Shorts Live-Action Competition 5

Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2024
Programme
Shorts Live-Action Competition

The International Live Action Competition of 2024 take all the old clichés about the short film medium, grabs them by the scruff of the neck and takes them behind the back of the cinema for a good kicking. The short is not the sole domain of those practising before a ‘real film’. Neither is it is an exercise in style over substance. Great shorts pulsate with energy, with inventiveness and creativity often unbound by the restraints of commercialism. With both a insouciant wink and a bold disregard for convention, a short tells us as much about the world and ourselves in 10 minutes than many features can manage in 2 hours. This year’s competition mixes upcoming and provocative voices with more established names whose work proves that the short to feature paradigm doesn’t necessarily always flow in one direction. The films, of all genres, deal with subjects both timely and historical – love, death, war, motherhood, sex and everything else that makes the world go round. But all do so in a myriad of different ways as they showcase not only the power of cinema, but the genius of the medium of short films.

Screenings

6th Hall Apollo Kino Coca-Cola Plaza
Screening080603 / Shorts lühifilmi võistlusprogramm 5
Q&A duration
Screening duration

Films

World premiere

Jackpot

Local title
Peavõit
Original title
Jackpot
Director
Vasile Todinca, Vlad Popa
Country
Romania
Year
2024
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2024
Programme
Shorts Live-Action Competition

Nelu works at a pawn shop, and Ilinca is employed at a travel agency in the same busy intersection. Their daily routine includes having a quick lunch together while making various life plans.

Director
Vasile Todinca, Vlad Popa
Runtime
Language
Romanian
Subtitles
English

Baltic premiere

Dream Car Wash

Local title
Unistuste autopesu
Original title
Dream Car Wash
Director
Edoardo Brighenti
Country
United Kingdom
Year
2024
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2024
Programme
Shorts Live-Action Competition

The film follows Sara, an Iranian-Italian immigrant in London, through her daily struggle at a desolate car wash. Amidst mundane routines and fleeting encounters, Sara's inner dream of becoming a professional dancer yearns for expression.

Director
Edoardo Brighenti
Runtime
Subtitles
English

Baltic premiere

Victory

Local title
Võit
Original title
Pobjeda
Director
Zulfikar Filandra
Country
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Year
2024
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2024
Programme
Shorts Live-Action Competition

One morning, a group of workers is fired from the explosives factory. While some of them prepare to strike, unconvinced and depressed protagonist Velid wanders around his small town. Velid gets intercepted by two young filmmakers, a local and a Westerner, who are shooting a film about Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Director
Zulfikar Filandra
Runtime
Language
Bosnian
Subtitles
English

Baltic premiere

The Masterpiece

Local title
Meistriteos
Original title
The Masterpiece
Director
Àlex Lora
Country
Spain
Year
2024
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2024
Programme
Shorts Live-Action Competition

Leo and Diana, a rich couple, bring a broken TV to a recycle point. They meet Salif and his son, two scrap dealers. Diana asks them to come to their house to get more objects. Once there, Leo looks at them collecting objects with mistrust, until they see the scrap dealers have something they want.

Director
Àlex Lora
Runtime
Language
Spanish
Subtitles
English

World premiere

The Actor

Local title
Näitleja
Original title
The Actor
Director
Damjan Kozole
Country
Slovenia
Year
2024
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2024
Programme
Shorts Live-Action Competition

Everything the actor plays in films later happens to him in real life.

Director
Damjan Kozole
Runtime
Language
Slovenian
Subtitles
English

International premiere

Francis Bacon

Local title
Francis Bacon
Original title
Francis Bacon
Director
Darcy Cagen
Country
USA
Year
2024
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2024
Programme
Shorts Live-Action Competition

When a disillusioned young woman drops out of college, she wanders around Chicago searching for meaning and connection.

Director
Darcy Cagen
Runtime
Language
English
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