Zaad (Seed) (Belgium) by Dries Meddens

After his mother passed away, Dries discovers his father’s bipolarity. The care this mental illness imposes in his young adult life leaves no place for mourning over his mother’s death. Countering the way society and psychiatry crudely and ruthlessly treat his father absorbs all his attention. Eventually – while in a closed section of a mental hospital – his father dies of a heart attack.

Emptying his parent’s home, Dries discovers, among an overload of left behind projects of his father, an old letter from his grandfather. The man appears to have led a very busy and productive life. He was the founder of an internationally renowned seed breeding company (Nunhems Zaden, now owned by BASF) and still had time to paint, write diaries and be the father of 11 children.

At first Dries is happy about his discoveries and feels a strong link to his grandfather. But the more he digs into the past, the less he can avoid a growing fear that his father's psychiatric illness might be hereditary, from grandfather to father to son. And what then germinates in Dries' children?

Running time: 01:15:38

The Run Towards (Belarus) by Pavel Ausiyevich

Regular procedures, known only to the doctor and the patient, are suddenly interrupted. The doctor disappears, and the protagonist begins to suffer from intense headaches. In his dreams, his dark side starts to appear, and in reality - losing control - he commits a series of murders. As he descends into chaos, he must confront his shadow and come to terms with who he truly is.

Running time: 01:14:51

Goodbye / Nevesoma (United States) by Anastasia Bezhan

“Goodbye” is a surreal visual poem about the quiet violence of self-transformation. Blending soft horror and mythological symbolism, the video follows the artist through slime-coated cocoons, sterile hospital corridors, animal totems, and haunting dreamscapes. It explores identity as something constantly shedding, splitting, and blooming — where beauty and decay coexist.

The final verse unfolds in a language tied to earth, memory, and myth — a soft echo of my Slavic heritage.

Running time: 00:02:22

Let it Dance (Australia) by Carolyn Corkindale

Born of a poor family in Paris, Guy Detot transforms himself through passion and luck into an international ballet dancer, dancing with Pina Bausch in The Rite of Spring and the Ballet Rambert. In 1982 Guy moves to Australia for love,  and  works with the Australian Dance Theatre, before being retired out of ballet and embarking on a journey to use his love of movement to create emotion-driven wood sculptures, based in Penola, South Australia.

Running time: 01:20:25

CU: Farewell (Ukraine) by Anar Azimov

The protagonist recalls her past while her daughter is going to leave her forever. Years ago, the protagonist came from a province to a big city to get rid of poverty. Marriage to a gangster didn’t make her happy. She fell in love with her husband’s accomplice and soon got pregnant.  Murder seems the only solution to the lovers…

Running time: 00:41:30

Knife, Chocolate (Iran, Islamic Republic of) by Hooshmand Varaei

This movie is the story of a happy family! The son of the family is antisocial, psychotic, skeptic and sexist who judges women by the smell of their cosmetics!

Running time: 00:15:00

Dragonfly (China) by Siyang Liu

Great-grandson Zhou Zihang has only two memories of his great-grandmother - her funeral and a contact. Unable to remember season and weather, he only remembers the persimmons that were handed to him and the unexplained crying

Running time: 00:19:27

Higher Grounds (United States) by Joe Kramer

On the fateful day intelligent life arrives to destroy Earth, one slacker alien gets sidetracked when he’s smitten with a bitter barista. Suddenly, our survival depends on whether this space-schmuck can get her number, before his plucky partner blows us sky high.

Running time: 00:16:59

Kissing Ralph (United States) by Daniel Lewinstein

Kissing Ralph follows an anxious young man struggling to participate in social rituals.

Running time: 00:40:00

Sio Roho Yangu - Not My Soul (United States) by Joe LoBianco

In 1807, a young slave is condemned to a sweltering hot box for her defiance, facing torment and uncertainty. Trapped in the oppressive heat, she struggles to survive, oscillating between fleeting hope and crushing despair. She draws strength from distant memories and spirituals. As her spirit is tested, the journey transforms from a desperate victim into a determined fighter, in a powerful testament to resilience and the unbreakable human will.

Running time: 00:14:29

Hairy Dreams (Canada) by Lina Cruz

Hairy Dreams evokes the interior world of a lonesome yet carefree character. Through words and movement, this is a visual abstract tale, taking place in a white cave-like space made of paper. Within this sort of origami igloo, a surrealist puzzle of images portrays the everyday routine of a diligent being.

Running time: 00:08:57