The Guardian (2025)

Madeline's Madeline

Madeline has become an integral part of a prestigious physical theater troupe. When the workshop's ambitious director pushes the teenager to weave her rich interior world and troubled history with her mother into their collective art, the lines between performance and reality begin to blur. The resulting battle between imagination and appropriation rips out of the rehearsal space and through all three women's lives.

Sipping

Santiago and Jared , two teenagers of opposite personality spend an afternoon together looking for ways to overcome their differences. After an act that begins as a game their senses will find the space to coincide.

Eagle Rock

In the early 1970s, a young woman in prison for murder reflects on what led her to the crime, the cult she was a part of, and her relationship with its leader.

Miss Sweden

Moa is in her early 20s, works at a factory and lives by herself in a cottage in the forest. She is a vegan and follows her friends and demonstrations, mostly to fit in. But at home, by herself, she listens to pop music and use make-up.

Sandbag Dam

A story about a forbidden love set in a village threatened by swollen rivers. Upon his return home for his father’s funeral, Slaven revives his relationship with his childhood friend, a young sportsman named Marko, his teenage love, and the reason his father kicked him out of the house. Now tempted to reunite, they need to make peace with their own decisions and struggle against the family restraints.

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.

Orgies and the Meaning of Life

Baxter Goode is a man trying to find an ending to his book about a sex obsessed stick figure searching for a portal to the three dimensional world, as his father, a best selling Christian author, tries to stop him. His life is further complicated by his search for the one woman who will liberate him from his long addiction to orgy fantasies.

New Waterford Girl

A gifted teenager, dreaming of life beyond her small town, becomes inspired when a 15-year-old girl from New York moves in next door.

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.

Cherry Blossoms in March

In this mother-daughter story, a young woman explores her own mortality through art and poetry as her terminal illness holds her back from a normal life.

Mommy

A peculiar neighbor offers hope to a recent widow who is struggling to raise a teenager who is unpredictable and, sometimes, violent.

Elsa & Fred

After his daughter persuades him to move into a new apartment, aged widower Fred strikes up a friendship with his eccentric 74-year-old neighbour Elsa, who convinces him it's never too late to keep enjoying life. Although he seemed resigned to a miserable bedridden existence, Fred embraces Elsa's youthful enthusiasm as she introduces him to the path of life and entertains him with outlandish stories about her past life. But when he discovers Elsa's terminally ill, Fred decides to accompany her on the trip of her dreams to the eternal city of Rome to help her fulfil a lifelong ambition.

The Sea

Gerard is 12-year-old boy who lives close to the seaside. Every day he swims far from the coast because he finds his liberty, till someday something unexpected happens to him.

Descendants

A present-day idyllic kingdom where the benevolent teenage son of King Adam and Queen Belle offers a chance of redemption for the troublemaking offspring of Disney's classic villains: Cruella De Vil (Carlos), Maleficent (Mal), the Evil Queen (Evie) and Jafar (Jay).

Kitchen Dialogue

A generational trauma through the lens of an Asian American teenager through food and poetry.

Almost Famous

In 1973, 15-year-old William Miller's unabashed love of music and aspiration to become a rock journalist lands him an assignment from Rolling Stone magazine to interview and tour with the up-and-coming band, Stillwater.

The Favourite Game

As a kid, Leo thought he possessed, like a magician, the secret power to make things happen. As a young man, he certainly knows how to make things happen with women. But as his best friend Krantz would say to him, "Why do you always ask questions you already know answers to?" Leo believes firmly in what he invents from one day to the next. Images, impressions, stories fill his head. That's just how he is: life, for Leo, is just a game. Behind this childlike attitude, hides the very essence of his own life's quest.

Closer Than You Think

A six year old Kohl Pihtin, arrives at the musical contest in the capital. But his main goal is not to win, but to find his father, whom he never saw. A discovery of a basement has a passage leading to another reality: on the deserted coastline. The boy has a choice; to stay permanently in the country of fiction or to meet his real parents

The Fantastic Three

Max, a witty and brave 12-year-old, feels like he has two families instead of one. In and after school, he spends all his time with his two best friends Tom and Vivian, who are always there to make life easier for each other. Together, they are The Fantastic Three. His real family on the other hand, is messy, with a depressed single mother and a brother in jail.

Gabriela

It's the summer after high school graduation and Gabriela, a young undocumented Guatemalan woman, pursues her dream of swimming for an illustrious Country Club swim team. Despite her single-minded determination, Gabriela is continually confronted with her overprotective mother’s ears, limitations on her economic and legal status, and self-judgment. As she questions her self-worth against the structures of contemporary American Southern life, Gabriela embarks on a quest towards personal freedom and self-acceptance.

Il prete bello

In 1939 Vicenza, a young petty thief befriends the local priest. Based on the novel by Goffredo Parise.

A Game

Two brothers, Fernando and Pablo, enjoy a playful relationship. One night, their usual games take a different path, becoming something real and completely unknown.

Captain Faggotron Saves the Universe

A young priest is intent on denying his homosexuality, and he's not doing a very good job. Meanwhile, his alien ex-lover is plotting to turn the Earth into a homosexual planet during a cosmic event and Captain Faggotron is caught in the middle. Clashing ideologies culminate in an orgy of gay demons and a love that no longer has to hide.

Park

Young love blossoms amongst a group of Athenian teenagers during a boisterous summertime idyll, in the raw, romantic and anarchic feature debut from Greek New Wave director Sofia Exarchou. One of the most eagerly awaited films to come out of Greece in recent years, Sofia Exarchou's feature debut is a coming-of-age story that presents a summertime idyll from the perspective of Athenian youths. It allows us to see the fragility they try to conceal, and at the same time shows them to be unwaveringly resilient despite the socio-economic troubles that affect their destinies.

Ocean

Summer 79, holidays, Ocean. Jean, about 10 years old, realizes that his mother and father don't love each other anymore. Suddenly, the family is confronted with death. Jean discovers the ambivalence of life, its violence, human weakness, something like the end of childhood...

Rock Paper Grenade

A story about relationships between children and adults broken by shaky 1990s in Ukraine. The boy Tymophii befriends a weird man named Felix. He's the veteran of Afghan war, he has PTSD and he loves music.

Soft

Three adolescent boys become captivated by the queer nightlife over summer break, but a missing person pulls them back into the reality they tried to leave behind.

Nothing

Pierre Anthon and his classmates have just started 8th grade, when Pierre Anthon declares that life has no meaning, leaves school and moves up in a tree, refusing to come down. This sparks an existential crisis amongst his classmates. They decide to gather their most valuable belongings in a “heap of meaning” that will convince Pierre Anthon that he is wrong. A dangerous, disturbing, and controversial study of what really matters has begun.

Treasure Trackers

A trio of misfit middle schoolers band together to investigate their small town's mythic treasure, only to uncover a Halloween curse.

The Noodlepoop

Ida and her family are recovering from the divorce. She is looking forward to the upcoming dance contest. She is also growing up and developing romantic urges of her own. But she doesn't have good memories of romance. The third of Jesper W. Nielsen trilogy: Buldermanden, Lykkefanten and Ogginoggen.

Stardust

When his father brings his new girlfriend to the seaside, a withdrawn boy is forced to share his grief with someone he doesn't want to know.

Keep Going

Shan's crush is going to move away and they make a promise of exchanging their favorite signed baseballs. His signed ball, however, is lost because of his brother Jia, so the brothers start a journey to find the ball...

Cousins

Lucas is a young man who lives with his religious aunt Lourdes in a quiet country town. He helps his aunt by holding religious meetings with the ladies of the area, in the living room, playing biblical songs on the keyboard. This quiet life will end as soon as the charitable aunt communicates the arrival of another nephew, Mario, just out of jail. The clash of reality between the cousins ends up causing unusual situations, and an unexpected attraction among the boys.

You Will Die at Twenty

Shortly after Muzamil was born, the village's holy man predicts that he will die at age 20. Muzamil's father can't stand the curse and leaves home. Sakina raises her son as a single mother, overly protective. One day, Muzamil turns 19.

Miss Beijo

An adaptation of the short story with the same name by Portuguese writer Lídia Jorge.

What She Likes

An emotional coming-of-age drama centered around Andou Jun, a gay student who is not out. He accepts a confession from his fujoshi classmate Miura Sae and they start dating. However, Jun is also seeing Makoto, but fails to tell Sae about his male lover.

Aline

Alban lives in a ski resort with his mother. Each night, the teenager slips away to meet up with Julien – this boy who curiously has the same name as the hero of the novel Alban is devouring.

Walk With Me

​While walking his dog, Eric bumps into the confident and carefree Ryan. Taking a nervous leap, Eric accepts Ryan’s invitation to walk through the city en route to a concert. In the next six blocks, the two men discover that intimacy through anonymity also exposes one another’s flaws and insecurities. Will they make it to the concert in one piece?

Neverland Now

With her reckless behavior art student Kalina (21) provokes her fellow students, her teachers and sometimes even her only friend Ruth (24). Kalina convinces Ruth take a spontaneous trip to Portugal the next day and they euphorically head out to celebrate their plan. After a half-hearted attempt to steal a car they end up on a big student party. When Ruth voices doubts about the planned trip, the night takes an unexpected turn.

Eden

Eden is a coming-of-age film about a Protestant Confirmation camp on a summer’s week, set in the archipelago of Helsinki. Aliisa is the intellectually confident non-believer, Jenna is the queen bee and Panu is the scared bird. The experience of these teenagers is affected by Tiina, a young and eager priest.

Portraits from a Fire

An Indigenous teenage boy fights through distorting realities as a family secret unravels.

Haus

A displaced black queer boy finds refuge in his city's underground Kiki Ballroom scene.

Paillette

In this musical short film set in 1961, 17-year-old Kathryn begins a fashion internship to help design a line for the Seattle World's Fair. Kathryn struggles to defend her passion for a creative lifestyle against disapproving family and friends.

Hot Gimmick: Girl Meets Boy

A quiet teen's life is shaken up when she's forced to be her arrogant neighbor's slave. He loves her, but they both have a lot to learn about trust.

Dealer

Fourteen-year-old drug dealer Johnny is in a home for young people. When he learns that he cannot go home at weekends any longer, he asks one of his customers, famous successful actor Antony, to be his weekend guardian.

Life without Sara Amat

Pep, a 13-year-old boy, is in love with a girl from his grandparents village, Sara Amat. One summer night, Sara disappears without a trace. After a few hours, Pep finds her hiding in his room. Although Pep knows that the entire town is looking for her, he agrees to her stay. Consequently, the boy will be forced to live a double life: he must lie to everyone while satisfying the Sara's demands.

Diciembre

Amidst the political crisis of December 2001 in Argentina, Clara observes the relationship troubles of her cousin Mara with her boyfriend Tomás. Their sexual bonds are about to undergo some changes as well.

Sweetheart

A socially awkward, environmentally-conscious teenager named AJ is dragged to a coastal holiday park by her painfully 'normal' family, where she becomes unexpectedly captivated by a chlorine smelling, sun-loving lifeguard named Isla.

Sequin in a Blue Room

A teenager tries to track down a man he met at an anonymous sex party, trawling through hook-up apps to find him.

Pop in Q

The story begins the day before the graduation ceremony. Five middle school girls each are preoccupied with their real everyday lives. These girls meet each other in a fantasy world after being sent there through a sudden occurrence. There, they learn about the impending crisis that this world is facing. The way to avert this crisis is for the five to collaborate and bring their five hearts together as one through dance. However, the five cannot come to love the world, and cannot tell their true feelings to one another, so their hearts are unable to unite. The time limit is fast approaching. Can the dance of the five girls save the world? And will they be able to graduate?

Last Train Home

Tom Bradshaw searches for his family while riding the rails in this family drama set in the 1880s.

Metrosexuality

Kwame, a sexy, straight 17-year-old is trying to get his two dads, Max and Jordan, back together again. That is, when he's not trying to attract the attention of the girl of his dreams. Kwame's two gay best friends aren't having an easier time of it either, what with boyish Dean having a crush on daddy Max, and punky Banbi unable to get his older boyfriend Robin to settle down. Add Max's lesbian sister and Max and Jordan's new love interests and you're in the middle of a hip, fun, music-filled soap opera.

Happy

Florent, 23, is an upper class Parisian who dreams of going back to America, where he attended college. One summer he meets Alessia, an American girl, lost in the streets of Paris. Together and with random encounters while on a journey from Paris to Normandy, they explore their passions, which draws them closer as well as brings up their clashing differences. As they face a crucial crossroad in their lives, they will uncover new sides of themselves, struggling to determine who they are personally, professionally and sexually while to break free from their upbringings.​

Beyond the Blue Border

GDR, August 1989: Hanna and Andreas became a target of the secret police and had to give up their plans for their future studies and desired professions. Instead, they face arbitrariness, mistrust and reprisals. Their only chance for a self-determined life lies in fleeing across the Baltic Sea. Fifty kilometres of water separate them from freedom - and only a thin connecting rope around their wrists saves them from absolute loneliness.

Chalk Lines

In an all-boys boarding school in the 1950s, Agosto stands in the field, painfully taking part in a game of lunch-time cricket. He is detached from his surroundings unlike his friend Hector, who seems to revel in the attention of his classmates.

Confessional

A game of hide-n-seek between teenage friends in a small town takes a turn when Skye hides inside a Church confessional booth.

The Truth About Spring

Tommy Tyler, a lazy Caribbean sailor, and his tom-boy daughter, Spring, are out to search for a buried treasure. Tommy brings aboard William Ashton, a young lawyer, to help with the search. Ashton turns out to be handy when they encounter dangerous rivals. Tommy also tries to play match maker between Ashton and Spring – a difficult task indeed.

Man Cured

Lucas—an insecure, in-the-closet 22 year old—is stuck babysitting for a well off Brooklyn family to get by. On any other Friday evening, he arrives to watch Freud, a precocious 7 year old. Only there’s one problem: a new babysitter, Frankie, is already there. What happens as a chance occurrence between two young men spirals into a weekend of self-discovery and acceptance.

Dormitory

Forced to leave the comfort of his middle class lifestyle at his father's behest, fourteen-year-old Ahmet is sent to an all-boys religious dormitory where he must navigate familial expectations, his religious obligations, and the childhood to which he so desperately clings.

Appreciating

When the diary journal of an appreciative teen, Jim, randomly gets lost, he begins searching for a solution and living his life to its fullest in order to not have the journal’s absence bother him so deeply.

little death

A promiscuous girl falls in love with a woman after a series of random hook-ups.

STRANGER

STRANGER is a coming-of-age short film that focuses on two neighbors reconciling before one of them goes off to college in Chicago. It is based on a true event that occurred the last day that I was in town before I moved to college. The two characters, Max and Cass, discuss their past together after not talking for years, realizing that they have changed as young adults and miss hanging out but cannot because Cass is leaving while Max stays in town to fix cars. With this last interaction, they get to say goodbye officially on a good note.