Award winners and popular festival titles sit alongside new discoveries for audiences to see during Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in November.

PÖFF Shorts, a sub-festival of the A-Class Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, has unveiled the titles that will make up its five international competition sections. The 98 films will screen across the festival which runs from 16 to 24 November at venues across Tallinn, Estonia.

The festival’s international Live Action Competition features some of the very best contemporary fiction and documentary short filmmaking from across the world. Over five programmes and 27 films the competition will showcase a mixture of filmmaking heavyweights alongside a host of bright new stars.

Oscar Isaac, star of current blockbuster Dune, appears in the emotional and moving film The Letter Room (Dir. Elvira Lind, US, 2021) in which he plays a prison guard who becomes embroiled with a prisoner’s life through the letters that are sent to him. Ben Whishaw, currently appearing as Q in No Time To Die, also makes an appearance in Miss Fortunate (Dir.Ella Jones, UK, 2021) a brittle and hilarious comedy while Rose Byrne, star of such films as X-Men: First Class, turns in Nash Edgerton’s eagerly awaited comedy drama Shark (Australia).

Award winners are also abundant in the selection with films such as All The Crows In The World (Dir. Yi Tang, Hong Kong), the winner of this year’s Palme d’Or at Cannes for Best Short Film and Strangers (Dir. Nora Longatti, Switzerland), the recipient of Best Swiss Short at this year’s edition of Locarno. Also anticipated will be Semiotic Plastic (Romania), a short from Radu Jude who won the Golden Bear at this year’s edition of Berlin for his feature Bad Luck Banging, Or Looney Porn.

The international Animation Competition sees 36 films — including 12 films in Childrens’ Animation Competition — that explore the most recent trends and tendencies and fine films in the international animation scene.

There are new strong films by an established generation of auteurs, such as Michelle and Uri Kranot’s Krakow Film Festival awarded study of social responsibility in The Hangman at Home; Leonid Shmelkov, who won a jury mention in the National Competition at PÖFF Shorts 2020 for his Room with A Sea View, now returns with Cucumbers, an art-related eccentric comedy which will have its world premiere at PÖFF Shorts.

The Oscar-nominated UK director Joanna Quinn returns with her Clermont-Ferrand awarded film, Affairs of the Art, a hilarious comedy on artistry and ordinary life, while the Animafest Zagreb winner, and social class horror film Night Bus by Joe Hsieh is ready to shock the audiences.

Other strong directors' voices include the Polish Marta Pajek and her acclaimed Impossible Figures and Other Stories I, and the Slovenian Špela Čadež and her dysfunctional relationship drama Steakhouse (premiered at Locarno Film Festival).

The children animation lineup features 12 films, which compete in addition for the Jury Prize for Best Children’s Film: from Israel to Switzerland and Finland, that all take a refreshing look on family, nature, and our own myths and prejudices. This will include the beautiful children’s story of Red (and the discovery of all the other colors) by Chen Yang, which will have its International Premiere at PÖFF Shorts.

The New Talents Live Action will bring PÖFF Shorts audiences 25 of the best films from the world’s most renowned film schools, showcasing those filmmakers who will be the leading lights in cinema in the years to come.

Musical fantasy Neon Phantom (Dir. Leonardo Martinelli, Brazil), the winner of this year’s Best Short at the Locarno Film Festival, will screen amongst the selected films alongside weird and wonderful drama The Salamander Child (Dir. Théo Degen, Belgium), which was the winner of the Cinefondation Prize at this year’s edition of Cannes.

The section will also host the international premiere of Apocalypse Baby, we advertise the end of the world (Dirs. Camille Tricaud, Franziska Unger, Germany, Fiction) a pop satire about consumerism and climate crisis.

The New Talents Animation will showcase 10 films from some of the most exciting and fresh animation practitioners.
Films will include the inventive animation documentary Love, Dad by Diana Cam Van Nguyen, which has recently won Best Short at the 2021 London Film Festival.

POFF Shorts is an Academy Award and BAFTA Qualifying festival. It is also a nominating festival for candidates for the European Film Awards. Providing they fit the requirements of each organisation, films across all four competitions will be eligible.

Head of POFF Shorts, Grete Nellis said:
„We’re proud to be presenting a wonderfully rich and diverse selection of films across our animation and live action competitions. A snapshot of some great filmmaking across the world, we’re sure that the competitions will delight and enthrall our audiences.“

Here you can find the full list of titles for the international short film and animation competition.

WP — World Premiere, IP — International Premiere, EP — European Premiere, BP — Baltic Premiere

International Live Action
6 Legs (Dir. Isamu Hirabayashi, Japan, Fiction, IP)
A Day's Work (Dir. Max Kerkhoff, Germany, Documentary, BP)
A Fairy Tale (Dir. Zoé Arene, Belgium, Fiction, BP)
All The Crows In The World (Dir. Yi Tang, Hong Kong, Fiction, BP)
Brutalia: Days of Labour (Dir. Manolis Mavris, Greece, Fiction, BP)
Comrade Policeman (Dir. Assel Aushakimova, Kazhakstan, Fiction, BP)
Deliveries (Dir.Lauri Niemelä, Estonia, Fiction)
Dora (Dir. Joanne Delachair, France, Fiction, BP)
Eating Soil (Dir. Laura Weissenberger, Austria, Documentary, BP)
Happiness is a Journey (Dirs. Ivete Lucas, Patrick Bresnan, USA / Estonia, BP)
Heartless (Dir. Haukur Björgvinsson, Iceland, Fiction, BP)
Kafkas (Dir.Nick Blake, UK, Fiction, IP)
Lovebirds (Dir. Víctor Moreno, Spain, Fiction, BP)
Miss Fortunate (Dir. Ella Jones, UK, Fiction, BP)
North Pole (Dir. Marija Apcevska, North Macedonia, Fiction, BP)
Roy (Dirs. Ross White, Tom Berkeley, UK, Fiction, EP)
Semiotic Plastic (Dir. Radu Jude, Romania, Fiction, BP)
Shark (Dir. Nash Edgerton, Australia, Fiction, BP)
Sisters’ Busy Hands (Dir. Jovi LEE Yi-shan, Taiwan, Fiction, BP)
Strangers (Dir. Nora Longatti, Switzerland, Fiction, BP)
Sunrise in My Mind (Dir. Danech San, Cambodia, Fiction, BP)
That Summer We Stayed At Home (Dir. Noelia R. Deza, Spain, Fiction, BP)
The Colonel Cries for The Red-Haired Woman (Dir. Gergő V. Nagy, Hungary, Fiction, BP)
The Fishergirl [La Pescatora] (Dir. Lucia Lorè, Italy, Fiction, BP)
The Letter Room (Dir. Elvira Lind, US, Fiction,BP)
Useless Opera Singers (Dir. Pablo Serret de Ena, Denmark, Fiction, BP)

International Animation Competition
Affairs of the Art (Dir. Joanna Quinn, UK / Canada)
Anxious Body (Dir. Yoriko MIZUSHIRI, France / Japan, BP)
Bestia (Dir. Hugo Covarrubias, Chile, BP)
Cucumbers (Dir. Leonid Shmelkov, Russia / France, WP)
De Passant (The Passerby) (Dir Pieter Coudyzer, Belgium, BP)
DING (Thing) (Dir. Malte Stein, Germany, BP)
Dog's Field (Dir. Michalina Musialik, Poland, BP)
Easter Eggs (Dir. Nicolas Keppens, Belgium / France /Netherlands)
Granny's Sexual Life (Dir. Urška Djukić, Slovenia / France, BP)
Hide (Dir. Daniel Benjamin Gray, France / Hungary /Canada, BP)
Impossible Figures and Other Stories I (Dir. Marta Pajek, Poland / Canada, BP)
L'amour en plan (Dir.Claire Sichez, France, BP)
Life's a Bitch (Dir. Varya Yakovleva, Russia, BP)
My Father's Damn Camera (Dir. Milos Tomic, Slovenia, BP)
Night (Dir. Ahmad Saleh, Germany / Qatar / Jordan / Palestine, BP)
NIGHT BUS (Dir. Joe Hsieh, Taiwan, BP)
Salvia at Nine (Dir. JANG Nari, South Korea, BP)
Steakhouse (Dir. Špela Čadež, Slovenia / Germany / France, BP)
Terra Incognita (Dirs. Pernille Kjaer, Adrian Dexter, France / Denmark, BP)
The Expected (Dir. Carolina Sandvik, Sweden, BP)
The Fourth Wall (Dir. Mahboobeh Kalaee, Iran, BP)
The Hangman at Home (Dirs. Michelle and Uri Kranot, Denmark / France / Canada, BP)
Trona Pinnacles (Dir. Mathilde Parquet, France, BP)
What resonates in silence (Dir. Marine Blin, France)

New Talents Live Action
Apocalypse Baby, we advertise the end of the world (Dirs. Camille Tricaud, Franziska Unger, Germany, Fiction, IP)
Arriving (Dir. Mohammad Reza Rasouli, Austria, Fiction, IP)
Consume (Dir. Bruno Gradaschi, Argentina, Fiction, BP)
Encounter (Dir. Arctic Qu, Australia, Fiction, WP)
Home Is Where The Scars Are From (Dir. Mathias Seebacher, Austria, Fiction, BP)
Hourglass House (Dir. Yinghai Hu, China, Fiction, BP)
Junko (Dir. Minsho Limbu, Nepal, Fiction, EP)
Mother in the Mist (Dir. Kay Niuyue Zhang, China / US, Fiction, BP)
Neon Phantom (Dir. Leonardo Martinelli, Brazil, Fiction, BP)
Operator Victoria (Dir. Anna Sobolevska, Ukraine, Fiction, WP)
Otava (Dir. Lana Bregar, Slovenia, Fiction, BP)
Push Pins (Dir. Lisa Sallustio, France, Fiction, BP)
Still Processing (Dir. Sophy Romvari, Canada, Fiction, BP)
Summer of Bees (Dir. Ida-Maria Olva, Finland, Fiction, BP)
Summer Planning (Dir. Alexandru Mironescu, Romania, Fiction, BP)
The Common Order (Dir. Ben Voit, Germany, Fiction, WP)
The Dinner After (Dir. Matty Crawford, UK, Fiction, WP)
The Flexed Arm Hang (Dir.Findlay Brown,Canada, Fiction, BP)
The Salamander Child (Dir. Théo Degen, Belgium, Fiction, BP)
Thinking About The Weather (Dir. Gardar Thor Thorkelsson, UK, Documentary, BP)
Under Control (Dir. Ville Koskinen, Estonia, Documentary)
Underground Cemetery (Dir. Wisarut Sriputsomboon, Thailand, Fiction, BP)
Vyraj (Dir. Agnieszka Nowosielska, Poland, Fiction, BP)
We Will Be The Greatest (Dir. Jelena Vujović, Switzerland, Fiction, BP)
Where Do We Go? (Dir. Barbara Lervig, Faroe Islands, Fiction, EP)

New Talents AnimationA Film About a Pudding (Dir. Roel Van Beek, UK, BP)
Bye Little Block! (Dir. Éva Darabos, Hungary, BP)
Coffin (Dirs. Yuanqing CAI, Nathan CRABOT, Houzhi HUANG, Mikolaj JANIW, Mandimby LEBON, Théo TRAN NGOC, France, BP)
Dogs Smell Like the Sea (Dir. Anastasiya Lisovets, Russia, BP)
Eyes and Horns (Dir. Chaerin Im, Germany / South Korea / USA, BP)
Inside (Dir. Viktorie Štěpánov, Czech Republic, BP)
Love, Dad (Dir. Diana Cam Van Nguyen, Czech Republic / Slovakia, BP)
Pests (Dir. Juliette Laboria, France, BP)
Reduction (Dir. Réka Anna Szakály, Hungary, BP)
Thorns and Fishbones (Dir. Azevedo Andrade Natália, Hungary, IP)

International Children’s Animation Competition
A stone in the shoe (Dir. Eric Montchaud, France, BP)
Battery Daddy (Dir. Seung-bae Jeon, South Korea, BP)
Black Slide (Dir. Uri Lotan, Israel, BP)
Children of Gainmore: How They Found It (Dir Petr Mischinger, Czech Republic, BP)
In Nature (Dir Marcel Barelli, Switzerland, BP)
Mussels & Fries (Dir. Nicolas Hu, France, BP)
Patouille and the parachute seeds (Dirs. Inès Bernard-Espina, Mélody Boulissière, Clémentine Campos, France, BP)
Red (Dir. Chen Yang , Germany, IP)
Solitaire (Dir. Edoardo Natoli, Italy, BP
The Girl Who Stood Still (Dir Joana Toste, Portugal, BP)
The Landing (Dir. Kaisa Penttila, Finland, BP)
Vanille (Dir. Guillaume Lori, France / Switzerland, BP)

National Competition
Award Presented by High Voltage

Mia & Liki (Dir. Katrin Tegova, Estonia, 2021)
County Court (Dir. Eeva Mägi, Estonia, 2020, WP)
Found You (Dir. Ragne Mandri, Estonia, 2021, WP)
The Lion Blanket (Dir. Sofia Afonasina, Estonia, 2020)
The Monster (Dir. Oliver Remma, Estonia, 2021, WP)
A Wish Upon A Satellite (Dir. Leeni Linna, Estonia, 2021)
Till We Meet Again (Dir. Ülo Pikkov, Estonia, 2021, WP)
Old Men and the Sea (Dir. Daria Litvichenko, Estonia, 2020, WP)
Wednesday (Dir. Eeva Mägi, Estonia, 2021, WP)
Common Language (Dir. Volia Chajkouskaya, Estonia, 2020)
Granny, meet Mari (Dir. Kaire Russ, Estonia, 2021)
How To Be Naked (Dir. Laura Liventaal, Estonia, 2020, WP)
A Most Exquisite Man (Dir. Jonas Taul, Estonia, 2021)
The King (Dir. Teresa Juksaar, Estonia, 2021)
The Stork (Dir. Morten Tšinakov, Lucija Mrzljak, Estonia, 2020)
Lost in the Rust (Dir. Rūdolfs Anže, Estonia, 2021)
Fotosession (Dir. Robert Raska Ly, Estonia, 2021, WP)
Four Stones (Dir. Francesco Rosso, Estonia, 2021)
Cerberus (Dir. Kaspar Ainelo, Estonia, 2021)
Tyrant (Dir. Ruslan Mironov, Estonia, 2021, WP)
Talent (Dir. Silver Õun, Estonia, 2021)
Face Recognition (Dir. Martinus Klemet, Estonia, 2021)
Brutes (Dir. Raoul Kirsima, Estonia, 2021, WP)