Seberg

Benedict Andrews : 2019

Making her screen debut at 18, playing Joan of Arc, Jean Seberg by the age of 21, would be immortalised in Jean-Luc Godard's À bout de souffle, the film that launched the French New Wave. In May 1968 Jean returns from Paris to Hollywood in search of a new challenge and as the 1960s becomes more radicalised, so does she. Soon, her political and romantic involvement with civil rights activist Hakim Jamal, makes her a target of the FBI's ruthless and illegal attempts to disrupt, discredit and expose the Black Power movement. Ambitious young agent Jack Solomon is given the task of penetrating deeper into Jean's private life. But the more he immerses himself in her life, the more he empathises with this woman whose privacy is slowly being destroyed. Benedict Andrews's biopic premiered at Venice International Film Festival 2019, and screened in competition in the Perlak section at San Sebastián International Film Festival 2019.

1986

Lothar Herzog : 2019

Young Belarusian student Lena is unable to get a grip on life. Her boyfriend Viktor is becoming more and more of a mystery. Lena is unable to decide whether their beautiful yet fragile love is doing her any good at all, and to top it all off, her father is in prison. To raise the bail money, Lena decides to continue her father's illegal business. In order to meet dubious dealers, she often drives her father's old truck across the border and into the Chernobyl exclusion zone and is stricken by this deserted area, featuring empty forests and abandoned villages. Increasingly, Lena finds herself crossing ever-more boundaries, geographical as well as imaginary ones. Lothar Herzog's feature debut premiered in competition at Zurich Film Festival 2019.

My Name is Violeta

David Fernández de Castro & Marc Parramon : 2019
Me llamo Violeta

Two very different families with one thing in common: in both there is a transgender child. Violeta, eleven, daughter of actor Nacho Vidal, is having a relatively placid transition so far, although her parents, at first baffled, took a while to accept her new identity. Alan did not have that luck: a victim of harassment at school, the support of his family was not enough to prevent his suicide, an end that shocked his school and his hometown. Focused above all on these two stories, this deeply emotional film shows that our society is making progress in accepting transgender children but that there is still a long way to go. David Fernández de Castro and Marc Parramon's documentary premiered at Festival de Málaga 2019, and was winner of the Audience Award and the Amnesty International Award at DocsBarcelona International Documentary Film Festival 2019. Their film screened in the Made in Spain section at San Sebastián International Film Festival 2019.

A Thief's Daughter

Belén Funes : 2019
La hija de un ladrón

Sara is twenty-two and has always been alone. Her only companion is her six-month-old son. Dani is the man of her life and also the father of her child, but they are not a couple anymore. With Martín, her younger brother, Sara dreams of rebuilding the family she has never had. The father who abandoned them, Manuel, decides to come back into their lives after years of absence and his release from prison. But there are certain wounds that can't be healed. Sara knows he's the main obstacle to her plans and she makes a difficult decision: to distance him from herself and her brother. Belén Funes's feature debut was winner of the Silver Shell for Best Actress when it premiered in competition at San Sebastián International Film Festival 2019.

Rocks

Sarah Gavron : 2019

Rocks is a teenager with big dreams for the future, brilliant loyal friends, and a little if rather cheeky adoring brother, Emmanuel. Rocks loves going to school (just like any other youngster) and lives a full and exciting life in East London with her friends. Her world is suddenly turned upside down when she comes home from school to find that her mother is gone, leaving a little money and a note giving no other explanation than "I'm sorry". Determined to stay with her brother and lead the welfare system on a merry dance, Rocks leaves her home and hides around East London. As each day becomes tougher and their secret gets more difficult to hide, Rocks pushes away those who love her and her friendship squad begins to fracture. When the authorities finally catch up with her, there is only one solution: her friends. A film about the joy, resilience and spirit of girlhood. Sarah Gavron's third feature premiered in the Platform section at Toronto International Film Festival 2019, and had its European premiere in competition at San Sebastián International Film Festival 2019.

Comets

Tamar Shavgulidze : 2019

Legend has it that water was brought to Earth by comets. Without water, human life is impossible. Love too, is essential for survival. Without it, existence can be unbearable. Many years have passed since they were separated by circumstance, but the memories of balmy summer evenings in the outskirts of Tbilisi have stayed with 55-year-olds Irina and Nana. The two were once inseparable, sharing a bond beyond friendship that did not go unnoticed in their small community. More than three decades later, Irina returns to the summer house of her youth, a place where Nana built a life, marrying and bearing two children, and where she still resides with her daughter, also named Irina. Suddenly, the women are back in the yard where they spent their teenage years and must confront all that was left unsaid. A story about the unconditional love of two women caught up in emotional ties of shared memories. Tamar Shavgulidze's second feature premiered in the Discovery section at Toronto International Film Festival 2019.

Bring Me Home

Kim Seung-woo : 2019
Na-reul cha-ja-jwo

Six years after her son went missing, dedicated mother Jung-yeon still hasn't lost hope – even after her husband's shocking accident while rushing to follow up on a potential sighting. Although she's in mourning, drowned in despair for her losses, she doesn't give up. Just when everything feels like it's in vain, she hears about a young boy living in a fishing community outside the city who seems to resemble her lost son. Facing strange surroundings and corrupt cops covering up child abuse, Jung-yeon may not be able to handle all the obstacles in her way, let alone fend for herself. Kim Seung-woo's feature debut premiered in the Discovery section at Toronto International Film Festival 2019.

Mies

Mirthe Fernandes : 2019

Mies, in her early twenties, seems an average young woman at first glance. Silent one day, lively the next. When things go well, she opens herself up to the outside world, after which it can change within a few seconds. She then becomes a self-centred doll that no longer speaks a word. Mies lives her life slightly differently from the average young woman on her way to independence. Mies is not only concerned with her own thoughts, but also with a number of other voices and opinions that haunt her mind. Those voices determine her life. What is it like to sometimes live in a closed ward of the clinic for months while the only thing you want is freedom? What Mies experiences is dissociation, another reality that is for her reality. An intimate portrait of the experiences and perceptions of a young mentally ill woman, but a person who is much more than her diagnosis. Mirthe Fernandes's short documentary screened in competition at Nederlands Film Festival 2019.

Mies (Official site)

Entwined

Minos Nikolakakis : 2019

Panos, a doctor from the city, relocates to a remote village, offering his services to its ageing community. It's love at first sight when he sets eyes on the fair Danae, who has a rare condition that causes her skin to resemble tree bark. Feared by the superstitious villagers, Danae lives in isolation deep in the forest, trapped in a proverbial castle, and the enamoured doctor is determined to rescue her. As Panos searches for a cure for Danae, time stands still in the dreamlike paradise he now inhabits. Unbeknownst to him, however, Danae is not a helpless princess waiting for her prince – and it's not long until she presents him with an ultimatum that will drain him of more than he ever thought possible. Though only days have passed, Panos is aware that, for both lovers, time is running out. An intimate and atmospheric arthouse horror film, mixing folklore and ancient Greek mythology. Minos Nikolakakis's feature debut premiered in the Discovery section at Toronto International Film Festival 2019.

Dark, Almost Night

Borys Lankosz : 2019
Ciemno, prawie noc

When Wałbrzych is shaken by a series of mysterious disappearances of children, Alicja Tabor, a journalist, arrives in the city. Coming back to her homeland after many years, this relentless reporter wants to meet the families of the missing kids and to solve the mystery even the police can't solve. During her private investigation, quite unexpectedly, Alicja tracks down dramatic events whose beginnings go back decades ago. Searching for the truth, the journalist will have to face a new threat and something she's been running away from her whole adult life: the mystery of her childhood and the shocking secrets of her own family. Borys Lankosz's feature screened in competition at Gdynia Film Festival 2019.

Stories from the Chestnut Woods

Gregor Božič : 2019
Zgodbe iz kostanjevih gozdov

In a decaying forest on the Yugoslav-Italian border in the years after World War II, a stingy, old carpenter and a lonely, young chestnut seller share imaginative memories of the past as they weigh fateful decisions for the future. Stubborn in his old age, Mario, the Stingy Carpenter, is known for his unflappable competitive nature and for his preoccupations with income. He fails to notice his wife's descent into illness, one among several missed opportunities to care for his loved ones. Mario tries to impart his hard-gained wisdom to Marta, the Last Chestnut Seller, who has been left to tend the chestnut groves after her husband's departure. In their decaying surroundings, these lonely souls share fond memories – transformed into imaginative tales – and melancholic contemplations of their futures. Should they remain, haunted by a life that was, or does another path call: joining countless others on the rickety cart to a world unknown? Gregor Božič's feature debut premiered in the Discovery section at Toronto International Film Festival 2019.

Simple Women

Chiara Malta : 2019

On Christmas Day 1989, young Federica suffers her first epileptic seizure while she's watching the trial and execution of Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena on television with her family. Since childhood, her only passion was cinema, and one film in particular played an important role: Hal Hartley's 'Simple Men', in which Romanian actor Elina Löwensohn has an onscreen seizure. For Federica, it was a critical moment of reflection and connection. Years later, Federica has the opportunity to make a film in Bucharest about the life of her long-time icon. But the real Elina is much different from the one in Federica's imagination and, very quickly, the true characters of both the actor and the director are revealed. Seeing through a new lens, Federica's mind becomes clouded and her ideas for the film less clear. Mid-production, she has a fit of epilepsy, and, with her vision blurred, the faint lines between life and art fade entirely. Chiara Malta's fiction feature debut premiered in the Discovery section at Toronto International Film Festival 2019.

Mo

Radu Dragomir : 2019

Friends since childhood, Mo and Vera are now college students. Mo's father died when she was a teenager, but she is still affected by the loss. During an exam, Mo is caught cheating by Ursu, one of her toughest professors. Mo defies him and Ursu seizes her mobile phone and throws the girls out. Later that day, the girls receive a phone call from Ursu, who invites them to a restaurant in order to return the mobile phone. After dinner, they are invited in his apartment, where he turns into an extremely kind and understanding person, winning Mo's heart with some good music and all the movies in the world. It's all fun and games, until Mo loses control. Radu Dragomir's feature debut premiered in competition in the Romanian Days section at Transilvania International Film Festival 2019, and screened in competition at Sarajevo Film Festival 2019.

Wasp Network

Olivier Assayas : 2019

December 1990. Airline pilot René González steals a plane and flees Cuba, which is about to topple into an economic crisis precipitated by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Having abandoned his wife and daughter, he begins a new life in Miami. Soon he is joined by other Cuban dissidents, members of the activist organisation Brothers to the Rescue, working towards the destabilisation of the Castro regime. Along with fellow exile and pilot Juan Pablo Roque, René gradually becomes more aware of the moral compromises the Brothers make to do their work – and the degree to which the CIA is involved in supporting anti-Castro activities. Olivier Assayas's feature premiered in competition at Venice International Film Festival 2019, and had its North American premiere in Special Presentations at Toronto International Film Festival 2019.

When the Persimmons Grew

Hilal Baydarov : 2019
Xurmalar Yetişən Vaxt

Immobile in a home in which the sands of time fall to the rhythm of rural Azerbaijani sounds, a mother waits for her son. When he arrives, their conversations circle around existential questions and news from afar, troubling and cryptic. Unrest cloaks the world outside. Mother and son grow closer, silence melts into words, and life springs up between them. The son leaves, and winter settles upon the forever-outdated house, in which temporalities blur and past and present beat to the rhythm of the same clock. Hilal Baydarov's documentary was winner of the Jury Prize when it premiered at Visions du Réel 2019, and the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary at Sarajevo Film Festival 2019.

Sayidat Al-Bahr

Shahad Ameen : 2019
Scales

Set in a dystopian landscape, the story of a twelve-year-old strong-willed girl, Hayat, who lives in a poor fishing village governed by a dark tradition in which every family must give one daughter to the sea creatures who inhabit the waters nearby. In turn the sea creatures are hunted by the men of the village. Saved from this fate by her father, Hayat is considered a curse on the village and grows up an outcast. Nevertheless, she does not surrender to this fate and fights for a place within her village. After her mother gives birth to a baby boy, Hayat must accept the brutal custom of giving herself to the sea creatures or finding a way to escape. Shahad Ameen's film, her feature debut, was winner of the Premio Circolo del Cinema di Verona when it premiered in competition at Venice International Film Critics' Week 2019.

Lola vers la mer

Laurent Micheli : 2019
Lola towards the Sea

Lola, an 18-year-old transgender girl, learns that she is finally going to get her operation just as her mother, who was supposed to be supporting her financially, passes away. With bleach blonde hair, Lola lives in a foster home with Samir, her only friend. Impulsive and lonely, she is trying to get her diploma as a veterinary assistant. When her mother dies, her father Philippe makes sure that Lola will miss the ceremony. Two years before, Philippe threw her out of the family home, when Lola was still Lionel. Philippe is determined to fulfil Catherine's last wish: to be dispersed to the North Sea, in the dunes of her childhood home. Lola on the other hand is furious with her father, but she will not leave her mother alone on this last journey. So they take off together, both unwilling to share a car but determined to take Catherine home. As the trip progresses, however, it becomes apparent that the outcome of their journey isn't entirely the one they expected. Laurent Micheli's feature premiered in competition at Festival du Film Francophone d'Angoulême 2019, and was selected in competition in the Alice nella Città section at Rome Film Festival 2019.

Saturday Fiction

Lou Ye : 2019
Lan xin da ju yuan

It is December 1941, and Shanghai has been under Japanese occupation for four years. China has become a wartime intelligence battlefield for both the Axis and Allied powers. Iconic actress Jean Yu returns to Shanghai, ostensibly to appear in the play 'Saturday Fiction' directed by her former lover. But what is her true aim? To free her ex-husband? To gather intelligence for the Allied Forces? To work for her adoptive father? Or to escape from war with her lover? As she embarks on her mission, with friends ever more difficult to distinguish from undercover agents, as everything spirals out of control, Jean Yu starts to question whether to reveal what she has learnt about the imminent Pearl Harbor attack. Lou Ye's feature premiered in competition at Venice International Film Festival 2019.

Cat in the Wall

Mina Mileva & Vesela Kazakova : 2019

A cat found on the stairs of a block of flats in London acts as a catalyst for unfolding conflict between migrants from Bulgaria and their British working class neighbours. The Bulgarian family owns their flat and looks down on their neighbours living on benefits. Both sides have their own prejudices and are about to fall victims of the Council's gentrification plan, which creeps in this community like a corporate monster. An examination of society's absurdities and unfairness through the eyes of Irina, a single Bulgarian mother whose place in London is challenged in every way, turning her into a metaphoric "cat in the wall", just like the real one. Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova's feature premiered in competition in the Concorso internazionale section at Locarno Film Festival 2019.

Beware of Children

Dag Johan Haugerud : 2019
Barn

When crisis strikes we reveal our true colours. The film traces the dramatic aftermath of a tragic event in a middle class suburb of Oslo. During a break at school 13-year-old Lykke, the daughter of a prominent Labour Party member, seriously injures her classmate Jamie, the son of a high profile right-wing politician. When Jamie later dies in hospital, contradictory versions of what actually happened risks making a difficult and traumatic situation worse. Was it only innocent play? Liv, the school's principal and the secret lover of Jamie's father, must find the strength to confront a community in distress, and her own highly conflicted emotions. Dag Johan Haugerud's feature premiered in competition at Venice Days 2019.