Kayije Kagame

A novelist attends the trial of a woman accused of killing her 15-month-old daughter by abandoning her to the rising tide on a beach in northern France. But as the trial continues, her own family history, doubts, and fears about motherhood are steadily dislodged as the life story of the accused is gradually revealed.

One night, an actor prepares to go on stage while a museum guard makes her rounds. The two gradually immerse themselves in these dormant institutions, on the fringes of shows and exhibitions.

Gaël was five years old when his mother, Didy, died. Memories of her have since been lost in the fury of the civil wars, genocide and AIDS that ravaged Burundi and then Rwanda, precipitating her exile to Switzerland. Thirty years on, he ventures to reopen the pages of his family history by meeting those who knew his mother.

A highly secure conference centre, nestled in the mountains. Hugo Radi combines a creative way of filming this locus of power with two fictional voice-over accounts to construct a dystopian world with real contours. This speculative film seems to draw inspiration from the most frightening elements of our contemporary societies.

In the business district of La Défense, a wave of suicides expose the fractures of a crumbling society. Strangers move through the streets like ghosts, bound by the invisible threads of paranoia. In the eerie glow of a collapsing city, destruction may be the only chance for rebirth.

Across time, a Black woman seeks to piece together the fragments of Black female figures and, guided by Black Venus, attempts to regain control of their narrative.

Claire, a businesswoman promoting a new skyscraper office in La Défense faces increasing scrutiny and isolation. The cold, grey offices amplify her loneliness, driving vivid dreams of setting the tower ablaze.

Twenty-four short films by 24 female writers, performed by 24 women actors, all based on women’s real life experiences of sexism, harassment, and violence. A diversity of female voices and talent from across Europe come together for a series that tackles head-on the everyday brutality experienced by women.