Rays of Light (2023)

The Mirror/Mirror The

A socially awkward teen gets caught between a changing friendship and a life-altering discovery.

Polaroid

Giuseppe, 33, is still struggling to build his life in a small Italian town where he has to hide his homosexuality. With a Polaroid in hand, he decides to leave for Berlin to find Peter, a summer love he has never forgotten. The shock of a cosmopolitan city is nothing compared to the moment he realizes that the German artist has a "normal" family. For him this represents the possibility of 'losing' himself and meeting Marco, who takes him around all night to arrive at dawn to the conviction that love is the only strength to find one's identity. "Polaroid" is one of five short film segments in an omnibus feature titled "A Quintet".

The Last Ride

Desperate to secure a dowry for his sister's wedding and escape his exploitative boss, Aman – a migrant ride-share driver in Mumbai – decides to steal his boss's taxi. But his plan spirals into a nightmare when his last minute passenger turns out to be a Chudail (a demonic witch).

The Turk Shop

At a creative firm somewhere in Stockholm, there's a short break in a meeting. Cecilia relates an anecdote from a hen party, about a 'Turk kiosk' that turned out to be closed. Asal, relatively new at the workplace, questions Cecilia's choice of words, and this seriously offends Cecilia. In the end it's Asal who is accused of inappropriate behaviour.

Lacrimosa

A young woman finds her lost lover in a world of ever-changing surreal landscapes. But love, she discovers, is more complicated than she imagines.

Freestyle Swimmer

Young Max discovers that grandfather Gustav cannot swim and decides to teach him. But Gustav thinks that it may be too late for him...

Jamie's Secret

PAUL RUDD'S FIRST ROLE! A teenager who was sexually abused by his father. Faced with his conflicting emotions, Jamie finally learns to overcome the most difficult part of his ordeal: feeling "alone ... trapped inside this nightmare." With the advice of caring adults and, most importantly, a friend of his age, Jamie finds the strength to make the most difficult decision, that of facing his father in the courtroom.

Boydem

This particular summer, at an age that falls between childhood and young adulthood, while their grandparents are taking their afternoon nap, Keren and Noam play games in the attic ("Boydem" in Yiddish) that introduces them to a new level of intimacy.

Walls

A teenage boy named David is afraid of being transparent. When David's best friend, Johnathan, notices his abuse at home, David must overcome his fear of rejection in order to embrace his friend's support.

The Room

Mariana must sacrifice her dog Frida after violently beating it for having destroyed her recently deceased son's toys. The pet's death helps Mariana accept and overcome the loss of her son.

Fragments of Time

Amelia arrives at the hospital, her father is dying. Her frustration and pain keep her on her feet.

The Kiln

At her young age, Juana has two great responsibilities: preventing her older sister from fleeing the house and passing on the secret of making bricks to her younger sister.

Cristeros and Federals

In 1929, during the Cristiada, Ranulfo, captain of the Cristero army, kept a federal prisoner, whom he tortured and threatened. At another time, Eugenio, captain of the federal army, rebukes and mocks the faith of a group of Cristeros peasants who are weak but not defenseless.

Sugar Glass Bottle

Near-future Tokyo. Kou, through the help of his high school best friend, finds a surprising way to express his mounting frustration at the insidious forces of commercialism that are forcing out the neighbors he cares most about. Initially inspired by a prank that the writer-director Neo Sora (The Chicken, 2020) had pulled on him in his childhood, a sense of warm nostalgia and cold, material reality intermingle to tell a tale set in the not-so-distant future about disappearing spaces and the forces of policing and gentrification that drills this process forward.

Muse

Set in a surreal, arthouse dreamscape of New York City, a demented artist spirals through a series of erotic entanglements, obsessively drawn to lovers by their haute couture, desperate to find the muse who will reignite his art.

Without a Mom

Two gay dads fumble to provide their straight son with meaningful support after the loss of his first real love.

Heartless

Léo goes on vacation at his cousin's, in a fishing village. There, he meets a girl who goes by the nickname Heartless.

Mori

A man on the brink of death, has a conversation with a stranger. The pair philosophize about the meaning of a life well lived.

Nahjum

A prehistoric family's desperate search for a mythical source of life turns to tragedy when the egos and obsessions of its male members rise to the surface.

Alexandria

Books vanish from a library. A daughter says goodbye to her mother. A writer struggles with Alzheimer's disease.

Three Months

When a young man belatedly reveals to his lover an omission, their romance wavers.

We Are Dancers

Set in Berlin, 1933, We are Dancers is the story of real-life anti-Nazi drag artist Hansi Sturm and his circle of friends in the immediate aftermath of the Reichstag fire, an event that allowed Hitler to become absolute dictator of Germany. Confronted by a former lover, now a Nazi, Hansi must decide whether to abandon his club or stay and face the Fascists on his own terms.

Wonder

An 11-year-old kid growing up in "the hood" secretly dreams of trick-or-treating as Wonder Woman for Halloween.

Tricycle Thief

After discovering his eviction notice, a tricycle driver goes on a desperate hunt for money.

Where the Birds Cry

Fourteen-year-old Szymon lives in a seaside village. He's going through one of the most turbulent stages in his life - puberty. However his monotonous life is interrupted by an unexpected visit from his childhood friend. An ordinary meeting on a cliff turns into his first summer romance.

I Am Here

A young man, looking to start his life over moves into a new neighborhood. In his new home, he discovers a picture of a beautiful girl with a phone number along side of it. As time passes by, his curiosity and affection of the girl grows and compels him to text the number. He eventually gets pulled into an unconventional relationship with the girl over text messages, but they never actually meet.

Abigail

A lonely and elderly widower struggles to come to terms with the loss of his wife and the circumstances surrounding her death. When he visits her grave, he encounters a little girl who shows him the path to healing and fills him with hope.

Gypsy

Sebastian is a wealthy young man. He finds out he has a flat tire and ends up accepting help from a Gypsy passer by. In return Sebastian will have to give him a ride home - but they won't reach their expected destination.

Shannon Amen

Shannon Amen unearths the passionate and pained expressions of a young woman overwhelmed by guilt and anxiety as she struggles to reconcile her sexual identity with her religious faith. A loving elegy to a friend lost to suicide.

Meatoo

A naive actor auditions for a film which could launch his career. The things he's asked to do make him more and more uncomfortable, until a choice remark from the director makes him see red.

What Grown-Ups Know

Teenage boy Roy and his ailing mother Elizabeth live an aimless life on the road, shuttling between gas stations, temp jobs and cheap motels. When they end up at a desolate caravan park, fractures begin to appear in Roy's relationship with his mother as he starts to fall head over heels for park manager Maurice.

In the Name of the Father

The short film depicts the life of a boy who is constantly sexually abused by his father. Leonardo Miggiorin brilliantly plays the role of this boy, who belongs to a poor and unstructured family.

Mehmet & Tim

Mehmet and Tim are best friends for as long as they can remember. However, they are at the foot of a major event. An event that will change their friendship forever.

Hysterical Sisters

"Hysterical Sisters" is an artistic and abstract poem about the chronic menstrual illnesses Adenomyosis and Endometriosis, that visualises the daily struggles of affected people. Adenomyosis is often described as the "evil sister" of Endometriosis - and vice versa. Two personified illnesses, that cause immense suffering and debilitating pain. Since loneliness, shame and a lack of understanding shape the lives of many affected people, the short film aims to raise awareness, break taboos and ultimately show sufferers they're not alone.

Visions of Europe

Twenty-five films from twenty-five European countries by twenty-five European directors.

Flora

A metacinematic reflection on the nature of representation and the ongoing drug war in Mexico, Nicolás Pereda’s Flora revisits locations and scenes from the mainstream 2010 narco-comedy El Infierno, exploring the paradoxes of depicting narco-trafficking on film—its tendency both to romanticize and to obscure. To screen is both to project and to conceal.

Aujourd'hui ou je meurs

After a month of texting, Zoe has organized a perfect first date with Marc. Their expectations will be tested by reality.

Into the Night

A yuppie seeks help from two townspeople in finding his wife and daughter, during a blizzard storm. Based on the short story by Stephen King.

Erica

Erica has a secret relationship to the married Sebastian. When his wife Liv finds out, she decides to confront Erica over an evening of gin and tonics. Erica is soon being pushed to question what things in life are worth fighting for.

Abrase

The fading love of two men, remembered. A relationship once vivid, now dissipating into a fog of partial remembrance; the memories of heartbreak and loss that bend and change as the years go by.

Something Old, New, Borrowed and Blue

A traditional wedding procession walks along a narrow street towards the home of the bride. Guests and family members are waiting inside the home on this big day, as they listen to prayers from the loudspeakers. The bride, Putri, is getting ready inside her bedroom while her mother is helping with the final touches of her hair and makeup. Tender and frank conversations about marriage are shared between mother and daughter in that intimate space, before Putri leaves to begin a new life with her husband.

Not a Time to Celebrate

A young filmmaker has just unsatisfyingly captured the last shot for her film. While the crew encourages her to celebrate, she fears that the battle has just begun. Thankfully, she knows that worrying is never the answer. Instead, she turns to a traditional, evil-warding, garland-scattering ritual to direct all misfortune away from her film.

Cain Rose Up

Curt, a depressed student is at the end of his school year in university. As he gets ready to leave his dorm-room, something in Curt's mind goes wrong. He is surrounded by some friends and many people he dislikes. On Curt's last day at school he pulls out his guitar case, but inside is not a guitar rather an instrument of death, and what he is about to do with it will cause a huge uproar of screams and distress. In the end, Curt is looking down the sight at one of his best friends. Will Curt pull the trigger?

Negative Space

Even though Sam's father is hardly ever home because he is often away on business trips, he is able to connect with his son by teaching him how to pack a suitcase.

Bea

At the age of 19, Bea realizes that the love she deemed infinite is as decadent and full of excesses as a night in the port of Acapulco.

Perfect Roast Potatoes

William comes to Los Angeles to celebrate Christmas only to find his mother has died, but his sister insists they still have Christmas dinner, corpse and all.

Consent

After meeting online, a woman allows a virtual stranger into her home to fulfill an agreement.

The Station In-Between

Theo and Louis, two gay gentlemen, embark on a train journey to Paxmal. They are carrying an urn - it is the last journey for a friend. On their way deep into the Swiss Alps the two men, struggling with their fate, meet various people. While some of these people remind Theo and Louis again of the beautiful things in life, others confront them with ghosts from the past.

The Traveler

In the near future, an isolated man is tortured by his beloved memories.