Film Catalogue

In Claude Chabrol’s Bluebeard, we are confronted with one of the most constant philosophical-existential themes in the great French director’s filmography: the fog and opacity that cloak the human impulse towards violence and evil. The eponymous hero, a bourgeois dandy, repulsive yet charming at the same time, repeatedly puts into practice an evil plan to ensure a comfortable life: he seduces and murders middle-aged women after persuading them to give him access to their bank savings. Deliberately leaving the crimes out of frame and placing detailed emphasis on the painstaking preparations, shockingly stripped of all emotion, Chabrol weaves a chilling parable about the slaughterhouse of the World War I, patriarchal authority, and the generalized greed of a society of self-isolation and self-interest. At the same time, he builds an unconscious bridge between the two main periods of his work, providing a smooth transition from the New Wave to the era of psychological thrillers.

Athens, Greece. Luca resorts to armed robbery to fund his dream of studying method acting in New York. In a heist gone wrong, he accidently critically injures Ilias, an innocent bystander. While visiting Ilias in the hospital trauma ward, Luca forms an unlikely friendship, but he keeps his crime a secret.

Set against the backdrop of the breathtaking yet harsh landscape of the Irish countryside – which serves as more than just a simple prop, Bring Them Down concocts a violent thriller fraught with asphyxiating tension that delves into themes such as guilt, revenge, and toxic masculinity. Michael, a shepherd still haunted by a tragic incident in his past, gets tangled up in a dangerous dispute with his neighbor Jack, which rapidly veers off course as old wounds reopen, foreshadowing events that will ultimately drag them both into a descent towards the darkness of mindless violence. In his impressive debut, Christopher Andrews weaves an unpredictable neo-western starring heroes trapped in circumstances beyond their control and juxtaposes the absolute tranquility of a pastoral landscape with the veiled brutality simmering just beneath the surface.

Jimmy fights to keep the forgotten Café 404 alive. A mysterious bag presents a chance for salvation, but with a steep cost  – greed, criminals, and the police quickly spiral the situation out of control, threatening everything around them.

The Balsano family is celebrating their last Christmas at their ancestral home, since the house has already been put up for sale in secret. Every single member of the extended family is in attendance to celebrate the biggest holiday of the Western world in the best way they know how; abundant food, familiar faces, and indulging in the tradition of being idle… At the same time, two members of the younger generation launch their own little revolution. A timeless Christmas film, and simultaneously, a portrayal of the suburban frenzy around the holiday feast, in all of its grotesque and graphic glory. In the foreground, a warm palette of gold and green hues heats up the relationships that simmer out of habit, yet remain stationary by choice. In the background, the deep blue of the night tenderly envelops the heroes, reminding us both of the vastness of time and its scarcity, and winking at us with sarcasm and relief.

Close-ups and parts of bodies belonging to a group of ballet dancers: Lying prone and passive, the dancers’ bodies are connected to electrodes that cause their muscles to jerk and contract. Usually, our movements are triggered by electrical impulses inside our body. Here, that control has been allocated to external electronics instead. The dancers’ bodies, usually responding actively to music with empathy and sensitivity, are reset and rebooted: they become vehicles for a dance performed by a computer interface. This work is full of circuits: the circuit of bodies, the circuit between music and body, and the circuit between the individual parts of the fragmented image. Electricity, music and bodies, sensitivity and control: all these aspects shift within the wider circuit of people, things, and technology.

Jimmy is a conman who has been working for an insurance company in New York City that the FBI is investigating since it cannot pay policyholder claims following a hurricane. The mastermind of the scheme and his mentor, Marvin, is in Thailand. In Bangkok, Jimmy learns from Joseph Kaspar, a partner in the scheme, that Marvin is in Cambodia, where he is involved in a casino scheme. The roads are not safe so a guide takes Jimmy by back trail to Phnom Penh. There, he hires a cyclo driver named Sok, to take him to his destination, a run-down bar and hotel owned by a Frenchman named Emile. He learns to trust the word of Sok when attempting to make contact as there are unsafe places and people. He meets an NGO worker named Sophie and dabbles in romance with her while attending a rave party at an ancient temple. Marvin turns up, but the scam he is trying to put together – involving corrupt Cambodian government officials, high-ranking military and the Russian mafia – turns out to be more risky and dangerous than was anticipated.

Max, an enterprising 12-year-old, is crestfallen when he must close up shop on his garage-based “business” and move to the countryside. Though he’s now closer to his cousins, the bustling life of a farm family is a shock to his quiet, city-kid existence. But not all hope is lost: when he discovers free-range chickens in his cousin Charles’ abandoned barn, a new business plan is born. With the help of their social media savvy neighbor, Alice, their animal-friendly egg farm takes off and brings the whole community together. Yet just when the three partners are hitting their stride, each bringing their own talents to the table, their small-scale business is faced with some large-scale roadblocks.

A constantly moving camera immerses us from the get go into a colorful universe of profound emotion; a bunch of teenagers journeys from tragedy to farce, from romance to rapture. The driving force of the story is Eden; a young girl who loves her brother beyond reason. When he dies in a freak accident, Eden discovers the existence of his secret girlfriend. Eden starts getting increasingly closer to her, testing the boundaries of love, obsession and identity. Through a wild ride full of twists and turns, the two girls' connection will reach into the depths of grief to lead to a celebration of acceptance. A film able to exorcise every evil, based on the filmmaker’s life.

In a bid to become socially and financially emancipated within a status quo that uses insecurity and violence to obliterate any kind of hope for tomorrow, a group of friends dance on the verge of moral delinquency, walking a fine line between legality and illegality. Will the light of their choices shine along their way?

The film shows musician ‪Kim Gordon, former bassist of the legendary band Sonic Youth, in a landscape delineated by a long fence on the US-Mexico border. Gordon, donning a tutu and cowboy boots, runs a stick along the border fence, creating a rhythm in a childlike gesture, but one executed with intention. The wall, a symbol of division and divisive politics, suddenly becomes a musical instrument. By reassigning its meaning and transforming it into a productive object, capable of creation, the power structures between architecture, territory, and function are rearranged. Rather than a border, the wall becomes a monument, stripped of its intended pragmatic function, linking the viewer through space and sound through a universal experience of sensation and impulse, not devoid of humor and defiance.‬

In a forgotten village of the Yucatán, Lena, a 68-year-old widow, crosses paths with Leon, a 62-year-old Mayan guardian of nature’s secrets and spirits. Lena finds an unexpected companion in Leon. Despite their differences and seemingly opposite worlds, a deep connection forms between them—one that will bind them until death. In his new film, Germinal Roaux, one of the most unique voices of contemporary European cinema, delivers a philosophical story about aging and the decay of the body. Above all, it’s about solidarity and the small gestures of love that give meaning—and dignity—to our existence. True to the aesthetic codes established in his previous works, Roaux’s film, shot in black and white and unfolding with a ritualistic rhythm that mirrors the slow passage of time at the twilight of life, speaks poetically and with genuine emotion about the most essential bond that connects us: love.