A film by Dani Rosenberg
2020 - Israel - Comedy/Drama
When Yoel hears about an imminent Iranian military attack on Tel Aviv, he knows what to do - escape with his family to a safe haven in Jerusalem. His son Assaf, who is a filmmaker and about to become a father himself, wants to give Yoel one last lead role in his movie by melting the fictional world into bittersweet reality.
A film by Daniel Carsenty & Mohammed Abugeth
2021 - Germany - Documentary
In the southern West Bank, Hamouda and his cousin Ismail are among the Bedouin drivers who risk their lives smuggling illegal workers over the border. Between them and the destination, there is the desert - of which they know every inch - and the heavy presence of the Israeli military patrols. If they are caught, they go to jail. Yet only those fares can help them provide for their families, so they keep on driving and enjoying each day of freedom as it might just be the last.
A film by Radu Jude
2009 - Romania - Comedy/Drama
Delia Fratila (18) comes from a poor family living in a small Romanian town. She is the winner of an advertising campaign: she sent three juice-bottles labels and won an expensive car. Delia and her parents, has to come to Bucharest for the promotion testimonial – a video showing Delia to the whole country, as a proof that the refreshments company keeps its promises and grants the awards. After the long way to Bucharest, the family finally arrives to the shooting place - a big square in the middle of the city. She spends the day doing the shooting. What she has to do seems quite easy: she has to sit in the car in front of the wheel, to drink juice and thank the organizing company. The shooting goes on with the ordinary problems: Delia keeps forgetting the text, the soda doesn’t look good enough-for the client, they have to refresh her make-up all the time, the shooting angle needs to be changed, some spotlights break etc.
A film by Anne Linsel
2019 - Germany - Documentary
In June 2009 Pina Bausch died surprisingly. She left behind an international acclaimed dance company which needed to reinvent itself. But how can Pina’s work be passed on and how can her heritage be kept alive? 10 years after her death the company, the new director and important companions of Pina Bausch take the chance to look ahead.
A film by Leandro Koch & Paloma Schachmann
2023 - Austria/Argentina - Docu-Fiction/Musical Roadmovie
Argentinian cameraman Leandro makes a living from filming Jewish weddings. At one of his jobs, he falls in love with Paloma, the clarinetist of the Klezmer band. To seduce her he pretends to be shooting a documentary film about traditional Yiddish folk music. What Leandro does not know is that his “fake” film project will take him on an unscripted journey throughout Eastern Europe in search of the last remaining Klezmer melodies.
A film by Pieter-Jan De Pue
2016 - Belgium - Documentary
In the wild Afghan mountains, a gang of Kuchi kids dig out anti-personal mines to collect the explosives,
recycle weapons and keep tight control on the caravans smuggling opium . When they are not waging their own mini-wars in the daily madness of life in Afghanistan, the children are fleeing away in their personal fantasies and dreams, while the American soldiers are planning their retreat...
A film by João Pedro Rodrigues & João Rui Guerra da Mata
2012 - France/Portugal - Drama
Thirty years later I'm on my way to Macao where I haven't been since I was a child. I got an e-mail, in Lisbon, from Candy, a friend I hadn't heard from in ages. She told me that she had been involved yet again with the wrong men and asked me to go to Macao where "strange and scary things" were happening. Tired, after a long flight, I'm approaching Macao aboard the jetfoil which will take me back to the happiest time in my life.
A film by Andrea Testa & Francisco Marquez
2016 - Argentina - Drama
Buenos Aires, 1977. Francisco Sanctis, a family man living an eventless life, receives information about an upcoming kidnapping operation by soldiers of the dictatorship. In a race against the night, he will need to make the most important decision of his life: will he try to save innocent lives by risking his own?
A film by Pawo Choyning Dorji
2023 - Bhutan/France/USA/Taiwan - Comedy/Drama
Kingdom of Bhutan, 2006. Modernization has finally arrived. Bhutan becomes the last country in the world to connect to the internet and television, and now the biggest change of all: democracy. To teach the people how to vote, the authorities organize a mock election, but the locals seem unconvinced. Travelling to rural Bhutan where religion is more popular than politics, the election supervisor discovers that a monk is planning a mysterious ceremony for the election day.
A film by Kristina Lindström & Kristian Petri
2021 - Sweden - Documentary
In 1970, filmmaker Luchino Visconti travelled throughout Europe looking for the perfect boy to personify absolute beauty in his adaptation for the screen of Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice. In Stockholm, he discovered Björn Andrésen, a shy 15-year-old teenager whom he brought to international fame overnight and led to spend a short but intense part of his turbulent youth between the Lido in Venice, London, the Cannes Film Festival and the so distant Japan. Fifty years after the premiere of Death in Venice, Björn takes us on a remarkable journey made of personal memories, cinema history, stardust and tragic events in what could be Bjorn’s last attempt for him to finally get his life back on track.
A film by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
2015 - India - Drama
Behind the magnificent Taj Mahal lies a cluster of dingy homes where Chanda (35), a domestic help, lives with her 14-year-old daughter Appu. Chanda aspires and dreams that her daughter will study and embrace a better fate. When Appu tells her she wants to quit school and become a maid like her, Chanda takes a strong decision: she will herself go back to school, and even join the class of her daughter.
A film by João Pedro Rodrigues
2016 - France/Brazil/Portugal - Drama
As he treks through the north of Portugal in search of rare birds, Fernando is swept away by the river rapids. Rescued by a couple of Chinese pilgrims, he tries to find his way back home through the eerie, dark forests, where uncanny encounters put him to the test. He soon becomes a different man, inspired, perhaps even enlightened…
A film by Esteban Larrain
2013 - Chile/France/Argentina - Drama
Chile, 1983. The first street protests pose a dangerous threat to Pinochet’s military government. The regime responds through a secret operation in order to divert public opinion. They pick a 14-yearold street child called Miguel Angel, who swears he can see and talk to the Virgin Mary herself, and they turn him into a pop prophet. His tormented face is reproduced in all the media, and in just a few weeks hundreds of thousands of people make a pilgrimage to Peñablanca, the village where he lives, to participate in ceremonies where prophecies, stigmata, levitations and miracles of all kinds are part of the usual routine.
During the period of the hoax, Miguel Angel goes through a deep transformation. From being a fragile and shy kid, he becomes a clever and capricious teenager who uses his
“divine gift” to manipulate his environment to his advantage. When the church investigates and finally resolves to ban the cult of the Virgin of Peñablanca, the government leaves the boy to his fate. Even if he tries hard to keep his seat of honor, Miguel Angel cannot avoid suffering a biblical fall: he is humiliated, abandoned and banished.
A film by Hasan Hadi
2025 - Iraq/USA/Qatar - Drama
While people across 1990s Iraq struggle to survive the war and food shortages, Saddam Hussein requires each school in the country to prepare a cake to celebrate his birthday. Despite her efforts to avoid getting picked, 9-year-old Lamia is chosen among her classmates. The young girl must now use her wits and imagination to gather ingredients for the mandatory cake or face the consequences.
A film by Emir Baigazin
2018 - Kazakhstan/Norway/Poland - Drama
A family with five sons lives in a remote Kazakh village. In accordance with the Eastern tradition, the eldest son Aslan (13) becomes the Father's deputy, in charge of all the work, and delegating the tasks. One day Aslan takes his brothers to the River for a swim - a moment of deep happiness. From then on, life is different. And when Kanat, an unknown cousin, unexpectedly arrives at the village, the structured life of the family begins to fall apart for good.
A film by Jaione Camborda
2023 - Spain/Belgium/Portugal - Drama
1971, Francoist Spain. In the Galician countryside María assists women in childbirth. After an attempt to help a young woman in trouble, she suddenly has to hide from the authorities, leave everything behind and flee the country.
On her perilous journey to Portugal, María encounters female solidarity and realizes that she is not alone and that, thanks to the help of others, she might finally find her freedom.
A film by Mohammad Rasoulof
2024 - Germany/France/Iran - Drama
Iman, an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, grapples with mistrust and paranoia as nationwide political protests intensify and his gun mysteriously disappears. Suspecting the involvement of his wife Najmeh and his daughters Rezvan and Sana, he imposes drastic measures at home, causing tensions to rise. Step by step, social norms and the rules of family life are being suspended.
A film by Zhang Lu
2023 - China - Drama
Gu Wentong, a middle-aged food critic, is drifting through the local eateries of vibrant Beijing with his younger photographer colleague Oyang. A divorcé with a 6-year-old daughter and estranged from his father for decades, he is looking for a new perspective on life while reconsidering his failings as a father, a son, and a lover. While the seasons come and go, people get together and move apart. Only one thing will remain the same: The White Pagoda where they all meet sooner or later...
A film by Sérgio Machado
2015 - Brazil - Drama
After failing to be admitted into the renowned São Paulo Symphonic Orchestra, Laerte, a talented violinist, is forced to give music classes to teenagers in a public school in Heliopolis, the biggest favela of Brazil. His path is full of difficulties but the transforming power of music and the friendship arising between the professor and his students open the doors into a new world.
Based on a true story.
A film by Daniel Ribeiro
2014 - Brazil - Romantic Comedy
Leonardo is a teenager trying to be more independent from his parents. Together with his best friend Giovana, they dream to travel abroad as well to experience their first kiss. When Gab, a new classmate arrives, new feelings blossom among them, making them question their plans, no matter Leonardo is blind.
A film by Lav Diaz
2016 - Philippines - Drama
Horacia has spent the last 30 years in a women's correctional facility. A former elementary school teacher, she leads a quiet existence helping others practice reading and writing. When another inmate confesses to the original crime, Horacia is released and seeks out her estranged family. While searching for her missing son Junior, she discovers again her homeland - the Philippines of the late 90s, only to realize that its inhabitants are terrorized by corruption and rampant kidnappings. Her generous personality becomes tainted by feelings of revenge...
A film by Mohammad Rasoulof
2020 - Iran - Drama
Every country that enforces the death penalty needs people to kill other people. Four men are put in front of an unthinkable but simple choice. Whatever they decide, it will directly or indirectly corrode themselves, their relationships, and their entire lives.
A film by Amanda Nell Eu
2023 - Malaysia/Taiwan/Singapore/France/Germany/Netherlands/Indonesia/Qatar - Fantasy
The first amongst her friends to hit puberty, Zaffan, 12, discovers a terrifying secret about her body. Ostracized by her community, Zaffan fights back, learning that to be free she must embrace the body she feared, emerging as a proud, strong woman.
A film by João Pedro Rodrigues
2009 - France/Portugal - Drama/Music
Once upon a time there was a war… In the darkness of the night, a young soldier goes AWOL. Tonia, a veteran transsexual in Lisbon’s drag shows, watches the world around her crumble. The competition from younger artists threatens her star status. Under pressure from her young boyfriend Rosário to assume her female identity, the sex change operation that will transform her into a woman, Tonia struggles against her deeply-held religious convictions. If, on the one hand, she wants to be the woman that Rosário so desires, on the other, she knows that before God she can never be that woman. And her son, whom she abandoned when he was a child, now a deserter, comes looking for her. Tonia discovers that she’s ill. To get away from all her troubles she travels to the countryside with Rosário, on the excuse of visiting his brother. Rosário takes the road of his childhood but will never find the right way. Lost, they find themselves in an enchanted forest, a magical world where they come across the enigmatic Maria Bakker and her friend Paula. And that meeting will turn their whole world on its head…
A film by Johnny Ma
2019 - France/China - Drama
Zhao Li is the manager of a small Sichuan Opera troupe, living and performing together in a rundown theatre located in the outskirts of Chengdu, China. When she receives the notice of demolition for the theatre, Zhao Li hides the news from everyone else, fearing that this could spell the end of her opera troupe: besides demolition, it’s the life of her “family” that is at stake. As she struggles to search for a new theatre for them to both sing and live in, the opera and its fantastic characters slowly begin to seep into her real world...
A film by Wayne Blair
2019 - Australia - Romantic Comedy
Engaged and in love Lauren and Ned have just 10 days to reunite her newly separated parents and pull off their dream Top End Wedding. But Lauren’s mother has gone missing, experiencing a midlife crisis. In order to find her, the couple goes on a fantastic road trip across northern Australia. Along the way they find fulfillment for their own personal journeys through the wild beauty of the landscapes and the unbeatable charm of the characters that they meet along the way. But will they finally recover Lauren’s mother and pursue their dream wedding?
A film by Loup Bureau
2021 - France - Documentary
In Donbas Ukraine, while precarious truces and ceasefires are negotiated far away by diplomats, Ukrainian soldiers fight against separatists supported by Russia. At an age when some are experiencing the best years of their lives, in the frontline men and women are fighting, condemned to dig and dig up again the trenches, while bombs keep on falling on them. French war journalist and first-time director Loup Bureau takes us on an immersive and stunning cinematic journey revealing the naked truth and roughness of survival, in what is called to be the last conflict on European soil.
A film by Tanel Toom
2019 - Estonia - Drama/Epic
Estonia, 1870. The uncompromising new owner of Robber’s Rise must battle with hard work, his spiteful neighbor and with his own family and beliefs to transform the poor land into a flourishing farm of his dreams – to bring truth and justice to a god forsaken place.
A film by Radu Muntean
2010 - Romania - Drama/Romance
Paul is married to Adriana for 10 years. They have a daughter, a car, an apartment and they still seem to be in love. Paul also has an affair with Raluca, a 27-years-old dentist he met 6 months ago. Paul loves both women, but when the two of them meet by chance, he’s forced to make a decision.
A film by Alex R. Johnson
2014 - USA - Thriller
Austin, Texas. After the death of his grandmother, college student Jame finds consolation in the company of Dot, a Country Music dancer. While settling Grams' affairs, James discovers she has been the victim of the "grandparent scam" in which someone posing as James has been stealing her thousands of dollars. But before James can go looking for the culprit, he shows up at the front door, desperate for money.
A film by Philippe Grandrieux
2008 - France - Drama
The story takes place in a country about which we know nothing: a country of snow and dense forests, somewhere in the North. A family lives in an isolated house near a lake. Alexi, the brother, is a young man with a pure heart. A woodcutter. An ecstatic, prey to epileptic fits, he is entirely opened to the nature that surrounds him. Alexi is terribly close to his younger sister, Hege. Their blind mother, their father, and their little brother are the silent witnesses to their overwhelming love. A stranger arrives, a young man barely older than Alexi…
