Communion by Pétala Lopes | BRA | 23'

A group of lesbian friends over 50 travel together and, away from the world’s gaze, fully embrace desire, freedom, and friendship.

The Orchards by Antoine Chapon | FRA | 25'

In 2015, the Basateen al-Razi district of Damascus was razed to the ground as punishment for the population's uprising against Bashar al-Assad's regime. This area is set to be replaced by Marota City, a modern and connected district featuring 80 skyscrapers. Having lost everything, two former residents recall their neighborhood, where their homes and the city's oldest orchards once stood. Through their testimonies and the repurposing of regime-produced 3D animations, memory is awakened and resists this deliberate erasure.

Sueña Ahora by Gabriele Licchelli, Francesco Lorusso & Andrea Settembrini | CUB, ITA | 20’

In Cuba, night has fallen. Darkness swallows every crossroads, every house, every human being. Some say the “apagón” (blackout) is here to stay, like everything else on the island. In the night’s gloom, lit only by the glow of portable lamps, life carries on. A priest turns the pages of Genesis. A blind musician sings to his wife a song he wrote for her years ago. A boy challenges his teacher to an endless game of chess. A diver slips into the river with his lantern. Dreams, desires, and visions mingle with the sounds of nature, which, in the silence left by technology, returns stronger than ever. Slowly, reality fades away, giving way to imagination and the unconscious in an intimate, dreamlike experience.

Their Eyes by Nicolas Gourault | FRA | 20’

How does a machine learn to read the world? Testimonies and screen recordings introduce the experience of online micro-workers from the Global South: their job is to teach the AI of self-driving cars to navigate the streets of the Global North.

Pedro Tomás Explains the World by Kornelijus Stučkus | ESP | 5’