The Strangers Came (2024)

Dirt Devil 550 XS

Residents of a flat share discuss the purchase of a new vacuum cleaner. A genuine film about group dynamics, daily living together and democracy, in which banality, poetry and humour are mixed.

Kiem Holijanda

When teenager Andi discovers a card of a Dutch porn star in the bedroom he shares with his brother, his obsession to get a phone and access the X-rated content means he doesn't notice that his brother has chosen this day to say goodbye to him.

Self Destructive Boys

Self Destructive Boys is a direct stare into masculine interaction as we follow three boys in their mid-twenties, António, Xavier and Miguel testing the limits of their sexual flexibility.

Sign

'SIGN' is a short film that tells, through vignettes, music, and sign language, the story of a relationship between Ben, a hearing man, and Aaron, who is deaf.

Our Lady of Lourdes

Lourdes, a university student, is grateful to Bernard, the town drunk, when he comes to her aid in an uncomfortable situation. But when she offers to buy him a hot meal, she ends up getting involved in far more than she bargained for.

Hello, Again

Owen, after a sleepless night from his Mothers funeral the day before, decides to avoid his father and visit her grave. Through a misunderstanding he meets Maura, who's visiting her recently deceased Father's grave. Together they try to find a way to connect with the loved ones they've lost.

Lookouts

On their final trial as village Lookouts, a troop of young scouts are ambushed by the very creature they were hunting. After a violent battle the lone survivor, Pehn, escapes into the shadows of the Eyrewood, a mysterious and deadly forest that is home to all manner of wild creatures. The most horrifying of all is the Basilisk, a winged titan with the power to turn its prey into stone. This is the beast the troop of "Lookouts" were seeking, and now it hunts for Pehn. With guidance from the stories foretold by his Mother and words or warning passed down from his mentor, Pehn struggles to find the courage he'll need to confront his fate and defeat the horrifying creature that pursues him.

The Nap

A girl wraps her grandmother in a spiral of fantasy, causing amnesia to her.

Despair

After a phone call ends in despair, a young woman faces a fatal decision.

Speechless

Desmond has a secret he cannot share with anyone. His grades are slipping, rumors are swirling and he feels powerless, especially when he sees his sister being hurt, too. With the support of his father and a new friend, Desmond is able to tell his story of being sexually assaulted and end the cycle of abuse. Desmond regains his power when he uses his voice.

Stray

Set in a parallel universe where the sexual bias favors homosexuals, Eric, a struggling heterosexual, admits himself into a straight conversion camp. What begins as a cure to his deviant lifestyle, becomes a journey of self acceptance.

Shadows

In Manila, a solitary man from a far-away province lives in poverty. The only thing he has is a camera, and he stays at churches hoping people will hire him to take their photographs. During one day, he has three encounters that change his life: the first, with a smooth-talking young man who's standing by the church door who berates him for wasting his life in church, the second with a boy who offers to take his picture, and the third with a Mercedes-driving man who's been stuck in traffic and has no patience left. Is there any deliverance from the soullessness of the city?

La Vie

Franck is an astrophysicist. His job is to perform laser drillings with the Lynx, an exploration rover on Mars. Assisted by his collegues, he spends the night looking for traces of organic life by examining rocks. In the morning, he will meet with his son who has been traveling around the world after staying with his mother.

Not That Kind of Guy

Léto, a young trans and gay man, lives in a small, social housing apartment near Tours. During the day, he kills boredom on his phone from the ticket booth of a movie theater on its last legs. But where he's looking for feelings, he's only offered sex. So at night, he flees disillusionment by heading for the stars. The roof of his high-rise building is like his moped: a refuge, an escape. However, one morning, the parking lot of an ice rink becomes the setting for a life-changing encounter when he comes face to face with Hamza, a solitary employee with an enigmatic charm. The emotional disturbance is immediate. With all due respect to the scoundrels!

It's Just in My Head

Andreas and Alessandro are two friends who have known each other since their childhood. Now that they have grown up, they study at University in different cities but they always spend the summer together in the place where they were born: a seaside resort that regularly fills up with tourists every year.

Behind the Curtain

School audition in the 80's. Steve has been training very hard, but singing in front of an audience is not easy. It might be easier to behind the curtain.

A Walk with Johnny Guitar

Lord knows where João de Deus has been. He's come home wounded in the head. He's got a bit of the soundtrack to Johnny Guitar in his head. Strangely enough, there is no sign of the hole in his head. Day breaks over the city. Further strolls are in sight. It is said that Mr. Monteiro, the alter ego of João de Deus, occasionally goes out with Nicholas Ray. At least, they've been seen together.

Visas and Virtue

Europe, 1940. For thousands of Jews, a Japanese diplomat and his wife defy Tokyo and the Nazis, and offer visas, for life.

Kryo

A man who cheats death through the help of cryonics has to learn the hard way that death is a undeniable part of life.

The Male Gaze: First Kiss

The Male Gaze is a new series of releases from New Queer Visions that showcases short LGBTQ films from across the world. The first instalment, First Kiss, brings together five shorts that are based around men experiencing romantic and/or sexual interaction with other men for the first time. It takes in films from Sweden, Indonesia, USA, Australia and France giving a rounded look at how similar experiences are depicted across the world. The films are: Naked [Naken] (2013); Pria (2017); Walk With Me (2018), One Night Only (2018); Michel's Mouse [Tapette] (2016).

Theis and Nico

The two brothers Teis and Nico find a poster from "Gone with the Wind" and they start talking about why people kiss and the techniques behind it. Later they meet Giinjha and she invites them to her birthday-party. While they are preparing to go to the party they rehearse how to kiss in the way the poster suggested because Teis has announced that he is in love with Giinjha and will kiss her even though he is not comfortable about it.

Green

In Alonso Ruizpalacios’ bracing and stylish film, security guards in an armoured van try to manage the stress that comes from being close to a pile of cash in Mexico City. The team’s stability is imperilled when one member nears his boiling point.

Session Man

When personal and creative differences threaten to destroy a musical supergroup during the recording of an album, studio guitar player McQueen is brought in to smooth out the tracks. Soon he is reconsidering the direction of his life as he dreams of the elusive brass ring.

Helium

A young boy, Alfred, is dying, but through the stories about Helium, a magical fantasy world, told by the hospital's eccentric janitor, Enzo, Alfred regains the joy and happiness of his life, and finds a safe haven away from daily life.

Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?

A comedy about a chaotic morning in a family with kids, and a mother who is determined that it's best to take care of everything herself.

Puparia

Something is about to change drastically, and the only thing to do is to witness it.

Lost Angel

When a young Dutch tourist gets stranded at the start of his US vacation, he finds help from an unlikely stranger.

Migrants

Two polar bears are driven into exile due to global warming. They will encounter brown bears along their journey, with whom they will try to cohabitate.

Fairlane

New in town, Brandon starts working at an auto shop to support his single mother where he's trained by an experienced mechanic, Evan. The two spark up a whirlwind romance which takes an unexpected turn when a secret is revealed, throwing a wrench in their relationship.

Matias and Jeronimo

Matías and Jerónimo know each other since they were just kids. Their friendship is a mix of fun and desire, but everything changes the night they go to the carnival and they see how a group of thugs beat a gay performer behind the scene.

A Girl, She Is 100%

A man ran into a woman on a street. She was not attractive, but was a perfect girl for him. After missing the chance to talk to her, he contemplates on how he should have approached her.

Canvas

After a heartbreaking loss, a grandfather struggling to reclaim his passion for painting finds the inspiration to create again.

Dante vs. Mohammed Ali

When Wolf refuses to fight his best friend Alexander during a weekly boxing match, the whole village turns against him. He tries to convince Alexander to join him leaving the village, but his overly romantic message runs into a wall.

Tótem Loba

Estíbaliz accepts her high-school friend Raquel's invitation to attend the town festival. What seemed to be a fun and exciting weekend turns into a nightmare.

Quiet

Ali must lie and say she is her wife's sister so she can be with her in the hospital. Through Ali's memories, we see the women's relationship develop as Ali faces the truth in the present.

Electric July

In the burning heat of July, Thomas and Victor, two 14 years old teenagers, are bored to death and want to escape. Victor decides to take Thomas to an abandoned bridge. He will have to confront his fears and desires.

House Comes with a Bird

It’s quintessentially late afternoon Californian sun. The eponymous house gently hosts a number of clipped social encounters. Each of these denotes dynamics of power in race, gender and class. While it’s the macaw that seems ostensibly and literally caged, Bravo’s drama of manners suggests that every single one of us may not be quite as uncaged as we assume.

nothing, except everything.

A graduating high schooler navigates a world of seemingly inevitable chaos by finding order in the number 7.

Francis

Francis is a short story written by american novelist Dave Eggers. This is the story of a young boy growing up in the suburbs of chicago. He spent his vacations in Quetico Provincial Park, up on the border of Minnesota and Canada. But he won't be going back any day soon, not after what happened to a girl called Francis Brandywine.

The Good Friend

Marcos confesses to Esteban that his relationship with his girlfriend doesn't excite him anymore. That night both will discover the limits of their friendship.

Hotel Chevalier

In a Paris hotel room, Jack Whitman lies on a bed. His phone rings; it's a woman on her way to see him, a surprise. She arrives and the complications of their relationship emerge in bits and pieces. Will they make love? Is their relationship over? (A prequel to The Darjeeling Limited, 2007.)

Yardbird

A young girl who lives in a remote wrecking yard takes on the local bullies when they travel out to torment her father.

Pikoo

A day in the life of a six-year-old child in Calcutta, who lives shut up in the family home, insulated from the city by a park. The father is away at work. The grandfather is alone in his room, ill and confined to his bed. The mother receives her lover.

The Museum of Broken Love

The Museum of Broken Love is a museum where items left over from people's ended relationships are exhibited. Ali's job, when he started working at the museum, is to inventory the incoming items and place them in the exhibition areas. Ali's days change when a man who catches his attention leaves a box at the museum.

Imbued Life

A young woman’s connection with the life force of nature. Using her taxidermy talents to “return” the animals to their natural habitat. But the true search for answers begins when she finds a roll of undeveloped film in each of the animals that she treats.

A Father's Day

Unexpectedly reunited with his daughter amongst the ruins of the world as they knew it, a father is determined to make this day special, even if they are already dead.

A Truck Under Repair

Twenty-year-old Eugène is somewhat aimless and has not been doing well in university. He is staying in a small village for the summer. He awkwardly seduces Pierre, a slightly older man who is working for Mathilde as caretaker for the season. Pierre is initially open to the relationship, but quickly becomes reluctant to become too involved.

Fire at the Lake

A high mountain hamlet, early summer. Félix comes down from the pastures where he’s guarding his cows and finds his old mother lying lifeless on her bed. Shaken, he runs off. He drives a few miles in the valley to the house of a young man who just contacted him on a dating app.

Inside

"INSIDE" is a short film that explores the internal struggle of a young man battling depression and self-doubt. The Protagonist, exhausted and overwhelmed, retreats to his chaotic room, where echoes of past criticisms torment him. He drifts into a surreal nightmare world where he confronts a shadowy figure, the Antagonist, representing his inner demons. Urged to give up and end his life, the Protagonist ultimately finds the strength to resist, symbolically defeating his negative thoughts. Awakening with renewed determination, he begins to clean his room, reflecting his journey towards mental clarity and positivity. The film ends on a hopeful note, showcasing the Protagonist's resilience and transformation.

Herculanum

Three "meetings." Two men. A rumbling volcano.

The World In Your Window

Eight-year-old Jesse lives in a twilight world of sadness and silence, squeezed into a tiny caravan with his grief stricken father. They're in limbo, existing more than living. The child intuitively understands that looking forward is harder than looking back, and that's where life happens. But they are stuck, until an accidental friendship with a V8 driving transsexual unlocks the means for Jesse to liberate his father and himself.

Beautiful, FL

Determined to win an ice cream competition with a flavor inspired by her late Tia Abuela’s Puerto Rican treats, a teen girl turns to her trailer park neighbors to help figure out the winning recipe.

Maxine

Allie is a newly out teen who is keeping her girlfriend a secret from her Chinese American family. During her family’s celebration of the Hungry Ghost Festival, Allie meets the ghost of a long lost relative named Maxine, who was queer when she was alive several decades ago. Though they come from different times, they find that they share many feelings about struggling to belong, especially within their own family’s legacy.

It's Still Your Bed

David comes home from college to his family’s farm to find that his parents have hired a young man named Brent, who is also sharing his room. David is still in the closet and wants to come out to his high school friend, but he finds himself drawn to his new roommate and tries to determine if he is also gay.

I'm Sorry, My Love

A solid middle American couple meet a stranger who will have a big role in history as we know it.