Alle reden übers Wetter (Talking About the Weather)
by Annika Pinske (fiction, Germany, 2022, 89') Italian premiere
Clara has made it: she has got away from her native provincial town in Eastern Germany, and is now living an independent life in Berlin, teaching philosophy while finishing her Ph. D. Between her professional ambitions, an affair with one of her students, and her demanding friendship with her thesis advisor Margot, she barely has time for her family. When Clara visits her mother for a weekend with her 15-year-old daughter Emma, she finds herself confronted with her ideal of an unfettered, self-determined life and the price she is paying for it.
Berdreymi (Beautiful Beings)
by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson (fiction, Iceland/Denmark/Sweden/The Netherlands/Czech Republic, 2022, 123'), Italian premiere
Addi, a boy raised by a clairvoyant mother, decides to adopt a bullied misfit into his gang of outsiders. Left to themselves, the boys explore aggression and violence but also learn about loyalty and love. As their behavior escalates towards life–threatening situations, Addi begins to experience a series of dreamlike visions. Can his newfound sixth sense guide him and his friends back to a safer path, or will they dive irrevocably into further violence?
Broadway
by Christos Massalas (fiction, Greece/Romania/France, 2022, 97'), Italian premiere
Nelly has escaped from her wealthy and controlling family. As she dances in a strip club, she meets Markos, a small yet charismatic gangster, who helps her run away from her stepfather’s henchmen. Markos soon becomes her protector and lover. He brings her into Broadway, an abandoned entertainment complex in Athens, squatted by a small community of dancers, tramps, thieves and a monkey in captivity. For a while, everything goes well, until a mysterious man shows up, injured and covered with bandages, wanted by Athens’ most dangerous criminals. But when Markos gets arrested, the newcomer will take an unexpectedly important place in the gang.
Excess Will Save Us
by Morgane Dziurla-Petit (fiction, Sweden/France, 2022, 100'), Italian premiere
A young filmmaker returns to the village where she was born – a little town in the north of France – to investigate a strange story about a terrorist threat. She starts with members of her own family, and doesn’t have to go much further. The misunderstanding – as it turns out to be – shows above all how alarmist news and political machinations in certain geographical environments can take on a life of their own and create “parallel” realities.
The Far Field
by John Slattery (fiction, Ireland, 2022, 74'), World premiere
Seamus Molloy has a fixed routine around house and farm. At 90, his only companions are the cats he chases away, a neighbor’s dog that frightens him and the clock ticking on the wall. The only disruptions from loneliness are ping-pong balls, rocks and hens chucked through his window. (Apparently) he has two granddaughters who bring him mail, food or messages. Then, with a 60-year delay, a letter arrives from the past and Seamus’ life could be permanently disrupted.
Heroji radničke klase (Working Class Heroes)
by Miloš Pušić (fiction, Serbia, 2022, 85') Italian premiere
Lidija is a cold-hearted business woman working for a construction investor of dubious morals. Lidija’s main task is to oversee the job of the illegal workers of the construction site and protect the image of the company at all costs. Meanwhile, the workers are brought face to face with the brutal reality of capitalism. Unpaid and exhausted, they decide that the time has come to become masters of their own destiny and claim their rights. The construction site becomes the setting, where social classes and morals clash.
Huda's Salon
by Hany Abu-Assad (fiction, The Netherlands, Palestine, 2021, 91'), Italian premiere
Bethlehem, Palestine. Reem, a young mother married to a jealous man, goes to Huda’s salon for a haircut. But this ordinary visit turns sour when Huda, after having put Reem in a shameful situation, blackmails her to have her work for the secret service of the occupiers, and thus betray her people. Reem escapes the salon, but that same night Huda is arrested by members of the resistance. They find nameless pictures of all the women Huda recruited, including Reem’s. Huda knows that she will be executed the moment she gives up the names and tries to bide herself as much time as possible. Meanwhile, Reem is unwillingly risking her life.
