Today’s film selection boldly tackles weighty topcis and complex psychological territory.

Last year, Laura Hyppönen’s project won the audience award at PÖFF’s industry gathering, Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event. Today, the director returns with the finished feature. Lex Julia (17:45, Plaza) explores sexual violence, silence and responsibility. Rea Lest, known for bringing sensitivity to intense roles, plays Julia, a music producer forced to confront her trauma. The director and her team will join the audience after the world premiere screening.

The emotional intensity continues with Where Is My Son? (18:00, Plaza), having its world premiere in the Official Selection Competition. It is a hot summer’s day, and spirits are high as a Kazakh family prepares for a wedding. Then someone notices that the family’s youngest son is nowhere to be found. He has simply vanished. The music plays on, fear mounts and old secrets surface. Director Dias Bertis will attend the screening.

Revenge Takes an Unexpected Turn

Drumskin (21:00, Plaza) receives its world premiere tonight. Milena’s husband has been left in a vegetative state by a drunk driver. When the man responsible is released from prison, Milena begins following him to AA meetings, but her pursuit of revenge develops into something far more complicated. In this Argentinian thriller, malambo, a passionate dance traditionally performed by men, awakens Milena’s long-dormant desires. The film screens in the Official Selection Competition, with director Joaquín Cambre and members of the cast joining the audience afterwards.

More Friday Adventures: Film Picks

• SUMO: Spirit Weighs Nothing (19:30, Solaris) is a visual feast. Shot in black and white and sepia tones, it takes us inside a Tokyo sumo stable where cameras are rarely allowed. Here, a novice, a rising star and the only active yokozuna train.
• Irreparable (20:00, Plaza). Olivia is buying some very sharp knives: she has a few things to sort out at home. An evening with her sister awaits. This Colombian black comedy is best approached without expectations. A world premiere in the Rebels with a Cause Competition, with cast members and the screenwriter in attendance.
• IOU (20:30, Plaza). Grumpy debt collector Wu barges into the home of a brother and sister to collect their father’s debts. The children are not afraid of him. Steven Zhang Zhonghua’s warm and funny Chinese New Year tale has its world premiere at PÖFF, with the director joining the audience after the screening.

The festival shifts up a gear today as several programmes get under way, including the Official Selection Competition, Rebels with a Cause and Critics’ Picks. Takeyour time to go through the schedule: there is plenty to discover. You’find all the details right here on our website.