BENEATH THE LEAF OF ABSENCE(2025)

Misericordia(fr)

Jérémie returns to his hometown for the funeral of his former boss, the village baker. He decides to stay for a few days with Martine, the man's widow. A mysterious disappearance, a threatening neighbor and a priest with strange intentions make Jérémie's short stay in the village take an unexpected turn.

As Good As You(en)

Jo's world is thrown into utter disarray when her wife Amanda passes away and she starts chasing a dream that she and Amanda had once shared - starting a family together. Jo asks her late wife's brother, Jamie, to be her sperm donor and craziness ensues.

In Her Shoes(en)

Irresponsible party girl Maggie is kicked out of her father's and stepmother's home—where she lives for free—and is taken in by her hard-working sister, Philadelphia lawyer Rose. After Maggie's disruptive ways ruin her sister's love life, Rose turns her out as well. But when their grandmother, who they never knew existed, comes into their lives, the sisters face some complicated truths about themselves and their family.

Forget Me Knot(en)

A captivating short film about dementia and the struggles of being a young carer.

Picnic(es)

After All(en)

After All is said and done. A man clears out his childhood home, remembering past conversations.

Milo Is Lonely(en)

A teenage girl has lost her mother and has distances herself from everyone due to the grief she is feeling, till one day an old primary school friend of hers walks back into her life...

The Mothman Prophecies(en)

Reporter John Klein is plunged into a world of impossible terror and unthinkable chaos when fate draws him to a sleepy West Virginia town whose residents are being visited by a great winged shape that sows hideous nightmares and fevered visions.

Signs(en)

A family living on a farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields which suggests something more frightening to come.

In the Bedroom(en)

Summertime on the coast of Maine, "In the Bedroom" centers on the inner dynamics of a family in transition. Matt Fowler is a doctor practicing in his native Maine and is married to New York born Ruth Fowler, a music teacher. His son is involved in a love affair with a local single mother. As the beauty of Maine's brief and fleeting summer comes to an end, these characters find themselves in the midst of unimaginable tragedy.

January Hymn(en)

A reflection on the intangible experience of grief, January Hymn sees Clara return home for the first anniversary of her father's death.

On Summer Sand(ja)

This story begins with a protagonist whose sense of time has halted due to the grief of losing his son, now abandoned by his wife, and his sudden cohabitation with his 17-year-old niece left behind by his sister. A man who has lost love, a woman who has renounced love, and a girl who knows nothing of love... As they confront their respective pains, their journey of discovering faint sprouts of hope in hearts as parched as summer sand is depicted—a poignant yet tender masterpiece where sorrow and warmth intertwine.

Cocote(es)

A rapturous crime fable set in the Dominican Republic, Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias’ COCOTE follows Alberto, a kind-hearted gardener returning home to attend his father’s funeral. When he discovers that a powerful local figure is responsible for his father’s death, Alberto realizes that he’s been summoned by his family to avenge the murder. It’s an unthinkable act — especially for him, an Evangelical Christian. But as pressure mounts, he sees few ways out. Questions of faith, tradition and honor course through this electrifying film, which, seemingly at the speed of thought itself, jumps between film formats, colors, and aspect ratios, radically envisioning a community torn asunder by senseless violence.

The Upside of Anger(en)

After her husband runs off with his secretary, Terry Wolfmeyer is left to fend for herself -- and her four daughters. As she hits rock bottom, Terry finds a friend and drinking buddy in next-door neighbor Denny, a former baseball player. As the two grow closer, and her daughters increasingly rely on Denny, Terry starts to have reservations about where their relationship is headed.

Canary Yellow(en)

After the sudden death of his father in a car crash, Ryan, his 17-year-old son, finds himself isolated and alone as his mother falls apart. In an attempt to pick up the pieces that remain of his broken household, he attempts to shoulder the burden of caring for his mother and maintaining their home, putting aside his own grief to conserve the well-being of his family. But grief isn’t something we can ever truly control, and before long, cracks begin to form in Ryan’s facade. As Ryan fights this unwinnable battle, he is soon faced with another challenge as his Uncle attempts to reach out. Though at first unclear, we soon understand the distance between the pair as we realise the truth of the man’s past: that he was the driver in the crash that killed his father. As Ryan desperately clings to fragments of his former life, it is only when he is stripped of nearly everything that he realises he must confront his grief head-on and face the haunting demons of his past.

a song in b minor(en)

After her father's death, a young girl begins to experience paranormal activities whenever she's near her father's piano.

Black Dog(en)

Two teenagers from London take an unexpected road trip North as each of them tries to understand how loss and grief have shaped their young minds.

Fearless(en)

After surviving a plane crash that kills many others, Max Klein develops a sense of invulnerability, leading to radical, compulsive actions. Can a psychologist and a fellow guilt-ridden survivor bring him down to earth?

Oliverio and the Pool(es)

When something unexpected happens in Oliverio’s family, all he wants to do is walk away. He settles on a deckchair by the pool and decides there is no reason to move. Life swirls around him, revealing secrets and presenting new challenges. Through moments of death, excrement and basic physics, Oliverio learns that some truths cannot be ignored.

The Road Home(zh)

Prompted by the death of his father and the grief of his mother, a man recalls the story of how they met in flashback.