Suffering from acute kidney failure, Boonmee has chosen to spend his final days surrounded by his loved ones in the countryside. Surprisingly, the ghost of his deceased wife appears to care for him, and his long lost son returns home in a non-human form. Contemplating the reasons for his illness, Boonmee treks through the jungle with his family to a mysterious hilltop cave—the birthplace of his first life.
Martin is a neurotic web designer taking baby steps out of the isolation of his one-room apartment and his virtual reality. Mariana is an artist fresh out of a a long relationship. They are perfect for each other, live on the same street, in opposite buildings, but they never meet. Can the movement of a modern city of three million people bring them together?
A sailor takes a short leave to visit his hometown and see if his mother is still alive.
A photographer, Isaac is asked by hotel owners to take portraits of their recently deceased daughter Angélica. When he looks at her through the lens of his camera, she appears to come back to life just for him. He instantly falls in love with her. From that moment, he will be haunted by Angélica day and night.
An early 20th-century sultan is introduced to the cinematograph with the help of a former operator for the Lumiere brothers.
A man returns to a city to try to track down a woman he met six years earlier.
During a brief rule towards the end of the 19th century, the Italian duke Amadeo of Savoy occupied the Spanish throne. However, confined to the safety of life within the palace walls, the lonely, frustrated king and his servants succumb to playful adventures focused more on pleasure than his duties.
Maria suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Luis, Maria's fifteen-year-old grandson, doesn't say very much either; he shuts himself off in his own silent world to escape his parent's marital crisis, spending time instead picking up stray cats and dogs off the street. His father, Miguel, wants to put a stop to this eccentric behavior, but his protective mother Alice indulges him. Nevertheless, the animals begin to appear at home in increasing numbers, making life complicated for the family in their flat.
On a train to Algarve, a young man recounts to a fellow passenger his past relationship with an eccentric young woman.
Ann, a cute video store clerk, calls a suicide hotline when her boyfriend breaks up with her. She speaks with Don, who volunteers there when he's not selling real estate for his dad. By chance, he finds out who Ann is.
The Three Wise Kings travel in search of the Messiah, with unexpected obstacles on the way.
Different faces show us an Iran where tradition and modernity coexist and confront each other. Erfan Shafei invites us to discover a country through its music and its people. Erfan is a funny and ironic young Kurdish man who wants to become a film director. He sings, writes poetry, lives with his parents and his parrot, but knows nothing about love...
Trusting in fate, Don Quixote and Sancho pursue their travels in search of adventure day and night. They ride through fields, talking about subjects as varied as spirituality, chivalry and daily life. A growing bond of friendship unites them.
Isa uses a tape recorder to record messages to herself and then reads them out. She is hoping for change to come, which isn’t surprising. She lives in a small community in southwest Spain where nothing ever happens. All the young people have left. For those who stay behind, time seems to stand still.
A companion piece to Les Unwanted de Europa (IFFR 2018) and Checkpoint Berlin (IFFR 2020), I morti rimangono con la bocca aperta extends Fabrizio Ferraro's project of retracing the historical footsteps of those fleeing persecution.
Portraying the last days in the life of philosopher Walter Benjamin (1892–1940), whose writings such as The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction have become of seminal importance in cultural criticism, Ferraro not only deals with a historical and philosophically fascinating subject, but has also crafted a landscape film of immense beauty.
A Spaniard in Argentina becomes aware of his approaching death while staying at a hospital, so he decides to run away from Buenos Aires and start a trip up North, heading nowhere in particular.
"Listening Gabriel" it is a full of magic urban story about fear to the unknown, personal growth and love as the main force for live. Gabriel is a strange and solitary young boy who lives inside his own world. New in town, Sara is a passionate and independent violinist that moves to the same building where Gabriel lives. Carlos, on their part, has just left the jail because of his dark past and he can't find the courage to meet his son Gabriel after 16 years. Three wandering characters in their own personal way who will meet in a crossroads in their lives. Around a missing piano and the world of music that surround it, they will have to find the hope and the motivation to love, to live and to forgive.
A man is consumed with the idea of acquiring a chair from a bric-a-brac shop.
Mr. Emmer is a jaded Film Director, Catarina the assistant of an absent Producer. Together they embark on a journey in search of Hölderlin's places, for a never forgotten project on the German poet. But during the journey their aspirations will prove to be an obstacle for the realisation of any work. A love song for a suffering Nature.
