Unholy places take many shapes. Take a narrow-minded village in 19th Century Eastern Europe, for example. A taxi in Mexico City, in the backseat with a wholly unpredictable driver. Or even worse, alone in a room with a dodgy music teacher. Perhaps it’s safer up in a tree, with a likeminded bird. Higher up, in an airplane, things get messy when three religions need to join forces. And in the Swiss Alps, a mundane and peaceful place turns out to be bloody unholy indeed. 

On land, at sea, in space – no matter the realm, weird and fantastic it shall be. Underground zombies and buried corpses, folkloric werewolves, magical mermaids and urban legends living in your phone, alien attacks, unfathomable cosmic omniscience and, of course, the vastness of the universe. In every corner of our known and unknown universe, there’s something worth exploring. 

Magic comes in many forms and always when you least expect it. You might encounter a fabled beast on a hunting trip, or it might come from the shadows of your subconscious. Whatever magical path you take, beware of the mayhem that awaits: stormy weather that turns grief into vengeance, for instance, or frostbitten Siberian winds that test family bonds. Children have their own magical way of thinking (for better or worse), and what about how robots really feel? Either way, you’ll never look at a pimple on your forehead in the same way again. 

The most ordinary moments can change everything. Remote locations where help feels impossibly far away, chance encounters with mysterious strangers, and everyday situations that suddenly take a dark turn. Life’s unpredictability lies at the heart of this shorts programme. How isolation breeds paranoia, how the familiar becomes foreign, and how a single thing can spiral into supernatural dread and alter all you thought you knew.  

Discover emerging and experienced Dutch talent in this yearly showcase. This is one of no less than four compilations of home-grown Fantastic shorts. 

All the filmmakers wil be present for Q&As during this screening.  

Discover emerging and experienced Dutch talent in this yearly showcase. This is one of no less than four compilations of home-grown Fantastic shorts. 

All the filmmakers wil be present for Q&As during this screening.