Synopsis

Jinwoo, a Korean American, returns to Seoul amid an escalating global crisis. Despite being exempt from service, he’s determined to enlist in the military and join the Korean soldiers being sent overseas. Awaiting his deployment day, he spends his time wandering the city’s winding streets, reconnecting with old friends and trying to win the approval of his stern, reserved father. A quiet tension builds as the big day approaches, and Jinwoo begins to question his decision.

Chicago-based director James Choi composes his images with a rare sensitivity, combining unconventional cityscapes with subtle, understated performances to cultivate a contemplative mood. A profound meditation about identity, duty, and the difficulty of choosing a path when the distinction between right and wrong is anything but clear.

Synopsis

Emi, 18, is starting to spread his wings, asserting his independence by spending more time away from home. He finds freedom in his first job at a motorcycle repair shop where he works under the tutelage of the gruff but patient Rodolfo. To his parents, he might seem increasingly aimless as he spends more and more time hanging around the garage, drifting around Buenos Aires on his motorcycle, and stealing away with his boyfriend, but Emi is led by a secret curiosity. Guided by a faint memory, he becomes increasingly focused on puzzling out the story of the biological parents who gave him up for adoption at birth.

The many definitions of family are at the heart of this unique and deeply nuanced adoption story, centered around an empathic young man with a penchant for fostering connection and honesty among those he meets. Within a complex web of characters and relationships formed by bonds beyond blood, Emi carves a space for himself in the world.

Synopsis

Set in Chicago’s Kyrgyz community, this tense drama follows a Kyrgyz family thrown into turmoil as they try to find their footing in the U.S. Eric, the prodigal son, is a working truck driver trying to save enough money to buy a house for his wife Mira and his mother. This plan is complicated, though, when his mounting gambling debts begin to catch up with him. Suddenly left to her own devices, Mira is forced to navigate a maze of immigration appointments, interpersonal strife, and suspicion.

Documentary-turned-fiction filmmaker Nurzhamal Karamoloeva crafts an urgent and compelling story about a community on edge. Fresh and vital, Only Heaven Knows portrays a people struggling to assimilate, as they endure the perils of pursuing the American Dream—an ideal that can quickly turn combustible.

Synopsis