In this conversation, we aim to tackle the questions about the representation of the body in Latvian cinema, the current research on the topic and “predict” the future - what needs to change? Is there a necessity for change? Why? The discussion directly reflects the central theme of the festival – “Body and Flesh”The discussion will be followed with a screening of “savĀdā” (2021) directed by Alise Zariņa.

Moderator: Dr.art. Inga Pērkone
Participants: Alise Zariņa (directress, film critic), Astra Zoldnere (curator and film journalist) un Laima Graždanoviča (2ANNAS ISFF program director).

Curator: Astra Zoldner

The program Female Gaze is the direct antithesis of the term male gaze, defined by film theorist Laura Mulvey. Eight female directors offer their perspectives, reflecting on intimate issues poetically, provocatively, analytically and humorously. Elagoz interviews and films the "representatives of the stronger sex", all the while not shying away from the camera herself. Queer legend Barbara Hammer takes her camera also in bed. But Malépart-Traversy challenges male dominance in both cinema, psychology and physiology by creating a humorous animation about the clitoris. 

Get to know Pauline – a short by Céline Sciamma. Familiarize yourself with the quirky and witty Latvian animator Signe Baumane’s Teat Beat of Sex. These and other prominent female directors will enchant you.

Curated by: Olga Gusiatynska, Sasha Prokopenko (Kyiv International Short Film Festival)

War (and) coping mechanisms

No one expects war. No one is born to face it. Despite that, we – humans – are built to adapt and acclimatize even to the most unsettling stresses. By living, moving forward, coping, creating, expressing outrage and replacing anger with hope, one makes a political statement in its most raw and crystallized form. 

Creativity and introspection are one of the most crucial ways to respond to such inhuman struggles and begin the healing process.

Each of the six films included in this program depicts war’s indelible impact on individuals and communities, introducing the viewer to their coping mechanisms and providing an insight into the challenges faced by those who have been affected by russian military aggression.

Come and see what new and interesting Baltic neighbors have created in the cinema industry!

"The latest Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian short film pearls are included in the Baltic competition. The program discovers both new talents and offers the works of already known and award-winning directors," says program curator Astra Zoldner.

"Closer" - intimate, personal and erotic stories, dressed in visually sophisticated images!

Simona Orinska, Ieva Vīksne, Platons Buravickis and eight butoh dancers & 2ANNAS invite you to the opening performance of the festival "Body, Body and 8 dreams".

Simon Orinska's choreography in interaction with the musical improvisations of Platons Buravickis. The author of the visual identity of the performance – Ieva Vīksne.

What to expect from the performance? Artist Ieva VĪksne explains it the best: “The body carries us forward, refreshing and recharging itself in sleep and, every now and then, creating mystical combinations of events or even hallucinations about reality before our eyes. Shining a little light into this realm of the subconscious reveals our truest and most hidden feelings. Moreover, it also the fears that constantly accumulate in our bodies are also illuminated. We invite you to a hypnotic butoh performance. Projections, allowing you to capture the sense of dreaminess through bodies and images, will constitute the visual backdrop.

What is butoh, you ask? a form of Japanese dance theatre that encompasses a diverse range of activities, techniques and movements. It’s a meditation of the body when it’s completely liberated from the influence of the mind.

Come to meditate, refresh yourself in the fusion of art and senses and... And give a head start to the 2ANNAS festival.

About the authors of the performance:

Simona Orinska – Latvian Butoh artist and contemporary dancer, poet, director and choreographer.

Ieva Vīksne – new media artist, and lecturer at the Art Academy of Latvia.

Platons Buravickis – composer, pianist and music theoretician, who works in both academic and electronic music.

Himalayan mountains, French family drama, crime stories, OMON forces, influencers and a spaceship crash - these are just a few key words for the films that you will be able to see at the screenings of the International Short Film Competition.

We have prepared a specially selected international film program, where everyone will find the most suitable film according to their interests, and will be able to experience the taste of international cinema on their own skin.

The curator of the international short film competition screening program is Laima Graždanoviča: "The 2ANNA ISFF international short film competition is like 5 different collages, combining the best and most artistically exciting short films from 2021/2022. Each of the competition programs is created as an individual work of art on a specific theme, idea or associative string, thus allowing the viewer not only to enjoy each of the films, but the program itself as a whole. The programs will feature feature films, animations, documentaries and experimental short films from around the world. "

Himalayan mountains, French family drama, crime stories, OMON forces, influencers and a spaceship crash - these are just a few key words for the films that you will be able to see at the screenings of the International Short Film Competition.

We have prepared a specially selected international film program, where everyone will find the most suitable film according to their interests, and will be able to experience the taste of international cinema on their own skin.

The curator of the international short film competition screening program is Laima Graždanoviča: "The 2ANNA ISFF international short film competition is like 5 different collages, combining the best and most artistically exciting short films from 2021/2022. Each of the competition programs is created as an individual work of art on a specific theme, idea or associative string, thus allowing the viewer not only to enjoy each of the films, but the program itself as a whole. The programs will feature feature films, animations, documentaries and experimental short films from around the world."

Come and see what new and interesting Baltic neighbors have created in the cinema industry!

"The latest Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian short film pearls are included in the Baltic competition. The program discovers both new talents and offers the works of already known and award-winning directors," says program curator Astra Zoldner.

Cinemas, deserts and other places - cinemas, deserts, villages and buses – the viewer goes with the characters of the film from one exciting place to another!

Come and see what new and interesting Baltic neighbors have created in the cinema industry!

"The latest Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian short film pearls are included in the Baltic competition. The program discovers both new talents and offers the works of already known and award-winning directors," says program curator Astra Zoldner.

" And we try" - criticism of capitalism, rock music and absurdity - the characters of the film try and who knows, maybe this time it will work out!

Curator: Linda Boļšakova

This program humbly carries the title of Stacy Alaimo’s book of the same title. The selection of films explores the interconnectedness, interchanges, and transits between human bodies and more-than-human natures, simultaneously challenging and questioning the divide between the living and non-living, natural and artificial. What’s essential – none of these relationships are viewed through the deforming lens of romanization.

A passage from Stacy Alaimo’s book Bodily Natures: Science, Environment, and the Material Self:

“Potent ethical and political possibilities emerge from the literal contact zone between the human corporeality and more-than-human nature. These possibilities imagine human corporeality as trans-corporeality, in which the human is always intermeshed with the more-than-human world, underlining the extent to which the substance of the human is ultimately inseparable from 'the environment’. Trans-corporeality, as a theoretical site, is a place where corporeal theories and environmental theories meet and mingle in productive ways.”

Immerse yourself into an already existing world where we – humans - have never been singular organisms but rather multispecies beings. It’s a dawning reality where drone bee pollinates orchids and people sleep with flower anthers to aid the release of their pollen. It’s a world where our current understanding of human bodies could transform. Potentially humans could belong to    the same taxonomic group as fairies. Yes, you read it correctly.

This program is an invitation to embark upon a magical journey into a world that might be suffering from an overly simplified perception. Because in reality – it is a multiplicity of worlds and bodies.

Latvian experimental musician and artist Waterflower invites you to her latest single and music video's Dawning release party.

Using the backdrop of stunning landscapes of the Baltic-Nordic region, shot in various locations in Latvia, Sweden, and Finland, the video Dawning explores themes of nature’s awakening. Meanwhile, the video's accompanying song tells a story of nature's dawning and resurrection, as well as nature’s yearning to communicate in its own language – the language of water. By using the capacitive differences, measured in plants and mushrooms, Moore gifts these silenced living things with a voice of their own. 2ANNAS and Moore kindly invite you to delve into the mushroom and plant music!

Curator: Ron Rosenberg

There is this saying – everybody wants to get old, yet no one wants to be it. What is so troublesome about getting older? It’s not for cowards as it takes courage to accept change: the shape of the bodies and minds, the shrinking abilities, the loss of friends and close ones. Ageing is a full-time job with no prior training. 

The financial situation, especially for females, usually gets tougher. In industrialised societies, where capitalism is solely oriented towards growth, ageing is associated with the enemy of desired progress – decline. The ageing body is a threat to economics.

This selection offers films for every age as ageing is not just about old people getting older. These films offer various perspectives on the ageing process and its (often-prejudiced) image.

Himalayan mountains, French family drama, crime stories, OMON forces, influencers and a spaceship crash - these are just a few key words for the films that you will be able to see at the screenings of the International Short Film Competition.

We have prepared a specially selected international film program, where everyone will find the most suitable film according to their interests, and will be able to experience the taste of international cinema on their own skin.

The curator of the international short film competition screening program is Laima Graždanoviča: "The 2ANNA ISFF international short film competition is like 5 different collages, combining the best and most artistically exciting short films from 2021/2022. Each of the competition programs is created as an individual work of art on a specific theme, idea or associative string, thus allowing the viewer not only to enjoy each of the films, but the program itself as a whole. The programs will feature feature films, animations, documentaries and experimental short films from around the world."

Himalayan mountains, French family drama, crime stories, OMON forces, influencers and a spaceship crash - these are just a few key words for the films that you will be able to see at the screenings of the International Short Film Competition.

We have prepared a specially selected international film program, where everyone will find the most suitable film according to their interests, and will be able to experience the taste of international cinema on their own skin.

The curator of the international short film competition screening program is Laima Graždanoviča: "The 2ANNA ISFF international short film competition is like 5 different collages, combining the best and most artistically exciting short films from 2021/2022. Each of the competition programs is created as an individual work of art on a specific theme, idea or associative string, thus allowing the viewer not only to enjoy each of the films, but the program itself as a whole. The programs will feature feature films, animations, documentaries and experimental short films from around the world."

Together with colleagues from the Baltic animation institutions, we will discuss the state of animation short films in each respective country and touch upon the importance of festivals' role on a local and international scale. 

Discussion will be held in English. 

Participants:

• Laura Almantaitė, producer & the director & founder of the BLON Animation and Games Festival (LT);
• Justė Michailinaitė, the president of The Lithuanian Animation Association & the Head of Industry & Distribution of the BLON Animation and Games Festival (LT), head of production company “Broom films” ;
• Mari Kivi, animator and director, directress & one of the founders of International Animation Festival Animist Tallinn;
• Sigrid Saag, International distribution coordinator at Estonian Film Institute;
• Vladimir Leschiov, artist, director, animator and producer, founder of animation studio “Lunohod”.

The discussion will be moderated by Anna Zača, the head of the Latvian Animation Association. The discussion will be held in English.

Himalayan mountains, French family drama, crime stories, OMON forces, influencers and a spaceship crash - these are just a few key words for the films that you will be able to see at the screenings of the International Short Film Competition.

We have prepared a specially selected international film program, where everyone will find the most suitable film according to their interests, and will be able to experience the taste of international cinema on their own skin.

The curator of the international short film competition screening program is Laima Graždanoviča: "The 2ANNA ISFF international short film competition is like 5 different collages, combining the best and most artistically exciting short films from 2021/2022. Each of the competition programs is created as an individual work of art on a specific theme, idea or associative string, thus allowing the viewer not only to enjoy each of the films, but the program itself as a whole. The programs will feature feature films, animations, documentaries and experimental short films from around the world."

Physiotherapist Līga Līdumniece-Šulce invites film professionals, especially animation directors and technical workers of the film industry, to start the day with an exercise class, during which she will also share advice on how to avoid injuries and body strain in everyday life.

Workout will be held in Latvian.

Ülo Pikkov – animation director, professor, theoretician and one of the most prominent animators in Estonia – invites film professionals to an animation master class. Pikkov will share his experience and talk about his creative and technical approach, encouraging the participants to think about the human body and animation in unexpected ways. 

Masterclass will be held in English.

The Baltic Pitching Forum (BPF) invites you to a carefully curated selection of Baltic shorts that have taken part in the BPF during its 10 years run.

BPF is a short film pitching event in which projects from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and a guest country are pitched to a panel of industry professionals. By offering training, networking, advice and collaboration opportunities the BPF has become one of the most important industry events in the region.

Since its inception a decade ago, the BPF has helped launch the career of many filmmakers originating from the Baltics. Many successful shorts have been produced over the years, screening at numerous film festivals and coming home with countless awards. Some alumni have gone on to make features which have made a huge splash on the international circuit, also garnering a clutch of awards.

This selection of some of the films originally pitched at the BPF over the past 10 years is not only a testament to the talent and diversity of filmmakers from the region, with works that run the gamut of emotions and styles, but proof that even though the Baltic countries are relatively small, the talent on offer is huge.

Discover films in the program:

BY THE POOL

Laurynas Bareiša

Lithuania / 2017 / fiction short / 16’

Winner of the BPF 2015.

The film premiered at Venice Film Festival 2017. Director Laurynas Bareiša would go on to win Best Film in the Venice FiIlm Festival Orizzonti category in 2021 for his debut feature ‘Pilgrims’.

CASTRATUS THE BOAR  

Raitis Ābele, Lauris Ābele

Latvia / 2014 / fiction short / 23’

Pitched at the BPF 2013.

Winner of Tampere Film Festival Grand Prix, 2014.

BAD HAIR

Oskar Lehemaa

Estonia / 2019 / fiction short / 14’

Winner of the BPF 2014.

Screened at many festivals including Sundance (2020), Fantastic Fest and Fantasia, winner of Méliès d’Argent prize at Haapsalu Horror and Film Festival 2019.

ICE

Anna Hints

Estonia / 2017 / fiction short / 15’

Pitched at the BPF 2014.

Anna Hints would go on to win the Best Director (World Cinema Documentary Competition) at the 2023 edition of Sundance for her debut feature documentary ‘Smoke Sauna Sisterhood’.
 

MOTHERS 

Birutė Kapustinskaitė

Lithuania / 2021 / fiction short / 16’

Winner of the BPF 2019.

The program was created in cooperation with the Baltic Pitching Forum.

Curator: Anna Zača

Once animation was considered to be a form of magic. Since its beginnings, it has been able to breathe life into inanimate objects and images.

This magic power always belongs to someone – the author. Animation artist. Wizard! Initially, these wizards wanted to surprise the audience. A striking example is Winsor McCay’s Gertie the Dinosaur (1914). Over time, animation masters began to study the human body in depth. One of the chromatic works dedicated to the body is Ryan Larkin's Walking (1968).

Realistic portrayal of the body quickly became secondary, leaving realism to fiction cinema. Meanwhile, animators began to break and deform the body in every possible way, finding innovative approaches and touching upon the widest amplitude of emotions. Such works form the basis of this program. 

Of all cinema genres, I perceive animation the most physically. I hope that this program will resonate not only in your mind but also in your body.

In the field of independent animation, more and more films and authors boldly speak about body, sensuality and mental health. Setting aside any bias or discomfort, in this discussion we aim to understand the representation of the human body, as well as themes of nudity and sexuality in animated films.

The discussion will be held in English.

A retrospective of Latvian-born and world-renowned Latvian animation film director Signe Baumane’s shorts. Curated by 2ANNAS programme director Laima Graždanoviča.

Programme:

• Teat Beat of Sex (ep. 1.-3., 2007, 4’)
• Teat Beat of Sex (ep. 8.-11., 2007, 7’)
• Tarzan (Tarzāns, 2014, 3’)
• Birth (Dzemdības, 2009, 12’)
• Natasha (Nataša, 2001, 9’)
• Five Fucking Fables (Pieci kniebšanās stāsti, 2002, 7’)
• Dentist (Zobārsts, 2005, 10’)
• Veterinarian (Veterinārārsts, 2007, 18’)