For this year’s Main Competition, we have selected 14 films from all over the world, each one meeting the highest standards of cinematic art. The selected pictures are:
"I Am Greta" (opening screening of 18. MDAG) by Nathan Grossman: A story of Greta Thunberg comprising many intimate scenes, portraying the world’s most famous eco-activist from an entirely new angle.
"The Mole Agent" by Maite Alberdi: An Oscar®-nominated film depicting the efforts of 83-year-old Sergio, who becomes a mole inside an old people’s home.
While on a mission to find out if the residents are treated well, he will discover the true reason for their suffering: solitude.
"Flee" by Jonas Poher Rasmussen: An animated story of a boy who, along with his family, flees from Afghanistan to Western Europe through Russia. Audience favourite at this year’s Sundance Festival.
"The Balcony Movie" („Film balkonowy”) by Paweł Łoziński: Latest picture from the outstanding Polish documentarian. This time, Łoziński focuses on passers-by seen from his balcony in the Warsaw Saska Kępa district.
„Notturno” by Gianfranco Rosi: Those images have the power of more than a thousand words. In this film, even more striking than the Oscar®-nominated Fuocoammare, Rosi depicts the fate of people living along the borders of war-struck lands: Iraq, Kurdistan, Lebanon, and Syria.
„Gorbachev. Heaven" by Vitaly Mansky: A record
of a visit at the villa of Mikhail Gorbachev, the 89-year-old former leader of the USSR.
„Stray" by Elizabeth Lo: A depiction of the lives of stray dogs in Turkey’s largest city. A loving image of inter-species friendship.
„Things We Dare Not Do" by Bruno Santamaría Razo:
A look at the life of a young gay boy living in the Mexican countryside.
„This Rain Will Never Stop" by Alina Gorlova: A visually gripping story of a never-ending spiral of war and peace. The filmmakers follow the 20-year-old Andriy Suleyman, whose family flees from Syria only to end up in war-struck Ukraine.
„Jacinta” by Jessica Earnshaw: A portrait of a girl who, having been released from prison, tries to take care of her daughter and give up drugs.
„President" by Camilla Nielsson: A visit to Zimbabwe in the days preceding the first free election after Robert Mugabe’s 2017 departure from power.
„Sabaya” by Hogira Hirori: Deeply disturbing footage of an effort
by a group of human rights activists trying to reclaim several Yazidi women abducted by ISIS as sex slaves.
„A Thousand Cuts" by Ramona S. Diaz: The director shows us why the populist Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte targets free press and independent journalists, especially including the indomitable Maria Ressa, founder of Rappler.
„Nothing but the Sun" by Arami Ullón:
A hypnotising insight into the lives of the Paraguayan Ayoreo tribe members. Their existence nowadays is very challenging as they are deprived of farmlands and fresh water. What they do still have is their rich culture and the legends that the protagonists share with us in the film.
