Arracht

Tom Sullivan : 2019
Monster

Connemara, Ireland, 1845 on the eve of the Great Hunger. Colmán Sharkey, a fisherman, a father, a husband, takes in a stranger at the behest of a local priest. Patsy, a former soldier in the Napoleonic wars arrives just ahead of 'the blight', a disease that eventually wipes out the country's potato crop, contributing to the death and displacement of millions. As the crops rot in the fields, Colmán, his brother and Patsy travel to the English landlord's house to request a stay on rent increases that Colmán predicts will destroy his community. His request falls on deaf ears and Patsy's subsequent actions set Colmán on a path that will take him to the edge of survival, and sanity. Not only must he struggle with hunger and despair, but also with gnawing guilt because of all the people he couldn't save. It is only upon encountering an abandoned young girl that Colmán's resolve is lifted. Just in time for the darkness of his past to pay another visit. Tom Sullivan's feature debut premiered in competition at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2019.

Les Perseides

Alberto Dexeus & Ànnia Gabarró : 2019
The Perseids

Legend has it that the town and the thermal power plant of Escatrón were built over the Spanish Civil War battlefield, leaving behind the dead bodies and burials of its victims. The ghosts and spirits still wander through its streets and buildings, semi-abandoned nowadays. Following her parents' divorce, Mar arrives in Escatrón to spend the strangest summer of her life. The relationship between Mar and her father has not been easy, so she takes refuge in these mysterious legends that float around the town and through a group of young people that seem to function according to some rules which are unknown to her. Mar will discover this to be a more fascinating place than it seemed at first, helping her to get closer to her father to try to make peace with him. Blurring the line between reality and fiction, the tale carefully captures familial and historical troubles, confusing the ghosts of the past and those of the present. Alberto Dexeus and Ànnia Gabarró's feature debut premiered in competition at Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema 2019, and screened in competition at Gijón International Film Festival 2019.

Antigone

Sophie Deraspe : 2019

Following the murder of their parents, Antigone, her sister Ismène, her brothers Étéocle and Polynice, and their grandmother Ménécée find refuge in Montréal. They live a quiet modest life in a tiny apartment in a working-class neighbourhood. A straight-A student seemingly destined for greatness, Antigone is the glue that holds the family together. Tragedy strikes when Étéocle is wrongfully gunned down by police during the arrest of Polynice, a small-time drug dealer. Motivated by her sense of duty towards her family and fuelled by the memory she cherishes of her dead parents, Antigone decides to jeopardise her own future to preserve that of her family. Feeling the grip of power tightening around her, the teenage girl rejects the law of man and follows her own sense of justice, dictated by love and loyalty. Acutely exploring familial sacrifice, the burden of responsibility, and the nature of justice, this provocative and timely adaptation of the classic Greek tragedy by Sophocles reimagines the story of a woman's quest for justice as a commentary on the immigrant experience in ostensibly welcoming contemporary Canada. Sophie Deraspe's film was winner of the award for Best Canadian Feature Film when it premiered at Toronto International Film Festival 2019.

Dead Volume

Kauê Telloli : 2019
Volume Morto

Without permission and support from the school, a young teacher seeks to understand the strange behaviour of Gustavo – a silent boy who is only 7 years old, nicknamed by the other children "Dead Volume". However, the boy's parents claim that Gustavo's behaviour at home is completely different from the one described by the teacher. The parents decide to conduct an investigation of their own, putting the teacher's job at risk. The young teacher tries to calm down the parents and prevent a scandal from spreading in school. Nevertheless she ends up increasing the distrust of the parents, turning her into the main suspect, and making the puzzle even more unsolvable. Kauê Telloli's feature premiered in competition at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2019.

On the Quiet

Zoltán Nagy : 2019
Szép csendben

A coming-of-age story set in the contemporary Hungarian countryside. Dávid is the first violinist, the soloist of a youth orchestra. Nóra is a cellist who has just joined the orchestra, several years younger than Dávid. The boy finds out that the orchestra's 60-year-old conductor and music teacher is sexually harassing the insecure newcomer. Dávid wants to protect the girl, but it's not at all easy, because the conductor is his mentor, almost a stepfather. And there is no direct evidence of harassment. Indeed, such things generally happen quietly. Even if any bystanders notice anything, they prefer not to talk about it. While looking for the truth, Dávid's life soon starts to spiral out of control as he faces tough decisions and the adult society's negligence. Zoltán Nagy's feature debut had its international premiere in competition at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2019.

Homecoming

Adriyanto Dewo : 2019
Mudik

Going back to their hometown for the holidays is a ritual that most urban Asians will undertake at least once a year. It is a journey to reunite with their family and their roots and to recharge themselves. Trying to find solutions for conflicts in her marriage, Aida goes on a road trip with her husband for homecoming. During the trip, they are involved in a fatal road accident in which a man – someone's husband – is killed, and they make a detour to his village to pay their respects to his widow. This accident will jolt them together but also painfully drive them further apart. The unexpected journey forces Aida to face a different future and find answers to the questions in her life. It leads to a metamorphosis through which she will become a better version of herself. Adriyanto Dewo's feature premiered in competition at Macao International Film Festival 2019.

Arima

Jaione Camborda : 2019

Arima is something you glimpse through the mist, something you can sense but still fail to see clearly. A dream, a memory, a desire. In a village of greenery and grey stone, Arima is the story of four women and a girl whose existence is disrupted by the sudden arrival of two strangers. One of them is fleeing from the other, sneaking around town like an elusive being, a ghostly presence of uncertain existence. The other character – an injured man carrying a gun – will disrupt the women's way of life in different ways. The whole plot takes place on the fine line between reality and imagination, between dreams and nightmares, fear and desire, discovering a tangle of echoes from the past, mysteries and mirror games. Jaione Camborda's feature debut premiered in competition at Mostra Internacional de Cinema 2019, and received the Award to the Direction at its Spanish premiere in competition in the New Waves section at Sevilla European Film Festival 2019.

The Gift

Giuliano Fratini : 2019
Il Dono

It is 1983. Andrei Tarkovsky's permit to work abroad has expired and he is legally required to return home. He is in Italy, shooting the film Nostalgia. He understands from the messages of some friends and colleagues that the Soviet Union is not awaiting him with open arms. His life there will be even tougher than before. So he decides to break with Soviet authorities and, a year before the Milan Conference during which he will publicly announce his decision, he leaves his friends who are hosting him in Rome and goes into hiding. The documentary traces the reasons why Tarkovsky decided to give up the life he had led until then and hide in an unknown location. Even there, he cannot feel safe. The Soviets with their apparatus do not let their citizens go that easily. The documentary features archival recordings and interviews with witnesses to those events, including Krzysztof Zanussi and Giuseppe Lanci. Giuliano Fratini's first full-length documentary premiered at Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema 2019, and had its European premiere in competition at Warsaw International Film Festival 2019.

Alice Júnior

Gil Baroni : 2019

Alice is a teenage transgender girl who is full of life and wants to give her first kiss, but first, she just wants to be who she really is. Alice is loved by her family, especially by her father, Jean, who is willing to do anything for his daughter. Jean, a perfumist, is transferred by his company to Araucárias do Sul, the place of the rare Imperial Flower. Alice reluctantly moves with her father. She leaves her crush and her friends in Recife, and now she needs to make new friends with the inhabitants of the small town. To make things worse, she has to study at the only school in town: the ancient and conservative Salesian college. Determined not to be discouraged, Alice is the personification of resistance, and little by little she is going to captivate her classmates and the people of Araucárias do Sul. With her charisma and her fertile imagination, everybody will fall in love with her. Gil Baroni's feature premiered at Mostra Internacional de Cinema 2019.

Obscure

Kunlin Wang : 2019

A lonely farmstead where an authoritarian father and his two teenage children live in seclusion. A coming-of-age journey of a teenage boy who sexually awakens after discovering the sexual relationship between his father and sister. The boy is trapped in his father's nightmare and tries to repeal the psychological repression by competing for his sister's sexual attention. The sibling love and pure childish joy of being together, which once served to counterbalance familial strangeness, is now disturbed and gradually develops into a sexual attraction and desire. With the ambiguous representation and non-binary nature of the two teenagers' gender and the surreal but naturalistic atmosphere, the film depicts physical desire and connection which changes something in a family dramatically and irreversibly. Kunlin Wang's feature debut premiered in competition at Taipei Film Festival 2019, and had its international premiere in competition at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2019.

Marionette

Álvaro Curiel de Icaza : 2019
Marioneta

Ernesto is a Cuban actor desperately looking for an opportunity in Mexico City. In a fortuitous way he crosses paths with Belén, a street artist who is unaware of her real talent. The underground subway world is the place where fate has prepared an unexpected encounter for them, which will turn their lives upside down. She introduces him to David Torrico, a man without scruples who doesn't hesitate when it comes to manipulating the lives of people. The film takes us to the hidden world of Mexico City, where the beggars are dominated by a dark capo. While playing and flirting with the meaning of being an actor and being able to escape the daily routine, it introduces us to a curious catalogue of quirky characters which surround the complex relationship that Ernesto and Belén try to build. Álvaro Curiel de Icaza's feature premiered at FotoFilm Tijuana 2019, and had its international premiere in competition at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2019.