Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 

35-year-old architect Nikola Jeren is being pressured by his long-term mistress Ana and wife Maja to stop living a life of lies: he must choose between them. This intimate psychological drama asks whether something we’re no longer used to expecting in life can decide for us – a tragic coincidence.

This is a story about war in the Caucasus, where one day is equal to a whole life, where kindness may be a damnation, death a solution and beauty something that can truly terrify. The struggle to survive assumes its own dimensions which govern the rules of behaviour, defying all notions of morality.

Bandiougou dreams of a life in Europe. A sudden reversal of fortune, however, unleashes a series of events which the young Senegalese sees as a curse. The only way to ward off evil is to journey into the heart of Africa, a trip he undertakes with three French companions. A visually compelling psychological drama which presents a stirring image of a conflict between two cultures.

Marc, a young German doctor, arrives in the Colombian metropolis of Cali on an exchange visit and starts work in a local hospital. But he gets some tough experience in a deprived neighbourhood were he makes some new friends and also finds love. The inquisitive European longing for a bit of excitement, however, gets mixed up in the world of crime, which puts paid to the opinions, ideals and dreams he had entertained until now.

An acidic comedy based on the autobiography of a famous Italian radio host whose highly successful professional career was for years tarnished by the curse of the compulsive horse-race punter. Elio Germano (My Brother Is an Only Child) stars in this stirring tale about a highly unusual individual, set against a faithful backdrop of life during the 1980s.

Debuting Amy Redford directs the excellent Saffron Burrows in a compelling drama about a young woman suddenly confronted with her own mortality. In the knowledge that she has less than two months to live, thirty-something Melody resolves to fulfil all her wildest dreams. Based on a real story, the screenplay was written by underground filmmaker Amos Poe.

An unconventional story about a man who, in order to save his cancer-stricken mother, agrees to carry out the assassination of someone he’s never met. As a pathologist he performs the murder quickly and almost painlessly. A letter he receives after the killing, however, reveals to him circumstances about which he knew nothing.

A drama company from Prague arrives in Cracow to present a stage adaptation of Dostoevsky’s famous novel at the city’s alternative theatre festival; the production is to be staged in an unusual venue – the local steelworks. During rehearsals, the drama on stage spills over into real life, behind the scenes and front of house... In both his chosen theme and form, director Petr Zelenka has come up with an exceptional piece, oscillating between fiction and documentary and centred on the successful production presented by Prague’s Dejvice Theatre.

Ofka has given up on her dreams and now works in a 24-hour store owned by her brother-in-law. Her world is filled with similar lost souls who, like herself, only live at night. Will she be able to say goodbye to her artificially extended childhood? Will she find true love and step outside the confines of the neighbourhood where she was born? Oscar-nominated director Michaela Pavlátová offers an intimate story set in Prague’s night-time Karlín district.

The young prostitute Sita finds an uninviting but cheap bedsit in the attic of a small photographic studio. Between two of life’s drifters – the young woman and a withdrawn aging photographer – a fragile bond begins to develop within the elusive, mysterious world of photographic images. Do they have a chance together to escape the traumas of the past and the brutality of the present?

A story about the discordant marriage of stage director Viena and Daniel, a doctor. A story about shared loneliness, imperfect love, and unfulfilled promises and desires. About the excuses we invent which only serve to thwart our happiness.

This subtle celebration of life traces the lives of a family of three living in a mining town in western China. Instead of seeking a platform for flagrant social criticism, the film portrays Chinese reality without embellishment and elevates its study of the cycle of life to a universal, timeless level.

After a case of professional misconduct, a young policeman from Copenhagen is reassigned to a small provincial town on the Jutland peninsula. He soon comes into conflict with the strange local inhabitants, whose world ends at the bottomless peat bogs located nearby. This grotesque, sombre drama with elements taken from the western and horror genres, is striking for its original stylisation and superb performances.

Anne is an attractive woman on the cusp of middle age trying in vain to divide her time fairly between her demanding job as a television presenter and her family. Her colleagues and friends have similar problems though. And what’s more – in complicated relationships what is truth and what is falsehood after all? A tragicomic mosaic inspired by Stephen McCauley’s bestselling novel embellished with brilliant performances by Karin Viard and André Dussollier.