Synopsis

Johan lives a quiet and reclusive life on his farm, cutting reeds in the Dutch lowlands and caring for his granddaughter. His world is shaken when he comes upon the lifeless body of a young woman on his property. While the mysterious tragedy stirs up conflicts and tensions between neighboring factions in the community, Johan senses a presence much more sinister lurking in the marshlands.

An atmospheric character study of both the reed-cutter and the land itself, Sven Bresser’s simmering debut breathes vivid life into the landscape—a beautiful yet foreboding wild that harbors secrets among the labyrinth of reeds. These secrets give way to a void of pervasive darkness that lies just below the surface of the everyday.

Synopsis

Fiercely independent eighty-year-old Spaniard María is a vibrant lifelong member of her beloved Tangier community, but her stability is threatened when daughter Clara arrives for a long-overdue visit. In dire financial straits after a divorce, Clara intends to sell the family home, left to her by her late father, and even begins liquidating the property’s antiques to hasten the proceedings. But María won’t go so easily. Determined to find the financial means to keep her apartment and win back her belongings, María sets out on a surprising, romance-fueled late-in-life adventure.

Screen legend Carmen Maura (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Volver) delivers an unforgettable performance suffused with warmth, humor, and gentle defiance in this crowd-pleasing story of a woman refusing to relinquish neither her independence nor her dignity. Making her Spanish-language debut, Moroccan director and Festival alum Maryam Touzani (The Blue Caftan) brings a palpable sense of place to the screen. She renders María’s colorful coastal enclave in bright hues and her winning ensemble of neighbors with affection, richness, and complexity.

Synopsis

Recently widowed at 75, Germain is struggling with solitude and overwhelmed by his anxious, overbearing children’s constant worry. Craving escape and determined to honor a long-kept promise to his late wife, he secretly takes her place in a contemporary dance troupe. Last Dance is a deeply-felt, tenderhearted portrait of enduring love.