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!
In the aftermath of the WWIII all life on Earth is destroyed; radiation is everywhere. Scientists hope to find a solution by traveling in time, into the past and the future. Meanwhile, there is life in the underground concentration camps. In there, a man who is forced to travel will experience before his death a love affair with a woman from another time.
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.
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 grim display of misguided patriotism and tribal thuggery during the England-Germany 2010 world cup football match.
The final year of the WWI. A German army surgeon is sent to inspect a remote convalescent home for shell-shocked patients. The strange world he encounters in which reality appears more like fiction is quite challenging for his cold rational mind. His fruitless efforts to remodel the place and an unexpected attachment to a mysterious savage boy from the surrounding woods lead Ulrich to discover his one true self. Very soon this turned-out sanctuary will have to make its last stand against the approaching madness of the war.
Young actionist artists Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Ekaterina Samutsevich decide to separate from the well-known actionist group Voina. They feel pressure of male participants of the group. They decide to create their own group that would express their ideas of female independence and liberty. That’s how the Pussy Riot is born, combining actionism, feminism, media activism and punk rock.
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.
