NYFF63 Spotlight Shorts

The world’s most exciting new short films screen at BAM for one night only, part of the New York Film Festival.

Index (2025)
Dir. Radu Muntean, 29m
Romania
No dialogue
North American Premiere

Radu Muntean (Întregalde) returns with a fine-tuned short about a forest ranger who spots disturbing activity on his closed-circuit surveillance system and takes up an investigation that pushes him toward an uncertain fate. Splitting the difference between landscape film and horror movie, Index conjures a suggestive atmosphere with gorgeous widescreen images and a dense sound mix.

Arguments in Favor of Love (2025)
Dir. Gabriel Abrantes, 10m
Portugal
US Premiere

Gabriel Abrantes (Diamantino) draws the dying stages of a relationship with bracing candor and concision. Though dressed as ghostly sheets, Arguments’ players are all too human—their fights comprise petty accusations, rage-filled confessions, and a sorrowful departure, punctuated by heartfelt musical interludes—while the film’s animation registers every emotion in a spare, painterly set of expressions.

Cairo Streets (2025)
Dir. Abdellah Taïa, 19m
France
In Arabic with English and French subtitles
US Premiere

Cairo, 2007. Abdellah searches for Omar, his old companion who has disappeared among the city’s busy streets. A visit with the legendary Youssef Chahine, a nighttime film shoot at the pyramids, and maritime revelry are all captured on nostalgia-textured video while Omar—a brilliant structuring absence—haunts proceedings until, during a final encounter, comfort is found in cinema and personal touch alike.

Fragments for Venus (2025)
Dir. Alice Diop, 21m
France/Italy
In French with English subtitles
New York Premiere

Continuing the meditations that shaped Saint Omer, Alice Diop’s new short indexes centuries-old artistic representation in the Louvre before observing womanhood on the streets of contemporary New York. Running between refined and loose—Miu Miu costumes complement quotidian streetwear while the museum’s silent halls are juxtaposed with metropolitan clamor—Fragments for Venus poses difficult questions while celebrating everyday living’s basic pleasures.