Directed by: Max Ovaska
Finland, 2020, 23 min

Janika is in the advanced stages of pregnancy, a condition she exploits in order to smuggle drugs from Tallinn to Helsinki, since pregnant women don’t have to go through customs. As her date approaches, and with a new job waiting, Janika is nevertheless determined to do one last deal. But soon she feels the first contractions.

Directed by: Angelika Abramovitch
Sweden, 2021, 20 min

If you thought that the ladies’ restroom is a place where women do their make-up while engaging in friendly banter, Catcave Hysteria will disabuse you of that idea. It’s time to tear down the stereotyped image of women as the “fairer sex” who always hold each other’s hair back over the toilet bowl.

Directed by: Brenda Lien
Germany, 2022, 20 min

After Maxi wins an important music award, the pressure for her to release an album only increases. But pressure equals crisis, crisis equals self-doubt, and self-doubt does not make for a creative atmosphere. Maxi’s inner child can lash out as much as it likes, but her inner cop won’t give it even a minute to play or relax. A playful, glitter-covered study of depression and burnout.

Directed by: Maciej Jankowski
Poland, 2021, 26 min

Dorothy and Wojtek, mother and son. Wojtek struggles with obesity and with the fact that every morning his classmates see him get out of an old car filled with vegetables. Dorothy worries about financial difficulties – and about Wojtek… A loving drama about parents and children, about accepting oneself, and about a new dress that can change a lot of things.

Directed by: Lukas Kacinauskas
Lithuania, 2021, 21 min

One evening that means a lot for Max. It’s the first time he dares to go on a date arranged on the internet. The moment he gets into Tadas’s car, he embarks on a journey into the unknown. A sensitive look at the process of self-acceptance, at the moment when we have to stop hiding and to accept responsibility for who we truly are – and not to be ashamed of it.

Directed by: Nicolai G. H. Johansen
Denmark, 2021, 43 min

It’s been a few months since Leonora last heard from her ex-boyfriend, but she can’t get him out of her mind. If only he knew that the things she did in the past were because of her illness. How desperately she would like to look him in the eyes and explain it all. But her yearning for forgiveness could violate the personal boundaries of the one she so desperately loves.

Directed by: Alica Bednáriková
Slovak Republic, 2021, 26 min

Three generations of a seemingly ordinary family gather at the family home in southern Slovakia. The arrival of the granddaughter Zoja doesn’t cause any major issues, though perhaps just a little more alcohol is consumed, perhaps one more family secret comes out, and perhaps the gathering leads to a minor tragedy…

Directed by: Magdalena Chmielewska
Austria, 2022, 22 min

As the rest of the world falls asleep, Eva stays awake. In order to get at least a little bit closer to that elusive slumber, she spends her nights in other people’s houses, quietly watching their sleeping inhabitants. Not only is Eva’s ever-growing sleep deprivation a source of fatigue, but it also causes her to see the world differently as its real contours are increasingly distorted.

Directed by: Martin Kuba
Czech Republic, 2022, 38 min

Like many others, Daniil has decided to leave his native Georgia and move to Prague in search of better pay. Originally a teacher, he finds a job with Ukrainian laborers controlled by a Russian boss called Sergei and thus becomes a cog in the machinery that takes advantage of the work of illegal immigrants… Vinland looks at the lives of people who exist all around us but about whom we know so little because their identities disappear the moment they relinquish their passports to the mafia who are interested only in profit.

Directed by: Carmen Pedrero
Spain, 2021, 14 min

Teenager Amelie is impatiently counting down to the end of the school year. The class is going on a trip to Tenerife, and Amelie can finally pack a pair of jeans – after many years, she can now throw off the orthopedic corset that has kept her from wearing this particular article of clothing. A poetic film about the dreams, desires, and disappointments that are an integral part of our journey towards adulthood.