Kejal

Nima Salehyiar : 2018

Kejal, a young Kurdish woman studying at Tehran returns home when her brother is killed in the mountains, leaving behind debts for lost goods. Forced by circumstance, Kejal becomes a kulbar – a woman in a men's world, a world where a woman aspiring towards independence has to be particularly strong. Risking their life, kulbars climb on narrow mountain paths every day, carrying 40kg of goods on their back. Every mistaken step may chance upon a landmine. The Iranian authorities regard them as smugglers and they are hunted like wild animals. The extremely poor Kurds regard it as a traditional profession which keeps families fed and alive. They do not regard it as crossing the Iran-Iraq border – for them, it is all Kurdistan. Nima Salehyiar's feature debut premiered in the First Feature Competition at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2018.

Les routes en février

Katherine Jerkovic : 2018
Roads in February

Sarah goes to visit her paternal grandmother Magda in Uruguay. When she was little her family migrated to Canada and now Sarah is back after her father's death. However, those places and people in the small Uruguayan village are now foreign to her. Even talking to her grandmother is strained. Magda who never saw her son again after he left, isn't exactly thrilled to see Sarah. She reminds her of everything she would rather forget. Sarah at the same time wanders around in the unrelenting heat, searching for some sort of connection with the place she once called home. Inspired by the writer-director's own personal story, the film speaks through silences and pauses. What do we lose by leaving? Can you ever go back home again? Katherine Jerkovic's feature debut was winner of the Best Canadian First Feature Film award when it premiered at Toronto International Film Festival 2018, and had its international premiere at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2018.

Journey to a Mother's Room

Celia Rico Clavellino : 2018
Viaje al cuarto de una madre

Leonor is keen to leave home. She's just broken up with her partner and isn't happy in the job her mother Estrella has secured for her in a tailor's workshop. She wants to escape the small-town mentality of southern Spain and experience the big-city life in London. But leaving her mother when they are both still reeling from the recent death of a loving husband and caring father is not easy. Whatever decision Leonor makes will have important consequences. A detailed examination of the minutiae of the myriad nuances inherent in family life. The film delicately handles the challenges of generational difference in a close emotional relationship, where so much remains unspoken and nothing can be taken for granted. Celia Rico Clavellino's feature debut premiered in the New Directors section at San Sebastián International Film Festival 2018 where it won the Youth Jury Award, and had its UK premiere at London Film Festival 2018.

The Purity of Vengeance

Christoffer Boe : 2018
Journal 64

Two workmen make an alarming discovery in an older Copenhagen apartment: hidden behind a false wall are three mummified corpses, sitting around a dining table with one empty seat left. The case quickly ends up on the desk of Detective Superintendent Carl Mørck and his assistant Assad from Department Q, and it is up to them to figure out, who the mummies are as well as who the fourth seat is meant for. Carl and Assad put all effort into tracking the tenant of the apartment and they end up finding clues tracing back to the notorious institution for 'wayward' girls on the island of Sprogø, where extreme neglect and medical experiments in forced sterilisation were a part of everyday life. Even though the horrors of Sprogø are a closed chapter in Danish history, there are now people claiming the experiments have continued to go on up until today. Carl and Assad start a race against time to prevent new murders and attacks from happening. The fourth and final instalment in the Department Q series based on Jussi Adler-Olsen's best-selling novels. Christoffer Boe's feature premiered at CPH PIX 2018.

A Conspiracy of Faith

Hans Petter Moland : 2016
Flaskepost fra P

Siblings Samuel and Magdalena who grew up in a religious community in Denmark suddenly disappear. Meanwhile, at Police Headquarters in Copenhagen, an eight year old message in a bottle turns up containing a cry for help from a boy in captivity. Carl Mørck and his assistant Assad from the department for cold cases, Department Q, discover a connection between the two cases. Finally, as they manage to dig deep into the religious community, they get on the track of a man who has left a long trail of kidnappings and murders in his wake. The film is the third instalment in the Department Q series based on Jussi Adler-Olsen's best-selling novels. Hans Petter Moland's feature had its UK premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival 2016.