Black Nights Comedy

Festival
PÖFF Shorts 2025
Programme
Shorts Panorama

Absurdity – “the quality or state of being ridiculous”. The ridiculous permeates this year’s selection of shorts that are meant to tickle the funny bone as life is looked at from a new angle, one which is obtuse enough to make us remember that laughter is the only remedy.
Like all great comedies, all the shorts in this year’s selection all come from a place familiar to us all – moments of embarrassment, isolation or frustration which humans find themselves and try to combat a situation which would seem to be rife with the illogical. As much as any custard pie to the face or wordplay crackling with wit, it’s this fight against the nonsensical which we all find funny – and more than a little bit relatable.

Screenings

Hall Electric Cinema, TARTU
Screening063020 / Black Nights Comedy
Screening duration
Hall 1 Kino Artis
Screening091617 / Black Nights Comedy
Q&A duration
Screening duration
6th Hall Apollo Kino Plaza
Screening120621 / Black Nights Comedy
Screening duration

Films

World premiere

Blessed

Local title
Õnnistatud
Original title
Blessed
Director
Birute Sodeikaite
Country
Canada
Year
2025
Programme
Shorts Panorama

A tough, no-nonsense Buffalo has always seen himself as strong, fearless, and ready to take the world. But when his long-awaited dream of fatherhood finally comes true, he is thrown into uncharted territory. As he stumbles through the challenges of parenthood, one question looms: Can he become the father he always dreamed of being, or will his fears get the best of him?

Director
Birute Sodeikaite
Runtime
Language
English

Baltic premiere

The Undying Pain of Existence

Local title
Olemise igavene valu
Original title
The Undying Pain of Existence
Director
Oscar Jacobson
Country
Germany
Year
2025
Programme
Shorts Panorama

A nude model is posing with statuesque stillness for an elite drawing class – until an unfortunate mosquito bite challenges his self-control. Driven to madness by the itch, he’s caught between the ruthless demand for perfection and his most unhinged, animalistic impulses.

Director
Oscar Jacobson
Runtime

Baltic premiere

There Will Be No Other End

Local title
Teist lõppu ei tule
Original title
Innego końca nie będzie
Director
Piotr Milczarek
Country
Poland
Year
2024
Programme
Shorts Panorama

A short film about society (in five chapters).

Director
Piotr Milczarek
Runtime
Language
English

Baltic premiere

The Sock

Local title
Sokk
Original title
The Sock
Director
Aleksi Artturi Räisänen
Country
Finland
Year
2024
Programme
Shorts Panorama

One man, one sock, one mission. But the sock has bigger dreams.

Director
Aleksi Artturi Räisänen
Runtime

International premiere

Dog Bites

Local title
Koerahammustused
Original title
Perros muerden
Director
Eva Vázquez de Reoyo
Country
Spain
Year
2025
Programme
Shorts Panorama

Our protagonist's life is not exactly going well, but things start looking up when she crosses paths with a stray dog that appears to be the perfect canine companion. Sadly, the initial attraction soon wears off, and after a period of intense love bombing the dog reveals himself to be an egocentric control freak and a genuine son of a bitch. A black comedy about emotional dependency, psychomagic, narcissism and a saw.

Director
Eva Vázquez de Reoyo
Runtime
Language
Spanish

Baltic premiere

Out of Mind

Local title
Peast pühitud
Original title
Vindfang
Director
Erik Ivar Sæther, Nicolai Berg Hansson
Country
Norway
Year
2025
Programme
Shorts Panorama

A man attends a dinner party with his wife, only to find himself locked in a strange situation.

Director
Erik Ivar Sæther, Nicolai Berg Hansson
Runtime
Language
Norwegian
Subtitles
English

Baltic premiere

How to Translate a Miracle

Local title
Kuidas tõlkida imet
Original title
How to Translate a Miracle
Director
Andrea Vinciguerra
Country
Italy
Year
2024
Programme
Shorts Panorama

During her holiday in fictional 90s Palermo, Yoko, a Japanese tourist, unexpectedly loses her beloved dog. Alone and struggling to navigate the language barrier, Yoko embarks on a surreal journey through a world of folkloric oddities and colourful characters, where the boundaries between cultures, reality, and fantasy blur.

Director
Andrea Vinciguerra
Runtime
Subtitles
English

Baltic premiere

Neil Armstrong and the Langholmites

Local title
Neil Armstrong ja langholmlased
Original title
Neil Armstrong and the Langholmites
Director
Duncan Cowles
Country
United Kingdom
Year
2025
Programme
Shorts Panorama

A film about the day one of the world's most famous men visited the small 'burgh' of Langholm and the profound emotional effect the place, and its people, had on the normally stoic astronaut.

Director
Duncan Cowles
Runtime
Language
English
Subtitles
English