I Promise You Paradise (2023)

Land of empty promises

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One of Many

Told in a very abstract and poetic way, this love story – set in very unusual circumstances – is inspired by the refugee crisis, in which Macedonia played the unfortunate role of a transit country.

Green Border

In the treacherous and swampy forests that make up the so called “green border” between Belarus and Poland, refugees from the Middle East and Africa trying to reach the European Union are trapped in a geopolitical crisis cynically engineered by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. In an attempt to provoke Europe, refugees are lured to the border by propaganda promising easy passage to the EU. Pawns in this hidden war, the lives of Julia, a newly minted activist who has given up her comfortable life, Jan, a young border guard, and a Syrian family intertwine.

The Flood

Wendy, a hardened immigration officer is offered a high-profile asylum case, judged on her ability to quickly and clinically reject applicants. Through her interrogation, she must uncover whether Haile is lying and has a more sinister reason for seeking asylum.

More

Gaza is a 14-year-old boy who lives on the Aegean coast of Turkey. Together with his domineering father, he helps smuggle refugees from war-torn countries to Europe, giving them temporary lodgings and scant food until they attempt the crossing. Gaza dreams of escaping this life, but can't help being drawn into a dark world of immorality, exploitation and human suffering. Can you avoid becoming a monster when you've been raised by one? Onur Saylak's debut feature, adapted from the award-winning novel of the same title by Hakan Günday, one of the first novels to document the refugee crisis in Europe, "More" is the gripping story of a boy that gets to grow up in a world where there's no room for innocence.

The Aegean

A widowed Greek fisherman and a teenage refugee form an emotional bond while sailing the azure waters of the Aegean Sea.

Parvaneh

Parvaneh is a young Afghan immigrant who recently arrived at a transit centre for asylum seekers in the Swiss Alps. The only things she has got to know yet are the rural area surrounding the centre and the centre itself.

Refugee Poetry

The Kurdish Iraqi poet and actor Zeravan Khalil travels with his dog through an Alpine gorge after fleeing from IS war and genocide. As he remembers the abomination, he writes a poem with the title “You drive me mad” in Kurmanji Kurdish. In his home country, Yazidic Kurds are forbidden to work in his profession. Then he eats his apple and wanders through Europe’s middle with more hope.

Welcome to Norway!

A couple decide to open a home for refuges in the remote cold mountains of Norway.

Happy End

A well-to-do French family living in Calais deal with a series of setbacks and crises while paying little attention to the grim conditions in the refugee camps within a few miles of their home.

Coyote

A story of forbidden love in a dystopian future where teleportation technology enables two refugees to escape genocide. When they trust the wrong back-alley teleporter, Ekaterina and Anya are separated. In a desperate attempt to be reunited, our heroines are entwined in an insidious human trafficking ring involving corrupt politicians.

Český Alláh

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Warehoused

An estimated 12 million people live in refugee camps worldwide and only 0.1% are resettled, repatriated, or integrated into normal society each year. The feature-length documentary.

Sea Sorrow

A very personal and dynamic meditation on the current global refugee crisis through the eyes and voices of campaigners, specially children, where past and present establish a dialogue. A reflection on the importance of human rights.

Humanity on Trial

Humanity on Trial follows humanitarian Salam Aldeen as he is accused of human smuggling by the Hellenic Coast Guard.

Volunteer

A film about the unprecedented Swiss grassroots movement of regular citizens who rise to aid thousands of refugees stranded at the European borders. In rich and safe Switzerland people from all backgrounds leave their regular life behind to support people in need. There is a Swiss farmer and his wife who keep cows in the Swiss Alps, a former commander of the Swiss Army, an elder rich lady residing at the lakeside, and a successful comedian and entertainer. These unexperienced volunteers take on an adventure that will change their lives forever.

Un jour ça ira

Djibi and Ange, two teenagers living on the streets, arrive at the Archipel, an emergency shelter in the heart of Paris. This documentary is a look at the Archipel, a shelter offering an innovative way to welcome families living on the streets.

Retrograde

The story of the last months of the 20-year war in Afghanistan through the intimate relationship between American Green Berets and the Afghan officers they trained.

It Will be Chaos

Part road-movie and part intimate portrait of lives in transit, IT WILL BE CHAOS unfolds between Italy and the Balkan corridor, intercutting two unforgettable refugees stories of human strength and resilience.

The Great Wall

‘The Great Wall has been completed at its most southerly point.’ So begins Kafka’s short story ‘At the Building of the Great Wall of China’, and so, at Europe’s heavily militarised south-eastern frontier, begins this film. In the shadow of its own narratives of freedom, Europe has been quietly building its own great wall. Like its famous Chinese precursor, this wall has been piecemeal in construction, diverse in form and dubious in utility. Gradually cohering across the continent, this system of enclosure and exclusion is urged upon a populace seemingly willing to accept its necessity and to contribute to its building.

Porta d’Europa

A migrant boat has been stranded in the Mediterranean Sea for 30 hours. As authorities ignore calls for help, the Sea-Watch Crew, an NGO, launches an urgent search.

O Refúgio

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L'Aventure

In the Briançonnais mountains, in France, men and women on the roads of exile find the courage to cross the passes on foot, risking their lives. Arrived at the end of a long journey, exhausted, they do not know if they could settle down somewhere to start their life over. It is this transitional time that "The Adventure" tells. Ossoul, the Sudanese poet, Mamadou, survivor of an icy night at the Col de l'Échelle, Charlotte, Mother Courage and others are gradually getting back on their feet and settling to embark on a new life. Filmed over three years, "L'Aventure" is a story of resilience, friendships and revealed emotions. The portraits are drawn and deepened until everyone can recognize themselves in the other, put themselves in their place and understand them.

Karuma Tengu: The Fire Festival

The masked avenger Kurama Tengu is linked to a plot to bring down the Tokugawa shogunate, but is it really our hero, or an imposter?

Flocks

Valeria, an Afro-Finnish soccer player, becomes her team's new captain, dealing with pressure and conflicting emotions from others' expectations. Aurora, a non-binary worker, seeks their place but feels invisible. Nora looks for love but feels that she is only seen through her dark skin and curly hair. Rascist comments make her doubt her new crush's intentions. Selma gets trapped in tunnels during choir practice, confronting her fears in the darkness. Piera Niillas, a Saami activist, fights for a society free from oppression. The Quiet Man reflects on the diverse experiences of city life. The multi-story Flocks portrays minority experiences in contemporary Finland, touching on belonging, rejection, acceptance, and the complexities of Finnish identity and relationships. This fictional film sheds light on marginalized voices and societal issues, immersing characters and viewers in tense social realities.

Kousalya Krishnamurthy

A teenage girl from a remote village in Andhra Pradesh makes her way to the Indian cricket team, but her path is not devoid of obstacles.

Best P.O.V. Video

A young man who is filming porn gets acquainted with another heroine of his new video. She urgently needs money for a ticket to go home. He is ready to give them to her on the condition that the girl will make him “nice”, and he will take it on camera. She agrees. However, this time everything goes according to plan. It looks like the girl has another script for his new video.

Vita segreta di Maria Capasso

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No Man's Land

A group of traveling persons end up as prisoners of a German sergeant and his squad, in an isolated and precarious cabin in the country.

Shimásání

In 1934 on the serene Navajo reservation, Mary Jane spends her time daydreaming and tending to her family's flock of sheep. When her older sister returns from boarding school with a world geography book, she reveals new worlds that are "just over the mountain." Conflicted by her obedient nature and her curious imagination, Mary Jane must privately decide to either maintain her lifestyle or depart into the exotic unknown.

Desert War

A woman is discovered in a shelled-out truck in the Libyan Desert by a small group of soldiers.

Baba Shamal

Baba Shamal and Looti Heydar, two community leaders of adjacent neighbourhoods make a pact of fraternity. Baba Shamal's high attitude of Heydar however dramatically changes when he is told that Heydar has been enamoured with Shokat, the girl Baba Shamal has just wed,...

Golden Men

A group of desperate men, unsatisfied by their lives, decides to attempt a heist to a postal armored truck guard.

La Belle Indifference

Onur is sacked from his job as manager of a pharmaceutical company. He’s not too bothered about being unemployed, but the same cannot be said of his wife Bahar. Onur doesn’t listen to her and becomes indifferent not only to her anxieties but also to the world around him. He’d rather be surrounded by more zebras. A drama with dashes of absurd comedy about events that are no laughing matter: a personal crisis that impacts their marriage.

Gazija

Gazija are military men who patrol the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire in mid-18th century. One such man has trouble reconciling times of peace with his Gazija standing.

Sweater

Tuku is all set to get married. But being a bride is not a child’s play, for she doesn’t know how to make tea. Or to knit a sweater even. Will she be able to knit a sweater? Because if she does, she might get hitched.

Jaime

Jaime is the portrait of a young man affected by a mental disorder in which his mind perceives reality in a distorted way. In this fascinating and provoking medium length film, director Francisco Javier Rodriguez questions our idea of reality, creating a subtle game in which fact and fiction merge. Touching yet unsettling, this film interrogates what we consider to be “the norm”.

Stine

An end-of-life care robot spends his last days with his beloved, terminally-ill patient.

Breathe

The coming of age of Bram, a young boy navigating growing up with his best friend amidst complex feelings and sexual discovery.

Homebound

A writer who was disabled during the Korean War is now contributing a serial to a newspaper. His wife, who once adored him, is tempted by a young man she happens to know. But he overlooks her affair thanking her for her utmost care up until that time. Then the young man asks her to leave with him for a faraway place.