Genre: Coming of Age

A group of young adults in a crowded nightclub, a man and woman energetically dance together in the center amid the haze and colored lights.

Club Kid

DirJordan Firstman

A hard-partying New York City club promoter sees his whirlwind lifestyle upended by the arrival of the 10-year-old son he never knew he had.

A young man in a red cap and lots of bracelets performs into a microphone as he gestures to the crowd, the atmosphere is colorful and moody and the lighting is low.

Black Perspectives New Directors Competition

Congo Boy

DirRafiki Fariala

A Congolese teen refugee in Bangui fights to protect his family and hold onto his musical dreams through rap amid growing civil precarity.

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.

International Competition

Everytime

DirSandra Wollner

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

A woman stands with her arms outstretched and face to the sky in a vast blue desert at dusk, wind tousling her hair as distant mountains frame the horizon.

New Directors Competition

I’ll Be Gone in June

DirKatharina Rivilis

An introspective German exchange student searches for meaning and kinship over a transformative year in newly post-9/11 New Mexico.

Two young girls play dress-up. One girl in a cropped red shirt wears earrings and necklaces, she looks into the distance. The other girl in a blue floral shirt examines one of the necklaces; she wears beaded bracelets, earrings, and a necklace of her own.

Documentary Competition

The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer La ilusión de un verano sin fin

DirAlessandra Sanguinetti

Filmed over 25 years, this profound study of female intimacy tracks two Argentine cousins as their days of adolescent wonder give way to sobering adulthood.

Illustration in the style of a watercolor painting, a young boy on a bicycle waves goodbye to two other children, one standing next to their bicycle and another sitting in a cell phone tower at dusk amid a meadow and cloudy sky.

Animate!

Iron Boy Le Corset

DirLouis Clichy

In this dreamy ink and watercolor animation, music and romance provide escape from rigid family obligation for an imaginative child in an iron back brace.

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.

International Competition

La Gradiva

DirMarine 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.

International Competition

Look Back

DirHirokazu 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.

A woman in army fatigues sits pensively on a dilapidated truck staring off into the distance at sunset, overgrown brush and metal fences surround her.

Documentary Competition

Mariinka

DirPieter-Jan De Pue

Spanning a decade, this sprawling yet intimate war-time epic follows several youth as their world is upended and they adapt to the crushing reality of life in Ukraine.

Two young girls sit on a rocky cliff surrounded by trees at midday and make flower crowns out of dandelions, the first girl in a striped shirt and overalls looks down as she works, the other in a pink bathing suit watches her quizzically.

Centerpiece Special Presentation

Mouse

DirKelly O’Sullivan & Alex Thompson

The latest gem from the talented Chicago filmmaking duo (Ghostlight) follows teenager Minnie, who forms a complicated relationship with her best friend’s mother.

Two teen girls sit in lawn chairs facing away from the camera, only their heads visible, they both wear friendship bracelets and each hold a hand out to the cloudy blue sky to make a heart together with their middle and pointer fingers.

Community Cinema Departures

Sad Girlz Chicas tristes

DirFernanda Tovar

The bond between teen best friends is tested when they react in drastically different ways to a traumatic event in this intimate coming-of-age.

In a warm home with colorful framed pictures a young boy in faint blue eyeshadow and blush smiles wide, he wears a bright muticolored collared shirt and beaded necklace. Around him are other children with facepaint and an older woman with red hair, they all share happy smiles.

New Directors Competition OutLook

Six Months in a Pink and Blue Building Seis meses en el edificio rosa con azul

DirBruno Santamaría Razo

Filmmaker Bruno recalls the hazy memories from his eleventh year, reconciling his budding queerness with his father’s diagnosis with HIV.

A woman and man lie on a patterned rug in close up. They both have curly brown hair. They both wear lots of jewelry and light makeup. The woman wears a brown jacket and has a lipstick stain on her hand, the man's white shirt falls off his shoulder. They stare into each others eyes enamored.

Departures Disability in Focus

Stand Up

DirMari Sanders

A young woman whose life is upended by a crash that requires her to use a wheelchair meets an aspiring standup comic whose subversive spirit helps her heal.