2015 edition of Sleepwalkers International Short Film Festival Announces Competition Films

The Sleepwalkers International Short Film Festival has today announced the films that will play across its four competitions. The Tallinn based festival runs from 17th-21st November and its screenings will occur mainly at the prestigious Baltic Film and Media School. Sleepwalkers is a sub-festival of the Black Nights Film Festival. The festival will screen over 150 films from 39 different countries as part of its entire programme and will currently play host to 37 Baltic Premieres, four European Premieres, 11 International Premieres and five World Premieres.

The festival’s International Competition showcases some of the very best films from across the world – some have already received plaudits on the festival circuit while others will be discovered for the first time. It includes Blood Below The Skin (Dir. Jennifer Reeder, USA, 2015, Fiction), winner of numerous awards this year including Best International Short at Encounters and Over (Dir. Jorn Threlfall, UK, 2015), winner of the Grand Prix at Palm Springs and Uppsala Short Film Festival. The competition will also play host to Prison Door, an Estonian/Irish co-production directed by Kevin McCann who is currently in Estonia working on a feature about the Irish Uprising. T

The Sleepwalkers Student Competition highlights films from a diverse range of film schools and includes Everything Will Be OK (Dir. Patrick Vollrath, Austria/Germany, 2015), a winner of a Bronze in the 2015 Student Oscar. Vollrath’s professor is Michael Haneke and The Baby (Dir. Ali Asgari, Italy/Iran, 2014), a former award nominee at the Venice Film Festival.

The jury for the International and Student Competitions are Ilona Bicevska (Filmmaker, Latvia), Dato Janelidze (Filmmaker, Georgia) and Ivan Pavljutškov (Filmmaker / Winner of 2014 Sleepwalkers Grand Prix, Estonia)

The Sleepwalkers Baltic Sea Competition celebrates film from Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, Germany, Russia, Denmark and Norway, this year’s selection includes the beautiful Object (Dir. Paulina Skibinska, Poland, 2015 ) a documentary awarded a prize at this year’s Sundance . We’ll also show the internet sensation Kung Fury (Dir.David Sandberg, Sweden, 2015), premiered at Director’s Fortnight in Cannes. A homage to 80s cop films it’s one of the most fun short films of the year.

The Sleepwalkers National Competition is a showcase of the best films from Estonia, this section includes moving documentaries, considered experimentalism and chilling horror. The section will include a screening of To Light (Dir. Nora Särak, Estonia, 2015) a beautiful documentary that has always won many plaudits on the festival circuit.

The jury for the Baltic Sea and National Competitions will be Carmen Gray (Journalist, UK), Emilie Toomela (Journalist, Estonia), Jukka-Pekka Laakso (Director Tampere Film Festival, Finland)

The full list of competition titles is:

Baltic Sea Competition

90 Degrees North (Dir. Detsky Graffam, Germany, 2015)

An Angry Man (En Vred Mand) (Dir. Jannik Dahl Pedersen, Denmark, 2015)

BAKHYT (БАХЫТ) (Dirs. Ruslan Bekshenov & Alexandr R. Amulin, Russia, 2015), International premiere

Cats in Riga (Dir. Jon Bang Carlsen, Latvia, 2014)

Earth Is The Loneliest Planet (Zeme Ir Visvientuļākā Planēta) (Dir. Liene Linde, Latvia, 2015)

From Bed Thou Arose (Z łóżka powstałeś) (Dir. Bartek Konopka, Poland, 2014)

Kung Fury (Dir. David Sandberg, Sweden, 2015), Baltic Premiere

Mercy All The Way (Säälistäjät) (Dir. Hannaleena Hauru, Finland, 2014), Baltic premiere

Object (Obiekt) (Dir. Paulina Skibinska, Poland, 2015)

Small Talk (Dir. Even Hafnor, Norway, 2015), Baltic Premiere

Sunstroke (Auringonpistos) (Dir. Jarno Lindemark, Finland, 2015), World Premiere

The Business Proposal (Dir. Efgraph Sorokin, Russia, 2015), Baltic Premiere

The Car Thief (Угонщик) (Dir. Maxim Kulagin, Russia, 2015), International Premiere

The Collector (Le Collectionneur) (Dir. Emilija Riviere, Lithuania, 2014), European Premiere

The Golden Watch (Guldklockan) (Dir. Andreas Westerberg, Finland, 2015), Baltic Premiere

Wayward (Rodløs) (Dir. Kira Richards Hansen, Denmark, 2014), Baltic Premiere

International Competition –

0068 Sniper’s Nest (Dispozitiv 0068) (Dir. Radu Barbulescu, Romania, 2015), International Premiere

Auntie Maam Has Never Had a Passport (Dao Indie) (Dir. Sorayos Prapapan, Thailand, 2014), Baltic Premiere

Blood Below the Skin (Dir. Jennifer Reeder, USA, 2015)

Command Action (Dir. João Paulo Miranda Maria, Brazil, 2015) Baltic Premiere

Driving Lesson (Aula de Condução) (Dir. André Santo & Marco Leão, Portugal, 2015), Baltic Premiere

Empire (Dir. Kristof Hoornaert, Germany/Belgium, 2015), Baltic Premiere

Hunger (Faim) (Dir. Tommaso Donati, France, 2015), Baltic Premiere

Malaguti Phantom (Dir. Sam de Jong, Netherlands, 2014), Baltic Premiere

Over (Dir. Jörn Threlfall, UK, 2015), Baltic Premiere

Parting (Dir. Junfeng Boo, Singapore, 2015), European Premiere

PickUp (BeekAb) (Dir. Saleh Nass, Bahrain, 2014), Baltic premiere

Prison Door (Dir. Kevin McCann, Ireland/Estonia, 2015)

Raisa (Dir. Pavel Cuzuioc, Moldova / Austria / Romania, 2015), Baltic Premiere

Supporting Film (Voor Film) (Dir. Douwe Dijkstra, The Netherlands, 2015)

The Guests (Dir. Shane Danielsen, Australia, 2015), Baltic Premiere

The Marjan Hill Day (Dan Marjana) (Dir. Igor Jelinovic, Croatia, 2015), International Premiere

The Wall (Mur) (Dir. Andra Tévy, France, 2014)

Tumble Dry Low (Dir. Jefferson Stein, USA, 2015), Baltic Premiere

Zéro m2 (Dir. Matthieu Landour, France, 2015), Baltic Premiere

National Competition 

8KG (Dir. Marleen Roosna, Estonia, 2015), World Premiere

Borders (Dir. Mikk Mägi, Estonia, 2015), International Premiere

Elo (Dir. Helen Takkin, Estonia, 2015), International Premiere

Grey (Hall) (Dir. Jürgen Volmer, Estonia, 2015)

Iron Deficency (Rauapuudus) (Dir. Sander Jahilo, Estonia, 2015)

Take Off (Äralend) (Dir. Carlos Eduardo Lesmes Lopez, Estonia, 2015), International PremiereT

The Butterfly Man (Liblikmees) (Dir. Edina Csüllög, Estonia, 2015), International premiere

The Vehicle of Myth (Dir. Kevin Molloy, Estonia, 2015), World Premiere

To Light (Valguseks) (Dir. Nora Särak, Estonia, 2015)

When You Meet Him (Kui sa teda kohtad) (Dir. Jürgen Moor, Estonia, 2015)

Student Competition  

1,048 (Dir. Juho Fossi, Finland, 2014), Baltic Premiere

At Dawn (Ba'alot hashahar) (Dir. Omri Burstyn, Israel, 2015), World premiere

Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut) (Dir. Patrick Vollrath, Germany / Austria, 2015), Baltic Premiere

Fernweh (Dir. Ena Sendijarevic, The Netherlands, 2014)

Herman The German (Dir. Michael Binz, Germany, 2015), Baltic Premiere

If Mama Ain’t Happy, Nobody’s Happy (Dir. Mea de Jong, The Netherlands, 2014)

Last Base (Dir. Aslak Danbolt, Norway / UK, 2014), Baltic premiere

Me, They and Daddy (მე, ისინი და მამა) (Dir. Salome Vepkhvadze, Georgia, 2014), Baltic Premiere

No Ticket No Perfume (Dir. Aino Salmi, Estonia/Finland/France/Spain, 2015)

Polar Party (Poliarinis vakarėlis) (Dir. Domas Petronis, Lithuania, 2015), International Premiere

Safe Space (Geschützter Raum)(Dir. Zora Rux, Germany, 2014)

Sebastian and Them (Dir. Benjamin Bee, UK, 2015), Baltic Premiere

Sparrows and Snorkels (Von Faltbooten und Heringen) (Dir. Elena Brotschi, Switzerland, 2014), Baltic Premiere

The Baby (La Bambina) (Dir. Ali Asgari, Italy/ Iran, 2014)

The Flame (Ogon) (Dir. Kirill Sokolov, Russia, 2015), European Premiere

The Last Will (Erledigung einer Sache) (Dir. Dustin Loose, Germany, 2014), Baltic Premiere

The Moment (Chwila) (Dir. Piotr Domalewski, Poland, 2015), Baltic Premiere

The Same Blood (Dir. Mitry Semenov-Aleinikov, Belarus, 2015), Baltic Premiere