Fresh from winning the CFF40 Youth Lab Jury Award.
Director(s): Eline Gehring
With: Sara Fazilat, Javeh Asefdjah, Sara Klimoska
In summertime in Germany Nico enjoys the carefree balance of her work as a nurse and hanging out with friends. Heading home one evening, she is racially attacked and hospitalised. Feeling helpless from the incident, Nico decides to take up martial arts to regain her confidence. This also leads her to build a connection with another woman, Ronny, at the local fairground. The navigation of trauma is a complex journey and actor Sara Fazilat conveys both Nico's vulnerability and strength. A powerful story that respects the anger of a young woman feeling detached from her old life and follows her courage in learning to trust again.
Stranded in a small Icelandic town, a young Portuguese man named Paulo seeks out human connections and intimacy during the Earth's final days. This uplifting story centres around conversations with strangers, reflecting on loss, love, death and hope when time has run out. This is a profound debut from filmmaker Mylissa Fitzsimmons, who builds a moving narrative against the beautiful backdrop of Iceland, giving characters the space to process the past and present. It is a poetic take on the quiet apocalypse story, about placing our trust in others, and finding peace in our final moments.
Stranded in a small Icelandic town, a young Portuguese man named Paulo seeks out human connections and intimacy during the Earth's final days. This uplifting story centres around conversations with strangers, reflecting on loss, love, death and hope when time has run out. This is a profound debut from filmmaker Mylissa Fitzsimmons, who builds a moving narrative against the beautiful backdrop of Iceland, giving characters the space to process the past and present. It is a poetic take on the quiet apocalypse story, about placing our trust in others, and finding peace in our final moments.
On the surface, Manuel (Marc Clotet) is an exceptionally talented world-famous conductor and feted public persona. This facade hides his angry, violent outbursts towards his suffering wife Aura (Sterlyn RamÃrez). Set in the Dominican Republic, this story of domestic abuse highlights the difficulty in raising women's voices when confronting domestic abuse in the context of traditional family values and the complexity of navigating government support agencies. Aura's painful journey and escape from her abuser is also a path to self-discovery and freedom.
Sonita Gale's documentary takes a deep dive into Britain's complicated relationship with immigration. The film explores the lives of international students, members of the Windrush generation, and ‘highly-skilled migrants’ who have been challenged by government policies, and a hostile reception that is not always welcoming of their presence, alongside the added pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic. Through personal anecdotes and emotional interviews, the effects of Brexit, discrimination and law present questions about citizenship, identity, belonging, and fraternity?
The Qingshui Wetland in Jinshan is the best-known farming wetland along the north coast of Taiwain. Situated at the northmost tip of the country, it has become the first stop of the birds migrating south. This vibrant documentary embraces the beauty of eco-farming, and acknowledges the dedication of the locals to the land. From educating school kids, to bringing in scientists to monitor the animal population, director Jessica Wan-yu LIN takes us on this critical journey that champions new ways to protect our envirionment.
A young Berlin theatre company comes to the ""Staatstheater Cottbus"" to rehearse for a play about the history of the forests in Germany and how this is tied to culture and identity. A documentary team is onsite to capture the rehearsals, but the impact of the pandemic causes the team to lockdown in the building to complete the play. From jealous rivalries between cast members, to the warm humour of day-to-day theatre life, this mockumentary brings together an unruly bunch of artists determined to keep the show alive with a dose of dry, sharp humour.
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