First trace (towards the best student films)

First day of the festival opens with two blocks – Currents and Cracks – that take us into the flow of life and the fissures in everyday existence. These films explore how little touches, unspoken words and unpredictable moments shape us, and how these little moments in our lives leave profound traces in our inner worlds.

CRACKS explore moments when the structures we rely on – body, mind, routine – start to break. There, in the silent cracks and fractures of the everyday, a space opens up for resistance and change. Every crack reveals our vulnerabilities, at the same time opening a path for the truth and a space for change.

CURRENTS show us how different flows help carry us through personal worlds, where childhood meets adulthood, routine causes rebellion, and illusions and acceptances form our experience. Each of the stories in this block shows how currents of life can carry, form and divert us, and how they can leave indelible traces.

CRACKS

Everybody’s Doing Fine

Mlada ruska novinarka Elina odlazi u skijalište u francuskim Alpama kako bi napisala članak o zdravstvenom turizmu. No, za vrijeme njezina boravka, iz domovine stižu uznemirujuće vijesti, i sada se mora posvetiti svome zdravlju.

Elina, a young Russian journalist, goes to a ski resort in the French Alps to write an article about a wellness retreat. But during her stay, the news from her home country comes to haunt her and she must deal with her own unwellness

Vale Tudo

Lucia “Pretty Beast” Krajčovič is a 34-year-old professional MMA fighter and a mother of two. Despite recently giving birth, she is determined to be a champion at both. With her newborn in her arms, she prepares for the first fight after her pregnancy. Sleep-deprived and exhausted, she slowly crumbles under the immense pressure of her two identities. The question that once had an obvious answer takes over her. Is it possible to be both pretty and a beast? And for how much longer?

Vincent at a Call Center

Vincent, an old soul, works in a call centre again. Irritated by the constant ringing of the telephones, he decides to rip his own ear off.

CURRENTS

Detlev

A constantly freezing man in his forties drives to a lonely petrol station every evening and orders a microwaved Toast Hawaii. Detlev indulges in this in a bizarre ritual, because it’s the only thing that warms him in his daily life. But when he is observed by a stranger one night, his world begins to crumble into shameful pieces.

Fabula rasa

The film follows Špiro and his life in a pot, where he meets new spices and new experiences. Some spices leave a sweet taste, some bitter, but every single one leaves a trace in Špiro and his inner life. Will Špiro falter, will he let the spices control him, or will he find a way to adapt them to his taste?

Everything Else

A series of portraits of people I’ve met through various posts and advertisements in the winter of 2021/2022.

The River 

Mirko suffers from nightmares, unable to cope with the loss of his recently deceased father. Things begin to change when Mirko’s childhood friend Marina returns to the village for summer break.

The first day of STIFF ferries us through currents and cracks of human experience – through flows that carry us, through fissures that make us stop, think and recognise traces we leave and take on. These films do not just show inner worlds of their protagonists, they entice the audience to feel their own currents and cracks, from the beginning to the end of the first day of the festival.

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The International Student Film Festival — STIFF is organized by Filmaktiv and the Student Cultural Center of the University of Rijeka, in co-organization with Art-kino and with the support of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC), the City of Rijeka, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, the Rijeka Tourist Board, the Serbian National Council, the Council of the Serbian National Minority, and the Goethe-Institut Kroatien. The work of Filmaktiv is supported by the Kultura Nova Foundation and the National Foundation for Civil Society Development.