International Premiere
A man’s obsession with collecting vintage lamps slowly unravels. For decades, his family has quietly supported and adapted to his ever-growing fantasy, blurring the lines between care, complicity, and imagination.
Janusz Chmielniak
Poland
2025
In Polish with English subtitles
This short is featured in:
5: The absurd & spiritual
Shorts from: Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Poland, Portugal.
Indigenous & Community Access
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Credits & Director
Producer
Andrzej Pałka
Screenwriter
Mikołaj Janik, Martyna Wojtkowska
Cinematography
Kamil Kozik, Mikołaj Janik
Editor
Jakub Rados
Original Music
Michal Drabczyk
Mikołaj Janik
Mikołaj Janik is the director and screenwriter of films that have appeared at more than 70 international festivals. He was awarded second place in Poland’s largest screenwriting competition, Imagine, and was a finalist in the Papaya New Directors competition. Janik received a scholarship from the Pilecki Institute in Berlin, and works as a university lecturer and film educator. In his free time, he escapes to the mountains. He is currently working on his feature-length documentary debut, High Enough.
VIFF Short Forum
See more shorts in this series
1: Call your mother
Shorts from: Canada, China, UK.
2: Memory & mediation
Shorts from: Canada, France, Lebanon, Netherlands, Portugal, Poland, Syria, USA.
3: The peripheral core
Shorts from: Brazil, Canada, Japan, Norway, USA.
4: Um, womanhood
Shorts from: Canada, Columbia, France, Netherlands, Sweden.
5: The absurd & spiritual
Shorts from: Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Poland, Portugal.
6: City slickin’
Shorts from: Canada, France, Jordan, Spain, USA.
7: All day I dream about
Shorts from: Canada, India, Spain, Taiwan, USA.
8: Love and despair
Shorts from: China, France, Germany, Portugal, USA.
9: The scary one
Shorts from: Canada, Korea, Romania, USA.
10: The new socialism; ceasefire now!
Shorts from: Belgium, Canada, China, India, Myanmar, UK.
Short Fuse
An eye-opening collection of shorts exploring memories, experiences and relationships between friends, family, and across generations. From powwows in North America, to the rivers of Ethiopia and beyond, these shorts offer memorable stories on screen.