Where I grow old (A cidade onde envelheço) (2016 Feature Film)

Two young Portuguese women try to put down roots in Brazil. Teresa is newly arrived; Francisca has been there a while. This sure-footed, loving portrait of two counterparts, attracting and repelling, is also an ode to Belo Horizonte: a city with no tourist attractions, but bags of atmosphere and lust for life.

We Like It Like That (2016 Feature Film)

Up-tempo, danceable Latin boogaloo, a multicultural musical genre played in the 1960s primarily by Cubans and Puerto Ricans, which conquered the world from New York. Leading exponents such as Joe Bataan and Johnny Colon anecdotally reminisce on a fruitful musical era in We Like It Like That.

Das Wad (2016 Short Film)

While the tide is out Jewish gold seeker Salomon finds a U-boat with his metal detector including its extremely old, yet still fanatical crew.

The Lobster (2016 Feature Film)

At a strange hotel far away in the woods, there is only one rule: date or die. Loneliness is a taboo: the hotel guests irrevocably change into animals if they don’t hook up. They can stretch the deadline a couple of days if they go hunting the feral loners wandering the woods. Absurdism that makes you think.

The Jazz Loft According to W. Eugene Smith (2016 Feature Film)

From 1957 to 1965, Life Magazine photo journalist W. Eugene Smith was obsessed with bebop and free jazz. He aimed his camera almost exclusively at visitors to a loft in New York, where the cream of the jazz world came to improvise. Smith installed microphones as well, thus creating a unique audiovisual archive.

The Idol (Ya tayr el tayer) (2016 Feature Film)

This heart-warming feature by Abu-Assad (Oscar-nominated for Paradise Now and Omar) tells the true story of Palestinian singer Mohammad Assaf, whose winning of Arab Idol in 2013 gave his homeland a rare taste of victory. With a heroic role for his feisty sister, who guides him through his childhood years.

Taxi Tehran (Taxi) (2016 Feature Film)

This award-winning hybrid documentary enables Jafar Panahi to once again get around his ban on filming imposed by the Iranian courts. He ‘plays’ a taxi driver in Teheran while his inconspicuous dashcam records his talks with passengers. Open-hearted conversations and comical incidents paint a strong, honest image of contemporary Iran.

Tanna (2016 Feature Film)

On an island in the Pacific, two young lovers rebel against old customs, causing tensions to rise high. Enthrallingly photographed drama about the necessity of change and a desire to break the chain of violence. Based on a true event and performed with brio by the local population.

Seymour: An Introduction (2016 Feature Film)

Loving documentary portrait of pianist Seymour Bernstein (1927), made by actor and good friend Ethan Hawke. Hawke reveals how Bernstein passed up on a brilliant artistic career because he wasn’t a performer and thought passing on knowledge was more important. What drives this virtuoso musician as a pianist, teacher and last, but definitely not least, as a human?