Alive

Park Jung-bum : 2014
Sanda

Jung-cheol, a building labourer in the mountainous province of Gangwon, takes care of his niece and his mentally unstable sister. You earn as much as you work, and you live off that money. This simple proposition has always been a problem for Jung-cheol. At the soybean curd factory he went to work for in the bitter winter, he dreams of travelling to warm Philippines in spring; as long as he survives the winter making his portion of the soybean paste that he promised the boss. But the more he struggles to live, the worse it gets. And soon, the fermentation room turns musty with the black mold spreading from the thousands of fermented soybean lumps. From here on, it's a downward spiral. A provocative film which examines the fate of those at the bottom of South Korea's social ladder. Park Jung-bum's second feature premiered at Jeonju International Film Festival 2014, and screened in the Bright Future section at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2015.

The Second of August

Jonathan van Essche : 2015

Two girls and a boy make a road trip to the woods, where they set up camp and spend the night. A speechless paean to slowness, quiet and intimacy. It remains unclear whether the film is improvised or not. The story reads like a page from a diary, about an empty day, that could have taken place any time. Jonathan van Essche's short premiered in the Signals: 24/7 section at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2015.

Angelus Novus

Aboozar Amini : 2015

Ali and his younger brother, together with their parents, are life-long immigrants from Afghanistan. They have just arrived in Turkey as refugees. Every day they go to school and work the rest of the day as shoe shiners on the street. Both have one dream in common: work hard to save money and go after their uncle Kakay who has not been traced since he left Turkey with the trafficker for the West. A great deal of their earnings goes towards the rent. One day they find that another kid has occupied their working spot for shoe shining. A fight breaks out and they kick the other boy badly. Since the fight, the peace and innocence of their lives as children disappears. More sadly, Ali's childhood is gone for good when he sees that the boy they kicked is a Syrian refugee and has the same destiny as them. The film's title is inspired by the notes of Walter Benjamin on the Paul Klee painting Angelus Novus – the Angel carries history but still dreams of flying forward. Neither history nor the future can take the heavy weight of daily life from the Angel's shoulders. Aboozar Amini's short premiered in the As Long As It Takes section at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2015.

Another Trip to the Moon

Ismail Basbeth : 2015
Menuju rembulan

Asa is the daughter of a seer. To escape her mother's clutches, she has withdrawn with a girlfriend to hide in a forest, where they live from hunting and fishing. One day, she is collected by a dog sent by her mother. Her life in the forest seems to take place in a remote prehistoric past, but when Asa leaves the woods following the death of her girlfriend, and because her mother is calling her, she is suddenly at a modern petrol station. After her return and the death of her mother, Asa leads a very different life. From the primitive woods, she arrives in a beautiful classical Javanese house. The dog who came to collect her turns out to be a man and they have a child together, like in the ancient fairy tale of Dayang Sumbi. The magical surrealist journey of Asa is a dreamy, absurdist fantasy based on Indonesian legends, in which the exceptional becomes everyday, which, in turn, makes the everyday exceptional. Ismail Basbeth's feature debut premiered in competition at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2015.

Summers Downstairs

Tom Sommerlatte : 2015
Im Sommer wohnt er unten

Matthias is the younger of the two Landberg brothers. While his brother David has followed in their father's footsteps on the path to success, Matthias lives his life far away from ambitions and career options. He shares his family's holiday home on the French Atlantic coast with his girlfriend Camille and her 6-year-old son Étienne from a previous relationship. Together they idle about day after day. When David and his wife Lena arrive with the intention of spending their holiday in the family home. Matthias's carefree days are over in a beat, David's presence changes everything. Not ten minutes after his arrival, David insists on sleeping in the room Matthias and Camille have made their own and demands that Étienne is sent to his father, as he wants peace and quiet. Matthias quietly complies because "what David wants, David gets" has been a rule for him from an early age on. Camille, however, disgusted by David's bossy behaviour, and unwilling to accept his air of entitlement and superiority, secretly concocts a plan to rearrange the pecking order between the two brothers. Tom Sommerlatte's feature debut received the FGYO-Award Dialogue en perspective Special Mention when it premiered in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino section at Berlin International Film Festival 2015.

Nobody Wants the Night

Isabel Coixet : 2015
Nadie quiere la noche

Greenland, 1908. Josephine, self-confident and bold wife of famous Arctic explorer Robert Peary, embarks on a dangerous journey in pursuit of her husband who is seeking a route to the North Pole. But Josephine is also naïve and ignores warnings from experienced polar travellers about the onset of winter. At great sacrifice the expedition reaches Peary's base camp. Josephine refuses to go home and wants to spend winter in the hut. Only the young Inuit woman Allaka, who lives in an igloo and knows about the cold, stays with her. As the long nights draw nearer, Josephine realises she has more in common with this woman from a different world than she thought. Isabel Coixet's feature premiered in competition at Berlin International Film Festival 2015.

Strange Heaven

Dariusz Gajewski : 2015
Obce niebo

Basia and Marek are a young couple from Poland. In a way, they have been running away all their lives. Now they live in a small Swedish town, where they lead immigrants' lives in a rich country. The only person that speaks Swedish is their seven-year-old daughter, Ula. Life is a struggle. When Anita, a Social Office worker visits them at home, she observes Ula's life through the prism of the local culture and feels that, to Swedish standards, the child is neglected and unhappy. The parents don't take her advice seriously, but due to a series of misunderstandings, Ula is taken away from them and placed in temporary foster care with a Swedish couple. Basia and Marek are desperate. They do not understand how the system can just take their child, but have to follow procedures to fight the decision. Will they decide to stick together and not give up on Ula? Will they rebuild their bond and their family? When the legal route to get her back brings no results, the couple decides to kidnap their child. A psychological drama set against a backdrop of socially orientated cinema, drawing inspiration from true events that have befallen people who have immigrated to Scandinavian countries.

Lily Lane

Bence Fliegauf : 2015
Liliom ösvény

When Rebecca receives news of her mother's death, she is driven to try to seek out her long-lost father and return to the place where she spent her childhood. At the same time, she starts to tell her son, Danny, a series of stories to reveal memories of her dark past. As often happens at that age, Danny's view of the world is magical. He is fascinated by death and birth, as well as what is real and what is imagined. Rebecca's symbiotic relationship with her son means that she, too, is forced to confront these questions. But when they both set off down Lily Lane, they have no idea what is in store for them, and they find themselves in a world of mystical urban awakening, full of wonder and secrets.

Boomerang

François Favrat : 2015

Forty-year-old Antoine Rey feels like he's losing it. His growing obsession with his mother's unexplained death, thirty years back, is taking a heavy toll on his life. His wife has left him, he's on the brink of ruining his relationship with his sister Mélanie, the only person truly close to him, his kids are confused and now the entire family seems to be turning against him. But Antoine has reached the point of no return in his quest for the truth. He knows he must face the past and confront his authoritarian father, who forbids everyone from bringing up the story of his wife's death, and who is obviously hiding something about it. But is there really a mystery, or is it just his overactive imagination? Antoine decides to return to the scene of her death and, with the help of free-spirited forensic pathologist Angèle, tries to shed light on the mystery that broke his ten-year-old heart. But some doors, once opened, can never be closed again.

The Sky Above Us

Marinus Groothof : 2015
Nebo iznad nas

Belgrade, 1999. Every day Ana, Sloba and Bojan put their lives at great risk, simply by going to work. Their jobs are in or next to the national television building in Belgrade, which because of the war has become a strategic target for NATO bombings. All three force themselves to deal with the fear, in order to hold on to their ordinary lives. But 'ordinary' has ceased to exist some time ago. The actress Ana, 35, wants to stay loyal to the theatre she loves dearly, but which is located next to the TV building. Although secretly terrified, she keeps compelling herself to go. To escape from reality, the hip youngster Bojan, 23, immerses himself in the club scene with its sex, drugs and house music. Broadcast technician Sloba, 46, has sent his wife and son to safety out of town, but has stayed behind to earn their livelihood. That's his mission and nothing can deter him from it. Every night Belgrade transforms from a vibrant city into a military target. While the bombs fall from the sky above, Ana, Bojan and Sloba struggle with the question: How can I survive, while staying sane in an insane world? Marinus Groothof's feature debut premiered in competition at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2015.

Melody

Bernard Bellefroid : 2014

28-year-old Melody, a confused child born under the name X, decides to rent out her body in order to get the money she needs to realise her dream of opening a hairdressing salon. To do so, she accepts to carry the child of Emily, a rich English woman, 48 years old, who can no longer have children. To make sure everything goes well and keep an eye on her future child, Emily decides to welcome Melody into her home and stay by her side throughout the pregnancy. Although they first appear to come from completely different worlds, the two women end up adopting each other: Melody finds in Emily the mother she never had, and Emily sees in Melody the daughter she always wanted to have. However, the bonds that emerge during this double maternity will create all kinds of doubts and questions. Bernard Bellefroid's second feature was winner of a joint Best Actress award when it premiered at Montréal World Film Festival 2014.

Jenata ot fara

Ana Kitanova : 2014
Lighthouse Woman

Eddie finds out that he has been adopted and starts investigating his mother's mysterious death – she has jumped from the top of the lighthouse. Following the evidence left behind, Eddie begins to suspect that his mother has been murdered. Spending time at the lighthouse helps Eddie to look back on his past, to fit together the parts of the puzzle and to realise the truth. Ana Kitanova's short premiered at Sofia International Film Festival 2014, and screened at International Film Festival Tofifest 2014.

Bloedlink

Joram Lürsen : 2014
Reckless

Two ex-convicts, Victor and Rico, have masterminded a foolproof plan to abduct 25-year-old millionaire's daughter Laura Temming. With the kidnapping they want to make the deal of their lives. When they sweep Laura away in a van in broad daylight and hold her in a flat, negotiations with her father about the ransom soon begin. But gradually the balance of power between Laura and her abductors shifts. Exactly who is the perpetrator and who is the real victim? Joram Lürsen's feature premiered in competition at Nederlands Film Festival 2014.

Triptyque

Robert Lepage & Pedro Pires : 2013
Triptych

A meditation on the influence of language and voices on the destinies of three people. In Québec, Michelle leaves a psychiatric clinic and returns to her work in an antiquarian bookstore which subsequently becomes a space for her inner voices. In London, a German neurologist meets Michelle's sister, Marie, a jazz singer whose ability to speak is jeopardised by a brain tumour. Marie is one of Thomas's last patients. He is suffering from a hand tremor – the result of a taxing marriage. Back home in Montréal, Marie starts a new life together with Thomas. With the aid of dubbing actors and Super-8 footage of her late father, she begins obsessively to retrieve her forgotten memory of his voice. Robert Lepage and Pedro Pires's feature premiered at Toronto International Film Festival 2013, and received a Special Mention by the Ecumenical Jury at Berlin International Film Festival 2014.

Provincia

György Mór Kárpáti : 2014
Province

Otto works as a conveyor for a food store in Budapest. When his van breaks down during a countryside delivery, he finds himself on an archaeological excavation site. Otto spends one day on the excavation. In this unfamiliar location, he seems to awaken: he is out of his element, but really wants to fit in. He also displays a keen interest in the excavation, or maybe he is just trying to impress the archaeologist he meets on site. A reflection on the random nature of fate, on chance encounters that are destined to remain isolated instances – but will they really stay that way? György Mór Kárpáti's third short premiered in competition in the Cinéfondation selection at Festival de Cannes 2014, and screened in competition at Sarajevo Film Festival 2014.

Cloro

Lamberto Sanfelice : 2015
Chlorine

Seventeen-year-old Jenny lives in Ostia, a seaside town near Rome, and dreams of being a synchronised swimmer. But after her mother's death and her father's ensuing nervous breakdown, her family is forced to relocate to a remote mountain village, where Jenny drops out of school to work as a maid at a nearby ski resort and to support her younger brother. She is unwilling to give up her passion and promises herself and her best friend Flavia that she will be back in Ostia for the next synchro competitions. Sneaking into the hotel pool to train, she clings to some semblance of her dream. But with her father showing no sign of recovery, Jenny's 'temporary' circumstances appear increasingly permanent. Lamberto Sanfelice's feature debut premiered in competition at Sundance Film Festival 2015.

O primeiro verão

Adriano Mendes : 2014
The First Summer

The first summer shapes the first years of our lives: we are freer after our first summer, when we make our first decisions, when we have time to feel in our own terms, without hurrying. Isabel and Miguel meet during a driving lesson. They start hanging out and end up spending the summer together: temporary jobs, taking walks by the river and falling naively in love. Every day they get a little closer. One must know how to look after a summer love: the easiness of summer might not be perpetuated in time and the following season brings new ordeals. In autumn, he travels to visit his family, while she stays and takes care of his dog. When he returns, their love for each other will be tested. Adriano Mendes's feature debut was winner of the award for Best Portuguese Fiction Feature Film when it premiered at IndieLisboa International Independent Film Festival 2014, and screened in competition at Moscow International Film Festival 2014.

La vive allure

Gabriela Christen : 2014
Life Returned

Chiara, 30 and fairly reserved, works as an editor. After a night of heavy drinking at an office party, her car crashes in a tunnel. When she awakens at home with a plaster on her temple, she has no recollection of the events. In order to be able to reconstruct the happenings, she begs the police officer present at the scene of the accident to tell her what happened. Gabriela Christen's short premiered at Solothurn Film Festival 2015.

Driften

Karim Patwa : 2015

Twenty-two-year-old Robert, a former driver in illegal races, returns to his hometown Dietikon wanting to start a new life. His addiction to the thrill of speed led him to prison. Having served his sentence, he is determined to put his past behind him and starts an apprenticeship in a repair shop. All goes well until he meets Alice. Robert and the English teacher older than him feel attracted to each other, they are connected by the strong bond of a dark past. To stay with her, Robert is taking English classes. Yet as the relationship gains in intensity, former guilt feelings resurface and Robert's life starts to unravel. Karim Patwa's feature debut premiered at Solothurn Film Festival 2015.

Strangerland

Kim Farrant : 2015

Newcomers to the remote Australian desert town of Nathgari, Catherine and Matthew Parker's lives are flung into crisis when they discover their two teenage kids, Tommy and Lily, have mysteriously disappeared just before a massive dust storm hits. With Nathgari eerily smothered in red dust and darkness, the townsfolk join the search led by local policeman, David Rae. It soon becomes apparent that something terrible may have happened to Tommy and Lily. Suspicions run riot, rumours spread and public opinion turns savagely against the Parkers. With temperatures rising and the chances of survival plummeting with each passing day, Catherine and Matthew find themselves pushed to the brink as they struggle to survive the mystery of their children's fate. Kim Farrant's feature directorial debut premiered in competition at Sundance Film Festival 2015.