Movie Summary: Uncertainty, Dreams, and the Road to Brazil Title:  A Portrait of Directionless Youth and Existential Searching Summary of Content:   Pikad paberid  (or Rolling Papers ) is a contemporary Estonian Drama  that offers an intimate portrait of European youth in their twenties . The film centers on Sebastian (Mihkel Kuusk) , a store clerk whose ordinary life is disrupted when he meets Silo (Karl Birnbaum) , a free-spirited wanderer. Together, they smoke weed and dre

Movie Summary: The Archaeologist's Battle for Freedom in Berlin Title:  Political Exile, Bureaucracy, and a Mother's Desperate Fight Summary of Content:   Maysoon  is an intense German-Greek Political/Psychological Drama  centered on Maysoon (Sabrina Amali) , an Egyptian archaeologist who has established a life in Berlin  with her German partner Tobi  and their two children. Her life is suddenly thrown into crisis when her relationship unravels and her passport expires . Her

Movie Summary: Tragedy, Curse, and Unreliable Memory Title:  A House Aflame, A Family's Loss, and Suburban Mystery Summary of Content:   Burning  is a Kyrgyz Horror/Thriller centered on a devastating event in a suburban village: a house belonging to a young family that recently suffered the loss of their firstborn child is found burning . The film immediately establishes a terrifying atmosphere of mystery, as no one understands how the fire started . Neighbors whisper that th

A Historic Story of Survival This acclaimed debut film is set in 1990s Iraq  during the UN sanctions, focusing on 9-year-old Lamia's  mandatory and dangerous mission to bake President Saddam Hussein's birthday cake despite severe poverty and ingredient scarcity. Content Summary:  The film is a tragicomic adventure following Lamia's resourceful journey from the marshlands to the city to find food supplies, offering a humanistic, child-centered view of life under an authoritari

A Chilling Family Thriller About Grief, Paranoia, and the Monsters We Create A suspenseful and emotionally charged horror-thriller, No dejes a los niños solos  ( Don’t Leave the Kids Alone ) follows two young brothers left alone for one night — a night that turns into a nightmare of mistrust, hallucination, and paranoia. With grief and guilt as its true villains, the film blurs the line between psychological trauma and supernatural terror, delivering a haunting reflection on

A Surreal Dive into Desire, Discomfort, and Digital-Era Intimacy A razor-sharp, 14-minute short film that transforms a casual hookup into a surreal psychological spiral, DISC  captures the fragile balance between desire and disconnection in the modern world. It’s a claustrophobic exploration of ego, longing, and identity — where every word, glance, and silence becomes a power play. Both haunting and humorous, it’s a mirror to our digital-era relationships: fleeting, performat

Why It Is Trending: Mythology Meets Modern Resistance In Gorgonà , Greek director Evi Kalogiropoulou  reimagines myth, machinery, and womanhood in a stunning fusion of sci-fi dystopia and feminist allegory. Set in a near-future industrial city-state suffocating under patriarchy and pollution, the film follows two women who revolt against their world’s decaying systems  — and, in the process, become symbols of defiance and rebirth. Errika Bigiou  and Xenia Dania  lead the stor

Why It Is Trending: Women on the Road, Women in Charge The Ionas brothers — the provocative Greek duo behind The Callas  — return with Madonnas , a playful, rebellious, and unapologetically feminist road comedy about friendship, freedom, and female pleasure on their own terms. When Nancy (Nancy Boukli)  inherits an old caravan, she and her best friend Georgina (Georgina Liossi)  decide to transform it into something radical: a mobile brothel for women.  Joined by a wandering

Why It Is Trending: A Forbidden Love That Defies Silence A luminous and heartbreaking cross-cultural drama, Cast Aside the Clouds  tells the story of forbidden connection, moral courage, and the price of education in a repressive society. When Layla Khosravi (Parmiss Sehat) , a young Iranian woman, is attacked at her bookstore, she finds herself in the care of Dr. Sasan Naderi (Behtash Fazlali) . What begins as an act of compassion blossoms into an unexpected bond — one that

A Daughter’s Fight, A Father’s Fall Poetic, raw, and deeply human, La Lucha  (translated as The Fight  or Dance of the Living ) transforms the physical act of wrestling into a moving allegory of grief, identity, and resilience. Set against the volcanic landscapes of the Canary Islands , José Ángel Alayón’s  new film captures the timeless rhythm between defeat and endurance — between the silence of loss and the roar of survival. Mariana , a teenage girl with fire in her eyes,

From Free Money to New Problems Estonia’s tech-savvy director Rain Rannu  returns with Uus Raha  ( New Money ), a sharp and hilarious sequel to his 2022 hit Free Money . This time, the story asks a bigger, funnier, and more existential question: what happens after you actually get rich? Equal parts social satire, relationship comedy, and digital-age morality play, Uus Raha  is a witty, heartfelt reflection on sudden wealth, modern greed, and the absurdity of success in the cr

Two Friends, One Hot Berlin Summer A hazy, sun-soaked snapshot of post-graduation drift, Sorina Gajewski’s Nulpen  (also known internationally as Slackers ) captures a generation suspended between apathy and awakening. Set in a restless Berlin summer, the film follows two young women navigating the aimlessness of early adulthood with humor, defiance, and quiet grace. With its naturalistic tone and nods to 1990s American indie cinema, Nulpen  is both a love letter to youthful

A razor-edged and darkly funny examination of modern youth, Oscar Boyson’s “Our Hero, Balthazar”  is part coming-of-age odyssey, part internet fever dream. At once hilarious and harrowing, it explores how young men craft identities in the age of constant performance — where morality is measured in likes, and heroism has become a hashtag. Modern Youth Under the Ring Light Boyson’s debut feature is a biting social satire disguised as a road movie , following a privileged prep-s

When the Protector Becomes the Threat Erytorium  (international title: Territory ) is a 2025 Polish psychological thriller  directed by Bartosz Paduch  and co-written with Marcin Grabowski . The film follows Adam Majewski  (Józef Pawłowski), a newly transferred policeman in a quiet Polish town who discovers, through CCTV footage, that his fellow officers are covering up the rape of a young girl . The only witness — Robert  (Igor Kowalunas), a homeless man — turns out to be th

A Poetic, Adult-Free Road Movie Fable The film is an enigmatic, experimental road movie by renowned artist Ben Rivers, co-written with Don DeLillo, that follows a girl named Moon through a mysterious, adult-less, post-societal world. Structured as a series of fragmented encounters, the film blends elements of fiction, documentary, and poetry, using the journey to explore themes of climate anxiety, language, and the possibility of reinvention through a child's eyes. Mare's Nes

A Metacinematic Documentary Una película de miedo  is a Spanish-Portuguese feature-length documentary with a runtime of 1 hour and 12 minutes  (72 minutes). Written and directed by Sergio Oksman , the film documents Oksman's own experience during a summer vacation in Lisbon, where he and his twelve-year-old son, Nuno Oksman , stay in an abandoned hotel . The film explicitly references the horror classic The Shining , using the empty, isolated hotel as a setting to explore th

A Haunting Story of Grief and Madness at Home In No dejes a los niños solos  ( Don’t Leave the Kids Alone ), Mexican filmmaker Emilio Portes  crafts a tense, claustrophobic psychological horror where childhood innocence collides with trauma and paranoia. The story follows Cata , a recently widowed mother who, forced to leave her two sons home alone for one night, unwittingly sets the stage for a terrifying descent into fear and suspicion. As brothers Matías  and Emiliano  spe

A Coming-of-Age Story Against a Political Backdrop Cuerpo Celeste  (Celestial Body) is an Italian-Chilean drama film with a runtime of 1 hour and 36 minutes . Written and directed by Nayra Ilic , the film is set in the summer of 1990  as the Chilean dictatorship is nearing its end. The story centers on fifteen-year-old Celeste (Helen Mrugalski) , who is navigating her own personal turmoil—a family falling apart—against the backdrop of immense national change. The film is an

A Surreal Political and Psychological Satire Abendland  (meaning 'Evening Land' or 'The West') is a German comedy/drama film with a runtime of 1 hour and 55 minutes  (115 minutes), directed and written by Omer Fast , a renowned video artist. Set in the early '90s, the film uses a surreal, parable-like structure to critique the failing German state and the crisis of Western identity. The plot follows a young political activist, wearing an Angela Merkel mask , who, after a cla

A Political Drama of Resistance Hunger Strike Breakfast  is a Lithuanian drama film, set in the early 1990s, directed and written by Karolis Kaupinis  (known for Nova Lituania ). The film centers on Daiva (Ineta Stasiulyte) , a popular Lithuanian television star whose life is turned upside down when Russian soldiers seize control of the TV studios. In an act of bold, non-violent resistance, Daiva and a group of her colleagues announce a hunger strike  to reclaim the vital te