The short film The Origin of the World, directed by Argentine filmmaker Jazmín López, will be part of the Orizzonti Short Films International Competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, which will take place from August 27 to September 6, 2025. La Biennale di Venezia, under the direction of Alberto Barbera, has announced the line-up of 14 short films that will compete for the prestigious Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film.
Jazmín López’s 12-minute work, starring Leila Loforte, proposes a bold dialogue between cinema, painting, and censorship. Inspired by Gustave Courbet’s iconic painting The Origin of the World, the film recreates a tableau vivant of the original piece in a single, continuous 10-minute take. The concept goes beyond mere representation: while the model poses to embody the famous composition, the director and her crew discuss—off-screen—the history of censorship, the nature of the gaze, and the boundaries between painterly and cinematic framing.
The Orizzonti section, dedicated to showcasing new narrative trends, will also feature works by filmmakers from 19 countries, including Merrimundi by Niles Atallah (Chile), Norheimsund by Ana Alpízar (Cuba, USA), and Coyotes by Said Zagha (Palestine, France, Jordan, UK). Out of competition, the animated short film Rukeli by Alessandro Rak (Italy, Sweden) will be screened.
All short films:
NORHEIMSUND
by ANA ALPIZAR
with Paula Massó Varela, Yaité Ruiz, Darianis Palenzuela, Kiriam Gutiérrez / Cuba, USA / 12’
MERRIMUNDI
by NILES ATALLAH
Animation / Chile / 21’
LA LIGNE DE VIE (THE LIFELINE)
by HUGO BECKER
with Alexis Manenti, Jeanne Goursaud, Damien Jouillerot, Gilles Cohen, David Talbot / France / 20’
JE CROIS ENTENDRE ENCORE (I HEAR IT STILL)
by CONSTANCE BONNOT
with Viki Assayas, Nathalie Richard / France / 16’
KUSHTA MAYN, LA MIA COSTANTINOPOLI (KUSHTA MAYN, MY CONSTANTINOPLE)
by NICOLÒ FOLIN
with Roberto Citran, Leo Folin, Hlib Tovstoluh / Italy / 19’
PRAYING MANTIS
by JOE HSIEH, YONFAN
Animation / Taipei, Hong Kong SAR / 18’
YOU JIAN CHUI YAN (A SOIL A CULTURE A RIVER A PEOPLE)
by VIV LI
with Zezhi Long / Germany, Belgium, China / 15’
EL ORIGEN DEL MUNDO (THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD)
by JAZMIN LOPEZ
with Leila Loforte / Argentina / 12’
THE CURFEW
by SHEHREZAD MAHER
with Sathya Sridharan, Balinder Johal, Sara Haider, Rajesh Bose, Chris Thorn / USA / 19’
LION ROCK
by NICK MAYOW, PRISCA BOUCHET
with Anton Falstie-Jensen, Mia Blake, Jonno Roberts / New Zealand / 16’
SAINT SIMEON
by OLUBUNMI OGUNSOLA
with Kanayo O. Kanayo, Ego Ihenacho, Victor Obioha / Nigeria / 18’
UTAN KELLY (WITHOUT KELLY)
by LOVISA SIRÉN
with Medea Strid, Truls Carlberg / Sweden / 15’
COYOTES
by SAID ZAGHA
with Maria Zreik, Ali Suliman, Yumna Marwan / Palestine, France, Jordan, UK / 20’
NEDOSTUPNI (UNAVAILABLE)
by KYRYLO ZEMLYANYI
with Vladyslav Makariuk, Ostap Orest Pasichnyk, Konstiantyn Shamin, Yurii Yevsiukov, Oksana Tsymbal, Serhii Hornyi, lllia Rassokhin / Ukraine, France, Belgium, Bulgaria, Netherlands / 20’
OUT OF COMPETITION
RUKELI
by ALESSANDRO RAK
Animation / Italy, Sweden / 5’
