Learning Center and Tulane Library Media Services, Tulane’s fifth Biannual International Short Film Festival, which took place on Oct. 14 in Lake Theater, featured an hour of short films followed by a panel discussion with three professors.
‘The Door’
“The Door,” directed by Juanita Wilson, is a 16-minute Ukrainian short set in the spring of 1986, during the invisible aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster.
The film opens with a man ducking under barbed wire and running through snow to retrieve a door from his abandoned home. Through flashbacks, we learn that his daughter Lena died from radiation poisoning after bringing along her radioactive colored pencils — mementos she couldn’t bear to leave behind. Her parents later laid her body on that door — a haunting image tied to Ukrainian funeral traditions.
I got chills during this part, as if the icy air of the film seeped into the theater itself. The cinematography is slow, steady and almost painfully still, emphasizing the loneliness of heartbreak and disaster.
“The silence reflects how trauma cannot often be expressed through words,” panelist and senior professor of practice in German and Russian Lidia Zhigunova said on the film’s stillness. “The Door” captures this silence perfectly through its cinematography and chilling tone. It’s a ghost story without ghosts, and a quiet portrayal of loss that shows what happens after tragedy — a perspective less often explored in disaster films.
‘Everything at Once’
“Everything at Once,” directed by Henrik Dyb Zwart, takes us to Norway. At just eight minutes, it’s deeply introspective. Jakob, the main character, reflects on how life can change in an instant — or in a series of moments — that blur together until they’re impossible to separate.
The screen itself mirrors this feeling: Scenes play in small squares against a black background, shifting between seasons and memories. “A memory itself is pretty abstract,” Jakob says in the film. “Sometimes you get the whole picture — that’s not the case for me. I just get fragments.”
The film flashes between two realities: Jakob happy and in love on a summer dock, then alone in the winter at the same spot. His fragmented memories reflect the fragile nature of life, and the way joy and loss often coexist.
“Life is a form of fiction, or fictional constructs that are complete with each other indefinitely,” Michael Syrimis, panelist and Tulane coordinator of media studies, said. “Everything at Once” invites us to step into Jakob’s fractured mind, reminding us how moments, big or small, intertwine to shape who we are.
‘Oh Lucy!’
“Oh Lucy!” a film directed by Atsuko Hirayanagi and set in Japan, brought a sharp tonal shift that filled the theater with laughter and warmth. The film follows Setsuko, a 55-year-old office worker whose mundane life is jolted awake by her niece Yu-Chan, who convinces her to buy her spot in an English class.
There, she meets her energetic instructor, “Teacher John,” who gives her the name “Lucy” and a blonde wig to match. From that moment, Setsuko becomes Lucy — a version of herself who smiles, laughs and even flirts. Her wig and new name become symbols of escapism, a way to reinvent herself and forget the monotony of everyday life. The film ends with her bumping into her other classmate, “Tom,” and finally introducing herself as Setsuko.
The beauty of “Oh Lucy!” is that it’s both funny and painfully real. It explores identity and escapism — what it means to put on a wig, learn a new language and try to live differently. Setsuko’s imperfection makes her deeply human. She’s flawed, emotional and relatable, reminding us how fragile new beginnings can be.
‘Primetime Mother’
“Primetime Mother,” a Filipino short directed by Sonny Calvento, follows Minda, a mother who competes on a televised game show called “My Amazing Mama” to win prize money for her sick child.
In the film, dozens of mothers crowd outside the studio gates hoping to be chosen. Minda struggles to match the other contestants’ exaggerated energy until she imagines her son smiling from the audience — and suddenly, she finds her strength. Minda’s victory transports her into a surreal, video-game-like utopia that quickly turns into a prison.
“Primetime Mother” captures the painful contradiction of love expressed through sacrifice. The short film also critiques the exploitation hidden behind the glitz of entertainment. Panelist and professor of history Jana Lipman connected the film’s message to real-life struggles in the Philippines, where many women work abroad as caregivers to send money home.
At the end of the night, audience members voted “Oh Lucy!” as their favorite film, followed by “The Door,” “Everything at Once” and “Primetime Mother.”
Each short illuminated different parts of the human experience: the quiet grief of “The Door,” the fragmented memory of “Everything at Once,” the bittersweet humor of “Oh Lucy!” and the social critique of “Primetime Mother.” Together, they showcased how universal emotions — loss, love, longing and hope — transcend the barriers of language and geography.