The 9th Annual New York Baltic Film Festival (NYBFF) presented by Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America returns this November, bringing the best new films from the Baltic region to New York audiences. On Saturday, November 7, see a program of “Baltic Shorts,” with live-action short films from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. 

PORTRAIT OF GRANNY (Omamma) | Dir. Ieva Ozolina
6 min. In Latvian with English subtitles (Latvia, 2026) 

Pickles, sweet tea, strawberries and a warm smile. This is how we are greeted by director Ieva Ozoliņa’s grandmother, Aina—an 88-year-young woman. Health concerns and medication, which she jokingly calls “narcotics,” have become inseparable parts of her everyday life. Yet Aina’s outlook on life is surprisingly light: there is no shortage of understanding, humor, or ability to laugh at herself and the world around her. The five phrases she uses most often are her keys to a life lived to its fullest. 

CONCRETE KIDS (Betono vaikai) | Dir. Saulius Baradinskas
20 min. In Lithuanian with English subtitles (Lithuania, 2026)

This short film tells the story of kids who grew up in the courtyards of the Soviet apartment district of Lithuania. Lacking the attention and love of their parents, they needed to survive and free themselves from the violence in the streets every single day.

MY FIRST FUNERAL (Manas pirmās bēres) | Dir. Līva Klepere

15 min. In Latvian with English subtitles (Latvia, 20260

Mare looks at the world with wonder and curiosity. When her family gathers to mourn a recently deceased relative, the eight-year-old girl finds herself in an unfamiliar world, filled with dark clothing, unknown traditions and incomprehensible emotions. The more she sees, the less it makes sense to her. She opts instead for the company of her relative’s dog, hiding in a pleasantly simple, imagined reality.

A MICROPHONE IN THE HEAD (Mikrofon peas) | Dir. Robert Raska Ly

12:44 min. In Estonian with English subtitles (Estonia, 2025)

Hilja discovers that Joonas, who died in a car accident, is able to contact her through a haunted karaoke microphone. To move on to the afterlife, Joonas asks his heartbroken fiancée to visit his mother and deliver a final message—that he is gay. 

SIGNAL PATH (Signalo kelias) | Dir. Eglė Razumaitė

20 min. In Lithuanian/German/English with English subtitles (Lithuania/Germany, 2026)

Liepa and her daughter move to Germany in search of ​a fresh start, but soon have to deal with her family’s disapproval and the challenges of metropolitan life. Director Eglė Razumaitė states: “My intention with this short film was to highlight the shift in the sex industry and to ask: How do we redefine prostitution on screen? Despite societies moving toward legal and political recognition of sex workers, we still tend to stigmatize, discriminate against, and violate their rights.”

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