SECTION: Short Film Competition

Behind the closed doors of this hotel lie very different secrets: the guests try to escape the world for an hour, while the housekeeper goes about her work as usual. Moving between realism and the metaphysical, the film reminds us that life is as ...

On a train leaving to Kazakhstan, three young men are stopped by border patrol, forbidden to leave the Russian Federation, even as the officer mockingly notes that they “suddenly all have grandmothers in Kazakhstan”. One of them, Petya, was ...

A shy Roma boy is asked to reveal his supposed miracle to a TV crew: he can levitate. But the cameras are only interested in the effect, not in him. A powerful metaphor for how the discriminated Roma minority is treated, between sensationalism and ...

A group of homeless people have settled in an abandoned house on the outskirts of town – but on Christmas Eve, the owner shows up at the door. In poetic, documentary-style images, the winner of the 2022 FFC Short Film Competition, Rinaldas ...

Primary school student Lani knows the value of money, but he values education above all. As part of the Roma minority, he tries to follow his own path, apart from the community around him. When the petty gangster Balja refuses to pay him and his ...

A romantic anniversary at a hotel goes thoroughly off track for Laura and Marius – in this chaos, there is no space for real passion. With charisma, sharp wit, and a warm undertone, this comedy skewers bourgeois sensibilities while raising the ...

With the discovery of a briefcase filled with dirty money, the routine day of two fishermen, father and son, takes a sudden turn. When ruthless gangsters and corrupt policemen appear on the scene, the two find themselves caught between greed and ...

A Romanian smuggler brings cigarettes out of Ukraine under the guise of humanitarian aid. But a Ukrainian refugee child who sneaks into his van throws his plans into disarray. Speechlessness, mistrust and the war raging in the background characterise ...

After years of waiting, Olena finally reaches the moment of truth. Together with her daughter and partner, she arrives in eastern Ukraine, where a mass grave has been uncovered. DNA tests may clarify the fate of her missing husband – but on site, ...

In the year 2194, a civil servant encounters an artificial intelligence that believes it is on the verge of completing its human body. Against the high-tech backdrop of the AI laboratory, an intense duel unfolds that will decide the fate of this new ...

Nûşîn returns to her Kurdish family when her sister is hospitalised after attempting suicide and is declared brain dead. But her sister is pregnant – accidentally? Torn between feelings of guilt, shame and social pressure, Nûşîn fights ...

A highly talented but failed pianist returns home to Moldova in the 2000s. Together with his eight-year-old son, he struggles to secure a spot to sell vegetables. When the burden of poverty nearly breaks the father, an inconspicuous gesture from his ...