International Features & Mid-length Competition

A Messy Tribute to Motherly Love

A Messy Tribute to Motherly Love is a macabre fairy tale about parental love, good intentions, and the dangerous pursuit of engineered happiness. Set in an absurdist universe where reproduction requires bodily sacrifice, director Dan Geesin (Sputum) blends black humor with subtle horror to explore how care, when pushed too far, can become destructive.

Dan Geesin Netherlands Germany 2026 85 min Live action

In a world where children are cooked from the finest parts of their parents, piano tuner Samuel longs for a family. His unspoken desire builds unbearable pressure, until his wife eventually literally explodes from stress. As Samuel struggles to regain control of his life, his mother steps in with a radical solution: a magical fertility jam that promises a new beginning.