SEEfest 2025- Short Films @ the Goethe-Institut

The 20th annual South East European Film Festival (SEEfest), co-presented by ELMA, the foundation for European Languages and Movies in America, is excited to bring you another stellar lineup. Presenting and celebrating the cinematic and cultural diversity of 20 countries of the Balkans and Caucasus, the film festival continues to provide a platform in the U.S. for the discovery of new talent from South East Europe.

This year's festival, runs from April 30 - May 7, 2025 and is presented in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut.   

The following SEEfest 2025 Short Film programs will be presented at the Goethe-Institut on May 1, 2025: 

Secure, free Parking is available at Metro/Retail parking structure
with rear entrance to the Goethe-Institut located at
674 S. Westlake Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90057

10:00 AM - Shorts Program 1: Documentaries 

This documentary block delves into the powerful connection between memory, identity, and place. Each film explores how the echoes of history shape personal and collective experiences; from a mother and daughter’s return to Transylvania to confront their family’s past, to an exploration of imperial legacies still woven into cultural and political landscapes, to a soldier’s haunting journey through war and resistance. These stories reveal how the weight of memory lingers in familiar spaces, connecting us to our ancestors and shaping our understanding of home and belonging.
THE REVENANT PROJECT: PERSONS, PLACES, THINGS
Croatia, 27 minutes, Director: Tomislav Zaja
The documentary Revenant explores the legacies of the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires and their impact on current culture and politics. Drawing on the expertise of scholars and impressions of everyday observers, Revenant reveals both the dizzying variety and dramatic continuity of yesterday’s empires today. How and why do historical figures become key to our memories of the past? How do specific places become sites of post-imperial memory?

MOTHERLAND
Germany/Romania, 32 minutes, Director: Bianca Zylla
In this 33-minute documentary, the director travels to Transylvania, Romania with her mother, who grew up under Ceaușescu's dictatorship and migrated to Germany in 1989. The film explores the protagonist's life as a Transylvanian-Saxon, part of a German minority in Romania. Together, the mother-daughter-duo visit significant places, such as the protagonist's childhood home or the site of the Romanian revolution in Brașov. The documentary examines the concept belonging and the meaning of home.

EXIT THROUGH THE CUCKOO'S NEST
Serbia / Switzerland, 19 minutes, Director: Nikola Ilić
This personal short documentary tells the story of a soldier who never wanted to be one. His decision never to pull a trigger led to resistance and ultimately to military prison. Pretending to be mentally ill, he leaves the war zone and returns to Belgrade via the insane asylum. On the day NATO begins bombing the entire country.

11.30 AM - Shorts Program 2: Documentaries 

This documentary block highlights stories of resilience, passion, and the search for healing in the face of personal and collective struggles. From a Slovenian woodcarver keeping his childhood dreams alive, to a Croatian filmmaker confronting trauma and injustice, to a community of immigrants bonding over vintage cars from their homeland, these films explore how people reclaim their identities through creativity, connection, and courage. Whether facing past hardships or nurturing lifelong dreams, each story reflects the human drive to find meaning and strength in unexpected places.  ONE METER IS SIX CENTIMETERS
Slovenia, 11 minutes, Directors: Juš Jeraj and Atila Urbančič
Cena, the grouchy Slovenian woodcarver spent his childhood dreaming of jumping from the Giant of Planica, a legendary ski-jump built to break records. Although a bad case of asthma cut his wings at an early age, his dreams live on. Each summer, he organizes his very own Ski Jumping World Championship, in his own garden.

YET ANOTHER ONE
Croatia, 29 minutes, Director: Karla Jelić
Vida Skerk was supposed to be the future of Croatian cinema until she decided to continue her studies in London after experiencing sexual harassment by a professor at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb. Through Vida's story, the film highlights how the Croatian film community treats victims of sexual violence.

ZASTAVA BROTHERS
USA / Yugoslavia, 23 minutes, Director: Pep Stojanovic
A documentary about the cars of former Yugoslavia and a group of immigrants now living in America who transcend their different backgrounds to form a bond over their love for those cars. As night falls on their first ever Sunday drive, they must spring to action when one of the cars begins to smoke.

DEEP TONES
Croatia, 15 min, Director: Igor Ilić
Sound engineer and musician Božo Ilić is trying to heal his psychological traumas caused by Zagreb earthquake in March 2020. Božo is a resident of Markuševac, the place where the the epicenter of the earthquake was. In attempt to face the trauma, Božo tries to shake his house again with a powerful subwoofer and record the sound of the earthquake.

1:00 PM - Shorts Program 3: Animation

This block explores themes of memory, identity, and human connection through vivid visual storytelling. From personal struggles with trauma and loss to journeys of self-discovery, love, and survival, these films offer a rich tapestry of emotions that are visualized creatively to externalize the internal life of the filmmakers and their characters. BEYOND THE FACE
Slovenia, 10 minutes, Director: Anja Resman
A young man is cleaning the apartment of his recently deceased father. He is forced to relive traumatic memories of growing up and losing his soul.

LIKE THE SNAIL
Hungary/Colombia, 4 minutes, Director: Katalin Egely
A Colombian cumbia song that tells us how to respect our timing and enjoy the small things.

THE BLACK SMOKE PREDICTION
Croatia, 9 minutes, Director: Damir Šuša
An abstract illustration of space travel.

NO EFFECT
Croatia, 6 minutes, Director: Sanja Borcic
The painter is always stopped by a butterfly before making his first brushstroke. Even global disasters seem to be part of his artistic misfortune. And when he finally succeeds, his success vanishes like the flutter of butterfly wings. Can the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil really cause a tornado in Texas? The butterfly is there but the effect is not.

HURIKÁN
Czech Republic, 13 minutes, Director: Jan Saska
A deep-fried romance from Prague.

FOUR CHAMBERS TO THE HEART
Belgium & Greece, 9 minutes, Directors: Kostas IOANNIDIS, Johan GRIMONPREZ
Palermo 1624. While in quarantine due to the plague, 94 year old master painter Sofonisba Anguissola, a worldwide renowned artist at the time but later consigned to obscurity, writes her final letters to her pupil and Flemish master-in-the-making Anton Van Dyck.

MILES & FLOWERS
Ukraine, 5 minutes, Director: Danny Volosozhar
A buddy road trip movie about two guys just trying to escape the horrors of war on a journey that might be their last shot at survival. One is desperate to save his family, while the other is seeking redemption for his past.

FRAM
Romania, 12 minutes, Director: Stefan Buzea
A friendly little polar bear, and his mother, Nala, live alone in an isolated area at the North Pole. Nala introduces her cub to the outside world with all its beauty and magic. The seemingly uneventful frozen world comes to life with the arrival of the polar day.

FLIP
Bulgaria, 7 minutes, Director: Ivailo Boliarov
In the tense and dynamic world we live in, at some point each of us is overwhelmed by the urge to realize our desires, to find harmony, peace or safety.

FAMILY PORTRAIT
Croatia, 14 minutes, Director: Lea Vidakovic
As Austro-Hungary teeters on collapse, Andras and his daughter are taken aback by the visit from Andras' brother, Zoltan, who comes accompanied by his large family.

SVHRA
Bosnia and Herzegovina, 9 minutes, Director: Tvrtko Karačić
The story of the film Purpose centres on the people who live in a tiny village that is connected by a system of wheels and cogs. A young man, whose wheel has broken, watches this perfectlysynchronised mechanism.

WINDOWS FROM THE SOUTH
Croatia, 5 minutes, Director: Eugen Bilankov
A movie about a breakup. The narrative develops through the author’s conversations with his long-time partner, and follows the contemplation of the end of a nine-year romantic relationship. The sound design of the film is constructed using documentary techniques, while animation illustrates the psychological and emotional spaces of these 'breakup' conversations. To depict the randomness of subconscious thoughts and emotional states, the author experiments with visuals that incorporate elements of the surreal, making the connections between frames associative. The film reflects on the dual purpose of the artistic endeavor: compressing and archiving a portion of personal history in the medium of film and using it as a form of therapeutic self-exploration and experimentation.

For tickets, extensive program details, trailers and a complete screening schedule please visit the official SEEfest 2025 website: