International Feature Film Competition

A privileged space for new discoveries, our International Feature Film Competition aims to support and promote emerging filmmakers who are interested in the exploration of the expanding possibilities of cinematic discourse, and whose films engage in experimentation both on a narrative and a formal level. Showcasing a carefully curated selection of first and second feature films that have received recognition on the international festival circuit, this section of the festival was designed to foster encounters between local audiences and the new voices of contemporary arthouse cinema. The present iteration of this competition — which seemed to be an unreachable dream for a long time before its first introduction in 2022 — is, from an aesthetic perspective, by far the most heterogeneous to date, gathering outstanding films inspired by various cinematic traditions that are being re-appropriated and re-contextualized here through the directors’ surprisingly refreshing personal approaches. Ultimately, and not entirely unrelated to the conscious act of changing perspectives that binds together our selection, we are also glad that this year's programme is able to bring to our audience a greater number of female filmmakers than ever before.

Eat the Night

Caroline Poggi & Jonathan Vinel | Duration 105'

Pablo, a small-time dealer, and his teenage sister Apolline have forged an unbreakable bond through their shared obsession with the online video game Darknoon. When Pablo falls for the mysterious Night, he gets swept up in their liaison, abandoning his sister to deal with the impending shutdown of their digital haven alone. As Pablo’s reckless choices provoke the wrath of a dangerous rival gang, the end of their virtual life draws near, upending their reality...

Cu Li Never Cries

Phạm Ngọc Lân | Duration 92'

A woman tries to cling onto dimming links to her past after inheriting a pygmy slow loris from her long-estranged husband; meanwhile, her niece prepares for marriage as the young couple ponders their uncertain future together. The present and the complex echoes of Vietnamese history intertwine with a contemplative and poetic perspective.

Malqueridas

Tana Gilbert | Duration 75'

They are women. They are mothers. They are prisoners serving long sentences in a correctional facility in Chile. Their children grow up far from them, but remain in their hearts. In prison, they find affection in other partners who share their situation. Malqueridas builds their stories through images captured by them with cell phones inside the prison, recovering the collective memory of a forgotten community.

bluish

Lilith Kraxner & Milena Czernovsky | Duration 83’

Errol and Sasha, two somewhat disoriented characters in their twenties, are each aimlessly drifting through a city’s gloomy winter days. Whilst casting a soft gaze on fragments of their everyday lives, people, stories, places and realities start to overlap and intertwine. bluish describes a fragile state of being, a condition or rather an atmosphere of ambiguity and longing.

When the Phone Rang

Iva Radivojević | Duration 73'

Through an intimate reconstruction of an important phone call, When the Phone Rang investigates dislocation and the nature of remembering. In the protagonist’s 11-year-old mind, this phone call erases her entire country, history, and identity and hides its existence in books, films, and memories of those born before 1995.

Maia – Portrait with Hands

Alexandra Gulea | Duration 90'

Maia (Alexandra Gulea) was born into a semi-nomadic population under ethnic cleansing. Her granddaughter, the director, who shares the same name, has produced a vivid visual reconstruction of her journey through the 20th century. Her history blends into the larger History.

Fire of Wind

Marta Mateus | Duration 72'

The vine bore fruit and it's harvest time. Soraia, a young girl, cuts herself. Blood mixes with wine. A black bull is on the loose. Up in the oak trees, time swells, and a community takes shelter. They share bread and wine, memories and dreams, the history of a landscape. We enter a long night, where nature also speaks. The fiery wind that brings the heatwaves is burning.