Malgré la nuit

Philippe Grandrieux : 2015
Despite the night

Lenz leaves England and returns to Paris in search of Madeleine who disappeared in uncertain circumstances. He meets Helena, a nurse still struggling with the loss of her infant son. Thus begins a fevered love story venturing into the meanderings of a tormented psyche to feed his feelings of despair, set against a backdrop of sorrow, passion, jealousy and self-destruction. Experimental filmmaker Philippe Grandrieux's fourth feature was presented as a special screening at Festival du nouveau cinéma, Montréal 2015.

Black Horse Memories

Shahram Alidi : 2015
Bîranîna hespa reş

Aseke is a member of a group of young people who are trying to teach Kurdish in Turkish Kurdistan, a land where the teaching of the language is forbidden by Turkish authorities. Part of their work is to print clandestine schoolbooks in underground schools and distribute them. While taking part in this dangerous activity, Aseke meets her untimely death. In an attempt to fulfil her last wish – to meet Mandana, a black horse she grew up with – her friends set out to return Aseke's body to her mother. Before she is buried, though, one hears the end of the story about the great Kurdish hero, Dervishi Abdi. Aseke's friend, Zerya, finds and brings Mandana from the Anatolian mountains to where Aseke has been laid to rest. And here something surprising happens: Mandana recalls her time with Aseke; memories are seen through the mare's eyes and, poignantly, end in her tears. Shahram Alidi's second feature premiered in the New Currents section at Busan International Film Festival 2015.

Black Horse Memories – trailer (YouTube)

Amama

Asier Altuna : 2015
When a Tree falls

A family tale of conflict between the urban and rural worlds, past and present, parents and children. Opposing ways of life struggle against one another whilst, in deeply eloquent silence, the grandmother, Amama, observes the world and watches her family's destiny unfold. A heart-rending drama with powerful imagery dealing with determinism in the family, imposed roles and self-sufficient worlds that are on the verge of extinction. Asier Altuna's feature was winner of the Irizar Basque Film Award when it premiered in competition at San Sebastián International Film Festival 2015.

Three Days in September

Darijan Pejovski : 2015
Tri dena vo septemvri

Having killed a man in self-defence, Marika, a prostitute, wants to get out of the city. On a train she meets Jana, a shy woman in her late 30s who is travelling to her cottage in the mountains. Just what Marika needs. The house, empty for years, was where Jana grew up with her twin sister Kristina. Their father Josif, a prominent politician, built a hotel on the property, but after several incidents he committed suicide. The hotel, now in ruins, belongs to Jana. But there is someone else in the village who would like to change that: Genz, the village policeman. Genz, is suspicious about Jana's new friend and soon discovers that Marika is wanted for murder. Long wanting the hotel property for himself, he now blackmails Jana, threatening the two women with jail. Jana, having no choice, accepts. Perhaps too easily. Why has she returned to the village after all these years? It isn't long before Marika herself discovers a few secrets. Darijan Pejovski's feature debut premiered in competition at Montréal World Film Festival 2015.

Evolution

Lucile Hadžihalilović : 2015

10-year-old Nicolas lives with his mother on a remote island, in a village inhabited solely by women and young boys. In a hospital overlooking the ocean, all the boys are subjected to a mysterious medical treatment. Only Nicolas questions what is happening around him. He senses that his mother is lying to him, and is determined to find out what she does with the other women at night, on the beach. What he discovers is the beginning of a nightmare into which he is helplessly drawn. But in Stella, a young nurse at the hospital, Nicolas finds an unexpected ally. A journey into a mysterious world of childhood dreams, fantasies and fears. Lucile Hadžihalilović's second feature premiered at Toronto International Film Festival 2015, and was winner of the Special Jury Prize and the Jury Prize for Best Cinematography at its European premiere in competition at San Sebastián International Film Festival 2015.

Wir Monster

Sebastian Ko : 2015
We Monsters

Paul and Christine know that their daughter Sarah is going through a difficult phase. Fourteen years old, and angry with her parents for separating, she's been playing one against the other and making things unpleasant for their respective new partners. But then Sarah confesses to an act far beyond the realm of teenage rebellion, something so awful that her father's first impulse is to turn her in. Paul makes it as far as the car park of the local police station – but can't quite bring himself to go in. He shares the horrifying news with Christine and together they decide to keep Sarah's crime a secret. But when a classmate's father starts coming around looking for clues, things get complicated. And violence has a way of begetting more violence. Sebastian Ko's feature premiered at Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis 2015, and had its North American premiere at Toronto International Film Festival 2015.

Orage

Fabrice Camoin : 2015
A Stormy Summer Night

In the south, the heat, a storm. A vacation, a crime, adultery. Maria, Pierre, their daughter Judith and a friend, Louise, are forced to stop for the night in a small village, the summer deluge putting their final destination out of reach. A rumour. On the same night, in the same village, a man, Nabil Malek, has killed his wife and her lover. He has gone missing. As her marriage is on the verge of collapsing, Maria accidentally meets the fugitive. Together, they embark on a fatal escape to the coast with the hope of changing their destinies. Based on the novel Dix heures et demie du soir en été by Marguerite Duras. Fabrice Camoin's feature directorial debut premiered in competition at Montréal World Film Festival 2015.

Cinzento e Negro

Luís Filipe Rocha : 2015
Grey and Black

Maria and David live together in a modest housekeeper's room at José's house. Maria does cleaning jobs at several public institutions and looks after José, an elderly university lecturer afflicted with a degenerative disease. David merely survives. One day, David complies with an insistent request of José's and runs off with a big bag of money. Maria asks Lucas, a policeman, to find David, offering as a reward the money he stole. In the Azores, David withdraws from the world in a small cottage high up on the mountain of Pico Island. On his way there, on Faial Island, he becomes involved with Marina, a free-minded loner. They fall in love. Maria and Lucas track David to the Azores, look for him in Faial, where they come across Marina, and finally find him in Pico. When the quartet meet on the summit of Pico Island's volcanic mountain there will be a showdown. Luís Filipe Rocha's feature premiered in competition at Montréal World Film Festival 2015.

Félvilág

Attila Szász : 2015
Demimonde

In January 1914, a horrific murder shakes the city of Budapest to its core. Elza Mágnás, the most high-profile courtesan in the city, has just been strangled and her body thrown into the icy waters of the Danube. Through the eyes of Kató, a young and naïve chambermaid, the film depicts the last four days in Elza's life, her complex relationship with her governess, her patron and her lover. A period mystery drama based on a true story, a tale of love, passion, sex, power and murder. Attila Szász's second feature premiered in competition at Montréal World Film Festival 2015.

Rainbow Without Colours

Nguyễn Quang Tuyến : 2015
Cầu vồng không sắc

It was a full moon day in July, a day on which many Vietnamese believe spirits of the dead can return home. Mrs Yen was sleeping and she dreamt about Hung – her elder, adopted son, who died many years ago. Why is Hung's spirit returning? Is it to seek revenge for his death? Mrs Yen's dream is a consequence of the relationship between her biological son and her adopted son. When they announced their love to the family, Mrs Yen was devastated. She could not accept it and her efforts to keep them apart may have driven Hung to his death. In Vietnam, as elsewhere, parents are sure they know what's best for their children. But the spirits may not be convinced. Nguyễn Quang Tuyến's feature debut premiered in competition at Montréal World Film Festival 2015.

Kang Rinpoche

Zhang Yang : 2015
Paths of the Soul

A group of Tibetan villagers leave their families and homes to make a "bowing pilgrimage" – laying their bodies flat on the ground after every few steps – along the 2,000-kilometre road to Lhasa, the holy capital of Tibet. Though equally devoted to the trip, they all have different reasons: one traveller needs to cleanse bad family karma; another, a butcher, wants to wash the animals' bloodstains from his soul; and another pilgrim, sensing the end is near, hopes that prayers and prostrations will break the chain of cause and effect determined by his life's actions. During their months on the road, a baby is born, they meet fellow travellers, and their resolve is put to the test by harsh snowstorms and physical fatigue. But no hardship can deter them from their ultimate goal – not even the threat of death, a very real danger in this high altitude where a common cold can take one's life. A fictional portrayal of an actual event, shot in documentary style over the course of an entire year with non-professional actors. Zhang Yang's feature premiered at Toronto International Film Festival 2015.

ma ma

Julio Medem : 2015

Her heart already bruised by her husband's decision to spend the summer away from Madrid with his young lover, Magda is informed that she has breast cancer. Her kindly doctor holds out hope for Magda's survival, but she'll need painful radiation treatments and a mastectomy. The very day Magda learns of her diagnosis, she attends her little boy's soccer game. It's there that she meets Arturo, a scout for the legendary Real Madrid soccer team. Arturo receives a phone call with terrible news: his wife and daughter have been in an accident. Arturo collapses, Magda rushes him to the hospital where his wife lies in coma. These twin catastrophes give birth to a very special bond between Magda and Arturo – one that will endure as the courses of their lives take further twists and turns. Julio Medem's feature had its international premiere at Toronto International Film Festival 2015.

Les êtres chers

Anne Émond : 2015
Our Loved Ones

Back in 1978, in a small village in Bas-Saint-Laurent, Guy's tragic death is a shock for the Leblanc family. Protected by his well-intentioned siblings from the truth about his father's death, the sensitive David has grown into a loving husband and father of two, living a seemingly fulfilling life with his wife Marie. But as the years go by, his relationship with his wilder brother toughens and his kids grow into young adulthood. David starts to struggle with an insuppressible melancholia that gradually threatens to engulf him. Meanwhile, when his daughter Laurence begins to recognise herself in her father, she sees that she'll need to reckon with her emotional inheritance if she is to break the cycle and take on the future. Following a Québécois family over a thirty-year period, the story reveals the most profound complexities of love and loss as their effects are transmitted from one generation to the next. Anne Émond's second feature premiered in competition in the Concorso Cineasti del presente section at Locarno Film Festival 2015, and had its North American premiere at Toronto International Film Festival 2015.

Campo Grande

Sandra Kogut : 2015

When a little girl turns up on her doorstep, fifty-year-old Regina is unsure what to do. Regina lives in Ipanema, one of Rio de Janeiro's wealthier neighbourhoods, and the five-year-old Rayane is clearly not from around here. She says her mother has told her to stay put until her return. Soon Rayane's nine-year-old brother Ygor arrives too, and Regina wants to take the children directly to an orphanage, but she's convinced by her teenage daughter to let them spend the night. The children are in awe of Regina's enormous home, and as they huddle together to sleep, it becomes obvious that they have only each other to rely on. Regina decides to help them find their family – a plan that will bring her into contact with a world that she barely knew existed. Sandra Kogut's second feature premiered at Toronto International Film Festival 2015.

Beasts of No Nation

Cary Fukunaga : 2015

Torn from his family, the young Agu is forced to join a group of guerrilla soldiers as civil war engulfs his West African country. After seeing his family killed at the hands of a military junta that has overthrown the country's government, Agu flees his village. Lost in the jungle and nearing starvation, he is captured by a rebel faction, the Native Defence Forces, led by the charismatic but lethal Commandant. Under Commandant's control, Agu is forced to fight battles and commit acts beyond his comprehension. He develops both a revulsion for and fascination with a war that is slowly consuming him, yet, throughout, Agu clings to his fragile humanity. Based on the eponymous novel by Uzodinma Iweala, a heart-wrenching tale of a young boy's strength and loss of innocence. Whilst the story does not name the African country it takes place in, the narrative location is considered to be that of Nigeria. Cary Fukunaga's feature was winner of the Marcello Mastroianni Prize and the CITC-UNESCO Award when it premiered in competition at Venice International Film Festival 2015.

Behemoth

Zhao Liang : 2015
Bei xi mo shou

Everyday life in a Mongolian community turns into a Dantesque journey. A documentary offering a dissecting view on contemporary society and economic development and, at the same time, a tragedy of the absurd and a commentary on human imprudence and avidity. With camera in tow, filmmaker Zhao Liang travels through the prairies of Mongolia's vast plateau. Unfolding before his eyes are the signs of controversial upheaval due to an aggressive modern economy. Heavenly green grasslands are being covered by the gloomy dust of a growing mining industry. Confronted with the ash and infernal din of incessant mining, herdsmen and their families have no choice but to move away as grazing meadows dwindle. Day and night, miners are busy picking out coals from mountains of rocks. In nearby ironworks, men bake in the scorching heat like the condemned in Inferno. In a sort of Purgatorio, sufferers of work-related illnesses await death in hospital. A genuine Paradiso has been destroyed in exchange for an urban mirage, the empty new buildings of modern ghost town Ordos. Zhao Liang's documentary was winner of the SIGNIS Award and Green Drop Award when it premiered in competition at Venice International Film Festival 2015.

Pored mene

Stevan Filipović : 2015
Next to Me

Olja is a high school history teacher in Belgrade, married to Uglješa, a painter whose latest exhibition provoked violent reactions from Serbian nationalists. One night, a group of masked hooligans attacks her. They film the attack and upload the clip to YouTube. The next day Olja discovers that some of her students were responsible. She takes away their mobile phones, and in the heat of the moment decides to lock them in the school building, also disconnecting the school phones and the internet. In order to solve the problem together, and with inability to leave the school, students begin to communicate. During that night, a generation that was written off before they were ever given a chance will learn more than they ever expected about themselves and their classmates. Stevan Filipović's third feature won the Golden Arena for Best Feature Film in the international competition when it premiered at Pula Film Festival 2015.

The Daughter

Simon Stone : 2015

Christian returns to his family home, after a long absence, for his father Henry's lavish wedding to a much younger woman. Henry is the owner of the local timber mill, which he is closing down, causing much hardship in the area. Whilst home, Christian reconnects with his childhood friend Oliver, an employee at the timber mill who is now out of a job. As he begins to bond with Oliver's wife Charlotte, daughter Hedvig and father Walter, he unearths a long-buried secret and starts piecing together a puzzle that will have devastating consequences. A heart-rending contemporary drama about two intertwined families, adapted from Ibsen's play The Wild Duck. Simon Stone's feature debut premiered in competition at Sydney Film Festival 2015, and had its North American premiere at Toronto International Film Festival 2015.

7 Sheep

Wiktoria Szymańska : 2015

A lonely little girl tries to create a new world for herself and an equally lonely man. In a visually stunning dreamscape, she finds that freedom and home are synonymous – and that they come at a steep cost. Wiktoria Szymańska's short premiered at Toronto International Film Festival 2015.

Les chevaliers blancs

Joachim Lafosse : 2015
The White Knights

Jacques Arnault, head of Sud Secours NGO, is planning a high impact operation: he and his team are going to exfiltrate 300 orphans, victims of the Chadian civil war and bring them to French adoption applicants. Françoise Dubois, a journalist, is invited to come along with them and handle the media coverage for this operation. Completely immersed in the brutal reality of a country at war, the NGO members start losing their convictions and are faced with the limits of humanitarian intervention. Inspired by the events of the L'Arche de Zoé controversy in 2007, which involved a French charity organisation that attempted to bring 103 children into France from Chad. Joachim Lafosse's feature premiered in competition in the Platform section at Toronto International Film Festival 2015.