Echo Chamber - CIFF - Vol.4 (Odessa)
Watch the conversation with Harald Swinkels, HERE!
So our @EchoChamberFP Festival train has one more surprise stop to make in Cleveland!
Shaimaa Khan and the good folks at London Flair PR came through with a new indie short that we were trying to schedule during the 50th Cleveland International Film Festival, but couldn't quite lock it down. However, we got it to work, so we get a story that, through great storytelling, will draw you in, and have you asking so many internal questions on humanity, empathy, perception, and more. PLUS, it will be screening at the upcoming 25th Tribeca Festival. THEN, we sit down with the great mind behind it all and get all the insights and reflection on making this work, bringing it to life, and putting it into the world!!!
'Odessa' is written & directed by Harald Swinkels. In the aftermath of World War II, a devoted father (Bastian Beyer) guides his fleeing family (Magdalena Müller, Tom Pepper) through the Dolomites. He is kind to his son. And they run for a good reason.
Watch the conversation with Harald Swinkels, HERE!
Today we have:
Odessa - Poster
Odessa
Watch Review: Here.
50th Cleveland International Film Festival
Shorts Program 10
World Premiere: 11:50am, Tuesday, 14th April 2026
Playhouse Square Campus
Wednesday, 17:00pm, 15th April 2026
Cedar Lee Theatre
25th Tribeca Film Festival
Shorts: Helpline
Thursday, 17:30pm, 4th June 2026
Spring Studios 5th Floor Theater
Buy Tickets: Here.
Saturday, 17:45pm, 5th June 2026
AMC 19th St. East 6
Director: Harald Swinkels
Cast: Bastian Beyer, Magdalena Müller, Tom Pepper, Gonny Gaakeer, Johannes Zeiler
Credit: Exosphere
Genre: Drama, History, Short
Running Time: 19:58 min
Cert: 12a
Website: Here.
Watch the conversation with Harald Swinkels, HERE!
Harald Swinkels
Harald Swinkels
Director, Writer, Producer
Harald Swinkels is a Dutch writer-director and founder of Exosphere. His films examine the superficial characteristics that allow audiences to forgive the unforgivable and the moment when forgiveness morphs into complicity. His debut short film, Intradown (2024), starring Claes Bang, won 44 international awards. An ode to visual art without dialogue and a playful rebuke of cinematic conventions, it established his register: controlled, unsentimental, and fearless. In 2025, Swinkels produced Beyond Silence, directed by Marnie Blok. The film won at Tribeca and Palm Springs and was nominated for the 2026 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. Working on a film about intergenerational trauma shaped his own filmmaking practice. Odessa (2026) is his third feature film and his first shot in 35mm anamorphic. A period piece set in the final days of World War II, its appeal to moral complicity rests on the audience's own judgment.
Follow Harald via:
IMDb: Here.
Linkedin: Here.
Instagram: @harald.swinkels
Exosphere
Production Studio
Founded in 2016 by Harald Swinkels, Exosphere aims at producing bold, high-quality cinema. The company focuses on intelligent, globally relevant films and series that blend artistic vision with commercial appeal.
Follow via:
Linkedin: Here.
Website: Here.
Instagram: @exosphere_film
50th Cleveland International Film Festival - Logo
50th Cleveland International Film Festival
Festival Date: 9th - 18th April 2026
Cleveland International Film Festival
*(Music)
'The Big Payback' (Instrumental) by EPMD - 2020