SHORT RIGA
This includes the International competition and the Baltic student short film programmes, the Baltic music video competition programme and... lots of parties! Because it makes no sense to watch a whole lot of incredible cinema and leave without having a chat about it afterwards. Look for the "S" sign (or is it a snake?) for adventure – cinematic, social and just fun!
A flame lights up the darkness of a peaceful village. A pyromaniac ignites his first fire. More fires break out and the community panics. An inferno lurks under the surface as a local policeman uncovers the unthinkable truth, the pyromaniac isn´t a stranger, he´s a village fireman.
After falling out with his girlfriend, Pauls, an employee of an advertising firm, starts spying on Sandra, a woman who lives across the street. As Pauls’ obsession with Sandra develops, he becomes a witness to her murder.
One incident occurs, two families tangle. There’s nothing new under the sun.
You know the nagging thoughts that start with “did I leave the coffee on?” and turn in to “what if I give birth to Satan’s baby?” This hand-drawn animation explores anxiety, obsession, and one woman’s slippery hold on reality.
A film about the poor intelligentsia of Leningrad in the end of the eighties. Shot in a cramped flat in a city that was called Leningrad in 1989.
Dato has made many mistakes in the past, but after he fell in love with a deaf and dumb girl Inga , he is trying to change his life. Dato has only two creatures in world who believes in him, the dog and the girlfriend, But society doesn’t give a second chance and it ends up with the death of Dato.
Anton is lost in his own head until one day a yellow boot brings him to an exit.
Signe Birkova’s experimental animation tells a story about a cowboy trying to navigate an urban landscape. The man’s journey to the city is interrupted by a brutal force. While he has lost his senses his consciousness is confronted by the unconscious in which, transformed into a black marionette, the cowboy lives though a painful process of redemption.
A young nurse, Alma, is put in charge of Elisabeth Vogler: an actress who is seemingly healthy in all respects, but will not talk. As they spend time together, Alma speaks to Elisabeth constantly, never receiving any answer. Alma eventually confesses her secrets to a seemingly sympathetic Elisabeth and finds that her own personality is being submerged into Elisabeth’s persona.
Miriam and her family are building a snowman. They are watched by a stray dog that seems to like the snowman. The kids let the dog inside to warm, but the next morning its owner appears.
Katy’s birthday is on the 29th of February, and it’s only one of her problems. Her dad gives her a bizarre present, an egg, with a promise one day it will hatch a little bird. Meanwhile, Margo has her own troubles: she’s tired of trying to persuade her parents she is much more independent than they think. When the mysterious egg finally hatches both girls are pulled into an unforgettable adventure. Recommended age: 6+
