Latvian Academy of Culture Announces Call for Entries for the Second International Short Film Festival "Easy to Be Young?"
From March 11 to 13, 2027, Riga will host the second international student short film festival "Easy to Be Young?", organized by the Latvian Academy of Culture (LAC). Following a successful inaugural edition, the festival is taking the next step—significantly expanding its international reach by transitioning to an open film selection via the international platform "FilmFreeway" and promising an even broader program for both film students and audiences.
Following its successful debut year, the festival returns with the goal of continuing to develop and support young cinematic talents. While the first-year program was curated in cooperation with specific regional film schools, in 2027 "Easy to Be Young?" is opening its doors wider, inviting young creators to submit their works through the "FilmFreeway" platform. Film students and recent graduates from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic are invited to participate.
The competition program is planned to include 30 to 35 student short films, encompassing fiction and documentary films with a runtime of up to 30 minutes. Premiere status is not required, and a single author may submit up to two films. The festival will take place at the "Splendid Palace" cinema and the LAC National Film School (NFS).
"The festival will not have an annual thematic framework. There are two essential reasons for this. First, a certain theme is already outlined in the festival's title. Films that reflect on life today and portray how young people feel in the world will always be important to us. Second, our festival's main goal is to showcase the best student works. The study process is short, so it would not be justified to leave out a potentially significant student work just because it does not fit a specific year's theme," says festival creative director Jānis Ābele.
The goal of the "Easy to Be Young?" festival is not merely a competition for awards, but a genuine dialogue between generations. The festival jury—three renowned film professionals from Northern Europe and the Baltic states—will not act merely as remote evaluators. They will also lead masterclasses for festival participants and other film enthusiasts, sharing their experience and watching student works in person.
Festival participants and guests can expect a packed program, including official opening and closing ceremonies, competition screenings and Q&A sessions with authors after the films, special retrospective and experimental cinema screenings, as well as extensive networking opportunities and informal events for young creators to gain international contacts and like-minded peers. "Ideas that we borrowed from the Kaurismäki brothers' 'Midnight Sun' Film Festival in Finland are fundamentally rooted in the desire not only to watch cinema, but also to talk about it and think about the nuances of its creation. To talk in a much more in-depth format than is possible in standard Q&A sessions after a screening," points out Jānis Ābele.
Film submissions for the 2027 competition on the "FilmFreeway" platform are open until November 20, 2026. Submissions are free of charge. Detailed competition regulations and the submission link are available on the "FilmFreeway" platform.