Shorts New Talents Competition: Live-action 2 (2021)

Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2021
Programme
Shorts New Talents Competition: Live-action

Some people take the term ‘New Talents’ to indicate a certain lack of experience and competence. That the movies in the New Talents Live Action competition are somehow less refined and polished than others. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those in the know are aware that the term ‘New Talents’ means films with a freshness of vision, a precocious grasp of the language of cinema and a bold authorial voice which will resonate throughout the realms of the film industry over the years to come.

The filmmakers here explore many facets of the modern age – amongst them parenthood, the environment and capitalism – and do so in a way that reminds us of the tremendous power of short films. That despite relatively short running times, they tell us so much about human nature and the state of the world in which we live today.

With all the filmmakers in the selection having a commanding grasp of how to use the short form, the New Talents Live Action competition of 2021 becomes a rollercoaster ride of exhilarating storytelling and a collection of stunning filmmakers who everyone should keep an eye on as their rare talents develop even further as time goes on.

Competition presented by:

Films

Baltic premiere

Thinking About The Weather

Local title
Mõtisklemas ilmast
Director
Gardar Thor Thorkelsson
Country
United Kingdom
Year
2020
Programme
Shorts New Talents Competition: Live-action

Desperate to resolve his anxieties about the looming climate apocalypse the filmmaker embarks on an odyssey around Britain. He travels to places that will soon be submerged by the sea in the hope that he will learn how to live in a world that seems doomed. As he travels through seaside villages in Wales, Scottish islands and England he is met with apathy, complacency and militant denial. Will he be plunged further into the depths of despair, or will he find a reason to hope? Thinking About the Weather is a travel documentary about the end of the world.

Director
Gardar Thor Thorkelsson
Runtime
Language
English
Trailer

International premiere

Apocalypse Baby, we advertise the end of the world

Local title
Apokalüpsis, kullake, me reklaamime maailmalõppu
Director
Camille Tricaud, Franziska Unger
Country
Germany
Year
2021
Programme
Shorts New Talents Competition: Live-action

A pop satire. A teleshopping show that uses the fear of climate apocalypse as a reason to convince the audience to consume more and more. A film about consumerism and climate crisis, about global warming and individualism, about hedonism and guilty conscience, about the contradictions inside of us. A reflexion about the way we look away and an exposure of the cynicism of a capitalistic system. “A great many of us engage in this kind of climate change denial. We look for a split second and then we look away. Or we look but then turn it into a joke (“more signs of the Apocalypse!”). Which is another way of looking away.”
Naomi Klein (This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate, 2014).

Director
Camille Tricaud, Franziska Unger
Runtime
Language
German, English
Subtitles
English
Trailer

Baltic premiere

Consume

Local title
Tarbi
Director
Bruno Gradaschi
Country
Argentina
Year
2020
Programme
Shorts New Talents Competition: Live-action

A world where everyone lives in the work stations and eats liquid food coming from dispensers. Workers that are only numbers fulfill incomprehensible and alienating tasks to earn points and reach a target to move up the chain and access a better life. We know him as 079 and he keeps falling short leaving that promotion too far to reach. So he decides to steal the remaining points from his next door neighbor.

Director
Bruno Gradaschi
Runtime
Trailer

Under Control

Local title
Kontrolli all
Director
Ville Koskinen
Country
Estonia
Year
2021
Programme
Shorts New Talents Competition: Live-action

Looking at humans from the insect's level. A A A botanical garden is an artificial nature-like installation where each room has its own microclimate. Despite human attempts to control the environment, pests are spreading and eating the plants all over the garden. The gardeners are fighting against the pests with cryptobugs; thousands of ladybirds that are specially bred for killing and imported from abroad. But since cryptobugs alone don’t solve the problem, the gardeners have to rely on the help of an exterminator who kills the pests as well as all the other insects with poisons. As the remedies get harsher, the bystanders will have to face the consequences.

Director
Ville Koskinen
Runtime
Trailer

Baltic premiere

Summer of Bees

Local title
Mesilaste suvi
Director
Ida-Maria Olva
Country
Finland
Year
2021
Programme
Shorts New Talents Competition: Live-action

On a particularly hot summer, Eedi, suffering from eco-anxiety, decides to quit their studies and start beekeeping. Eedi gets reluctant help from their mother Anne who, rather than fearing for the future, is scared of every single little bee.

Director
Ida-Maria Olva
Runtime
Language
Finnish
Subtitles
English
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