With the awards ceremony approaching, there is a palpable sense of excitement in the air as PÖFF 29 reaches its powerful climax, with each screening feeling like a last chance to soak up the latest in cinematic art. Today's selection includes stories that boldly go above and beyond, as well as those that quietly sink under your skin and stay there longer than you might initially think.
On Friday, profound dramas alternate with sharp social criticism and delicately documented portraits. These are films that delve into the fragile layers of love or ask uncomfortable questions about society and moral norms. Seeing how today's characters cling to their truths, loves, or dreams, we inevitably want to empathize with them or at least learn from their mistakes.
The day begins with stories about the future and hope. Admission reveals the ambitions of parents, which, instead of their children's dreams, become a reflection of their own hidden wounds. The Dating Game takes us to the dating scene, where finding love has become a mathematical struggle for survival and the teaching of "be yourself" is replaced by strategic role-playing.
The evening continues with stories that explore loneliness and ways to escape it. The Frog and the Water tell a sincere tale of two lost souls whose meeting warms both the heart and the mind. The Good Daughter sharply dissects the mechanisms of family breakdown and asks whether love can survive when faced with the truth. Lourdes intertwines black humor and delicate uncertainty, showing how hope can arise even where you least expect it.
Friday ends with a thoughtful look into the inner world of a person. Three Goodbyes follows a woman who must let go of love in order to find herself again. The Muralist concludes the evening by bringing to the screen a man who tries to repair what he has hopelessly destroyed with the help of colors and silence.
See all the films screening at PÖFF for today here!
Nov. 21, Friday at 18:00 p.m. at Kino Sõprus
Director: Q. Hsu; Country: Taiwan
Admission follows parents who are trying to get their son into an elite school, but find themselves sinking deeper and deeper into doubt and hidden disappointment. Conversations in a hotel room reveal that there is much more to a place at school than educational ambition. The result is a truly compelling drama about how a child's future brings with it the hopes and wounds of their parents.
Nov. 21, Friday at 18:00 p.m. at Apollo Kino Solaris
Director: V. D. Feng; Countries: USA, United Kingdom, Norway, China
Three single Chinese men try to find love in a society where the huge gender imbalance between men and women makes them losers from the start. They seek help from a dating coach who teaches them strategic flirting. The Dating Game humorously and painfully reveals how the search for love becomes a survival course.
Nov. 21, Friday at 18:30 p.m. at Apollo Kino Solaris
Director: T. Stuber; Country: Germany
Busch, who has Down syndrome, escapes from a nursing home and accidentally ends up on a bus carrying Japanese tourists, setting off on a heartwarming journey through Germany. His sincerity and kindness touch everyone, especially the reserved businessman Hideo, who finds an unexpected kindred spirit in Busch. The film depicts the meeting of two lonely people, bringing warmth, humor, and hope to life.
Friday, November 21, at 18:30 p.m. at Artis Kino
Introduction by the Kaljulaid Foundation: Hannaliisa Uusma
Director: J. de Paz Solvas; Country: Spain
The Good Daughter focuses on teenager Carmela and her complicated relationship with her abusive father. Meetings supervised by a social worker force the girl to make a painful choice, while her love for her father inevitably begins to crumble. The result is a powerful and empathetic social drama, carried by the story's painfully topical theme.
Nov. 21, Friday at 19:30 p.m. at Artis Kino
Director: J. Hausner; Country: Austria, France, Germany
A young woman who lives in a wheelchair due to multiple sclerosis travels to Lourdes to escape loneliness. There, she unexpectedly falls for a volunteer, creating a story spiced with dark humor. Lourdes sharply reveals how hope and skepticism can coexist, and it is precisely this balance that has made the film one of Jessica Hausner's most acclaimed works.
Nov. 21, Friday at 20:00 p.m. at Apollo Kino Plaza
Director: I. Coixet; countries: Italy and Spain
Marta and Antonio's long-term relationship falls apart when Antonio unexpectedly announces his desire to leave. Shocked, Marta tries to carry on with her life, but moves through her daily routine as if in a fog. In search of herself, she discovers that sometimes falling apart forces you to find new meaning. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.
Nov. 21, Friday at 18:45 p.m. at Apollo Kino Plaza
Director: S. Janchivdorj; Country: Mongolia
Exiled painter Bayaraa returns to Mongolia to create a mural that embodies both regret and longing. After winning last year's grand prix with the film Silent City Driver, director Sengedorj Janchivdorj explores in The Muralist the magnitude of a man's responsibility for his choices and his loved ones.