Blessed Land (2019)

The Unseen River

Stories told along the river: a woman reunites with her ex-lover at a hydroelectric plant; meanwhile, a young man travels downstream to a temple in search of a cure for his insomnia.

Drained

Truck driver Teddy's late night stop at a gas station takes a dark turn when he meets the mysterious hooker Katerina, leading to unexpected consequences.

ESPY

The film deals with the recruitment of race car driver Jiro Miki (Masao Kusakari) and his dog, Caesar, to a group of people who use ESP, psychokinesis, and other special mental abilities to fight crime.

Children Only Once

The lives of random children from different parts of the Philippines, facing the same predicament of living life of arduous labor to cope with the harsh realities of poverty.

Masques

Two masks face each other under a multitude of disturbing glances. A signal is given, begins then a dance, a ritual fight.

Relish

Five outcasts, lead by a rebellious transgender male, escape a private treatment program, go on a life-changing road-trip, and discover they have a lot more in common than they ever imagined.

Long Time Comin'

There is a cultural revolution going on in Canada and Faith Nolan and Grace Channer are on the leading edge. These two African-Canadian lesbian artists give back to art its most urgent meanings--commitment and passion. Grace Channer's large and sensuous canvasses and musician Faith Nolan's gritty and joyous blues propel this documentary into the spheres of poetry and dance. Long Time Comin' captures their work, their urgency, and their friendship in intimate conversations with both artists.

Sciuscià 70

"Shoeshine 70" is a documentary directed by Mimmo Verdesca that celebrates an important anniversary. This years marks the 70th anniversary of the release of the film helmed by Vittorio De Sica "Shoeshine", a masterpiece of Neorealism, and the first Italian film ever to win an Oscar and the first recipient of a Nastro d'argento, a prizeigiven by Italian journalists. The film will revolve around the filming of that masterpiece in the 1946. Therefore it will be a report of those events but a film where memories will come to life thanks to the candid stories of the protagonists, that will take the spectator on an emotional and enticing journey.

Bittersweet Memories: Isolated for 14 Days to Make an Album

The great project had not ended with "Validation", and now, for the second time, the duo Victor Schiavon and Leandro Biffe come together a year later, in isolation, to create the album that became known as "Bittersweet Memories", for the musical alter ego Yun Li.

Une Vie au dessus du vide

Plot unavailable

Turbulence

After a restless night he is awoken by his doorbell insistently ringing. Through the peephole, he sees a stranger. He doesn't know why that man is there but is immediately certain of one thing: he represents a terrible threat. He quickly dresses and manages to sneak away, no doubt in his mind that the stranger is pursuing him, and that the nightmare has only just begun.

Biting Fly

The movie is about victims of a systemized fraud tracking down the scammers.

Frisco Sal

Sal comes to the Barbary Coast from New England to find out who murdered her brother. She gets a job signing in Dude's saloon, falls in love with Dude, then wonders if he might be involved in the murder.

Bodo Bach live - Pech gehabt

Plot unavailable

Pitruroon

In today's urban Indian lifestyle where more relationships seem idealistic and flawless, an archaeologist encounters his look alike and the disturbing past of the look alike's aging mother in rural Maharashtra. But was his father responsible for the plight of this old woman. The film is an emotional story of a romance failed by a cruel twist of fate, a confrontation of shattered family values and rebuilding of human bonds.

Antoine and Colette

Now aged 17, Antoine Doinel works in a factory which makes records. At a music concert, he meets a girl his own age, Colette, and falls in love with her. Later, Antoine goes to extraordinary lengths to please his new girlfriend and her parents, but Colette still only regards him as a casual friend. First segment of “Love at Twenty” (1962).

The Distance Between Us and the Sky

Night, national road. Two strangers meet for the first time at an old gas station. One has stopped to gas up his bike, while the other is just stranded. Lacking the 22 euros he needs to get home, he will try to sell him the distance that separates them from the sky.

All Inclusive

Kalervo, a bullied, downtrodden white-collar man whom nobody takes seriously, receives an unexpected gift from Annukka. A gift which Kalervo soon realizes has the power to change his life. The bill is due, and payback never tasted sweeter.

Who Talks

Caught on opposing sides of a debate about a proposed centre for refugee children, two parents try to navigate the turbulent tides of public opinion.

And Then the Bear

When a boy’s close bond with his mother is imperiled one night by the arrival of a mysterious stranger, matters of nature and nurture collide.

Sinner

In a dystopian future where the world has devolved into a pre-industrial state, the Purists rule supreme. The Purists blame technology for all the world’s past ills, and have deemed it to be inherently sinful. A handful of Companions, human-like artificial intelligence, have managed to make it through the apocalypse. They survive the only way they can –by hiding in plain sight.

Floating Melon

A journey of passion, a bitter night. Xiao Cheng ask for help to resolve a big trouble, the guy with whom he spend the afternoon is dead on his bed from the effect of a drug, not something the Chinese authorities look kindly on.

White Echo

Five women in their thirties examine their own power in life.

The Van

The van finally stops, the doors open and Ben comes out alive. A few more fights and he will be able to pay his way out of Albania, and hopefully, take his father with him.

Anna

Living in war-torn Eastern Ukraine Anna is an aging single mother who is desperate for a change. Lured by a radio advertisement, she goes to party with a group of American men who are touring the country, searching for love.

In Seventh Heaven

Sofiane lives in a high-rise block at the edges of Paris. A violent young man, he tries to be like his gang of friends. However, Sofiane is attracted to guys. Through his contradictions, he embodies the confusion of today's idle young people who have lost their bearings and live withdrawn into themselves.

Angst and Treason

During an awkward family gathering, María, a young lady going through a love crisis, discovers a secret that will transform her reality.

Timewarp

A young woman experiences the worst panic attack of her life as the world around her seems to be going faster and faster.

Spoiled Milk

When an emotionally abusive father reneges on a lifelong promise, a determined millennial is forced to choose between fighting for her relationship with her father or her freedom. 'Spoiled Milk' is about what it means to have an expiration date as a daughter and the invisible scars of emotional abuse.

What Did They Say?

A 1-minute film about the experience of young immigrant children having to translate for their parents. Presented by NextShark.

La Jetée

A man confronts his past during an experiment that attempts to find a solution to the problems of a post-apocalyptic world caused by a world war.

After Mother

A son struggles with his father’s violent tendencies while his late mother attempts to help him.

The Marvelous Misadventures of the Stone Lady

Tired of being a banal architectural ornamental, a sculpture runs from the Louvre to confront real life on the streets of Paris.

Olla

After answering an ad on a dating website for Eastern European women, Olla leaves Ukraine and heads to French suburbia to move in with Pierre, who lives with his elderly mother. However, the suburbia cannot temper her desires, and nothing goes as expected.

Stay Awake, Be Ready

On a street corner a mysterious conversation among three young men at street stalls. Meanwhile a traffic accident on a motorbike. The night brings together a sketch, a multicolor frame of reality.

Misfocus

Set in the 1960s, a young photographer becomes obsessed photographing a grieving man - the man that holds the truth to her brother's murder. She pushes the man into a spiral, and when her obsession comes to a sour end, realizes the tragic mistake she has made.

Tuesday From 8 to 6

Névine, a secondary school monitor, is fully committed to her somewhat thankless day job, dealing with teachers, administration and students. Logan, a pupil she is found of insists on getting a cap back from lost and found. She has no idea of the consequences of her gesture.

Brothers in Space

15-year-old Johan helps his 9-year-old brother, Oscar, to build a space rocket to go visit their dad. Johan has made up a story for Oscar, as to why their dad is no longer with them. But on the day that Oscar celebrates his 10th birthday, this lie turns into something unexpected. Will Johan tell Oscar the truth?

Betrayed

Doug Collins has been a highly-respected analyst at the FBI for twenty-five years. He is liked and admired by all the members of his team, but they've seen changes in Doug recently: an attractive young girlfriend, working odd hours, increased frustration at work. And then there was the time he was seen texting on his Blackberry from inside the SCIF. It's all probably nothing. They know his recent divorce has been tough on him. It's not like he's a spy. But what if he is? What is the price of silence?

Yes, God, Yes

Fifteen-year-old Alice has always been a good Catholic, but when an innocent AOL chat turns unexpectedly racy, she finds herself suddenly obsessed with sex.

Pigtails

The earth shook. The sea roared. And then… There is a small house solitary standing by the seaside. A young girl has been living there alone since that fateful day. Mail is no longer delivered, but even this morning, she’s hanging out the laundry as usual. She’s unaware that all around her, the clothes pegs are quarreling, the pillow argues with the umbrella about the outside world, and the new toothbrush is unsuccessfully trying to charm the grumpy older ones. Do objects exist to be used until they are consumed or broken? Are they afraid of being thrown away once their life cycle is complete? A delicate story of hope in a cruel and gentle world after an unnamed disaster.

Fasl-E-Gul

While mourning the loss of a parent, Mehru occasionally brings fake flowers to her old house. But she is compelled to deal with a tragic past when she is invited inside the house by her brother, Mir.

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.

Heartbeat

Caught up in anxiety, eight-year-old Chul in school tells his teacher that he is going to the bathroom but runs straight home.

Crown

A girl with financial struggles who lives alone in poor neighborhood is threatened to get kicked out of her flat for late payments. Thus, considering to 'sell her body' though fear of getting her dignity stripped off is haunting her.

Firework: Eyes

Stark 70s firework safety film which mixes the everyday and the uncanny.

Lioness

When the temperamental Sylvie (17) is told that she has to give up her child when it’s born, she decides to escape the youth institution where she’s placed. In her eyes it’s the only solution to prevent that her child will have the same institutionalized youth as she endured.

Glue

Procida, a little Island in the gulf of Naples. Last days of summer. The adolescence of Domenico is coming to an end, just like his tormented relationship with Marcello. Domenico looks for hospitality at Antonio's house, his best friend, but soon he finds himself alone with the thirteen-years-old Antonio's brother, Lallo. A journey of discovery starts, between adolescence and maturity. The meeting with Sara, a transsexual woman, will bring to light the desires of the two young boys.

Second Thought

Chris and Art lead parallel lives, starting their day with similar routines in different locations. Both go to Provincetown, a welcoming haven for the LGBTQ+ community, where their paths cross on a dating app. A steamy encounter follows their first meeting, but a dramatic turn occurs when one blocks the other the next day.

Równonoc

Plot unavailable

Arcángel

Archangel is a fifty year old peasant facing accelerating vision loss. Before total darkness overtakes him, he needs to find a nursing home for Patrocinia, an elderly woman from his community that is totally dependant on him.

B-167-980-098

The bodies of two young men are found in a small town in Northern Mexico, along with a AR15 weapon, which as we will follow back in time will see where it came from, the USA.

Where Water Flows

Julia is a single mother who takes care of Camila, her 10 year old daughter who suffers from a borderline disorder. After experiencing a crisis where Camila gets hurt, Julia makes a decision which will change her relationship with her daughter and with herself.

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.

The Name You Carry

When Vlace is suspended for hitting a classmate, Sasha is called to come get his son at school and has no choice but to take him along on his delivery route. During this intimate journey, we discover what provoked Vlace's uncharacteristic act, as father and son find their way toward a new understanding.

The Year of the Radio

Mexico in the 90s. Alex, a 7 year-old boy and his little siblings are left in the care of senile Aunt Lola while their mother works as a host on a radio station. Alex misses his mother and along with his siblings, they listen to his mother’s show every night, building strange imaginary worlds through the stories they hear, the news, the radio soap operas and the religious influence of his great-aunt.

The Glutton

Gulosus (the glutton), is an alluring yet disturbing view of gluttony in contemporary culture. The film is in stop motion, with one photo being taken every 6 seconds, and contains over 130 individual sound effects and foley sounds. The piece draws from the compositions of traditional vanitas paintings and photography. It was also heavily influenced by a genre of youtube called 'Mukbang' (korean for 'eating show'), where people consume mass amounts of unhealthy and idealistic foods for viewers to watch. All of these elements came together to form an opinion on greed and vanity through a relatable but confronting menu. Influencing artists: PES Jan Svankmajer Reynold Reynolds Chen Fei Achievements: BUFTA Bond University awards - nominated best overall film - nominated best director - winner best experimental - winner best sound design Artexpress exhibitions at - Margaret Whitlam gallery - virtual gallery VX - Maitland regional art gallery

Making Luck

Two boxers meet for a fight in a closed gym. With one boxer well prepared for the fight ahead the other tries making his own luck to better his opponent.

Naptha

Faraz’s quiet life working at an isolated petrol station is turned upside down when his ageing father Malik begins to speak in a long-forgotten language and insists on returning back home.

Community Gardens

A grown-up son goes on a countryside trip with his ageing parents in the hopes of reigniting the relationship, but there is nothing left to reignite. This story of familial dysfunction is set against the picturesque backdrop of a dacha community (instantly recognisable to every post-Soviet native), rendered by Vytautas Katkas with irony and a rare sympathy for his hapless subjects.

Lucia in Limbo

Sixteen-year-old Lucia wants to get rid of two things more than anything: her lice & her virginity.