Film Catalogue

A young woman sits in a cubicle in a strip club. She is obviously afraid, and in an inner monologue memorises passages from the fairy tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses. Just like the princesses in the fairy tale, she has eloped in order to dance her secret dance. This time, however, her prince is no prince in a shining castle. Rather, he is a bloke at a strip-club. Does he desire her too? Do they know one another? When she finally tries to kiss him, he thrusts her aside, and the situation suddenly changes character… A video that not only dialectically inverts the power struggle in the gaze, but also the power struggle at work in a topos that functions as a crucible of unspoken—or unspeakable—fantasies and motives.

Five and a Half Love Stories in an Apartment in Vilnius, Lithuania is a collection of intertwined stories, told through the eyes of an old AirBnB apartment. Within the walls of this apartment, we witness five guests experiencing a crisis of love, unaware of the stories that have transpired within the same walls and under the same bedsheets. Meghan, an Irishwoman stuck in a frustrating marriage, struggles with temptation during her younger sister’s hen party. Issa and Galia, an Israeli couple, find their desire to get pregnant colliding with the family legacy. Philip, an aging Hungarian bachelor, fights for a second chance with a local girl; Mykolas, a young stripper, has his secret rendezvous interrupted by unexpected guests. Between each episode Jolanta, the quiet cleaning lady, returns to wipe away the evidence of their joys and tragedies, while her own delicate love story unfolds.

The Fly is an entertaining patchwork that stitches together all the alluring delights to be found in the cinema of David Cronenberg, combining science fiction, the body horror sub-genre, and romantic drama with a dystopian future. While trying to perfect his experiments in the teleportation of matter, physicist Seth Brundle meets journalist Veronica Quaife. The pair become lovers, and Veronica starts observing the scientific work being conducted by Seth, who decides to use himself as a human guinea pig. A fleeting moment of bad luck, however, results in his gradual genetic transformation into an enormous fly, with inexorable consequences. This theme of transformation – perhaps the most steadfast touchstone of Cronenberg’s oeuvre, with all its countless allegorical ramifications – here becomes the vehicle for a thrilling metaphor that touches on senescence, mortality, the inevitability of death, the elusiveness of love, and the underlying essence of the human condition in a film that unfurls like a Kafkaesque dream – without a clear beginning, but with a most certain end.

For his legendary Freaks, Tod Browning drew inspiration from his own life experiences. At the age of 16, he ran away from a deeply unhappy life with his family to join a traveling circus that toured the entire country, working as a clown and vaudeville performer for 13 years before turning his attention to cinema. The film’s plot weaves through the backstage workings of a traveling circus where most performers have some kind of congenital deformity. Cleopatra, a beautiful acrobat, tries to seduce Hans, a member of the troupe with dwarfism, in order to swipe his large inheritance. Her plans, however, run into many unexpected obstacles. A latent and dark allegory tackling the period of the Great Depression, class prejudice, and racism in the USA, a veritable societal bombshell for the mores of its time (and beyond), a scathing indictment of both the abhorrent theories espoused by eugenics and the deeply-rooted notions we all hold when it comes to what is considered “normal,” Freaks stands – even today, even in its abridged form given that the original 90-minute cut has been lost forever – as a monument to daring and originality, as a hymn to deviating from stifling norms, but above all as one of the most sui generis horror films ever made.

From Ground Zero is a compelling project that brings together 22 short films created by talented filmmakers from Gaza. Launched by Rashid Masharawi, a renowned Palestinian filmmaker, the initiative was born against the backdrop of conflict and aims to provide a platform for young artists to express themselves through their craft. Each film, ranging in length from 3 to 6 minutes, presents a unique perspective on the current reality in Gaza. The project captures the diverse experiences of life in the Palestinian enclave, including the challenges, tragedies and moments of resilience faced by its people. Using a mix of genres including fiction, documentary, docu-fiction, animation and experimental cinema, From Ground Zero presents a rich diversity of stories that reflect the sorrow, joy, and hope inherent in Gazan life. Despite the harsh filming conditions, Gaza's vibrant artistic scene shines through this collection, offering an intimate and powerful portrait of daily life and the enduring spirit of its people.

Aris is a low-ranked Mob associate who has sought refuge to a seedy hostel. The boss, known as the “Gardener” for leaving a golden watering can at the scene of his crimes, is after him for betrayal. One morning, Aris finds the golden watering can by his door.

Doyle is a self-important gargoyle with a chip on his shoulder – quite literally, as he was damaged during installation on the cathedral. Relegated to a forgotten back alcove, Doyle finds himself stuck next to Chet, a decorative metal rain gutter who never shuts up. The pair watch the world change around them for 800 years as their alcove falls into disrepair. As bulldozers surround the cathedral, ready for demolition, both must confront who they really are and what their lives add up to.

Vassilis lives with his father in a village in rural Greece. When he turns twelve, his father buys him a gun and a young hunting dog, Max, and sets out to train him to become a hunter.

11-year-old Karin, three years after the death of her mother, finds herself abandoned by her father at her grandfather’s house. Her grandfather is a Buddhist monk, and the temple where he lives is inhabited by the spirit of a cat; the cat is a charmingly peculiar creature - ironic, cynical, and a prankster, but ultimately kind-hearted and innocent – and when Karin sinks into a profound melancholy caused by her father’s abandonment and the loss of her mother, the cat follows her to the other side on a quest to bring her mother back to life. One of the most tender mangas of recent years, Ghost Cat Anzu tells an unforgettable tale of friendship between a lonely child and a larger-than-life character, striking the perfect balance between emotion and laughter, trauma and reconciliation, darkness and light - just like childhood itself. This metaphysical, surreal, captivating road movie beyond death offers the audience an invaluable life lesson; the affirmation of life itself.

A morose and somber middle-aged construction worker struggles to cope with the recent loss of his son. Having to deal with the delinquent behavior of his smart yet rebellious daughter, he is plunged further down the depths of anger and loneliness, until he incidentally gets involved with an amateur theater group, staging Romeo and Juliet, that rehearses near the construction site he works at. From the duo that gave us the unforgettable Saint Frances five years ago, Ghostlight exemplifies the definition of independent cinema: shot minimally and equipped with a scenario studied in exhaustive detail, along with memorable quips, the film tells a bittersweet story about reconciliation and the ability to overcome trauma through the consolatory power of art, acceptance, and emotional connection. It is a subtle ode to humanity’s mysterious, misunderstood institution; family. The fact that the three main protagonists – father, mother, and daughter, all of them amazing actors – are a family in real life suffuses the film with such emotion that no one will be left indifferent.

1949, towards the end of the Greek Civil War. Yannis, the son of a rebel, is torn from his village and deported to the Childcare Cities where his ideas and desires are manipulated. Nightmares and dark feelings for his father slowly inhabit his heart. Only when he reaches adulthood does he redefine his existence, so he decides to go and meet the man. Based on the life story of Greek writer Yannis Atzakas.

Shortly before the end of World War I, Karoline is trying to get by in a gothic-like nightmarish Denmark that seems to be the most hostile place in the world for a woman who is no longer awaiting for her husband’s return from the frontlines; a woman who cannot afford to pay rent; a woman who finds relief in the arms of her boss only to be kicked to the curb later on, ending up homeless, unemployed, and pregnant, a soldier fighting her own “great war” – one every bit as brutal as the one unfolding between the most powerful nations. An encounter with a woman who will aid her in finding a foster family for her baby will be the turning point. With the determined Dagmar by her side, Karoline will discover a family, a mother, a partner and primarily, the female solidarity that will empower her, enabling her to take control of her own life and rise from the ashes of the old world as an independent woman. A visual poem about a woman’s intertemporal place in a world of patriarchy, class disparity, and sexual exploitation, juxtaposes the price of self-determination with the evil that spreads throughout the world in the aftermath of a war steeped in horror, which often turns into a weapon in the hands of the weak.