The Children's Hour

The Elementary School

August 1991 •Czech

The time is 1945-46. 10 year old Eda and his friend Tonda live in a small village outside Prague. In school, their class is so wild and indisciplined that their teacher quits and is replaced by the militant Igor Hnidzo. He is very strict – but also very fair. His weakness though, is his interest in young women.

Tokyo Story

November 1953 •Japanese

The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko, the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.

The 24th Day

May 2004 •English

Tom and Dan's one-night stand turns into an intense power-play between captor and captive.

An Inspector Calls

March 1954 •English

An upper-crust family dinner is interrupted by a police inspector who brings news that a girl known to everyone present has died in suspicious circumstances. It seems that any or all of them could have had a hand in her death. But who is the mysterious Inspector and what can he want of them?

Better Than Chocolate

July 1999 •English

Not long after moving into her own place, Maggie finds herself with two unsolicited roommates: her recently divorced mother, Lila, and her young brother. The timing is especially bad, considering Maggie has fallen hard for an attractive woman, Kim, only hours before they move in. What could be a nonissue becomes increasingly complicated -- since Maggie's family is unaware of her sexual orientation, and Maggie is not open to sharing that information.

For Love

October 1955 •Arabic

Kuessipan

October 2019 •French

Two childhood friends from the same Quebec Innu community begin to realize that they face very different futures.

The Secret

June 1955 •English

An American loses all his money and finds himself stranded in England. He finds hope when he meets a female smuggler who has brought jewels into the country inside a teddy bear, but unfortunately, things quickly get out of hand.

Eismayer

October 2022 •German

Vice Lieutenant Eismayer is the most feared trainer and model macho in the Austrian Military and lives as a gay man in secret. When he falls in love with a young, openly gay soldier, his world gets turned upside down.

Opponent

October 2023 •Swedish

In the aftermath of a devastating rumor, Iman and his family have been forced to flee Iran. As refugees, they end up in a run-down hotel in northern Sweden. Despite feeling powerless, Iman tries to maintain his role as the family patriarch. To increase their chances of asylum, he breaks a promise to his wife and joins the local wrestling club. As the rumors start to resurface, Iman’s fear and desperation begin to take a hold.

Silver Haze

March 2023 •English

23-year-old Franky is a nurse who lives with her large family in an East London borough. Obsessed with a thirst for revenge and a need to assign guilt for a traumatic event that happened 15 years before, she is unable to build any meaningful relationship until she falls in love with one of her patients – Florence. They escape to the coast where Florence lives with her more open-minded patchwork family. There, Franky finds the emotional shelter to deal with the grudges of the past.

Carmín tropical

October 2014 •Spanish

Mabel travels to her hometown to find the murderer of her friend Daniela. A journey through nostalgia, love and betrayal in a place where transgenderism once took on an unusual dimension.

Nobleza baturra

October 1935 •Spanish

Aragón, Spain, early 20th century. María del Pilar is a honest girl whose good name is dirtied when an old suitor seeking revenge accuses her of losing her virginity outside of marriage. The scandal soon spreads throughout the countryside.

Perfect Obedience

May 2014 •Spanish

The fictional Father Ángel de la Cruz is based on Legion of Christ founder Marcial Maciel, whose long history of child abuse was not addressed until 2006 and only publicly acknowledged in 2009. But director Luis Urquiza chooses to structure his film through the largely uncomprehending, wondering eyes of 13-year-old Julián, who travels from the arms of his loving pastoral family into the austere, hallowed halls of the seminary. Singling out the boy as his intimate disciple, installing him in his palatial private quarters and redubbing him “Sacramento Santos,” Father Ángel begins Julian’s instruction into the mysteries of “perfect obedience,” whose cardinal rule is: Never question a superior’s actions.

Loved Girls Wear Short Shorts

Invalid date •English

A bright bubbly short film about coming of age, queer puppy love and girlhood in Singapore, following Bunny - who meets Jyn, a cool yet kind non-binary teen, and realises the world isn't as terrible as her mother makes it out to be.

Thesis on a Domestication

October 2024 •Spanish

A successful transgender actress and her lawyer husband decide to adopt a child, defying the conservative community in Argentina. But their attempt for a domestic happiness is thwarted when they visit the actress's hometown.

Demeterovci

May 1976 •Slovak

A television film based on a play by Ján Kákoš with the theme of Slovak National Uprising.

Desire

September 2000 •English

An affair between a pianist and a teacher begins to disintegrate when girls from her school turn up missing.

Sixth Happiness

October 1997 •English

Waris Hussein’s acclaimed drama is based on the autobiography of Firdaus Kanga, who stars in the lead role of Brit, a young man born with brittle bone disease, which causes him to have never grown beyond four feet tall. The film follows his sexual awakening whilst his family simultaneously disintegrates all around him. An extremely moving drama confronting stereotypes around disability, sexuality and race, featuring a powerhouse performance from Kanga.

Longing Nights

February 2013 •English

Aitana, Pierrick, Rita and Jorge are all in their twenties and all look for ways to make their nights in the city of Madrid a little less lonely. Aitana is a sweet girl trapped in a men’s body; Pierrick is a cute French gay; Rita doesn't much care about her partner, Carolina, and walks through life with no expectations; Jorge is trapped in a relationship with no future: the one he has with Maria. Set against a background of drugs, sex, multiple partners and differing sexualities, Longing Nights follows the individual stories of these young people. A candid portrait of four relationships highly loaded with eroticism from beginning to end. Four stories told without no borders between fiction and reality.