Among the record 92 submissions this year, 27 titles are directed or co-directed by women. There are six documentaries in the mix, as well as two animated features. Moreover, for the first time, Ghana and Uzbekistan are each fielding an entry. However, Nigeria’s submission was disqualified by the Academy as being mostly in the English language. Here’s a guide to the films, including logline and sales or production contact.
Albania
“The Delegation”
Director: Bujar Alimani
Logline: In autumn 1990,
a political prisoner is secretly taken out of jail to meet the head of the European delegation investigating human-rights violations. But nothing goes according to plan.
Key Cast: Viktor Zhusti, Ndriçim Xhepa, Xhevdet Feri
Sales: Art Film
Algeria
“Papicha”
Director: Mounia Meddour
Logline: A female student rebels against the bans set by radicals during the civil war and plans a fashion show.
Key Cast: Lyna Khoudri, Shirine Boutella, Amira Hilda Douaouda
Sales: Jour2Fete
Argentina
“Heroic Losers”
Director: Sebastián Borensztein
Logline: A heist dramedy that plays on the most basic human instinct: getting back what’s yours.
Key Cast: Ricardo Darín, Chino Darín, Luis Brandoni
Sales: Film Factory
Armenia
“Lengthy Night”
Director: Edgar Baghdasaryan
Logline: An omnibus drama encompassing a thousand years of Armenian history.
Key Cast: Shant Hovhannisyan, Samvel Grigoryan, Luiza Nersisyan
Sales: Edgar Baghdasaryan
Film Prod.
Australia
“Buoyancy”
Director: Rodd Rathjen
Logline: A brutal yet realistic depiction of Cambodian forced labor in the Thai fishing industry.
Key Cast: Sarm Heng, Thanawut Kasro, Mony Ros
Sales: Charades
Austria
“Joy”
Director: Sudabeh Mortezai
Logline: Nigerians in Vienna are caught in a vicious cycle of sex trafficking.
Key Cast: Joy Anwulika Alphonsus, Precious Mariam Sanusi, Angela Ekeleme Pius
U.S. Distributor: Netflix
Bangladesh
“Alpha”
Director: Nasiruddin Yousuff
Logline: A painter struggles to align his artistic aspirations with the realities of big-city life.
Key Cast: Alamgir Kabir, Doyel Mash, ATM Shamsuzzaman
Sales: Impress Telefilms
Belarus
“Debut”
Director: Anastasiya Miroschnichenko
Logline: Documentary follows long-term female prisoners who participate in a play.
Sales: Taskovski Films
Belgium
“Our Mothers”
Director: César Díaz
Logline: In the aftermath of Guatemala’s civil war, a forensic anthropologist searches for his father.
Key Cast: Armando Espitia, Emma Dib, Aurelia Caal
U.S. Distributor: Outsider Pictures
Bolivia
“I Miss You”
Director: Rodrigo Bellott
Logline: A wealthy, conservative Bolivian travels to New York to confront his deceased son’s boyfriend.
Key Cast: Oscar Martinez, Rossy de Palma, Fernando Barbosa
Sales: Obscured Pictures
Bosnia and Herzegovina
“The Son”
Director: Ines Tanović
Logline: One family’s crisis with their adopted son illuminates national and generational fault lines.
Key Cast: Dino Bajrovic, Snežana Bogdanović,
Uliks Fehmiu
Sales: Dokument
Brazil
“The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão”
Director: Karim Aïnouz
Logline: A tropical melodrama in which two close sisters are separated in 1950s Rio.
Key Cast: Carol Duarte, Julia Stockler, Gregório Duvivier
U.S. Distributor: Amazon Studios
Bulgaria
“Aga”
Director: Milko Lazarov
Logline: Set in the far north of Russia’s Sakha republic, “Aga” is an evocative visualization of a way of life that may soon no longer exist.
Key Cast: Mikhail Aprosimov, Feodosia Ivanova,
Galina Tikhonova
U.S. Distributor: Big World Pictures
Cambodia
“In the Life of Music”
Director: Caylee So, Sok Visal
Logline: An intergenerational tale that explores love, war and a family’s relationship to the song “Champa Battambang.”
Key Cast: Ellen Wong, Arn Chorn-Pond
Sales: Blood Sweat Honey
Canada
“Antigone”
Director: Sophie Deraspe
Logline: A loose adaptation of Sophocles’ Greek tragedy set in contemporary Montreal.
Key Cast: Nahéma Ricci, Nour Belkhiria, Rawad El-Zein
Sales: WaZabi Films
Chile
“Spider”
Director: Andres Wood
Logline: A dark political thriller that explores the evolution of radical political activism and a dangerously charged love triangle.
Key Cast: Mercedes
Morán, María Valverde, Marcelo Alonso
Sales: Film Factory
China
“Ne Zha”
Director: Yu Yang
Logline: Destined by prophecy to bring destruction to the world, the young Nezha must choose between good and evil in order to become a hero in this animated feature.
Voice cast: Yanting Lü, Joseph, Mo Han, Hao Chen
U.S. Distributor: Well Go USA
Colombia
“Monos”
Director: Alejandro Landes
Logline: A survivalist saga set on a remote mountain in Latin America where teen commandos keep watch over an American hostage.
Key Cast: Julianne Nicholson, Moises Arias, Sofia Buenaventura
U.S. Distributor: Neon, Participant Media
Costa Rica
“The Awakening of the Ants”
Director: Antonella Sudasassi
Logline: A young wife and mother struggles within the narrow confines of patriarchal social structures to find her own path.
Key Cast: Daniella Valenciano, Leynar Gomez, Isabella Moscoso
Sales: FiGa Films
Croatia
“Mali”
Director: Antonio Nuić
Logline: After four years in prison, a drug dealer is ready to do anything to keep custody of his young son Mali.
Key Cast: Franjo Dijak, Vito Dijak, Bojan Navojec
Sales: Propeler Films
Cuba
“A Translator”
Directors: Rodrigo Barriuso, Sebastián Barriuso
Logline: A Russian literature professor at the University of Havana is ordered to work as a translator for child victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster brought to Cuba for medical treatment.
Key Cast: Rodrigo
Santoro, Marciel Álvarez, Yoandra Suárez
U.S. Distributor: Film Movement
Czech Republic
“The Painted Bird”
Director: Václav Marhoul
Logline: A young Jewish boy encounters the worst of humanity as he wanders in Eastern Europe during World War II.
Key Cast: Petr Kotlár, Udo Kier, Harvey Keitel
U.S. Distributor: IFC Films
Denmark
“Queen of Hearts”
Director: May el-Toukhy
Logline: A successful lawyer puts both her career and family on the line when she seduces her 17-year- old stepson.
Key Cast: Trine Dyrholm, Gustav Lindh,
Magnus Krepper
U.S. Distributor: Breaking Glass
Dominican Republic
“The Projectionist”
Director: José María Cabral
Logline: A lonely projectionist falls in love with a woman he sees on a film reel.
Key Cast: Felix Germán,
Cindy Galán
Sales: Media Luna
Ecuador
“The Longest Night”
Director: Gabriela Calvache
Logline: A beautiful woman turns to prostitution to support her addiction and her daughter’s illness.
Key Cast: Noëlle Schönwald, Cristian Mercado, Jaime Tamariz
Sales: Wide
Egypt
“Poisonous Roses”
Director: Fawzi Saleh
Logline: A visually striking brother-sister drama, set in Cairo’s fetid tannery district.
Key Cast: Koky, Mahmoud Hemada, Ibrahim El-Nagary
Sales: Red Star Films
Estonia
“Truth and Justice”
Director: Tanel Toom
Logline: An adaptation of one of Estonia’s most famous novels, this period film tells the story of an uncompromising man whose soul is corrupted by the relentless pursuit of his dream.
Key Cast: Priit Loog, Priit Võigemast, Maiken Schmidt
Sales: AllFilm
Ethiopia
“Running Against the Wind”
Director: Jan Philipp Weyl
Logline: The lives of two brothers take very different paths when they decide to follow their dreams: one to become an Olympic runner, the other a photographer.
Key Cast: Miklas Wolde, Ashenafi Nigusu, Joseph Reta Belay
Sales: Negarit Film Academy & Prods.
Finland
“Stupid Young Heart”
Director: Selma Vilhunen
Logline: Teenagers Lenni and Kiira are in the early stages of a high school romance when they discover that they are expecting a baby.
Key Cast: Jere Ristseppä, Rosa Honkonen, Pihla Viitala
Sales: The Yellow Affair
France
“Les Misérables”
Director: Ladj Ly
Logline: A new policeman joins the anti-crime brigade in a gritty Paris suburb and quickly discovers the tensions between the force and various neighborhood groups.
Key Cast: Damien Bonnard, Alexis Manenti, Djebril Zonga
U.S. Distributor: Amazon Studios
Georgia
“Shindisi”
Director: Dito Tsintsadze
Logline: Drama is based on real events that took place during the 2008 Russian military intervention in Georgia, when some residents of Shindisi risked their lives to save wounded Georgian soldiers.
Key Cast: Goga Pipinashvili, Davit Bakhtadze
Sales: 20 Steps Prods.
Germany
“System Crasher”
Director: Nora Fingscheidt
Logline: Foster family, group home or special-needs school, wherever Benni ends up, she is immediately expelled. The wild 9-year-old girl has already become what child protection services call a “system crasher.”
Key Cast: Helena Zengel, Albrecht Schuch
Sales: Beta Cinema
Ghana
“Azali”
Director: Kwabena Gyansah
Logline: Fleeing an arranged marriage, a girl from rural North Ghana must survive in the slums of Accra.
Key Cast: Asana Alhassan, Akofa Edjeani, Adjetey Anang
Sales: Ananse Entertainment
Greece
“When Tomatoes Met Wagner”
Director: Marianna Economou
Logline: A documentary set in the plain of Thessaly where farmer Christos turns his land to the organic cultivation of tomatoes.
Sales: Rise and Shine
World Sales
Honduras
“Blood, Passion, and Coffee”
Director: Carlos Membreño
Logline: The harvest of a coffee-producing family is threatened by a plague of rust and low prices.
Key Cast: Alejandra Arias, Enrique Barrientos, Ethel Flores
Sales: Sin Fronteras Estudios
Hong Kong
“The White Storm 2 — Drug Lords”
Director: Herman Yau
Logline: A final battle for the control of the Hong Kong drug market breaks out between the two tycoons, who were once lesser-known brothers from the same triad.
Key Cast: Andy Lau, Louis Koo, Michael Miu
U.S. Distributor: Hong Kong/CMC Films
Hungary
“Those Who Remained”
Director: Barnabás Tóth
Logline: The relationship of two traumatized Holocaust survivors helps them to heal and gives them someone to live for.
Key Cast: Károly Hajduk, Abigél Szőke, Mari Nagy
U.S. Distributor: Menemsha Films
Iceland
“A White, White Day”
Director: Hlynur Pálmason
Logline: In a remote Icelandic town, an off-duty police chief begins to suspect a local man of having had an affair with his late wife, who died in a tragic accident two years earlier.
Key Cast: Ingvar E. Sigurdsson, Ida Mekkin Hlynsdottir, Hilmir Snaer Gudnason
U.S. Distributor: Film Movement
India
“Gully Boy”
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Logline: A 22-year-old from a Mumbai ghetto realizes his calling to be a rapper.
Key Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Vijay Raaz
U.S. Distributor: Amazon Studios
Indonesia
“Memories of My Body”
Director: Garin Nugroho
Logline: Journey into the life of Juno, a young Javanese man for whom dance, sensuality and violence are closely interlinked.
Key Cast: Muhammad Khan, Raditya Evandra
Sales: Asian Shadows
Iran
“Finding Farideh”
Directors: Kourosh Ataee, Azadeh Moussavi
Logline: An Iranian adopted by a Dutch couple travels to her motherland to find her biological parents.
Sales: Eli Image
Ireland
“Gaza”
Directors: Garry Keane,
Andrew McConnell
Logline: A doc portrait of Palestinian people attempting to lead meaningful lives against the rubble of perennial conflict.
Sales: FilmOption Intl.
Israel
“Incitement”
Director: Yaron Zilberman
Logline: The hate-filled words of politicians, cultural influencers and the right-wing media incite extreme nationalist Yigal Amir to murder Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Key Cast: Yehuda Nahari
Halevi, Amitay Yaish Ben Ousilio, Anat Ravnizky
Sales: WestEnd Films
Italy
“The Traitor”
Director: Marco Bellocchio
Logline: In 1984, Tommaso Buscetta, a member of the Sicilian mafia, begins to cooperate with Italian and American prosecutors. His decision led to Italy’s infamous anti-mafia Maxi Trial of 1986, in which hundreds of Sicilian mobsters were convicted.
Key Cast: Pierfrancesco Favino, Maria Fernanda Candido, Fabrizio Ferracane.
U.S. Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Japan
“Weathering With You”
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Logline: The latest animation from the team behind “Your Name” centers on a high school runaway who meets a girl with the power to stop the rain and clear the sky.
Voice cast: Kotaro Daigo, Nana Mori
U.S. Distributor: GKids
Kazakhstan
“Kazakh Khanate. The Golden Throne”
Director: Rustem Abdrashev
Logline: The sequel to “Kazakh Khanate. The Diamond Sword,” this film covers the period from 1470 to 1485, the struggle for the Great Steppe and the formation of Kazakh statehood.
Key Cast: Yerkebulan Daiyrov, Niyazbek Shaisultanov
Sales: Kazakhfilm
Kenya
“Subira”
Director: Ravneet Chadha
Logline: A young Muslim girl struggles for freedom from conformity as she challenges gender stereotypes and tradition.
Key Cast: Brenda Wairimu
Sales: Kaaya Films
Kosovo
“Zana”
Director: Antoneta Kastrati
Logline: A chilling and emotional drama about a young Kosovar woman struggling to reconcile the expectations of motherhood with a legacy of wartime brutality.
Key Cast: Adriana Matoshi, Astrit Kabashi
Sales: Alief
Kyrgyzstan
“Aurora”
Director: Bekzat Pirmatov
Logline: An ironic contemporary drama taking place at the Aurora, a Soviet-era sanatorium located on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul.
Key Cast: Albina Imasheva, Bolot Tentimyshov, Kanatbek Abdyrakhmanov
Sales: Antidote Sales
Latvia
“The Mover”
Director: Davis Simanis
Logline: A gripping account of the heroic deeds of blue-collar worker Žanis Lipke, who was later honored in Israel as one of the Righteous Among the Nations for rescuing Jews during WWII.
U.S. Distributor: Menemsha Films
Lebanon
“1982”
Director: Oualid Mouaness
Logline: At a private school on the outskirts of Beirut during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, 11-year-old Wissam tries to tell a classmate about his crush on her, while his teachers, on different sides of the political divide, attempt to mask their fears.
Key Cast: Nadine Labaki, Rodrigue Sleiman, Aliya Khalidi
Sales: WaZabi Films
Lithuania
“Bridges of Time”
Directors: Kristine Briede, Audrius Stonys
Logline: A meditative documentary essay portraying the less-remembered generation of cinema poets
of the Baltic New Wave.
Key Cast: Andres Sööt, Mark Soosaar
Sales: VFS Films
Luxembourg
“Tel Aviv on Fire”
Director: Sameh Zoabi
Logline: A young Palestinian man becomes a writer on a popular soap opera after a chance meeting with an Israeli soldier.
Key Cast: Kais Nashif, Lubna Azabal, Yaniv Biton
U.S. Distributor: Cohen Media Group
Malaysia
“M for Malaysia”
Directors: Dian Lee, Ineza Roussille
Logline: A documentary about the 2018 Malaysian general elections, when the people, led by a 92-year-old former prime minister, overthrew one of the longest ruling governments in the world.
Sales: Project M Media
Mexico
“The Chambermaid”
Director: Lila Aviles
Logline: A beautifully observed film of rich detail that follows the daily work of a chambermaid at a high-end Mexican hotel.
Key Cast: Gabriela Cartol
U.S. Distributor: Kino Lorber
Mongolia
“The Steed”
Director: Erdenebileg Ganbold
Logline: After being cruelly separated, a Mongolian boy and his horse brave the unforgiving wilds during the Russian Revolution to be reunited.
Key Cast: Ariunbold Erdenebayar
Sales: Media Luna
Montenegro
“Neverending Past”
Director: Andro Martinović
Logline: Three stories about fathers and sons, set in three different eras, in which they find themselves in borderline situations.
Key Cast: Lazar Ristovski,
Tihomir Stanić
Sales: Artikulacija Prod.
Morocco
“Adam”
Director: Maryam Touzani
Logline: The character-driven, Casablanca-set drama shows how a pregnant stranger changes the lives of a mother and her young daughter.
Key Cast: Nisrine Erradi, Lubna Azabal, Douae Belkhaouda
U.S.Distributor: Strand Releasing
Nepal
“Bulbul”
Director: Binod Paudel
Logline: A woman, whose husband has been missing for years, drives a taxi in order to support her paralyzed father-in-law and young daughter.
Key Cast: Swastima Khadka, Mukun Bhusal
Sales: Awaken Film Factory
Netherlands
“Instinct”
Director: Halina Reijn
Logline: A psychological thriller about an experienced psychologist working in a penal institution who becomes obsessed with a sex offender that appears to be ready to return to society.
Key Cast: Carice van Houten, Marwan Kenzari
Sales: Films Boutique
North Macedonia
“Honeyland”
Director: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubo Stefanov
Logline: The livelihood of the last in a long line of wild beekeepers is thrown into turmoil by the arrival of an itinerant family.
Key Cast: Hatidze Muratova, Nazife Muratova, Hussein Sam
U.S. Distributor: Neon
CREDIT: Courtesy of Berlin Film Festival
Norway
“Out Stealing Horses”
Director: Hans Petter Noland
Logline: A new neighbor makes 67-year-old Trond remember 1948, the summer he turned 15, and his father’s betrayal and disappearance.
Key Cast: Stellan Skarsgard, Bjørn Floberg, Tobias Santelmann
Sales: TrustNordisk
Pakistan
“Laal Kabootar”
Director: Kamal Khan
Logline: A dark and gritty Karachi-based crime drama.
Key Cast: Ahmad Ali Akber, Mansha Pasha, Ali Kazmi
Sales: Nehr Ghar Films
Palestine
“It Must Be Heaven”
Director: Elia Suleiman
Logline: However far a Palestinian man travels, from Paris to New York, something always reminds him of home.
Key Cast: Elia Suleiman
Sales: Wild Bunch
Panama
“Everybody Changes”
Director: Arturo Montenegro
Logline: Federico struggles to keep his family together and save his own life when he chooses to undergo
gender reassignment surgery in Thailand.
Key Cast: Arantxa de Juan, Gaby Gnazzo, Jassiel
Sales: Q Films
Peru
“Retablo”
Director: Alvaro Delgado Aparicio
Logline: High in the remote mountains of Peru, 14-year-old Segundo is being groomed to follow his father’s footsteps in the traditional folk art of retablo-making. But his father harbors a heartbreaking secret.
Key Cast: Magaly Solier, Amiel Cayo, Junior Bejar
U.S. Distributor: Wolfe Releasing
Philippines
“Verdict”
Director: Raymund Ribay Gutierrez
Logline: Joy and her 6-year-old daughter, Angel, live in Manila, with her abusive husband, Dante, a small-time criminal.
Key Cast: Max Eigenmann, Kristoffer King, Lourdes Javelosa-Indunan
Sales: Films Boutique
Poland
“Corpus Christi”
Director: Jan Komasa
Logline: Twenty-year-old Daniel experiences a spiritual transformation while living in a youth detention center. He wants to become a priest, but it seems impossible because of his criminal record.
Key Cast: Bartosz Bielenia, Eliza Rycembel, Aleksandra Konieczna
U.S. Distributor: Film Movement
Portugal
“The Domain”
Director: Tiago Guedes
Logline: On the south bank of the River Tagus, a wealthy Portuguese family that owns one of the largest estates in Europe begins to delve into the secrets of its mysterious homestead.
Key Cast: Albano Jerónimo, Sandra Faleiro, Miguel Borges
Sales: Alfama Films
Romania
“The Whistlers”
Director: Corneliu Porumboiu
Logline: Not everything is as it seems for Cristi, a police inspector in Bucharest who plays both sides of the law.
Key Cast: Vlad Ivanov, Catrinel Marlon, Rodica Lazar
U.S. Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
CREDIT: Liana Mukhamedzyanova
Russia
“Beanpole”
Director: Kantemir Balagov
Logline: Two young women search for meaning and hope as they struggle to rebuild their lives amidst the ruins of 1945 Leningrad.
Key Cast: Viktoria Miroshnichenko, Vasilisa Perelygina, Andrey Bykov
U.S. Distributor: Kino Lorber
Saudi Arabia
“The Perfect Candidate”
Director: Haifaa Al Mansour
Logline: An ambitious young doctor working in a small-town clinic in Saudi Arabia winds up running in her local elections.
Key Cast: Mila Alzahrani, Dhay, Nourah Al Awad
U.S. Distributor: Picturehouse
Senegal
“Atlantics”
Director: Mati Diop
Logline: In a suburb of Dakar, Ada, 17, is in love with Souleiman, a young construction worker. But she has been promised to another man.
Key Cast: Ndeye Binta Sané, Amadou Am, Ibrahima Traoré
U.S. Distributor: Netflix
Serbia
“King Petar the First”
Director: Petar Ristovski
Logline: Film is set during WWI, and inspired by a true story about the Serbian king Petar Karađorđević, the first strictly constitutional monarch.
Key Cast: Lazar Ristovski, Radovan Vujović, Milan Kolak
Sales: Zillion Film
Singapore
“A Land Imagined”
Director: Yeo Siew Hua
Logline: An insomniac policeman investigates the disappearance of a Chinese migrant worker in this Singapore noir.
Key Cast: Peter Yu, Xiaoyi Liu, Luna Kwok
Sales: Visit Films
Slovakia
“Let There Be Light”
Director: Marko Škop
Logline: A relatable state-of-the-nation drama that highlights xenophobia, religious hypocrisy and the rise of the extreme right in a small Slovak village.
Key Cast: Milan Ondrík, František Beleš, Zuzana Konečná
Sales: Loco Films
Slovenia
“History of Love”
Director: Sonja Prosenc
Logline: In the process of coming to terms with the death of her mother, 17-year-old Iva slowly immerses herself in a strange, almost dreamlike world, far from reality.
Key Cast: Doroteja Nadrah, Kristoffer Joner, Zita Fusco
Sales: Monoo
South Africa
“Knuckle City”
Director: Jahmil X.T. Qubeka
Logline: An aging boxer’s shot at a big prize fight offers him one last chance at saving his family, but drags him into the criminal underbelly of the gritty township.
Key Cast: Bongile Mantsai, Thembekile Komani, Faniswa Yisa
Sales: AAA Entertainment
South Korea
“Parasite”
Director: Bong Joon Ho
Logline: The 2019 Cannes Palme d’Or winner is a
pitch-black tragicomedy about social inequality in South Korea.
Key Cast: Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Jo Yeo-jeong
U.S. Distributor: Neon
Spain
“Pain and Glory”
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Logline: An aging filmmaker explores the emotional scars that underlie his own physical frailty in this remarkably mature metafiction.
Key Cast: Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz
U.S. Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
CREDIT: El Deseo
Sweden
“And Then We Danced”
Director: Levan Akin
Logline: Both a love letter to traditional Georgian dance and a story about someone who wants to break the norm, it centers on a gifted young performer struggling with the expectations of tradition and family while increasingly giddy over a forbidden love.
Key Cast: Levan Gelbakhiani, Bachi Valishvili, Ana Javakishvili
U.S. Distributor: Music Box Films
Switzerland
“Wolkenbruch’s Wondrous Journey Into the Arms of a Shiksa”
Director: Michael Steiner
Logline: Motti Wolkenbruch strays from the expectations of his overbearing mother and his Orthodox upbringing when he falls for a non-Jewish classmate, a “shiksa,” in this Yiddish-inflected comedy.
Key Cast: Joel Basman, Inge Maux, Udo Samuel
U.S. Distributor: Netflix
Taiwan
“Dear Ex”
Directors: Mag Hsu, Chih-Yen Hsu
Logline: A comic melodrama in which a teenager becomes trapped in the middle of a bitter feud between his mother and a free-spirited man, who is both the lover and insurance beneficiary of his recently deceased father.
Key Cast: Roy Chiu, Ying-Xuan Hsieh, Spark Chen
U.S. Distributor: Netflix
Thailand
“Krasue: Inhuman Kiss”
Director: Sitisiri Mongkolsiri
Logline: A supernatural creature infects an ordinary woman with a curse that causes her head to detach from her body at night and devour nearby cattle.
Key Cast: Phantira Pipityakorn, Oabnithi Wiwattanawarang, Sapol Assawamunkong
U.S. Distributor: Netflix
Tunisia
“Dear Son”
Director: Mohamed Ben Attia
Logline: The lives of an about-to-retire forklift operator and his wife revolve around their only son, who is preparing for his school exams. One day, the teen suddenly disappears.
Key Cast: Mohamed Dhrif, Mouna Mejri, Zakaria
Ben Ayed
Sales: Luxbox
Turkey
“Commitment — Asli”
Director: Semih Kaplanoglu
Logline: The first of a planned trilogy, this drama centers
on a young mother who
hires a nanny in order to return to work.
Key Cast: Kubra Kip, Ece Yuksel, Umur Kurt
Sales: ATV
Ukraine
“Homeward”
Director: Nariman Aliev
Logline: A visually striking, father-and-son-bonding drama unfolds against the backdrop of a fraught road trip from Kyiv to Russia-annexed Crimea.
Key Cast: Akhtem Seitablayev, Remzi Bilyalov, Dariya Barihashvili
Sales: Wild Bunch
U.K.
“The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”
Director: Chiwetel Ejiofor
Logline: Inspired by a science book, 13-year-old William Kamkwamba builds a wind turbine to save his Malawian village from famine.
Key Cast: Maxwell Simba, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lily Banda
U.S. Distributor: Netflix
Uruguay
“The Moneychanger”
Director: Federico Veiroj
Logline: An amoral currency trader winds up laundering some of the dirtiest money in Latin America during an era of military dictatorships, political expediency, brutality and corruption.
Key Cast: Daniel Hendler, Dolores Fonzi, Luís Machín
Sales: Film Factory
Uzbekistan
“Hot Bread”
Director: Umid Khamdamov
Logline: Teen Zulfiya longs to leave the home she shares with her grandmother in a sleepy village and join her mother in the city.
Key Cast: Zarina Ergasheva, Feruza Saidova, Munavvara Abdullayeva
Sales: Uzbekistan Republican Film Distribution Centre
Venezuela
“Being Impossible”
Director: Patricia Ortega
Logline: A powerful, encouraging drama about freedom, self-determination, our bodies and our lives.
Key Cast: Lucia Bedoya, Maria Elena Duque
Sales: Media Luna
Vietnam
“Furie”
Director: Le Van Kiet
Logline: When a little girl is snatched by a trafficking ring, the kidnappers soon find they messed with the wrong child. Her mother, a notorious former gang leader, is on their trail and will go to any lengths to bring her child home.
Key Cast: Veronica Ngo, Phan Thanh Nhien, Cat Vi
U.S. Distributor: Well Go USA