Synopsis

Indonesia, 1900. In the waning days of the colonial era, Dutch sugar plantation owners Jan and Agathe lord over an estate simmering with imminent rebellion. When Jan suddenly drops dead, Agathe forces their son and his pregnant wife to travel from the Netherlands to take over the family business. But when she discovers that Jan has left the estate to his Indonesian concubine Siti and their young son, both sides of the estate will go to extremes in order to survive.

Featuring scathingly sharp performances and set against a lush visual landscape with indelible metaphoric images, Sweet Dreams is an incisive and surreal satire that marvels at the absurdity of the colonial nightmare.

Synopsis

In a working-class Swedish neighborhood, 16-year-old Laura cares for her two younger sisters, left on their own by an absent mother. For the trio and their friends, summer is wild, indulgent, and anarchic, full of ritual and mischief. But when social services schedules a meeting with their mother — who is nowhere to be found — Laura must find someone to step in or the girls risk being separated in foster care. Keeping the impending threat a secret from her sisters creates a palpable tension and conflict, sending each of them on an individual journey of discovery and connection. As the meeting with social services draws nearer, the boundaries of the girls’ radical freedom are tested by the harsh realities of growing up.

Echoing the chaotic freedom of films like The Florida Project, Mika Gustafson’s striking fiction debut is as bold as it is tender, a refreshingly forthright coming-of-age story and an intimate portrait of sisterhood.

Synopsis

In his wry and insightful new film, Festival alum Erik Gandini (Videocracy, The Swedish Theory of Love) chronicles the past, present, and future of labor. We meet today’s workaholics — a hilarious American motivational speaker; a tragic South Korean office worker — as well as those on the opposite end of the spectrum. These include grossly underemployed young Italians and ordinary Kuwaiti citizens who receive hefty paychecks for sitting in offices doing nothing.

After Work asks big questions: When A.I. and robots take over the global workforce, what is the fate of human industry? Is the promise of universal basic income a blessing or a curse? The film offers few answers, instead using touches of humor, memorable characters, and evocative cinematic images to create an intoxicating and provocative exploration of humanity’s relationship with work, how our jobs define us, and what happens when they’re gone.

Synopsis

Navigating the rollercoaster of highschool while caring for her clinically depressed father has Joanna feeling scattered. Making matters worse, her ADHD medication is running out with no money for a refill. Enter Audrey–a cool, confident new classmate. Joanna is smitten. Now with a full heart on top of a buzzing brain, she must get creative to make ends meet. This charming tale of self-discovery and young love sparkles against the backdrop of seaside Gothenburg.

Synopsis

Newly single, twentysomething aspiring journalist Hanna leaves Stockholm to move back in with her parents in her small hometown. Already feeling adrift, her world is turned upside-down when her father, a respected priest, informs his family that he wants to come out as Marianne. How can Hanna, who hardly believes in herself, accept her father for who she really is? Charming and heartbreaking, the film is inspired by award-winning writer Ester Roxberg’s 2014 autobiographical novel.