Gaudium creandi: The Joy of Creation in 24 Short Films
To keep creating even when circumstances are difficult. To find your own voice, explore new approaches and seek out people with whom you can create something meaningful. Košice International Film Festival 2026 embraces the motto Gaudium creandi — the joy of creation. In challenging times, it reminds us why we return to filmmaking: the opportunity to turn an idea, an experience or a question into a film and share it with others.
The joy of creation does not necessarily mean telling cheerful stories. This year's selection also explores war, loneliness, family conflict and the desire for acceptance, while making room for humour, imagination and experimentation. From 11 to 13 December 2026, the festival will present 24 short films from 11 countries across two international programmes and a Slovak programme
International Short Film Programme A
How far would you go to feel alive, belong or win back what you've lost? Seven short films explore the choices people make under pressure, from a teenager hiding behind a thief's mask to a father risking everything on a fresh start. Through fiction, animation, experimental cinema and genre storytelling, they examine anger, desire and the uneasy distance between who we are and who we want to be.
Olli
Directed by: Jeroen Mourmans
17:15 min | Netherlands | Fiction Short
Seventeen-year-old Olli lives in rural Limburg in the southern Netherlands. He works at a local warehouse and, driven by desperation, supplements his income with nighttime burglaries. Once he puts on his mask, the shy teenager becomes a cold, calculating thief. But how far can he go before his conscience catches up with him?
Dog Ear (Kutyafül)
Directed by: Péter Vácz
20:00 min | Hungary | Animated Short
Eleven-year-old Berci spends the afternoon alone with his dog, grappling with the feelings left by his parents' violent argument the day before. As his suppressed emotions surface, he takes his anger and aggression out on the animal. Through these intense moments, he eventually finds relief and discovers the quiet power of forgiveness.
STRIVE
Directed by: Jussi Rautaniemi
14:15 min | Finland | Genre Short (Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Fantasy, Mystery)
In a future dependent on machines, seventeen-year-old Toni longs to experience something real. He enters a dangerous street race, challenging the fearless racer Max, unaware of the bond between them. A tense coming-of-age story set in a world where the desire to feel something can cost you your life.
The Land of Wanting More
Directed by: Marianna Rantou
19:35 min | Greece | Experimental Short
A fragmentary film diary follows women in everyday situations: at work, at home, alone and in the company of others. Intimate images are accompanied by a voice reflecting on love, shame, pleasure and the unspoken rules that shape their bodies and choices. Inspired by Wim Wenders' Paris, Texas and the work of Jonas Mekas, the film weaves a nonlinear portrait of women's experiences, desires, constraints and resilience.
Rotten
Directed by: Aslı Bildirici
13:01 min | Netherlands | Short Film Directed by a Woman
At her father's Turkish supermarket in the Netherlands, Zehra clashes with an outspoken customer, Pelin, only to discover that she is Turkish too. As political speeches play on the radio, their encounter reveals tensions surrounding loyalty, belonging and personal identity.
Such a Perfect Day
Directed by: Piotr Pluta
18:12 min | Poland | Fiction Short
Tomasz needs money. He is convinced that today he will win back everything he has lost: his workshop, his wife and his son, who is celebrating his tenth birthday. This time, gambling does bring him a big win. But his efforts to give his son a happy day could end in disaster.
Dream up the title
Directed by: Klaudia Fortuniak
19:47 min | Poland | Student Film
Małgorzata wanders through a city without rivers, searching for the water that once flowed through it. It is as though she, like the city, has lost her vitality. An idiosyncratic tribute to a generation caught between youth and adulthood, haunted by the feeling that something is passing them by, and to the city of Łódź, whose name means "boat" but whose rivers gave way to industry.
International Short Film Programme B
What connects us to people and places, even long after they are gone? Nine short films explore loss, loneliness and the desire to move beyond the limits of one's own life, from a woman returning to a country at war to a man seeking freedom as a Western hero. Documentary, fiction and dreamlike storytelling meet the humour of everyday misunderstandings and encounters in which the need for help outweighs personal differences.
Fuck Them All
Directed by: Polina Biliaieva
15:00 min | Ukraine / Poland | Student Film
After losing her husband, thirty-year-old Ukrainian Kira flees to Poland at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. Her thoughts remain with her war-torn homeland, but another challenge awaits her in her new surroundings: she discovers she is pregnant. Traumatised, she does not want to bring a child into the world, but is unable to access an abortion in Poland. She decides to return to Ukraine, where the war continues to rage.
Maria Henriqueta Was Here
Directed by: Nuno Pimentel
14:00 min | Portugal | Documentary Short
Portugal, 1872. Brazilian Emperor Pedro II arrives in Porto and stays at the Grand Hotel du Louvre, owned by Maria Henriqueta de Mello Lemos e Alvelos. In the present day, an attempt to make a film about this visit becomes an evocation of her presence. Memories, sounds and sensory impressions gradually form an emotional map of an unseen protagonist.
Samia
Directed by: Selma Alaoui and Bruno Tracq
20:00 min | Belgium | Fiction Short
Samia meets Farhan as he smokes outside his building. She follows him into his apartment, where he hosts Moroccan music concerts. The joyful atmosphere allows her to forget for a moment that her father, whom she never knew, is being buried far away that very day. After leaving, she realises she has forgotten her wallet and returns. But a neighbour tells her that no one has lived in the apartment for decades.
All About Our Friendship
Directed by: Andras Gal
5:00 min | Hungary | Super Short Film
Panna and Atus seem to live outside time as the grass around them slowly withers. But can this last at least until the end of allergy season?
Shawano
Directed by: Felix Bartke
13:24 min | Germany | Documentary Short
A cemetery worker retreats to a replica Western ranch to escape his daily routine and become the hero of a cinematic story, if only for a day. Through the imagery, gestures and rituals of the Western, the film explores notions of masculinity and a longing for freedom and a life modelled on screen heroes.
ELECTRICKS
Directed by: Kryštof Kindl
13:39 min | Czechia | Student Film
An electrician in urgent need of money after months of unpaid invoices accepts a job replacing electrical sockets. At a young mother's apartment, however, he discovers an illegal electricity connection left by her parents. For her, it means the threat of a huge debt; for him, it makes completing the job impossible. Should he leave and find paid work elsewhere, or help her through unofficial means? A drama about survival within a system that pushes them both to bend the rules.
BOND
Directed by: Erika Imbriani
5:43 min | Hungary | Student Film
A lonely young man lives on a remote rock, dreaming of an intimacy he has never known. In a fantastical world where the boundaries between dreams and reality blur, he searches for a bond that continues to elude him. A minimalist, poetic story of isolation, longing and the need for human connection.
Soidade
Directed by: Max Bédrune
15:00 min | Belgium | Student Film
Nola, an older Galician woman with a habit of meddling in other people's lives, has been at odds with her young neighbour Emil ever since his grandfather moved into a care home. When she receives a modern speaker she has no idea how to use, her quiet daily routine is turned upside down. Can she bring herself to ask for help from the very person who irritates her so much?
Slow Village – Kileng a Ház
Directed by: Salvatore Giuliano
4:29 min | Hungary | Music Video
A dreamlike carousel takes us through the rap group's neighbourhood, where life is constantly in motion and people try to escape the boxes they find themselves in. Created in 2.5D, it is, according to its makers, among the first three-dimensional music videos that can be viewed without special glasses.
Slovak Short Film Selection
What happens when the desire to fit in becomes an obsession and good intentions collide with reality? Eight films in the Slovak selection take us into quiet hotel corridors, a late-night laboratory and behind the scenes of an amateur film shoot. Through fiction, documentary, animation and experiment, they explore loneliness, inner temptations and gaming nostalgia, making room for absurdity, uncomfortable questions and the joy of creating freely.
315 and Me (315 a ja)
Directed by: Rebeka Bizubová
17:02 min | Slovakia | Student Short Film
A lonely hotel security guard finds comfort in his orderly daily routine until a mysterious guest, Nina, enters his life. As he drifts off behind the reception desk, reality blends with memories and dreams. The silence of the hotel becomes a mirror, reflecting both the guard's world and secrets that can no longer be uncovered.
Kill, Kokesh, Kill! (Kokeš)
Directed by: Jan Míka
17:12 min | Czechia, Slovakia | Animated Short
Sometimes an inner voice whispers to us, urging us to make the wrong choices. Whether we listen is up to us. That voice is called Kokesh — a little dwarf with a wooden club.
THE FLY (Mucha)
Directed by: Kristína Fačkovcová
11:09 min | Slovakia | Student Short Film
Albert, a lonely biology student, struggles to fit in with his classmates and win the approval of a girl he secretly admires. After being humiliated during a lecture, his desire for acceptance turns into an obsession. He returns to his laboratory at night, determined to achieve the impossible — bring a dead fly back to life. As his attempts multiply, the boundary between experiment and reality begins to blur. A tragicomic story of the longing for recognition, a wounded ego and the need to be understood.
Amateurs (Amatéri)
Directed by: Vitalii Ermakov
20:00 min | Slovakia | Documentary Short
This documentary comedy follows a group of friends from the filmmaking collective Infarkt produkcia. It explores their philosophy of complete freedom, a wholehearted joy in filmmaking and a disregard for the conventions of the film industry. A behind-the-scenes look at the making of a truly amateur film reveals that every idea has a place — even if the greatest feat is getting all your friends on set at the same time.
Heroes of Might and Magic III: Tale of an Eastern European Legend
(Heroes of Might and Magic III: Príbeh východoeurópskej legendy)
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Directed by: Annie Buchtová
20:50 min | Slovakia | Student Animated Documentary with Experimental Elements
Released in 1999, the video game Heroes of Might and Magic III is less well known in the United States, where it was created, but gained a cult following in Eastern Europe that endures to this day. Through interviews, the film explores the history of post-Soviet Europe and asks why the game found such a lasting home in the region. It also features an interview with the game's original composer, Paul Anthony Romero, alongside his music.
Free the Chickens (Osloboďte sliepky!)
Directed by: Matúš Vizár
15:00 min | Slovakia | Animated Short
A mission to rescue chickens from a factory farm goes badly wrong. Four activists are forced to flee into the wilderness, where they face a series of extreme situations and ethical dilemmas. These lead them to new insights — including the realisation that nature is no safe haven for animals.
The Point Is in the Brick (Pointa je v tehle)
Directed by: Peter Pokorny
6:39 min | Slovakia | Experimental Short
Who are we? And why are we? And is it worth it? Irena, where are my socks? These and similar philosophical questions may occur to us after watching this profound exploration of the very essence of human existence. The film not only advances extreme metaphysical propositions but, above all, contains revolting images that may leave some viewers feeling queasy. Repeated viewing may even damage the fourth chamber of the psyche. We therefore advise our esteemed audience to collect the complimentary sick bags at reception before the screening.
Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe! (En ten tičky!)
Directed by: Andrea Szelesová
12:56 min | Czechia, Slovakia | Animated Short
Yios, a lonely mythical boy whose head shines like the sun, struggles to make friends among the clouds. When a prank gone wrong sends him tumbling to Earth, an unexpected encounter changes the way he sees himself.