Europe, Europe
50 films
27
dir. Flóra Anna Buda
anim2023
Alice is 27 years old today. Even though she is suffocating a bit, she still lives with her parents and tends to live in her dreams to escape her dreary everyday life. After a psychedelic party on a factory roof, she has a serious drunken bike accident. Will this give her the courage to become an adult?
Read moreAqueronte
dir. Manuel Muñoz Rivas
dok2023
On board a ferry, a series of passengers cross a river from one riverbank to the other. Some of the travelers wrap themselves observe the unfamiliar fellow travelers. Some others chat, perhaps to liven up the voyage and speed up time.
Read moreArsenie. An Amazing Afterlife (Arsenie. Viața de apoi)
dir. Alexandru Solomon
dok2023
The photo shows a handsome young monk with a mesmerising gaze. Even the portrait alone catches one’s eye, and the legend of his death as a martyr makes Arsenie Boca difficult to forget. Over time, the monk, persecuted by communist authorities, has become a symbol of struggle against the cruel regime and the chief Romanian miracle-worker.
Read moreA Good Mind Grows in Thorny Places (Dom Strom)
dir. Katarína Gramatová
dok2023
A poetic story about growing up. Adam is a 12-year-old boy who lives in a Slovak village. He is a local lumberjack and additionally takes up different odd jobs. In general, he likes to do everything. Although his life is not easy, he is able to notice beauty everywhere.
Read moreA Year in the Life of the Country (Rok z życia kraju)
dir. Tomasz Wolski
dok2024
Martial law, which was imposed in Poland on 13 December 1981, targeted the Solidarity movement, but it had other faces, too. On the basis of exclusively archival footage, the film explores the backstage of the past events. It undermines the mythicised image of Polish society as a victim of the system.
Read moreAwards:Silver Horn
Baldiga - Unlocked Heart (Baldiga - Entsichertes Herz)
dir. Markus Stein
dok2024
In the 1980s, West Berlin was the European LGBT+ capital. Jürgen Baldiga, a photographer, poet and activist, became its co-founder and chronicler. The archival materials he left behind were used to tell a neurotic story about himself and the community living in the shadow of AIDS. Age rated: 18+
Read moreBeen There (Być tam)
dir. Corina Schwingruber Ilić
dok2023
Weekend trips, city breaks, a detour into nature or once around the world. Barely a few days off, you're already gone. Never before has the desire to travel been so widespread and visited places so overloaded. What do we get out of it, other than the picture proof that we have been there?
Read moreBeing Ola (Ola - en helt vanlig uvanlig fyr)
dir. Ragnhild Nøst Bergem
dok2023
Ola is a 30-year-old man who lives in a small village in Norway with a very diverse group of people. They try to live life at a slower pace in harmony with nature, and their community is founded on values such as empathy, respect, and mutual interdependence. "Being Ola" is a moving, heartwarming film that celebrates the significance of equality and belonging as a basis for daring to embrace the one you really are. It's a close and honest portrait that helps bridge the gap between 'us' and 'them'.
Read moreBerchidda Live - A Journey Into Time in Jazz Archive (Berchidda Live – Un Viaggio Nell'Archivio Time In Jazz)
dir. Gianfranco Cabiddu, Michele Mellara, Alessandro Rossi
dok2023
Time in Jazz festival is inherently linked to the place where it has been organized since 1988, i.e. the town of Berchidda in Sardinia. In beautiful natural surroundings one may absorb a variety of music traditions and the film is a portrayal of this atmospheric event and the people who create it.
Read moreBetter This Way (E Mai Bine Așa)
dir. Emanuel Pârvu
fab2023
Sixteen-year-old Adi is taken for a physical examination. He has obvious traces of beating, his face is lacerated and it is evident that he has been whipped. He does not say much. The police find out very soon that the motive behind the assault was his sexual orientation. In a small community, this is a reason to be ostracised, and for the family, especially his religious father, it is dishonour.
Read moreBetween Silence and Sin (Între Tăcere și Păcat)
dir. Diana Nicolae
dok2024
Can poetry pose a threat to a dictatorship? The poems written by Ana Blandiana outraged Nicolae Ceaușescu and his entourage, but they enchanted and touched her readers and literature afficionados, also from outside of communist Romania. The poetry of the legendary author crossed national boundaries, volumes of her poems were published in the West – yet despite many opportunities, she decided to stay in her country.
Read moreBlank Page Syndrome (Baltās lapas bieds)
dir. Jānis Ābele, Toms Šķēle
dok2024
In the world where printing machines keep spouting millions of pages of new books, there is a reality preceding this process. A contemporary author is struggling with writer’s block over a blank piece of paper.
Read moreBuzz of the Earth (Bzukot Země)
dir. Greta Stocklassa
fab2023
What if Hrabal and Forman could sit at the same table to discuss a space mission? Czech humour accompanies the biggest challenge for earthlings represented by a group of scientists and a female citizen, who was entered in the competition by her children. Everything may happen during this discussion. We are aliens after all.
Read moreAwards:Special Award
Chords (Cuerdas)
dir. Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren
fab2022
Rita has an important meeting with her fellow singers: the women’s choir to which she belongs is in danger of disbanding because they have lost the municipal subsidy with which they used to rent their rehearsal space.
Read moreClaw Machine (CLAW MACHINE)
dir. Georges Salameh
anim2023
The story of an immersion into the experience of being uprooted. Fragments and words. The unspoken, the indescribable. Memory shaken. Eyes closed. The city is under siege. Drift towards the unknown. The dilemma: resistance or migration? Mediterranean voyages of no return.
Read moreDaydreaming So Vividly about Our Spanish Holidays (La herida luminosa)
dir. Christian Avilés
fab2022
Driven by their desire for light and warmth, British teenagers take a trip to the Balearic Islands. They must absorb the sun and store it in their bodies to take it back to their cloud-covered kingdom.
Read moreDiamond Beauty
dir. Anna Korom
fab2023
Maria is addicted to plastic surgeries. Successive augmentations do not satisfy her and she wants new ones. Her nose, lips or facial fillers are never perfect. Now, she is looking forward to the opportunity of a date with her former love. But where to find money if she is drowning in debt?
Read moreAwards:Silver Dragon
Distances (Odległości)
dir. Matej Bobrik
dok2023
The story of a Nepalese family living in Poland who believe that a better future awaits them here. However, a change in living conditions puts their relationship to a severe test
Read moreFahnenflucht
dir. Emil Ahlhelm, Konradin Schuchter
dok2023
If you are a man, you have only two options during a war – stay and fight or leave to save your life. Not everyone wants to lay down their life for their homeland and this should be respected. A story of people who refused to participate in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine on account of their beliefs.
Read moreFlowers of Ukraine (Kwiaty Ukrainy)
dir. Adelina Borets
dok2024
On a flowery plot of land, in the middle of a block of flates in Kiev lives 67-year-old Natalia, who has been fighting for years against investors who would like to build another property in place of her house. And just when it seems that fighting the developers is the worst thing that happens to her, Russia's attack on Ukraine begins.
Read moreForce and Courage, Rise and Decline of an Italian Football Club (Forza e Coraggio)
dir. Giovanni Merlini, Francesco Bovara
dok2023
Sambenedettese, a football club from a small town, is celebrating its centenary. In the 1970s, its team was a step away from promotion to Serie A. The story of the team is enlaced with a political narrative recounting the bloodiest and most brutal years from Italy’s history from a unique perspective.
Read moreHardly Working (Hardly working)
dir. Susanna Flock, Robin Klengel, Leonhard Müllner, Michael Stumpf
dok2022
"Hardly Working" sheds a limelight on the very characters that normally remain in the background of video games: NPCs.
Read moreHoly Father
dir. Andrei Dăscălescu
dok2020
A child coming to the world provokes future parents to confront their own relatives. For neither of them is it easy as they come from broken homes. Paula has several cautious conversations online, but her partner Andrei, the director of the documentary, decides to set out on a journey to the monastery at the foot of Mount Athos. His father, who is a devout monk now, chose to live there many years ago.
Read moreHow to Skin a Cheetah (How To Skin A Cheetah)
dir. Meghan O'Shaughnessy
fab2023
A macabre, coming-of-age story and a thriller in one. Meghan O'Shaughnessy invites the viewers to a maze full of traps, where fantasies of revenge intertwine with illness, lies, solitude, hopelessness, violence and dreams of a journey-escape to Tanzania.
Read moreJews by Choice (Czeski film)
dir. Justyna Gawełko, Tomer Slutzky
dok2024
A group of inhabitants of a small Czech town are rebuilding a destroyed synagogue, at the same time trying to give it a new lease of life. A contemporary story of the Jewish identity in one of the least religious countries of the world.
Read moreJoana Mallwitz - Momentum
dir. Günter Atteln
dok2024
The eponymous character, who conducts the best European orchestras, says that the most important thing is to have a good team – both in the family and at work. Joana Mallwitz is filmed over the breakthrough period of two years when her son is born and her career considerably speeds up.
Read moreLa Perra
Les Chenilles
dir. Michelle Keserwany, Noel Keserwany
fab2023
Asma and Sarah, two women originally from the Levant, find themselves working in the same restaurant in the city of Lyon in France. Both bear the weight of a home they were forced to leave behind. In the midst of forced migrations, can we move past our animosity to find solace in each other?
Read moreLimits of Europe (Hranice Evropy)
dir. Apolena Rychlíková
dok2024
A prominent Czech journalist leaves her family and joins “cheap labour force” in Western Europe. She experiences first-hand the struggles of Eastern European low-wage workers whose sacrifice and hard work allow for the Western society’s comfort.
Read moreManual for a Divorce (Résumé d'un divorce)
dir. Peter Ghesquiere
fab2023
Divorce is not as complicated as adults claim. You just need to split everything in two equal parts and make sure that ex-partners live far away from each other. Then after six years of tearing your hair out, shedding tears and immersion in despair, you will be able to have a civil conversation.
Read moreMoving Mountains
dir. Jessica Poon
anim2024
The characters of this animation are little creatures looking like people without faces, clothes or emotions. On the one hand, they seem to be roaming without an aim, while on the other, they try to move ‘mountains’ with all their might. This surreal story is a metaphor of the lifestyle of modern nomads constantly chasing novelty and, at the same time, entangled in old habits.
Read moreNice Ladies
dir. Mariia Ponomarova
dok2024
A team of aging Ukrainian cheerleaders hold on to their friendship as each navigates the trauma of war in her own way.
Read moreOn the 8th Day (Au 8ème Jour)
dir. Agathe Sénéchal, Alicia Massez, Elise Debruyne, Flavie Carin, Théo Duhautois
anim2023
Seven days were needed to create the world, but one day was enough to destroy everything. The authors of this animated film invite the viewers to a beautiful land, woven of colourful yarn, full of animals and plants. Imperceptibly, darkness and gloom creep into this ideal world, gradually engulfing the fauna and flora.
Read moreAwards:Special Mention
Purga
dir. Gintarė Valevičiūtė Brazauskienė, Antanas Skučas
anim2023
Winter, 1942. Beyond the Arctic Circle, on the uninhabited island of Trofimovsk in the Laptev Sea, deported peoples struggle to survive. In this harsh, alien landscape, man is a mere speck.
Read moreReady (Etoimoi)
dir. Eirini Vianelli
anim2023
When distinguished representatives of the country look at you from paintings on the walls, you had better behave decently. Meanwhile, employees of the Greek parliament kill time with meaningless activities and behave like little children. Where are those who made great Greek history?
Read moreRed Emma (Emma la rouge)
dir. Macha Ovtchinnikova
fab2023
This miniature, set in two time realities, presents a biography and philosophy of an activist Emma Goldman (1869-1940). ‘The right to vote, or equal civil rights, may be good demands’ says the protagonist, ‘but true emancipation begins in a woman's soul.’ Has this idea become outdated or perhaps it resonates nowadays stronger than ever?
Read moreResentment (Obraza)
dir. Gleb Osatinski
fab2023
17-year-old Yasha is rebelling against authority, but in 1990's Soviet Ukraine some of the opposing forces are more dangerous than others. When Yasha hits his breaking point, raw impulses propel him to the precipice of irreparable harm.
Read moreSilent Trees (Drzewa milczą)
dir. Agnieszka Zwiefka
dok2024
Runa, a 16-year-old Kurdish girl, had escaped from Iraq to avoid the attacks of ISIS and, together with her family, became stuck on the Polish-Belorussian border. Eventually, she managed to reach Poland, where she needed to grow up at an accelerated speed. Thanks to her animated drawings, the audience can discover more about her.
Read moreAwards:Golden Hobby-Horse / Wyróżnienia
The Andersson Brothers (Bröderna Andersson)
dir. Johanna Bernhardson
dok2024
A renowned Swedish director, Roy Andersson, had three brothers, but their lives parted dramatically at a certain time. A daughter of one of them, standing behind the camera, in both an intimate and uncompromising way, x-rays the family story marked by addictions and conflicts.
Read moreThe Car that Came Back from the Sea (Samochód, który wrócił z morza)
dir. Jadwiga Kowalska
anim2023
Poland, 1981. A group of young people have a dream: to have a car, be free and go on a trip to the seaside. They are not really into politics, even though shelves in shops are empty and it is impossible to get a passport. An animated road movie, in a comic book style, documenting Poland during the communist era.
Read moreThe Chalice. Of Sons and Daughters (O Tahtai. Savendar tai Seiandar)
dir. Catalina Tesar, Dana Bunescu
dok2022
A Roma group in Transylvania has a tradition that resemble aristocratic families', of passing on a chalice. The unobtrusive artefact may end up only in the hands of the male offspring of the clan. Problems with getting pregnant or giving birth only to daughters may lead to family conflicts or even pose a threat of ending the relationship. In order to avoid the tragedy, young women decide to undergo a sex-selective abortion.
Read moreThe Gospel According to Ciretta (Il Vangelo secondo Ciretta)
dir. Caroline von der Tann
dok2024
Ciretta lives in the streets of old Naples, primarily from theft and prostitution. He is also a street singer and a faithful adherent of the local Virgin Mary cult. In his company, we visit places where plebeian religiousness merges with cheerfulness and human solidarity.
Read moreThe Masterpiece (La Gran Obra)
dir. Álex Lora
fab2024
Leo and Diana, a rich couple, bring a broken TV to a recycle point. They meet Salif and his son, two scrap dealers. Diana asks them to come to their house to get more objects. Once there, Leo looks at them collecting objects with mistrust, until they see the scrap dealers have something they want.
Read moreThis Peculiar Day (Tento divný deň)
dir. Emilia Ondriasova
fab2023
Martin has it all: his own art gallery, an intelligent wife, a nice apartment and an organised and settled life. This may be the core of the problem - his everyday life is overwhelmed by all-encompassing boredom or, simply, the mid-life crisis. He decides to face it in the most mature way: by running away.
Read moreThree Birds (Tri ticice)
dir. Zarja Menart
anim2024
A girl visits a bird-woman to ask her how to deal with the problems bothering her. The strange older lady sends her on a journey inside herself, in which she is accompanied by three birds. Walking through a dark forest and murky reeds, entering a mysterious lake, the character experiences pain, fright and fear.
Read moreToo Close (Apropierea)
dir. Botond Püsök
dok2023
He did not drink, came from a respectable family and attended Mass every Sunday. Only Andrea and her daughter knew that he was a man with a friendly face which concealed dangerous tendencies. When he ended up in prison, the residents of a Transylvanian village, instead of taking the side of the pregnant woman and her child, refused to believe in his guilt.
Read moreWander to Wonder
dir. Nina Gantz
anim2023
Mary, Billybud and Fumbleton are three miniature, human actors who perform in an eighties kids TV series called “Wander to Wonder”. After the creator of the series has died, they are left alone in the studio. With their slowly decaying costumes and growing hunger, they continue to make increasingly strange episodes for their fans.
Read moreWhere Russia Ends (Tam, de zakinchuyetʹsya Rosiya)
dir. Oleksiy Radynski
dok2024
In 2022, during Russia’s on-going invasion of Ukraine, unknown film footage was discovered in Kiev. It is a testimony to the erased history of numerous imperialistic wars waged by Russia against its later colonies.
Read moreWomen Visiting a City (Las visitantes)
dir. Enrique Buleo
fab2022
Three retired women travel on a bus on their way to Europe. They have just become widows and it’s time to start living. All their lives, they have heard people talk about the wonders of tourism, and they are dying to experience it firsthand.
Read more