Marvin is not going anywhere. Into this forgotten corner of English countryside and motorway services arrives an extraordinary young girl, changing his world forever.
To tell a story like this effectively depends on being able to capture the spirit of a place across time, and this Vajraca does wonderfully.
In Nazi-occupied Bosnia, a Muslim woman risks her life to save her Jewish friend. 50 years later, her friend returns the favour. Based on a true story.
The anxious impact of the airport is also brought home to us by the crowded nature of the animation, its expressionist rendering emphasising the strangeness of this environment.
Animation showing a child bride's flight from Iraq.
Whilst this isn’t the first Indian film to tackle homophobia – or even the first about Muslims – it breaks new ground in the way it develops these themes.
The story of a romance between a woman and a non-binary person.
Russell-Martin - whose background is on stage, featuring in productions with Glasgow's Citizens Theatre among others - makes an impact in her film debut.
An agency worker gets bad news while she's shopping.
Overton uses the visuals of sign language well, showing how they offer real freedom of expression for the previously sidelined Libby and, at one point, kills the sound completely to immerse us fully in her world.
A social worker helps a profoundly deaf child start to communicate.
Although there’s plenty of drama, especially considering the length, Belarmino and Rithy wisely also find time to develop the characters so that the focus falls on Silig’s vibrant emotional core
A woman goes back to a town she lived decades previously with a mision in mind.
Illuminating their faces, Davis intentionally brings out wrinkles and rough skin – the features that speak to who they are, to their unique life experiences.
An impromptu singing contest takes place in a lonely bar.
With no need to expand beyond a lean 16 minutes, A Sister is free to focus on what it's good at. The result is a film that feels much more compelling and real.
A night. A car. A young woman is in danger. To escape, she must make the most important phone call of her life.
Sister is packed full of character yet retains its melancholy edge throughout.
A man thinks back to his childhood memories of growing up with an annoying little sister in China in the 1990s. What would his life have been like if things had gone differently?
Snare manages to say a great deal in the space of 13 minutes and find time for some impressive drumming too.
At an ageing Chinese restaurant in 1997, a father and his punk musician son struggle with the roles of parent-child when they realise they each desperately need something from the other.
Gently plunges into a richly-textured reverie of unobserved objects, spaces and people that leave a lasting impression on a visceral level.
During a seaside commercial shoot, a complex art piece vanishes overnight. As the situation comes to a standstill, the assistant art director journeys in search of the installation.
Stefanie Abel Horowitz's carefully structured short explores a kind of horror rarely touched upon in cinema: the empty ache of anhedonia.
Fran likes to think about dying. When she makes a guy in the office laugh, he wants more - a movie date, a slice of pie, a conversation. But if dating him means learning to live, she's pretty sure she can't do that.
The biggest let down, however, is that as a 360-degree experience, it is very front-focused, not exploiting the 'in the round' possibilities offered by VR as it should.
An ornithologist travels into a cloud forest to try to capture the sight and song of the last remaining ʻōʻō bird.
Divorced of context, this is a touching little film, a moment of creation, recollection. As an homage, a piece of Kubrickania it becomes something else, something arch.
A filmic response to the still photograph archive of Stanley Kubrick.
Part fantasy, part western, the film is exquisitely shot, the humid atmosphere of the island creating a degree of visual uncertainty to confound viewers further.
On the remote island of Chiloé in the late 19th century, an indigenous girl named Rosa lives and works with her father on a farm. When the foreman brutally turns on Rosa’s father, she sets out for justice, seeking help from the king of a powerful organisation of sorcerers.
I've seen it described as a film with a twist but that suggests it's got just one. It's full of them, it's made of them, it reels and gyres and tumbles into something special.
In a speculative and dystopian not-too-distant future, black telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success – which propels him into a macabre universe.
Myrthe Mosterman’s cinematography perfectly captures the greyness of inner city life and the constant sense of oppression which Ruby feels.
When 15-year-old Ruby realises she is having her period, she doesn't want to ask her mother to buy her period products, because she knows their financial situation doesn't really allow it.
Not just unbalanced tonally, it is consistent with itself. It is a thing to enjoy, to allow to wash over you
A meditation on the self through lurid and liquid forms; filtered through both old and foreseeable technology informed by Thai animation history and contemporary culture.
The power of this film rests on perfect performances... no sentimentalism is allowed to enter into them, yet both demonstrate a complexity which goes far beyond what their few lines can express.
Spooky tale of a sick boy and a shed at the bottom of the garden.
One of the interviewees talks about the "stomach" of the factory needing to be filled - a strong image that highlights the "monster" problem that the community faces.
How the impact of a fishmeal factory in The Gambia stretches far further than the country's shores.
