Genre: Drama

A sheltered Chicago 17-year-old looks to her older half-siblings for guidance on impending adulthood—only to discover they’re more mixed up than she is.

Suffocated by the confines of suburban culture, April finds catharsis in wild, uninhibited physical movement.

As a global crisis escalates, a young man in Seoul counts down the hours to his impending military service, reflecting on his choice to enlist.

When a woman is wrongly charged with infanticide, a court case brought to vindicate her ignites both outrage and solidarity in this riveting true story.

The award-winning shorts of CineYouth 2025 showcase the talent and vision of eight young filmmakers from around the world.

Surreal visuals and wry humor animate a layered tale of a prop master who worries over a weapon on set and a conspiracy-minded car-crash victim.

In Tokyo’s dynamic cityscape, two siblings reckon with the absence of their mother and the return of their estranged father, a renowned architect.

Jean-Luc Godard’s breakthrough follows small-time crook Michel, who steals a car, murders a policeman, and then reconnects with old flame Patricia in Paris.

In this warmly spirited drama, eighty-year-old María plots to remain in her beloved Tangier home even as her daughter threatens to displace her.

A grieving mother uses vibrant Spanish dancing to cope with the loss of her youngest daughter, but the intensity of her grief threatens her relationship with her eldest child.

When 17-year-old Christy moves in with his older brother as a last resort, he finds unexpected paths forward within a complex and tight-knit community.

A young Quechua woman is torn between the sacred midwifing tradition she practices and the temptation of becoming a singer in the big city.

A woman’s near-death experience unravels her psyche and the perfect life she has built, sending her on a surreal journey through trauma and memory.

A man traverses Georgia’s vast countryside in search of his missing daughter in this bold, meditative landscape film shot entirely on an outdated cellphone.

At 18, the warm and curious Emi is starting to spread his wings as he sets out in search of his biological parents and puzzle together the pieces of his own story.

In an afterlife where souls have one week to decide where to spend eternity, Joan is faced with the impossible choice between her husband and her first love.

A feature film in the form of a triptych. The three stories all concern the relationships between adult children, their somewhat distant parent (or parents), and each other.

Oregon Territory circa 1820. A taciturn loner and a Chinese immigrant seek their fortunes via a landowner’s prized cow in this brilliant interrogation of Americana.

Brilliant but egotistical scientist Victor Frankenstein brings a creature to life in an experiment that leads to the undoing of both creator and his tragic creation.

In this mosaic cinematic portrait, young Franz Kafka pursues his passion for literature while grappling with family and work obligations in pre-World War I Prague.

A Turkish dissident seeking asylum in the U.S. will do whatever it takes to reunite with his family in this tense, expressive drama.

1899. The arrival of an idealistic teacher in a remote Alpine village unsettles the superstitious locals in this evocative, atmospheric slow burn.

From Oscar winner Chloé Zhao, Hamnet tells the powerful story of love and loss that inspired the creation of Shakespeare’s masterpiece, Hamlet.

When a powerful music mogul (Denzel Washington) is targeted by a ransom plot, he is forced to fight for his family and legacy while jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma.

With her life crashing down, Linda attempts to navigate her child’s mysterious illness, a missing person, and a hostile relationship with her therapist.

This sensitive, deeply felt tale of friendship follows twelve-year-old best mates Ish and Maram, whose bond is tested after a police stop-and-search.

When Vahid thinks he recognizes his former torturer, he sets out to prove the man’s identity even as he’s plagued by doubt in this gripping revenge thriller.

Famous movie actor Jay Kelly (George Clooney) embarks on a journey of self-discovery, accompanied by his devoted manager (Adam Sandler).

Plagued with guilt over her role in the suicide of a recently evicted man, court bailiff Orsolya wanders the city of Cluj in search of absolution.

An Italian president nearing the end of his term ponders his final acts in this thoughtful and elegant meditation on forgiveness and grace.

When a single mother and her daughters relocate to Taipei to open a night market stall, they encounter challenges and generations of secrets that threaten to upend their unity.

A dreamy, tragicomic chronicle of one year in the life of an Icelandic family of five as the parents navigate their separation.

Moving into a group facility for adults with disabilities, Luisa is curious about her new life ahead—until it is discovered that she is pregnant.

Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan embarks on a brutal campaign of colonial conquest in Southeast Asia, but madness soon takes hold.

In suburban Massachusetts circa 1970, an unemployed carpenter turned art thief plans his first big heist. When things go haywire, his life unravels.

After surviving a violent car crash in the countryside, dazed Laura is taken in by a mysterious local woman whose devoted care belies a dark past.

Nigeria 1993. A father takes his sons on a whirlwind day trip to Lagos as the chaos of a changing world threatens to envelop them.

In a remote mining town, a girl raised by a queer family searches for the truth about a mythical illness said to be spread by a loving gaze.

This playful love letter to cinema reimagines the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless in an exuberant exploration of the forces that shaped the French New Wave.

On a spiritual mission, a young nun haunted by prophetic dreams gets lost in a strange landscape, where extraordinary encounters change the course of her destiny.

Two old friends reunite for a quietly revelatory camping trip in Kelly Reichardt’s breakout, microbudget portrait of companionship and vanishing ideals.

This edgy Chicago-set drama follows a Kyrgyz family thrown into turmoil when the prodigal son gets in over his head with gambling debt.

Budapest, 1957. The young Andor’s life is turned upside down when a menacing, brutish man appears in town claiming to be his father.

This powerful and suspenseful epic charts a group of characters caught up in the tumultuous historic moment when Palestinians united against Britain’s colonial rule.

A Nigerian shoe salesman in Australia juggles fatherhood, fading traditions, and a changing world when his adolescent son comes to live with him full time.

Attempting to revive his career, struggling poet Oscar mentors a young writer from a lower-class neighborhood in this farcical portrait of ambition.

Unlucky nine-year-old Lamia is forced to get creative when she’s tasked with baking a cake in celebration of Saddam Hussein’s birthday.

Tormented by the ghosts of her past, a dying former IRA operative confronts her demons in a final shot at redemption.

When a reclusive farmer finds the lifeless body of a girl on his land, his search for truth unearths the darkness lurking among the reeds.

In 1987 Tokyo, a quirky and sensitive eleven-year-old grapples with the fallout from her father’s illness in this impressionistic portrait of coming-of-age.

Brazil, 1977. Marcelo (Wagner Moura), a university researcher, is on the lam from the country’s military dictatorship in this timely, entertaining political thriller.

Two sisters reunited with their estranged filmmaker father must confront their family’s complex past when he returns to direct a very personal film.

Eight-year-old Katya is spending summer with her grandparents in the Russian countryside. Just beyond the rolling hills and serene landscapes, a war is raging.

Unfulfilled dreams, dark obsessions, and illicit desires take center stage in this program that transports viewers into the bold and blood-curdling world of genre film. From ventriloquist dummies to unrequited love, these shorts expose our darkest fears… and create new ones.

Some worlds can only truly be conjured outside of physical reality. These eight thrilling shorts unfold in an inventive array of visual and narrative styles that come together to form a vibrant snapshot of contemporary animation.

Close ties abound in these short films spanning Brazil, Kenya, Nigeria, and the U.S. These six shorts explore the complicated relationships between parents and children, aunts and nieces, artists and their craft, and even former lovers.

Chicago and Illinois-based filmmakers experiment with genre, topic, and form in this eclectic program by students, upcoming artists, and established directors.

Unique perspectives and fresh stories drive this program of shorts by filmmakers new to the Festival who are reinventing cinema in ways both subtle and overt.

The creators of these shorts unabashedly follow their own singular visions into wildly new and weird territories.

A sculptor preparing to open a new show must balance her creative life with the daily dramas of family and friends in this vibrant portrait of art and craft.

A majestic ginkgo tree connects three characters across a century in this thoughtful, winsome meditation on the mysterious power of nature.

When the Red Army who killed his family comes back hellbent on finishing the job, “the man who refuses to die” is caught in a relentless fight full of clever, unbelievable action.

This eerie, uncommonly powerful collage explores inherited trauma and patriarchal abuses across four generations of farmworking women.

Inspired by his favorite TV detective Kojak, an eleven-year-old boy in 1980s Dublin is drawn into the city’s underbelly as he investigates his older brother’s disappearance.

Algiers, 1938. A young man shows utter indifference to the events of his life, even as he lands in jail on murder charges in this searing adaptation of Camus’ classic.

A young couple fleeing violence in their coastal town finds refuge in the mountains with a pastoral community, offering them a chance at redemption.

This elegant and emotional drama finds Marta reeling after a breakup until a world-shifting diagnosis brings clarity and purpose to her life.

Based on Denis Johnson’s novella, Train Dreams is a moving portrait of a railroad worker, who leads a life of depth and beauty in early 20th century America.

1937. Investigating a case of wrongful imprisonment, a prosecutor embarks on a paranoia-infused journey to Moscow during Stalin’s Great Terror.

With a terrified Palestinian girl on the line awaiting help, emergency volunteers scramble to send an ambulance across Gaza to save her in this harrowing true story.

A quixotic poet drives his girlfriend to her parents’ home on the outskirts of Seoul. As a lazy afternoon becomes a drunken evening, his ideals are tested.

A filmmaker, enlisting the help of his winsome family, blends fiction and reality to create an intimate, tender monument to his late mother.

Living together in a group home in Belgium, five teenage girls wrestle with the newfound responsibilities of parenthood in this warmly humanist social drama.