Shorts New Talents Competition: Live-action 1

Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2026

What does the body know that we refuse to say out loud? This year's New Talents, hailing from across Europe, the Americas and Asia, answer with films that are restless in form and fearless in subject. Guilt festers behind small lies, silence turns into action, and family, political and colonial histories press on characters caught between childhood and adulthood. Bodies itch, mutate, desire and rebel, becoming the place where private anxieties and social expectations collide. The approaches are as varied as the stories. Coming-of-age dramas share the screen with essay films and found-footage collage. Documentary turns personal and confessional. Body horror seeps into realism. Magical realism turns grief into myth. Art history bleeds into the everyday. Awkward comedy sits next to feverish night-time odysseys and quiet rural portraits. Bold, strange and often funny, these young filmmakers show that growing up never really ends. It just changes shape.

-Darya Levchenko

Screenings

5th Lux Hall Apollo Kino Plaza
Screening050517 / Shorts New Talents võistlusprogramm: lühifilm 1
Q&A duration
Screening duration

Competition presented by:

Films

Laser-Gato

Local title
Laserkiisu
Original title
LASER-GATO
Director
Lucas Acher
Year
2026

After a laser pointer prank goes horribly wrong, a socially anxious teenager spends one chaotic night roaming São Paulo to save his crush’s critically injured cat, as guilt and paranoia push him toward a breaking point.

Director
Lucas Acher
Screenwriter
Lucas Acher
Producer
João Peireira Webber, João Pereira Webber
Runtime
Language
Subtitles

Spring Fugue

Local title
Kevadfuuga
Director
Mariam Bitsadze
Year
2026
Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2026
Programme
Genre
Subject

She is 13. She won`t speak. Until her body takes over.

Director
Mariam Bitsadze
Screenwriter
Mariam Bitsadze
Producer
Paolo Moretti, Anita Hugi, Jean-Guillaume Sonnier
Cast
Lile Davrichachvili, Anna Kobakhidze, Lile Gavrichachvili
Cinematographer
Jimmy Gimferrer
Composer
Natalie Beridze
Runtime
Language
Subtitles

Shutterbug

Local title
Piltnik
Director
Fin Bain
Year
2026

Over one long night an ambitious young music photographer is confronted with some dark realities.

Director
Fin Bain
Screenwriter
Fin Bain
Producer
Andrew Hart
Co-producer
BBC Film
Cast
Neil Leiper, Saul Davidson, Jess Douglas-Welsh, Scott Miller, Neshla Caplan
Cinematographer
Piers Deseilligny
Editing
Ciara Flint
Production Design
Urté Rusteikaite
Composer
Amelia Sinclair Kidd
Sound
Heather Andrews, Kahl Henderson
Runtime
Language
Subtitles

First, Do No Harm

Local title
Esiteks, ära tee kahju
Original title
Především neublížit
Director
Anna Wowra
Country
Year
2026

Christian Polish gynecologist Alicja is visited by her old friend asking her to terminate her pregnancy. She has to make a difficult decision if she is going to obey her faith and laws or help her friend.

Director
Anna Wowra
Screenwriter
Alžbeta Gertli, Anna Wowra
Producer
Lukáš Procházka, Anna Horáková
Co-producer
Tomáš Šimon, Lukáš Moudrý, Jan Syruček, Markéta Pášmová, Anna Wowra, Kateřina Kunčická
Cast
Weronika Bartold, Sandra Drzymalska, Beata Bandurska, Szymon Nowak, Lech Mackiewicz, Zuzana Částková, Kacper Koziej, Paulina Kinga Dobosz
Cinematographer
Kristina Kůlová, Kristina Kůlová
Editing
Katarzyna Orzechowska
Production Design
Pavlína Chroňáková
Sound
Matěj Lindner
Runtime
Language
Subtitles

The Good Threads

Local title
Head niidid
Original title
Head niidid
Director
Romet Põhako
Country
Year
2026

Three sisters notice a strange car while cleaning the apartment of their recently deceased grandmother.

Director
Romet Põhako
Screenwriter
Mari Lepp
Producer
Eliise Marie Soll
Cast
Pauliine Põldmaa, Karmen Parijõgi, Mirjam Äkke
Cinematographer
Chris Patrick Tilk, Chris Patrick Tilk
Editing
Eiden Lass
Production Design
Rander Arumägi
Sound
Lars Liimets
Runtime
Language
Subtitles

Dulle Griet

Local title
Dulle Griet
Original title
Dulle Griet
Director
Alice Pamart
Country
Year
2025

We live a miserable life and one day we die. Marguerite’s body is found lifeless. She awakens in an underground world populated by strange figures. On the surface, her granddaughter Odile struggles to find meaning in life. The two women connect mysteriously through Brueghel’s Dulle Griet. As a museum guide explains the painting to visitors, its elements begin to come alive in both women’s realities. The struggle never truly ends. But if life is to be worth anything, we must fight for it.

Director
Alice Pamart
Screenwriter
Alice Pamart
Producer
Royal Institute for Theatre, Cinema and Sound (RITCS), Guillaume Crener
Cast
Marijke Pinoy, Juliette Nyssen, Alice Brogers
Cinematographer
Loic Meulenberg, Loic Meulenberg
Editing
Mauro De Groeve
Composer
Anthony Jacobs
Make-up
Simon Detiffe
Runtime
Language
Subtitles