Introducing the films of the European BOO 2026
We are presenting 34 short films nominated for the European BOO competition section 2026.
The competition screenings will take place in three blocks from November 4 to 6 at Kino Kavalírka (Plzeňská 210, Prague 5).
This year's winner will be chosen by a jury consisting of Chloë van Baar (Cinekid Festival), Sigrid Hadenius (Uppsala Short Film Festival) a Jukka-Pekka Laakso (Tampere Film Festival) – LEARN MORE ABOUT THE JURY
European BOO – A
November 4, 2026, 2:45 p.m. Kino Kavalírka
In Eldorado, Otello moves between a sprawling Parisian construction site and a rundown nightclub, where he finds solace alongside his friend, the decadent entertainer Bernardino Femminielli. With the snoring Ivar by her side, Anne turns to the camera and lists everything that is wrong with him. Duck & Sauerkraut turns loneliness and hunger into an animated story of impossible love, full of mishaps and misunderstandings. In Loynes, a corpse with neither name nor past is put on trial in a Kafkaesque courtroom where ritual, bureaucracy and justice collide. And in Abortion Party, director Julie celebrates her abortion with a peculiar group of guests.
European BOO – B
November 4, 2026, 7:15 p.m. Kino Kavalírka
A romantic New Year’s Eve in Sauna Sickness turns into a tense test of a relationship and of Cleo’s own perception of reality. Bad Ideas brings together a musical page-turner, pianists and gangsters in an absurd comedy. In Tourists, Hana and Kornel get lost in the forest, exposing the cracks in their stagnant marriage. Volklore moves through Czech folklore, social media, fashion and marketing, asking what authenticity still means. And in Into the Forest, three monkeys trapped in a frozen stop-motion studio build their own jungle as a way out.
European BOO – C
November 4, 2026, 9:30 p.m. Kino Kavalírka
On her last evening before leaving, Vera tells her younger sister a fairy tale about the City of Owls, swallowed by an eternal night, where its inhabitants slowly begin turning into these mysterious birds. In Something Wild, straight-A student Zsofi occasionally turns into a bear. Happily Ever After pieces together home videos and memories to form a portrait of a woman who left her abusive husband and children years ago. In Full Nest, a squirrel must make room among its treasures for animals seeking shelter from a flood. And on Easter Day, a young man in the streets of Kyiv tries to avoid the attention of two soldiers from the army recruitment office.
European BOO – D
November 5, 2026, 2:45 p.m. Kino Kavalírka
In Dog Ear, eleven-year-old Berci spends an afternoon alone with his dog, trying to process the emotions left behind by his parents’ fight. In Can You Hear Me?, Nastia teaches her mother how to use the internet, and their lessons gradually reopen old family wounds. Nobody Barks follows Candela, who invents a story about a dog pilgrimage rather than admit she accidentally ran over her nephew’s pet. And in Recess, one mistakenly sent nude photo turns Annie’s life upside down.
European BOO – E
November 5, 2026, 5:00 p.m. Kino Kavalírka
In Atomik Tour, reckless Hugo heads into the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in search of content for Instagram. With Tapes and Toasts in the Car takes the terminally ill Shari on an unexpected journey through space, where she realizes how precious time with her family really is. In But I Never Asked, a young pianist’s performance opens a path to her family’s wartime past. Please builds a portrait of people longing for closeness, acceptance and love through a series of tender and absurd encounters. And in The World Should Perish, a mother and daughter spend one night waiting for men who never return.
European BOO – F
November 6, 2026, 2:45 p.m. Kino Kavalírka
In Balconada, a young flutist brings neighbours together on their balconies through music. After a breakup, a thirty-something woman turns into a Hag with snakes for hair. The Day I Licked a Pebble sends three siblings on a mysterious journey through the forest to the bakery. In Please Hold, a young couple orders someone to assemble their baby’s cot, only for the worker to refuse to leave afterwards. Breaking Walls follows journalist Hoi Yi as he fights censorship while hiding his queer identity from his family. And in Intersecting Memory, Shayma’ returns to memories of her childhood during the Second Intifada.
European BOO – G
November 6, 2026, 7:15 p.m. Kino Kavalírka
In If You Don’t Like It, Look Away, a group of Marseille retirees spend their days on the beach, openly talking about sex and ageing. The erotically charged Cosmonauts set off on an intergalactic singles cruise in search of intimacy. Heaven Will Wait follows a group of young women openly discussing their bodies and boundaries. And in Dream Up the Title, we wander with Małgorzata through a city without rivers, feeling as though everything is slipping through our fingers.