Sweating the Small Stuff

Ryutaro’s blue-collar life of working and drinking is interrupted by the news that Ryuko, a surrogate mother to him, is gravely ill. As we watch him walk from place to place, we wonder if his stony-faced stride is purposeful, or a desperate attempt to escape.

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.
 
 

Those Who Are Fine

Alice, a young girl who works at a call centre in Zurich, uses her powers of persuasion to squeeze money out of solitary grandmothers by telling them she’s their granddaughter and urgently needs money. Tragicomic debut that observes how Alice’s crimes influence the lives of countless local people.

Jeune femme

Paula hates Paris. Chain smoking she wanders its streets. Dumped by her older boyfriend she tries to regroup. Chameleonic she accommodates everyone she meets only to scare them off again with her emotional unpredictability. Dark character study with fabulous role for Laetitia Dosch.

Gabriel and the Mountain

Fellipe Barbosa follows in the footsteps of his dead schoolfriend Gabriel Buchmann to reconstruct his fatal journey around the world. With João Pedro Zappa as Gabriel, he travels to the Mulanje Massif in Malawi, where Gabriel died in a climbing accident in 2009. A film about friendship and the cursoriness of backpack tourism.

'77 No Commercial Use

The maker, born in 1977, made this montage film about his endlessly fascinating year of birth. In Italy the streets were full of groups protesting, there were deaths during riots in Rome, Milan and Bologna, while armed movements attacked politicians and journalists. At the same time, there was a creative boom on many fronts, punk broke through and Elvis died.

Tesnota

While her parents scrape together a ransom to pay their son's kidnappers, rebellious teenager Ilana tries to fight her way out of the oppressive Jewish family structure. In the southern Russian town of Nalchik, in 1998, Ilana navigates between Jews and Kabardians, conflicting ethnic groups in Russia torn apart by the Chechen wars.

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.

Speak with Your Mouth Shut

As the 'mute flu' virus spreads through town and country, social borders and conventions crumble – in silence. Add in the power-boozing boss of a drinkers' association, an orphanage in dire need and many other absurd, crazy, real elements and you have a splendid piece of socially conscious comedy.

Pierdete entre los muertos

An elderly comedian is buried up to his neck in the Mexican desert. A young, bitter woman threatens to pulp his head with a nail bat - the only thing that can stall her are stories. Is she in his dream or he in hers?

The Insult

It starts as a minor altercation between hot-tempered Lebanese-Christian Toni and Palestinian-born contractor Yasser. But their quarrel escalates to a national crisis when it ends up in a court case that leads to a media storm. It becomes apparent that the old wounds of the Lebanese Civil War have not yet healed.
 

Saving Brinton

It's the last place you'd expect to find a lost film by Georges Méliès: a junk shed in Iowa. The man who saved this film from the incinerator turns out to be an amiable storyteller and custodian of the renowned Brinton collection. An exceptionally sympathetic rediscovery of the film business during the pioneer era. 

Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts

In this unconventional, slightly absurdist revenge Western set in the Far East, widow Marlina goes in search of justice. Her journey through the inhospitable countryside of the Indonesian island Sumba brings her unexpected allies and reveals unsuspected, powerful aspects of her character.

The Song of Scorpions

Legend says the scorpion's sting can kill in 24 hours unless a sage who can sing a counter-melody is found. A mesmerising tale of love, revenge and the redemptive power of song. Set in the breath-taking landscape of Rajasthan and masterfully created.

Latifa, le coeur au combat

After her son is killed in a terrorist attack, French-Moroccan Latifa becomes an influential activist striving to prevent such attacks. In this documentary, we follow Latifa as she travels France with unstinting energy, discussing integration, racism and of course Islam. Emotions at times run high.

Ella und Nell

Two women in their forties from Berlin go hiking and camping in the mountains on the border between Germany and the Czech Republic. What starts as a cheerful reunion develops slowly but surely into a disastrous journey, when it becomes clear that their friendship has not stood the test of time.

The Florida Project

In six-year-old Moonee’s eyes, Disney World’s poverty-stricken environs provide fun adventures. Shielded by childhood, the problems are beyond her comprehension. Talented amateur actors, gorgeous camera work and an amazing role for Willem Dafoe are this colourful film’s main attractions.

Black Girl

A young Senegalese woman is 'chosen' as a governess by a rich French family in Dakar. When she moves to live with them in France, a dream seems to be coming true. This influential film by Sembene, the father of African cinema, clinically exposes the colonial process of dehumanization through an extremely layered narrative.

Nervous Translation

Sensitive, sparkling film that captures the confusing and magical moments alike in the life of a child who, while preferring to be by herself, deep down also longs to be heard. The events of 1987 in the Philippines play a role in the background, but shy Yael is more concerned with her absent father, her uncle who is a rock star and a pen with special powers. 

Jusqu'à la garde

This is as bad as it gets when divorced parents fight for custody of their son – a heartrending role by young Thomas Gioria. Making his feature debut, Legrand is inspired by both Kramer vs. Kramer and The Shining. This kitchen-sink thriller marks him as a talent to watch. Awarded for Best Director in Venice.

Good Manners

The nurse Clara gets a job as nanny for the rich and pregnant Ana, who suffers from insomnia. Her delivery at full moon ends fatally and, against her better judgement, Clara decides to care for the child. Sweet, sublimely styled horror film about unconditional love, with an occasional musical intermezzo.

Lamaland (Teil I)

In the jungle of Paraguay live the Schweikhart brothers, descendants of the Aryan colony Nueva Germania, once founded in Paraguay by the sister of Nietzsche. With them as protagonists and in difficult conditions, Sigg shot this painterly fiction about the collapse of the fossilised order of their daily existence. With a leading role for a hypnotic, threatening soundtrack.

I, Tonya

Tragicomic biographical drama about the rapid rise and mediagenic demise of the American figure skater Tonya Harding. Talent and perseverance lead her to reach the absolute top, but was it the bizarre attack on her teammate and rival that really made Tonya world-famous and notorious? How could things get that far?

Jimmie

Four-year-old, blonde Jimmie has to flee his home in Sweden. In this gripping, impressionist film, Jesper Ganslandt (Falkenberg Farewell, The Ape) turns a real crisis upside down and depicts a horrific flight through Europe through the eyes of a child. At times exciting and fun, but more frequently heart-rending. Opening Film IFFR 2018.

Respeto

Here's a film reminding us that true hiphop is political. In this era of extrajudicial killings under the reign of the current Phillipines president, Duterte, young Hendrix sets his sights on underground rap battles in the slums of Pandacan, Manila. But his true enemies don't have ears for his words.

La nuit a dévoré le monde

Zombies have taken over the streets. The sole survivor, Sam, hides out in a big townhouse full of food and survival tools. Enough to keep himself alive – but the silence and solitude start to get to him. A nice creative twist on a well-known story: Cast Away in a blood-spattered Paris.

Footprints of Pan Africanism

Robert Lee was one of the black Americans who heeded Kwame Nkrumah’s call to return home. Not only to help build up Ghana, the first African state to liberate itself, but also to stimulate the liberation of the whole continent. A documentary that uses witnesses' testimony to present the many historical threads of Pan-Africanism.