Narrative Feature
Narrative Competition
129 min
New York Premiere
In this heartwarming story of gender identity and self-discovery, 8-year-old Aitor (Sofía Ortera), nicknamed Coco, favors long hair and feminine clothes, aggravating tensions between Coco’s mother Ane (Patricia López) and family members who disapprove of this behavior in a young boy. Coco’s only solace is with Aunt Lourdes (Ane…
Directed By Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren
Narrative Feature
Spotlight
89 min
New York Premiere
In A LITTLE PRAYER, an extraordinary ensemble cast brings empathy and witty charm to a deeply personal tale of complex family dynamics. In a small Southern town in North Carolina, Bill (Academy Award® nominee David Strathairn) begins to suspect his son is having an affair. He is caught between an urge to protect his…
Directed By Angus MacLachlan
Narrative Feature
Spotlight
105 min
On a lonely night in contemporary London, Adam (Emmy® nominee Andrew Scott) has a chance encounter with mysterious neighbor Harry (Academy Award® nominee Paul Mescal). As a relationship develops between them, Adam finds himself drawn back to the suburban town where he grew up, and to the childhood home where his parents (Claire…
Directed By Andrew Haigh
Narrative Short
Short Films
20 min
Larissa, a trans woman, and Cláudio, a cis man, meet one night in the streets of Lisbon, dancing their differences away till morning…
Directed By Ary Zara
Narrative Feature
World Cinema Narrative
152 min
When Samuel (Samuel Theis) falls to his death in a remote town in the French Alps, his wife Sandra (Sandra Hüller, 2006 HIFF Rising Star) becomes the main suspect and their young son Daniel (Milo Machado Graner) is the only witness.
Directed By Justine Triet
Narrative Feature
Spotlight
102 min
World Premiere
Herbert Heller (Stephen Lang, AVATAR) carries a traumatic secret: now the beloved owner of a toy store in Northern California, Herbert is a Holocaust survivor. The Nazis forced him into the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp at age 12, but he managed to escape and kept the secret from everyone—including his own children—for…
Directed By Finn Taylor
Narrative Short
Short Films
19 min
Insecure New Jersey bodybuilder Joey Rossi—aka Joey Muscles—starts doing steroids in a last ditch effort to go…
Directed By Tyler Riggs
Narrative Short
Short Films
23 min
New York Premiere
Sun-starved teenagers take a dreamy trip to the Balearic islands in the pursuit of light and warmth to bring back to their heavy, clouded…
Directed By Christian Avilés
Narrative Short
Short Films
16 min
New York Premiere
It’s pouring down rain at the funeral. A lot of crying, too much wine, several woodpeckers and a couple of dreams fill in the…
Directed By Lucija Mrzljak, Morten Tšinakov
Narrative Feature
Spotlight
91 min
Based on the book of the same name by literary powerhouse Ottessa Moshfegh, EILEEN follows a peculiar young woman whose dreary life stretches on toward unending misery. In frigid 1960s Boston, Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie) shuffles between her father’s dingy, emotionally haunted home and the prison where she works alongside…
Directed By William Oldroyd
Narrative Feature
World Cinema Narrative
105 min
Directed by Academy Award® winner Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (DRIVE MY CAR, HIFF 2021), EVIL DOES NOT EXIST is an empathetic, simmering slow burn. In the rural Japanese village where Takumi (Hitoshi Omika) and his young daughter live, tensions rise when two agents arrive with plans to build a glamping site for tourists. As villagers…
Directed By Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Narrative Feature
Spotlight
98 min
North American Premiere
Griffin Dunne (THE DISCOVERERS, HIFF 2012) stars as Peter Pearce, a New Yorker reeling from his parents’ recent divorce and his own wife (Rosanna Arquette, reuniting with her AFTER HOURS co-star) leaving him after 35 years. When he crashes his son Nick’s (James Norton) bachelor party in Tulum, Peter soon realizes he’s not the…
Directed By Noah Pritzker
Narrative Feature
World Cinema Narrative
81 min
Masterful Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki (LE HAVRE, THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE) returns with a timeless and hopeful love story about two lonely souls who meet by chance and find a path to happiness. Their journey is filled with life's natural obstacles big and small, including alcoholism, lost phone numbers, and not knowing each…
Directed By Aki Kaurismäki
Narrative Feature
World Cinema Narrative
90 min
Native American hustler Jax (Lily Gladstone, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON) searches tirelessly for her missing sister while caring for her niece Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson). When child services places Roki under the care of her white grandparents (Shea Whigham, Audrey Wasilewski), Jax and Roki run away together in hopes of…
Directed By Erica Tremblay
Narrative Feature
Spotlight
114 min
East Coast Premiere
Anna (Jessie Buckley, WOMEN TALKING, HIFF 2022) and Ryan (Jeremy Allen White, "The Bear") have found true love—a fact that can now be verified using a controversial new technology. When Anna meets the charming Amir (Riz Ahmed, SOUND OF METAL) at her job at the love-testing institute, she begins to question...
Directed By Christos Nikou