Julian Bugier

Every two weeks, the world loses a language and with it, a piece of human history. Ese Eja is one of the language in danger of extinction. Many stories and myths have been forgotten, but through dreams, the memory of the ancestors fight for remaining in the Ese Eja community.

A journey through the Brazilian Amazon, guided by the eyes of Renato, a Carioca turned Amazorioca. A reflection on identity, the legacy of an ancestral territory, and the cost of progress. An ode to the forest and the fragility of what remains.

Shelley is a timid elderly lady who is competing in the Miss Senior USA pageant. Immersion in an extravagant world that also touches on the universal need for visibility, beauty and being included.

Filmmaker Sophie Dros enters into a dialogue with strong women in a powerfull document about being a woman in the Netherlands today.  Inspired by Simone de Beauvoir's essay The second sex, filmmaker Sophie Dros (winner of the NFF Debut Competition 2017) talks to four women and a group of young girls. Together they go in search of universal stories; about dealing with expectations, empathy and connection, desires, fear, need for confirmation and losing control.

The tragedy of Eva-Marree, deprived of her children for prostitution then killed by their father. In a convincing indictment, director Ovidie denounces the abuse of power by a supposedly protective Swedish state.

It’s 2020 and Minsk, the capital city of Belarus, is overflowing with anti-government protests. A dreamy figure – Mara – takes us on a journey alongside the protesting crowds. Mara’s symbolic presence is a stark contrast to the harsh reality of the street. There is a determination to Mara, but also a fragility – as if her persona reflects the collective mental state of the protesters witnessing their dream for freedom turn into a nightmare.