Synopsis

Eva, a young Rwandan woman, dreams of attending medical school. But her aspirations are interrupted when she is kidnapped by a group of men as a part of the Guterura rite of enforced marriage. Abandoned by her family, she struggles to cope with the grim reality of her new life  with her new husband Silas and his cousin. While Silas is away working, the two young women form a tender connection as they spend their days doing household chores, beading, making tea, and swapping family histories and memories of the genocide. Despite this newfound ally, Eva contemplates running away to a life of freedom.

Rendered with a quiet naturalism and brimming with humanity, The Bride is both a profound portrait of friendship amid dire circumstances and a calm contemplation of the ghosts of Rwanda’s past.

Synopsis

Aden, Southern Yemen. Married couple Isra’a and Ahmed are in trouble. Already struggling to make ends meet for their three young children, the beleaguered parents receive some unsettling news: Isra’a is pregnant. Forced to make a difficult decision in the best interest of their family, the two decide to procure an abortion.

The Burdened patiently tracks the couple’s odyssey as they navigate the hostile bureaucracy of their conservative, wartorn surroundings. Expertly composed long takes and magnetic lead performances lend a realism to the narrative, as Isra’a and Ahmed traverse the city to bribe doctors, falsify medical records, and do everything they can to keep their family together. Based on true events, the film is a timely examination of life in modern day Yemen and a passionate rendering of one family’s fight to survive.

Synopsis

In 1930s Paris, best friends Madeleine and Pauline — a penniless actress and an unemployed lawyer — struggle to pay their rent. It doesn’t help when, after an audition gone awry, Madeleine is accused of murdering a famous producer. Despite her innocence, Madeleine decides to plead guilty, as the friends spy an opportunity to step into the spotlight at the trial and put on the performance of a lifetime. After testifying that she did indeed kill the producer after he made unwanted advances, Madeleine is acquitted — to the court’s, and the public’s, surprise.

But Madeline and Pauline’s newfound fame and success is tenuous as long as the truth remains a secret, and an eccentric stranger (Isabelle Huppert) will arrive to upend their new lives. A quippy and hilarious caper, François Ozon’s The Crime is Mine is a clever nod to the #MeToo movement that takes a farcical stab at the courtroom drama genre.

Synopsis

Dita lives in a large household with her girlfriend, her girlfriend’s daughters, and a group of other queer misfits in the North Macedonian capital. When circumstances force Dita to become the caretaker of the two troublemaking daughters, the reluctant adults of the house must figure out a way to keep this unlikely family safe from a society that is not ready to accept them.

Explosive clashes between the strong-willed, the fiercely independent, and the culturally at odds form a vibrating orchestral narrative that tests the household’s alliances and bonds. Goran Stolevski (You Won’t Be Alone) returns to the Festival with a chaotic and remarkably tender portrait of a found family and the powerful ties that bind those pushed to the margins of society.

Synopsis

In the heart of battle-ravaged Ukraine, a minivan picks up civilians, each with their own unique story, as they journey away from their homes to safer points unknown. Filmed almost entirely inside his vehicle, Polish aid worker-turned-filmmaker Maciek Hamela eschews depictions of carnage in order to capture the psychological costs and tragic consequences of the Russian invasion. Squashed in Hamela’s backseat, a family sheds tears over abandoning their cow. A young man speaks stoically about being tortured by Russian soldiers. Five-year-old Sanya has stopped speaking. As Hamela’s taxi navigates checkpoints, minefields, and Russian attacks, In the Rearview displays faces — young and old, devastated and resilient — offering a moving and sublime reflection of humanity in the midst of war.