Kim Ki-duk was a South Korean film director and screenwriter, noted for his idiosyncratic art-house cinematic works. His films have received many distinctions in the festival circuit, rendering him one of the most important contemporary Asian film directors.
Carice Anouk van Houten is a Dutch actress. Her first leading role in the television film Suzy Q (1999) won her the Golden Calf for Best Acting in a Television Drama; two years later, she won the Golden Calf for Best Actress for Miss Minoes (2001).
Zahra Amir Ebrahimi, known professionally as Zar Amir Ebrahimi, is an Iranian-French actress, producer and director. She rose to international prominence for her performance as journalist Arezoo Rahimi in the crime thriller Holy Spider (2022), for which she won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress and Robert Award for Best Actress.
The Italian is a 2005 Russian drama film directed by Andrei Kravchuk. The screenplay by Andrei Romanov, inspired by a true story, focuses on a young boy's determined search for his mother. The film won the Grand Prix of the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk from the International Jury at the 55th Berlin International Film Festival, and a Special Mention from their Children's Jury and was also selected as the Russian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
Moon is a 2009 science fiction film directed by Duncan Jones and written by Nathan Parker from a story by Jones. The film follows Sam Bell, a man who experiences a personal crisis as he nears the end of a three-year solitary stint mining helium-3 on the far side of the Moon. Kevin Spacey, Dominique McElligott, Kaya Scodelario, Benedict Wong, Matt Berry, and Malcolm Stewart also star. It premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and was released in selected cinemas in New York and Los Angeles on 12 June 2009. The release was expanded to additional theatres in the United States on 10 July and to the United Kingdom on 17 July. A follow-up film containing an epilogue to the film's events, Mute, was released in 2018. A third installment, a graphic novel called Madi: Once Upon a Time in the Future, was released in 2020.
YorgosLanthimos is a Greek filmmaker. He has received multiple accolades, including a BAFTA Award, as well as nominations for five Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Award.
Kristina Buožytė is a Lithuanian film director, screenwriter and producer. In her early films she focused on women, explored their inner world and depicted them using fantasy elements. Her science fiction film Vanishing Waves is described as a hypnotic, sensual sci-fi experience and sexually explicit sci-fi tale which was rewarded with 22 international awards in Europe and North America. Her and Bruno Samper’s latest science fiction bio-fantasy Vesper is described as melancholic fairytale.
Lukas Dhont is a Belgian film director and screenwriter. His debut feature film, Girl, premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Caméra d'Or and the Queer Palm awards. He was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list in 2019. His second feature film, Close, premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where he shared the Grand Prix with Claire Denis' Stars At Noon. In 2023, Close was nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film representing Belgium.
Anna Woltz is a Dutch writer of children's literature.
Romy's Salon is a 2019 Dutch-German drama film directed by Mischa Kamp. It was based on the book of the same name by Tamara Bos. In July 2019, it was shortlisted as one of the nine films in contention to be the Dutch entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, but it was not selected.
Take Me Somewhere Nice is a 2019 Dutch-Bosnian drama film written and directed by Ena Sendijarević. In July 2019, it was shortlisted as one of the nine films in contention to be the Dutch entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, but it was not selected.
Corpus Christi is a 2019 drama film directed by Jan Komasa and written by Mateusz Pacewicz. An international co-production between Poland and France, the film stars Bartosz Bielenia, Aleksandra Konieczna, Eliza Rycembel, Tomasz Ziętek, Leszek Lichota, and Łukasz Simlat. Inspired by real-life events, it follows a 20-year-old man who experiences a spiritual transformation while living in a youth detention center.
Charlatan is a 2020 Czech-Polish-Irish-Slovak drama directed by Agnieszka Holland based loosely on the healer Jan Mikolášek (1889–1973), who cured hundreds of people using plant-based remedies. It was selected as the Czech entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards making the February shortlist. It won five awards including Best Film at the 2021 Czech Lion Awards.
Falafel Cart is a 2019 animated short drama film produced by RoyalTales and directed by Abdullah Al-Wazzan with an original score by Dan Phillipson and sound design by Andrew Vernon. The short blends stop motion animation with traditional and some computer animation. In 2019, the film was submitted for the 2020 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film making it Kuwait's first short film to ever be submitted to the Academy Awards. In 2020 The film earned an official selection at the Hiroshima International Animation Festival and received a special mention as "best of the world". In 2021 the film won best animated short at the Burbank International Film Festival. In 2019 the film won best international short film at the Los Angeles Animation Festival.
Titane is a 2021 body horror psychological drama film written and directed by Julia Ducournau. The French-Belgian co-production stars Agathe Rousselle in her feature film debut as Alexia, a woman who, after being injured in a car crash as a child, has a titanium plate fitted into her head. In adulthood, Alexia becomes a murderous car model with an erotic fascination with automobiles, leading to a bizarre sexual encounter that sets off an increasingly outlandish series of events. Vincent Lindon, Garance Marillier and Laïs Salameh also star.
Drive My Car is a 2021 Japanese drama film directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Takamasa Oe. Based on Haruki Murakami's 2014 short story of the same name, it stars Hidetoshi Nishijima as a theatre director who directs a multilingual production of Uncle Vanya while dealing with the death of his wife. Reika Kirishima, Tōko Miura, Park Yu-rim, Jin Dae-yeon, Sonia Yuan, Ahn Hwitae, Perry Dizon, Satoko Abe, and Masaki Okada also star.
Playground is a 2021 Belgian drama film directed by Laura Wandel. In June 2021, the film was selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. At Cannes, it won the FIPRESCI Prize in the Un Certain Regard section.
Costa Brava, Lebanon is a 2021 drama film directed by Mounia Akl from a screenplay by Akl and Clara Roquet. It stars Nadine Labaki, Saleh Bakri, Nadia Charbel, Ceana Restom, Geana Restom, Liliane Chacar Khoury, Yumna Marwan and Francois Nour.
