When the algorithm starts feeling like a closed loop, FestivalScope.com is my consistent escape. It functions as a digital bridge to the world’s most prestigious film festivals, partnering with major international events to host curated selections of shorts for a very limited window. It is a genuine luxury for any cinephile looking for works that rarely make it to local commercial screens.

While the access is free, it operates on a “virtual ticket” system. You register on the site and “buy” a ticket for $0. These tickets are limited — mimicking the seating capacity of a physical theater — which turns streaming into a first-come, first-served event. You have to secure your spot before the digital “seats” are filled.

Fribourg International Film Festival

The 40th Fribourg International Film Festival (FIFF) has moved its International Short Film Competition and “New Territory: Colombia” programs online until 30 April. A key entry for local readers is Daniel de la Cruz’s Filipino short, Gills (Agos). The drama follows a young boy in a coastal village who discovers a mysterious creature, forcing a confrontation with his family’s reality.

From Ukraine, Yelyzaveta Toptyhina’s Curfew follows a photographer and a young man searching for shelter as a military curfew looms. Mykola Zasieiev’s Easter Day tracks two military recruiters patrolling the streets of Kyiv in search of men for the draft. Both films offer a realist look at contemporary life under the shadow of ongoing conflict.

Iranian cinema is represented by Ali Babaei’s Don Quixote, a surrealist sci-fi about a director in a robot-ruled future searching for a missing actor. Armin Etemadi’s Prehistoric further explores the region’s penchant for sophisticated, metaphorical narrative structures through the lens of ancient artifacts.

The Colombian focus includes Esteban Pedraza’s Bogotá Story, a 1990s-set drama about a mother’s career crossroads amidst national violence. Carla Melo Gampert’s La Perra provides an experimental animation exploring feminine sexuality and the bond between a daughter and her mother in Bogotá.

Tampere Film Festival

Available until 24 April, the 56th Tampere Film Festival selection on Festival Scope focuses on technical precision and observational storytelling. Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir’s A South-Facing Window is a domestic drama tracking a couple in Ulaanbaatar as they wander through vacant apartments while their relationship nears collapse.

In the documentary sphere, Antonia Colodro and Alaa Hathleen’s Living Despite Them focuses on a Palestinian community through the lens of a local football match. Inka Achté and Einari Paakkanen’s Puolanka Pussy Rally explores the moped racing subculture among teenagers in a remote Finnish village known for its pessimistic identity.

The program concludes with experimental and animated works. Risto-Pekka Blom’s Too Blue a Sky contemplates environmental dread through static imagery and voiceover. Róisín Kelly’s Unanimated Strangers is an Irish animation dealing with themes of alienation and the feeling of being an outsider. Saarlotta Virri’s Memories Move Like Distant Islands blends personal memory with the physical landscape of the Finnish archipelago.