Directed by: Miguel Gomes
Portugal, France, Germany, Switzerland, 2015, 125 min

Portugal in crisis – the director is immersed in his new film, however, he fails to find meaning in his work so he turns to the young and beautiful Scheherazade who, with courage and enthusiasm, will try to change her ill-fated destiny and not bore the King with grim stories of the unrest sweeping the land. This three-part film by a distinctive filmmaker who attempts to give an up-to-date account of his country drew audiences at this year’s IFF in Cannes.

Directed by: Miguel Gomes
Portugal, France, Germany, Switzerland, 2015, 131 min

In volume two of Arabian Nights, Scheherazade continues to perform for her life, trying not to bore the King with mournful tales about the gloom besetting the afflicted land. And so once again in this part of Gomes’ trilogy no holds are barred, theatrical stylization alternates with realistic narration, and it’s up to the viewer to be the co-narrator of the tales told.

Directed by: Miguel Gomes
Portugal, France, Germany, Switzerland, 2015, 125 min

In the final part of Arabian Nights, Scheherazade fears that the emotional weight of her stories may be her undoing. At her father’s urging, she decides to lighten up on the sadness and thereby enchant the King once more. The director dedicated the lightest and most playful part of the trilogy to his eight-year-old daughter Carolina with the wish that when she grows up she’ll watch the movie, hoping that it will inspire her and that she’ll be happy.

Directed by: Roh Gyeong-tae
South Korea, France, 2015, 92 min

X deserts from the army and sets out to find his father, who has left civilisation behind in order to live in the jungle. This film meditation on the return to inner cleanliness is the final part of a trilogy by a Korean filmmaker looking to the legacy of Robert Bresson and Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

Directed by: Jeppe Rønde
Denmark, 2015, 105 min

The Virgin Suicides meets Nordic crime drama. Set within the shifting contours of a film about growing up, the provocatively ambiguous genre of the feature debut Bridgend marries mysticism to the punch of a procedural TV series. The topic of “investigation” is at the same time unexpectedly evanescent – like the mysterious energy defining “youth.”

Directed by: Bobbie Peers
Norway, Sweden, Germany, 2015, 93 min

German illusionist Dirk Ohm gets mixed up in the search for a lost girl in northern Norway. While the inhabitants are combing the surrounding area, he envisions the girl in his fantasies and gradually falls in love with her. A film about human loneliness and about an illusion that may be stronger than reality.

Directed by: Ciro Guerra
Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, 2015, 122 min

Over the course of forty years, Amazonian shaman Karamakate, the last survivor of his tribe, has been visited by two Western scientists who are trying to discover the secret of the miraculous and sacred yakruna plant. This remarkable black-and-white film follows the shaman as he joins them on a life-changing transcendental journey through the Amazon rainforest.

Directed by: Carol Morley
United Kingdom, 2014, 102 min

All secrets come out eventually, noted Carl Gustav Jung in his work on the collective unconscious. The secret in the mysterious drama The Falling is unexpected and, in this case, Jung’s assertion certainly holds true. This muse-inspired portrayal of young people growing up in 1969 and the generational conflict of the era are conveyed with formal subtlety in the style of poetic realism.

Directed by: Ella Manzheeva
Russia, 2015, 87 min

Elza is a beautiful, unhappily married and, above all, very lonely woman. Unexpected events compel her to re-examine her life and take a step which will affect not only her future, but the destiny of others as well. A powerful, atmospheric tale of alienation and hope.

Directed by: Magnus von Horn
Poland, Sweden, France, 2015, 102 min

Making its way from Cannes to Karlovy Vary, the Swedish director’s debut takes as its focus of interest a taciturn young man named John, who returns to his hometown accompanied by his father after spending time away. Refined stager von Horn provokes his audience by carefully meting out his clues, leading to the revelation of a mystery that is causing everyone around to react with hostility to John’s return.

Directed by: Simon Jaquemet
Switzerland, 2014, 110 min

The frustrated adolescents portrayed in this film each have their own reasons for declaring war on the world, and they behave accordingly. A group of four outsiders are placed at a farm in a remote Alpine region from where they are to return to normal life as reformed individuals. Rather than their aggressive behaviour, it’s the relationships that develop between them which present a true testimony of who they really are.

Directed by: Kyros Papavassiliou
Cyprus, Greece, Slovenia, 2015, 82 min

A meditative drama about an artist, his life and death, as well as his search for memories that rise up from the flat landscape like the distant walls of city towers. Kyros Papavassiliou competed at Rotterdam with his feature debut.

Directed by: Trey Edward Shults
USA, 2015, 83 min

In her 60s and still not a conformist, Krisha arrives at her sister’s house to celebrate Thanksgiving with the entire family. During preparations for the meal, however, old wounds are reopened. This stylistically courageous drama is the debut of Trey Edward Shults, a former Terrence Malick student. Awarded at SXSW.

Directed by: Yared Zeleke
France, Ethiopia, Germany, Norway, 2015, 94 min

When young Ephraim’s father has to leave him in search of work, he sends the boy to stay with relatives in the mountains. At his new home, the boy’s only comfort is the sheep he brought with him. The mountain community, however, is struggling against poverty and hunger, and the life of Ephraim’s four-legged friend is at risk. Despite his age, the boy is determined to do anything necessary to save her. The Ethiopian director’s debut film premiered at the recent Cannes festival.

Directed by: Lee Kwang-kuk
South Korea, 2014, 99 min

While walking in the park one day, a young frustrated actress meets a detective who knows how to interpret dreams. The plot quickly shifts to a plane where dream logic prevails and the line between illusion and reality is not entirely clear. An easy-going picture with touches of comedy that played the festivals in Busan and Rotterdam.

Directed by: Jonas Carpignano
Germany, USA, United Kingdom, Italy, France, 2015, 107 min

Ayiva and Abas are part of a group of immigrants who undergo a distressing journey across the sea from Africa to Italy. Ayiva uses sheer willpower to find his footing, while Abas first succumbs to resignation and then to hatred toward everything in the new land. The pair embody the two fundamental approaches to the situation facing immigrants from countries with completely different cultures after they arrive in Europe.

Directed by: Deniz Gamze Ergüven
France, Germany, Turkey, Qatar, 2015, 97 min

A feature debut that dazzled in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, the work presents an uncommonly strong rendering of five girls growing up in the Turkish countryside who come into conflict with their guardians’ authoritative and traditional notions concerning their desire for free self-determination. This directorial debut took two awards.

Directed by: Elliott Lester
USA, 2014, 83 min

A war veteran with a trivial job and an even more trivial life begins to unravel in his house as he succumbs increasingly to his psychological woes. Director Elliott Lester stages this study of advancing madness as a minimalist solo performance by well-known British actor David Oyelowo.

Directed by: Roberto Minervini
France, Italy, 2015, 92 min

For his latest film, one of today’s most expressive filmmakers moved from Texas to Louisiana where his “photographic” eye focuses on folk living on the fringes of society. Here he confirms his remarkable talent for observation and his ability to present a respectful, nonjudgmental glimpse into an internal world of wounded souls. The picture was presented in this year’s Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes IFF.

Directed by: Micah Magee
Germany, USA, Greece, 2015, 92 min

The story of high school girl Layla, who was born into a low-income stratum of Texas society and is having difficulty staying afloat, is reminiscent of Ken Loach’s early films with its emphatic social tone, the subtlety of its psychological insight, and its forthright emotional empathy towards the young protagonist.

Directed by: Natalya Kudryashova
Russia, 2015, 115 min

In childhood they lived by performing heroic acts. Today they are successful 30-year-olds beset by ennui who no longer find satisfaction from high-paying jobs or from amassing possessions. A penetrating, comprehensive, and humorous analysis of the futility experienced by the last generation of Soviet pioneers. The writer-director debut (of one of their peers) struck a responsive chord at this year’s Berlinale.

Directed by: Kaan Müjdeci
Turkey, Germany, 2014, 97 min

Could this story about a boy and his dog differ more from the gentle tale of the famed dog Lassie? Kaan Müjdeci’s feature debut, set in Turkey’s rough and isolated central Anatolia, earned two awards at Venice.

Directed by: Andrew Cividino
Canada, 2015, 89 min

Teenage Adam is vacationing with his parents at Lake Superior. There he meets cousins Riley and Nate, roughly his age, and they spend the endlessly dragging summer days together until boyhood rivalry changes the course of events. A powerful and engaging drama about a sensitive period of life, built upon authentic performances and a wonderfully shifting atmosphere.

Directed by: Ognjen Sviličić
Croatia, France, Serbia, North Macedonia, 2014, 78 min

The story of parents, simple people, whose adolescent son is critically injured in a street fight. Invoking a tragedy that goes beyond their understanding, the film bears witness to the confrontation of the new age with the mentality of a generation accustomed to being able to rely on apparent order and justice. A Croatian drama on the illusory nature of happiness and security.

Directed by: Corneliu Porumboiu
Romania, France, 2015, 89 min

Costi lives with his family in Bucharest and enjoys reading the story of Robin Hood to his little boy. One day one of his neighbors tells him he’s pretty sure that there’s some buried treasure in his grandparents’ yard. If Costi helps him borrow a metal detector and is willing to help him search for it, then they’ll split whatever they find. A minimalist fairy tale about fulfilling childhood dreams that was awarded in this year’s Un Certain Regard section at the festival in Cannes.

Directed by: Dagur Kári
Iceland, Denmark, 2015, 94 min

Fúsi is a mountain of a man. Fúsi is a loner and an outsider – until he meets trash collector Sjofn at a dance course. A love story about people on the fringes of society from Icelandic director Dagur Kári, thrice awarded at New York’s Tribeca festival.