Mischa Meyer

For all his life Frank Goudvis has tried not to follow in the footsteps of his father. When his father is mysteriously murdered, Frank loses his alibi for his cherished passivity and decides to travel to the crime scene.

Four teenagers in South Central Los Angeles plan a robbery - as people take to the streets protesting police brutality - and find unexpected childhood innocence in a comic book store at night.

A mother and father receive a disturbing letter from their daughter who is away at college. Through a series of confessions, each one more shocking than the next, they learn her life has snowballed completely out of control.

In South Africa, Marteria and his friends camp outside Cape Town for his birthday, unaware that “elf dust” - the planet’s most prized drug - drives hunters to kill ivory-toothed humanoids. They cross paths with dealer-baron Bronte, whose elf dust is secretly human-sourced, entangling Marteria in a deadly trade. The film closes with a haunting message: humanity embodies both the destruction and salvation of the universe.

In the Shadow of Palms is an intimate portrait of three lives on the outskirts of Los Angeles and the creative ways they find hope in this cinematic documentary.