Shorts New Talents Competition: Live-action 4

Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2023
Programme
Shorts New Talents Competition: Live-action

In the 2023 New Talents selection, young auteurs from across borders speak of loss and the search for identity, taking us on a wild ride of different approaches to committing events to memory and challenging familiar modes of storytelling. This programme is about finding a way for the filmmaker's story to disrupt the status quo and remind viewers that the real power of change lies within them.

The common thread in all the selected works by emerging filmmakers is the ambiguity of choice. Stand up or remain a silent witness. Rebel or submit to reality. It is about the choices that manifest as individual acts of courage, but also those that are thrust upon us against our will. The beauty of all these creative visions lies in their balance of sympathy and hostility toward a world on fire, and in their shared, unyielding hope that the humanity in us always has a chance to have its last say.

Screenings

Hall 2 Kino Artis
Screening072202 / Shorts New Talents võistlusprogramm: lühifilm 4
Q&A duration
Screening duration

Competition presented by:

Trailer

Films

Estonian premiere

In the Midst of Chaos there Was Shape

Local title
Mängud elavatele
Original title
Leikkejä eläville
Director
Saarlotta Virri
Country
Finland
Year
2023
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2023
Programme
Shorts New Talents Competition: Live-action

In a forest, three elderly sisters are playing hide-and-seek. As the play goes on, time starts to lose its linearity, and past selves merge with present ones. What follows is an odyssey through dreams and memories. A hallucinatory exploration of time and collective imagination.

Director
Saarlotta Virri
Runtime
Language
Finnish
Subtitles
English

Baltic premiere

The Birthday Party

Local title
Sünnipäevapidu
Original title
Il compleanno di Enrico
Director
Francesco Sossai
Country
Germany
Year
2023
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2023
Programme
Shorts New Talents Competition: Live-action

December 1999. I remember that, amidst the Millenium Bug anxiety, I went to the birthday of Enrico, a kid who lived with his family in an old and isolated farmhouse.

Director
Francesco Sossai
Runtime
Language
Italian
Subtitles
English

Estonian premiere

The Newt Congress

Local title
Salamandrite kongress
Original title
Der Molchkongress
Director
Matthias Sahli, Immanuel Esser
Country
Switzerland
Year
2022
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2023
Programme
Shorts New Talents Competition: Live-action

For years now, giant talking newts have been used both for their labour and as laboratory animals. The Newt Congress takes place at a conference building surrounded by nature where participants have come together to optimize the exploitation of the animals. The short film is a free adaptation of Karel Čapek's "War with the Newts".

Director
Matthias Sahli, Immanuel Esser
Runtime
Language
Swiss German
Subtitles
English

Baltic premiere

This Is Ours

Local title
See kuulub meile
Original title
This Is Ours
Director
Simon London
Country
United Kingdom
Year
2023
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2023
Programme
Shorts New Talents Competition: Live-action

Trapped in a 1960's facility evaluating children for potential citizenship, two girls are faced with the question of human value. While their competitive conditioning sets them against each other, one’s rebellion disrupts everything and sparks a connection that neither will forget.

Director
Simon London
Runtime
Language
English

European premiere

We Were Meant To

Local title
Me pidime
Original title
We Were Meant To
Director
Tari Wariebi
Country
USA
Year
2022
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2023
Programme
Shorts New Talents Competition: Live-action

In a world where Black men have wings and their first flight is a rite of passage, Akil must defy fears, insecurities, and societal barriers while discovering his perfect launch into manhood.

Director
Tari Wariebi
Runtime
Language
English