Shorts Animation Competition 3

Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2025

Our world begins with looking even before we speak. So does animation. Our International Animation Competition films this year look for a world and human condition that is hospitable and good to live in. Whether a boy is looking for love after his parents' divorce, a neighborhood seeking a surreal connection, or a person trying to cope with a multitasking day, the search is always on the horizon.

On the other hand, they also remind us of what these characters have to endure: uneasy memories, a world in turmoil, and even frauds masquerading as political leaders. From folk tales to moral dilemmas and experimental output, contemporary animation shorts (in 2D, 3D, and stop-motion animation) visualize our everyday fears and aspirations. Coming from both newcomers and established filmmakers, they create a pattern of artistic relevance in an age of increasing uncertainty about truth and importance. The animation films here are bold, strongly crafted, and they tell a clear story.

Screenings

Screening060418 / Shorts anima võistlusprogramm 3
Q&A duration
Screening duration

Films

I am not Here Anymore

Local title
Ma ei ole enam siin
Original title
Juz Mnie Nie Ma
Director
Nawojka Wierzbowska
Country
Year
2025
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2025
Programme

A grandfather dies and tries to leave his home. Unfortunately, his family don't want to believe that he's gone for good. Every time he tries to run away, they take him back to them.

Director
Nawojka Wierzbowska
Runtime
Language
Subtitles

Dog Alone

Local title
Üksijäetud koer
Original title
Cão Sozinho
Director
Marta Reis Andrade
Year
2025
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2025
Programme

A dog was abandoned in its own home at the time when my grandfather began to experience his widowhood and I was returning from London, a place where I felt lonelier than ever.

Director
Marta Reis Andrade
Runtime
Subtitles

To the Woods

Local title
Metsa poole
Original title
Une Fugue
Director
Agnès Patron
Country
Year
2025
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2025
Programme

Sister remembers that Brother had dark eyes, hair like her own, shoulders as fragile as a bird's wings, and that he knew the way to the river by heart. Sister has forgotten noting about Brother.

Director
Agnès Patron
Runtime
Language

The Weaver

Local title
Kuduja
Director
Yiorgos Tsangaris
Country
Year
2025
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2025
Programme

Arachne, the masterful weaver, spun tales of the gods’ misdeeds. But for weaving the truth, she was met with divine wrath, cruel and unrelenting.

Director
Yiorgos Tsangaris
Runtime
Language

How

Local title
Kuidas
Original title
How
Director
Marko Mestrovic
Country
Year
2025
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2025
Programme

Through the opening between reality and subtle poetic forms, surreal scenes and thrilling paradoxes reveal endless loops of existence.

Director
Marko Mestrovic
Runtime
Language
Subtitles

Dark Globe

Local title
Sünge maailm
Original title
Dark Globe
Director
Donato Sansone
Country
Year
2024
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2025
Programme

Human beings have become a war machine, an unstoppable element of destruction of everything around them. Is there still hope for the future or are we in an endless nightmare?

Director
Donato Sansone
Runtime
Language

With Tapes and Toasts in the Car

Local title
Kassetid ja võileivad
Original title
Im Auto Tapes und Butterbrot
Director
Kiana Naghshineh
Year
2025
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2025
Programme

In the face of her body fading into stardust, Shari realizes what truly matters to her.

Director
Kiana Naghshineh
Runtime
Language
Subtitles