71SSIFF - 22/30 September 2023
Languages
Official
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Official Selection
Official Selection
Films
Films
2023 Studio Ghibli
© 2023 Studio Ghibli
Opening Film
Hayao Miyazaki
Japan 
124 min.
A young boy named Mahito yearning for his mother ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning. A semi-autobiographical fantasy about life, death and creation, in tribute to friendship, from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki.
Not in competition
Closing film out of competition
James Marsh
UK - Hungary - Belgium 
100 min.
Literary genius Samuel Beckett lived a life of many parts: Parisian bon vivant, WWII Resistance fighter, Nobel Prize-winning playwright, philandering husband, recluse. But despite all the adulation that came his, way he was a man acutely aware of his own failings. Titled after Beckett's famous ethos "Dance first, think later," the film is a sweeping account of the life of this 20th-century icon.
Raven Jackson
USA 
97 min.
A lyrical, decades-spanning exploration across a woman's life in Mississippi, the feature debut from award-winning poet, photographer and filmmaker Raven Jackson is a haunting and richly layered portrait, a beautiful ode to the generations of people and places that shape us.
Ikusmira Berriak 2019
2023 Being Film and Art. All Rights Reserved.
© 2023 Being Film and Art. All Rights Reserved.
Tzu-Hui Peng, Ping-Wen Wang
Taiwan 
90 min.
An old man with a limp, Khim-Hok, has depended on his wife over the years. They live in an old house on the urban fringe of Taipei. After his wife suddenly passes away, Khim-Hok puts her into an old freezer and goes on living a seemingly peaceful life. But their long-estranged son and his new partner suddenly appears, so Khim-Hok has to face his wife's death when the end finally comes.
Isabel Herguera
Spain - Germany 
86 min.
Taking her inspiration from a feminist sci-fi short story written in Bengal in 1905, Inés sets out on a voyage of discovery around India in search of Ladyland, the Utopian land of women.
Noah Pritzker
USA 
99 min.
Peter’s parents divorced after 65 years, his wife left him after 35, and his sons, Nick and Mickey, are off leading their own lives. When Peter flies to Tulum, crashing Nick's bachelor party hosted by Mickey, he realizes he's not the only one in crisis.
Christos Nikou
USA 
113 min.
Anna and Ryan have found true love. It's been proven by a controversial new technology. There's just one problem: Anna still isn't sure. Then she takes a position at a love testing institute, and meets Amir.
Kei Chika-Ura
Japan 
152 min.
Actor Takashi has been estranged from his father Yohji, a retired university professor, ever since the tumultuous divorce with his mother ripped the family apart 20 years ago. They remain barely in contact until one day, a call from the police prompts Takashi to visit Yohji, who is struggling with dementia in his home in southern Japan. Upon arriving, Takashi discovers Yohji's second wife Naomi is missing. Asked where she went, Yohji replies she committed suicide. Takashi must find out if there is any truth to his father's words.
Isabella Eklöf
Denmark - Sweden - Norway - Finland - Greenland - Netherlands 
125 min.
Jan is on the run from himself after being sexually abused by his father. Living in Greenland with his little family, he yearns to be a part of the open, collectivist culture and become a Kalak, a "dirty Greenlander".
Robin Campillo
France - Belgium 
116 min.
L'île rouge / Red Island is set in Madagascar in the early 1970s, on one of the last air bases of the French army, where military families live the last throes of colonialism. Influenced by his reading of the intrepid comic book heroine Fantômette, ten-year-old Thomas sweeps with a curious glance what surrounds him, while the world gradually opens up to a different reality.
Martín Rejtman
Argentina - Chile - Portugal - Germany 
95 min.
Gustavo and Vanessa separate and have to redraft their projects together. Both are yoga teachers. Gustavo is Argentinian, Vanessa is Chilean. The trip to India is cancelled. Vanessa keeps the apartment and leaves the studio they shared, making Gustavo homeless. As a result of the accumulated stress, Gustavo injures his knee and replaces yoga: first with quadriceps exercises and then with the gym. But gradually he gets his life back on track and starts practising again.​
Manuel Moutier
© Manuel Moutier
Xavier Legrand
France 
112 min.
Ellias Barnès, 30, is the newly-announced artistic director of a famous Parisian fashion house. But as expectations are high, he starts experiencing chest pain. Out of the blue he is called back to Montreal to organise his estranged father's funeral and discovers that he may have inherited much worse than his father's weak heart.
Shellac / Mandragora
© Shellac / Mandragora
Cristi Puiu
Romania - Republic of Moldavia - France 
160 min.
Oana Pfifer, a young therapist, gradually slips into the net of the questionnaire she submits to her patient. Mihai, Oana’s brother, worrying about his birthday, is stuck in a story far bigger than he can handle. Septimiu, Oana’s husband, concerned about his health, vaguely listens to a strange story his colleague was caught up in a while ago. Narcis Patranescu, an organized crime detective, deals with an unsettling dark story while interrogating a young woman at a funeral.
Jaione Camborda
Spain - Portugal - Belgium 
103 min.
Illa de Arousa, 1971. Maria is a woman who earns a living harvesting shellfish. She is also known on the island for helping other women in childbirth with special dedication and care. After an unexpected event, she is forced to flee and sets out on a dangerous journey that will make her fight for her survival. Seeking her freedom, Maria decides to cross the border by one of the smugglers' routes between Galicia and Portugal.
Ikusmira Berriak 2020
María Alché, Benjamín Naishtat
Argentina - Italy - Germany - France - Brazil 
111 min.
Marcelo has devoted his life to teaching philosophy at the Public University of Buenos Aires. When his mentor Professor Caselli dies unexpectedly, Marcelo expects to become the new head of Department. However, his plans turn upside down with the unexpected arrival of Rafael Sujarchuk. Charismatic and seductive, Rafael returns from his pedestal in European universities to claim the vacant position for himself. Marcelo's clumsy efforts to prove he is the right candidate will trigger a philosophical duel, while his life -and the country- enter a spiral of chaos.
Proyecta 2022
Kitty Green
Australia 
90 min.
Americans Hanna and Liv are best friends backpacking in Australia. After they run out of money, Liv, looking for an adventure, convinces Hanna to take a temporary live-in job behind the bar of a pub called 'The Royal Hotel' in a remote Outback mining town. Bar owner Billy and a host of locals give the girls a riotous introduction to Down Under drinking culture but soon Hanna and Liv find themselves trapped in an unnerving situation that grows rapidly out of their control.
Alfredo Tobía
© Alfredo Tobía
Isabel Coixet
Spain 
129 min.
Having escaped from her stressful life in the city, 30-year-old Nat holes up in the small village of La Escapa, in deepest rural Spain. In a rundown country house, with a crochety stray dog, the young girl will try to put her life back on track. Having dealt with her landlord’s hostility and the mistrust of the village locals, Nat finds herself accepting a disturbing sexual proposal made by her neighbour Andreas. This strange and confusing encounter will give rise to an all-consuming and obsessive passion that will completely engulf Nat and make her question the kind of woman she thinks she is.
Joachim Lafosse
Belgium - France - Luxembourg 
100 min.
Having remained silent for 25 years, Astrid, the wife of a prominent lawyer, sees her family’s equilibrium shatter when her children initiate their quest for justice.
Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi
Spain 
202 min. Series
The viral video of a Christian pop group made up of several sisters has an enormous effect on the life of Enric, a man tormented by a childhood marked by religious fanaticism and the yoke of a mother with messianic delirium.
Not in competition
Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal
Spain 
103 min.
A music journalist from New York sets out on a frantic investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Brazilian pianist Tenorio Jr, regular accompanist of Vinicius de Moraes, among others. This animated thriller moving to the beat of jazz and bossa nova portrays the days immediately before the Latin American continent was enshrouded by totalitarian regimes.
Special Screenings Not in competition
Thomas Lilti
France 
101 min.
It's a new school year. Benjamin is a PhD student without a grant. Given his lack of future prospects, he accepts a position as a contract teacher in a Parisian middle school. Without training or experience, he soon realises just how tough the teaching profession can be in an education system crippled by a chronic lack of resources. With the support and commitment of the other teachers, and a bit of luck, he will reconsider his vocation.
Special Screenings Not in competition
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