Synopsis

Shopping under the pseudonym “Claude,” an older woman finds solace in isolation by buying secondhand lamps online. When a seller abruptly rescinds their offer, however, Claude is determined to possess the lamp by any means necessary.

This film screens as part of the Comedic Shorts: Doing the Most program.

Synopsis

Unbound obsessions and delusional desires fuel these hilarious shorts that embody the essence of “fake it ‘til you make it!” From the delightfully heartwarming to the absolutely bonkers, these films remind us to dream big, live large, and leave it all on the field. Featuring works by Natalia García Agraz, Isabel Perry, Adam Yates, Stéphanie Bélanger, Luisa Arraes, Chris Cole, and Wissam Charaf.

In Passarinho (Mexico), two teenage best friends devise a plan to meet their dreamy idol, a superstar Brazilian soccer player. But things change when one of them gets their first period at the game. Fishbowl (United States) captures the joy and futility of trying to relive one’s youth when an unlikely pair of twentysomethings spend a summer weekend doing whatever it takes to forget their exes — and also keep a goldfish alive. Lumen (Canada) takes “the customer is always right” to new heights when an isolated woman discovers that her Facebook Marketplace order has been canceled. A wealthy matriarch’s important work dinner is thrown into disarray when her housekeeper doesn’t show up in Dadá (Dependências) (Brazil). Out of options, a grandson tries to save his hospitalized grandmother’s life with a freestyle rap, and finds himself joined by a handful of unlikely participants in Terminally Ill (United States). And a dedicated security guard finds his assignment guarding a waterfront construction site to be much more difficult than he thought in If the Sun Drowned into an Ocean of Clouds (Et si le soleil plongeait dans l’océan des nues) (France, Lebanon).

Synopsis

In this surreal vision of the not-too-distant-future, the official language of Canada is now Farsi. Against this oddball background, three slice-of-life stories emerge: Two young friends venture to retrieve money found frozen in a block of winter ice. A man quits his painfully bureaucratic government job and returns home. And a peculiar tour guide shows off some of Winnipeg’s dullest attractions to a group of discombobulated tourists. Taken together, these deadpan stories create a picture of life in the “heart of Canada” that’s both hilarious and heartwarming. Featuring masterful production design with an eye toward the absurd, director Matthew Rankin (The Twentieth Century) describes his second feature as “a love letter to Iranian cinema,” combining the soulfulness of Abbas Kiarostami with the visual whimsy of Wes Anderson to create an appealingly unusual odyssey.

Synopsis

A filmmaker immerses his daughter in the magic of cinema, where chaos meets fantasy. This creates a deep bond that will sustain them through good and bad.

Synopsis

Pierre (Vincent Lindon, La Haine, Titane), a devoted father in his fifties, is raising his two sons alone in a “rust belt” city in northern France. While the brothers couldn’t be more different — athletic Fus spends his time on football and cage fighting, while Louis’s nose is buried in his books — the three form a tight-knit family. But as Louis immerses himself in his studies, Fus’s behavior becomes increasingly furtive and distant. When it becomes clear that Fus has been seduced by a local far-right group, an explosive rift develops between him and his union-leader father.

A sense of intimacy and urgency propels this timely family drama from writer-director sister duo Delphine and Muriel Coulin, as The Quiet Son grapples with questions of how to accept and find common ground with loved ones we no longer recognize. What can be forgiven, and what line is too far to cross? The always masterful Lindon stands out as a conflicted father who’s torn between love and hate and hope and despair.