The near and present danger of Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon is the nerve-wracking backdrop to this expertly directed coming-of-age tale, centred on one boy’s all-consuming crush amidst the encroachment of war.
Festival Programme
Films — by Collection
- Aotearoa
- Becoming
- Belonging
- Breaking Through
- Encounters
- Incredibly Strange
- Indigenous Voices
- Mobilise
- Political States
- Portraits
- Proud
- Radical Empathy
- Square Eyes
- Visions
- – Animation –
- – EUROPE! Voices of Women in Film –
- – East & South East Asian –
- – Latin American –
- – Literary Connections –
- – Masterclasses –
- – Middle Eastern –
- – Out of the Past –
- – Shorts –
– Middle Eastern –
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Just 6.5
Metri Shesh-o Nim
A box office behemoth in its homeland and a daring breakthrough for its 30-year-old director Saeed Roustayi, this visceral policer tackles the maelstrom of Iran’s war on drugs through propulsive action and real political bite.
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Mayor
By turns comedic and Kafkaesque, this fly-on-the-wall doco observes the fortunes of Ramallah, an epicentre of Palestinian commerce and culture, and its tireless mayor, whose work to better the city is met with danger and frustration.
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No Hard Feelings
Futur Drei
Understated yet emotionally resonant, Faraz Shariat’s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age drama is both timely in its exploration of a global humanitarian crisis and a testament to the transformative power of queer love.
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The Perfect Candidate
Saudi superstar director Haifaa Al-Mansour’s latest is a winning homecoming; a seriocomic look at the daily struggles of a doctor running for council – and her fellow women and outsiders – within an Islamic society undergoing dramatic change.
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The Unknown Saint
A bumbling thief plots to infiltrate a mausoleum built inexplicably on top of his buried loot in Alaa Eddine Aljem’s delightful, deadpan tale of spirituality and greed in rural Morocco.
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You Will Die at Twenty
Sudanese filmmaker Amjad Abu Alala’s beautifully realised fable of a child living with the knowledge his life will end the moment he becomes an adult is a coming-of-age tale like no other.