Les deux amis

Louis Garrel : 2015
The Two Friends

Clément, a cynical and joyfully melancholy film extra, is madly in love with Mona, who works at a sandwich stand in the Gare du Nord. But Mona has a secret, which makes her vague and evanescent. When Clément despairs of ever winning her over, Abel, his best and only friend, comes to his rescue. Together, they set out on an adventure of romantic conquest in a nocturnal Paris. But the number three is one too many. Louis Garrel's feature directorial debut premiered in competition in the Séances Spéciales at the Semaine de la Critique at Festival de Cannes 2015.

Grozny Blues

Nicola Bellucci : 2015

Grozny, the capital of war-torn Chechnya, where daily life is defined by political repression, constricting customs, forced Islamification and the failure to come to terms with recent history. The film revolves around four women who have been fighting for human rights under worsening conditions for many years but get more and more disillusioned with the situation in Putin's Russia. The building where they work is also home to a Blues Club that is frequented by a group of young people. Having only vague memories of the Chechen wars in the 1990s, they try to make sense of the strange things that are happening in their country. In linking the personal and intimate to the political, the director shows in a dramatic and yet very poetic way what it means to live in a divided society that navigates a no-man's land between war and peace, repression and freedom, archaic traditions and modern life. Nicola Bellucci's feature-length documentary premiered in competition at Visions du Réel 2015.

La patota

Santiago Mitre : 2015
Paulina

At 28, Paulina gives up a brilliant career as a lawyer in order to dedicate herself to teaching in a depressed region in Argentina. In a rough environment, she sticks to her teaching mission and to her political engagement, accepting the sacrifice of her boyfriend and the trust of her father, a powerful local judge. Upon her arrival, she is violently attacked by a gang of young people, some of whom are her own students. Despite the trauma and the inability to understand the aggression, Paulina will strive to stand by her convictions. Santiago Mitre's second feature was winner of the Grand Prix and the FIPRESCI Prize when it premiered in competition at the Semaine de la Critique at Festival de Cannes 2015.

Marguerite et Julien

Valérie Donzelli : 2015
Marguerite & Julien

Julien and Marguerite de Ravalet are the son and daughter of the Lord of Tourlaville, who have had great affection for one another since they were born, and have never tried to hide it. Separated by their parents in late childhood, Marguerite marries a man almost thirty years her senior. She fails to come to terms with leaving her brother, and their tender love transforms into a burning passion. Their relationship completely outrages society, which then hunts them down. Unable to fight against their feelings for each other, they are forced to flee. Based on true events, a contemporary fairytale about desire, passion, hope, love and death. A timeless story, beyond all morality. Valérie Donzelli's feature premiered in competition at Festival de Cannes 2015.

Les anarchistes

Elie Wajeman : 2015
The Anarchists

Paris 1899. Corporal Jean Albertini, an orphan of humble origins, is chosen to infiltrate a group of anarchists. For him it represents the opportunity to rise up the ranks. However, after being forced to make constant compromises, he becomes increasingly divided. On one hand, he delivers incriminating intelligence reports to Gaspard, his superior but on the other, he also starts to develop ever more deeply rooted feelings for the anarchists. Elie Wajeman's second feature premiered as the opening film, out of competition, at the Semaine de la Critique at Festival de Cannes 2015.

L'année prochaine

Vania Leturcq : 2014
Next year

Clotilde and Aude are eighteen. They have always been best friends, growing up together in the same small provincial village in the South of France. Despite their differences, they have a strong and exclusive friendship. With their contrasts they attract each other, and they seem to be enough for one another. Clotilde never felt comfortable in her village and has always wanted to leave whilst her friend Aude feels good: she has friends, a boyfriend, she has no real desire to leave or even a specific ambition. However, Clotilde, looking for something else, decides to study in Paris the following year, after the baccalaureate. She takes Aude along with her in this departure far from their roots, but in discovering the capital, the two girls have completely different experiences. Refusing to admit that their paths are separating little by little, Clotilde and Aude persuade themselves that their friendship can survive anything. Vania Leturcq's feature debut was awarded the Silver Zenith when it premiered at Montréal World Film Festival 2014.

Mediterranea

Jonas Carpignano : 2015

Ayiva recently left his home in Burkina Faso in search of a way to provide for his sister and his daughter. He takes advantage of his position in an illegal smuggling operation to get himself and his best friend Abas off of the continent. Ayiva adapts to life in Italy, but when tensions with the local community rise, things become increasingly dangerous. Determined to make his new situation work he attempts to weather the storm, but it has its costs and Ayiva must consider what this "better life" is really worth. Jonas Carpignano's feature debut premiered in competition at the Semaine de la Critique at Festival de Cannes 2015.

The High Sun

Dalibor Matanić : 2015
Zvizdan

Three different love stories, set in three consecutive decades, in two neighbouring Balkan villages burdened with a long history of inter-ethnic hatred. What connects the stories is the fact that the love between a Croatian man and a Serbian woman is in a way forbidden, whether it takes place in 1991, 2001 or 2011. The first story is set in 1991, right before the war begins, and there is a high degree of tension, which is bad grounds for any romance, let alone one between two young people from neighbouring villages, but of different nationalities. Ten years later, the war is over, but not forgotten – the protagonists have to face the scars that are still far from healed. In the third story, set in 2011, there are no more threats nor tensions, but the doubts have not been erased. A film about the dangers, and the enduring strength, of forbidden love. Dalibor Matanić's feature was winner of the Jury Prize when it premiered in competition in the Un Certain Regard section at Festival de Cannes 2015.

La tête haute

Emmanuelle Bercot : 2015
Standing Tall

Abandoned by his mother at the age of six, Malony is constantly in and out of juvenile court. An adoptive family grows around this young delinquent: Florence, a children's magistrate nearing retirement, and Yann, a caseworker and himself the survivor of a very difficult childhood. Together they follow the boy's journey and try unfailingly to save him. Then Malony is sent to a stricter educational centre, where he meets Tess, a very special young girl who will show him that there are reasons for hope. Emmanuelle Bercot's feature premiered out of competition at Festival de Cannes 2015.

L'affaire SK1

Frédéric Tellier : 2014
SK1

Paris, 1991. The true story of Franck Magne, a young inspector starting out in the Criminal Investigation Department at 36 quai des Orfèvres, in the Crime Squad. His first case deals with the murder of a young woman. His investigation leads him to study similar cases that he's the only one to link together. He's quickly confronted by the reality of police investigation work: the lack of equipment and the bureaucracy. For eight years, obsessed by this investigation, he'll hunt the serial killer that no one else believes exists. As a decade goes by, the victims multiply and leads become muddled. The gap between the brutal murders grows shorter. In hunting down the monster that begins to emerge, so as to stop him for good, the inspector from the Crime Squad becomes the architect of the most complex and vast investigation ever undertaken by the French Criminal Investigation Department. Frédéric Tellier's feature debut premiered at Festival du Film Francophone d'Angoulême 2014.

Saul fia

László Nemes : 2015
Son of Saul

Two days in the life of Saul Ausländer, a Hungarian prisoner working as a member of the Sonderkommando, assigned to one of the Auschwitz crematoriums. After he comes across the body of a boy he believes to be his son, he attempts to do the impossible: snatch the body and find a rabbi to conduct a proper burial. Whilst the Sonderkommando could be disposed of at any moment, Saul turns his back on the surviving members and their plans for rebellion in order to save the remains of his boy, whom he failed to take care of whilst he was alive. László Nemes's feature debut was winner of the Grand Prix, as well as the FIPRESCI Prize when it premiered in competition at Festival de Cannes 2015.

Trois souvenirs de ma jeunesse

Arnaud Desplechin : 2015
My Golden Days

Paul Dédalus is about to leave Tadzhikistan. He remembers... His childhood in Roubaix... His mother's insane outbursts... The bond between himself and his younger brother, Ivan, a pious and violent child... He remembers... When he was sixteen... His father, an inconsolable widower... This journey to the USSR on a clandestine mission, which led him to offer his own identity to a young Russian man... He remembers when he was nineteen, his sister Delphine, his cousin Bob, the wild nights with Pénélope, Mehdi, and Kovalki, the friend who had to betray him... His studies in Paris, his encounter with Dr Béhanzin, his blossoming vocation for anthropology... And above all, Paul remembers Esther. She was the love of his life, she was "a fanatical sweetheart". Arnaud Desplechin's feature was winner of the SACD Prize when it premiered at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs at Festival de Cannes 2015.

How to Disappear Completely

Przemysław Wojcieszek : 2014
Jak całkowicie zniknąć

Gerda meets Little Robber Girl in the Berlin subway. There's only ten, twelve hours until they'll part ways. The attraction between them blossoms into a love affair. But still there's a sea of the city to float by night. The camera follows the girls around all night long, placing particular emphasis on the city and its nightlife. It's about colours, flickering lights, rush, the sounds and smell of a summer night. There's poetry and music coming from the streets and we read the verses aloud keeping ourselves in a constant motion. Everything passes and dies every minute, as life is a never-ending sequence of things we hold on to for a moment and they go forever. As dawn breaks, the girls' infatuation seems to fade away, like a fleeting dream. Przemysław Wojcieszek's psychological drama premiered in competition at New Horizons International Film Festival, Wrocław 2014.

L'ombre des femmes

Philippe Garrel : 2015
In the Shadow of Women

Pierre and Manon are poor. They make low-budget documentaries and live off odd jobs. When Pierre meets a young trainee, Elisabeth, she becomes his mistress. But Pierre doesn't want to leave Manon for Elisabeth – he wants to keep both. Elisabeth discovers that Manon has a lover, and tells Pierre. Pierre returns to Manon, the woman he truly loves. Feeling betrayed, he begs her, neglecting Elisabeth. A story on the theme of romantic passion, the birth and death of relationships and the strange paths of desire. A film of love, about love, about betrayals, the small and the great of them; about the cruelty of men, the intelligence of women, and the everyday heroism of lovers. Philippe Garrel's feature premiered at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs at Festival de Cannes 2015.

Dawn

Romed Wyder : 2015

A psychological drama behind closed doors, in which four comrades-in-arms pressure the young Elisha to overcome his moral qualms and fully commit to the armed struggle. The story is set in Palestine in 1947, during the British mandate period. The Zionists are fighting for the establishment of a Jewish state. A member of the armed Jewish underground has been sentenced to death by the British authorities. In return, the resistance has kidnapped a British officer, trying to redeem their friend. The insurgents spend the night together, waiting for the outcome of the negotiation. If the British hang their friend at dawn, one of them will shoot the British officer held as a hostage. Confined in a small space, the five protagonists start to reveal, against their will, the deceptively small grey areas that fill their existence. Based on the novel by Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel. Romed Wyder's feature had its international premiere at Palm Beach International Film Festival 2015.

À 14 ans

Hélène Zimmer : 2015
Being 14

The new school year has begun. Sarah, Jade and Louise are back together for their final year in high school. Between euphoria, rivalties, rebellion and seductions, they deal with the torments of adolesence in order to find their place. A true-to-life drama capturing all the secrets, trials, and anguish of adolescence, as experienced by three best friends. Sarah is an unapologetic provocateur who traipses her way through school and life with abandon and encourages her friends to do the same. Louise finds her own footing after rebelling against her mother and leaving home. And Jade is dejected and lost after a falling out with Sarah and Louise in the winter term. Even as they move forward in their own ways, their relationship remains a constant in their lives, through the parties, boys, and their strained home life. Hélène Zimmer's directorial debut premiered at Angers European First Film Festival 2015, and was winner of the Nora Ephron Prize, Special Jury Award at its international premiere at Tribeca Film Festival 2015.

Amara

Claudia Mollese : 2015

A trip on the trail of a legendary figure of the South of Italy, the discovery of an invisible city suspended between devotion and transgression. Mara is a transsexual whose life created a scandal in the city of Lecce, from the 50s until the day of her will. Her portrait is drawn through the words of those who crossed their lives with hers. Lola's husky voice, the cultured and sensual voice of the Princess, Anna's excited voice and Vanda's lucid voice, they all intertwine fragments of their lives with memories of Mara. A new town suspended between memory and desire, public and private, takes shape against a background of religious parades, foreigners awaiting eviction from their homes and intricate alleys. Claudia Mollese's documentary premiered at Festival del Cinema Europeo Lecce 2015, and screened at Torino Gay & Lesbian Film Festival 2015.

Anemistiras

Dimitris Bitos : 2015
Fan

In the outskirts of Athens, Alkis and Machi struggle to get by with their 11-year-old daughter, Lemonia. Lemonia is a very bright but weird kid. She often witnesses her parents fighting. Machi and Alkis are clearly unhappy with each other and have many unresolved issues. During one of their very violent fights, Lemonia appears holding a grenade in her hands. From that moment on, Lemonia starts directing their relationship under the threat of the grenade, forcing her parents to take a hard look at themselves, dictating what they should say and do. She directs them as if she was a theatre director and they were her actors. Both of them soon realise that this is a really hard game. Soon, they all end up in the family car, on the way to the place where they used to spend their summer holidays together. It is raining, the sea is rough and this family embarks on their strangest vacation yet. Dimitris Bitos's feature debut, a psychological thriller, was presented in a special screening at Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2014, and had its international premiere in competition at Festival del Cinema Europeo Lecce 2015.

Io voglio le ali bianche

Chiara Zilli : 2014
I Wish White Wings

Suddenly Chiara decided to leave the city where she lived and worked as a journalist and go back to Lecce. In Milan she was neither sad nor happy, she just had the feeling that she was living a life she had never chosen. When she was young, Chiara could dance even before learning to speak, and ever since she began to write, she used writing as a means to draw her fantasies about the world. She met Alessandra for the first time on the streets of Lecce, next to a church. Her singing echoing through the alleys brought Chiara to her. Her voice reached Chiara like the sound of someone's crying, as that crying had begun in the gut and then raised upwards. However it sounded like tears of happiness, the kind of happiness that belongs to those who know themselves and can express their inner selves. In what the director describes as "relationship cinema", the story oscillates between a faded VHS, renewing connections between the remote past and the present, and a Steadicam that quivers, with uncertainty, in front of new impulses; also a melancholy and bright Super-8 that lets itself be impregnated with the same matter of dreams. Chiara Zilli's documentary premiered at Salina Doc Fest 2014, and screened at Festival del Cinema Europeo Lecce 2015.

Red Knot

Scott Cohen : 2014

Peter and Chloe, a young married couple, jump at the chance to satisfy their wanderlust by taking a belated honeymoon aboard a research vessel bound for Antarctica. Once on board, Peter, a writer, occupies his time documenting the work of whale biologist Roger Payne, leaving little time for Chloe. Feeling increasingly neglected by her husband, Chloe begins to drift closer to the enigmatic Captain Emerson. As Peter dives deeper into his work and Chloe's sense of abandonment increases, an act of betrayal ultimately divides the young lovers, driving Chloe to separate herself from Peter, both physically and emotionally. Isolated on the ship and separated from humanity by the vast, rugged expanse of Antarctica, Peter and Chloe must plumb the depths of their love to discover what each so desperately needs to move forward. A fascinating examination of proximity, seclusion, and the ambivalence of love, the film explores the dual themes of isolation and intimacy via the fragile relationship of a pair of newlyweds. Scott Cohen's directorial debut was winner of the Grand Jury Prize and the FIPRESCI Award when it premiered at Seattle International Film Festival 2014. His film had its European premiere at Titanic International Film Festival Budapest 2015.

Deniz seviyesi

Esra Saydam & Nisan Dağ : 2014
Things I Cannot Tell

Damla, a Turkish immigrant estranged from her homeland, lives in New York City with her husband Kevin, expecting their first child. But she continues to be haunted by a secret that has prevented her from enjoying her seemingly perfect life in America. Overwhelmed to discover that her cousin is selling their childhood home, Damla returns to her homeland, where she is reintroduced to her family and her first love, Burak. Once there, she will have to confront everything she fled from eight years before. Abandoned all those years ago, the former boyfriend is aloof today, but Damla feels she still cares for him. Regardless, Damla has to find a way to confront him with a secret that she kept for years before she can move on. A highly personal, character-driven drama about a woman who is stuck between her past and present and can't let go of her first love halfway across the world. Esra Saydam and Nisan Dağ's feature debut premiered at İstanbul Film Festival 2014, and screened in competition at Titanic International Film Festival Budapest 2015.

Stále spolu

Eva Tomanová : 2014
Always Together

Peace and tranquillity reign on the slopes of the Šumava. But it is always noisy and busy around the Mlčoch family's house. Petr comes from urban Pilsen, Czech Republic where he lived in a concrete tower block. Later, Petr studied Cybernetics at the Charles University in Prague. His wife Simona grew up in a rich neighbourhood in Prague and was studying Czech and History at the same university when she met Petr. Today, they have been together for 25 years, have nine children, no running water, no standard bathroom or toilet. Together, they all live in a caravan in the meadow, reducing their notion of an alternative lifestyle ad absurdum. The rules of the clan are set by Petr who decided that he and his family would give up modern civilisation to live freely and in harmony with nature. What's life like with a man who has used his own family for his lifestyle experiments? What is the cost of this freedom? What does his family gain from its nonconformity? Eva Tomanová's first feature-length documentary premiered at International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2014, and screened in competition at Crossing Europe Filmfestival Linz 2015.

Cartas a María

Maite García Ribot : 2015
Letters to María

As a result of her father's Alzheimer's disease, Maite decides to recover the unknown and silenced story of her grandfather Pedro. In 1939, the Republican Pedro had to go into exile in France, leaving behind his wife María and their two sons. In order to survive the harsh living conditions in the refugee camps in the South of France he had to work for the French government and even for the Nazi army. Pedro died in an allied bombing in Bordeaux. Through forty-six letters that Pedro wrote to María from exile, Maite will discover and imagine this unique and epic family story. Maite García Ribot's documentary screened in competition at Crossing Europe Filmfestival Linz 2015.

Eva

Melanie Jilg : 2015

A young woman travels through the German countryside, accompanied by her dog Piz and her ox Lothar. She is putting one foot in front of the other, while foxes scream and trains pass by. She carries vastness on her muscular, sunburnt shoulders. When the old moon flashes by slowly, sleep brings fears with snow-white milk and dark walls. But Eva's trust in life banishes these nightmares. Rain blurs the border between beginning and ending and time grows in knotted circles around the origin. Melanie Jilg's experimental documentary premiered in the Regard Neuf section at Visions du Réel 2015.

Misafir

Mehmet Eryılmaz : 2015
The Visitor

Ten years after being thrown out of her parental home, Nur hears that her mother is at death's door. Taking her young daughter with her, Nur hurries back to her father's world to see, and reconcile with her mother before it is too late. While the universal theme of mother-daughter relationships lies at the centre of the film, this is underpinned by an allusive subtext of incest, one of most common but least addressed social problems in Turkey. The individual stories of the family members combine with a sense of hope fuelled by tragedy to paint a portrait of the socially disconnected. Mehmet Eryılmaz's second feature was selected to premiere in competition at İstanbul Film Festival 2015. The film was withdrawn by the filmmakers as part of a boycott following the censorship of the festival's national programme by Turkey's Ministry of Culture.