Becoming Animal

They grew up in the land of dictators and surveillance, where images are censored, photos are burned, thoughts are discreet, and mouths are kept shut. They grew up in Syria.

Breathing is about the thin space between life and death. 34-year-old Neil Platt plans his own funeral, muses about the meaning of life and the impossibility of terminating a mobile phone contract. With 5 months left to live, and paralyzed from the neck down by Motor Neurone Disease, he ponders how to communicate about his life in a letter for his baby son. How can he anticipate what he might want to know about his father in a future he can only imagine?

The home for the world's boldest contemporary filmmakers, celebrating intriguing personal stories that spark conversation and inspire action.

From the discovery of huge oil fields off the coast of Scotland to their mass privatisation during the Thatcher era, The Oil Machine highlights how oil became the invisible engine driving UK economic and public policy. In the wake of COP26 in Glasgow, demand for climate action has become a key societal concern and the pressure on both oil companies and the government continues to mount. Bringing together a wide range of voices, from industry executives and economists to young activists, Davie offers a visceral and thought-provoking interrogation into how this insidious machine might be dismantled.

Who is Jocky Wilson? 20 years ago every child in Kirkcaldy, on the east coast of Scotland, could answer this question. One of the best darts players ever, world champion in 1982 and 1989 - a national hero. But in '95 Jocky paid the price for his self destructive life style. In search of his myth, we follow the forces that shaped Jocky's hometown and its inhabitants as we discover lost memories of the man who once inspired the nation.

Desperately building against the inevitability of time, a restless young woman is awaiting another upcoming loss. But maybe more important things never seem to be told. Soon after the director moves into her 22nd house, she gets a phone call that her Grandma, who lives far away, is in a critical condition. Elsewhere, a huge apartment made of sand is being constructed as the tide rolls in, while she belatedly tries to build a relationship with her Gran. As the camera sensitively observes how we wait for the upcoming days, the film embraces the fragility of life, full of uncertainty.

A man searches for a loved one's remains in his fragmented memories and dreams.

Can love outlive death? Director Ningning's grandpa Zhao is an 85-year old man, who has faced not only extreme hardship during the second war but also the serious illness of his wife Lu that left her almost paralysed. Even though Zhao is a scientist, he believes that "love is a real kind of natural power" that can overcome any hardship, and he proves it. The film explores a unique world of the elderly who are deeply in love.