PÖFF's most visually enchanting films will lead you on an entrancing and exciting aesthetic journey, reaching unseen pinnacles of cinematic vision.
PÖFF is the time of the year to see films on a truly world-class artistic level, with exceptional visual language and styles transporting viewers to unique, unseen times and spaces. These are no ordinary, run-of-the-mill “beautiful” films. On the contrary, these filmmakers hunt for inexplicable and astonishing charms, which fascinate the senses much more powerfully than copy-paste beauty alone ever could.
The Shape of Things To Come
Nov. 19, Friday at 9:15 p.m., Coca-Cola Plaza
World premiere with film guests
In a dystopian city (which looks at lot like Lima), 12-year-old Teo and his father Luis build a mysterious machine that will flood a city where it never rains. In a film out of specific time or context, which balances neo-noir and science fiction, director V. Checa creates the whole new universe to explore. The ghost town seems like a mysterious battlefield, where on the one hand there are very real physical sensations and deep human feelings, on the other, elaborate machines and a thoroughly modern dystopia.
Zeria
Nov. 20, Saturday at 3:30 p.m., Coca-Cola Plaza
European premiere with film guests
“Zeria” is undoubtedly one of the most unique author films at this year's festival and appeals with truly effective visual solutions, created based on the principles of rustic minimalism in the flow of “Arte Povera” and experimenting with puppetry techniques. Still, at this high artistic level, “Zeria” also shines through a captivating narrative mirroring the intimate reflection of director Harry Cleven's own life.
A Vanishing Fog
Nov. 20, Saturday at 3 p.m., at Coca-Cola Plaza
World premiere with film guests
The equally sublime and deep “A Vanishing Fog” is perfect for film gourmets who can appreciate the delicate rawness of a film polished to perfection. It’s for those who love film art in its most extreme manifestations and deepest existential layers. Director, screenwriter, producer and editor Augusto Sandino blends the poetry of his thoughts in an entirely unique handwriting into the visual language of “A Vanishing Fog”.
The Moths
Nov. 22, Monday at 6:45 p.m., Coca-Cola Plaza
International premiere
A group of teenagers escape a computer game camp after group leaders confiscate their computers and remove their internet access. How to survive in a world where the only light that feeds the meaning of life is cut off? Director Piotr Stasik powerfully dissects the nature of identity formation, in the experimental layers of poetic dramaturgy and the bitter cost of personal development that is ruthlessly demanded from kids growing up.
Cinephilia
Nov. 22, Monday at 6:30 p.m., Coca-Cola Plaza
Cinematic grandmaster Algimantas Puipa has joyfully twisted a provocative portrait of himself, inspired by the legendary Juozas Budrait, to embody his cynical alter ego and involving other great stars from his previous films, but he has chosen unknown young talents for the lead roles. This great of Lithuanian cinema strikes with absurd irony in a film that makes witty (and sometimes cleverly and subtly hidden) homage to the works of masters such as Kubrick, Polanski, von Trier, Jarmusch, Kafka and Scorsese.
Dozens of Norths
Nov. 23, Tuesday at 7:15 p.m., Coca-Cola Plaza
International premiere
“Dozens of Norths” is the first full-length animated film by the acclaimed animator Koju Yamamura (known for numerous short films, such as the Oscar-nominated "Mt Head", 2002). Yamamura's existential - and at the same time gloomily witty - worldview is revealed in uncompromising glory through his characteristic hand-made animations, which elevate the suffering caused by modern real-life into a mythical and universalised dimension.
Killing the Eunuch Khan
Nov. 24, Wednesday at 5:45 p.m., Coca-Cola Plaza
World premiere with film guests
Abed Abest, who studied architecture, reaches new heights as artist with “Killing the Eunuch Khan”. His films are like living creatures bubbling with colours and atmosphere. He creates moving images, with a gaze that is both relentless and thoughtful. His debut film "Simulation" (2017) was screened in Berlin and Toronto, but now Abest is coming to Tallinn with his second feature film, which is equal parts seductive, desperate and delicate work of art. "Killing the Eunuch Khan" is a masterpiece by a young director who is fascinated by the fine line between physical reality and the realms of the afterlife.