AMANTES

Short

A court, a cell, awaiting a sentence. Two boys : Warda, a Lebanese refugee and Ange, a white delinquent. An attempted escape in the toilets sparks a manhunt, and the two fugitives, despite their different languages, try to imagine their fate together.

Short

When Victoire, a young trans judoka, reaches the finals of a local competition, her opponent Sonia refuses to face her. A confrontation that transcends sport, questioning prejudice, courage, and the right to simply exist.

Feature

The city is Paris, the year is 2014, and same-sex marriage has recently been legalized in France. Céline and Nadia—both in their thirties—decide to get married and start a family (via insemination) but as pioneers of lesbian parenting, they quickly discover how far from equality they actually remain. A remarkable debut from Alice Douard, Des preuves d’amour (Love Letters) explores the trials of lesbian parenting, with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments to help ease the tension of unrelenting obstacles. While most would agree that one can never truly prepare for parenthood, Douard’s film shows the barriers that a lesbian couple must overcome—to name a few, there’s mandatory marital status, adoption papers for the non-gestational parent, and fifteen letters of attestation from friends and family (PS–they can’t all be lesbians!). Though these demands compound an already overwhelming milestone, Céline (Ella Rumpf) and Nadia (Monia Chokri, Les amours imaginaires) persist, enduring character judgments and microaggressions as they navigate through the endless bureaucratic hoops that no heterosexual couple would have to surpass. But the most significant challenge for Céline will be to reconnect her estranged mother Marguerite—a famous concert pianist who’s currently in Paris for a tour—from whom Céline needs a letter.

Short

Every day, Achraf is haunted by an imposing knight’s armor that follows him everywhere: to work, with friends, and even onstage as a drag king. Invisible to others, the armor grows harder to ignore, reflecting the pressures, fears, and inner battles that quietly shape his life.

Short

Determined to prove to his father that he is the city's most feared gangster, Alessandro sets out to rob a bar with his friend Joe. However, when they discover that it is a drag queen bar and that the star performer is Alessandro's father in drag, the night takes an unexpected turn.

Short

Trans women boxers share their stories of gender euphoria, struggles, and resilience, revealing the powerful bonds they build through their shared practice of the sport.

Short

Najib, a reserved 16-year-old, spends his summer alone, absorbed in video games. When his elderly Algerian neighbor disappears, he secretly takes her apartment keys and uncovers traces of a vanished world. Through this quiet exploration, he begins to open himself to others and to islands on the verge of disappearing.

Feature

Seaside La Ciotat, its cicadas droning, is a far cry from the battlefields of Ukraine. A distance that vexes 16-year-old Enzo, who is drowning in ennui. Drawn to danger, cavalier about consequences, he is convinced a dashing Ukrainian bricklayer is his ticket to a more audacious future. Enzo (Eloy Pohu) makes for an irksome masonry apprentice: he slacks off, scoffing at superiors. He seems engineered for his privileged life at his parents’ hillside villa, cooling off in the pool under an unrelenting sun. But, he bucks his parents’ high aspirations and boss’ low expectations, determined to be part of something that lasts. Equally determined to insinuate himself into the trajectory of his 20-something colleague, Vlad (Maksym Slivinskyi). While Enzo must debate which vacation to take, Vlad is torn epically between a newfound Frenchness and wartorn Ukraine. Vlad becoming a romantic and narrative ideal Enzo will do anything to attain. Dying in the midst of Enzo’s creation, auteur Laurent Cantet passed the baton to longtime collaborator Robin Campillo (120 BPM), who encapsulates the fascinating ambiguities of sexuality, class anxiety, and valour. Situating them amongst the half-built shelters and ineffable ruins of our time.

Short

On his way to a rave in the Argentine Pampas, Martín takes refuge in a mysterious tavern after a strange accident. As night falls, paranoia and eerie visions blur reality, revealing lurking supernatural forces.