A total of 32 entries have been shortlisted for the national film competition of the Cut to the Chase – R&A Shorts event. A four-strong jury will honour the winner with the R&A LIFT award. R&A Shorts will take place on September 26–30. 

The second Cut to the Chase – R&A Shorts event organised in connection with the HIFF festival now features a competition selection of its own. The 32 entries of the first national short film competition were shortlisted by a pre-selection jury from the 164 shorts completed in 2017–2018 and will be shown in five screenings.

The professional jury of the national competition comprises of Susani Mahadura and Yagmur Özberkan who are broadcasters at the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle), Miltton Creatives’ Creative Director Mikko Hakkarainen, and the director/cinematographer Johannes Östergård who won the R&A Shorts Audience Award last year.

The winner and recipient of the €1,500 R&A LIFT award will be announced on Saturday, September 29.

You can find the shortlist for the R&A LIFT award here.

Nordic Guests Are the Coolest

R&A Shorts presents a total of 191 short films in more than 30 categories over five days with a main emphasis on Finnish and Nordic cinema.

The guests to this year’s event include Swedish director Bahar Pars whose shorts get their own retrospective, the students of the leading independent Danish film school Super16, and the Swede Sanna Lenken who will be interviewed in the Kelaamo Kino Lab. Lenken’s first feature film My Skinny Sister (Min lilla syster) was one of the hits of the 2015 HIFF.

One of the Finnish festival guests is Hannaleena Hauru whose new short METATITANIC is inspired by the hit movie Titanic.

Revisiting Ingmar

A special screening to honour the centenary of the legendary director Ingmar Bergman will add another Swedish touch to the R&A Shorts programme. The special screening of Bergman Revisited will feature a series of new short films inspired by the Swedish master and directed by Tomas Alfredson, Lisa Aschan, and Pernilla August among others.

The R&A LIFT award of the national competition is sponsored by the LIFT event combining media, arts, and culture. This year’s R&A Shorts Audience Award is sponsored by Rajala Pro Shop.

The remaining guests will be announced on September 7 with the announcement of the 31st HIFF festival programme. Ticket sales begin on September 13.