Shorts Live-Action Competition 5 (2021)

Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2021
Programme
Shorts Live-Action Competition

The world still feels small. Even though many of us are moving into some sort of normality – whatever ‘normal’ is nowadays – the endless stretches of isolation and distancing have conspired to make life seem more constrained and fragile. Yet cinema – and the films in the PÖFF Shorts International Competition – reminds us that there is still a whole community of humanity out on a big planet full of wonder. That there are people who – even if we have differences – we share a connection with and whose stories show us that any isolation is ultimately temporary.

While the pandemic is touched upon in the programme, the films here remind us that the everyday struggles of humanity still go on. There are loves to be found and hearts to be broken. There are corporations to fight and death to confront. There are mysteries to solve and joy and laughter to be had.

With a range of styles and genres, from dark drama to fun comedy with a little detour into the realms of magical realism, all the filmmakers in the International Competition not only astound with their talent but become a constant source of reminding us that we are still together, even if we have felt far apart.

Laurence Boyce and Tara Karajica

Films

Baltic premiere

Semiotic Plastic

Local title
Semiootiline plastik
Director
Radu Jude
Country
Romania
Year
2021
Programme
Shorts Live-Action Competition

The life of human beings, seen from birth to old age. Only that this generic life is not represented with humans, but with the artefacts that we the humans have created for our children (or should we say “cubs”?), in order to prepare them for life: the toys. So, the film is a collage of scenes in which the toys help us understand better a possible essence of our life.

Director
Radu Jude
Runtime
Language
Romanian
Subtitles
English

Baltic premiere

Dora

Local title
Dora
Director
Joanne Delachair
Country
France
Year
2020
Programme
Shorts Live-Action Competition

Dora turns 16. Strangely, for some time now, she has been eating like an ogre and locking herself with her friends for long hours around a strange thing, stirring up her mother’s sick curiosity.

Director
Joanne Delachair
Runtime
Language
French
Subtitles
English

Baltic premiere

A Fairy Tale

Local title
Muinaslugu
Original title
En Fin de Conte
Director
Zoé Arene
Country
Belgium
Year
2021
Programme
Shorts Live-Action Competition

Apprentice filmmaker, Juan makes a documentary portrait of Coco, a thirty-something-year-old marginal. The film is quickly called into question when Juan discovers that Coco thinks she’s a fairy in a disenchanted society.

Director
Zoé Arene
Runtime
Language
French
Subtitles
English

International premiere

6 Legs

Local title
6 jalga
Director
Isamu Hirabayashi
Country
Japan
Year
2020
Programme
Shorts Live-Action Competition

A mother, a father and their child are in a dark box. The child is getting a cough constantly. The mother asks the father why we are getting such a strange situation. The father says he can't understand this situation. The bombing sound can be heard from far away. What is happening now?

Director
Isamu Hirabayashi
Runtime
Language
Ja2
Subtitles
English

International premiere

Kafkas

Local title
Kafkad
Director
Nick Blake
Country
United Kingdom
Year
2021
Programme
Shorts Live-Action Competition

Massachusetts, 1987. Fran is a college-educated bag of nerves with a head full of philosophy and an unhealthy obsession with Franz Kafka. In the late hours of the night she cold-calls men across America who have the surname Kafka in hope of finding her soulmate.

Director
Nick Blake
Runtime
Language
English

Baltic premiere

All The Crows In The World

Local title
Kogu maailma varesed
Original title
天下烏鴉
Director
Yi Tang
Country
Hong Kong
Year
2021
Programme
Shorts Live-Action Competition

18-year-old Shengnan Zhao enters an adventure in the adults' world.

Director
Yi Tang
Runtime
Language
Chinese
Subtitles
English
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