Neige was raised by her beloved grandfather, who offered protection from her toxic parents. His death will trigger a profound identity crisis for her as tensions between her family members escalate.
In this warm comedy-drama, medical transport driver Vic is torn between his promise to get his elderly relatives to a funeral and his desire to help Tracy, a headstrong young woman in a wheelchair. During the ride, he encounters a wealth of amusing characters and situations.
On Jane’s first day of her new job as an assistant to a powerful executive at a large firm, she gets a growing, hard-to-put-into-words feeling that something is off. Julia Garner ('Ozark') is a powerhouse in this understated manifest against systematic oppression and workplace harassment.
Etienne, a not-so-successful but endearing actor, runs a theater workshop in a prison, where he brings together an unlikely troupe of prisoners to stage 'Waiting for Godot'. When he is allowed to take the convicts on a tour outside of prison, Etienne finally has the chance to thrive.
'Baghdad in My Shadow' is a fictional thriller about a group of Iraqi immigrants living in London: Amal (Ghandour), a wife in hiding, Taufiq (Haitham Ali), an unsuccessful writer, and Muhannad, a gay IT specialist (Waseem Abbas). The three meet regularly in a local cafe, until the author's radical cousin attacks them and turns all lives upside down.
Hernán (Tomás Raimondi), a young man full of hopes and dreams, gets a job at the Central Post Office. There, a colleague teaches him the code of conduct, but reality will force him to break the rules - for Yanina, the girl he loves.
Troy (brilliantly portrayed by Steve Zahn) and his young transgender son Joe are on the run from Joe’s conservative mother Sally (Jillian Bell) in the Montana wilderness in this gripping family drama.
Ruth (Jessica Barden) joins a scrap metal crew to try and pay her way through college. Against the bleak, snowed-in backdrop of a once thriving industrial town in Ohio, it soon turns out that the cost of an education for a girl like her might be more than she bargained for.
A hot summer evening in Paris. Félix runs into Alma, and the two spend a magical night together. The next day, Alma heads off to the south of France, and in an impulse, Félix decides to follow her. A romantic road trip follows, in which nothing goes according to plan.
Vadym is a 25-year-old composer and a sound recordist living in Kyiv. Then he gets the chance to move to Canada -- provided he can record the voice of a very rare bird, which dwells only in the Transcarpathian mountains of Ukraine.
During the 1982 invasion of Lebanon at a private school on the outskirts of Beirut, 11-year-old Wissam tries to tell a classmate about his crush on her, while his teachers on different sides of the political divide, try to mask their fears.
When a truck crashes inside a tunnel, people on their way home for Christmas are brutally trapped in a deadly fire. With a blizzard raging outside, and the first responders struggling to get to the accident, it’s every man for himself.
Asia is the single mother of 17-year-old Vika (Shira Haas, Unorthodox). But when Vika’s health starts deteriorating, Asia has to find her voice as a mother and embrace and cherish their time together in this award-winning drama.
Struggling to support himself and his ailing younger brother, delivery man Ray takes a strange job in a strange new realm of the gig economy. Well crafted and confidently shot, this smart satire mixes 'Sorry We Missed You' with 'Black Mirror'.
'Calamity' tells, in beautiful animations, how the young Martha Jane Cannary grew into the legendary ‘Calamity’ Jane, one of the gunslinging heroes of the Wild West. The film rightly won the top prize at the Annecy animation festival.
A subdued drama about Cookie and King-Lu, who meet as members of a group of trappers in 19th-century Oregon. A special friendship develops between the two, and together they start a successful business in stolen milk from an expensive dairy cow.
Force of Habit follows different women in their confrontation with sexual harassment and power dynamics in their everyday lives. Written and directed by seven Finnish women in the wake of #metoo, this film is politically loaded as well as liberatingly humorous.
'Calamity' tells, in beautiful animations, how the young Martha Jane Cannary grew into the legendary ‘Calamity’ Jane, one of the gunslinging heroes of the Wild West. The film rightly won the top prize at the Annecy animation festival.
Alessandro and Arturo want to end their relationship after more than 15 years. However, their lives take an unexpected turn when a sick friend of theirs suddenly visits them, asking if they can temporarily take care of her two kids.
A zombie outbreak horror-comedy against the backdrop of Taiwanese corrupt politics: it doesn’t get any more BONKERS! than this! After the president suddenly turns into a zombie, the parliament becomes a straight up bloodbath, where protagonists Hsiung and Wang have to fight to stay alive.
International auditor Alain is tasked to appraise the airport of a small, isolated republic in the Caucasus to greenlight its eventual reopening. Through Edgar, a local boy running a make-shift business in the airport, Alain will risk all to help this territory open up.
The true, gripping, and sublimely acted story of Danish photographer Daniel Rye, who was kidnapped by IS in 2013, and his family’s efforts to get him released. This year’s rightful favourite at Film by the Sea.
Vadym is a 25-year-old composer and a sound recordist living in Kyiv. Then he gets the chance to move to Canada -- provided he can record the voice of a very rare bird, which dwells only in the Transcarpathian mountains of Ukraine.
This suspenseful thriller follows Kevin Costner as a retired sheriff and his wife (Diane Lane). After their son's tragic death, the couple sets out to find their grandson, who has fallen into the clutches of a dangerous criminal family.
A marital separation pains David, the impulsive and jealous protagonist of Robert Machoian's stark, stripped-down, but empathetic indie drama. David and Nikki have decided to allow each other some space to contemplate their relationship, but David is willing to do anything to save his marriage.
When Lola, a young transgender woman, can finally get her operation, her mother – who financially supports her – dies. To fulfill her mother’s last wish, Lola and her father travel to the Belgian coast, despite all their differences. Their journey, however, will not turn out as they imagined it…
In a Quebec Innu community, Mikuan and Shaniss struggle to maintain their close friendship when they clash over their increasing differences and diverging ambitions. Based on Naomi Fontaine's novel of the same name, 'Kuessipan' is a story about family, friendship and connection.
Part cautionary exposé of all-too-real elder abuse rackets, part welcome excuse to pit Rosamund Pike and Peter Dinklage against each other in a game of uproarious reprisals, I Care A Lot barrels along a twisty trajectory rife with terribly dark, but darkly funny, behaviour.
Celia’s life is strongly shaken up when new classmate Brisa arrives at her Catholic school. Together, the two teenagers rebel against the strict school management. Their small acts of resistance have big consequences: seeing Celia’s new-found courage, her mother can also no longer stay silent…
Spring 1995. After Switzerland's largest public drug scene 'Platzspits' is closed down, 11-year-old Mia and her heroin-addicted mother Sandrine move to an idyllic town for a new beginning. 'Christiane F.' meets 'JoJo Rabbit' in this brutally honest portrait of addiction and motherly love.
When a father (Goran Bogdan) is faced with the corrupt social services that want to take away his children, just because the family is poor, he sets out on foot across Serbia to appeal to the national ministry in Belgrade.
During the 1982 invasion of Lebanon at a private school on the outskirts of Beirut, 11-year-old Wissam tries to tell a classmate about his crush on her, while his teachers on different sides of the political divide, try to mask their fears.
In La Cañada Real, a shanty town outside Madrid, tensions are running high between the officials and the inhabitants given that the land has been sold and the families must leave the homes they put up with their own hands.
What exactly happened when Talib Ben Hassi (19) was held in police custody? Police officers Jens and Mike are on a routine patrol in the Svalegården ghetto when the news of Talib's death is announced on the radio. The news sparks a widespread protest and riots in the ghetto. Will the officers make it home safely?
Seeking a partner through a video dating service, David discovers a strange VHS tape called Rent-A-Pal. Hosted by the charismatic Andy (Wil Wheaton), the tape offers him friendship. But Andy’s friendship comes at a cost, and David struggles to afford the price of admission.
Comedian Valérie Lamercier is ‘Céline’, ehh Aline! This French-Canadian tribute to a certain world star and pop icon tells her entire story: about her humble childhood in Canada, Eurovision, 'Titanic', about her relationship with her manager, and how her heart did go on after that. Not the name, but this movie is however full of her songs!
A hot summer evening in Paris. Félix runs into Alma, and the two spend a magical night together. The next day, Alma heads off to the south of France, and in an impulse, Félix decides to follow her. A romantic road trip follows, in which nothing goes according to plan.
Terror grips a small mountain town as bodies are discovered after each full moon. Losing sleep, raising a teenage daughter, and caring for his ailing father, officer Marshall struggles to remind himself there’s no such thing as werewolves.
Sam (Firth) and Tusker (Tucci)'s relationship of 20 years is put to the test as they visit places from their past to help with Tusker early-onset dementia, and find out their future together is not so certain. Tender, heartbreaking, drama with explosive acting.
A marital separation pains David, the impulsive and jealous protagonist of Robert Machoian's stark, stripped-down, but empathetic indie drama. David and Nikki have decided to allow each other some space to contemplate their relationship, but David is willing to do anything to save his marriage.
Struggling to support himself and his ailing younger brother, delivery man Ray takes a strange job in a strange new realm of the gig economy. Well crafted and confidently shot, this smart satire mixes 'Sorry We Missed You' with 'Black Mirror'.
When Lola, a young transgender woman, can finally get her operation, her mother – who financially supports her – dies. To fulfill her mother’s last wish, Lola and her father travel to the Belgian coast, despite all their differences. Their journey, however, will not turn out as they imagined it…
In a Quebec Innu community, Mikuan and Shaniss struggle to maintain their close friendship when they clash over their increasing differences and diverging ambitions. Based on Naomi Fontaine's novel of the same name, 'Kuessipan' is a story about family, friendship and connection.
This honest and sensitive drama by Maria Sødahl tells the story of Anja (Andrea Bræin Hovig), who has just received the news that she has a terminal brain tumor. Together with her partner Tomas (Stellan Skarsgård), she tries to come to terms with this life-changing message.
A subdued drama about Cookie and King-Lu, who meet as members of a group of trappers in 19th-century Oregon. A special friendship develops between the two, and together they start a successful business in stolen milk from an expensive dairy cow.
Zed (Riz Ahmed), a young British rapper, is about to start his first world tour. However, a crippling illness strikes him down, and he is forced to move back in with his family. He tries to find himself between an international music career and Pakistani family traditions.
Prepare for BONKERS! Shorts. Films that you can make no sense of, films that are completely BONKERS. They might be absurd, shocking, hilarious, or just simply make you ask: "what did I just watch?"
This tragicomical coming-of-age film is set in Ireland during the mid-90s. Teenagers Eddie and Amber fake a relationship in order to stop everyone speculating about their sexuality. However, their ‘ideal’ arrangement begins to fall apart, forcing both of them to rethink their lives.
As Ida tries to get used to her new life with her estranged aunt's family she's confronted with lots of secrets and the same question her mother always asked her: how far will you go for your family?
A young woman (an amazing Carey Mulligan) haunted by a tragedy from her past takes revenge on the predatory men unlucky enough to cross her path. This very promising (no pun intended) debut by Emerald Fennell (producer and writer of Killing Eve) was one of the big hits at Sundance and will surely become a LIFF-favourite too!