Boys Feels: Stand by Me

These five award-winning coming of age short films offer a glimpse of how boys and young men tackle life's difficult desires: confronting one's demons, understanding sexual relationships, gaining the respect of one's father, or simply running away from it all. This is only the start of their complex formative years, where not every question has an answer, and not every answer makes sense. The short films are: Boys [Pojkarna] (2015); Ioana (2015); Kiem Holijanda (2017); Picnic [Piknik] (2015); Tomer & Elias [Tomer en Elias] (2016).

Like tears in the rain, water is the metaphor for growing pains and so much more in these four tales about young boys coming to terms with a host of emotions for the very first time. These polished productions and festival favourites are brought to you by a host of talented directors from across Germany, Denmark, France and the Netherlands. The short films are: Ocean [Océan] (2013); Go Daan Go! [Daan Durft] (2014); The Boy in the Ocean (2016); Beach Boy (2011).

Whether it's playing games in a military zone, cheating at school tests, crossing borders for cheap thrills or doing whatever it takes to make illicit money - these boys know that with every risk, they move closer and closer to an irreversible jeopardy. Deftly exploring masculinity and peer-pressure, these five coming-of-age tales from France, the Netherlands and Lithuania from burgeoning new filmmakers demonstrate that sometimes young hearts can run dangerously free. The short films are: Gotta (2015); The Last Day of School (2019); Tree House [Cabane] (2016); Gameboy (2014); Pollux (2018).

Yue's brother was executed by the government. Determined to bring his body back home, Yue goes to Taipei alone and finds help in Chao Kung-tao, a discharged soldier. Two people with no relations become friends in need, embarking on a journey that could cost them their lives.

Eugenie just broke up with her boyfriend Deven, who is in the military service. However, Eugenie cannot overcome it. She still keeps the letters and cannot discard them. One day, while Eugenie's father and sister are having a serious fight, Deven comes to visit Eugenie. Eugenie takes out the trash as an excuse for meeting Deven; however, she has no idea what she will lose.

Shan's crush is going to move away and they make a promise of exchanging their favorite signed baseballs. His signed ball, however, is lost because of his brother Jia, so the brothers start a journey to find the ball...

An old fridge and three sensitive women in an old flat. A mysterious sound starts to spread across the flat, echoing their inner world.

Amid the hubbub of the New Year’s Eve firework display, three youngsters of different backgrounds become roommates in the juvenile detention house. However, they soon come to realize that they could never leave the place for good.

Director A-Shun is doing everything he can to capture the golden era of Taiwanese-language cinema in his new film. Despite encountering one problem after another that push him to the brink of collapse, everybody still says to him, "You can do it!"

During the soft lockdown, many people once again got back in touch with their lives: a girl shot videos everyday to share with the woman who was to be her mother, a father who finally has time for his cat, a teenager who has to graduate through videoconferencing, an individual quarantining alone at home, and a director whose new film was put on hold. Everyone grows and adapts to the new normal, and subsequently bids farewell to their old life.

Jay, an urbanite kid of Taipei, is compelled to move to a remote small town and reside with his eccentric grandfather Wang Po in a peculiar grocery store. There, he encounters his lively yet unkempt roommate A-Le, the mischievous Hsiao Ko who loves to feast, and the rational girl with a mind for science, Ta-Ko.

In 1980s rural Taiwan, four children accidentally break a temple god statue. When they mysteriously begin to limp, a summer of folklore, superstition, and childhood wonder unfolds as they search for answers—and a miracle.