Lorenzo
Father and mother are thrilled: So now their teenager son has a girlfriend. And what a fabulous young woman she is! In contrast to his older sister Milli, 17-year-old Franz was previously an introverted, quiet, shy loner. His parents are all the more impressed when he brings home the pretty, self-confident Zoe one night. Zoe quickly finds her way into the heart of Franz’s family. Or is this young woman just telling people what they want to hear because she sees their hidden desires? After an ecstatic night in the clubs of the city of Munich with a little too much drugs, Zoe has disappeared and Franz's heart is broken. He absolutely has to see her again and goes looking for his first great love.
Hwi-young and Kyung-jun are the closest of friends, always at each other's side. However, just before their planned trip to celebrate Hwi-young's birthday, a misunderstanding causes Kyung-jun to start giving Hwi-young the cold shoulder on purpose. Will Hwi-young's long-awaited trip be smooth sailing despite his friend's sudden distance?
Like tears in the rain, water is the metaphor for growing pains and so much more in these four tales about young boys coming to terms with a host of emotions for the very first time. These polished productions and festival favourites are brought to you by a host of talented directors from across Germany, Denmark, France and the Netherlands. The short films are: Ocean [Océan] (2013); Go Daan Go! [Daan Durft] (2014); The Boy in the Ocean (2016); Beach Boy (2011).
On the eve of his Bar Mitzvah, young Elliot finds that all the grown men in his life are somewhat wanting.
A group of young Tibetan boys seek retribution against a donkey that harmed one of their own, only to encounter escalating complications.
In Sara's class, the popular kids, also known as the kings and queens, are subjected to daily humiliations, which include having their pants pulled down or water thrown on them, but this is only a sign of their elevated status. Sara is the only blond and blue-eyed girl in her class, and she is completely overlooked by the kings and queens who do not have blond hair and blue eyes. She has a secret crush on one of the kings, who is way out of her league, and she doesn't have any friends either, but would like to become friends with Karen, also an outsider who aspires to a better status. One day, Sara eyes an opportunity to boost her popularity by humiliating herself and thereby become queen. Karen instantly becomes her friend, she seems to catch the eye of her kingly crush and popularity appears within her reach. However, her happiness is short-lived, and in the end she learns a far more valuable lesson than how to be queen for a day.
Caleb, a South Florida teen, loves his camera, his weed and his grandmother. On the eve of his high school graduation, everything changes when he's exposed to HIV. While he waits three months for his results, Caleb finds love in the most unlikely of places.
Everyone deserves a great love story, but for 17-year-old Simon Spier, it's a little more complicated. He hasn't told his family or friends that he's gay, and he doesn't know the identity of the anonymous classmate that he's fallen for online.
During the holidays, Amanda, trapped in adolescence, looks for a way to escape from the annoying family trip. While travelling, she realizes how her relationship with her family is progressively crumbling and her parents marriage is slowly falling apart. She sees it as a punishment, but does not suspect that with the imminent escalation of violence in Mexico this could be their last vacation together.
Sentenced to spend out the rest of his adult life laboring in the harsh deserts of Egypt, the Thracian slave Spartacus gets a new lease on life when he is purchased by the obese owner of a Roman gladiator school. Moved by the defiance of an Ethiopian warrior, Draba, Spartacus leads a slave uprising which threatens Rome's status quo. As Spartacus gains sympathy within the Roman Senate, he also makes a powerful enemy in form of Marcus Lucinius Crassus, who makes it a matter of personal honor to crush the rebellion.
Greg Heffley is headed for big things, but first he has to survive the scariest, most humiliating experience of any kid’s life – middle school! That won’t be easy, considering he’s surrounded by hairy-freckled morons, wedgie-loving bullies and a moldy slice of cheese with nuclear cooties!
A man tries to warn his brother away from the new girlfriend he brings home during Thanksgiving, but ends up becoming infatuated with her in the process.
An independent-minded American tour guide is fired from her job in Rome just before Christmas. She crosses paths with an American executive named Oliver, who wants to buy a high-end Italian ceramics company. Oliver hires Angela to be his tour guide around the Eternal City, as the owner of the ceramics company won’t sell it to him until he learns “the heart and soul of Rome.” But is there another heart and soul that he may win?
An Indonesian boy and his mother attend a church potluck and lie about their dish.
High school athlete Cyd Loughlin lives alone with her depressive father in South Carolina, perpetually longing to get away from it all. When her aunt, famous novelist Miranda Ruth, agrees to host her for a few weeks during the summer, Cyd jumps at the opportunity. While there, she falls for a girl in the neighborhood, even as she and her aunt gently challenge each other in the realms of sex and spirit.
When teenager Elle's first kiss leads to a forbidden romance with the hottest boy in high school, she risks her relationship with her best friend.
A man and his son take an allegorical stroll through life with a talking bird that spouts social and political philosophy.
Irene, a workaholic, is forced to re-evaluate her priorities after the suicide of her two best friends.
A coming-of-age tale about three 18-year-olds just out of high school who go to a Greek island following one of the boys' older girlfriend.
Sabina has a regular life. She is satisfied with her job and her love for Franco. Lately nightmares start disturbing her, and almost in the same time she discovers to be pregnant. Step by step she remembers her childhood spent within a severe middle-class family. But a big secret is hidden within her heart. Sabina wants to contact again her brother, a University teacher in the US, to try to understand what is happened in their past. What is the secret? She is determined to bring clarity and serenity in her life. She finally manages to free herself from her "beast in the heart".
Sasha is a 25-year-old orphan who asks Nicole, a married Frenchwoman in her forties, for advice to seduce Benedetta, his long-unrequited love. The two eventually bond over their shared past traumas and pains of love, until...
Nic, also called "Lovely Boy", is the rising star of the roman suburbs. Tattoos and pure talent, he creates the XXG with his friend Borneo, a music duo that is headed straight to the top. Nic is then sucked into a spiral of self-destruction, which will lead him to a breaking point: he will soon have to deal with himself.
Andrea is a twentysomething from a rich but cold family who leads a superficial life devoid of responsibility. After receiving a letter from his dying father, whom he hasn't seen since he was a child, Andrea reluctantly joins him in Kenya to bid him farewell. Once there, he'll find himself with a rather singular inheritance: an 8-year-old half-brother that his father had from a local woman.
After receiving a large sum of money on his bank account by mistake, a small-town thirtysomething dissatisfied with his life sees the opportunity of turning back the clock to when things were good, reliving the carefree life of an university student in a big city. Here, he falls in love with a girl and gets her pregnant. There's just one problem: he already has a wife and a daughter back home!
On Halloween night in Lima, four rich kids spend a night on the town, goofing, getting into trouble, and deciding to help Manuel lose his virginity. From Juan Diego's house they hire three call girls, not much older than they, and they pair up (El Gordo declines - he wants to be true to his girlfriend). The young women are sweet and street smart, the boys are naïve and full of bravado, Romance and violence are possibilities during this night of surprises and self discovery
Romeo, a lovelorn Roman musician in his 40s with 20 years since his only hit, consults a fortuneteller who predicts he'll find love and money with a foreign singer named for a flower. In Brussels he meets Marguerite, an older chanteuse who interprets Jacques Brel and loves her yappy dog.
In Stip, a small town in Macedonia, every January the local priest throws a wooden cross into the river and hundreds of men dive after it. Good fortune and prosperity are guaranteed to the man who retrieves it. This time, Petrunya dives into the water on a whim and manages to grab the cross before the others. Her competitors are furious - how dare a woman take part in their ritual? All hell breaks loose, but Petrunya holds her ground. She won her cross and will not give it up.
Ferro and Cate, two kids trying to get to grips with an unplanned pregnancy, their families (rebellious Ferro’s hospitable, ‘normal’ family, and level-headed Cate’s unhinged, atypical one), exams at school, friends and a general lack of jobs.
An extended family reunites after a long time to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of their grandparents on an idyllic island. However, they remain stranded there for longer than expected, causing secrets and long-held grudges to break out.
A teacher discovers his calling. Marco relocates to Palermo from Milan and takes a job teaching in a reform school while he waits for a high school position. He tries to understand and motivate his handful of students, reading them colloquial poetry, encouraging them to stand up for their rights, finding out about their histories. Natale, in for murder, enamoured of the Mafia, the King Rat within the group; Mery, a drag queen, arrested for assault when defending himself, in love with Mario and, in daylight, rejected by all; Pietro, illiterate, muscular, believing his destiny is set; the callow Claudio, vulnerable, learning to harden himself. What can Mario learn and do in such a short time?
A blocked screenwriter, Ezio, is trying to finish a story about two off-kilter families thrown together when their teenage children announce they’re getting married. So Ezio writes himself into the story with a romantic part—a development his characters welcome, as they’ve got some ideas of their own for bigger and better roles.
A reporter Lanie Kerrigan interviews a psychic homeless man for a fluff piece about a football game's score. Instead he tells her that her life has no meaning and is going to end in just a few days, which sparks her to action, trying to change the pattern of her life...
Seven days before his wedding, a man must contend with a series of never-ending disasters.
Christian is an extremely talented as well as unpredictable football player. After his latest screw-up, the president of his team decides to assign him a personal tutor, to help him in controlling his temper. Valerio is a shy and solitary professor, the exact opposite of the champion. Sparks will fly between the two at first, but soon their relationship will change both for the better.
Daigo, a cellist, is laid off from his orchestra and moves with his wife back to his small hometown where the living is cheaper. Thinking he’s applying for a job at a travel agency he finds he’s being interviewed for work with departures of a more permanent nature – as an undertaker’s assistant.
When a lawyer shows up at the vampire's doorstep, he falls prey to his charms and joins him in his search for fresh blood. Enter Professor Van Helsing, who may be the only one able to vanquish the Count.