Islands in the City

I Am Legend

December 2007 •English

Robert Neville is a scientist who was unable to stop the spread of the terrible virus that was incurable and man-made. Immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and perhaps the world. For three years, Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone.

Lars and the Real Girl

October 2007 •English

Extremely shy Lars finds it impossible to make friends or socialize. His brother and sister-in-law worry about him, so when he announces that he has a girlfriend he met on the Internet, they are overjoyed. But Lars' new lady is a life-size plastic woman. On the advice of a doctor, his family and the rest of the community go along with his delusion.

XXL

November 2024 •Swedish

Siblings Enzo and Magda have drifted apart, and in an attempt to reconnect, Magda invites her brother on a trip to Helsinki. Over a weekend, the sibling duo encounters a series of eccentric characters and confronts situations that necessitate conversations about life, art and existence. Memories blend with the present, and dreams and reality merge for the two travelers adrift in the atmospheric city of Helsinki.

Lemon Tree

February 2008 •Hebrew

Salma Zidane, a widow, lives simply from her grove of lemon trees in the West Bank's occupied territory. The Israeli defence minister and his wife move next door, forcing the Secret Service to order the trees' removal for security. The stoic Salma seeks assistance from the Palestinian Authority, Israeli army, and a young attorney, Ziad Daud, who takes the case. In this allegory, does David stand a chance against Goliath?

The Match Factory Girl

January 1990 •Finnish

Iris is a shy and dowdy young woman stuck in a dead-end job at a match factory, who dreams of finding love at the local dancehall. Finding herself pregnant after a one-night stand and abandoned by the father, Iris finally decides the time has come to get even and she begins to plot her revenge.

Summer to Winter

November 2014 •Thai

Tam, an introvert, finds solace in his unlikely friendship with the optimistic Kimhan by the sea, but as they grow close, their future together remains uncertain.

The Sun of Another Sky

August 1968 •

In a small railway station a group of building workers are organized by a man called Jakov to travel to Germany for work. In the meantime, local bar owner Kurjak is getting a visit from his son first time after three years.

The Piano Teacher

September 2001 •French

Erika Kohut, a sexually repressed piano teacher living with her domineering mother, meets a young man who starts romantically pursuing her.

Love in the Time of Corona

June 2021 •English

A video essay by Mark Rappaport, which spans René Magritte and Michelangelo to Bonnie & Clyde. Let’s mask up to rob a bank! But make sure that you are home before the curfew.

Jeff

December 2022 •English

An Amazon delivery drone named JEFF muses on the monotony of life, before finishing one last mission during the apocalypse

The Return

June 2021 •English

It’s spring in the Ecuadorian Amazon and the Uyantza festival is underway with the community celebrating all that the forest has to offer. Meanwhile, news is breaking around the world that a novel virus is spreading and a state of emergency is declared across the country. As people test positive for COVID-19 in the community, some families decide to leave and head deeper into the jungle. Disconnected from school, friends, the internet, and work, one family learns to reconnect with life in the forest. The children begin to unlearn the national curriculum, and instead are taught Indigenous knowledge that mainstream schools normally pass over. As COVID-19 wreaks havoc around the planet, the family reconnect to their ancestral ways, but as news arrives that Ecuador’s lockdown will end soon, will the family choose to return?

O Silêncio Que Você Faz

April 2021 •Portuguese

Sharon: Portrait of a Mistress

October 1977 •English

A woman's inability to make a lasting commitment results in her having a string of affairs with married men.

Man Push Cart

May 2006 •English

Every night while the city sleeps, Ahmad, a former Pakistani rock star turned immigrant, drags his heavy cart along the streets of New York. And every morning, he sells coffee and donuts to a city he cannot call his own. One day, however, the pattern of this harsh existence is broken by a glimmer of hope for a better life.

Goodbye Darling, I'm Off to Fight

April 2017 •Italian

In the Jaws of Life

April 1984 •

Two parallel tales about two modern women. One is Štefica Cvek, average and lonely girl who desperately tries to find the man of her dreams. The other story is about a woman director who is making the movie about Štefica and has the same problem.

Together

August 2021 •English

A husband and wife are forced to re-evaluate themselves and their relationship through the reality of the Covid-19 lockdown.

Léon: The Professional

September 1994 •French

Léon, the top hit man in New York, has earned a rep as an effective "cleaner". But when his next-door neighbors are wiped out by a loose-cannon DEA agent, he becomes the unwilling custodian of 12-year-old Mathilda. Before long, Mathilda's thoughts turn to revenge, and she considers following in Léon's footsteps.

Table for Five

February 1983 •English

J.P. Tannen (Jon Voight) wants a second chance to be a father to his children ... but someone else has taken his place. Determined not to just be a friendly 'uncle' in their lives, he gets permission from his ex-wife Kathleen (Millie Perkins) and her new husband (Richard Crenna) to take the kids on a Mediterranean cruise. On the journey he comes to realise it's not that easy and, feeling overwhelmed, begins to doubt his abilities until a tragedy back home forces him to become the father he always hoped to be.

Von heute auf morgen

January 2013 •German

'From One Day To The Next' follows four elderly people through their everyday lives, observing how they cope with a gradual loss of autonomy.