Blue Skies

Surprise

March 2016 •Swedish

Susanne arranges a surprise party for her husband, and the guests are waiting back at the apartment. From their hiding places they hear Peter walking into the hall, and they await the signal from the party blower so they can jump out and cheer. But no signal comes. Because Peter is not alone.

Selection

March 2009 •Latvian

The time for the annual great graveyard celebration is approaching in a small town. Scientist Laila can’t attend it alone this year. She has to make a choice.

I'm Sorry, My Love

May 2018 •English

A solid middle American couple meet a stranger who will have a big role in history as we know it.

In the Name of the Father

December 1993 •English

A small-time Belfast thief, Gerry Conlon, is wrongly convicted of an IRA bombing in London, along with his father and friends, and spends 15 years in prison fighting to prove his innocence.

It's Still Your Bed

June 2019 •English

David comes home from college to his family’s farm to find that his parents have hired a young man named Brent, who is also sharing his room. David is still in the closet and wants to come out to his high school friend, but he finds himself drawn to his new roommate and tries to determine if he is also gay.

Chameleon

January 2015 •English

When his secret girlfriend falls ill, an undocumented worker living in Toronto must choose between getting caught and getting her the emergency medical attention she desperately needs.

Daughter

June 2019 •Czech

A young girl buries in her soul a memory of a painful moment, when as a child she brought home an injured bird and her father burdened by his own weight of worries didn’t notice her feelings and longing for understanding. The girl took her father’s reaction as indifference and closed herself in her inner world longing for her father’s love and its manifestations. Since that moment she and her dad continued to grow apart, and as an adult she is no longer able to accept his endearments. The father suffers from guilt and searches for a way back to his daughter, trying to revive their lost relationship.

Gabriela

October 2023 •English

It's the summer after high school graduation and Gabriela, a young undocumented Guatemalan woman, pursues her dream of swimming for an illustrious Country Club swim team. Despite her single-minded determination, Gabriela is continually confronted with her overprotective mother’s ears, limitations on her economic and legal status, and self-judgment. As she questions her self-worth against the structures of contemporary American Southern life, Gabriela embarks on a quest towards personal freedom and self-acceptance.

Save Me

July 2024 •Chinese

A man found a strange bottle in an empty public restroom toilet.

Swell

January 2016 •English

Swell is a smartphone app that changes your mood through sound. When a young couple tries to control each other’s settings, they find their relationship threatened by an unintended cacophony of emotions.

Fables of Forgotten Things

September 2008 •English

A mysterious drifter and his young friend must save a frightened, forgetful old lady from a memory eating ghost.

The Doldrums or How to Cure Sadness

August 2012 •Spanish

The tiricia is an illness of the soul when the heart is saddened. A story of three generations afflicted with being tiricientas: Ita, Justa and Alicia – grandmother, mother and daughter – who have at different times suffered, tolerated and allowed abuse, dragging on the disease. Alicia decides to break the cycle, eradicating it for future generations.

The Fringes

January 2018 •English

In a corporate world void of human interaction, Ennis has lost her ability to relate to others. When the company fires her and forces her into a crowded tenement building, Ennis must overcome her fear of human connection to begin again.

Dawn

March 2016 •English

As dawn creeps across London, two lost outcasts meet in the darkness, more afraid of themselves than each other. As the sun begins to rise, and the veil of the night is lifted, the pair look into the cold light of day for hope and it takes more than just the eyes to see inside a soul.

Artemide’s Knee

June 2008 •French

Mourning the death of his partner and collaborator Danièle Huillet, Straub finds tender mercy in music and nature. Out of the abyss, Kathleen Ferrier sings “The Farewell” from Gustav Mahler’s “The Song of the Earth”, (which the composer wrote in 1909 after the death of his daughter) and Heinrich Schütz’s Lament on the Death of His Wife. The landscape also provides solace: the mountain grove where Endymion pines for his beloved Artemis, “a wild thing, untouchable, mortal,” appears to embody the Japanese concept of ‘mono no aware’ — a wistful acceptance of the fleeting beauty of things.

Where Darkness Lies

January 2019 •English

After making the toughest decision in his life, Jamie gets trapped in a labyrinth of pain and regret, where he is forced to relive the moment that haunts him most.

Pentimento

October 2020 •Spanish

One Afternoon

November 2021 •Chinese

A strict father and his two boys share a calm life in a creaky old home. One summer moment changes everything for the brothers.

Mom's Celestial Robe of Feathers

May 2022 •Japanese

"There are many things that I don't like. The traffic jam on the way to Naha, my debt-ridden father, my best friend's boyfriend, milk, and my hometown, Shioya-wan. Why did my beautiful mother marry my father?" Ruri tried to escape from these thoughts as she faced an uncertain future. Then, one day, she learns of her mother's past, but…

Memorable

June 2019 •French

Aging painter Louis and his wife Michelle struggle to cope with Louis' advancing dementia.