Birthmark is the story of Angel, a trans woman in Beirut whose routine is interrupted by the arrival of the nervous Mabella with an innate birthmark, a white lock of hair, while tensions between them rise, fuelled by the feeling they may already know each other from somewhere else.

The film is directed by George Peter Barbari, who co-wrote the screenplay with Christelle Younes, while the two also appear in the leading roles in the film. 

In addition to the film’s co-producers, the following Croatian crew members were also involved on the project: Tihomir Vrbanec as sound editor, Filip Tot as colourist, Kristijan Petrović on VFX and Ivor Radmilović Pavlek as post-production supervisor.

“We met the director at the Berlinale two years ago where he was pitching his second feature film. In a conversation, we learned that he was also trying to wrap up his short ‘Birthmark’. We soon realised this was a very brave and bold short and immediately agreed our collaboration on the project”, said Croatian co-producers.  

With Birthmark, producer Vanja Vascarac returns to Clermont-Ferrand two years after his directorial project Cul-de-Sac, a Croatian-Portuguese short, which he co-directed alongside Mário Macedo, screened at this festival.

This year’s, 48th edition of the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival was held from 30 January to 7 February. Besides Birthmark, the festival also presented the Croatian fiction short Peninsula, directed by David Gašo, produced by Marta Eva Mećava and Lucija Perić.