The mayor of Lyon, Paul Théraneau, is in a bad way. He has run out of ideas. After thirty years in politics he feels empty. To solve this problem, his team decides to hire a brilliant young philosopher, Alice Heimann. A dialogue between Alice and the mayor unfolds, bringing them together and shaking their certainties.
Fiction
France
When eleven-year-old Wissam decides to tell his classmate that he loves her, he is challenged by an invasion that threatens to permanently keep them apart. This story of first love against this backdrop of war portrays a day kids and adults will never forget.
Drama
Lebanon
2019
Ibrahim, Suleiman, Manar and Altayeb have been friends for over 45 years. They left their motherland in the 1960s and 1970s to study film abroad and founded the Sudanese Film Group in 1989. After years of distance and exile, they are reunited, hoping to finally make their old dream come true; to bring cinema to Sudan. They are determined to leave something behind and ignite the love for cinema.
When a family becomes concerned about their mother’s wellbeing in a retirement home, private investigator Romulo hires Sergio, an 83 year-old man who becomes a new resident–and a mole inside the home, who struggles to balance his assignment with becoming increasingly involved in the lives of several residents.
Documentary
Chile, USA, Germany, Netherlands, Spain.
When the Taliban puts a bounty on Afghan director Hassan Fazili’s head, he is forced to flee with his wife and two young daughters. Capturing their uncertain journey, Fazili shows both the danger and desperation of their multi-year odyssey and the tremendous love shared between them.
Documentary
Afghanistan, USA
2019
Gilles Caron was at the height of his career as a brilliant photojournalist when he went missing in Cambodia in 1970. He was just 30 years old. Through his iconic photographs, and the gaps between them, this film, constructed like an investigation, aims to restore the photographer’s presence, recount the story of his gaze, and how he managed to cover every high-profile conflict of his day in such a short period of time.
Documentary
Following an act of vandalism, the Palestinian filmmaker's father decides to install a surveillance camera to record the scenes unfolding in front of the house. Everyday family life, or neighbours going to work, An Unusual Summer captures fleeting moments of poetry whereas, in the background, the daily choreography of El Ramle, comes to the surface.
Born in 1986, Beniamino Barrese graduated with a degree in Philosophy at Statale di Milano,International Political Economy at King’s College London and later received his MA in Cinematography at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, UK. Since 2011 he has been working as a filmmaker, director of photography and photographer. His work as a DP includes fiction and documentary features, commercials, fashion films, music promos and shortfilms, which have travelled around festivals worldwide.
Elie Kamal is a writer, director and cinematographer who lives between Beirut and Dubai. He started his career with his short film “2 1/2”, which won the Critics’ Award at the seventh edition of the Dubai Film Festival. He also directed his short films "ICE" and "Revoltango".
"Beirut Terminus" is his debut feature documentary film, which won the award for Best Non-Fiction Film at the 41st edition of the Cairo Festival.
"Beirut Terminus" explores the notions of borders, identity, and belongingness, within a perpetually troubled region. Using Lebanon's discarded railway and what's left of its deserted infrastructure as its core scenery. The film interweaves personal and historical facts while taking a contemplative and geographical journey from the peripheral train stations of the country, towards the central station of Beirut, in an attempt to analyze, question and understand its past, present and uncertain future.