Capacity: 500 places Access for people with reduced mobility
Monday, October 2, 2023
9:45 AM
Le Royaume de Kensuké – Neil BOYLE – Kirk HENDRY – 11:15 (United Kingdom)
For the kids
Eleven-year-old Michael, sailing around the world with his parents, is shipwrecked on a desert island with his dog, Stella, after a storm. A mysterious stranger gives them food and water. It is Kensuké, a former Japanese soldier living alone on the island with his friends, the orangutans. He opens the doors of his kingdom to Michael. When monkey traffickers try to invade the island, they join forces to save this paradise….
14-year-old Zeina and her family are the last to have stayed in their besieged hometown of Damascus in Syria. When a missile rips a giant hole in their home, an unimaginable world of possibility opens up for Zeina. As the violence outside escalates, the family is pressured to evacuate, but Mutaz, her father, is adamant that they stay, refusing to flee to the uncertain life of a refugee. Zeina and her mother must make the choice whether to stay or leave.
In a world hit by a wave of mutations that are gradually transforming some humans into animals, François does everything he can to save his wife, who is affected by this mysterious condition. As some of the creatures disappear into a nearby forest, he embarks with Emile, their 16-year-old son, on a quest that will change their lives forever.
A Polish vehicle traverses the roads of Ukraine. On board, people are evacuated following the Russian invasion. This van becomes a fragile and transitory refuge, a zone of confidences and confessions of exiles who have only one objective, to escape the war.
Wracked by guilt after covering up a murder, Mona, a northern Sudanese retired singer in a tense marriage tries to make amends by taking in the deceased’s southern Sudanese widow, Julia, and her son, Daniel, into her home. Unable to confess her transgressions to Julia, Mona decides to leave the past behind and adjust to a new status quo, unaware that the country’s turmoil may find its way into her home and put her face to face with her sins.
Serbia, 1996. During the student demonstrations against the Milosević's regime, 15-year-old Stefan has to go through the hardest revolution of all. He has to confront his beloved mother, spokesperson and accomplice of the corrupted government that his friends are rising against.
The Buriti Flower – João SALAVIZA – Renée NADER MESSORA – 16:10 (Portugal)
Feature Films International Competition
PREMIERE
Through her child’s eyes, Patpro will go through three periods of the history of her indigenous people, in the heart of the Brazilian forest. Tirelessly persecuted, but guided by their ancestral rites, their love of nature and their fight to preserve their freedom, the Krahô never stop inventing new forms of resistance.
The Vanishing Soldier – Dani ROSENBERG – 18:45 (Israel)
Feature Films International Competition
With director Dani Rosenberg in person.
PREMIERE
Shlomi, an eighteen-year-old Israeli soldier, flees the Gaza battlefield and heads to his girlfriend in Tel Aviv only to discover that the IDF elite is convinced he was kidnapped in the fog of war. This is a tragi-comic journey, taking place over a period of 24 hours in the hot and humid streets of Tel Aviv, shifting from terror to hope, from romance to nightmare.
The Siege of Sarajevo lasted from April 1992 to February 1996. Young men were called up to protect their city, a few of them chose to take along their cameras to face the violence they witnessed throughout those grueling 1,425 days. Now, 30 years later, they show us their films and share their wartime filming experiences and thoughts on cinema as a means of survival and resistance.
The Siege of Sarajevo lasted from April 1992 to February 1996. Young men were called up to protect their city, a few of them chose to take along their cameras to face the violence they witnessed throughout those grueling 1,425 days. Now, 30 years later, they show us their films and share their wartime filming experiences and thoughts on cinema as a means of survival and resistance.
The Vanishing Soldier – Dani ROSENBERG – 15:30 (Israel)
Feature Films International Competition
With director Dani Rosenberg in person.
PREMIERE
Shlomi, an eighteen-year-old Israeli soldier, flees the Gaza battlefield and heads to his girlfriend in Tel Aviv only to discover that the IDF elite is convinced he was kidnapped in the fog of war. This is a tragi-comic journey, taking place over a period of 24 hours in the hot and humid streets of Tel Aviv, shifting from terror to hope, from romance to nightmare.
With director David Oelhoffen, Louis Descols uniform expert on the set,and Eve-Lize Blanc Deleuze, head ofMission Cinéma et Industries Créatives (MCIC), in person.
PREMIERE
9 March 1945. The Japanese army launches a sudden and violent attack against the French garrisons in Indochina. Hunted by the Japanese enemy, a column of legionnaires already weakened by alcohol and tropical disease, set off into the heart of the jungle in an attempt to reach the allied bases over 300 km away…
Screening followed by the masterclass with Volker Schlöndorff, WoS 2023 guest of honour.
August 1944. The Allies enter Paris. Before dawn, Dietrich von Choltitz, German military governor of Paris, prepares to execute Adolph Hitler's orders to blow up the French capital. Bridges and monuments are all rigged to explode. Swedish Consul General Raoul Nordling steals into German headquarters through a secret underground tunnel and there starts a tension-filled game of cat and mouse as Nordling tries to persuade Choltitz to abandon his plan.
With the director David Oelhoffen in person and Louis Descols, uniform expert on the set.
PREMIERE
9 March 1945. The Japanese army launches a sudden and violent attack against the French garrisons in Indochina. Hunted by the Japanese enemy, a column of legionnaires already weakened by alcohol and tropical disease, set off into the heart of the jungle in an attempt to reach the allied bases over 300 km away…
Wracked by guilt after covering up a murder, Mona, a northern Sudanese retired singer in a tense marriage tries to make amends by taking in the deceased’s southern Sudanese widow, Julia, and her son, Daniel, into her home. Unable to confess her transgressions to Julia, Mona decides to leave the past behind and adjust to a new status quo, unaware that the country’s turmoil may find its way into her home and put her face to face with her sins.
Isra’a lives with her husband Ahmed and their three children in Aden, in Southern Yemen. Their day to day lives are regulated by the civil war. Ahmed, who worked for the television, had to leave his job and become a driver. When Isra’a discovers she is pregnant again, the couple faces another crisis. They both know they can’t afford a fourth child. Together they decide to have an abortion.
Isra’a lives with her husband Ahmed and their three children in Aden, in Southern Yemen. Their day to day lives are regulated by the civil war. Ahmed, who worked for the television, had to leave his job and become a driver. When Isra’a discovers she is pregnant again, the couple faces another crisis. They both know they can’t afford a fourth child. Together they decide to have an abortion.
Luis, an 18-year-old boy with Indigenous roots, enters the Heroic Military College in hopes of ensuring a better future. There, he encounters a rigid and institutionally violent system designed to turn him into a perfect soldier.
Serbia, 1996. During the student demonstrations against the Milosević's regime, 15-year-old Stefan has to go through the hardest revolution of all. He has to confront his beloved mother, spokesperson and accomplice of the corrupted government that his friends are rising against.
A Polish vehicle traverses the roads of Ukraine. On board, people are evacuated following the Russian invasion. This van becomes a fragile and transitory refuge, a zone of confidences and confessions of exiles who have only one objective, to escape the war.
The Buriti Flower – João SALAVIZA – Renée NADER MESSORA – 12:40 (Portugal)
Feature Films International Competition
PREMIERE
Through her child’s eyes, Patpro will go through three periods of the history of her indigenous people, in the heart of the Brazilian forest. Tirelessly persecuted, but guided by their ancestral rites, their love of nature and their fight to preserve their freedom, the Krahô never stop inventing new forms of resistance.
Luis, an 18-year-old boy with Indigenous roots, enters the Heroic Military College in hopes of ensuring a better future. There, he encounters a rigid and institutionally violent system designed to turn him into a perfect soldier.
