Focal Point

A satirical take on the mundane absurdities of life in modern-day Iran, these nine vignettes illuminate the lighter side of enduring under authoritarian rule. Whether choosing a name for a newborn, graduating from grade school, getting a driver’s license, applying for a job, or seeking approval for a film script, if you live in Iran, you best come fluent in Orwellian discourse.

A young veterinary student has a confusing encounter that plunges him into a journey of self-discovery in this impeccably-observed short featuring bold visuals and a subtle lead performance.

Bahram is a 40-year-old filmmaker who’s spent his entire career making films in Turkish-Azeri, none of which have ever been screened in Iran. His latest work, once again denied permission by the Ministry of culture, pushes him to the edge of defiance. With his sharp-tongued, Vespa-riding producer Sadaf by his side, he embarks on an underground mission to showcase his film to an Iranian audience, dodging government censors, absurd bureaucracy, and his own self- doubts.

Student Fereshteh has to hide her illegitimate baby for one night from her parents who turn up for a surprise visit. Her friend Atefeh helps her. They embark on an odyssey through Tehran during which they must carefully weigh up who their allies are.

Questioning the suspicious death of his mother, a university professor and his enigmatic gardener descend into a hypnotic maze of mirrors and memories. As family secrets surface and painful truths emerge, they spiral toward a devastating reckoning with the darkness lurking within us all.

Lantouri is the name of a gang that mugs people in broad daylight on the streets of Tehran and breaks into homes in the city’s rich northern district. The gang also kidnaps children from families who have become wealthy through corruption and embezzlement of state funds. The film begins with the confessions of individual gang members. Sociologists, human rights activists and political hardliners also have their say. Gang member Pasha runs amok because Maryam, a socially committed, self-confident journalist, does not reciprocate his feelings. The badly injured young woman demands lex talionis – the law, applicable in Iran, of ‘an eye for an eye’.

When the elderly caretaker of a remote morgue discovers the body of a young woman killed during a protest, he embarks on a magical odyssey to give her a proper burial before the militia returns.

After the of premiere of his film Terrestrial Verses (co-directed by Alireza Khatami) in Cannes, Ali Asgari was banned from traveling by the Iranian authorities. But filmmakers like Asgari are not easily deterred from practicing their art, despite unceasing repressive government interference.

Rokas and Inga, a couple of young Lithuanians, volunteer to drive a cargo van of humanitarian aid to Ukraine. They cross the vast snowy lands of the Donbass region, drifting into the lives of those affected by the war.

Tormented by a hidden family curse, Heather lives in seclusion on the outskirts of a small town. When she falls for the rebellious Jonny, their connection threatens to unravel Heather's suppressed desires, tempting her to unleash the animal within.

After discovering her mother’s dead body, Luz tries to protect her younger sister, Catalina, from the harmful reality by using fantasy and games.

Toby fights to escape after being kidnapped by his wife and priest for their proposed mass suicide, but when his captors contact the Hereafter by calling on the phone and someone he once knew picks it up, he must choose what to believe in.

A collaborative project consisting four young generation of Taiwan directors, and four young foreign directors from Chile, France, Iran, and South Korea.Without being acquainted previously before meeting each other in Taipei, the eight of them shared their life experiences, and then co-wrote and co-directed four short films based on impressions and imaginations of a city.

A stop-motion short film about a seahorse that is swept away from its coral reef and must survive the journey home.

The boundaries between fiction and reality blur when an aspiring actress is hired to play the missing daughter of a grieving couple.