Films
Stories from this year’s edition
Some films illuminate, others unsettle, others open up new questions.
IFF’s selection of short films and documentaries brings together stories that offer a contemporary lens on identities, lived experiences and social dynamics.
Watching them becomes a quiet way of drawing closer to others, allowing the images to speak for themselves.
Short Film Competition
Samsa
Nasir has the chance to fulfil his dream of being admitted to a prestigious cooking school. To achieve this, he must cook the most important dish of his life. A dish that tells a story through its recipe.
Xing Long
After many years apart, siblings Leo and Sara reunite for a final farewell dinner at their family's old restaurant. It was one last chance to reflect on past memories before the restaurant was sold and closed for good.
Largo
Musa, a young Syrian refugee in foster care in the UK, tries to build a boat and set sail for home to be reunited with his parents.
Langue Maternelle
In the 1980s, Sira, a 26-year-old Malian woman, lives a peaceful existence in France with her husband Malick and daughter Abi.Her daily life is conducted in Soninke, the only language she knows. But Abi struggles with French, and the school suggests sending her to a language course and urges her parents to speak French at home. Sira refuses.
N.74 Senza Nome
Spanning mountains and rivers, dreamscapes and reality, and the living and the dead, this road movie chronicles Mane's journey to find a name for his suffering in a cemetery of unmarked graves by the sea.
Prayer
In a techno club in Lisbon, Abdul is on a video call with his wife, Aliyah, who is about to give birth. She begs him to be there, if only over the phone. Meanwhile, his colleague Maria desperately needs his help. Struggling to balance his work commitments with the imminent birth of his child, Abdul is faced with the fear of losing his job and the challenge of becoming a father.
Rise Up
Musa, a young shop assistant of African descent, has been left in charge of the grocery shop for the first time. His day takes an unexpected turn when Omar and Sara arrive. They are a mixed-race couple — he is Senegalese and she is Italian — and they are flirting with each other.
The art of the white flag
At a small town council meeting, councillors are debating whether to put up a banner calling for peace in Gaza. Every word in the proposed text is debated, refined and stripped of meaning by political compromises and diplomatic concerns. Ultimately, only a white sheet remains, symbolising surrender and collective powerlessness.
Touch
On the day of the World Cup final between Brazil and France, 14-year-old Erika Oguihara, a Japanese-Brazilian teenager who rejects her family's traditions, is eager to celebrate a world title for her country. Amidst the tension that builds during the match, Erika experiences a violence that seems invisible and plunges into a painful sea of emotions.
Documentary Competition
The Delivery Guy
The Delivery Guy follows the stories of two South Asian immigrants who came to Berlin as students and now work in the food delivery sector. The film sheds light on their hopes, disappointments, and daily struggle for dignity within a system that barely acknowledges their presence.
Halima - Eine Anleitung zum Starksein
Halima underwent an operation to reconstruct her vulva after female genital mutilation. On her journey home, she talks about her way of staying strong. A film about the consequences of FGM, everyday racism in Germany and reality as a female refugee.
Otherwise Invent
‘Altrimenti inventa’ is a short archival documentary that addresses the lack of representation of North Africans who migrated to Italy before the 1990s by offering an experimental 'reinvention' of the missing archive. The film begins with the director’s family history before moving towards a more collective dimension. It explores themes of identity and memory, and our relationship with what we choose to preserve and why.
Ashes of Moria
Moria refugee camp on Lesvos became an infamous symbol of the migration policies of the EU. Five years after it dramatically burned to the ground, its impact lives on. What are the consequences of Europe's border policies of containment and deterrence? Through a series of interviews with former camp residents, aid workers and activists, this documentary explores Moria's legacy, recounting the harsh reality of the camp and exploring its long-lasting impact on people's lives and its role in border policies and integration processes.
DOMANI - Il viaggio di Maysoon Majidi
Maysoon Majidi is a young Kurdish woman, a civil and political rights activist, engaged in the struggle for the recognition of Kurdistan and the fundamental rights denied in Iran. She arrives in Italy aboard a small boat with 77 other passengers, forced to flee after becoming a target of the Ayatollah regime. Upon arrival, two passengers accuse her of being the assistant to the captain who piloted the boat. She spends ten months in prison, the first two without access to an interpreter, a lawyer, or contact with her family.
Unbound
Hind è la prima powerlifter italiana a gareggiare in una competizione nazionale con l’hijab. Tra sacrifici, sfide e riscatto, il suo percorso segna un passo importante verso un futuro più inclusivo.