Bats & Bugs
(Nachtschwärmer)
(Country: Switzerland; Director: Lena von Döhren)
When a streetlamp lights up on a country road in the jungle, a group of insects goes crazy – which proves to be handy for the hungry bats in a nearby cave.
World premiere
Black Burns Fast
(Country: South Africa; Year: 2025; Director: Sandulela Asanda)
Adorkable Luthando is on track for an ordinary year at the prestigious boarding school she attends on scholarship – until the arrival of a new girl in her class ignites Luthando’s suppressed desires and threatens her self-image and relationships.
International premiere
Everyone's Sorry Nowadays
(Tegenwoordig heet iedereen Sorry)
(Country: Belgium, Netherlands, Germany; Director: Frederike Migom)
On a sweltering summer day, Bianca feels unseen by her parents. Then an unexpected encounter with her favourite female actor, Billie King, helps her to find herself. A tender, imaginative tale about dreams and carving out a space for yourself in life.
World premiere
The Fabulous Time Machine
(A Fabulosa Máquina do Temp)
(Country: Brazil; Director: Eliza Capai)
In the arid Brazilian hinterland, girls play poised between their mothers’ difficult pasts and fantastic dreams for the future. In a place where men are still seen as giants compared to women, the girls cross the threshold from childhood into adolescence.
World premiere
Ghost School
(Country: Pakistan; Year: 2025; Director: Seemab Gul; Writer: Seemab Gul; Stars: Adnan Shah Tipu, Tariq Raja, Adnan Shah, Nazualia Arsalan, Kehan Naqvi, Vajdaan Shah)
Rabia, a ten-year-old Pakistani girl, sets out to find why her only school in the village is closed.
European premiere
The Girl
(Ni'er)
(Country: China; Director: Yucheng Tan)
Seventeen-year-old Ni’er feels trapped between her monotonous daily grind at a petrol station and the weight of family expectations. A fleeting encounter with a female truck driver radiating freedom and self-determination sparks a quiet revolution within her.
World premiere
Memories of a Window
(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Mehraneh Salimian, Amin Pakparvar; Writer: Amin Pakparvar, Mehraneh Salimian)
Following crackdowns on protests in Iran, civilians begin documenting the unrest from behind windows. When a woman is shot while recording, a film student writes her a letter raising the question: Can revolution emerge from behind windows?
World premiere
Papaya
(Country: Brazil; Year: 2025; Director: Priscilla Kellen; Writer: Priscilla Kellen; Stars: Tulipa Ruiz, Aretha Garcia, Maria Vitória Garcia)
Papaya, a tiny seed in the Amazon rainforest who is passionate about flying, must keep moving to avoid taking root. But when she discovers the power of her roots, it triggers a revolution that transforms her world and fulfils her dreams in an unexpected way.
International premiere
Riding Time
(Country: United Kingdom, France; Year: 2025; Director: Roopa Gogineni, Farhaan Mumtaz)
Horse-obsessed Jaleal comes of age on the West Yorkshire moors while carrying forward the ancient cavalry sport of neza bazi. Filmed over three summers, this joyful portrait blows the dust off traditional tales of Empire, migration and belonging.
International premiere
A Serious Thought
(ÖÖmõtted)
(Country: Estonia; Director: Jonas Taul)
When a boy has trouble falling asleep at night, he begins to ponder his place in the world. If the Earth is just a small marble flying through space, and he is only one child among many, what is the meaning of his existence?
World premiere
The Thread
(Country: United Kingdom; Year: 2025; Director: Fenn O’Meally)
Grace is born of dual heritage: she has a white British mother and a Black Jamaican father. As she reaches her early teens, Grace takes her identity into her own hands and begins to navigate how to exist as a young woman, fully Black, fully white.
International premiere
Tutti
(Ni Chui Do Wo Chui Si)
(Country: Taiwan; Director: Rong-Zuo Zuang; Writer: Rong-Zuo Zuang)
Rong Chen would like to keep her place in the recorder group, Shao Yu wants to give up playing. She asks him for tips, and by practising together, they not only improve their skills, but also learn something much more important from each other.
World premiere
