Açúcar

Against her better judgment, elegant Bethania refuses to relinquish her heritage, instead reviving the past. The old sugar mill is on an estate currently controlled by the descendants of slaves. Are these merely Bethania's dreams, or is candomblé (voodoo) involved?

After the Exhibition

A deadpan oddity that captures the awkwardness of social interactions. Local artist Qualia finds himself unable to leave his exhibition after its closure.

Agua Viva

With beautiful, emotionally resonant line drawings, Agua Viva captures the loneliness of a nameless Chinese manicurist working in a Miami salon.

Ajji

A 9-year-old girl has gone missing. She was taking granny's stitching to a sex worker in her slum. Once discovering what happened that night, granny quickly realises that the only satisfactory justice lies in her own hands. Masterful atmosphere, full of dread and twists.

Als je terugkomt woon ik aan het water

A young architect embarks on a difficult task: to turn his client's fallen dreams and unreciprocated desires into an elegant eco-home.

Amateurs

A slick marketing film or two teenagers messing with a smartphone and selfie sticks: how do you pitch the colourless Swedish town of Lafors as best candidate for the new branch of discount store Superbilly? The tragicomic Amateurs by Gabriela Pichler (Eat Sleep Die) shows that a slick picture is less interesting than threadbare reality.

Anchor and Hope

Contemporary, bittersweet drama on the classic thirty-something dilemma – to have children or not? Eva and Kat’s relationship is disrupted when Kat can't contain her desire for a child anymore. Kat's best friend is prepared to donate sperm, but Eva isn’t sure being a parent is for her.

Anna's War

The horrific true story of Jewish Anna, a girl who somehow survived World War II in Ukraine, is of great beauty. The six-year old hid in a building commandeered by the Nazis. Fear of discovery by the guard dog keeps her imprisoned. Ode to the ingenuity and resilience of a child.

Arrhythmia

A passionate, yet often drunk paramedic is about to lose his home, his job and most of all his beloved wife who wants to leave him. A powerful and highly engaging study of a couple in crisis, which reflects the turbulent state of modern Russia.

The Atomic Soldiers

A disturbing documentary concerning the soldiers present at ground zero during the American nuclear trials in the 1950s.

The Ballad of Shirley Collins

Standing on stage and seeing your partner in the audience having an affair – it literally silenced the ‘High Queene of English Folk’. The once popular vocalist could no longer sing, until four decades later she made a striking comeback. A warm, intimate film about the glory days of folk.

Beast

Against the backdrop of a series of unsolved murders on the island of Jersey, a relationship blossoms between Moll and Pascal. For her respectable family, he is the ultimate bad choice – and that seals their love. When it becomes apparent that the police suspect him, her support for him starts to adopt extreme forms.

BEWAREN – of hoe te leven

Show me your attic and I’ll tell you who you are! In this very personal and universal cinematographic essay, Digna Sinke travels to Zeeland and Bali, through faded photos to minimalist digital nomads. What to do with all those spare buttons? If you don’t keep anything, who will know what grandma’s tablecloth felt like?

Birds Are Singing in Kigali

Painstaking, poignant portrait of two women thrown together after the Rwandan genocide of 1994: Polish academic Anna and young Rwandan refugee Claudine. The two try to build a new life in Poland. Winner of (shared) best-actress award in Karlovy Vary and Chicago.

Blue My Mind

Swiss teenagers say jawohl to MDMA in this disturbing coming-of-age story that cleverly mixes horror and psychological drama. Insecure Mia enters the jungle that is puberty in search of belonging and her blossoming sexuality. Kafka's Metamorphosis meets The Little Mermaid.

The Bold, the Corrupt and the Beautiful

Murder, intrigues, political vendettas and exuberant sets: this modern costume drama from Taiwan has it all. The trio from the title are Mrs Tang and her two daughters, who become involved in a corruption scandal and the gruesome slaughter of a family of friends. An extravagant mix of soap and thriller.
 
 

Born to Kill

A teenage Sam lives with his single mother, a nurse. He splits his time between high school and and a hospital where he cares for elderly patients. Sam also seems to have psychopathic tendencies. A careful, griping and shocking study asking if one is, or becomes, a murderer. Season 1, episodes 1 and 2. 

Bruk Out! A Dancehall Queen Documentary

This raw, energetic documentary follows six women, all of whom want to become the best Dancehall Queen in the world. It’s not just pop divas such as Beyoncé, Rihanna and Miley who furiously imitate the provocative Jamaican dance style – anonymous women from Spain, Italy, America, Poland and Japan are also making this their emancipatory life goal.

Butterflies

Cemal, Kenan and Suzan receive an unexpected invitation from their father whom they haven’t seen for 30 years. They travel to their village of birth in rural Turkey from Istanbul where they discover more about their unprocessed traumas in increasingly absurdist scenes interlarded with black humour and exploding chickens. 

The Cannibal Club

Baking in the sun with a cocktail, a splash in the pool and the occasional chunk of human flesh. The stinking-rich Gilda and Octavio have a gruesome and kooky hobby. The Cannibal Club is a delightful dark-comic blow-up of the Brazilian super-rich and their ivory towers.
 

Cavern

A young woman has a strong desire for garbage. When her mother's exhibitionist tendencies are revealed by the neighbours she is forced to deal with her own paraphilia.

Charlie en Hannah gaan uit

Okay then, just one more – although tonight Hannah really wanted to get home on time. Luckily, Charlie still has some good stuff. Suddenly blocks of flats start to talk, they wind up in an Italian horror film and a surprised friend is reanimated with a dose of alcohol. Wondrous, playful debut, largely in black-and-white, from a new Belgian talent.

Una ciudad de provincia

The great Argentine filmmaker Rodrigo Moreno (El custodio, Reimon) composed an intimate, amiable and yet unforgettable symphony of the life of every country town in the world in several vignettes – even if this focuses on Colón, a couple of hours north of Buenos Aires. Both lyrical and modest.

The Cleaners

Hidden behind thousands of monitors on the Philippines, there’s a shadow industry of digital cleaners who decide what the internet can show us and can’t. Who decides the laws of social media? When is it art, porn or journalism? A sinister documentary with occasionally shocking images that mercilessly opens the eyes.
 

Damien Décembre

Damien wanders the streets of Paris. The conversations he has can’t allay his nerves. Intimate portrait of an oversensitive boy.

The Day After

A mendacious literary publisher and his recently employed female assistant find themselves in an embarrassing situation when the publisher's wife accuses them of adultery. She’s wrong, but the ambiguous narrative of The Day After makes it clear that she isn’t far from the truth.

Death of the Sound Man

Two Thai sound recordists struggle to get their work appreciated and their views heard. A political comedy about neglected voices behind the official picture.

Don't Forget Me

Countless stories have been told about love, and yet with this moving drama about two young misfits in Tel Aviv, Ram Nehari manages to add a very personal element to the story. Two regal children at the edge of the world meet by chance and fall in love. But for how long?
 

The Doom Doc

Immerse yourself in the super-heavy Sheffield doom scene, with concert footage and interviews with Bill Ward (Black Sabbath) and members of Conan, Crowbar and Primitive Man. Heavy metal is a lifestyle. Fans and musicians live for doom and channel their anger into crushing, yet positive live shows. EarWORM LIVE Line-up: Poetry: Vincent Niks, Introduction: Richard Foster, DJ Pim Blankenstein.