Papicha

Mounia Meddour : 2019

Algiers, 1997. The country is in the hands of terrorist groups, seeking to establish an Islamic and archaic state. Women are particularly affected and oppressed by primitive dicta, that seek to take control of their bodies and control their passage through the public space. Nedjma, an 18-year-old student passionate about fashion design refuses to let the tragic events of the Algerian Civil War to keep her from experiencing a normal life and going out at night with her friend Wassila. As the social climate becomes more conservative, she rejects the new bans set by the radicals and decides to fight for her freedom and independence by putting on a fashion show. Mounia Meddour's feature debut premiered in competition in the Un Certain Regard section at Festival de Cannes 2019.

La maison

Mali Arun : 2019
The House

The house is an old building, whose past splendour is recognisable despite the apparent lack of upkeep. This enormous house, in the middle of the forest, was a health cure site that Casanova and Voltaire apparently visited in their time. The spring was blocked and Nestlé, which was using it, closed the house. Today, an ageing man lives there, on the margins of society. But this is not only the residence of one man: there is a whole little community that occupies it, following the rhythm of the seasons, devising perpetual renovation projects or improvising a piano recital in a workshop. The film observes the philosophy that unfolds in this outstanding place. A free and timeless philosophy that seems to have found its home, a living philosophy that has built itself up without an established order, a vibrant philosophy that the filmmaker captures with her unique approach and her presence that delicately slides through these premises. Mali Arun's documentary was winner of the Compétition Internationale Burning Lights when it premiered at Visions du Réel 2019.

A Dog Called Money

Seamus Murphy : 2019

A child curiously presses its face against the window of a car in which British musician PJ Harvey and photojournalist and filmmaker Seamus Murphy are sitting. They are in Kabul, Afghanistan, one of three destinations to which they are travelling; the others are Kosovo and Washington, D.C. Harvey is searching for inspiration; collecting impressions and words, observing, listening and absorbing. Her thoughts can be heard in voice-over. Hers is the chronicle of a stranger whose attentive gaze is directed towards the reality of everyday life in the places she visits. Inspiration turns into poetry, which gives rise to songs for her album 'The Hope Six Demolition Project'. Back in London, Harvey records these songs with her band in a purpose-built studio which serves as a kind of peepshow, its one-way window allowing interested audiences to observe the process. Seamus Murphy's documentary premiered in the Panorama section at Berlin International Film Festival 2019.

L'époque

Matthieu Bareyre : 2018
Young and Alive

In the months following the terrorist attacks in Paris, the youth has taken the night. Led by new faces and unheard groups, with their values and ideals, they open a new dialogue, challenge the state and get ready for a new kind of revolution. From Charlie Hebdo's attacks to the presidential elections, a journey into the night with young people who don't sleep. Their dreams, nightmares, drunkenness, softness, boredom and tears. The parties, coffee terraces, jobs, the amnesia, their future. A unique insider's perspective to the French youth between 2015 and 2017, when atrocities were hitting the headlines and dark feelings of powerlessness and anxiety were abundant. Matthieu Bareyre's documentary was winner of the Europa Cinemas Label, Junior Jury Award and Special Jury Prize when it premiered in the Concorso Cineasti del presente section at Locarno Film Festival 2018.

The Souvenir

Joanna Hogg : 2019

England; the early 1980s. Young film student Julie wants to use her camera to better understand the world. This shy woman is well aware of her privileged social position and, as she explains, sees her Super 8 camera as a way to break out of her own little bubble. She thinks she is mediocre, but the photos and moving images that flow into the film bear witness to her special gaze. In an unassuming, almost documentary approach, we are introduced to Julie's student milieu, into which Anthony unexpectedly enters. He is older and more distinguished. He harbours a secret that Julie only uncovers later, but that then dramatically changes everything. Joanna Hogg's semi-autobiographical feature premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2019, and had its European premiere in the Panorama section at Berlin International Film Festival 2019.

Hellhole

Bas Devos : 2019

Brussels – the portrait of a wounded city in enigmatic images. The spirits of politics haunt the centre of an increasingly fragile European Union. Amidst war and peace, refugee camps and parliamentary debates, a group of lost souls drifts through the sharpness and fuzziness of life. One of them is a young Arab, Medhi; he feels the burden of the times keenly, and then his brother asks a momentous favour of him. Another is the Flemish doctor Wannes, whose son is on the way to a tour of duty in the Middle East. And then there is the Italian translator Alba, whose life threatens to slip away from her, slowly but surely. These three people are all connected by the movements of a camera which increasingly becomes the protagonist itself as the film progresses. Its searching movements feel along the city's cracks and ruptures, its buildings and its inhabitants. Bas Devos's second feature premiered in the Panorama section at Berlin International Film Festival 2019.

Pardon

Jan Jakub Kolski : 2018
Ułaskawienie

In post-war Poland, the story of mourning parents setting off on their last journey with their son, as seen from the point of view of their grandson Jan. The son of Hanna and Jacob, a Home Army soldier Wacław "Odrowąż" Szewczyk, is shot by the secret police in the autumn of 1946. After suffering a series of humiliations by the new authorities, who repeatedly desecrate the grave of the deceased, Hanna and Jacob decide to provide their son with a proper burial in the Pacławska Calvary, 500 km away. Their venture through Poland – a country still haunted by the post-war nightmare – becomes a metaphorical journey into the depths of the human soul and an attempt to reorder the world in which neighbours turn against each other, and where one's current enemy may become an unexpected ally. Jan Jakub Kolski's feature premiered at Montréal World Film Festival 2018, and was winner of three Golden Lions at Gdynia Film Festival 2018.

Garden

Peter Schreiner : 2019
Garten

It seems to be an intermediate world of peace and quiet, the garden and country house where four people look back on testing lives. And forward, to the time they have left. On the one hand, there is regret – on the other, satisfaction. In a way, they are looking forward to the future – but at the same time, a longing for death regularly arises. And who is actually behind the camera? Are we watching actors or real people? Is there really any difference? Garden is full of contradictions – it is not until the credits roll that we realise who these people from very different backgrounds are. Peter Schreiner's experimental feature premiered in the Signatures section at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2019.