National Geographic: Afghanistan - Schätze der Antike

Other Bodies A series of interpersonal misreadings bring a young man’s suppressed inclinations to the surface in this darkly contemplative work by 2021 Sundance Institute Development Fellow Alyssa Loh. A deeply disturbing film, sumptuously directed and impossible to shake. Starring Eva Ravenal and Ian Cramer. – Mitch Davis

American Driver An American driver, Jack Curry takes a job driving Nigerian celebrities to the annual GIAMA Awards to impress his boss Kate. Along his journey he tries to become friends with actor Jim Iyke, who wants to be left alone.

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Old Man Jackson Mr. Jackson, an award winning automotive mechanics shop owner, and high strung hypochondriac, has a premonition. With no children of his own to pass the legacy that his grandfather started, he has one last mission to accomplish.

Standing Woman In a near-future time, the British government has come up with an environmentally friendly program that abolishes prisons. Criminals and undocumented immigrants are chemically transformed into trees and put on public display. A propaganda filmmaker is forced to question his work as he prepares to see his journalist wife be “planted” for crimes against the state. A grim and imaginative cautionary tale by British filmmaker Tony Hipwell, based on the short story by Yasutaka Tsutsui (PAPRIKA, THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME).

Silly Human An emerging actor’s big break lands when she’s cast on a 1950s sitcom. Her excitement gives way to dread when she realizes that her director is a fastidious AI that demands perfection – but is unable to articulate what it’s looking for in a performance. Cory Williamson has created a surrealistic, subversive and ultimately nightmarish film that manages to disturb as strongly as it engages.

The Offer A final weekend between two sisters in the mountains is overwhelmed by the shadow of a mysterious offer being considered. A smart and visually striking sci-fi drama from US filmmaker Sam Shapson, making his long-awaited Fantasia return after 2012’s phenomenal THE TREEHOUSE, built around solid performances from Kristen Vaganos and Koko Marshall.

Rachels Don't Run A customer support rep monitoring late-night calls at an AI companionship service impersonates an artificial hostess to speak with a client that she’s developed affection for. A story of profound loneliness and the disappointments of human nature.

The Girl on the Moon In 2069, an aboriginal girl, Luna, lives a lonely existence as the only girl to have been born on the moon. She yearns to visit Earth, which she can only experience through enhanced VR tech. Directed by six-time award-winner Georgina Jenkins (PAST IMPERFECT).

Updated With his wedding day approaching, a man (Ujarneq Fleischer) and his fiancée (Connie Arenas) grow increasingly concerned about whether it would be wise to invite his dementia-stricken mother (Vivi Nielsen). As she’s using implanted assistance equipment, they ponder whether updating its software could help her function through increasingly frightening hallucinations. A tragic work of humanist science-fiction from award-winning Greenland filmmaker Nivi Pedersen, UPDATED asks uneasy questions about technology’s place in caregiving, and the privacy trade-offs that come with the barter.