Dreams

For the film’s 10th anniversary, experimental filmmaker Kei Shichiri (DUBHOUSE, JAPAN CUTS 2015) presents an all-new sound and image remastering of his tour de force film (formerly translated as Before the Day Breaks). Based on a manga by Naoki Yamamoto, the film follows Aochi, who sleeps and sleeps but never feels like she has slept enough. Shichiri, who explores the limits of sound and image in his diverse body of work, presents a highly evocative dramatic film in which humans barely appear on screen. The story is told through voiceover, sound and visions of dreams and landscapes. Over the years, the film has gained fans, including contemporary auteur Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who compared the film to those by Jean-Luc Godard. -JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film

Mohammed—nicknamed Hammoudi—is 14 when he flees Syria. He and his older brother leave their mother and sisters behind and mainly walk all the way from Syria to Europe. It is a long and tough journey on which they encounter dangerous obstacles such as minefields, wild animals and violent border guards.

In a village on the northeastern coast of Brazil, Jusce, 17, scrapes a living by diving 30 meters, with rudimentary equipment, for lobster. His "prize" at the end of a long day of risky work is sitting close to Ana, who lives with her mother and young daughter, as she savors the drama of urban sophisticates on her favorite soap opera. Ana dreams of leaving the village to see the world. Jusce is content with the life he leads. The other fishermen, friends of Jusce's dead father, help him to buy and fit out his own fishing boat. One day an old friend, Rogério, returns from the big city to work giving dune buggy rides along the coast. The day Rogério gives Jusce a ride to Ana's place marks the beginning of their rivalry for Ana's attention. Jusce has to reinvent himself in order not to lose Ana to the adventurous life style of Rogério.

The story of how a man one day, coming out of the usual circle of life, meets a woman in a dream... The dream becomes reality - and the hero gets a chance to be loved....

In the small town of Kansk, the Krasnoyarsk Territory many years in a row there is an international festival of short experimental films, which has a strong reputation throughout the world. "Russia as a dream" is an international project, shot by a team of authors and united directors, artists, poets. Each of the guests of the 14th International Kan Video Festival held in 2015 was invited to participate in the creation of a general film, the theme of which was the relationship of man and landscape, civilization and nature, reality and sleep.

In this documentary, Andrés Di Tella and Dario Schvarsztein discussed sensitively and accurately the motivations and creative processes of three Mexican contemporary artists of great global impact: Pedro Reyes, Carlos Amorales and Minerva Cuevas.

In 1987, a small elementary school in Niigata Prefecture made it to the TV news by welcoming three calves as new “students”. The animals were taken care of by the schoolchildren, among them little Tomomi, who was determined to become a veterinarian one day. 26 years later, a little girl’s dream came true.

A man looks for love on various dating sites. But he finds nothing. He decides to randomly zoom in on Google Earth. Chance (or destiny) will show him the way. Via the ocean.

Following the everyday life of 21-year-old Samira from Zanzibar for 7 years, NDOTO YA SAMIRA depicts the quiet victories of a determined young woman.

The author of the film observes seven-year-old Zuzia's struggle for life from up-close. The girl suffers from an extremely rare genetic skin condition. Her skin, as sensitive as a butterfly's wing, falls apart under the gentlest touch. The only possibility to alleviate the girl's suffering is an expensive surgery in the USA, which entails high risk. The camera captures her parents in poignant moments of despair and their glimmers of hope when they are trying to survive this emotional rollercoaster. What is the most impressive in this film is Zuzia herself, who is aware of her situation in a very mature way.

16mm short by Masaru Noto.

16mm short by Masaru Noto.

16mm short by Masaru Noto.

16mm short by Masaru Noto.

The end of the Soviet Union has made its mark, not only on Georgia’s politics, society, and economy, but also on Tbilisi’s urban architecture. Regimented blocks have acquired slipshod DIY extensions; buildings arise with no overall plan; and construction projects that were abandoned halfway have left functionless gaps. Mistakes are made and not always corrected. Urban sprawl is thus changing the appearance of the city.

The film in a metaphorical form demonstrates a model of self-devouring in a closed spiritual system, it explores intermediate state between a human and a non-human: a subhuman deprived of a divine spark.

The documentary explores the voluntary teaching of music to young people from the periphery, highlighting the impact of education as resistance in the lives of socially vulnerable individuals in the Brazillian midwest.

A documentary shot over the course of five years telling five stories in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics: the construction of the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium, Gold medal hopeful & Olympic hurdler Liu Xiang, the selection of the Chinese women's gymnastics team, the training of the Beijing SWAT team, and the story one of the 4000 families relocated to make room for the Olympic Athlete's Village.

A young girl in Norway who, upon learning her family is being deported, finds herself trapped in a fantastical wilderness.