{"id":110955,"date":"2026-06-18T07:21:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T07:21:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/110955\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T07:21:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T07:21:50","slug":"cancer-bear-motherhood-feature-in-tallinn-poff-short-film-winners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/110955\/","title":{"rendered":"Cancer, Bear, Motherhood Feature in Tallinn POFF Short Film Winners"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival<\/a> has unveiled its first short film winners of its 29th edition<\/a> at the Estonian fest\u2019s P\u00d6FF Shorts Award Ceremony<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe winners of the Shorts Live-Action, Animation and National Competitions will all be eligible to qualify for an Academy Award nomination as long as they fulfil all the Academy\u2019s requirements.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe best live-action short film award winner is Zsuzsanna Konrad\u2019s Something Wild, in which a straight-A student yearning to be free starts turning into a bear.\u00a0Family Sunday, from director Gerardo Del Razo, which provides a glimpse into street life, earned the best new talents live-action short film honor.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the animation competition, Alice E\u00e7a Guimar\u00e3es\u2019 Because Today Is Saturday, an exploration of motherhood, was honored as the best film, while the new talents animation award was bestowed upon the cancer-themed Pear Garden from director Shadab Shayegan. And the best children\u2019s film award went to Sophie Roze\u2019s The Drifting Guitar, a story about home and companionship.<\/p>\n

\n\tFinally, the national shorts honor went to Stiina, the story of a mother\u2013daughter relationship from
director Elisabeth Ku\u017eovnik. And the Radiator IP Distribution Award went to Sasha Shprotser\u2019s Border, in which she documents her four-day journey on foot from Narva, Estonia to her grandmother\u2019s grave in Slantsy, Russia.<\/p>\n

\n\tCheck out the Tallinn short film winners unveiled this weekend below.<\/p>\n

\n\tP\u00d6FF SHORTS ANIMATION COMPETITION
Jury: Izabela Plucinska, Carolina L\u00f3pez, Martinus Klemet<\/p>\n

\n\tBEST SHORT FILM
1000\u20ac presented by: P\u00d6FF
\u201cBecause Today Is Saturday\u201d (Portugal, France, Spain, 2025)
Director:\u00a0Alice E\u00e7a Guimar\u00e3es<\/p>\n

\n\tJury Statement: \u201cA poetic and metaphorical portrait of motherhood, capturing the difficulty of nurturing and trying to keep a creative personal space. The film\u2019s powerful imagery reveals how one role interferes with the other, with the use of original metaphors, no dialogue \u00a0and a beautiful rhythm.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJURY MENTION
\u201cDog Ear\u201d (Hungary, 2025)
Director: P\u00e9ter V\u00e1czy<\/p>\n

\n\tJury Statement: \u201cA tender and deeply felt story that sensitively portrays a troubled boy and his bond with a dog. The characters are crafted with remarkable empathy, allowing the audience to truly inhabit their emotional world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBEST CHILDREN\u2019S FILM
\u201cThe Drifting Guitar\u201d (France, Switzerland, 2024)
Director: Sophie Roze<\/p>\n

\n\tJury Statement:\u00a0\u201cA beautifully crafted tale about finding home, companionship, and harmony. With expressive design, strong musical work, subtle \u00a0humor, and exceptional voice acting, it resonates warmly with audiences of all ages.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJURY MENTION
\u201cBirds of Paradise\u201d (Poland, France, 2025)
Director: Tomek Ducki<\/p>\n

\n\tJury Statement: \u201cFor beautiful \u00a0artwork \u00a0and wonderful animation, in which the world of birds has funny and unusual ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBEST FILM (NEW TALENTS ANIMATION)
Presented by: P\u00d6FF
\u201cPear Garden\u201d (Germany, 2024)
Director: Shadab Shayegan<\/p>\n

\n\tJury Statement: \u201cA moving work that intertwines a child\u2019s imagination with the reality of cancer. Through a young perspective, the film transforms a difficult subject into a poetic and heartfelt journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJURY MENTION (NEW TALENTS)
\u201cFloating\u201d (Serbia, Croatia, Germany, 2025)
Directors:\u00a0Jelena Milunovi\u0107<\/p>\n

\n\tJury Statement: \u201cFor a beautiful and innovative presentation of a very personal theme, where the mental health issues of parents are expressed through metaphor and poetry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tP\u00d6FF SHORTS LIVE-ACTION COMPETITION
Jury: Naomi Smith, Gert P\u00f5rk, Adrian Barber<\/p>\n

\n\tBEST SHORT FILM
1000\u20ac presented by: P\u00d6FF
\u201cSomething Wild\u201d (Hungary, USA, 2025)
Director:\u00a0Zsuzsanna Konrad\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tJury Statement: \u201cHigh-level traditional storytelling uses humour to make the film accessible to all audiences and pushes boundaries in its risk-taking. It presents historical and religious ideas in a way that tricks you into falling for the reality of the story and the characters\u2019 situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJURY MENTION
\u201cRam\u00f3n Who Speaks to Ghosts\u201d (Canada, Spain. 2025)
Director:\u00a0Shervin Kermani<\/p>\n

\n\tJury Statement: \u201cEchoes of catastrophic moments brought to life in a humorous, brave and creative way. Being both sensitive and light, with great use of location and sound, a real tragedy is brought to life through a fictional interpretation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBEST FILM (NEW TALENTS LIVE-ACTION)
Presented by: Tallinn University Baltic Film, Media and Arts Institute
\u201cFamily Sunday\u201d (Mexico, 2025)
Director:\u00a0Gerardo Del Razo<\/p>\n

\n\tJury Statement: \u201cAn impressive film about the fight for protection when your community comes under threat. Engaging throughout, the film presents an insightful perspective into street life, and a hugely detailed glimpse into a confined world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJURY MENTION (NEW TALENTS)
\u201cGlitter Kiss\u201d (Lithuania, 2025)
Director:\u00a0August\u0117 Gerikait\u0117<\/p>\n

\n\tJury Statement: \u201cVery accomplished, skilled filmmaking that exceeds that of an undergraduate production. A fresh take on a queer story filled with gentle details shows that family can be found even in unexpected strangers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tP\u00d6FF SHORTS NATIONAL COMPETITION<\/p>\n

\n\tBEST SHORT FILM
1000\u20ac presented by P\u00d6FF
\u201cStiina\u201d (Estonia, 2025)
Director: Elisabeth Ku\u017eovnik<\/p>\n

\n\tJury Statement:\u00a0\u201cThe film shows a touching and convincing story about a mother\u2013daughter relationship. It is excellently executed in a timeless setting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJURY MENTION
\u201cArrhythmia\u201d (Estonia, 2025)
Director: Maria Reinup<\/p>\n

\n\tJury Statement:\u00a0\u201cThe film shows an often overlooked dimension of family ties and the challenges of caring for your loved ones when life gets hard. The nuanced depiction of a fragile situation allows us to witness an everyday struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRADIATOR IP DISTRIBUTION AWARD
\u201cBorder\u201d (Estonia, 2025)
Director: Sasha Shprotser<\/p>\n

\n\tJury Statement: \u201cEmbarking on an 80-kilometer solo journey across a sensitive border, this work reveals remarkable bravery and an intensely personal dedication that goes beyond physical endurance. The filmmaker\u2019s fearless commitment to family and memory transforms a deeply intimate experience into a powerful and unique cinematic statement. Such originality and resolve in both concept and execution make it a truly inspiring achievement.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has unveiled its first short film winners of its 29th edition at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[89],"tags":[167,762,5031,166,4541],"class_list":["post-110955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallinn","tag-estonia","tag-international","tag-poff","tag-tallinn","tag-tallinn-black-nights-film-festival"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116769907580288949","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}