Christiaan Hesen(2024)

The Raven's Dance(fi)

With a keen sense of visual beauty, director Markku Lehmuskallio has created a thought-provoking, aesthetic film about a married couple and an old man living in a remote part of Finland. The young husband goes out hunting but only to support himself and his wife, not to kill off hordes of animals. He sets traps, and that gets him in trouble with the police who proceed to ticket him for using the devices. The forest cycles themselves are intimated when an old tree is shown falling to earth -- perhaps a reflection on the old man's passing years. In contrast to these few people living off the land and basically keeping the ecological balance intact, a highway construction crew is shown at work felling trees. Soon the antagonism grows between encroaching civilization and the quiet life of the young couple and elderly man.

Then I Was Lost(en)

A feature-length road trip drama, set on the iconic London canals. We are narrated an unlikely story mixing reality with hints of British folklore. Vincent (Alex Scrivens) is a lone mechanic boater on the canals who’s grieving from the death of his wife. Nursing his wounds with alcohol. One morning he stumbles back to his boat only to find a girl, Samantha (Olivia Griffiths). She’s going up the canal to find her mum, so they travel together, slowly finding a common purpose.

Break of Day(en)

Beautiful, sad story told from multiple perspectives. A man picks a dahlia before entering his home. His dog senses something is wrong. The housekeeper makes tea before seeing the tragedy. Slowly the elements slot into place.

El Duende Sátiro(es)

Legend tells of a girl named Palmira. A teenager, becoming a beautiful woman, her normal small town life took an unexpected turn. A demon expelled from paradise falls in love with her, causing great misfortune; only one can defeat him.

La Flambée(fr)

Dersu Uzala(ru)

A military explorer meets and befriends a Goldi man in Russia’s unmapped forests. A deep and abiding bond evolves between the two men, one civilized in the usual sense, the other at home in the glacial Siberian woods.

The Lion King(en)

Young lion prince Simba, eager to one day become king of the Pride Lands, grows up under the watchful eye of his father Mufasa; all the while his villainous uncle Scar conspires to take the throne for himself. Amid betrayal and tragedy, Simba must confront his past and find his rightful place in the Circle of Life.

The Grocer's Son(fr)

Antoine Sforza, a thirty-year-old young man, left his village ten years before in order to start a new life in the big city, but now that his father, a traveling grocer, is in hospital after a stroke, he more or less reluctantly accepts to come back to replace him in his daily rounds.

Khadak(mn)

Set in the frozen steppes of Mongolia, a young nomad is confronted with his destiny after animals fall victim to a plague which threatens to eradicate nomadism.

The Feast(cy)

A wealthy family hosts a sumptuous dinner, only for a mysterious young server to chillingly unravel their lives with terrifying consequences they could never see coming.

Towelhead(en)

A young Arab-American girl struggles with her sexual obsession, a bigoted Army reservist, and her strict father during the Gulf War.

Sunnyside(en)

Lola's dream of escaping her father's Sunnyside motel seems closer to reality when a young stranger checks in.

Tree Secrets(en)

Trees Talk. Everybody knows that. But not every tree will share their secrets… until now. Tree Secrets is stop-motion magic featuring the voices of today’s best actors and comedians.

Common Law Cabin(en)

After stealing a fortune in unclaimed jewelry, ex-detective Barney Rickert arrives at a run-down dude ranch in Arizona to hide out. When the owner, Dewey Hoople, refuses to sell the land to Rickert, he proceeds to win over the female inhabitants by seducing them one by one which leads to one refusing his advances and a dangerous game played out in which Rickert ruthlessly sets out to get what he wants.

Little Shepherds(sl)

Depicts the lives of children of the coastal hills and pastures who work as shepherds from an early age to earn a living.

The Seagull(ru)

What if Konstantin Gavrilovich, from Anton Chekkov's famous play, did not commit suicide and was murdered instead? And who did it? Boris Akunin's take on The Seagull unfolds as a comedic murder mystery.

The Girl and the Echo(lt)

The movie, based on a story by Yuri Nagibin, depicts a young girl named Vika enjoying the last days of summer vacations in a sea resort somewhere in the south.

A Story of the Forest: Mavka(uk)

Mavka, a water nymph, loves Lukash, a country youth. Their brief happiness ends when Lukash is forced to marry the shrewish Kilina. The Spirit of the Forest turns Lukash into a wolf as punishment for his infidelity. The strength of Mavka's love breaks the spell, but Kilina curses the nymph, transforming her into a weeping willow. This beautiful and tragic story is based on a play written in 1912 by Lesya Ukrainka, a Ukrainian poet, writer and political, civil and female activist, and includes mythological characters taken from Ukrainian folklore.

Tabu: A Story of the South Seas(en)

On the South Pacific island of Bora Bora, a young couple's love is threatened when the tribal chief declares the girl a sacred virgin.

A Spot for Frog(en)

Locked out of the school art room, a creative non-binary teen named Frog grapples with anxiety as they seek a new place to eat lunch. Imagination blurs with reality in this hybrid work of live action and animation about finding a place to belong.