Go Short is back, the annual short-film festival that takes place in Nijmegen. There is fiction, animation, documentary, animation and art films from across the globe ready to be screened for your viewing pleasure over five days from 9 to 13 April. Alongside a smörgåsbord of Nordic films, there is a special Go Short residency with Finnish filmmakers Hannes Vartiainen and Pekka Veikkolainen.

Vartiainen and Veikkolainen form Pohjankonna Oy, an experimental filmmaking duo combining various digital techniques with, amongst others, stop-motion and X-ray scans. Their short films and documentaries have a unique style, taking the audience on an adventurous audiovisual trip. Since February, they have been working in the Netherlands on a project for the Artists-in-Residence programme, which is currently ongoing (more information here).

Four of Pohjankonna Oy’s films will be screened during the festival, as will numerous other Nordic films. Across the entire programme, films are grouped together and screened alongside each other in usually groups of five films within a certain category (most films are between 5 and 15 minutes long). Here we provide details of a selection of the Nordic films being screened in each sub-category. The full programme is available on the Go Short website.

Pohjankonna Oy Films:

Emergency Calls

What is your emergency? The question that’s at the start of every call to an emergency centre is also starts this film.  The emergencies: precipitate labour, a multiple car crash, but also a killing spree and the last radio message of the “Estonia”. The call marks the boundary between life and death which – perhaps – will be crossed. Director: Hannes Vartiainen, Pekka Veikkolainen / documentary / Finland / 2013 / 15′
Pohjankonna Oy; & European Competition: Doc to Doc

Gates of Life

Brief moments of life stolen from strangers passing-by form a sequence of events hidden in plain sight. Director: Hannes Vartiainen, Pekka Veikkolainen / documentary, art film / Finland / 2012 / 6′
Pohjankonna Oy

Death of an Insect

In a lifeless urban landscape where time itself has stopped its crawl, a mad ballet is commencing and a newly hatched butterfly is about to die. Director: Hannes Vartiainen, Pekka Veikkolainen / documentary, art film / Finland / 2010 / 7′
Pohjankonna Oy

Hanasaari A

Hanassaari A is a short documentary about the changing cityscape of Helsinki, and the final moments of a coal-fired power plant. The film is a combination of animation, live-action cinematrography, and graphic elements. Director: Hannes Vartiainen, Pekka Veikkolainen / documentary / Finland / 2009 / 15′
Pohjankonna Oy

A Selection of Other Nordic Films to be Screened:

On Suffocation

An unsettling but important film about when a system becomes more important than a person’s life. The most unsettling aspect of the film is that it could be absolutely true. Director: Jenifer Malmqvist / fiction / Sweden / 2013 / 8′
European Competition: Still Standing

Eagle Boy

It is  summer at the Flathead Reservation in Montana. Eight-year-old Sage spends sunny days playing with friends, swimming and fishing in the river. But one day his parents surprise him with some breaking news; they’re moving to Northern Norway! Starting school in Tromsø, Sage is different. Director: Gry Elisabeth Mortensen / documentary / Norway / 2013 / 27′
European Competition: Strangers and Charmers

Whale Valley

Two strongly bonded brothers live with their parents on a remote fjord. We enter their world through the eyes of the younger brother and follow him on a journey that marks a turning point in the brothers’ lives. Director: Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson / fiction / Denmark, Iceland / 2013 / 15′
European Competition: What If

Undress Me

Mikaela changed sex from male to female. One night out she meets a guy who follows her home. The movie  examines our perceptions of gender and how our identity can be formed by the perceptions of others. Director: Victor Lindgren / fiction / Sweden / 2013 / 15′
European Competition: Another Fling

Eating Lunch

Fifteen-year-old Klara and four girls and boys of the same age are to eat lunch under the supervision of nurses at a care facility for eating disorders. They have just 30 minutes to eat up. Director: Sanna Lenken / fiction / Sweden / 2013 / 13′
European Competition: Conquerors

The Child of Silent Winter

Katja is a young retiree and frustrated. At 24, she is living in a circle of solitude, spending her days walking her dog and looking out of the window. Her loneliness stems from years of being the victim of school bullying. If only she could find a friend. Director: Iiris Härmä / documentary / Finland / 2012 / 21′
European Competition: Meltdown

Safari Heat

They came for our minerals. Denny must choose his side as key witness in the biggest court case in Cape Town history. Final episode. Director: Antti Laakso, Simo Ruotsalainen / animation / Finland / 2013 / 6′
European Competition: In Another World

But Milk Is Important

A man with social phobia gets followed by a naive and clumsy creature… Director: Anna Mantzaris, Eirik Grønmo Bjørnsen / animation / Norway / 2012 / 11′

European Competition: All Animation

Micke & Tommy

Micke and Tommy are best friends. Together they set off on a cruise in the stormy night. Micke wants to meet a girl and his expectations are high. But when things are put to the test on the dance floor, it’s good to have Tommy by his side. Director: Martina Carlstedt / documentary / Sweden / 2013 / 15′
Breaking Shorts: You’re My Best Friend

Mother is God

You want me to dance? I ask. Yes, my mum answers. So, where do you want me to dance? At the ward, she says. You can be psychotic. But I have never been psychotic, I laugh. My mum answers quickly: That doesn’t matter, does it? It’s a documentary. Director: Maria Bäck / documentary / Denmark / 2013 / 30′
Breaking Shorts: Love Thy Woman

How to Pick Berries

Economy is stranger than fiction. Visitors from a distant place appear in the misty swamps of Northern Finland. As harmless as they are, their foreign presence unwittingly disrupts the pace of local habits. They have come to look for berries, an activity that all of a sudden seems to embody all the values of local culture. Director: Elina Talvensaari / documentary / Finland / 2010 / 19′
Food & Film: Food Fights

Eating Out

A black comedy about a man sitting alone in a rundown burger joint. Suddenly a very extraordinary hold-up disrupts the snack bar’s owner in his cooking as well as the man’s enjoyment of his burger. Director: Pål Sletaune / fiction / Norway / 1993 / 7′
Food & Film: Haute Cuisine