Shahrzaad’s Tale
Shahin Parhami, Canada/Iran/South Korea, 2015, 129 min, In Farsi with English Subtitles Toronto Premiere Official Selection, Busan International Film Festival 2015; Fribourg International Film Festival 2016; Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival 2015; Montreal World Film Festival 2016; San Francisco Iranian Film Festival 2016; In Competition: Asia Pacific Screen Award. Shahrzaad’s Tale is a story of...
Soy Nero
Rafi Pitts, USA, 2016, 120 min, in English and Spanish with English Subtitles Toronto Premiere Winner, Bucharest FF 2016: Festival Prize; Nominated, Berlin FF 2016: Golden Bear, Amnesty International Nero is a 19-year-old deported Mexican. After several attempts he finally manages to return to his hometown, Los Angeles, to find his older brother Jesus. When...
Roj Means Sun
Mahsa Razavi, Canada, 2016, 18 min, in Kurdish with English Subtitles North American Premiere Rojin, a Kurdish- Canadian girl battles both her mother and her mother tongue, as she grieves the recent death of her father, killed in a battle in the Shingal Mountains, Iraqi Kurdistan.
Junction 48
Udi Aloni, Israel/Germany, 95 min, 2016, in Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles Canadian Premiere Winner, Berlin FF 2016: Audience Award; Tribeca FF 2016: Jury Award; Israeli Film Academy: Best Music, Best Sound, Best Actor; Art Film Slovakia: Best Film, Best Actor Kareem, a young Palestinian musician, spends his days wandering aimlessly between casual office...
Marry Me!
Neelesha Barthel, Germany, 2015, 94 min, in German, English, Hindi, Turkish with English Subtitles Canadian Premiere A culture clash comedy Kissy, a German-Indian woman in her late twenties, happily living with her seven-year-old daughter Meena in Berlin, oversees a building of rented apartments in Berlin-Kreuzberg, which has seen better days but not lost any of...
Aziz Rouhou (Narcissus)
Sonia Chamkhi, Tunisia, 2016, 90 min, in Arabic and French with English Subtitles North American Premiere Hind, a young thirty-year-old actress, plays in a play directed by her husband Taoufik. The play is based upon the tragic real-life experience of Hind and that of her younger brother Mehdi, a famous gay singer. While Mehdi is...
All Yours (Je Suis à Toi)
David Lambert, Belgium/Canada, 102 min, 2014, in English, French, and Spanish with English subtitles Toronto Premiere Winner, Karlovy Vary Film Festival 2014, Best Actor; Milan Lesbian and Gay Film Festival 2015: Best Film; Queer Lisbon Film Festival 2015: Best Actor. Young Argentine Lucas arrives in a small Belgian town to visit gay bakery owner Henry,...
Around the World in 50 Concerts
Heddy Honigmann, The Netherlands, 2015, 95 min, in Dutch and English with English Subtitles Toronto Premiere Opening film, International Diaspora Film Festival 2016 To celebrate its 125th anniversary Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra tours the whole world: 50 concerts spread over 6 continents. Unbounded passion and love for music brings musicians and concert goers together. Documentary...
Chay
Charlotte Rolfes, Germany, 2015, 8 min, no dialogue Winner, First Prize, Shortfilms Against Racism Festival, Madrid, Spain. North American Premiere An Iranian family mourns for the loss of the father who was murdered by right winged extremists. Ali, his son, flees into hatred and revenge phantasies, instead of taking care of his mother and siblings....
Forsaken
Salar Pashtoonyar, Canada, 2016, 9 min, in Arabic with English Subtitles After escaping for his life and living in exile for years in Canada, Karim finally convinces his estranged son Mahmoud to visit him from Iraq. Upon Mahmoud’s arrival nothing goes as planned and things take a turn for the worse when ISIS attacks Iraq...
Seeds of the Past
Aisha Jamal, Canada, 2016, 7 min, in English and Pashtun with English Subtitles Toronto Premiere Influenced by their love of the gardens of Afghanistan, the Jamals have turned the backyard of their Canadian home into a vibrant link to their past. Through their love for gardening and nostalgia for their homeland they create a beautiful oasis,...
Under the Shadow
Babak Anvari, UK/Iran, 84 min, 2016, in Farsi with English Subtitles Winner, Athens FF: Best Screenplay; Sundance Film Festival: World Premiere; Official British entry for the Oscars. Tehran, 1988: the Iran-Iraq war rumbles into its eighth year. The bombing campaigns focused on the city, coupled with the country’s bloody revolution, slowly tear a mother and...
Sonita
Rokhsareh Ghaem-Maghami, Iran/Germany, 90 min, 2015, in Farsi and English with English subtitles Winner, Sundance Film Festival 2016: Grand Jury Prize, Audience Award; Sarasota Doc Film Festival 2016: Audience Award; Portland International Film Festival 2016: Audience Award; Montclair Film Festival 2016: Special Jury Prize, Audience Award; East End Film Festival 2016: Best Documentary; Amsterdam International...
