COMING OF AGE

Four Women Dance Innocence and Experience to the Choreography of Isadora Duncan’s Grief—‘Isadora’s Children’, dir. Damien Manivel, 2019

November 22nd, 2020|Country: France, South Korea|

A triptych in which different women reinterpret legendary dancer Isadora Duncan’s choreography she created after the death of her two small children

A Displaced Child Prodigy’s Imagination Offers Ideas For Our Collective Future—‘Anbessa’, dir. Mo Scarpelli, 2019

November 15th, 2020|Country: Ethiopia, Italy, USA|

Urban development in Addis-Ababa and humanity’s race for progress are explored through the eyes of a curious, talented ten-year-old boy living in a hut in the shadow of shiny new condominiums

A Vulnerable Portrait of Girlhood Between Two Cultures Is a Searing Indictment of the Commercialization of Budding Sexuality— ‘Cuties,’ dir. Maïmouna Doucouré, 2020

September 24th, 2020|Country: France, Senegal|

In a much-discussed coming-of-age comedy-drama, French filmmaker of Senegalese origin does not pull any punches while shedding light on the way cultural excesses harm those caught between them

The Voices of Women Reclaim Algerian History Through Colonization, Wars, and Personal Infractions—Assia Djebar, ’Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade,’ 1985, trans. Dorothy S. Blair

September 2nd, 2020|Country: Algeria|

A linguistically ornate exercise exploring postcolonial history and identity, Assia Djebar’s account of her homeland is a monument to the country’s women and their heroic lives

At the Intersection of Queer and Samoan Identity, Nature, Magic, and Decolonization Through Poetry—Dan Taulapapa McMullin, ‘Coconut Milk,’ 2013

August 23rd, 2020|Country: Sāmoa Amelica, USA|

While reclaiming his culture from the Tiki bars, Samoan poet and artist dwells on his fa’afafine identity, his family history within colonialism and the enchanting environment of Tutuila island

A Burning Desire to Belong and Some Heartbreak On a Roadtrip Across Bosnia & Herzegovina—‘Take Me Somewhere Nice’, dir. Ena Sendijarević, 2019

August 9th, 2020|Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Netherlands|

A young woman’s absurdist journey across her estranged homeland in an intelligent candy-colored debut from a Bosnian-Dutch filmmaker with an exhilarating young cast

In Postwar Chad, Vengeance Is Served With Freshly Baked Bread, by a Boy With a Gun—‘Dry Season’, Dir. Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, 2006

August 6th, 2020|Country: Austria, Belgium, Chad, France|

In the aftermath of the Chadian war, a young man looks to avenge his father's death but instead finds a father figure in this stunning parable about the humanity hiding beneath the scar tissue

The Kids Aren’t Alright In Danish Artist Ole Tersløse’s Digital Art

August 2nd, 2020|Country: Denmark|

Unsettling dystopias unravel in eerie sculptures and postapocalyptic scenes rendered in meticulous 3D, where nature, humanity and the neural networks converge and dissolve into each other

A Grieving Family, A Cryogenically Frozen Toddler and a Death, Postponed— ‘Hope Frozen’, dir. Pailin Wedel, 2018

June 21st, 2020|Country: Thailand, USA|

When a father’s attempts to stop his young daughter’s terminal cancer fail, he persuades the family to look into cryonics so that the girl could have another chance at life in the remote future

The Breakaway State on the Cusp of Adulthood—‘Transnistra’, dir. Anna Eborn, 2019

June 8th, 2020|Country: Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Transnistria|

An intimate and haunting portrait of six teenagers in rural Transnistria shows the splintered prospects and the many limitations of growing up in a melancholy landscape

‘The Legal’ versus ‘The Moral’; The Plight of the Family in Contemporary Japan —’Shoplifters,’ dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2018

June 2nd, 2020|Country: Japan|

Facing crippling poverty, one family’s attempt to survive may be emblematic of wider societal problems plaguing a Japan that’s in a deep economic recession

Disability Rights Activists, a Radical Reimagining of Social Institutions, and the Summer Camp That Made It Possible—’Crip Camp,’ dir. James Lebrecht & Nicole Newnham, 2020

May 27th, 2020|Country: USA|

A summer camp inspired by Woodstock allowed kids with disabilities to find their voices and a sense of community. Then, these kids led the movement towards an accessible, open social landscape for all

A Sublime Vision of Faith, Race, and Destiny in Contemporary Cuba, Buttressed by Magic and Poetry—’Black Cathedral’, Marcial Gala, 2012, trans. Anna Kushner

May 26th, 2020|Country: Cuba|

The English-language debut by a Cuban writer of staggering talent is a fantasy-spiked exploration of the paths that crime, creativity, Christianity, and craziness can offer

A Shy Girl, Her Shy Dad, and the Tempests That Rage Within— ‘Alba’, dir. Ana Cristina Barragán, 2016

May 25th, 2020|Country: Ecuador, Greece, Mexico|

A debut feature offers an incomparable exploration of the growing pains of femininity in a searing story about a pre-adolescent girl who is sent to live with her estranged—and very strange father

Lynching in America, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow—‘Always in Season’, dir. Jacqueline Olive, 2019

May 6th, 2020|Country: USA|

An unsettling, indispensable documentary on the legacy of lynching that juxtaposes memory of historical cases with a recent one and asks the questions that the American society evades

Meat, Lust and Madness Against the Bhutanese Greenery— ‘The Red Phallus’, dir. Tashi Gyeltshen, 2018

March 31st, 2020|Country: Bhutan, Germany, Nepal|

An emotionally intelligent, masterfully arranged film that explores the power-dynamics in Bhutanese society through the eyes of a traumatized, disaffected teenage girl

The World’s First Intersex-Made Narrative Film is a Rare Delight—‘Ponyboi’, dir. River Gallo & Sadé Clacken Joseph, 2019

March 15th, 2020|Country: Antigua and Barbuda, El Salvador, Jamaica, USA|

A sensual, exquisite tale about love and self-acceptance blends dreamscapes with reality and centers around a Latinx sex-worker, who, just like the co-creator and lead River Gallo, is intersex

The Fantastic Story of South Sudan’s First Olympic Athlete—‘Runner’, dir. Bill Gallagher, 2019

March 9th, 2020|Country: South Sudan, USA|

A nuanced portrait of Guor Mading Maker, also known as Guor Marial, who survived the civil war and child slavery to become the first man from his country to participate in the Olympic Games

A Dog’s Heart—‘Marona’s Fantastic Tale’, dir. Anca Damian, 2019

February 4th, 2020|Country: Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Romania, Spain|

Abstract art meets unconditional love in an animated film about a dog's history living with humans: a dazzling all-age feature from Romanian auteur and an international team of visual artists

The Extremity of Loss—‘I Lost My Body’, dir. Jérémy Clapin, 2019

January 29th, 2020|Country: France|

A severed hand seeks to be reunited with its body in a highly imaginative, morbid yet affable animated feature co-written by one of the authors of "Amelie" and nominated for the Oscars

The Throbbing Heart of Unrest in the French Suburbs—‘Les Misérables’, dir. Ladj Ly, 2019

January 27th, 2020|Country: France|

A meticulous fictional inquiry into the incendiary social politics of Parisian suburbs in feature debut from a man who has experienced the 2005 Paris uprising in his backyard

Woman, Winter, Work Camp—Guzel Yakhina, ‘Zuleikha,’ trans. Lisa C. Hayden

January 26th, 2020|Country: Russia, Tatarstan|

A forceful, award-winning and debate-sparking debut novel about life in Gulag through the eyes of a diverse cast of characters, with fierce but timid Tatar woman at the forefront

The Ordinary Double Life of a Teenage Somali Model in Budapest—‘Easy Lessons’, dir. Dorottya Zurbó, 2018

January 23rd, 2020|Country: Hungary, Somalia|

After her narrow escape from becoming a child bride in Somalia, 17-year-old Kafia is building her life anew in Hungary. But she fears that her emerging European identity is a betrayal of her roots

Brazilian Students Narrate Their Struggle Against Austerity and Neoconservatism—‘Your Turn’, dir. Eliza Capai, 2019

January 15th, 2020|Country: Brazil|

Three Brazilian student activists present a multidimensional, inclusive account of their fight for the right to education over the past decade in an electrifying, award-winning documentary

Nothing Great About Great Britain: Alienation by Belonging in Zia Haider Rahman’s ‘In the Light of What We Know’, 2014

January 13th, 2020|Country: Bangladesh, United Kingdom|

A debut novel about a man trying to find acceptance despite the class and race separations is dense with thoughts and revelations, steeped in ice-cold loneliness—an outsider's usual bedfellow

Documenting the Growing Pains of Gay Parenthood Over the Decade—‘Fatherhood Dreams’, 2007, and ‘My Dads, My Moms and Me‘, 2019, dir. Julia Ivanova

January 9th, 2020|Country: Canada|

Soon after Canada legalized same-sex marriages, Julia Ivanova filmed four gay fathers realizing their liberties. She returned a decade later to see how the dads, their co-parents and kids were doing

Family Values, Fraud, Post-Colonialism, and Scary Healing Rituals in ‘Suleiman Mountain’, dir. Elizaveta Stishova, 2017

January 6th, 2020|Country: Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Russia|

A husband, his two wives, and estranged young son grapple with opportunities and morals in rural Kyrgyzstan—a powerful road-movie from a young Russian director

A Lighthearted Lesbian Romcom With Serious Politics: ‘Billie and Emma’, dir. Samantha Lee, 2018

December 15th, 2019|Country: Philippines|

A queer romance is blooming at an all-girls catholic school in rural Philippines in the 90s—but pregnancy puts the relationship, as well as the girls' agencies, to the test

Abkhazia	Congo-Brazzaville	Indonesia	New Zealand	Spain
Afghanistan	Costa Rica	Iran	Nicaragua	Sri Lanka
Albania	Côte d’Ivoire	Iraq	Niger	Sudan
Algeria	Croatia	Ireland	Nigeria	Suriname
Andorra	Cuba	Israel	Niue	Sweden
Angola	Cyprus	Italy	North Korea	Switzerland
Antigua-and-Barbuda	Czech Republic	Iwaidja People	North Ossetia	Syria
Argentina	Dagestan	Jamaica	Norway	Taiwan
Armenia	Denmark	Japan	Oman	Tajikistan
Arrernte	Dominica	Jordan	Pakistan	Tamil Nadu
Aruba	Dominican Republic	Kanak People	Palestine	Tanzania
Australia	DR Congo	Karelia	Panama	Tatarstan
Austria	Dunghutti People	Kashmir	Papua New Guinea	Thailand
Azerbaijan	Ecuador	Kazakhstan	Paraguay	Tibet
Bahamas	Eelam Tamil	Kenya	Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians	Timor-Leste
Bahrain	Egypt	Kosovo	Peru	Tiwi Islands
Balochistan	El Salvador	Kurdistan	Philippines	Togo
Bangladesh	Estonia	Kyrgyzstan	Poland	Tonga
Barbados	Eswatini	Laos	Portugal	Torres Strait Islands
Bashkortostan	Ethiopia	Latvia	Puerto Rico	Transnistria
Belarus	Faroe Islands	Lebanon	Qatar	Trinidad and Tobago
Belgium	Fiji	Liberia	Rapa Nui	Tunisia
Belize	Finland	Libya	Reunion	Turkey
Benin	France	Lithuania	Roma	Turkmenistan
Bermuda	French Guiana	Luxembourg	Romania	Tuvalu
Bhutan	Gabon	Macedonia	Russia	Uganda
Biripi People	Gambia	Madagascar	Rwanda	Ukraine
Bolivia	Garifuna Nation	Malak Malak People	Saint Kitts and Nevis	United Kingdom
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Garrwa People	Malawi	Saint Lucia	Uruguay
Botswana	Georgia	Malaysia	Saint Vincent and The Grenadines	USA
Brazil	Germany	Mali	Samoa	Uyghur Nation
Brunei	Ghana	Malta	San Marino	Uzbekistan
Bulgaria	Golan Heights	Māori	Sao Tome and Principe	Vanuatu
Burkina Faso	Greece	Martinique	Saudi Arabia	Venezuela
Burundi	Greenland	Mauritania	Scotland	Vietnam
Buryatia	Grenada	Mauritius	Senegal	Wales
Cabo Verde	Guatemala	Mexico	Serbia	Wallis and Futuna
Cambodia	Guinea	Moldova	Sierra Leone	Water
Cameroon	Guyana	Monaco	Singapore	Yemen
Canada	Haida Gwaii	Morocco	Slovakia	Yöruk People
Central African Republic	Haiti	Mozambique	Slovenia	Zambia
Chad	Ho-Chunk Nation	Myanmar	Solomon Islands	Zimbabwe
Chile	Honduras	Namibia	Somalia
China	Hong Kong	Native American Tribes	South Africa
Chinook Nation	Hungary	Nepal	South Korea
Colombia	Iceland	Netherlands	South Ossetia
Comoros	India	New Caledonia	South Sudan

COMING OF AGE

ISSUES