51st International Film Festival Rotterdam 2022

Eami's homeland is invaded by settlers. Embodying Asojá, the bird-god-woman, she falls into trance in which she walks slowly and stunned through her beloved forest as she prepares to leave it forever.

Achrome is an anti-war parable about a man and his vulnerability in the face of history. Maris, the film's protagonist, is the village idiot, brought up by his older brother. Following his brother, Maris leaves their peaceful village and joins the military. It is as if he enters a different world, the world of war. There he meets Leah, a young woman sentenced to death. Through her eyes, Maris is able to see himself. For Leah, and for all who will see his name in the archives in the future, Maris will remain a murderer, no matter whether he killed or not. All his features will be erased, all save one - his guilt. But surely, there must be a way to separate oneself from the archive? To get yourself back?

This coming-of-age comedy tracks one very long day for Palace Bryant, a newly minted MFA grad whose final 24 hours in art school become a real trip.

Ali and Ava, both lonely for different reasons, meet and sparks fly. Over a lunar month a deep connection begins to grow, despite the legacy of Ava's past relationship, and Ali's emotional turmoil at the breakdown of his marriage.

A crime caper set in the labyrinthine alleys of East Amman where a blackmailing voyeur sets off a series of unintended events, causing the lives of residents to collide and spiral into chaos.

One level a deeply felt story of a woman, and on another, that of a country's tragic past and its exploited people.

On a farm in the late 1800s, an intense wait begins when a mother goes into a complicated labour and 14-year-old Lise must prepare herself for a night that could change her life forever.

Divorced and exhausted, retired actress Moon Lee is offered the chance of a comeback as the lead of a do-your-own stunts martial arts film.

A fictitious 1980s Japan. Soji, a soldier on furlough, returns to his country. He receives a request from Haya, who was sent from the World Bank, to help her on a mission to investigate the actual circumstances of a narcotic called "Golden Monkey" which is running rampant through Japanese society.

Legendary 20th century English war poet Siegfried Sassoon embarks on a life-long quest for personal salvation through his experiences with family, war, his writing, and destructive relationships. True salvation can only come from within.

Exploring the state of depression among the current citizens on Hong Kong as China consolidates its power over the metropolis.

Jabir, Usama and Useir are three young Bosnian brothers, born into a family of shepherds. They grew up in the shadow of their father, Ibrahim, a strict, radical Islamist preacher. When Ibrahim gets sentenced to two years in prison, for war participation and terrorism, the three brothers are suddenly left on their own.

A story about dancers and thieves in modern-day Athens.

An only child's meditative, impressionistic account of an American family's rise and fall over two decades.

Shlomi Elkabetz shares a love letter to his sister, the late actress and director Ronit Elkabetz.

Claire and Kevin both attend a French village school. They are in the same class, CE2, for children aged eight and nine. Claire is the target of constant bullying by Kevin and his friends, and this is even starting to get violent. It seems very difficult to do anything about it. Reporting it to the teacher or parents often backfires. When her mother finally takes action, it becomes clear that Kevin is facing a complicated, unsafe situation at home. Against all expectations, a friendship arises between the two children, and their two families come to understand one another better.

In a remote village in Costa Rica, Clara, a withdrawn 40-year-old woman, experiences a sexual and mystical awakening as she begins a journey to free herself from the repressive religious and social conventions which have dominated her life.

When the children of an executed General are pursued in 1457 China, some heroic martial arts swordsmen intervene.

A contemporary tale of reincarnation about two lovers meeting in the present day after several centuries of longing, yet still trapped in their destiny of a perpetual cycle of love and death.

A third-generation family gym finds itself in a David and Goliath type battle when a fitness conglomerate opens its flag-ship branch across the road from them.

In the middle of the 16th century, near to Lisbon, an adopted young man called Bela tries to find his place in a family that is free but trapped in a world where each shadow allows defects to shine through. Here, everything leads to disaster.

Modan returns home after 15 years in prison for a murder committed to avenge his father's humiliation. Altered familial equations force him to rebuild his life with his frail mother and a new wife who's already a mother to a son. In spite of his honest attempts to forget the insults of the past, suppressed anger manifests itself in renewed violence.

A filmmaker and a piano student, who first meet in Australia, try to make sense of a past imbued with mystery in Macau and an uncertain future in Hong Kong.

1492. Among the crew captained by Christopher Columbus, travel three men who should have been dead by now. They have managed to avoid their sad fate by participating in this uncertain journey. When reaching the Canary Islands they flee, taking one of the ship's sails with them. Meanwhile, in the "Old World", a woman tries to save her dying sister by bringing her to a healer. Both of these journeys attempt to laugh at death. Both journeys are at the mercy of History.

A woman plots to take revenge on the man that abused her sister.