Anna happily lives with her husband, their two boys, and Simon, 6 years-old, who was placed with her by the Social Care services when he was only 18 months. When Simon’s father decides that he is ready to take his son back with him, the family’s balance is at stake. Anna is torn apart: how could she possibly let go a of child who has always called her ‘Mom’?
Eastern Cape, South Africa. A lonely factory worker, Xolani, takes time off his job to assist during an annual Xhosa circumcision initiation into manhood. In a remote mountain camp that is off limits to women, young men, painted in white ochre, recuperate as they learn the masculine codes of their culture. In this environment of machismo and aggression, Xolani cares for a defiant initiate from Johannesburg, Kwanda, who quickly learns Xolani's best kept secret, that he is in love with another man.
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.
After a Vietnamese woman dies in a car crash in Saigon, her brother-in-law and her young son transport her body back to the former’s hometown in rural Vietnam, where they plan to give her a funeral.
The story unfolds in Monaco, which is paradise on earth for a post-reality-TV generation who have grown up fantasising over a privileged lifestyle, with its promises of infinite pleasures. But what hides within these lofty towers, and behind the tinted saloon car windows and villa gates?
Oom has no papers or formal training but is good at caring for the elderly and disabled. When his situation as a caregiver in the mountains becomes too much for him, he has to choose between survival or dignity.
Bassley, a Nigerian footballer living in Vietnam, has been unable to make a living since he broke his leg. He and four middle-aged women he sometimes works for decide to escape the disappointment of their daily lives. They go to an old house where together they create a special world for themselves. But this intimate utopia cannot last forever.
In the depths of the underground coal mines, where danger awaits and darkness prevails, Nam and Viêt, both young miners, cherish fleeting moments, knowing that one of them will soon leave for a new life across the sea.
Tim claims to have discovered a makeshift camp in the garage and pretends it was set up by a migrant. Alex and Valentine, who understood he was creating a hoax, decide to pretend to believe it.
Casablanca, Morocco. A trio of women, with the police on their tail, embarks on a long escape that takes them across the rugged red terrain and flower-filled valleys of the Atlas to finally reach the Atlantic coast.
Set in mid-19th-century France, this short follows Alexina, a trainee school teacher in a young girl’s convent, who suffers unbearable pains. After examination by a doctor who questions Alexina’s gender and subsequently decides that masculinity prevails, Alexina works to find their own path forward.
In the middle of the picture, there’s Thalia, who just turned three years old. She discovers what life is made of, from snails to death. She experiments, evaluates and tastes every flavour that we adults have forgotten. In Thalia's shed, there’s music being composed, images being created, the softness of gestures and countless "Why?".
Theo, fourteen years old, dreams of being a manadier. He begins his apprenticeship guided by Mickaël, who works for him. During the summer, Theo will have to put his dream to the test and face the beast.
Manon has been a defendant in the Tarnac case for ten years, accused with eight other people of participating in a terrorist undertaking while sabotaging high-speed lines in France. As their trial approaches, I’m taking my camera to join the group of women who helps Manon preparing her defense.
