Rocks

Like tears in the rain, water is the metaphor for growing pains and so much more in these four tales about young boys coming to terms with a host of emotions for the very first time. These polished productions and festival favourites are brought to you by a host of talented directors from across Germany, Denmark, France and the Netherlands. The short films are: Ocean [Océan] (2013); Go Daan Go! [Daan Durft] (2014); The Boy in the Ocean (2016); Beach Boy (2011).

An American girl, Daphne, heads to Europe in search of the father she's never met. But instead of finding a British version of her bohemian mother, she learns the love of her mom's life is an uptight politician. The only problem now is that her long-lost dad is engaged to a fiercely territorial social climber with a daughter who makes Daphne's life miserable.

Years after his father disowns his adopted brother for marrying a woman of lower social standing, a young man goes on a mission to reunite his family.

Set during a sultry summer in a French suburb, Marie is desperate to join the local pool's synchronized swimming team, but is her interest solely for the sake of sport or for a chance to get close to Floriane, the bad girl of the team? Sciamma, and the two leads, capture the uncertainty of teenage sexuality with a sympathetic eye in this delicate drama of the angst of coming-of-age.

An upcoming hand-drawn animated film about a village boy who works in a brick kiln to support his family after his father's death.

Aetherrise (lt. Aukštynpakylėjimas) is a feature film — a experimental psychological surrealistic drama. Mija exists between silent conversations and inner stillness. Things take an unexpected change as her distant friendship with Ieva shifts. Reality slowly starts to connect with dreams, memories and what could be projections of her own mind. This is a visually sensitive and atmospheric story about inner worlds, human connections and how easily one can become lost between reality and illusion.

Kevin returns home with a birthday surprise for his mother, Lisa, only to discover her lost in the mundane act of cooking. But something is terribly wrong—Lisa’s irritability, her forgetfulness, her unrecognizable gaze. What starts as a simple celebration spirals into a chilling revelation of a son witnessing his mother’s mental decline. Flake is an emotional exploration of the fragile nature of memory and the profound bond between mother and son.

During a long, hot summer on the Thamesmead Estate in Southeast London, three teenagers edge towards adulthood.

Based on the true childhood experiences of Noah Baumbach and his brother, The Squid and the Whale tells the touching story of two young boys dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980s.

Post-war Germany 1945: Two rival gangs of uprooted boys fight each other in the ruins of Berlin, whose business is the black market out of necessity in order to survive. Their respective leaders are Gerhard and Dietrich. A pretty young circus artist named Corona comes to the destroyed city with a traveling circus. She immediately caught the boys' attention. When the latter notice that the circus director is abusing the girl, the two gangs join forces and plot an act of revenge against the tyrant. But with the hustle and bustle caused by this, Corona falls from the trapeze and is seriously injured. When the circus moves on, the boys organize a doctor for the sick artist who has been left behind. Their collectively concern for the blonde beauty makes them forget their enmity. This welds the troops closer together and sets the course for a common, meaningful future.

An exploration of the growing friendship between small-town girl Laura, who is persuaded onto a hiking trip by her friend Merit, and Joosep, a middle-aged guide.

After her adoptive mother dies, Hortense, a successful black optometrist, seeks out her birth mother. She's shocked when her research leads her to Cynthia, a working class white woman.

Loner Mark Lewis works at a film studio during the day and, at night, takes racy photographs of women. Also he's making a documentary on fear, which involves recording the reactions of victims as he murders them. He befriends Helen, the daughter of the family living in the apartment below his, and he tells her vaguely about the movie he is making.

A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth.

Three teenage girls come of age while working at a pizza parlor in Mystic, Connecticut.