Mary is looking for a date for her best friend’s wedding. But she can’t get her head round it: Maybe she’s not looking for a boy at all, and maybe it was much more than just a friendship.
(Country: Ireland; Year: 2016; Director: Darren Thornton; Writer: Colin Thornton, Darren Thornton; Stars: Fionnuala Murphy, Seána Kerslake, Denise McCormack, Kelly Byrne, Chris Newman, Kyle Bradley Donaldson, Barbara Brennan, Siobhan Shanahan, Susie Power, Terry O'Neill, Charleigh Bailey, Shauna Higgins, Lisa Hickey, Carolyn Bracken, Darren Creaven)
The film moves deftly between humour and poignancy, generating a strong emotional response in its quieter moments.
Rikard is a 30-year-old man, severely deformed and suffering from autism, haunted by the loss of his mother. From time to time, he escapes from reality into an imaginary world where he is a 50m tall giant.
(Country: Sweden, Denmark; Year: 2016; Director: Johannes Nyholm; Writer: Johannes Nyholm; Stars: Christian Andrén, Johan Kylén, Anna Bjelkerud, Linda Faith, Moa Malan, Niclas Fransson, Gun Larsson, Bengt Carlsson, Stina Rangmar, Stina Elinderson, Pia Edlund, Leif Edlund, Bo Melin, Martin McFaul, Martin Högdahl)
A young Tunisian man is mistaken in thinking that there can be no more surprises in his life.
(Country: Tunisia, Belgium, France; Year: 2016; Director: Mohamed Ben Attia; Stars: Majd Mastoura, Rym Ben Messaoud, Sabah Bouzouita, Hakim Boumessoudi, Omnia Ben Ghali)
Dickson Leach makes good use of the countryside setting, to suggest the additional pressures that exist for farming families while allowing the environment to provide poetic interludes.
A woman returns to her family farm after her brother's suicide.
(Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: Hope Dickson Leach; Writer: Hope Dickson Leach; Stars: Ellie Kendrick, David Troughton, Jack Holden, Joe Blakemore)
Just when you think you know this story, Oldroyd and Birch begin to show you that you don't.
A woman sold into a loveless marriage develops a mind for murder after starting an affair.
(Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: William Oldroyd; Writer: Alice Birch, based on the novel by Nikolai Leskov; Stars: Florence Pugh, Christopher Fairbank, Cosmo Jarvis, Naomi Ackie, Paul Hilton, Golda Rosheuvel, Anton Palmer)
The script has a heartfelt carefulness but it is never preachy, with 'naughty' conversations about the home's teacher's willy exploding likely to have pre-adolescents (and adults who well remember these sorts of conversations) hooting with laughter.
Stop-motion story of a boy, who is sent to a group home for orphans after the death of his mum.
Two ordinary boys seek entertainment on a dull, summer afternoon... and alas they find it.
(Country: Poland; Year: 2016; Director: Bartosz M Kowalski)
Porto
Jake and Mati are two outsiders in Porto who once experienced a brief connection. A mystery remains about the moments they shared, and in searching through memories, they relive the depths of a night uninhibited by the consequences of time.
(Country: US, France, Portugal; Year: 2016; Director: Gabe Klinger; Writer: Larry Gross, Gabe Klinger; Stars: Anton Yelchin, Lucie Lucas, Françoise Lebrun, Paulo Calatré, Chantal Akerman, Florie Auclerc-Vialens, Aude Pépin, Filomena Gigante, Rita Pinheiro, Diana de Sousa)
Raw
(Grave)
A girl from a family of vegetarians decides to eat raw meat for the first time with unexpected consequences.
(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2016; Director: Julia Ducournau; Writer: Julia Ducournau; Stars: Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, Rabah Nait Oufella, Laurent Lucas, Bouli Lanners, Joana Preiss, Marion Vernoux, )
What's In The Darkness
(Hei chu you shen me)
A killer is on the loose in a small town at the same time as a teenage girl is coming of age.
(Country: China; Year: 2015; Director: Wang Yichun ; Writer: Wang Yichun)
Wùlu
A Malian bus driver faces a stark choice when he discovers crime pays more than honesty.
