This Is Not in the Coalition Agreement  (Poland) by Piotr Jacoń

The title of the document "This is not in the coalition agreement" is at the same time a sentence that is the response of the new liberal government in Poland to the demand for marriage equality. After years of right-wing rule, hundreds of thousands of couples were waiting for a change of government that would finally recognise them and guarantee their basic human rights. The authorities have changed, but the reality of same-sex couples has not. The protagonists of the documentary are  enata and Elzbieta, who for 30 years have been in an informal relationship, because it can't be formalised. 20 years of their life together is at the same time a long history of the discussion about civil partnerships in Poland, from the first bill on the matter that reached the Parliament through the subsequent ones, although none of them was adopted. A review of the TV archive shows that this discussion is full of homophobic stereotypes that have remained the same for two decades. After the government change, Renata and Elzbieta waited for the law to change, but since nothing like that happened, they decided to go abroad to get married there in accordance with EU law. The touching ceremony in Copenhagen could have been a happy ending. But it is not. 

Running time: 00:36:00

Sio Roho Yangu - Not My Soul (United States) by Joe LoBianco

In 1807, a young slave is condemned to a sweltering hot box for her defiance, facing torment and uncertainty. Trapped in the oppressive heat, she struggles to survive, oscillating between fleeting hope and crushing despair. She draws strength from distant memories and spirituals. As her spirit is tested, the journey transforms from a desperate victim into a determined fighter, in a powerful testament to resilience and the unbreakable human will.

Running time: 00:14:29

Recaptcha (United States) by Heather Warren-Crow

RECAPTCHA uses abstraction in an attempt to narrate an inscrutable bodily trauma. The text of this video is a message I sent to a Canadian city police department via an online contact form. I performed this text for the voice-over while listening to my own voice at a slight delay, disrupting the fluidity of my speech and preventing me from fully owning my story.

Running time: 00:04:04

Knife, Chocolate (Iran) by Hooshmand Varaei

This movie is the story of a happy family! The son of the family is antisocial, psychotic, skeptic and sexist who judges women by the smell of their cosmetics!

He believes that the smell of a decent  woman’s cosmetics is different from an indecent one!

Running time: 00:15:00

Untitled: The Lost Painting by Thomas Daley (United States) by Sean Ryan

Riddled in debt to bookies, a recovering gambling addict searches for his family's lost painting to settle the score, unearthing a vast conspiracy.

Running time: 00:30:27