Berlin Syndrome

Cate Shortland : 2017

Australian backpacker Clare is wandering through Berlin's Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg with her stills camera. She's particularly fascinated by the old GDR buildings. She meets a friendly English teacher named Andi and they hit it off immediately. He shows her the allotments and the neighbourhood, and they end up in bed together. Something that begins as a romance takes an unexpectedly sinister turn when, in the morning – Andi has left for school – Clare tries to leave the otherwise empty old building and realises that she is locked in. At first she thinks this is a mistake, but she soon realises that she is a prisoner. Cut off from the rest of the world, Clare experiences terrifying weeks during which she vacillates between yielding to Andi's obsessions and trying to escape. Cate Shortland's feature premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2017.

The Road to Mandalay

Midi Z : 2016

The people-traffickers have a well-established route: from Burma into Thailand across the Mekong River at Tachileik; along quiet country roads; passing bribed police checkpoints and then into Bangkok, where the illegal migrants are on their own. Lianqing is one of five illegals who travel this route one summer night in 2013; along the way a fellow migrant called Guo is kind to her, and their fates later become entwined. By the standards of illegals, Lianqing does well: she finds 'underground' jobs, saves money and finds out how and where to buy faked identity papers. But Guo does less well. They are two people with contradictory personalities, however they seem to be bound by fate. Midi Z's feature was winner of the Fedeora Award for Best Film when it premiered in competition at Venice Days 2016.

Seed

Naomi Kawase : 2016

The girl was born amid rays of the divine light. Reaching out for a white seed, she begins to walk in the direction of the light shining on the earth. Emotions are transferred from objects to people and from people to the girl. The girl is more like a fairy, a mysterious creature. A boy offers her the gift of an apple, which she in turn gives to a homeless man, who proffers a soft piece of chiffon fabric in return. Moving like a tree that sways in the wind, the girl expresses a spirit that secretly runs through places and living things. Seed is the story of the journey this girl takes from the enchanted nature of Nara to the chaos of Tokyo, and the encounters she has along the way. Seed is also a sentimental portrait of Asian femininity, which Kawase depicts as "primitive, primal and erotic at the same time." The eleventh commission from designer Miu Miu as part of "Women's Tales", a series of short films by women who critically celebrate femininity in the 21st century. Naomi Kawase's film screened at Venice Days 2016.