New Directors/New Films 2020

Short programmes will run in addition to the features below.

Giraffe Giraffe
Giraffe and Boys State
Anne At 13,000 ft (Country: Canada, US; Year: 2019; Director: Kazik Radwanski; Writer: Kazik Radwanski, Deragh Campbell; Stars: Deragh Campbell, Matt Johnson, Dorothea Paas, Lawrene Denkers)
Even in her job at a children’s day care centre, Anne prefers fun to actual work and often alienates those around her with her erratic behaviour.
New York premiere
Atlantis (Country: Ukraine; Year: 2019; Director: Valentyn Vasyanovych; Writer: Valentyn Vasyanovych; Stars: Andriy Rymaruk, Liudmyla Bileka, Vasyl Antoniak)
In a near-future war-torn Ukraine a man with PTSD takes a volunteer job exhuming the dead.
US premiere
Boys State (Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss)
In an unusual experiment, a thousand 17-year-old boys from Texas join together to build a representative government from the ground up.
New York premiere
The Cloud In Her Room (Country: China, Hong Kong; Year: 2020; Director: Xinyuan Zheng Lu; Writer: Xinyuan Zheng Lu)
An autobiographically tinged portrait of , a young woman drifting through her days and nights after returning to her hometown to celebrate the New Year with her parents, and unable to let go of her past.
US premiere
Collective (Colectiv) (Country: Romania; Year: 2019; Director: Alexander Nanau; Writer: Alexander Nanau, Antoaneta Opris)
Documentary considering the aftermath of a nightclub fire that exposed deep corruption in the Romanian healthcare system.
The Killing Of Two Lovers The Killing Of Two Lovers
The Killing Of Two Lovers and Atlantis
Days Of Cannabalism (Country: France, Netherlands, South Africa; Year: 2020; Director: Teboho Edkins; Writer: Teboho Edkins)
Documentary meets genre cinema in this Western from today’s Lesotho, where modern pioneers of capitalism clash with local traditions, and aspiring Chinese merchants compete for supremacy with traditional Basotho cattle breeders.
North American premiere
The Dove And The Wolf (Country: Mexico; Year: 2019; Director: Carlos Lenin; Writer: Jorge Guerrero Zotano, Carlos Lenin; Stars: Paloma Petra, Armando Hernandez, Mónica Del Carmen, Pablo Mendoza, Lucero Cardoza, Gabriela Velarde)
Two factory workers share a tender, loving relationship, though as their story unfolds it grows ever clearer that something from long ago is obstructing their happiness.
US premiere
Dwelling In The Funchun Mountains (Chun jiang shui nuan) (Country: China; Year: 2019; Director: Gu Xiaogang)
At her 70th birthday celebration, the mother of the Gu family suffers from a stroke, which precipitates her decline into dementia. Who will take care of her?
New York premiere
The Fever (Country: Brazil, France, Germany; Year: 2019; Director: Maya Da-Rin; Writer: Pedro Cesarino, Maya Da-Rin, Miguel Seabra Lopes; Stars: Regis Myrupu, Rosa Peixoto, Suzy Lopes, Lourinelson Vladmir, Regis Myrupu, Rosa Peixoto, Suzy Lopes, Lourinelson Vladmir)
A father and daughter navigate their way through encroaching obstacles, including casual racism, reports of a wild animal on the loose, and a mysterious malaria-like illness
New York premiere
Giraffe (Country: Germany, Denmark; Year: 2019; Director: Anna Sofie Hartmann; Writer: Anna Sofie Hartmann; Stars: Lisa Loven Kongsli, Jakub Gierszal, Maren Eggert, Christoph Bach, Daniel Hoevels, Hans Christian Bentsen, Janusz Chojnacki, Natalia Ciepiel, Juni Dahr, Janne Ellehammer, Juliane Elting, Mariusz Zorro Feldmann, Bjarne Hansen, Bjarne Hansen, Gina Henkel, Yaowalak May Hlonghkam)
A Danish summer: A tunnel is being built to connect Denmark and Germany. An ethnologist comes to the island of Lolland to study its inhabitants and record their traditions and objects.
New York premiere
The Metamorphosis Of Birds The Metamorphosis Of Birds
The Metamorphosis Of Birds and The Mole Agent
Identifying Features (Sin Señas Particulares) (Country: Mexico, Spain; Year: 2020; Director: Fernanda Valadez; Writer: Fernanda Valadez, Astrid Rondero; Stars: Mercedes Hernández, David Illescas, Juan Jesús Varela, Ana Laura Rodríguez, Laura Elena Ibarra, Xicoténcatl Ulloa)
Magdalena makes a journey to find her son, gone missing on his way to the Mexican border with the US. Her odyssey takes her to meet Miguel, a man recently deported from the US. They travel together, Magdalena looking for her son, and Miguel hoping to see his mother again.
New York premiere
Kala Azar (Country: Netherlands; Year: 2020; Director: Janis Rafa; Writer: Janis Rafa; Stars: Penelope Tsilika, Dimitris Lalos, Maria Aliferi, Lenika Arfani, Martin Benge, Errika Bigiou, Adrian Frieling, Pavlos Kourtidis, Nikos Pantelidis, Tasos Rafailidis, Antonis Tsiotsiopoulos, Michele Valley, Penelope Tsilika, Dimitris Lalos, Maria Aliferi)
A couple, who work for a crematorium service for pets, find their relationship begins to fracture.
North American premiere
The Killing Of Two Lovers (Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Robert Machoian; Writer: Robert Machoian; Stars: Clayne Crawford, Sepideh Moafi, Chris Coy, Barbara Whinnery, Avery Pizzuto, Ezra Graham, Arri Graham, Jonah Graham, Bruce Graham)
David desperately tries to keep his family of six together during a separation from his wife. They both agree to see other people but David struggles to grapple with his wife’s new relationship.
New York premiere
Los Conductos (Country: France, Colombia, Brazil; Year: 2020; Director: Camilo Restrepo; Writer: Camilo Restrepo; Stars: Fernando Úsaga Higuíta, Luis Felipe Lozano, Fernando Úsaga Higuíta, Luis Felipe Lozano)
Pinky is on the run. Ghosts are chasing him through an empty, apocalyptic city.
North American premiere
The Metamorphosis Of Birds (A metamorfose dos pássaros) (Country: Portugal; Year: 2020; Director: Catarina Vasconcelos; Writer: Catarina Vasconcelos; Stars: Manuel Rosa, João Móra, Ana Vasconcelos, Henrique Vasconcelos, Inês Campos, Catarina Vasconcelos, José Manuel Mendes, João Pedro Mamede, Cláudia Varejão, Luísa Ministro, José Maria Rosa, João Vasconcelos, Nuno Vasconcelos)
Beatriz and Henrique fall in love and get married. He goes to sea while she raises their inquisitive children. The director brings her family's story to the screen.
New York premiere
Two Of Us Two Of Us
Two Of Us and Anne At 13,000 ft
The Mole Agent (Country: Chile; Year: 2020; Director: Maite Alberdi; Stars: Sergio Chamy, Rómulo Aitken, Rubira Olivares, Marta Olivares, Berta Ureta, Zoila Gonzalez, Petronila Abarca)
When a family becomes concerned about their mother’s well-being in a retirement home, private investigator Romulo hires Sergio, an 83-year-old man who becomes a new resident – and a mole inside the home, who struggles to balance his assignment with becoming increasingly involved in the lives of several residents.
New York premiere
Nafi's Father (Country: Senegal; Year: 2019; Director: Mamadou Dia; Writer: Mamadou Dia; Stars: Saikou Lo, Alassane Sy, Penda Daly Sy, Aicha Talla, Saikou Lo, Alassane Sy, Penda Daly Sy, Aicha Talla)
A personal conflict between brothers escalates into a political, religious, and moral crisis.
North American premiere
Nasir (Country: India, Netherlands, Singapore; Year: 2020; Director: Arun Karthick; Writer: Arun Karthick; Stars: Valavane Koumarane, Jensan Diwakar, Sudha Ranganathan, Valavane Koumarane, Jensan Diwakar, Sudha Ranganathan)
Nasir is a Muslim family man struggling to make ends meet for his wife and their mentally challenged nephew who lives with them.
North American premiere
Red Moon Tide (Country: Spain; Year: 2020; Director: Lois Patiño; Writer: Lois Patiño)
A journey into a phantom world, set on Spain’s Galician coast, where Rubio, a diver who retrieved bodies from shipwrecks, has gone missing.
North American premiere
Servants (Sluzobnici) (Country: Slovakia, Romania, Czech Republic, Ireland; Year: 2020; Director: Ivan Ostrochovský; Writer: Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Marek Lescák, Ivan Ostrochovský; Stars: Vlad Ivanov, Martin Sulík, Samuel Skyva, Milan Mikulcík, Zvonko Lakcevic, Vladimír Zboron, Tomas Turek, Vladimír Strnisko, Vladimír Obsil, Samuel Polakovic, Vlad Ivanov, Martin Sulík, Samuel Skyva, Milan Mikulcík, Zvonko Lakcevic)
Czechoslovakia in the early 1980s. The Communist regime threatens to subjugate the Catholic Church. Will young seminarians Michal and Juraj remain true to their ideals?
US premiere
Collective Collective
Collective and Los Conductos
The Shepherdess And The Seven Songs (Laila aur satt geet) (Country: India; Year: 2020; Director: Pushpendra Singh; Stars: Navjot Randhawa, Shahnawaz Bhat, Ranjit Khajuria, Sadakkit Bijran, Mohammed Yassen, Navjot Randhawa, Shahnawaz Bhat, Ranjit Khajuria, Sadakkit Bijran, Mohammed Yassen)
Story of love and temptation set against the backdrop of the Kashmir conflict.
North American premiere
Surge (Country: UK; Year: 2020; Director: Aneil Karia; Writer: Rupert Jones, Rita Kalnejais; Stars: Ben Whishaw, Jasmine Jobson, Ryan McKen, Laurence Spellman, Muna Otaru, Ray Calleja, Paul Blackwell, Abdul Hakim Joy, Jack Pierce, Ranjit Singh Shubh, Yohanna Ephrem, Bradley Taylor, Modupe Adeyeye, Laraine Dix, Haqi Ali)
A man goes on a bold and reckless journey of self-liberation through London. After he robs a bank he releases a wilder version of himself, ultimately experiencing what it feels like to be alive.
New York premiere
The Trouble With Being Born (Country: Austria, Germany; Year: 2020; Director: Sandra Wollner; Writer: Sandra Wollner; Stars: Jana McKinnon, Ingrid Burkhard, Susanne Gschwendtner, Dominik Warta, Lena Watson, Jana McKinnon, Ingrid Burkhard, Susanne Gschwendtner, Dominik Warta, Lena Watson)
Ten-year-old Elli is an android. She loves the man she calls “Daddy” and is the vessel for his memories, which mean nothing to her, but everything to him.
US premiere
Twelve Thousand (Douze Milles) (Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Nadège Trebal; Writer: Nadège Trebal; Stars: Arieh Worthalter, Nadège Trebal, Liv Henneguier)
When Frank loses his means of employment, he fears that he will also lose Maroussia. He vows to go in search of work and not return until he can match the 12,000 Euros of annual income that she earns from child minding.
North American premiere
Two Of Us (Country: France, Luxembourg, Belgium; Year: 2019; Director: Filippo Meneghetti; Writer: Filippo Meneghetti, Malysone Bovorasmy, Florence Vignon; Stars: Barbara Sukowa, Martine Chevallier, Léa Drucker, Jérôme Varanfrain, Muriel Bénazéraf, Augustin Reynes)
Two retired women, who have been in a secret relationship for decades, find their relationship turned upside down when the truth begins to come out.
New York premiere
Identifying Features Identifying Features
Identifying Features and Days Of Cannabalism
Window Boy Would Also Like To Have A Submarine (Country: Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Netherlands, Philippines; Year: 2020; Director: Alex Piperno; Writer: Alex Piperno; Stars: Daniel Quiroga, Inés Bortagaray, Noli Tobol, Daniel Quiroga, Inés Bortagaray, Noli Tobol)
A group of rural farmers in a Filipino village come to believe a shack that has mysteriously appeared in a valley clearing contains evil properties; at the same time, a young janitor working on a bougie cruise ship discovers a portal.
North American premiere
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