Feature Fiction Films
With the support of the Embassy of Switzerland -
As her blue-blooded Egyptian mother lies on her deathbed, Sue, a 45-year-old psychotherapist, reluctantly leaves her well-organized life in Switzerland to return to her birthplace after more than twenty years of absence. During her mystical journey, the sounds, smells, and colors of the Nile Delta and Alexandria finally give Sue the strength to confront the ghosts of her past, allowing her to reconcile with her mother and eventually become the empowered woman she ought to be.
A 20-year-old Nastka, the film narrator, was born with cerebral palsy. As a result, her world primarily consists of a window in her room through which she can see the street and every day observe passers-by, neighbours or her beloved Mateusz.
Her sister Łucja is a dancer in the national ballet, deadly ambitious and career-focused. However, she suffers a severe injury soon after she gets the leading role. She blames Nastka for that. Łucja strives to hide the issue by stuffing herself with medicines. However, the consequences get her during the performance premiere.
Just before World War 1, the fifteen-year-old poverty-stricken Anka from a small Slovak town arrives in Prague to be a maid in a wealthy family. She meets Resi, the daughter of a noble family, who was born and raised to be an adornment and a trophy – of the house, of her family, of Austria-Hungary. Anka and Resi, two girls born in the same year, but at the other ends of the social ladder, find a soulmate in each other. They become best friends, lovers and the only light in a male-dominated world.
Sylvie lives in Brest with her two children, Sofiane and Jean-Jacques, whom she raises alone. Together, they form a joyful and united family in the face of adversity. One evening, while Sylvie was working late, Sofiane was left alone in the apartment and suffered serious burns to his torso from an exploding deep fryer. After this accident, Sylvie loses custody of Sofiane. The struggle to get her son back and avoid losing ground begins.
Two sisters arrive in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley at the onset of the Syrian war, embarking on a journey into exile that tests their loyalty to their country, their family and each other.
Wracked by guilt after covering up a murder, Mona — a northern Sudanese retired singer in a tense marriage — tries to make amends by taking in the deceased’s southern Sudanese widow, Julia, and her son, Daniel, into her home.
Unable to confess her transgressions to Julia, Mona decides to leave the past behind and adjust to a new status quo, unaware that the country’s turmoil may find its way into her home and put her face to face with her sins.
With the support of Goethe Institut -
A cable car connects a village in the mountains with a small town in the valley.
Iva starts working at the cable car as an attendant.
The cable car has two gondolas.
When one gondola goes up, the other goes down.
The gondolas meet each other half way.
The attendant of the other gondola is Nino.
Iva and Nino meet each other as they drive past every half hour.
And one evening, they meet after hours.
In the sweltering Arabian Gulf heat Ananda’s dreams of a better life than the one she left behind in India are shattered after her child is forgotten on a school bus. Armed with the dead child’s ashes, she stands up against society’s ‘invisible’ caste, refusing the customary blood money and demanding accountability.
After the sudden death of her husband, Nawal is struggling to cope with the upheaval in her life. However, her pain is soon compounded by the possibility of losing her home to her brother-in-law. Desperate to keep her home and provide a stable life for her daughter, Nawal resorts to deception by faking a pregnancy. But as time passes, the lie becomes harder to sustain and Nawal faces a difficult choice. With only three weeks to find a solution, Nawal embarks on a journey that challenges her fears, beliefs, and morality, as she fights to secure her rightful inheritance and protect her daughter’s future.
With the support of the Embassy of Belgium -
One night, a woman in danger calls the police. Anna takes the call. A man is arrested. Weeks go by, the courts search for evidence, and Aly, Anna and Dary face the echoes of that night that they cannot leave behind.
Set in the desolate wreckage of Beirut’s Piccadilly Theater after decades of war, the film recounts three days in the life of a writer and actors. As they seek to revive the ghostly theater with a production of Sophocles’ “Elektra,” the actors witness the vivid dreams of the writer who has to confront the contempt and lies of the two-faced actors and ultimately her own murder.
Days after giving birth to a stillborn baby, Robin’s breasts start to produce milk. Unable to throw the milk away, Robin takes the unusual decision to donate her milk. As her quest for a place to donate becomes more difficult than anticipated, more and more milk starts to crowd her freezer, relationship and life.
Feature Documentary Films
THE HOMES WE CARRY portraits a family torn apart by the turmoil of world history between Germany, Mozambique and South Africa. At the center is Sarah, a young Afro-German mother. She wants her daughter to have the relationships she herself lacked as a child. Therefore, she travels with her to Africa, where her own father and the child's father are waiting for them. But meeting Luana's father, who suddenly has to grow up when Sarah shows up at the door with his daughter, presents both of them with great challenges. Meanwhile, Sarah's father Eulidio recalls the almost forgotten and unjust history of the Mozambican contract workers in the former GDR. In his nostalgic day dreams, he returns to the origins of his European family and their sudden separation - a fate he shares with many other German-Mozambican families.
Three Promises is the story of a mother and her camera, of a son and his suppressed memories, and of an entire country. At the start of the 2000s, while the Israeli army is retaliating against the second intifada in the West Bank, Suha films her daily family life, punctuated by frequent trips underground and overwhelmed by the anguish of her two young children. At every moment of intense danger, she promises God that she will leave if they survive.
Family Stories Untold is an animated documentary, in which seven different women's stories about family are woven into one life-long piece. It begins with Iida, 9, who after her parents' nasty divorce helps Mummy find a new man on Tinder, and ends with Lisbeth, who has been forced into a retirement home by her children. It's a story about a life in which we don't have the courage to voice our opinions, desires and expectations.
‘Escape’ is a poetic and intimate journey on the path of exile, through the story of five Syrian women artists scattered in different countries. From Paris to Berlin, from Oslo to Istanbul, the protagonists recount their broken story and their personal revolution, through their artistic practice. While painting the portrait of a generation of creative and independent women, the film generates a reflection around the sense of belonging and the role of art in the reinvestment of a new life.
With the support of Embassy of Tunisia -
Between light and darkness stands Olfa, a Tunisian woman and the mother of four daughters. One day, her two older daughters disappear. To fill in their absence, the filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania invites professional actresses and invents a unique cinema experience that will lift the veil on Olfa and her daughters' life stories. An intimate journey of hope, rebellion, violence, transmission and sisterhood that will question the very foundations of our societies.
Pegah, a teenage girl is passionate about singing, however political and Islamic laws and rules in a male dominated society don't allow her to pursue her dreams as it is said that women's voices are forbidden to be heard. She resists and finds her master who supports her without noticing what the society dictates. her master teaches her to be strong against the adversities and help her to fix her two broken wings to fly.
With the support of Goethe Institut -
In the aftermath of the catastrophic explosion from August 4th 2020 in Beirut, a film crew is facing a serious dilemma: should they defy the chaos and move forward with the shooting of their film or surrender to the multiple crises that are spreading all over the country? Dancing on the Edge of the Volcano captures their relentless battle to keep making cinema in a shattered city.
With the support of the Embassy of Spain -
TRINI was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2010. PACO, her husband, has been caring for her at home, but when the situation becomes untenable they make the hard decision to put Trini in a nursing home.
On a handmade set recreating her Casablanca neighborhood, young Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir enlists family and friends to help solve the troubling mysteries of her childhood. There, she starts to unravel the layers of deception and intentional forgetting that have shaped her life.
SHORT FICTION FILMS
When Shadi embarks on a secret adventure, he accidentally drags his proud Palestinian family into a trap where they only have two choices; either collaborate with the Israeli occupation, or be shamed and humiliated by their community.
In Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, a woman walks into a chadari store in Kabul to buy her first full-body veil and face an uncertain future.
Ada, a 17yo teenager faces social pressures from her conservative society while she pursues her first summer romance. Things take a turn for the worst when her care-free cousin arrives in town.
Under constant pressure from her ex-husband, Nazanin should turn their child - Aban, nine years old - away from a very driven feminine taste. One day, Aban goes to the hospital thinking of undergoing life-changing surgery.
"In the Night" is about a longtime married couple who realize amidst the still-unfolding COVID-19 pandemic that they have suddenly fallen out of love. They spend their night trying to fall in love – again.
A peaceful demonstration in Minsk is brutally put down by the police. Two female journalists from an independent Belarusian TV station are the only ones broadcasting the events live. When they are tracked down by a police drone, they face a dramatic choice.
Hassan is assembling wooden boards. His wife is dead. He is building her coffin. Tamara and Rami, the children, in their twenties, are helping him as best they can to fulfill the last wishes of the deceased: to be buried in her childhood village, abandoned for more than 20 years.
A 6-year-old mute boy attends a pre-school health screening with his mother. At the test, he makes a decision that changes everything.
A father and mother are faced with the painful task of washing and shrouding their transgender daughter. Shrouding is an Islamic religious practice that is deemed obligatory to carry out upon death. But when no one agrees to wash her and shame falls onto the family, how far is the father willing to go to make sure his "son" is washed?
Three siblings learn that the land they inherited from their father may be put up for sale. Latifa, the eldest, and Slim, the youngest, don't really believe it, being too accustomed to unfinished deals, while Nadia, the youngest, thinks things will come to a conclusion. Her hope eventually infects the siblings, leading them to spend an evening dreaming of a better life.
In late September 2008, Xiaomin, class president in her elementary school graduating class, is reported by her classmates to have been seen consorting with street hooligans outside the school.
“All Clocks Stopped in the Drawer” follows the journey of Jana as she tries to find a way to bury her younger brother. The film starts at the hospital where she is given one day to get him out.
A misunderstanding between Nadia, a cineast and her former lover sparks a slow-burning conflict that delves deep into their shared past, exploring the bittersweet nuances of longing and moving on and navigating the complexities of love and heartbreak.
In present day Beirut, pregnant Layal, accompanied by her best friend, drive through the night to a clandestine abortion clinic.
Once upon a night in Galicia where the vast ocean exchanged roles with the vast sky, a group of stars jumped down and took a dip in the Atlantic. And while the stars happily swam in the ocean, the black sky still had one star shining alone up there. That star had different plans for the night; she will wait till the very last end of the dark and sneak down to earth to meet her lover.
A single mother’s adventure by the seaside leads her to recognise her unnecessary martyrdom for her disabled teenage daughter.
Olga, a music-loving octogenarian, is tired of killing humans. Could it be the vampire blues? For her daughter Simone, she’s just being picky! Olga is placed in a care home where she can deal with those “who have one foot in the grave”
Caught in the quietness of separation, a woman quietly observes her neighbor through her window as he gathers his belongings to flee his house.
Going through a vulnerable teenage period and parents' divorce, Camilla's naive world is falling apart. Trying to manage with her new reality and uncontrollable desires, she decides to escape to a quiet place with her friend Raushan. There she hopes to find a little love that she desperately needs.
Mistaken as chefs, Hala and Farah embark on an absurd journey of having to cook a lobster to make an extra amount of cash.
A car drives to a Moroccan village. On board, Maïne and her family surround the father's coffin. Tomorrow, the men will bury him and the women will wait at home. But the young girl takes a very dim view on it and intends to lead with her father to his final resting place.
While guarding his aunt’s house in a remote Lebanese village one night, Anis is forced to pretend he is a thief to save his life from a break-in. After successfully convincing the two burglars, Anis is coerced into helping them move all his aunt’s valuables to a remote storage facility nearby. The following day, as Anis goes to report the crime at the local police station, and is surprised to discover that the burglars are in fact law enforcement officials.
One day, a girl living in a village sees blood on her panties. She’s having menstruation, but she doesn't know what it is. She hesitates to ask someone and tries to discover on her own. She finally finds an answer, but that answer is only the part of the cycle she’s in.
In a dystopian Rome, a law is enforced which doesn’t allow immigrant families to have more than three children. If a fourth is to be expected, he or she must be born, however, one of them must then be killed, giving the females priority for sacrifice. Zoe, Iris and Clio are three sisters, but one of them will soon be killed.
A girl who dreams of acting since childhood،Like a horse that wants to be the first in all competitions... She enters the film office for an audition.
Rim is a Tunisian interpreter working in France on asylum procedures. Every day, she translates the stories of exiled men and women, whose voices raise questions about her own history.
Racing against time, a dedicated actress scrambles to prepare for an unexpected casting call, juggling her lines, look, and the road ahead.
Short Documentary Films
The film “Women in Armenian Cinema” is dedicated to the 100-year history of Armenian cinema. It highlights the names of forgotten Armenian women directors who were active during the Soviet Era and presents new films made during the years of independence.
As a magical moon creeps in, different timelines entwine in the mysterious and stagnant town of Manzanillo.
A female chimney sweeper gives insight into her experiences as a woman in a male-dominated profession. The behavior she encounters is very different from that experienced by her male colleagues.
From my room in Paris, in exile after 7 years away from Syria, far from my father who is alone, with the ghosts of the past and a lost future, I record our phone conversations on the internet. He describes the country to me, his loneliness, his pain. I film this screen that both unites and separates us, my only window of communication. My memories fade every day, my life severed, my homeland unreachable. This short documentary explores exile, the father-daughter relationship, being a stranger abroad and within, through a fragmented sound that attempts to bring us together.
Yasmine is a young woman forced to raise her 3 younger siblings after being struck with life’s difficult circumstances. Trying to provide for their stability, she begins working random part time jobs to make quick and easy money and is constantly trying to balance between her personal life and work life. This family’s journey is difficult, but it is surely heartwarming. Throughout the film, we discover why Yasmine has to be responsible for her siblings despite her age.
In a small village in the Bekaa valley, Lebanon, three elderly women, grappling with aging, health challenges, and mourning a family loss from COVID-19, struggle to initiate their annual Hakoura (vegetable garden) planting. To ease their burden, a young relative steps in, eager to learn their knowledge, guided by their instructions from the balcony. A cross-generational story highlighting the importance of ritual preservation..
Fairy Fingers is a documentary that tells the story of my son, who, despite his difference was able to grow up, take on challenges and realize his potential. It’s a story about how I, as a parent, went from a feeling of helplessness to one of pride and fascination.
Through her daughter's lens, a woman reflects on her exile from Lebanon and death as she goes through her late mother's diaries.
In 2011, Leah decided to go to Lebanon to film with her grandmother. Two weeks after the shoot, her grandmother died of metastatic lung cancer. It took her 12 years to get the courage to revisit their last conversations. Through memories and poems she draws the portrait of her grandmother in homage to her unique character.
A filmic glimpse into the daily lives of teenage Syrian refugees in Bourj El Barajneh Camp in Beirut, Lebanon. This short was made at a collaborative film workshop with the students at Alsama Center in Bourj.
As Lebanon faces a devastating economic crisis, its citizens lose access to electricity, transportation, water, and healthcare. In response, Joa Antoun begins offering free tattoos to breast cancer survivors, treating her clients’ breasts as a canvas for incredible pieces of art. Although tattoos are still considered a taboo in much of the Middle East, Joa and the women who come to her for help allow these tattoos to become a tool for healing and transformation.
Tilka is an intimate portrait of five women navigating multiple crises in Lebanon: prolonged economic collapse, a global pandemic and the aftermath of the Beirut port blast. Najah, Tima, Rania, Fatima and Fida meet in March 2021 for an artist’s residency in the mountains outside Beirut, coming together to create an original piece of theatre. As the country grapples with the collapse, they weave together a story inspired by their experiences as women fighting against the odds for their rights.
Short ANIMATED Films
A journey to a dream through an encounter between Suna, a twelve-year-old girl who uses leaves as a blanket, and an old man who possesses secret knowledge. A reflection on friendship between a father and a daughter, a teacher and a student, an adult and a child, and the path that can turn the impossible into possible.
A solitary female in a room goes into labor with excessive noise, perpetually playing the roles written for her by Society. Is it destined, then, for women to be mothers? and what does adult femininity.
Woman is my last name is a celebration of the full spectrum of womanhood, from the complex vulnerability to the hidden power.
In Ahmedabad, Isabel gives an animation workshop to a group of temporary tattoo artists, the Mehndi. She interviews them about their dreams: to fly, a women's parliament, travel to Switzerland, and claiming independence through rap.
A woman going through metamorphosis of becoming a mother.
When the present moment is caught between sharpness and degeneration, a young woman and her grandmother attempt to keep alive the legacy of memory through the poignancy of remembrance.
Two One Two, by award-winning filmmaker Shira Avni, combines shimmering clay on glass animation with personal archives in this deeply intimate, experimental animated documentary love letter to motherhood, parenting on the spectrum, and two headed monsters everywhere.
In a mysterious forest, a woman is slowly lured into a nostalgic daydream as she observes butterflies.
Dance Films
In the powerful short film "seCURE," sexual violence and its aftermath are explored through the captivating perspectives of four survivors. Through expressive dance and poetry, their inner world is unveiled, depicting their search for safety. As they navigate a seemingly comforting yet lifeless environment, the key held between their fingers becomes a guiding symbol. Ultimately, the film conveys the profound journey towards finding safety within their own bodies.
Behind seven lakes, seven hills, seven forests, there is a seemingly idyllic land. And in it, as if by magic, an unexpected meeting happens not only once but three times. The first time, as if from a flying carpet, we see an animalistic figure in the thicket. The second time, we observe a frisky animal herd colliding with otherness. For the third and final meeting, the moment when a man enters the ordered world of nature.
A winter dance duet between two souls moving in and out of each other’s worlds.
A short story expressed through the art of dance about a young outcast who, from childhood’s hour had not been as others were; had not seen as others saw; could not love, from a common spring could not awaken her heart to joy with the same tone. And all that she dreamt…
She Dreamt alone.
From the depths of the Earth to the dunes of an unknown desert, a group of women embark on an initiatory journey. A pagan mass, a quest, or a common elevation, The Goddam Milky Way celebrates femininity in all its roughness and complexity.
