Nordic Shorts 3: Interior Designs

I see something you don’t see. Exteriors mask what is happening inside a person. Only a personal perspective reveals the multifaceted potential interpretations of a situation. arg_gubbe.mov / angry_man.mov Schweden 2024, 15 min., swed., span., engl. ov, engl. st R: Daniel Aguirre K: Daniel Aguirre, Julian Quevedo D: Daniel Aguirre, Michael Stenmark P: Golaleh Azad, Roozbeh Behtaji, Den Goda Byrån W: SVT – Sveriges Television International premiere Daniel Aguirre cannot forget the fact that he was called a “fucking leftist fag” out on the street. His search for the man that insulted him reveals a Sweden that has moved rightward politically, where that angry man is an everyman. As he is unable to find his tormentor, Aguirre hires an actor in an attempt to use psychodrama to make his peace with the incident. Massacre of the Innocents / Massacre of the Innocents Sweden 2024, 11 min., swed. ov, engl. st R: SaraKlara Hellström K: Axel Pettersson D: Juni Grunewald (Minou), Dijana Asterborn (Ayla) P: Andrea Gyllenskiöld, Joel Rostmark, Adam Holmström Meinking, Pine German premiere Escaping a forest fire, a mother and daughter have to spend the night in a spooky hotel. The apocalyptic painting in the foyer comes to life in the eyes of the daughter – and a horde of naked, decrepit bodies push their way into the dining room like lemmings. The mother does not react. The death and decay are meant solely for the innocent gaze of the child. Dear Dad Lithuania, DE 2024, 17 min., lit., engl., ital. ov, engl. st R: Austė Urbanavičiūtė P: Austė Urbanavičiūtė, German premiere The faded home videos only show the happy moments: days at the beach, birthday parties, and intimate tenderness. From off camera, young adults talk about their childhoods, about their fathers’ alcoholism and the violence against their mothers. And about the scars they still carry from all that. Their brokenness has no place in the images; what is visible emphatically repudiates their memories. En undersøgelse af empati / A Study of Empathy Denmark, DE 2023, 14 min., dän. ov, engl. st R: Hilke Rönnfeldt K: Roxana Reiss D: Sara Klein Larsen, Emilie Claudius Kruse P: Asbjørn H. Kelstrup, Maria Møller Christoffersen, Frau Film W: Shortcuts Dana invites artist Penelope into her flat in order to become part of her art project. In bright orange tones and countless reflections, subtle moments of irritation unfold between two women whose bodies and natures could not be more different. Can the empathy that her art arouses persist in the naked presence of the artist? Maja / The House Estonia, SE 2024, 15 min., estn., russ. ov, engl. st R: Carl Olsson K: Mathias Døcker Petersen P: Ivo Felt, Allfilm German premiere As uniform as a honeycomb, the individual units of the large apartment complex are stacked in rows. But behind the drab facade lie undreamt-of individual scenes. Weights are being lifted, TikTok videos produced, and music made alone and together. The sum of these glimpses into the interior reveals a surprising vitality thriving beyond the shabby face of the machine for living.