UNIVERSITY FILMS IN COMPETITION

Academy of Dramatic Arts Zagreb (ADU)

SERENE VALLEY
Sebastijan Borovčak, 2025, 20'

In a small village surrounded by a beautiful yet dangerous landscape in Lika, journalist Tamara embarks on a determined search for the missing Adnan. As she becomes aware of the vastness and harshness of the terrain, her chances of success grow ever slimmer.

 

 

Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (AGRFT)

PENSION BLED
Aljaž Zorko, 2025, 12'

Pension Bled is a comedy set in a small family-run guesthouse in the heart of the Slovenian Alps, where nothing works quite as it should.

 

 

A FISTFUL OF FEATHERS
Emanuel Kranjc, 2025, 17'

We begin with a Western-style sequence in which a heroic cowboy—dusty and sweaty from a long journey—enters the courtyard of a seemingly abandoned hacienda. He steps cautiously across the stone floor, the iconic jingle of spurs and creak of leather suddenly interrupted by a loud noise. The cowboy heads toward the staircase, where a little girl is waiting for him with a smile; she exclaims "Daddy!" with delight and runs into his arms.

Academy of Arts Nova Gorica (AU UNG)

NATAŠA AND GRANDPA
Matej Pirkovič, 2026, 17'

Nataša has to temporarily take care of her demented grandfather, with whom she was once strongly connected.

 

STRIGOI
Rei Grando, 2026, 15'

When Father Giorgio is called to help, he encounters terrified villagers who claim that a dead man has awakened in his grave.

 

 

 

St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences (USTP)

EVANESCENT
Anna Florentina Altmann, Adrian Fuchs, Otto Moser, Stefan Wetzka, 2025, 7'

A visual reflection of the climate crisis—fragmented, dreamlike, yet impossible to ignore. A skier on melting ice, caught between motion and transience. The short film lingers on the fragile threshold between the power of nature and the traces of humanity, drawing the viewer into the glacier’s deepest breath and immersing them in its fading soul.

HEREIN
Tobias Bohunovsky, 2026, 18'

A shy young man thinks he is about to meet his girlfriend’s parents but instead becomes the pawn of a married couple seeking revenge for their son’s death.

RIGHT ON YOUR TAIL
Moses Varga, 2026, 2'

The cat detective crashes into the room, drawn by a trail. There's nowhere left to run. Even the shadows betray his prey. In a city drowning in crime, he hunts without mercy. Tonight, a desperate crook nearly escaped, slipping into a dark bureau, only to corner himself at last.

 

University of Udine (DAMS)

SALT SKIN
Irene Pagano, 2026, 9'

On the concrete terraces of the Topolini bathing area in Barcola, Trieste, a young woman is suddenly dumped by her boyfriend because of a video circulating online. From the footage, she discovers that she was the victim of a sexual assault she has no memory of. Forced to confront the trauma, she spirals ever deeper into it.

LILLI
Ingrid Basili, Ilenia Urgu, 2026, 9'

Lilli, who grew up during the Basaglia Revolution and is now a retired healthcare worker, tells us about her experiences with art therapy as a means of establishing dialogue. The documentary departs from the classic format of a direct interview and transforms into a mutual exchange of vulnerability. The narrative focuses on the development of one of the young participants in the group, whom Lilli’s courage and openness encourage to recognize in her the key to re-understanding and reflecting on his own life story. What begins as a university project evolves into a process of mutual recognition—a process that can liberate not only the one seeking his own voice, but also the one who has devoted his entire life to listening to the voices of others.

KUĆA
Viola Bagnarol, Luca Baldan, Carlotta Colli, Christopher Comand, Alexej Kozlovsky, Anastasiia Lapina, Nicolai Margerit, Ella Ozuna, 2026, 8'

The short film Kuća tells the story of a Bosnian woman who, as a young girl, was forced to leave her home in Livno because of the war and start a new life in a foreign country. Since then, she has lived in Italy, far from her relatives and the places of her childhood. She stays in touch with them only through her younger sister, who is her sole connection to the life she once left behind.

PERFECTLY LATE
Barbari Francesco, Elias Hernandez, Sirbu Cristian, 2026, 6'

Rome University of Fine Arts (RUFA)

CANE DI MANNARA
Baldassare Caradonna, 2026, 18'

Kristian, a young shepherd from rural Sicily, discovers an unexpected way to escape thanks to an old scooter.

 

KEEP AN EYE ON
Beyza Korkut, 2026, 15'

The story of a young woman trapped by dark memories from her childhood. Having grown up without love, she had to learn how to live unnoticed. Her days pass on a fragile boundary where reality and imagination constantly blend into one another.