Special Program in Focus

• Indonesia
• 2023
• 18min

Sura, an orphaned boy, lives a lonely life in a fishing village, earning a penny for his labor. Wandering the beach in the vague expectation that his father may return, he discovers that a broken sex doll has been washed up and tr...

• Busan International Film Festival Sonje Award

Icons

• China
• 2023
• 144min

Is politeness a virtue or a flaw? Is it enough to lead a shadowless life? Zhang Lu has returned with the story of a father and son, who have each come to lead a solitary life due to their different yet similar “excessive politenes...

• Berlin Competition

New Currents

• India
• 2023
• 98min

Filmmaker Kabir arrives in Varanasi, the spiritual capital of Hinduism with a history dating back to ancient times. Kabir begins to film Durga, who works at a crematorium by the Ganges, and Amma, who awaits death in Varanasi to br...

• 2023 ACF Post-Production Fund Recipient

New Currents

• Bangladesh
• 2023
• 80min

Kajol lives in a rural village with his mother Kahinoor and his ailing grandmother, who suffers from dementia. He has a secret?he enjoys putting on his mother’s clothes and lipstick to play. One day, someone abruptly arrives at hi...

World Cinema

• Germany
• 2023
• 99min

Far from the romanticized depictions of school with kind-hearted teachers and contemplative children, The Teachers’ Lounge delves into the problems of school life from the outset. Nowak, the film’s protagonist, strives to be a goo...

• Berlin Label Europa Cinemas, C.I.C.A.E. Award

Flash Forward

• Israel
• 2023
• 98min

The Vanishing Soldier is the story of a young man who unintentionally deserts during a mission in the Gaza Strip. A naive eighteen-year-old young man with an innocent face sets out to find his lover and parents living in Tel Aviv,...

• Locarno Competition

Wide Angle

• Korea/Japan
• 2023
• 137min

Park Soo-nam, a second-generation Zainichi director, discovered that she was losing her sight just as she set out to digitally restore her 16 mm films with the assistance of her daughter, director Park Maeui. The footage, shot ove...

Wide Angle

• Nepal
• 2023
• 15min

As Sridhar prepares for his coming-of-age celebration, his grandfather tells him a shocking story about his family. As he pushes for the truth, his mother is caught in a dilemma between wanting to protect him and wanting to be hon...

New Currents

• Bangladesh/Canada
• 2023
• 92min

Moju, a middle-aged man living in a Bangladeshi fishing village, trains rigorously for boli, a traditional form of wrestling in Bangladesh. He challenges Dofor, the village’s boli champion. The villagers mock him and call him craz...

Wide Angle

• Korea
• 2023
• 15min

Two strangers have an argument in an empty field in the early morning. When the argument escalates, the two are sent to the First-Encounter Dispute Resolution Committee, where they are asked three questions. Seesawing between clic...