The Regulars - Live Action Documentaries 2

Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2026
Programme

Through six films, The Regulars takes us into the worlds that grow around the places that feel like home, because we keep coming back and the people who give them meaning day after day. There is humour, tenderness, awkwardness and a touch of the absurd in the ways we find our place in the world, hold on to traditions, and make a life out of the everyday.

Because sometimes, what makes a place special isn't the place itself, but the people who keep us coming back.

Screenings

5th Lux Hall Apollo Kino Plaza
Screening130516 / Püsikunded - lühidokumentaalid 2
Q&A duration
Screening duration

Films

Swimming Hall

Local title
Ujula
Original title
Uimahalli
Director
Anni Suikkanen, Toni Kristian Tikkanen
Country
Year
2026
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2026
Programme
Genre
Subject

A poetic short documentary about the experience of swimming in a public swimming hall. At its center is the old public indoor swimming pool of a small Finnish town, cherished by its swimmers as the most beautiful in the world. For its visitors, it is an almost timeless sanctuary, a place where visiting is a meaningful, delicate experience and a ritual. Now, as the hall faces the threat of demolition, customers of different ages and from several decades look back on their moments there. Swimming Hall is a universal story told through one pool, capturing all the shades of life.

Director
Anni Suikkanen, Toni Kristian Tikkanen
Screenwriter
Anni Suikkanen, Toni Kristian Tikkanen
Producer
Toni Kristian Tikkanen, Anni Suikkanen
Cast
Pietu Wikström, Raine Valtonen, Aura Kojo
Cinematographer
Jani Kautto
Editing
Toni Kristian Tikkanen, Anni Suikkanen
Composer
Antti-Ville Muurman
Sales agent
Toni Tikkanen
Sound
Antti-Ville Muurman
Runtime
Language
Subtitles

Puolanka Pussy Rally

Local title
Puolanka naisejaht
Director
Inka Achté, Einari Paakkanen
Country
Year
2026

Puolanka, a tiny village in Northern Finland is famous for its population decline, but also for its dark sense of humor about it. As the long summer evenings stretch out, teenage boys celebrate their new driver’s licences by endlessly circling the same few streets, while an older generation of local gents, proudly known as The Parliament, has already parked itself permanently at the petrol station café. Here, hunting and the legendary “Pussy Rally” aren’t taboos but badges of cultural identity. The only mystery that seems unsolved: where have all the women gone?

Director
Inka Achté, Einari Paakkanen
Producer
Inka Achté, Einari Paakkanen
Cinematographer
Antti Savolainen
Editing
Einari Paakkanen
Editing
Einari Paakkanen
Sound
Pietu Korhonen
Sound
Pietu Korhonen
Runtime
Language
Subtitles

Maids of Petroleum

Local title
Naftaneitsid
Director
Hans Baumann
Country
Year
2026
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2026
Programme
Genre
Subject

Every five years in Taft, California, young women are crowned as the "Maids of Petroleum" in a century-old beauty pageant rooted in the town's oil economy. Moving between rehearsals, municipal proceedings, and the final ceremony, the film observes how ritual—pageantry, public speech, and procedure—sustains civic pride in a community shaped by long-term extraction and economic decline.

Director
Hans Baumann
Producer
Matthew JX Doyle, Hans Baumann
Cinematographer
Nellie Kluz
Editing
Alex Tyson
Sound
Chris Howland, Emile Klein
Runtime
Language
Subtitles

Rose's House

Local title
Rose'i maja
Original title
Rose's House
Director
Naomi Abel-Hirsch
Year
2026
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2026
Programme
Genre
Subject

In 1979, Martine Rose bought a dilapidated terraced house in Sheffield and renovated it herself. It became one of the first dedicated spaces for trans people in the UK. Built from unseen archive, the film moves between past and present to trace what Martine built, and what remains.

Director
Naomi Abel-Hirsch
Producer
Naomi Abel-Hirsch
Cast
Martine Rose
Cinematographer
Nina Oyens
Editing
Yu-Pu Pon
Composer
Jack McCartney
Sound
Em Edwards
Runtime
Language
Subtitles

Killing Me Softly

Local title
Sõõrikud
Original title
Munkki
Director
Viena Kytöjoki
Country
Year
2026
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2026
Programme
Genre
Subject

In the military home, nothing suggests that it is 2025 and the world is on the brink of World War III. The sisters are once again eagerly preparing for the arrival of new conscripts. The jam machine is clicking, the dishwasher is roaring and the napkins are being folded. The army of sisters work with practiced skills and their own edgy style. The film Killing me softly follows the military home sisters who do voluntary national defense work and the young conscripts who are the customers of the military home. The film depicts a military world where weapons are not visible. Following the military home, the question arises: how warlike is a person after all?

Director
Viena Kytöjoki
Screenwriter
Viena Kytöjoki
Producer
Elisa Syväoja
Cinematographer
Ida Lindgren
Editing
Vilma Hannen
Composer
Annika Fuhrmann
Sound
Eetu Jokela
Runtime
Language
Subtitles

Next Stop : Fontenay

Local title
Järgmine peatus: Fontenay
Original title
Prochain arrêt : Fontenay
Director
Charlyne Genoud
Year
2026

In a local bar, time gets tied up in knots. It ebbs and flows with the habits of the regulars and the passing buses. Framing a majority of men over the age of sixty, the director enters the image in an attempt to find her place, until she gets bogged down in this refuge of sociability.

Director
Charlyne Genoud
Screenwriter
Charlyne Genoud
Producer
Jean-Guillaume Sonnier, Paolo Moretti
Cast
Nicole Blanc, Christophe Bergaz, Jean-Claude Monod, Didier Favre
Cinematographer
Fabian Kimoto
Editing
Charlyne Genoud
Sound
Michael Girod
Runtime
Language
Subtitles