Everything (Lu Helai) China

Everything
Lu Helai
China. 2023. 28 min

A simple boy Keda comes to the city looking for jobs and runs into Liu Yang, a girl who can transform into everything. Together they embark on an adventure amidst fantasy and reality. Keda develops a vague understanding of love and freedom.
As he starts to have feelings for Liu Yang, he is also lost in the labyrinth of fiction and reality. But he is determined…

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The Alquimist´s Dance (Arantxa Vela) Spain

The Alquimist´s Dance
Arantxa Vela Buendía
Spain. 2024. 81 min

How does María Pagés’ thinking work? Where do her movements come from? What inspires her dancing? Starting with the staging of one of her latest shows, ‘De Scheherezade’, at the Roman Theatre of Mérida, we delve into her creative process, a process that she has shared for more than ten years with the poet, writer and dramaturg El Arbi El Harti. Both helps us to deconstruct scenes and draw a line that links with their previous works. By means of a fine sense of humour, the couple reveals to us the happiness and difficulties of living and working together. María Pagés shows herself to us as a woman whose life has its center on stage, in her way of understanding flamenco. Her dance seems to be something close to meditation and her creative process, a kind of trance.

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Voy! Voy! Voy! (Omar Hilal) Egypt. Official Section

Voy! Voy! Voy!
Omar Hilal
Egypt. 2023. 109 min

VOY! VOY! VOY! tells the story of Hassan, a security guard living an impoverished life with his mother in Cairo, who dreams of starting a new life abroad. While plotting his journey to his new life, he stumbles on the sport of blind football and cunningly decides to pose as a visually impaired man to join a team – right before the World Cup Championship finals in Europe.
While disguised as a blind footballer, an attractive young journalist takes an interest in the team, hoping to tell the heartwarming story of Hassan and the team’s victory in Europe.
As Hassan’s despicable plan starts to crack, he and his friend’s go to unimaginable lengths to keep his place on the team and the dream of escaping to Europe alive.

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Limbo (Ivan Sen) Australia. Official Section

Limbo
Ivan Sen
Australia. 2023. 104 min

Travis, a jaded detective, arrives in the remote outback town of Limbo to investigate the cold case murder of local Indigenous girl Charlotte Hayes 20 years ago. As truths about the murder begin to unfold, the detective gains a new insight into the unsolved case from the victim’s fractured family, the surviving witnesses and the reclusive brother of the chief suspect. A poignant, intimate journey into the complexities of loss and the impact of the justice system on Aboriginal families in Australia.

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In the Rough (Julius Gintaras Blum) Germany

In the Rough
Julius Gintaras Blum
Germany. 2023. 19 min

13-year-old Linus, the son of success-oriented German-Lithuanian parents, begins to question the values of the adult world when he meets the fisherman Arūnas during a holiday in Lithuania.

Photo, Selma Juhran

Julius Gintaras Blum was born in Dresden in 1995. Following professional education as a media designer for film and sound, he worked as a freelance director and DoP on documentaries, short films and commissioned work. Since 2019 he has been studying directing documentary film at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg.

festivals@filmakademie.de