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Inviting audiences to indulge in a carefully curated feast of short-form cinema, the Riga International Film Festival (RIGA IFF, 15\u201325 October) announces its Short Film Competition programme. Over three days, audiences will have the chance to discover an unconventional corner of the short-film landscape as 31 stories by filmmakers from Latvia and around the world meet on the big screen. Tickets to RIGA IFF Short Film Competition screenings are available at\u00a0<\/b>rigaiff.lv<\/b><\/a>\u00a0and and through Bi\u013ce\u0161u Serviss. More information:\u00a0<\/b>rigaiff.lv\/shorts<\/b><\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n In the realm of cinema, the short film is the most precise and daring mirror of its time, offering to discover uncharted dimensions of cinema and fresh points of view in a form that is both brief and concentrated. From several thousand submissions, the RIGA IFF Short Film Competition selection committee \u2013 film curator and script consultant Chantal Lian (France) and film journalist Nanako Tsukidate (Japan) \u2013 together with the competition\u2019s long-standing curator L\u00e9o Soesanto, have selected 31 works works, multifaceted in their form, themes, and textures. Soesanto introduces this year\u2019s competition:<\/p>\n \u201cOnce again, the short film competition programme is about very good films \u2013 obviously \u2013 and the bigger picture they form when put all together. About how they dialogue with each other and what they tell us about the many possibilities of cinema.<\/i><\/p>\n In the national competition programme, there\u2019s definitely a nice balance between thought and action, self-reflection and movement: Latvian filmmakers want to take us on poetic rides \u2013 especially through the streets of Riga \u2013 and to take some time to investigate their roots and family histories. In both cases, moving forward or backward allows them to get a clearer view of the future \u2013 for the directors and for Latvian cinema.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The three-day feast of short-form cinema will open on 21 October with the\u00a0Short Film National Competition<\/a>\u00a0screening. This special event \u2013 a unique cinematic experience accompanied by conversations with the filmmakers \u2013 will bring love letters to Riga, searches for one\u2019s true path, and heartfelt portraits of family ties and stories from the past to the big screen.<\/p>\n The Latvian films selected for the competition span a broad spectrum of animation, including\u00a0Lines of Riga<\/i><\/a>\u00a0(dir. Andrejs Br\u012bvulis) and\u00a0Gazing at Sunsets<\/i><\/a>\u00a0(dir. Kalvis Rudz\u012btis), as well as finely observed documentary cinema \u2013 in\u00a0Portrait of Granny<\/i><\/a>\u00a0(dir. Ieva Ozoli\u0146a),\u00a0The Informant<\/i><\/a>\u00a0(dir. Arnis Kalni\u0146\u0161) and\u00a0yolo<\/i><\/a>\u00a0(dir. T\u012bna Zari\u0146a) the worlds of the filmmakers\u2019 own family members unfold on screen. The programme also features the surreal exploration of a mother-son relationship\u00a0Home Address \u2013 Womb<\/i><\/a> (dir. Just\u012bne Silakakti\u0146a), alongside\u00a0Slush<\/i><\/a>\u00a0(dir. Aivars \u0160aic\u0101ns, J\u0113kabs Okonovs), named the best Latvian short film of the year in February. These seven films, five of which will celebrate their National premieres at RIGA IFF, will compete for the Short Film National Competition\u2019s main prize \u2013 a EUR 1,000 cash award provided by\u00a0Laik\/a Casting<\/i>, one of the leading actor and talent casting agencies in the Baltics.<\/p>\n\n