FILMS A-Z

Aloneness

Everyone has times where they are alone. Some people are on their own when they go for a walk or at their workplace and others even live by themselves. To the question how one deals with those times of being alone and what the term "alone" means everyone has a different answer. Some, for example, think of it as loneliness or boredom, others may see it as calming and inspirational. Based on that question, the movie portraits 4 people, who all got a different view on that topic. A shepherd enjoys his sole time in nature and seeks inspiration for his music. A nun who has decided to live a life on her own is trying to intensify her relationship with God. A retiree, who is no longer allowed to work due to illness, spends her everyday life alone in her apartment while being artistically active. A night guard in the Natural History Museum philosophizes on his walks through the museum about life and informs himself in detail about the many exhibition objects. Together, the protagonists provide a sweeping insight into this personal and publicly untouched world and show that being alone does not have to be either positive or negative.

Michael Schmidl

An Untold Story of Paperboats

This action packed film is the story of a school boy who gets drawn into the dark life of child soldiers. Set in the Naxalite infested jungles of Bengal.

Amit Khanna

Andromeda

ANDROMEDA is a sci fi short film about an android who, through her friendship with a little girl, becomes alive.

Emily Dean

Ask Me No Questions

A portrait of immigrant life in contemporary America and the coming-of-age tale of two Bangladeshi sisters. Fourteen year-old Nadira and her eighteen year-old sister Aisha live in Queens, N.Y. The sisters are part of an invisible population of illegal aliens, teenage girls hoping to realize their dreams of becoming legal citizens in their adopted land. In the aftermath of 9/11, their lives are thrust into sudden upheaval when their parents decide to flee to the Canadian border to seek asylum and they live with the threat of being deported to Bangladesh, a country they hardly know.

Salem Brahimi

Blessed Days

Adèle, an 85 years old lady, confronts very hardly the loss of her husband, after 63 years of shared life. An unexpected dream, will bring Adele to relive the last moments of their life together, at the museum. She will be able to overcome the pain.

Valentina Casadei

Bloody Activist

Bloody Activist takes us into the world of London-based Gabby Edlin, who set up Bloody Good Period to collect period supplies for refugees, asylum seekers and those who can’t afford them. What started as a whip-round amongst family and friends on Facebook soon ballooned into a storage locker full of pads and a social media campaign for donations fuelled by Gabby’s sense of humour and determination. Bloody Activist reveals what it takes to run a grassroots social activism campaign in the 21st century, and forces us to think about how something as seemingly small as a sanitary pad can make the world of difference to the women and girls who wouldn’t otherwise have access to them.

Rebecca Brand

Blue Hollywood

Sharing the same dream two young actors embark on a journey filled with desire, determination and disappointment. When reckless Italian Alessandro meets cautious Englishwoman Celeste at a London acting school, they decide to move together to LA in the hope of striking gold in the Hollywood film industry. It tells the story of how dreams crash when faced with ugly reality, and how souls can be consumed by ambition.

Francesco Gabriele

Bugger

Kingdom of France, late thirteenth century. The Templar Foulques, back from the crusade, take a rest in a castle for the night. For the lord| his arrival is a boon, as he needs a military to escort Theobald, a sodomite knight, to the city where he must be judged and punished. Having sworn allegiance to church, Foulques cannot refuse the mission he is designed for. Accompanied by three mercenaries, the prisoner and the soldier of God engage in an arid and wild scrubland. But is the men’s justice the same than God’s ?

François-Olivier Lespagnol

Chavismo: The Plague of the 21st Century

The documentary ¨Chavismo: the plague of the XXI century¨ doesn´t chase profit, it was sponsored by the human rights foundation Humano y Libre and it just looks to enforce consciousness about the terrible drama of which Venezuela has suffer in the period led by the Chavista regime. It was directed and produced by the Venezuelan-Mexican writer and activist, Gustavo Tovar Arroyo, who has personally lived the threats and persecution by the Venezuelan tyranny. The intent is to show in 90 minutes the tragic history of the legacy of commander Hugo Chavez Frias. In order to command the realization of this documentary of historic cut a variety of politicians, intellectuals and social activists widely reconized throught out hispanoamerica were summoned. Among many others, personalities such as Mario Vargas Llosa, Sebastian Piñera, Luis Almagro, Oscar Arias, Felipe Gonzalez, Vicente Fox, etcetera; Venezuelans who once belonged to the Chavez administration, like his minister of defense Raul Salazar or the president of the state owned oil refiniery PDVSA Guaicaipuro Lameda; and Venezuelan activists like; Lilian Tintori, Mitzy Capriles, Maria Corina Machado, Yon Goicoechea, Daniel Ceballos, among others were interviewed.

Gustavo Tovar-Arroyo

Drawing Home

Boston in the 1920s. A young East Coast debutante is dating the most eligible bachelor in the world, John D. Rockefeller III. Her future seems set: a dream life in the upper echelons of society. But when she least expects it, she meets a young painter from one of the most beautiful places on Earth, the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Their worlds are polar opposites. As their attraction turns their lives upside down, they soon face a universal question: Can you find "home" in another person? Inspired by a true story.

Markus Rupprecht

Edyfing Thoughts od a Tobacco Smoker

It’s a journey through three different and ever-deeper phases that unmasks and deconstructs the false convictions of the character and his way of perceiving reality. First through the five senses, then deeper on a mental level, and finally in his subconscious represented by a cave, where he overcomes the fear of being himself imposed by society and break up the cage represented by the Celestial Sphere. Finally, the character returns in the opening place transformed and realizes that it was thanks to himself that he can now know a life far from false beliefs and mental stereotypes.

Valentina Ghiringhelli

Entre Deaux Eaux

Catherine, a single woman, lands into the countryside of Marrakech in order to complete the purchase of a luxurious villa with pool. But while viewing it, she suddenly changes her mind. When she accepts Ali’s – her Moroccan taxi driver – proposal to play the estate agent, it’s all another trip which comes up to her.

Patrice Cordonnier

Gaze

On her way back from work a woman witnesses something happening in the bus and she has to decide if she reveals it or not.

Farnoosh Samadi

Generations

A tragedy at work and family secrets uncovered at home provoke a 70 year old doctor to discover the truth about himself and his lineage.

Kourosh Ahari

God’s Gift

A film crew attempts to shoot a documentary in an abondoned town in Czech Republic. The name of the town is ironically Boží Dar (God's Gift).

Emir Ziyalar

Graduation

Hae-Rang is a production design major student in her final year of university. One day she comes home to find out that her mom suddenly decided to sell their house and return to her hometown. Hae-Rang is forced to figure out a way to live on her own as an adult. Hae-Rang is doing her best to get experience on film sets while also balancing a part-time job. When her best friend Eun-Ah decides to go a different path| hae-Rang struggles between reality and her own dreams.

Joan Ji Yey HUI

Gray

Because homosexuality is still a crime in many parts of the world, people are afraid of taking a stand for their individuality. There have been number of movements and protests for the freedom of homosexuality, but no thought have been given to those girls who have married to homosexuals because they are afraid of exposing the truth in our bitter society. Nandini is one such girl who got married to Rohit, who is a homosexual. Zoel, Rohit's partner, is an artist and aware of Nandini's suffocation. The story takes a turn when Rohit tells Zoel that he is planning to have a kid through IVF, so that Nandini will get busy in her life and it may release him of his guilt too. Opposite to Rohit's expectations, Zoel felt disgusted with this thought and discards Rohit's intention of managing his life between him and Nandini. If it was a sacrifice for Rohit to get married against his gender's choice for the sake of social integrity, it was a crime to Nandini also whose dreams of a married life devastated. The protagonist's insight towards his wife's sacrifice becomes a prime point to reconsider his ideas of love and marriage. "Gray" not just touches upon the homosexual aspects of human beings but also take us beyond our gender choices to understand and connect to a human being.

Preet

I Made This for Mum

Seven years after losing her Mum to cancer, 11 year-old Eve still struggles to communicate her feelings to her father. In order to connect with her past, she makes a film for the mother she never got to know.

Melanie Essink

Ink of Yam

A bomb hits. The windows vibrate – and a few minutes later the needle continues to whiz. In a city full of conflicts, Poko Chaim and Daniel Bulitchev, two Russian tattooists| have created a place without walls. Here they perpetuate the stories of the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the ink under the skin connects them all. A look at their tattoos allows a completely new approach to the heart of the Holy City – its inhabitants. The studio is open to everyone, regardless of nationality, religion or skin color. In the conversations under pain, which often come close to a confession, the customers talk intimately about their life in this controversial city, their beliefs and their fears in the never ending conflict which often is part of the everyday life. These are the moments that make Poko and Daniel psychologists and artists alike. In order to escape the constant noise of the needle, the tattooists repeatedly lead us to special places of the city: to the shore of Tel Aviv and – on their Harleys – to the mountains near Jerusalem.

Tom Fröhlich

Limina

18-year old Chiel is struggling with making decisions in his life. When he visits a Gregorian choir rehearsal in a church| he encounters a man who helps him face his fears. Slowly, they discover they know more about each other than they care to admit.

Sander Blom

Love Me Not

The film illustrates the common problem of raising a child in an insecure environment of two people with a complicated past. The film presents the life of Edina, a single mother. The storyline begins with the father coming back in order to build the family that the child needs. The emphasis of the film is on the sentiments and contemplation of Edina.

Lili Fenyvesi

Lunedì

Documentary about the life in Italy of a young Nigerian immigrant, eight years after his landing.

Stefano Valentini, Niccolò Signorini

Mesa

After passing from our world to the after life, a cowboy finds himself as the newest member of a chain gang led by death. As the prisoners march through desert terrain in an alternate universe, the cowboy forms a plan to break free and ultimately, destroy death.

Charlie Schwan

Mountain People

Rolf Ulf is confronted with the aftermath of his grandfathers death in rural Norway.

Sascha Taylor Larsen

Nour

When fifteen-year-old Nour is forced to marry Maurice whom she despises| her carefree summer days morph into claustrophobic confinement and household chores. Nour mourns her lost childhood and scattered dreams.

Khalil Dreyfus Zaarour

Octav

When an elderly man returns to his family home after decades of absence, the apparition of his childhood sweetheart triggers a rewind to the life-changing events from his youth.

Serge Ioan Celebidachi

Off Piste

Is a "good" person safe from a moral slippage? Gaspard, a young seasonal worker in a ski resort, is in love with his new colleague Chloé. He understands that Chloe is not interested, and that she makes fun of him. Through the snow-covered peaks of Jura, which can be as dangerous as they are beautiful, Gaspard, this young man smooth in every respect, find himself confronted with his own nature, more cruel than he thought.

Pourchet Jules

Original Sin

After moving to Spain for her husband, Eva, a Paraguayan woman of class and elegance who always behaves in an appropriate way, finds herself bored, unhappy, and sexually frustrated. After Eva compulsively buys a provocative and offensive piece of art the painter shows up to hand-deliver his work. Their sexual tension grows until they inevitably end up in bed. When Eva’s husband returns home early, an absurd battle of strengths and weaknesses among the three characters ensues.

Jean Lee

Pa’am Hai’ta Yalda

NOA has   unconventional relationships with  her doctor, with  her  neighbor and with a young soldier. Sleepless, she wanders around,  trying to find her place in the world, willing to do anything to get some warm attention.

Natalie Kaplan

Panic Attack!

You know the nagging thoughts that start with "did I leave the coffee on?" and turn in to "am I pregnant with a devil-baby?” This hand-drawn animation explores anxiety, obsession, and one woman’s slippery hold on reality.

Eileen O'Meara

Primavera

Moments before a father's death, all of his family memories are transferred to his son through a dream. This story is told in parallel with an investigation by two cousins writing a book about a family. All that is left are fragmented evidence, destroyed photos, and the oral history. The narrative develops a different visual language to guide us through this saga about an unusual family made up of contradictory versions. The ancestor, an Englishman living at the end of the 18th century, arrives in Brazil and marries a Portuguese lady, owner of an extensive piece of land. Their heirs will become the protagonists in this history of conflicts, legends and mysteries. Love will lead to death but the supernatural will inspire love again.

Carlos Porto de Andrade Júnior

Puma x Vienio x Kosi – Street Legends

Music video made in co-operation with Puma as a tribute to Polish hip-hop street culture.

Rosemarie

A burned out soap opera writer, under pressure to deliver new episodes, turns his gaze upon his dysfunctional neighbours. Transforming their tragic everyday encounters into a light hearted serial| he gets more than the inspiration he bargained for.

Adonis Florides

Selah Selam

A young woman becomes a spiritual leader after surviving a brutal attack by a white supremacist.

Strange Case

The film as a metaphor of life, the last surrealistic journey into consciousness. Stream of images, thoughts and memories. The sequence of protagonist's personal experiences and collective memory.

Zbigniew Czapla

Summer’s End

Cacio, a young father, and his eleven year-old son, Matteo, are spending the hot summer in the suburbs of Rome. To provide himself and his son a better future, Cacio invests all his savings to realize his dream: opening a mechanic's workshop. One morning Cacio brings his son to the worksite. What happens that day is going to change their lives forever.

Paolo Strippoli

That Which Is Possible

Musical, bracing, and tender, That Which Is Possible is an intimate portrait of an unconventional community of artists working at the Living Museum, an art-space on the grounds of a large state-run psychiatric hospital in Queens, New York.

Michael Gitlin

The Box

You have probably heard of the phrase "To think outside of the box"? Well this is a film about such a box and the flat-headed creatures that live inside of it. Life in the Box is boring and miserable. Until one day when a new baby boy starts to grown in the middle of the Box! This baby is very different from other flat-headed inhabitants of the Box. He's happy, lively and curious. As the baby grows bigger and bigger, the flat-headed neighbours are becoming more and more annoyed with him. Until one day when he literally grows over their heads…

Dusan Kastelic

The Forest

Two couples and their children go on an excursion into the forest. They are young, successful and well-set parts in today's social-political establishment. When their children disappear in a storm, the entire construct of their friendship starts to crumble. What follows is an odyssey through the forests that turns into a metaphysical journey. The forest and the film imagery act as a poetic expression of the inner mind, creating the metaphorical psychogram of a lost culture that desperately looking for a way out and a future. It is a poetic portrait of today's society.

Viktor Gasic

The Iron Orchard

The year is 1939. Europe prepares for war, while the United States slowly overcomes the trauma of the Great Depression. Young and ambitious, Jim McNeely arrives in Texas – a state gushing with oil and filled with the bodies and broken minds of men who once dreamt of riches. Jim has something to prove to all the parents of pretty girls who refuse to let their daughters marry boys from lower classes. His Texan adventure initially consists of blood, sweat, and tears in addition to long working hours in scorching sun and cold nights being insulted by fellow workers. But Jim seems to have what it takes to get to the top of the oil chain and conquer this brave new world of tough, relentless men and beautiful women who will do everything in their power not to become merely trophy wives. On his way up, Jim meets a wide variety of people – including at least several types of righteous men, eccentrics, and scumbags – who came to this unwelcoming land, tarnished with unfulfilled plans and dreams, for the same thing he did.

Ty Roberts

The Legend

A tenacious and brilliant girl born in the 11th century dares to live as a boy so successfully that she becomes the most powerful man on earth: the Pope. When she falls in love she finds a deeper meaning to life and is willing to die for having had it all.

The March of Hope

A road movie on Human Rights…. Inverting the parameters of what a road movie should be, „The March of Hope“, tackles the plight of refugees from the most unlikely perspective: a little yellow van. Two friends set out in the hope of learning first hand about the lives of refugees in Europe. During filming the “Refugee Crisis” would reach its apotheosis as the EU-Turkey Pact is agreed and the “Balkan Route” is closed. The documentary is a deeply personal perspective on the subject of human rights, and challenges the thresholds of how a humanitarian crisis can be tackled in film. “The March of Hope” is a celebration of everything which makes us a human, and a stinging rebuke in film to the xenophobia growing in Europe.

Jim Kroft , Bastian Fischer

The Recipe

A recipe with an old story and deep roots revisited by a crew which bears a mixture of cultures and knowledges, where a migrant manpower and a land with its inhabitants' hospitality break down all possible walls…

Giordano Acquaviva

Those Who Stay

An ethnography of the aftermath of the earthquakes that destroyed central Italy in 2016 and 2017. The documentary, through intimate stories and an ethic approach, drives us into the lives of the ones that, despite the difficulties, the trauma and the loss, decided to stay.

Arianna Nacci

Via

Via tells of the journey of life through epic, beautiful environments and meaningful character animation. It shows how we should open our eyes to the good things that happen every day, to the experiences we share with the people we love, and that we should find the silver linings, or the lessons to be learnt, in even the lowest times.

Izzy Burton

Worldwater Puerto Rico

After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, million were left without clean water.

Nadia Barbarossa, Carlos Aponte