The International Competition of Short Films at IFF Art Film 2025 (20 – 27 June 2025, Košice) will showcase bold voices, fresh perspectives and cinematic forms that probe the restlessness, vulnerability and imagination of today’s world. The line-up features more than thirty titles from five continents, grouped into six thematically and generically diverse blocks.
Section curator Martin Kaňuch notes: “The Short Film Competition regularly delivers the very best of current short-form production worldwide. This year’s six-block programme gathers 36 films that reflect not only the strong thematic concerns of young creators, but also the latest trends in visual style and storytelling.”
According to Kaňuch, this year’s selection strongly foregrounds women’s viewpoints and topics of emancipation alongside oppression, discrimination and abuse. “Several competing films revolve around troubled family environments and parent-child relationships — Venus in Retrograde by Slovak director Štefánia Lovasová and Ultraviolet by Belgium’s Veerle De Wilde are prime examples. Political and socially engaged works (Lesya, Everyone Deserves a Slice of the Pie), portraits of women’s lives in Muslim countries (Fertility, Queen) and reports on societal violence (Family Sunday) round out the line-up. Viewers will again find audience favourites and festival winners — The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent by Nebojša Slijepčević — alongside contributions from acclaimed filmmakers (the parental drama O by Rúnar Rúnarsson) and daring debuts such as Confession by Slovak documentarian Rebeka Bizubová. After years with few domestic entries, Slovak work is making a comeback: this edition screens films by three Slovak women directors (Venus in Retrograde, Confession, Hot Flush).”
War trauma and intimate testimony form a powerful strand. Animator Anastasiia Falileieva offers I Died in Irpin, an autobiographical confession of life in the shadow of the Russian invasion. People and Things (Damian Kosowski) tackles identity and memory against the backdrop of Ukraine’s mass graves. In a similar dark territory, Bizubová’s documentary Confession confronts the director’s experience of sexual abuse by a priest.
Many films focus on children and youth as witnesses or agents of social (and family) tension. Hana Hančinová’s Hot Flush follows a social worker facing unwanted intimate contact at a turning point in her life. 1:10 shows how a trivial school scuffle sparks a chain of adult aggression. In Cura sana, two sisters renegotiate their bond amid domestic violence.
Migration, identity and grappling with the past form another strong line. Lesya tracks a young Ukrainian woman seeking a fresh start in a Czech town. The Ocean Is Closed on Mondays blends documentary and fiction in a disquieting reflection on the Latinx diaspora in New York. My Brother, My Brother meditates on memory and loss through identical twins separated by tragedy.
Form itself comes to the fore: from the poetic animation On Weary Wings Go By (Anu-Laura Tuttelberg) to the expressive dance video Sensible (Axel Chemin) and the essayistic The Eggregores’ Theory on collective memory.
Across the programme, the theme of resistance resounds. The hero of Croatian film The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent stands up to paramilitaries deporting civilians, while the dystopian satire Quota exposes the absurdities of climate-quota politics.
The International Competition of Short Films at IFF Art Film 2025 thus offers not only a vibrant cross-section of world cinema, but above all a statement on the human condition in an age of uncertainty. This is cinema that moves, unsettles and often surprises. Secure your entry into a world of strong emotions and visual inventiveness today — Cinepasses are available at the festival’s official site: https://iffartfilm.com.
31st IFF ART FILM — Supported by
Organizer: ART FILM FEST s.r.o.
Co-organizers: Mesto Košice, K13 – Košické kultúrne centrá, Visit Košice, ART FILM FEST n.o., LGM s.r.o., FORLIVE
Financial support: Audiovizuálny fond, Nadácia SPP
Co-financed by: Košický samosprávny kraj (Terra Incognita programme)
Main partners: národná lotériová spoločnosť TIPOS, Slovenská elektrizačná prenosová sústava a.s., CODES Brand House
Main media partners: TV JOJ, Pravda, Eurotelevízia
Automotive partner: Moris Slovakia
Advertising partners: Best Press, U. S. Steel Košice, ANTIK telecom, Kino Úsmev, LOKO TRANS Media, CORE Labs, Technická univerzita v Košiciach
Technology partners: NOV, ZEBRA, Deutsche Telekom Systems Solutions Slovakia, T4H, LEDGO, DELTA OnLine, ARICOMA, TelekomCLOUD
Official suppliers: DKC Veritas, Kaviareň Slávia, PLOOM, Krušovice BOHÉM, pramenitá voda Lucka, DOMOS SLOVAKIA, Reštaurácia Contessa, Aupark Shopping Center Košice, Pierre Baguette, Julius Meinl, Red Fox Golf Club
Official wine: Kubbo Select, Ostrožovič
Media partners: JOJ play, JOJ 24, Film Europe, Rádio KOŠICE, Aktuality.sk, Forbes, Startitup.sk, Korzár, Slovenka, SITA, TASR, Mediaboard, See & Go, Česko-Slovenská filmová databáze – ČSFD, BigMedia, Košice City Guide, Košice v skratke, Film.sk, diva.sk, koktejl.sk, zenskyweb.sk, MOJAkultúra, kino Sterio, Dopravný podnik mesta Košice, AHOJ TV
Partners: JOJ Cinema, Jojko, Veľvyslanectvo Indie v Bratislave, Carmeuse Slovakia, DDDental, TINY Houses, ECO Technologies, Letisko Košice, Local Nomad Tours, Slovenský filmový ústav, Taper, YumEarth, Puella vône, Kvety Garomi, čLOVEčina hra, Rakúske kultúrne fórum, TESCO Store SK, CPK Transport, Tabačka Kulturfabrik, King Media, Východoslovenské múzeum v Košiciach, Letní filmová škola, KPK Reklama, MIHYRING, Zoberma taxi, Hair Factory Košice
Gastronomy partners: Pub u Kohúta, El Nacional, OhniskO Fire Dining & Brew Bar, Maiko Sushi, Macarons Košice, Café de Paris, šum vináreň, Casa Trade – Casablanca cafe, TATRATEA, Moritz Eis
