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International Competition

Masterful, stylish, and bold, these powerful cinematic visions represent the best in filmmaking from around the globe.


Two women sit at water's edge in a bustling city at night. A woman with long blonde hair looks over her shoulder tensely as a woman with a black pixie cut looks mindfully to the sky.

All of a Sudden

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi

Marie-Lou, the director of an elder care facility, is on the verge of burnout when a chance encounter sparks a deep, transcendent friendship.

A man and woman stand outside at night dressed in upscale attire, the couple is smiling warmly and behind them is greenery and string lights.

Clarissa

Arie Esiri, Chuko Esiri

Adapting Mrs. Dalloway to modern Lagos, this evocative drama captures post-colonial class tensions, memory, and desire across a single momentous day.

A woman and child stand together bundled in coats, the woman has a hat and scarf, her arm around the child. The child points into the distance smiling, a blurry city behind them.

The Diary of a Chambermaid Le journal d'une femme de chambre

Radu Jude

In this potent satire, a Romanian nanny working in France grows weary of her employer’s exploitation while rehearsing a play that echoes her plight.

Two women in ornate Bangladeshi wedding attire gather closely, one in a pink sari with floral hairpiece, the other in gold. The woman in gold leans agasint the woman in pink supportively, hand resting on her back, they smile.

The Difficult Bride

Rubaiyat Hossain

A privileged bride’s reality starts to unravel as traditional pre-wedding beauty rituals begin to elicit strange visions and physical reactions.

A woman with blonde hair and bangs walks away from stone ruins on a hill. She wears a blue button-up shirt and has a backpack slung over her shoulder. Dry hills and a dirt road expand beyond her, a dusty sky over the horizon.

The Dreamed Adventure Das geträumte Abenteuer

Valeska Grisebach

Searching for her missing friend Said in a Bulgarian border town, archeologist Veska unearths a secret criminal network in this engrossing, slow-burn epic.

A man and woman in close up stand face to face, leaning against one another nose to forehead. The man wears a gray sweater and an earring, he has chin lentgh brown hair and a beard. The woman, wearing black, has brown hair worn in a ponytail, they smile at each other against a red background.

The Echo Chamber

Andrea Pallaoro

A therapist and a music producer are drawn into an unlikely affair in this riveting psychological drama interrogating desire, addiction, and obsession.

A woman and two young people sit on a mountian overlook above a rugged coastline, gazing at the landscape as the young girl hugs the woman from behind.

Everytime

Sandra Wollner

A year after a tragic loss, three people united in grief search for healing during an island vacation where memory and reality blur.

Side profile portrait of a woman with a bun wearing over-ear headphones, contemplatively gazing across calm water at dusk in cool blue light.

Far From the Trees Lejos de los árboles

Meritxell Colell Aparicio

A sound artist capturing recordings across Peru is pursued by the ghosts of her family’s legacy of exile in this journey through memory and identity

Three friends together at a warm, dimly lit party; a man in a brown jacket has his arm around a woman with bangs and split-dyed hair, another man is blurry in the foreground as they all laugh.

I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning

Clio Barnard

A tight-knit working class friend group’s bond is tested when Rian returns home to Birmingham in this compassionate portrayal of blue-collar life.

A young man stands alone in a large museum, he wears a white graphic tee and blue joggers and stands in front of a large classical marble statue and green marble pillars.

La Gradiva

Marine Atlan

A high school trip to Naples becomes the staging ground for a profound coming-of-age experience in this spellbinding, mythic portrait of teenhood.

Two young women in close up sit at a table on the floor, they draw with dip ink pens as warm sunlight spills into the room through the windows behind them.

Look Back

Hirokazu Kore-eda

This ode to the creative spirit follows two small-town girls whose friendship is fueled by their shared passion and dream of becoming manga artists.

Two couples stand on a beach as a wave hits the shore, behind them an expanse of trees, both men and one of the women look off into the distance contemplative, the other woman smiles as she stares at the man furthest from her.

Possible Love

Lee Chang-dong

When an affluent documentarian centers a working-class couple in her new film, their lives become dangerously intertwined in this bold, searing drama.

A family of four and a dog gather around an elegant table in a front lawn. The small table is set perfectly, food set out, and they pose smiling in warm sunlight. Behind them ivy, stairs, and a mansion frame the yard.

The Spiral L'Estranea

Paolo Strippoli

A Faustian bargain sends a once-perfect family on a harrowing downward spiral in this twisted fable from The Holy Boy director.

Program Patron

Jacolyn and John Bucksbaum Family Foundation

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