The Farewell

On the heights of a mountain in North Macedonia, in the midst of a flock of 600 sheep being watched over by huge dogs, stands a refuge. Children's laughter escapes from the precarious shelter. They are a brotherhood, ranging from ages eight to twenty. When they are not hard at work, they are playing and discussing the meaning of life. Is their future really here?

Days of Madness portray an incredible odyssey of two mentally diverse and unjustly rejected people who are learning to accept it, faced with the blindness of the society and the health system that made them addicts.

Road trip through the periphery of the EU shows present-day Europe through the eyes of a much-travelled six-year-old, wise beyond his years. A fresh look at this old continent: shooting from the hip and free from sentimentality, young Terra questions the usefulness and purpose of borders.

A music documentary based on the work of Slovenian multihyphenate artist Frane Milčinski Ježek. His satyrical poems and songs from the 1950s and 60s today sound more urgent and topical than ever, and are covered by musicians ranging from Finnish avant-garde accordion player Kimmo Pohjonen, to legendary Croatian songstress Josipa Lisac, to the former Bad Seed Hugo Race. The music is produced by indie rock icon Cris Eckman (The Walkabouts), and expertly mixed with archive footage of Jezek's own performances and skits, creating a touching and thought-provoking narrative.

Slovenian director Petra Seliskar investigates the role of ideology in her personal family history by means of interviews with her paternal grandfather, her Macedonian boyfriend Brand's maternal grandmother and his Cuban grandmother on his father's side. Illustrated by archive footage and home movies, her voice-over describes her family's personal story, Yugoslavia under Tito, and the recent war, accompanied by some particularly shocking footage. The nature shots and the alternation of classical, popular and revolutionary music occasionally lend the stories a light-hearted tone.

Filmed over a period of 20 years, Body is a sensitive and intimate exploration of the extraordinary life and intricate inner world of a woman who fights with her indomitable spirit to resist a series of rare auto-immune diseases.

Based on diaries and photographs found in the houses destroyed during the Russian war against Ukraine, the film captures the stories of Mariupol, including that of the director’s family. It centers on the value of freedom and human life itself over the nonsensical statements repeated by totalitarian regimes, as witnessed throughout the history of the Azovstal plant.

A film following the beginning of the human race to its end.

While the children are enjoying their summer holidays, Basri, 8, heads off to the Macedonian mountains to join his brothers. They are the shepherds of hundreds of sheep, helped by huge dogs that protect them from wolves. For Basri, it's freedom, while his teenage brothers dream of elsewhere.