Dance Films: Movements of Being

Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2026

What is a body capable of doing? And what can film do to a body in ways that wouldn't be possible anywhere else? In dance films, the body doesn't have to move in ways you'd expect, nor do the films have to tell you a story the way you're accustomed to. Sometimes the familiar becomes alien, all that's harsh becomes soft, and the absurd – strangely enough – becomes relatable... Or does it? Existence isn't just standing still, after all. It might mean running in circles, inhabiting someone else's body or vibrating imperceptibly. The films in this year's selection span from the serious to the absurd, from the fragile to the powerful. You might feel awkward, want to laugh or simply to go along with the ride. Content warning: this selection includes a film featuring nudity, as well as a film that features sexual movement and violent choreography.

Screenings

5th Lux Hall Apollo Kino Plaza
Screening090515 / Tantsufilmid: olemise liikumised
Q&A duration
Screening duration
Screening103312 / Tantsufilmid: olemise liikumised
Screening duration

Films

Evergreen

Local title
Igihaljas
Director
Dionysos Savopoulos, Sofia Filippou
Country
Year
2025
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2026
Programme
Genre
Subject

Shot in a once fertile valley razed for an airport megaproject, the short film is a choreography of grief, resilience and the urgent call to reconnect with the earth, confronting the environmental devastation wrought in the name of progress.

Director
Dionysos Savopoulos, Sofia Filippou
Screenwriter
Dionysos Savopoulos, Sofia Filippou
Co-writer
Sofia Filippou, Dionysos Savopoulos, Mia Tamme
Producer
Dionysos Savopoulos, Sofia Filippou
Cast
Sofia Filippou, Linos Manesis, Katerina Smarianaki, Christina Lantzaki, Dionisis Belsemes
Cinematographer
Dionysos Savopoulos
Editing
Dionysos Savopoulos, Sofia Filippou
Composer
Uilleac Pimenides Whelan, Sol Ligertwood
Sound
Stelios Somarakis
Runtime
Language
Subtitles

POI (Primary Ovarian Insufficiency)

Local title
Enneaegne munasarjapuudulikkus (POI)
Director
Zoee Marsh
Country
Year
2025
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2026
Programme
Genre
Subject

Premature menopause at 28 — a movement film tracing seven years of unanswered symptoms, where the whispers of the body sustained balance through the unknown, until it was diagnosed at 35.

Director
Zoee Marsh
Screenwriter
Zoee Marsh
Producer
Zoee Marsh, Alexandra Galloway
Cast
Melissa Yvonne Pham
Cinematographer
Michael Ridley
Editing
Lucy McCallum
Production Design
Bella Salvatore
Composer
Beatrice Lewis
Runtime
Language

Nachtkanon

Local title
Öökaanon
Original title
Nachtkanon
Director
Thomas Bos
Year
2025
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2026
Programme
Genre
Subject

A man runs circles through the night. He is alone. He is naked. You think: this film must be aesthetically justified, it must mean something. The man keeps running, through the night, his penis growing larger with every lap. As the music swells, it all becomes more and more grotesque—you start to wonder if any of this makes sense at all. Only one way to find out.

Director
Thomas Bos
Producer
Vivianne Werkhoven
Cast
Erik Bos
Cinematographer
Reinout Steenhuizen
Sales agent
Ibtisam Zaineb
Sound
Sam van Eenbergen
Runtime
Language

Bruta

Local title
Bruta
Original title
Bruta
Director
Sulian Rios
Country
Year
2025
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2026
Programme
Genre
Subject

The film moves through defiance and dominance within a stark, heightened frontier world, where seriousness and absurdity quietly coexist. Three protagonists carry these forces in their bodies and gestures, confronting them until they turn against a mysterious masked man. Starring Rachel Marx, Sarah Boursin, and Drielly Oliveira, the film drifts through extremes of hardness and intensity, tracing how one passes through them, all set to The Fairy Queen by Henry Purcell.

Director
Sulian Rios
Producer
Elisa Kand
Cast
Rachel Marx, Drielly Oliveira, Sarah Boursin, Oliver Islin Sahl-Madsen
Composer
Henry Purcell
Sales agent
Sulian Rios
Runtime
Language
Subtitles

Nosebleed

Local title
Ninaverejooks
Original title
Nosebleed
Director
Yoko Haveman
Year
2026
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2026
Programme
Genre
Subject

When unresolved trauma resurfaces, the restless Maya is forced to confront her spiraling nature, both that of victim and that of perpetrator.

It is a raw, semi-autobiographical dance film in which the line between reality and fiction blurs in a provocative exploration of desire and power.

Director
Yoko Haveman
Screenwriter
Yoko Haveman
Producer
Arjen van Doezelaar, Guido F.G. Jeurissen
Cast
Sjaid Foncé, Cain Wittenhaus, Ming-Jou Chen
Cinematographer
Maxime van Erp
Editing
Jesse Immanuel Bom
Production Design
Iris Schutgevaar
Composer
Eelke Mastebroek
Sound
Ruben van Asselt
Runtime
Language

Thread on Clothes

Local title
Tikandist rõivad
Original title
Nić na ôblyczyniu
Director
Mateusz Denis Pawełczyk
Country
Year
2025
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2026
Programme
Genre
Subject

The story of an insecure, kind-hearted young man who finally wants to experience love. To achieve this, he goes dancing. A stop-motion animation of embroidery and thread, rich in patterns and references to the folk culture of Silesia, Moravia, and the surrounding area.

Director
Mateusz Denis Pawełczyk
Screenwriter
Mateusz Denis Pawełczyk
Producer
Mateusz Denis Pawełczyk
Cast
Wiktoria Krysiak, Patrycja Kociołek, Mateusz Pawelczyk
Composer
Grzegorz Płonka, Altra Volta
Choreography
Wiktoria Krysiak
Runtime
Language

Naval Ode

Local title
Merelaul
Original title
Ode marítima
Director
Fu Le
Year
2024

The poem Naval Ode - "Ode Maritima" - by Fernando Pessoa captures the movement of separation between the dock and the ship, and thus the distance – between the inside and the outside, between myself and the other. The text is embodied by a mysterious and suspended dance, imbued with nostalgic desire, which swells like a sail.

Director
Fu Le
Cast
Magalie Lanriot, Roel Q Seeber
Runtime
Language
Subtitles