11/12/2013 - ‘Cannes of Short Film Festivals’ programme includes new films from Adrian Sitaru and The Thick of It writer Jesse Armstrong

The Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival has announced its International Competition with 73 films from across the world vying for the top prizes at what many would argue is the most prestigious short film festival in the world.

Highlights for the 36^th edition (January 31 - February 8, 2014) include Counterpart, the latest film from Romanian director Adrian Sitaru. With his multi-award winning short The Cage wowing the circuit a few years ago, his latest film – shot in the UK and concerning a voyeur watching a young couple – will look to solidify his success. The UK will also see No Kaddish In Carmarthen, the comedy drama that is the directorial debut of Jesse Armstrong, perhaps best known as the writer for such TV shows and films as The Thick of It and In The Loop [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. Films from Belgium (with Benoit De Clerck’s new film The Hunger playing after the success of his comedy The Importance of Sweet and Salt on the festival circuit), Spain, Italy, Estonia, Iceland and Switzerland are amongst the other European countries represented in the international competition.

The full list of International Competition films is at the festival’s official website.

The international jury for the edition of the festival will include Canadian filmmaker Denis Côté, whose latest film Vic + Flo Saw Am Bear has been garnering high praise, and Silver Bear winning filmmaker Ursula Meier.