Eau de la vie

The Naked Island

November 1960 •Japanese

A family of four are the sole inhabitants of a small island, where they struggle each day to irrigate their crops.

Nostalgia

June 1983 •Russian

A Russian poet, Andrei and his interpreter, Eugenia travel to Italy to research the life of an 18th-century composer.

Singendes Wasser

January 2007 •German

Signs

August 2002 •English

A family living on a farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields which suggests something more frightening to come.

Gang Boy

January 1954 •English

Danny ponders a way for rival gangs to avoid violence at an upcoming dance.

The Dust Factory

October 2004 •English

Ryan is a teenager who lacks the ability to speak. One day, Ryan falls off a bridge and he finds himself transported to a strange fantasy world where he encounters his Grandpa Randolph and a pretty girl named Melanie; together, Ryan and Melanie learn to help one another with their problems, and they both discover the wisdom they can gain from elders like Grandpa Randolph.

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.

Abigail

January 2005 •English

As the gap between a burning airplane and the ground gets smaller, one passenger has other things on his mind!

Twenty Sixteen

December 2016 •English

As 2016 draws to a close, a young woman in dire straits waits to catch a passing train, bound for an unexpected destination.

Wild Things

March 1998 •English

When teen-socialite Kelly Van Ryan and troubled bad girl Suzie Toller accuse guidance counselor Sam Lombardo of rape, he's suspended by the school, rejected by the town, and fighting to get his life back. One cop suspects conspiracy, but nothing is what it seems...

Short Working Day

November 1995 •Polish

A dramatisation of the workers' protests in June 1976 in Radom, seen from the perspective of the local Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party. [Produced in 1981, but not commercially released until 1996.]

Khorosho

September 2010 •English

A hard story about two comrades who share a lot of bad memories, a lot of bad conscience and mountains and mountains of cigarettes.

The Bird Spider

May 2011 •English

A man with arachnophobia buys a poisonous bird spider and sets it free in his apartment.

Ocean Heaven

June 2010 •Chinese

The story of a father's tireless love for his autistic son. A terminally ill father's attempt to teach his autistic son the necessary life skills to survive on his own before he passes away. It is also a poignant tribute to the infinite love that parents have for their children and their unending desire to take care and look after them to their best abilities, no matter the struggle, no matter the effort.

Just the Two of Us

May 2001 •Russian

A story about love, hate and loneliness, depicting several days from the life of two brothers. They work as track walkers on a railway somewhere in rural Russia.

He Was a Quiet Man

November 2007 •English

An unhinged office worker who planned to go on a shooting spree at his workplace struggles with his newfound status as a hero after he ends up stopping a shooting spree instead.

Strangers

August 2003 •

A short story of two strangers meeting in a train journey, not knowing that something stranger is coming their way.

The Natural Route

October 2004 •Spanish

Soon a man will find out that his destiny is already written and that he can't do anything to change it.

Marios and the Raven

December 2010 •English

Marios invites his children to the village to celebrate his fifty-three years. It seems filled but his happiness is more fragile than it seems ...

Sexy Thing

May 2006 •English

The story of a young girl who escapes her reality by immersing herself in a watery version of the world.