Calf

Like tears in the rain, water is the metaphor for growing pains and so much more in these four tales about young boys coming to terms with a host of emotions for the very first time. These polished productions and festival favourites are brought to you by a host of talented directors from across Germany, Denmark, France and the Netherlands. The short films are: Ocean [Océan] (2013); Go Daan Go! [Daan Durft] (2014); The Boy in the Ocean (2016); Beach Boy (2011).

The 12-year-old German boy, Mathias, discovers his sexuality on a sailing boat in Denmark. Surrounded by water, trapped on the boat with his parents, who still treat him like a child, his desire is to get on land to have new experiences.

Geriatric carer Lea loves her job and uses imaginative role-plays to help her patients bring lost moments back to life. When the unusually young patient Hedda arrives and Lea is reminded of her own mother, she begins to overstep professional boundaries. What starts out as particular closeness and empathy, develops into a reality created by Lea herself, in which past and present, care and personal need, role and identity become inextricably interwoven.