Papers, Please: The Short Film

Pompeii

October 2019 •English

Tam gets on the first tube home, plugs himself into his phone and begins reliving his night out via social media stories.

Arconada

June 2013 •English

Jon wants to be Arconada, the mythical goalkeeper of Real Sociedad, but is the substitute goalkeeper of the school soccer team.

Night Swimming

July 2005 •English

A night in the woods, and its aftermath, helps Otter with a major life decision. He's a high school senior, hanging out with Darby - the local alpha male - and Darby's girlfriend Amber. Their public displays of affection irritate Otter.

Alice and the Little Green Men

Invalid date •English

A research psychologist attempts to make sense of a woman's claims of alien abduction through a sit-down interview and overnight observation.

Bless Me Father

November 2017 •English

In a small Irish town where secrets are rare, a local man goes to church to confess his.

Across My Land

May 2017 •English

Father and son 'minutemen' patrol the American/Mexican border near their home in Nogales, Arizona.

Lunch Time

May 2017 •Persian

A 16 year old girl has come to the hospital to identify the body of her mother. The people in charge at the hospital - due to her young age - won't let her into the morgue. After she insists that most of her family is in jail for criminal activities, they acquiesce...

Kaleidoscope Dreams

December 2015 •English

While struggling with a broken marriage and the threat of eviction, a man tries to sell his engagement ring and in doing so he experiences that the lines between memories, dreams and reality are very thin.

Poison in the Water

September 2017 •English

A recent widower joins his daughter on the search for a witch he believes is a manifestation of her grief.

The Poisoned Dart

December 1916 •

Barbara was amazed when she found out that Ripley was bringing her a Malaysian cat from the Orient. But what Ripley didn't know was that he was being followed by three Malaysians. On the night of his arrival, he handed the cat into the care of the Japanese valet Tatsu. Tatsu was murdered that same night. A mysterious wound from a poisoned dart proves that the assassin was a Malay.

Forbidden Siren

February 2006 •Japanese

A writer moves to a remote island with his daughter and young son. After settling into their new home, a neighbor arrives to welcome them and give them a breakdown of the local rules; most important: do not go outside when the island's siren starts wailing.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon

March 2007 •Japanese

Former yakuza underling Kazuma Kiryū has recently been released from prison after a lengthy incarceration and is trying to piece his life together and distance himself from his yakuza past. Unfortunately, Kiryū's problems slowly escalate as he is pursued by a former associate, the baseball-bat-wielding psycho Gorō Majima, who has a grudge to settle with Kiryū.

In Orbit

September 2020 •English

The future, the space. Sonia is about to be transferred from her station to a newer one. Although everything seems to be going well, Sonia's mind is actually elsewhere, haunted by tragic events from the not too distant past.

Akashi

March 2018 •Japanese

Kana, a young woman from Japan is pursuing her career in North America and has adapted to her new environment. However, her new lifestyle has made her emotionally distant and can't seem to sustain a long term relationship. Her mother calls informing Kana that grandma passed away. As Kana returns home to pay her respects, she begins to recall her most intimate conversation with grandma. In their talk, Grandma is proud of Kana for leaving Japan. Kana argues it's even harder to raise a family and sustain a marriage for a lifetime. Grandma tells Kana that their marriage was far from ideal, and to Kana's surprise, Grandma reveals a secret which changes Kana's attitudes on relationships. Memories and the funeral force Kana to look inside herself and examine her own life.

Sea Child

January 2015 •English

On the verge of becoming a woman Sora is woken by a nightmare and decides to follow a group of men into the city in the hope of finding her mom.

Estrella

May 2014 •Spanish

Manodopera

November 2016 •Greek

An immigrant worker renovates a flat. Young men reflect on their existence.

X Knight

August 2019 •English

A mysterious masked vigilante with supernatural powers called X Knight, has to protect Rockwood City from a serial killer known as Killer Spade. Who has been dumping torched bodies of homeless people all over, while our hero must battle with the inner demons of a past tragedy.

Terminal

June 2013 •German

George, stoic and overprotective, travels to Zurich with his daughter Rachel. One is planning physician-assisted suicide; the other has just one day left to intervene.

Himalia

October 2024 •French

With a sense of strange timelessness, this fable immerses us in the daily life of a child fascinated by the elusive rays of the sun that stir life on the atypical lands of Himalia.