The festival's themes are connected to the general artistic concept of Tartu 2024 the Arts of Survival. Five film "cassettes", each concentrating on a specific subject, showcase what it means to be a human and how can we survive as a society in the era of chaos.

"The Other is Myself" cassette includes the Estonian premiere of Carlos Segundo's short film "Big Bang", which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in 2022 and won the Golden Leopard award there. The participating Estonian films include Kristina Lilas' short documentary about the everyday life of social care "Companions" and Pirte Laura Lember's "Nothingness is Silence" where a noisy present meets the questionable future.

"Collective Joy" brings to the audience the 2023 Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival Best Comedy Award winner ("Women Visiting a City"), in which three friends, who have recently buried their husbands, go on their first trip together. The Estonian films include Ivar Murru's docu-slasher "Kihnu Marathon" and Taavi Aruse's legendary "Holy Shit".

The program "It's OK to Be Sad" includes the 2022 Annecy Film Festival Best French Short Animation winner 'The Tale of Two Trumpets,' which will have its Estonian premiere in Valga. In addition, it shows the German 1970s melodrama "For Women: Chapter 1" and Teresa Väli's film about the wedding night. 

"Befriending the Earth" provides an insight into the lives of ghosts wandering around after the end of the world ("After the End of the World" - Florentina Gonzalez), peeks into the depths of the oceans ("PLSTC" - Laen Sanches), and dives into the dangerous world of waste sorting ("Gutter Counts" - Raoul Kirsima).

"Magical Thinking" takes the watcher to Brazil's "Scarce", the Baltic Sea ("Can't Help Myself"), and the Philippines ("Powernapper's Paradise"). The Estonian film "511 Seconds of Cinema" opens its doors into the cinema's projector room.

In addition, the festival will screen short documentaries specially prepared for Tartu's 2024 program, and the premiere of the newly restored Estonian film classic "Daisy Petal Game", supervised by Tarkovsky himself.

Thirty-nine short films from 16 different countries will premiere in Estonia for the first time over the weekend.

Valga Hot Shorts takes place between June 28-30. The whole program can be found HERE.

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