Bottle Up & Explode! (2023)

Sublime

When 16-year-old Manu realises that he has fallen in love with his bandmate Felipe, turbulent emotions start brewing beneath the surface. How do you avoid losing a friendship once its very foundation has shifted?

Tex

After their mother dies and their father leaves them, teenage brothers Tex and Mason McCormick struggle to make it on their own.

Uncertain Relationships Society

“Ambivalence means… nothing has happened, but you remember everything.” Another coming-of-age story about youngsters who are always desperate for but also afraid of falling in love, director Heiward Mak (High Noon, Ex, Diva) continues to examine the ambivalence of youthful love like an autopsy in this episodic adventure among a group of twenty-something. These characters might be a bunch of losers in love who are searching for self-esteem and recognition, but what make these intertwining tales relevant today are not just the pain and longing, but also the bittersweet memories and emotional growth of Hong Kong’s post-90s generation.

Butterfly

The film centres on Moncho and his coming-of-age experience in Galicia in 1936. Moncho develops a close relationship with his teacher Don Gregorio who introduces the boy to different things in the world. While the story centres on Moncho's ordinary coming-of-age experiences, tensions related to the looming Spanish Civil War periodically interrupt Moncho's personal growth and daily life.

Some Girls

While on Christmas break, college student Michael journeys to Quebec City to spend time with his attractive girlfriend, Gabriella. Not long after he arrives, Gabriella breaks up with him, but her two equally gorgeous sisters waste no time showing romantic interest. In the meantime, Michael is left to deal with Gabriella's eccentric grandmother and offbeat father, an academic who spends most of his time naked.

A Swedish Love Story

The puppy love of two teenagers is set against a backdrop of adults struggling with their own lives. As a couple in love, they don't care about anything but themselves and seem totally unaware about everything that surrounds them.

Confetti Harvest

The young Katelijne grows up in a strict Protestant peasant family. As the only girl between six brothers, she is hardly involved in farm work and is excluded from daily conversations. Hereby she lets her imagination run free by surrendering to Biblical stories, gossip and even fairy tales, although she is not allowed to read them. During her brother's wedding, however, she overwhelms her family with literature, saying goodbye to her childhood.

One Summer Night

Before heading off to college, an overthinking teenager asks out a former girlfriend in an effort to reconnect and hold on to his past.

Cleo Is Coming Over Tonight

Aitana organizes a big Halloween party in her huge apartment in Madrid in the hope that her friend Cleo will come.

Wild Chicks in Love

Five teenage girls navigate the twists and turns of their complicated emotional lives, and learn the secrets of the heart through their friendship.

Steam is Steam

Montreal 1952, teenager Samuel brings his friend Julien to the neighbourhood steam bath for his weekly routine with Dad. Julien’s first time will be a day to remember.

Little Darlings

Two 15-year-old girls from different sides of the tracks compete to see who will be first to lose their virginity while at camp.

Hasta encontrarte

Javier chats online with a girl called sofi_dark, a mysterious girl who indulges in a subtle game of perversions. As the relationship grown, he wants to meet her in person. He begins to desperately look for her through the city, until a series of photographs that he discovers on the Internet disrupts his plans.

The Best Man

When writer's block derails the literary dreams of Olly Pickering, he has to move in with his friend Murray after losing all his money. Things start to look up when Olly's college pal James asks him to be the best man at his wedding. Prior to the nuptials, Olly is drawn to a woman whom he thinks is the bride's sister -- only she turns out to be the bride, Sarah. Can Murray, who dislikes James, help get Sarah and Olly together?

Delusionally, Ari

Ari, an anxious teen with her head in the clouds, seeks advice from her friends on confessing her true feelings to her classmate-turned-best friend.

A Very Serious Person

Jan, an itinerant male nurse from Denmark, takes a new job with Mrs. A, a terminally ill Manhattan woman raising her parentless thirteen-year-old grandson, Gil. Spending the summer by the shore, the emotionally reserved Jan finds himself oddly cast as a mentor to Gil in having to prepare the sensitive boy for life with his cousins in Florida after his grandmother's death.

They Have Escaped

Two troubled youths break out of their halfway house and make their way to one's home.

Green Chair

When she falls in love with a handsome minor, a South Korean housewife finds herself at the center of a sexual scandal and hounded by hungry tabloid journalists. She vows to cut him out of her life but then he reaches the age of legal consent.

The Crusade

Abel, Marianne and their 13-year-old son Joseph live together in Paris. Their everyday existence is thrown into turmoil when Abel and Marianne discover that Joseph has secretly sold valuables from the family home to finance a mysterious ecological project he and his friends have in Africa. They’re about to save the planet.

Things to Come

An unexpected event will make ten-years-old Biel reconsider the bond he keeps with his best friend, Sara.

Jinn

Summer is a carefree teenage girl whose world is turned upside down when her mother abruptly converts to Islam and becomes a different person. At first resistant to the faith, she begins to reevaluate her identity after becoming attracted to a Muslim classmate, crossing the thin line between physical desire and piety.

Vision Quest

After deciding he needs to do something meaningful with his life, high school wrestler Louden Swain sets out on a mission to drop weight and challenge the area's undefeated champion, which creates problems with his teammates and health. Matters are complicated further when Louden's father takes in an attractive female drifter who's on her way to San Francisco.

1981

Filmmaker Ricardo Trogi recalls the events surrounding his family moving to a new neighborhood when he was 11 years old.

Jack Kerouac's Road: A Franco-American Odyssey

Part documentary, part drama, this film presents the life and work of Jack Kerouac, an American writer with Québec roots who became one of the most important spokesmen for his generation. Intercut with archival footage, photographs and interviews, this film takes apart the heroic myth and even returns to the childhood of the author whose life and work contributed greatly to the cultural, sexual and social revolution of the 1960s.

Real Women Have Curves

In East Los Angeles, an 18-year-old struggles between her ambitions of going to college and the desires of her domineering mother for her to get married, have children, and oversee the small, rundown family-owned textile factory.

My Last Summer

During a heat wave in Montreal, Tom, 11, meets Édith, who’s the same age. He soon discovers that Édith has a terrible secret.

Barefoot at Dawn

February 1927: Félix Leclerc's last year with his family before attending a private college in the fall. Accompanied by Fidor, his faithful friend, he will face adversity, love, death, and will embark on the path of adulthood.

Problem Child 3

Now a pre-teen, Junior has fallen head over heels for a classmate who doesn't even notice him, but does notice three other boys – a child star, a hockey player and a Boy Scout – who are rivals to Junior. This means war!

Tableau

Struggling to navigate a promising career, a new romance, and her family life, a photography student confronts notions of love and loss during her senior year of college.

Pretend I'm Not Here

Student Eric kills time by spying on his neighbors. Compulsively taking notes on everything within binocular range from his bedroom window, he harasses his neighbors by sending unsigned notes and making their private affairs public. When they discover his identity and draw him in, will this release him from his solitude, or confirm in his mind that he will always be the outsider?

Liberty Heights

This semi-autobiographical film by Barry Levinson follows various members of the Kurtzman clan, a Jewish family living in suburban Baltimore during the 1950s. As teenaged Ben completes high school, he falls for Sylvia, a black classmate, creating inevitable tensions. Meanwhile, Ben's brother, Van, attends college and becomes smitten with a mysterious woman while their father tries to maintain his burlesque business.

Jellyfish

In Margate, England, life is not easy for teenager Sarah Taylor, between being bullied at school, being exploited by a dominant boss and having to take care of her depressive mother and her two siblings. But Sarah finds a way to channel her growing despair and fight adversity when her drama teacher gives her a new purpose.

Beatles

At long last, one of the most important novels in Norwegian history will be made into a film. Beatles relates the story of four Oslo boys born in 1951 and hooked on The Beatles, from the time they as seventh graders find themselves on the threshold of the adult world. The film is all about boyish pranks, hopes, disappointments, and of course about pretty girls, hopeless infatuations, drunkenness and parties. The world is changing, and so is the friendship between the boys. But the conclusion is, true friendship endures all - and no band in the world is better than The Beatles.

Bottoms

Unpopular best friends PJ and Josie start a high school self-defense club to meet girls and lose their virginity. They soon find themselves in over their heads when the most popular students start beating each other up in the name of self-defense.

Xiao Xian

Xiao Xian is in charge of finishing a dress. Her mother has decided that she is going to take care of it that night, and she obeys, as usual. Sheng Xia, her best friend, shows up at her house to convince her to go partying. Xiao Xian accepts, but she cannot imagine what will end up happening that night.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Four best friends (Tibby, Lena, Carmen & Bridget) who buy a mysterious pair of pants that fits each of them, despite their differing sizes, and makes whoever wears them feel fabulous. When faced with the prospect of spending their first summer apart, the pals decide they'll swap the pants so that each girl in turn can enjoy the magic.

My Brother Is an Only Child

Accio and Manrico are siblings from a working-class family in 1960s Italy: older Manrico is handsome, charismatic, and loved by all, while younger Accio is sulky, hot-headed, and treats life as a battleground — much to his parents' chagrin. After the former is drawn into left-wing politics, Accio joins the fascists out of spite, but his flimsy beliefs are put to test when he falls for Manrico's like-minded girlfriend.

The Mighty

Kevin, an intelligent guy helps out Maxwell to improve his reading skills. In return, Kevin wants Maxwell to take him out places since he is not authorized to go out. Being the social outcasts of the town, Kevin and Maxwell come to realize that they are similar to each other and accept that they are "freaks" and nothing will stop them.

A Tale of Love and Desire

Ahmed, 18, is French of Algerian origin. He grew up in the Parisian suburbs. On the benches of the university, he meets Farah, a young Tunisian full of energy recently arrived from Tunis. While discovering a body of sensual and erotic Arabic literature that he never knew existed, Ahmed falls deeply in love with this girl, and although literally overwhelmed by desire, he will try to resist it.

Red Island

Madagascar, at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s. On an air base of the French army, the soldiers live the last carefree years of colonialism. Influenced by his readings of Fantômette, Thomas, a child who is not yet 10 years old, gradually forges a look at the world around him.

Rushmore

When a beautiful first-grade teacher arrives at a prep school, she soon attracts the attention of an ambitious teenager named Max, who quickly falls in love with her. Max turns to the father of two of his schoolmates for advice on how to woo the teacher. However, the situation soon gets complicated when Max's new friend becomes involved with her, setting the two pals against one another in a war for her attention.

Show Me Love

Two teenage girls in small-town Sweden. Elin is beautiful, popular, and bored with life. Agnes is friendless, sad, and secretly in love with Elin.

Unpregnant

A 17-year old Missouri teen discovers she has gotten pregnant, a development that threatens to end her dreams of matriculating at an Ivy League college, and the career that could follow.

Welcome to the Dollhouse

An unattractive 7th grader struggles to cope with suburban life as the middle child with inattentive parents and bullies at school.

Boy in the Corner

The backward system of society pushes another dream-filled boy to the curb. With his aspiration suppressed, he is at risk of falling into the attractive arms of gang life.

So Vam

After being kidnapped by a predatory old vampire, Kurt becomes part of a gang of rebellious vampires who feed on bigots and abusers. As a vampire he finally knows empowerment and belonging, but his maker is still out there and until Kurt faces the monster, he will never truly be free. But this time he won’t face it alone.

Agnes Joy

When a new neighbour arrives at Rannveig´s doorstep, her frustrated everyday life suddenly changes. The cloud of hopelessness that surrounds her marriage and her relationship with her almost adult daughter lifts temporarily but soon the family is forced to confront new and unknown challenges in their relationship.

Mädchen Mädchen!

The trio of friends around Inken, Vicky and Lena are confronted with their first sexual experiences and pure emotional chaos.

Altered Innocence Vol. 1

A vibrant anthology of LGBTQ+ short films and music videos that delve into the complexities of youth, identity, and desire. This diverse collection showcases a range of cinematic voices—both emerging and established—exploring the exhilaration, vulnerability, and confusion of coming-of-age through stories that celebrate queer love, self-discovery, and the breaking of societal boundaries. Blending narrative shorts, experimental visuals, and music-driven pieces, the anthology offers an evocative, multifaceted portrait of innocence transformed.

Satan's Servant

After the mysterious disappearance of their friend, two teenage friends stumble onto a Satanic plot in their small town.

Chicken Little

When the sky really is falling and sanity has flown the coop, who will rise to save the day? Together with his hysterical band of misfit friends, Chicken Little must hatch a plan to save the planet from alien invasion and prove that the world's biggest hero is a little chicken.

We Love Moses

When Ella was twelve, she had her first fight. And when she was twelve, she discovered sex. Now eighteen, Ella reflects on how her obsession with her older brother Michael's best friend Moses left her with a secret she still carries.

Dazed and Confused

The adventures of a group of Texas teens on their last day of school in 1976, centering on student Randall Floyd, who moves easily among stoners, jocks and geeks. Floyd is a star athlete, but he also likes smoking weed, which presents a conundrum when his football coach demands he sign a "no drugs" pledge.

The Wild Chicks and Life

The Wild Chicks are slowly growing out of their youthful gang years and have to face the worries of growing up on the sidelines of a big class trip before graduation.

Clueless

Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school's pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other. Emboldened by her success, she decides to give hopelessly klutzy new student Tai a makeover. When Tai becomes more popular than she is, Cher realizes that her disapproving ex-stepbrother was right about how misguided she was -- and falls for him.

Screams from the Tower

A gay, coming-of-age comedy that follows Julien, his best friend Cary, and their outcast friends through high school in the early 90s. Julien and Cary's dream of having their own show on the high school radio station is finally realized, bringing them a popularity and infamy they never imagined.

Mystic Pizza

Three teenage girls come of age while working at a pizza parlor in Mystic, Connecticut.

Cinema Paradiso

A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.

Seaside Serendipity

In a coastal town attracting artists, 14-year-old Sosuke and his friends stay busy painting and helping with school projects. As carefree children interact with secret-laden adults, the sunlit ocean reflects their contrasting struggles—kids embracing challenges while adults seek elusive answers.

C.R.A.Z.Y.

A young French Canadian, one of five boys in a conservative family in the 1960s and 1970s, struggles to reconcile his emerging identity with his father's values.

Cocoon

China, 1997. An unhappy marriage, a love affair and a child who holds all the secrets.

I Am Mackenzie

Caught among toxic masculinity, a sequin dress and a teenage crush, a teen skater, growing up in rural Texas, will have sex for the first time in the back of their dad’s truck.

Human Traffic

For Jip, Lulu, Koop, Nina and Moff, the dead-end jobs they endure during the week just kill the time until Friday night. That's when they cut very loose and get on the rollercoaster ride that takes them right through to Monday morning.

Léolo

The story of an imaginative boy who pretends he is the child of a sperm-laden Sicilian tomato upon which his mother accidentally fell.

Mysterious Skin

A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth.

The Fox and the Hound

When a feisty little fox named Tod is adopted into a farm family, he quickly becomes friends with a fun and adorable hound puppy named Copper. Life is full of hilarious adventures until Copper is expected to take on his role as a hunting dog -- and the object of his search is his best friend!

Picnic at Hanging Rock

In the early 1900s, Miranda attends a girls boarding school in Australia. One Valentine's Day, the school's typically strict headmistress treats the girls to a picnic field trip to an unusual but scenic volcanic formation called Hanging Rock. Despite rules against it, Miranda and several other girls venture off. It's not until the end of the day that the faculty realizes the girls and one of the teachers have disappeared mysteriously.

Thirteen

When 13-year-old Tracy befriends Evie, the most popular girl in school, her life is turned upside down as Evie introduces her to a world of sex, drugs, and money. But it isn’t long before Tracy’s new lifestyle begins to take a heavy toll on her and her family.

Wonder Boys

Grady is a 50-ish English professor who hasn't had a thing published in years—not since he wrote his award winning 'Great American Novel' 7 years ago. This weekend proves even worse than he could imagine as he finds himself reeling from one misadventure to another in the company of a new wonder boy author.

Love, Simon

Everyone deserves a great love story, but for 17-year-old Simon Spier, it's a little more complicated. He hasn't told his family or friends that he's gay, and he doesn't know the identity of the anonymous classmate that he's fallen for online.