City of owls (Short) (Città dei gufi)

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original title:

City of owls

italian title:

Città dei gufi

directed by:

Zhenia Kazankina

cast:

Vera Engalycheva, Lera Yacenko

screenplay:

Zhenia Kazankina, Sofia Boteva, Andrea Gatopoulos

cinematography:

Luda Kuropyatnikova

editing:

Zhenia Kazankina

set design:

Aleksandra Smirnova

costume design:

Sasha Nguyen

music:

96 KBPS

producer:

Clémence Crépin Neel, Igor Courtecuisse, Pavel Karykhalin, Sergei Yahontov, Lev Maslov, Andrea Gatopoulos, Marco Crispano, Laura Catalano, Silvio Giannini, Marco Mingolla, Stefano Schiavone

production:

Moderato, Eversince, Il Varco, Cattive Produzioni, Oudeis Pictures

distribution:

Gargantua [Italy]

world sales:

Gargantua [Italy]

country:

France/Germany/Italy

year:

2026

film run:

13'47"

format:

colour

status:

Ready (15/04/2026)

festivals & awards:

Festival de Cannes 2026: Semaine de la Critique - Short film selection

On the last evening before her departure, Vera is putting her small sister to bed. To hide the real reason of her leaving, she tells her a bedtime fairy tale instead. It's the story of a city swallowed by an eternal night.

City of owls (Short) (Città dei gufi)

by Zhenia Kazankina