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Contemporary World Cinema
SIFF always takes great pride in showcasing films from around the globe.
From noir mysteries from France and China, to wild comedies from Switzerland and the Philippines and coming—of—age dramas from Trinidad and Denmark, we guarantee you'll find a connection to someone's story—whether from your own backyard or on the other side of the world. Swap your passport for some popcorn and experience an expansive selection of movies from over 80 countries.
A Man of Integrity
Iran | 2017 | 117 minutes | Mohammad Rasoulof
An Iranian farmer’s devotion to honesty puts him at odds with the corrupt powers controlling his livelihood.
A Moment In the Reeds
Finland | 2017 | 107 minutes | Mikko Makela
An unexpected summer fling between two young men in an outwardly idyllic setting exposes underlying generational and cultural tensions.
A Rough Draft
Russia | 2018 | 114 minutes | Sergey Mokritskiy
A Russian videogame designer is mysteriously recruited to be the gatekeeper of a multidimensional portal.
Ana, mon Amour
Romania | 2017 | 130 minutes | Calin Peter Netzer
Two college students embark on a passionate, tumultuous romantic relationship.
Anchor and Hope
Spain | 2017 | 112 minutes | Carlos Marques-Marcet
When a lesbian couple decides to start a family they ask an old friend to donate his sperm.
Angels Wear White
China | 2017 | 107 minutes | Vivian Qu
A young woman witnesses a local official's assault against two schoolgirls, leading to a complex aftermath of cover-ups and gaslighting.
Ava
Iran | 2017 | 103 minutes | Sadaf Foroughi
An Iranian teenager is forced to take a humiliating medical exam to prove her virginity, which ignites a fierce rebellious streak.
Beast
United Kingdom | 2017 | 107 minutes | Michael Pearce
A troubled young woman falls for a mysterious man who is suspected of multiple murders.
Birds Are Singing in Kigali
Poland | 2017 | 113 minutes | Joanna Kos-Krauze, Krzysztof Krauze
A Polish ornithologist doing research in Rwanda saves a young Tutsi woman after her family is murdered.
Bloody Milk
France | 2017 | 90 minutes | Hubert Charuel
A reserved dairy farmer recklessly slaughters one of his cows and tries desperately to cover it up.
Breath
Australia | 2017 | 115 minutes | Simon Baker
Two Australian teens discover the liberating world of surfing through the guidance of an enigmatic big wave rider.
Butterflies
Turkey | 2018 | 117 minutes | Tolga Karacelik
Three dysfunctional siblings journey back to the village of their birth to help their estranged father fulfill his dying wish.
C’est la vie!
France | 2017 | 115 minutes | Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano
A beleagured caterer and his mishap-prone staff struggle to cater an elegant, high profile wedding party.
Champions
Spain | 2018 | 120 minutes | Javier Fesser
A disgraced basketball coach is given the chance to coach a team of players who are intellectually disabled.
Chedeng & Apple
Philippines | 2018 | 97 minutes | Rae Red, Fatrick Tabada
Two best friends and their children go on the run after one friend decapitates her abusive husband.
Cinderella the Cat
Italy | 2017 | 86 minutes | Alessandro Rak, Ivan Cappiello, Marino Guarnieri, Dario Sansone
The classic Cinderella tale gets a dystopic adult animated update.
Dark River
United Kingdom | 2017 | 90 minutes | Clio Barnard
A woman returns home to her family’s Yorkshire sheep farm and enters into a bitter dispute with her estranged brother.
Death of a Poetess
Israel | 2017 | 75 minutes | Dana Goldberg, Efrat Mishori
The lives of a troubled Israeli writer and a Palastinian lesbian collide in this poetic, noir-inspired character drama.
Disobedience
United Kingdom | 2017 | 114 minutes | Sebastian Lelio
A compassionate exploration of faith, sexuality, and freedom told through the passionate love between two women in London's Orthodox Jewish community.
Doubtful
Israel | 2017 | 88 minutes | Eliran Elya
An emotionally scarred writer teaches filmmaking to a group of juvenile delinquents in a small Israeli town.
Fake Tattoos
Canada (Québec) | 2017 | 87 minutes | Pascal Plante
Introverted punk rocker Theo falls in love with the free spirited Mag on the streets of Montreal.
Falling
Ukraine | 2017 | 105 minutes | Marina Stepanska
A musician fresh out of rehab meets a young beauty in this love story set in post-revolution Ukraine
Garbage
India | 2018 | 105 minutes | Q (Qaushiq Mukherjee)
After being enslaved by a derranged internet troll, a woman turns the tables on her captor by enacting violent revenge.
Gauguin
France | 2017 | 102 minutes | Edouard Deluc
A biopic about post-impressionist painter Paul Gaugin's first sojourn in Tahiti.
Genesis
Hungary | 2018 | 120 minutes | Arpad Bogdan
A young boy, a teenage archer, and a young female lawyer find themselves connected by a racially motivated murder.
Giant
Spain | 2017 | 115 minutes | Jon Garano, Aitor Arregi
A young crippled man returns home from war to find that his brother has turned into a giant.
Girls Always Happy
China | 2018 | 117 minutes | Mingming Yang
Winner of the SIFF 2018 China Stars Award for Best New Talent | A college graduate stuck living at home clashes with her mother over everything from marriage to money to table manners.
Godard Mon Amour
France | 2017 | 102 minutes | Michel Hazanavicius
Oscar®-winner Michel Hazanavicius depicts the whirlwind 1968 romance between revolutionary filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard and activist Anne Wiazemsky.
Going West
Norway | 2018 | 80 minutes | Henrick Martin Daslsbakken
A recently unemployed music teacher and his transgender father attempt to mend their tense relationship on a trip to Norway’s west coast.
Gold Seekers
Paraguay | 2017 | 102 minutes | Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schémbori
After finding an antique treasure map, a teen and his band of whip-smart friends stage a daring heist.
Green Days by the River
Trinidad and Tobago | 2017 | 102 minutes | Michael Mooleedhar
A young teen in 1950s coastal Trinidad learns bittersweet lessons of life, love, and loss.
Half Widow
India | 2017 | 91 minutes | Danish Renzu
Amid the backdrop of the Kashmiri conflict, a young woman must come to grips with the disappearance of her doting husband.
Happy Birthday
Greece | 2017 | 88 minutes | Christos Georgiou
A Greek police officer and his activist daughter travel to their country home to hash out their political disagreements.
Hard Paint
Brazil | 2018 | 119 minutes | Filipe Matzembacher, Marcio Reolon
A shy twentysomething online erotic worker ventures out of his comfort zone to defend his space as a performer.
Hot Mess
Australia | 2017 | 77 minutes | Lucy Coleman
A budding playwright sets her sights on a sweet-seeming divorce in the hopes of lifting her spirits
I Miss You When I See You
Hong Kong | 2018 | 93 minutes | Simon Chung
After reuniting in Australia, a depressed man follows his old secondary school friend back to their native Hong Kong.
Julia Blue
Ukraine | 2018 | 88 minutes | Roxy Toporowych
A student and a soldier find love amidst the trauma of the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Killing Jesus
Colombia | 2017 | 99 minutes | Laura Mora Oretega
Her father murdered before her eyes, and the police indifferent, a Colombian student plots a bloody revenge against the murderer.
Kiss & Spell
Vietnam | 2017 | 113 minutes | Stephane Gauger
A magician deathly afraid of ghosts falls for a girl haunted by them in this spellbinding horror-romantic-comedy.
Last Child
South Korea | 2017 | 124 minutes | Shin Dong-seok
A grieving couple attempts to cope with their son’s death by becoming mentor to a bullied boy.
Lemonade
Romania | 2018 | 88 minutes | Ioana Uricaru
A Romanian immigrant stubbornly battles bureaucracy and corruption in her determination to get a Green Card.
Little Tito and the Aliens
Italy | 2017 | 92 minutes | Paola Randi
A lonely widower hoping to communicate with aliens copes with his grief making first contact with long-estranged relatives.
Love and Shukla
India | 2017 | 111 minutes | Siddhartha Jatla
After an arranged wedding, Shukla of Mumbai longs for intimacy while crowded with his whole family living in one room.
Love Education
China | 2017 | 122 minutes | Sylvia Chang
A woman’s plan to relocate her father’s grave unravels a tale of three generations of love, betrayal, and hope.
Luna
France | 2017 | 85 minutes | Elsa Diringer
After a drunken, testosterone-filled party goes wrong, a teenage girl resolves to rid her life of toxic masculinity.
Mademoiselle Paradis
Austria | 2017 | 97 minutes | Barbara Albert
An exquisite period-piece telling the inspiring true story of blind Baroque pianist Maria Theresia von Paradis.
Marilyn
Argentina | 2018 | 80 minutes | Martín Rodriguez Redondo
A gay young man in rural Argentina, longing to pursue education elsewhere, instead suddenly inherits his family’s ranch.
Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts
Indonesia | 2017 | 93 minutes | Mouly Surya
A woman defending herself from gang rape becomes considered an outlaw herself in this dark feminist western.
Mobile Homes
Canada | 2017 | 105 minutes | Vladimir de Fontenay
A vagrant young mother hopes to escape the tribulations of the road to build a future for her son.
My Big Gay Italian Wedding
Italy | 2018 | 90 minutes | Alessandro Genovesi
A newly-engaged gay couple prepares for their wedding in a conservative Italian village, which tests tradition against their love.
Naples in Veils
Italy | 2017 | 112 minutes | Ferzan Ozpetek
Naples serves as an enthralling backdrop for this mystery-shrouded thriller of romance and murder.
Nearest and Dearest
Russia | 2017 | 83 minutes | Ksenia Zueva
A brutally honest look at the pains of life in rural Russia, for young and old alike.
Nervous Translation
Philippines | 2018 | 90 minutes | Shireen Seno
A precocious 8-year-old girl in the late-1980s Philippines processes the turmoil around her in her own magical lens.
Never Steady, Never Still
Canada | 2017 | 110 minutes | Kathleen Hepburn
A mother deals with Parkinson's disease while her son struggles to come to terms with his sexuality.
New Turn
Hong Kong | 2017 | 102 minutes | Doris Wong
A Hong Kong twenty-something searching Taiwan for her twin sister finds unexpected friendship and kindness along the way.
No Bed of Roses
Bangladesh | 2017 | 86 minutes | Mostofa Sawar Farooki
A famed Bangladeshi movie director’s life is upended by scandal when he leaves his family to marry a teenage girl.
Nona
Guatemala | 2017 | 90 minutes | Michael Polish
A young Honduran woman’s romantic encounter with a handsome traveler lures her into the twisted net of human trafficking.
Number One
France | 2017 | 110 minutes | Tonie Marshall
A female manager’s push for the top soon leaves her facing the looming glass ceiling.
On Borrowed Time
United Arab Emirates | 2018 | 97 minutes | Yasir Al Yasiri
Four retired men in Dubai spend a sudden windfall on a crazy adventure outside their assisted living community.
On Chesil Beach
United Kingdom | 2017 | 110 minutes | Dominic Cooke
Newly-wedded lovers in 1962 England face growing pains and sobering discoveries about each other during their honeymoon.
One of These Days
Lebanon | 2017 | 95 minutes | Nadim Tabet
Amidst the perpetual troubles and turmoil in Beirut, three twenty-somethings continue chasing excitement, music, and love as young people do.
Pig
Iran | 2018 | 107 minutes | Mani Haghighi
A pop-art colored black comedy about a serial killer stalking film directors in Tehran.
Pure Hearts
Italy | 2017 | 114 minutes | Roberto De Paolis
Forbidden romance blossoms between a sheltered 18-year-old girl and a troubled 25-year-old man in this remarkable authentic drama.
Racer and the Jailbird
Belgium | 2017 | 130 minutes | Michael R. Roskam
When a racecar driver and robber cross paths as lovers, their passionate romance goes hand-in-hand with a daring heist.
Rust
Brazil | 2018 | 100 minutes | Aly Muritiba
Winner of the SIFF 2018 Grand Jury Prize - Ibero-American Competition | When a Brazilian teenager's sex video goes viral, she commits one desperate act that shocks her enite community.
See You Up There
France | 2017 | 117 minutes | Albert Dupontel
Three french WWI veterans embark on a twisting journey of schemes and betrayls to right past wrongs.
Something Useful
Turkey | 2017 | 108 minutes | Pelin Esmer
Two women at turning points in their lives find friendship and inspiration for the world ahead in one another.
Streaker
Switzerland | 2017 | 93 minutes | Peter Luisi
A teacher and barber make a hilarious bet of how long streakers can stay on the field of soccer matches
Suleiman Mountain
Russia | 2017 | 102 minutes | Elizaveta Stishova
A disjointed family struggling to remain as one while traveling through the Kyrgyzstan countryside to reach a storied healing mountain.
Summer 1993
Spain | 2017 | 97 minutes | Carla Simón
A six-year-old girl orphaned as a result of the AIDS virus must relearn the meaning of human intimacy.
Susu
China | 2017 | 106 minutes | Yixi Sun
Two Chinese students find themselves in a chilling Gothic tale in a secluded 16th century mansion in the British countryside.
Sweet Country
Australia | 2017 | 112 minutes | Warwick Thornton
An aboriginal ranch-hand goes on the run after a violent act of self-defense in the Australian outback.
Team Hurricane
Denmark | 2017 | 96 minutes | Annika Berg
Coming-of-age film where eight punk rebels explore their artistic expressions through social media while managing painful realities.
The Bold, The Corrupt, and The Beautiful
Taiwan | 2017 | 112 minutes | Ya-che Yang
The ruthless matriarch of an all-female crime family finds her syndicate on the brink of collapse.
The Bottomless Bag
Russia | 2017 | 104 minutes | Rustam Khamdamov
An enchanting tale of intrigue, doubt, and mysticism set in and around the palace of a Russian Czar.
The Captain
Germany | 2017 | 118 minutes | Robert Schwentke
In the waning days of The Third Reich, a young German deserter steals a captain’s uniform to avoid execution.
The Children Act
United Kingdom | 2017 | 105 minutes | Richard Eyre
A judge faces a personal and professional crisis when she’s asked to rule in the case of a teenager who is refusing a life-saving blood transfusion.
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The Drummer and The Keeper
Ireland | 2017 | 93 minutes | Nick Kelly
A Dublin drummer who is diagnosed with bipolar disorder befriends a 17-year-old with Asperger's Syndrome.
The Empty Hands
Hong Kong | 2017 | 87 minutes | Chapman To
A woman competes in a martial arts tournament to win ownership of her late father's dojo.
The Eternal Road
Finland | 2017 | 103 minutes | Antti Jussi Annila
In the 1930's, a Finnish farmer is forced by Soviet Intelligence to infiltrate a farm collective.
The Guilty
Denmark | 2018 | 85 minutes | Gustav Moller
Winner of the Golden Space Needle Award for Best Director (Gustav Möller) | An emergency dispatcher receives a panicked distress call from a woman, leading him on a frantic rescue mission.
The Heiresses
Paraguay | 2018 | 95 minutes | Marcelo Martinessi
A longtime couple's bond is tested when one is sent to prison and the other begins chauffeuring wealthier older ladies.
The Last Suit
Argentina | 2017 | 92 minutes | Pablo Solarz
Winner of the Golden Space Needle Award for Best Actor (Miguel Ángel Solá) | Coming to grips with his mortality, an elderly tailor searches for the man that once saved him from the Holocaust.
The Place
Italy | 2017 | 105 minutes | Paolo Genovese
A mysterious restaurant patron grants strangers their wishes in exchange for peculiar tasks he assigns them,
The Poet and the Boy
South Korea | 2017 | 110 minutes | Yang-hee Kim
A disillusioned poet on Jeju Island finds new inspiration through his romance with a boy in a donut shop.
The Reports on Sarah and Saleem
Palestine | 2018 | 127 minutes | Muayad Alayan
Winner of the SIFF 2018 Grand Jury Prize - Official Competition | A love affair between an Israeli and Palestinian in embattled Jerusalem threatens to explode into political crisis.
The Return
Denmark | 2018 | 85 minutes | Malene Choi
Two Koreans adopted by parents in Denmark return to their home country they’ve never seen.
The Song of Scorpions
India | 2017 | 119 minutes | Anup Singh
A shamansitc singing healer in the Thar Desert must seek revenge for her lost grandmother after suffering an assault.
The Sower
France | 2017 | 98 minutes | Marine Francen
A village of lone French women one day encounter a handsome stranger that threatens their way of life.
The Story of ‘72
Nepal | 2018 | 87 minutes | Prabin Syangbo
A young man leaves his native home of Nepal to chase an uncertain future.
The Taste of Betel Nut
China | 2017 | 84 minutes | Jia Hu
Winner of the SIFF 2018 China Stars Award for Best Film | A polyamorous male couple test the limits of their sexuality by becoming romantically entangled with a beautiful young girl.
The Third Murder
Japan | 2017 | 124 minutes | Hirokazu Kore-eda
A defense attorney who begins to question his profession after a client begins to change his story with each confession.
The Widowed Witch
China | 2018 | 118 minutes | Cai Chengjie
A third-time widow who falls on especially hard times is declared cursed but then turns superstition to her advantage.
Three Peaks
Germany | 2017 | 94 minutes | Jan Zabeil
A family drama set in the Italian Dolomites mountains where the source of pain centers around one young boy.
Under the Tree
Iceland | 2017 | 89 minutes | Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson
An absurd black comedy of two families that feud over the placement of a tree in their neighborhood.
Valley of Shadows
Norway | 2017 | 91 minutes | Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen
A boy embarks on an odyssey through a forest to find the creatures that have been eating his sheep.
Village Rockstars
India | 2017 | 87 minutes | Rima Das
A willful 10-year-old girl in a rural India decides to form a band despite the limitations of her impoverished lifestyle.
Virus Tropical
Colombia | 2017 | 96 minutes | Santiago Caicedo
Animated feature that follows a woman—from conception to young adulthood—as she fumbles her way through a dysfunctional life.
Wajib
Palestine | 2017 | 96 minutes | Annemarie Jacir
A Palestinian son returns home to reunite with his father and drive around Nazareth to prepare for a family wedding.
Waru
New Zealand | 2017 | 88 minutes | Briar Grace-Smith, Awanui Simich-Pene, Katie Wolfe, Renae Maihi, Casey Kaa, Chelsea Winstanley, Paula Whetu Jones, Ainsley Gardiner
Eight vignettes directed by eight female Maori directors centered around the death of a Māori boy.
What Will People Say
Norway | 2017 | 106 minutes | Iram Haq
A young girl caught between Pakistani tradition and Western values is forced to live with her aunt in Pakistan.
Wrath of Silence
China | 2017 | 119 minutes | Yukun Xin
A mute Chinese miner sets off to find his missing son using whatever tactics necessary.