First Window into Escape

Emotionally, mentally and physically Carried Away, we escape with three exceptional films into the first programme block of the day.

The festival opens with the Estonian animated film Swifts by Ada Napiórkowski, in which the birds return to their haunted world in “sleepy neighbourhoods”. But, the people are gone, and only their ghosts remain. In the British documentary Waiter, the Scientist and Jenny by Joe Snelling, we follow a once promising scientist who now works as a waiter. He is trying to live freely and unburdened by the past, all the while struggling with mental health issues. Finally, the experimental fiction Antitutoriel by Léonie Savard, in which the protagonist Gille, confronting her own self, enters the absurd world of her curiosity.

After an intermezzo with welcome drinks, we continue with Intermezzo, the programme block with three films exploring different aspects of human intimacy and relationships. Jonathan Brunner’s documentary Waiting, Not Waiting follows a dancing museum guard, a Ukrainian lorry driver resting, and a woman at the end of her lids, all waiting in their own way, but full of life in spite of everything. Hot by Franck Hourliac explores the relationship between Adams and Mia, two hairdressers connected by Grindr discovering strange intimacy despite initial clumsiness. The first day of the festival ends with fiction film Strangers in the Night by Matthias Krepp. Set on New Year’s Eve 2019, the film intertwines three stories exploring the complexities of human relationships in a world on the brink of change.

Don’t forget to vote for your favourite film, because in that swaggering Intermezzo your vote might just be the one to tip the scales and decide the winner of the Audience Award.

STIFF — Student International Film Festival is supported by Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC), City of Rijeka, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Serbian National Council, and Goethe Institute Zagreb. The festival takes place in Art-kino Croatia.