Among Wild Birds

Pas seul Born during the first wave of the pandemic, this gem by artist and filmmaker Roberto Fassone takes us on a trip that ranges from classical surrealism to the Simpsons via Yoko Ono and bathing monkeys. Ironic and provocative, Pas seul meditates on our visual nature and plunges the viewer into a hypnotic flow of images that never cease to astonish.

The Song of Sto. Tomas

First Package for Hondur... Dinora left Honduras for the United States in one of the migrant caravans leaving Central America. Settled in a suburb of Washington D.C., she speaks on social media of the difficulties she has encountered integrating, as well as of the presence around her of a film crew which has thus unwittingly become the subject of its own film.

Character Filmmaker Paul Heintz sets off in search of Winston Smith. When he publishes a classified advert in the English newspaper The Sun searching for namesakes of the hero of George Orwell’s novel 1984, he causes a collision between fiction and reality. The daily life of these illustrious strangers becomes dystopian, absorbed by the imagination of each and every one of us.

Katanga Nation In the district of Katanga, in Addis Ababa, Amele and her makeshift hostel welcome young people seeking refuge in the Ethiopian capital. Every day sees the arrival of a new person, a new experience, a new story. The filmmakers sensitively paint the portrait of a place and its residents.

Jak obelhal manela...

Ardenza With fine watercolour strokes, Daniela de Felice paints the portrait of a young woman in love and with a true passion for politics. The film takes us back to the Italy of the 1990s, between Berlusconi’s rise to power and the final reverberations of the 20th century. Ardenza is unexpected and moving, with riveting sensitivity and sensuality.

Ramboy On Achill Island, off the west coast of Ireland, Cian hopes to spend his summer holidays playing football with his friends. For his grandfather Martin, though, this is the right time to introduce him to work on the farm. Ramboy is a tender and dreamlike film about the patience required to learn and pass on a profession, from one generation to the next.

Spartivento In the heart of the Mediterranean, the song of cicadas barely covers the noise of cars and summer hits. In this landscape lulled by sunshine and routine, a grandmother attempts to make the most of every minute she still has to live with her grandson Ariele. Marco Piccarreda creates a film full of poetry and tenderness, on the pursuit of happiness.

Ivan's Ladder In a village untouched by time, so isolated that it is not on the map of Russia, Sysoy passes on the tradition of Byzantine chant to his son Ivan. Their hermitic family life finds its cadence in the movements of working the land and a rigorous spiritual practice, which seem intended to prepare the young teenager for an imminent change of life.