Azadi

In 2016 a controversial deal was signed between the European Union and Turkey to stop refugees from making the short, yet perilous crossing to the Greek islands. The refugees who do make it to these islands, must wait indefinitely for their asylum cases to be processed. This documentary portrays the unusual transit zone the island of Lesvos has become, through the eyes of two Pakistani refugees and a local fishing community.

Director: Sam Peeters
Cinematographers: Silvian Hettich
Produced by: Sam Peeters
Country and year: Belgium, 2018

Circle

Circle is a haunting portrait of a rape survivor who is caught in the devious ploys of her family. Through the poignant and personal story of 13-year-old Khushbu, Circle explores her gang-rape, her emotional abuse at the hands of her grandmother (who orchestrated the rape), and her child marriage to a man she does not know. Where does the circle begin? And can there be any release? With astonishing access, and crafted with the artistry of a narrative film, Circle is a moving and poetic contemplation of the human spirit and its resilience in the darkest hour.

Director: Jayisha Patel
Cinematographers: Jayisha Patel, Amith Surendran
Produced by: Jayisha Patel
Country and year: India, UK, Canada, 2018

Dam, The

A son takes his father, whom he cut contact with years ago, on a journey. They go to a place of mountain solitude where they once built a small cottage. Surrounded by the wilderness, together they will face their inner weaknesses.

Original title: Tama
Director: Natalia Koniarz
Cinematographer: Stanisław Cuske
Produced by: Andrzej Kowalczyk
Polish distributor: Krzysztof Kieślowski Faculty of Radio and Television, University of Silesia (UŚ WRiTv)
Country and year: Poland, 2018

God's Acre

An old man is the last inhabitant of a village lost in the mountains. Day by day, he looks from his house at the decay and ruin of what was once full of life. The protagonist’s life then revolves around a conversation with those silent neighbors; a conversation with death: a call and an answer.

Original title: Camposanto
Director: Pablo Adiego
Cinematographer: Irene Sánchez Arraez
Produced by: Universidad de Navarra
Country and year: Spain, 2017

Horse Riders

The residents of a village near Opole are celebrating Easter Sunday. People and horses have gathered near the church. It is a traditional component of Easter celebrations, which include prayers, a horse ride around the nearby households, and fervent singing under the influence of alcohol. Enigmatic editing and black and white photographs reflect the dignified atmosphere of the holiday in which the sacred is combined with the profane in a bizarre chase.

Original title: Krzyżoki
Director: Anna Gawlita
Cinematographer: Tomasz Wolski
Produced by: Kijora Film Sp. z o.o.
Country and year: Poland, 2018

How to Become a Pope?

A warm-hearted comedy about a 10-year-old boy who wants to become the Pope. The protagonist is an altar boy who finds out about an audition for the part of John Paul II in a musical. The boy approaches this task as if it were a holy mission, but his parents don’t treat him seriously. What will he learn?

Original title: Jak zostać papieżem?
Directors: Justyna Mytnik
Cinematographer: Miłosz Kasiura
Produced by: Łódź Film School
Country and year: Poland, 2017

Northerners

The Northerners is a cycle of film essays with a focus on northern individualism. Each one of the three parts plays out in different places around the Kola Peninsula over the space of one day. The story revolves around the everyday life of three people that share no formal ties. Igor, who belongs to a family of pilots, is a polar aviation squad commander; Vassily is a Murmansk merchant port tug master; Volodya is a woodcutter and leader of a wood harvesting guild. Like most of the people living in the north, they came here for work, and though they weren’t initially planning on staying on, they ended up staying forever. They share this peculiar perception of reality, a special rhythm of life and the way they see themselves and others. They have taught themselves not to fear to surrender their lives to natural cycles, to be proactive, to count on no one but themselves yet to always help everyone, even strangers, not to make plans and not to get down.

Original title: Северяне
Director: Ilia Povolotskiy
Cinematographer: Nikolai Zheludovich
Produced by: Black Chamber
Country and year: Russia, 2017

Oh Brother Octopus

The sea nomads of Indonesia believe that with every newborn there is a twin brother born in the form of an octopus. Rituals are carried out to appease the waterborne brother and prevent misfortune. When dishonour occurs, Jakarta is portrayed as the apocalyptic revenge of the brother octopus.

Director: Florian Kunert
Cinematographer: Florian Kunert
Produced by: Florian Kunert
Country and year: Germany, 2017

Pain Is Mine

One day. One room. One take. After her spinal surgery, she was always in pain, intense pain, unendurable pain. Painkillers have been her refuge for a long time, but one day she decided to stop.

Director: Farshid Akhlaghi
Cinematographer: Farshid Akhlaghi
Produced by: Victorian College of the Arts (VCA)
Country and year: Australia, 2017

Radwan

The charismatic composer Stanisław Radwan is working on the music for a play, creating it not only from musical tones, but also from other sounds, including the actors’ footsteps, whispers, shouts, and screams.

Director: Teresa Czepiec
Cinematographer: Ernest Wilczyński
Produced by: Studio Munka
Country and year: Poland, 2018

Sarabande

Sarabande started as a personal documentary on the classical music virtuoso Petrit Çeku, who back in 2014 was about to record the Bach Cello Suites in Spain. But then it became a road movie on borders and illegality wrapped into a journey of two friends travelling between the invented ideas of Orient and Occident, past and future.

Director: Kaltrina Krasniqi
Cinematographers: Arian Haliti, Kaltrina Krasniqi
Produced by: Vera Films
Country and year: Kosovo, 2018