BRIGHT NIGHTS

by Thomas Arslan
Germany, Norway // 86 min

Berlin-based engineer Michael must travel to

Norway for his fathers funeral. His sister is
unwilling to go, and Michael is left alone with
his 14-year-old son Luis, with whom he has
always had minimal contact. Michael tries to
bond with Luis while exploring the remote
region of northern Norway for a few days. But
their first trip together is much more difficult
than expected. Daily interaction is unfamiliar
territory to both, and Luis obviously holds a
grudge because of his fathers negligence. But
during these longest days of summer, Michael
is determined to break a bittersweet father-son
pattern.

Festivals: Berlin IFF (Silver Bear for Best Actor), Hong

Kong IFF, Buenos Aires IFIC, Taipei Golden Horse FF

Not available in: Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia,
Austria, Norway
 SCARRED HEARTS
by Radu jude
Romania, Germany // 141 min
During the summer of 1937, Emanuel, a young
man in his early 20s, is committed to a
sanatorium on the Black Sea coast for treatment
of his bone tuberculosis. The treatment consists
of painful spine punctures that confine him to a
plaster on a stretcher-bed. Little by little, as
Emanuel gets accustomed to the sadness of his
new life, he discovers that inside the sanatorium
there is still a life to be lived to the fullest. He
makes friends and engages in conversations, he
reads, he writes, he smokes and drinks, interacts
with doctors, nurses and stretcher-bearers. While
the outside Romania doesnt have much to offer
him, turning more and more into an extreme
right-wing society...
Festivals: Locarno Festival(Special Jury Prize), BFI London
IFF, Hamburg FF (Hamburg Producers Award), Haifa FF
(Special Mention), Busan IFF, Goteborg FF and 11 more.

Not available in: Romania, France, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg

 CHEVALIER
by Athina Rachel Tsangari
Greece // 105 min

In the middle of the Aegean Sea, on a luxury

yacht, six men on a fishing trip decide to play
a game. During this game, things will be
compared. Things will be measured. Songs will
be butchered, and blood will be tested.
Friends will become rivals and rivals will
become hungry. But at the end of the voyage,
when the game is over, the man who wins will
be the best man. And he will wear upon his
little finger the victorious signet ring: the
"Chevalier."

Festivals: Locarno Festival, Toronto IFF, IFF Rotterdam,

SXSW, BFI London IFF (Best Film), Sarajevo IFF (Best
Film), Cartagena FF (Best Film), Thessaloniki FF
(Audience Award), Goteborg FF, New York FF, Hamburg
FF, San Francisco IFF and 30 more.

Not available in: Greece, United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta, Portugal, Poland, Cyprus, Germany, Austria,
Ireland, Estonia, Lithuania
 FROST
by Sharunas Bartas
Lithuania, Ukraine // 132 min

Rokas and Inga, a couple of young

Lithuanians, volunteer to drive a cargo van of
humanitarian aid to Ukraine. When plans
change and they find themselves left to their
own devices, they cross the vast snowy lands
of the Donbass region in search of allies and
shelter, drifting into the lives of those affected
by the war. They approach the frontline in
spite of the danger, all the while growing
closer to each other as they begin to
understand life during wartime.

Festivals: Cannes IFF (Directors Fortnight), Locarno

Festival, Transylvania IFF, Odesa IFF, New Horizons FF,
Haifa FF, Busan IFF

Not available in: France, Portugal, Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania

 COLO
by Teresa Villaverde
Portugal // 136 min

Struggling against the crisis in Portugal a

mother doubles up jobs to pay the bills since
her husband is unemployed. Their teenage
daughter tries to keep living her everyday life
even if the moneys running short and makes
everything uneasy. Escaping from their
common reality, they slowly become strangers
to one another, as the tension grows in silence
and in guilt.

Festivals: Berlin IFF, Uruguay IFF, Hong Kong IFF, Indie

Lisboa, Melbourne IFF, Scanorama FF Vilnius, Bildrausch
Filmfest Basel (Best Film)

Not available in: Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Portugal, France
 GODLESS
by Ralitza Petrova
Bulgaria, Denmark, France // 99 min

In a remote Bulgarian town, Gana looks after the

elderly with dementia, while trafficking their ID
cards on the black market of identity theft. At
home, she provides for her jobless mother, with
whom she hardly speaks. Her relationship with
her car-mechanic boyfriend is no shelter for love
either with sexual attraction vanished, intimacy
is reduced to an addiction to morphine. Things
start to shake up, when Gana hears the music of
Yoan, a new patient, whose ID card she has
trafficked. A growing empathy for the old man
unlocks Ganas conscience. But when Yoan is
arrested for fraud, she learns that doing the right
thing comes at a high price.
Festivals: Locarno Festival (Best Film, Best Actress),
Sarajevo IFF (Special Jury Prize), CPH PIX (Best Film),
Reykjavik IFF (Best Film), Toronto IFF, Torino FF, Black
Nights IFF, Hamburg FF and 14 more.

Not available in: Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway

 LIVING AND OTHER
FICTIONS
by Jo Sol
Spain // 81 min

The desire to have a full sex life becomes a vital,

political option when Antonio, a tetraplegic
writer, decides to set up a space offering sexual
assistance in his own home. He who wants to live
ends up having problems with life.

Festivals: San Sebastin IFF, Goteburg FF, Munich IFF,

D'A Film Festival, Queer Lisbon (Jury Prize), Toulouse
Cinespaa (Violette dOr)
 THE LAST FAMILY
by Jan P. Matuszyski
Poland // 123 min
Zdzisaw Beksiski, a Polish surrealist painter, is a
cult artist who has portrayed decaying bodies
and fantasized of hard core S&M sexual
experiences. Known for his keen sense of humor,
he is also scared of spiders and tending to his
sick mother. His neurotic, suicidal son, Tomasz, is
a cult radio DJ and translator, responsible for the
Polish versions of Monty Python films. His wife,
Zofia Beksiska, a devoted Catholic, endures
these two eccentrics and glues the family
together. As the parents try to prevent their son
from hurting himself, their lives are defined by
painting, a series of near-death experiences,
funerals and changing trends in dance music.

Festivals:
Cameraimage (Best Film), Locarno Festival
(Best Actor), Molodist IFF (Best Fim), Sofia IFF (Special try
Award), CPH PIX, Reykjavik IFF (Best Film), Black Nights
IFF, Hamburg FF and 10 more.

Not available in: Poland, France, Monaco

 SOLEIL BATTANT
by Clara & Laura Laperrousaz
France, Portugal // 95 min

For the holidays, Gabriel and Iris return to a

family house in Portugal with their daughters
Emma and Zoe, irresistible six-year-old twins. In
the heart of a solar landscape, between bathing
in the river and their kids laughter, the couples
past resurfaces.

Festivals: Black Nights IFF, Bordeaux IFF, Arras FF,

Gardanne FF of Automn, Auch Festival

Not available in: France, Portugal

 THE GIANT
by Johannes Nyholm
Sweden, Denmark // 86 min

Rikard is an autistic and severely deformed man

who tries to find his way back to his long lost
mother through the game of ptanque and using
the help of a 200 foot giant. His fragile physique
and a harsh judging environment makes
everyday life tough for him. Convinced that his
mum will take him back if only he wins the Nordic
championship of petanque, Rikard tries to do the
impossible.

Festivals: San Sebastian IFF (Special Jury Prize),

Reykjavik IFF (Special Mention), Warsaw IFF (Free Spirit
Award), IFF Rotterdam, BFI London IFF, CPH PIX,
GardenCity IFF

Not available in: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland