Synopsis

Iman, an ambitious family man, receives an appointment to become an investigating judge in Iran’s Revolutionary Court. Such a professional step means major advancement for him, his wife, and his two independently minded teenage daughters. His rise is complicated, though, when nationwide student-fueled protests against the government cause violent unrest in the streets, forcing Iman to work overtime. When his handgun mysteriously goes missing, his nerves are strained to the breaking point.

Equal parts tension-fueled domestic drama and paranoid political thriller, the film offers an excoriating examination of an oppressive, patriarchal society about to reach a tipping point. Currently living in exile to avoid an eight-year prison sentence for his films’ criticism of Iran’s hardline conservative government, veteran auteur Mohammad Rasoulof (There Is No Evil, 2020) returns to the Festival with this exhilarating, timely work that rises to the urgency of the moment.

Synopsis

In this real-life tale set in a remote village in Azerbaijan’s Talysh mountains, elderly TV repairman Samid dusts off his old Soviet film projector with dreams of bringing movies on the big screen back to his rural community. When he meets Ayaz, a tech-savvy young man who creates short animated movies on his cell phone, the two join forces to realize Samid’s vision. But first, he must get a new projector bulb all the way from Lithuania and overcome skepticism among some of the town’s more conservative citizens.

Impeccably photographed and suffused with its protagonists’ love of cinema, The Return of the Projectionist unfolds with the sublime simplicity of the Iranian New Wave and the charm of Cinema Paradiso. Against the backdrop of Azerbaijan’s conflict with Armenia and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Samid and Ayaz’s goals may seem trivial, but their everyday struggles — between tradition and modernity, past and future — resonate deeply.

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.

Synopsis

Transplanted from his African homeland to drug lord Pablo Escobar’s infamous Colombian compound, Pepe the hippo reflects on his tumultuous life in this bold, inventive cinematic essay. When Escobar abandons his plan for a private zoo, Pepe escapes to a nearby river, where his hulking presence unsettles the nearby fishing communities. The first and last hippopotamus ever killed in the Americas, he is feared and hunted. Through Pepe’s story, director Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias crafts a rich, layered narrative about displacement, dislocation, and the ecological consequences of human hubris. Pepe himself narrates a cacophony of events, from riverside beauty pageants to sentimental cartoons to historical inquiries. And his guttural, ghostly laugh is a constant presence in the film’s soundscape. Unpredictable and playful, Pepe is an unforgettable, immersive cinematic experience.

Synopsis

After 15 years together, Ale and Alex decide it’s time to peacefully part ways. Inspired by Ale’s father’s philosophy that separations, not unions, should be celebrated, they decide to throw a party to commemorate their breakup. When they start to tell close friends and family about their plan, they are met with worry and skepticism at the seemingly absurd idea. The two continue to insist that this is a happy affair, but as the preparations advance and the party nears, they too begin to question if their breakup is sound enough to celebrate. Is this idea something that could only ever happen in the movies? Festival alum Jonás Trueba (The August Virgin) crafts a playfully woven narrative in this earnest and utterly charming look at the trials of modern love.