Herr Samba

6.1

Sounds of Sand

May 2007 •French

On the one hand, there’s the desert eating away at the land. The endless dry season, the lack of water. On the other there’s the threat of war. The village well has run dry. The livestock is dying. Trusting their instinct, most of the villagers leave and head south. Rahne, the only literate one, decides to head east with his three children and Mouna, his wife. A few sheep, some goats, and Chamelle, a dromedary, are their only riches. A tale of exodus, quest, hope and fatality.

6.9

The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner

March 2008 •Bulgarian

The story of Alex, who, with the help of his charismatic grandfather, embarks on a journey in search of his real self.

5.8

Toubab Bi

January 1992 •French

Soriba Samb is a Senegalese who has just received a much sought after internship to study filmmaking in Paris. Soriba heads to Paris, accompanied by the five-year old son of a friend who he believes to be still living in Paris. On arrival he struggles to find the boy’s father. In addition to coping with his new internship, Soriba has to also spend time tracking down the boy’s father ‘Issa’.

6.0

Snakehead

October 2021 •English

Sister Tse is brought to New York by a Snakehead, a human smuggler. Although she is indebted to the crime family responsible for her transport, her survival instincts help her gain favor with the matriarch, and she rises quickly in the ranks. Soon Tse must reconcile her success with her real reason for coming to America—to find the child that was taken from her. In the end, Sister Tse must draw on the strength she found in transforming her victimhood into power.

6.5

Dinosaur

May 2000 •English

An orphaned dinosaur raised by lemurs joins an arduous trek to a sancturary after a meteorite shower destroys his family home.

7.7

Memories to Choke On, Drinks to Wash Them Down

November 2019 •

This anthology film, whose Chinese title begins with a romantic name for human excrement, premiered internationally at Rotterdam and won Best Screenplay from the Hong Kong Film Critics Society. A variety of Hong Kong people wrestle with nostalgia when facing an uncertain future. Their stories give way to a documentary featuring a young barista turned political candidate.

7.2

I Carry You with Me

June 2021 •Spanish

An epic love story spanning decades is sparked by a chance encounter between two men in provincial Mexico. Based on a true story, ambition and societal pressure propel an aspiring chef to leave his soulmate and make the treacherous journey to New York, where life will never be the same.

0.0

Passaporte Memória

August 2025 •Portuguese

Marcelo was taken to Paris, where he has lived since he was 12. After the sudden death of his mother in 1992, he returns for the first time to the place where he was born. As he walks through the city of his childhood, a series of memories unfolds, revealing a story of friendship torn apart by tragedy and the social tensions that marked Brazil in the 1960s, leading him to question his identity and his place in the world.

0.0

The Illness and Recovery of Buda Brakus

August 1980 •

The protagonists of this docudrama are old farmers who migrated to Banat after the First World War, in 1922. The film is focused on a couple of important events in their impressive lives, which are woven into lively scenes and stories full of wise instances. Their statements become spontaneous recounts of the lives of people in this region.

6.8

Birds of Exile

April 1964 •Turkish

Tahir Agha sells all his assets when his business in Maraş deteriorates. He immigrates to Istanbul with his wife Hatice, sons Selim, Murat, Kemal and daughter Fatoş, where he sets his mind to open a repair shop. But in the metropolis, things don't go as planned.

7.2

Secret Sunshine

May 2007 •Korean

Shin-ae moves to her recently late husband’s hometown. Despite her efforts to settle in this unfamiliar and too-normal place, she finds that she can’t fit in. After a sudden tragedy, Shin-ae turns to Christianity to relieve her pain, but when even this is not permitted, she wages a war against God.

0.0

I Have to Run

April 2025 •German

A gay artist flees the repressive laws and war in Russia to go to Berlin, leaving his boyfriend behind. Meanwhile, life in Berlin turns out to be less inclusive he had expected.

8.0

Bir Avuç Cennet

October 1985 •Turkish

The story of a family who moved from a village to Istanbul with two children in order to live a better life, but ended up living in an abandoned bus due to poverty and lack of accommodation.

7.0

Speechless

October 2016 •German

A little boy walks alone through a toy store, past people who speak a strange and, for him, incomprehensible language. A young mother finds a way to communicate with him without language. But she is not prepared for what he then tells her.

10.0

Outside the Aquarium

May 2021 •German

"Outside the Aquarium" is the new exhibition of protagonist Jonas. In his paintings he portrays his experiences as a black immigrant and part of the LGBT Community expressing his fears, loneliness and dreams for the future.

6.8

Emptiness

January 2020 •Spanish

LEI and WONG clandestinely arrive to Ecuador, on their way to the port city of Guayaquil. From here LEI plans to continue her journey to New York, but CHANG, a bipolar mobster will decide her fate. WONG unwillingly gets entangled in the web of corruption that operates the encroachment of Chinese immigrants. His only objective is to bring his twelve-year-old son from China.

5.0

The Tribe

December 1974 •English

A family tribe of Cro-Magnons faces hardships, such as hunger, animal attacks, Neanderthal attacks, and death from injuries as they migrate to find a more bountiful land to live on.

7.8

Io Capitano

September 2023 •Italian

Longing for a brighter future, two Senegalese teenagers embark on a journey from West Africa to Italy. However, between their dreams and reality lies a labyrinth of checkpoints, the Sahara Desert, and the vast waters of the Mediterranean.

10.0

I Am You

September 2019 •Persian

The story of Masoud, who is trying to emigrate to Europe to make a better life for himself, his mother and his fiancé. After embarking on a difficult and dangerous immigration journey with his best friend, Masoud meets a pregnant doctor and an old man on the way and they band together. Having to flee because of war and terror, Masoud tries to reach his goal with a hopeful but painful journey.

1.0

Sugar Island

March 2025 •Spanish

An unwanted pregnancy triggers the journey into adulthood for Makenya, a Dominican-Haitian teenager who lives in the Batey, a community surrounded by sugarcane fields.