North Sea Port Audience Award - Top 10
1
Jonah Was Here
Nathalie Teirlinck
When grieving neurologist Bob moves into his late son's student room, the fifty-something finds himself living among his son's friends, habits and half-finished life. Nathalie Teirlinck's sophomore feature, with a captivating Koen De Bouw in the lead role, turns a father's ...
4.83/5
2
Wildwood
Travis Knight
After her brother vanishes into the clutches of mysterious crows, Prue and classmate Curtis venture beyond Portland into Wildwood, a secret realm of magic, talking creatures and lurking threats. Their search collides with a ruler destroyed by grief. A dark fantasy turned into a ...
4.82/5
3
Everybody to Kenmure Street
Felipe Bustos Sierra
On a quiet street in Glasgow, an ordinary morning turns into an extraordinary act of resistance. In Everybody to Kenmure Street, Felipe Bustos Sierra reconstructs how a diverse community comes together to prevent the deportation of two neighbours. A compelling portrait of ...
4.81/5
4
Gugu's world (9+) (Feito Pipa)
Allan Deberton
Colourful twelve-year-old Gugu loves football … and his caring but increasingly frail grandmother Dilma with whom he shares a house. But when Dilma’s age catches up, Gugu is determined to keep their world intact. A radiant queer coming-of-ager from Brazil, Gugu’s World proves ...
4.8/5
4
Siri Hustvedt - Dance Around the Self
Sabine Lidl
Book by book, a detailed and playful portrait is painted of Siri Hustvedt, the celebrated American novelist and essayist. With her deep love of the written word always at its heart, this moving documentary captures both the highs and lows (and the quiet moments of fragile beauty ...
4.8/5
5
The Other Side of the Sun
Tawfik Sabouni
From the shadows of Syria’s infamous Sednaya prison, five survivors return to the place where years of their lives were stolen. Through powerful re-enactments, Tawfik Sabouni explores memory, trauma and the struggle to reclaim silenced voices, revealing how human connection can ...
4.79/5
6
Tegenwoordig heet iedereen Sorry (9+) (Everyone’s Sorry Nowadays)
Frederike Migom
On a sweltering summer day, almost 13-year-old Bianca finds an unlikely confidante in her idol Billie King, a soap star who suddenly appears on her sofa. Frederike Migom, whose previous film Binti (2019) won the Ensor for Best Youth Film, turns Bart Moeyaert's beloved novel into ...
4.75/5
6
Jean
Jolke Van Aerde
“I just want to get away from that school as fast as possible,” pupil Jean tells Belgian director Jolke Van Aerde, “do you understand, ma’am?” Her poignant and sincerely observed feature film debut follows the teenager from Antwerp over several school years during his arduous ...
4.75/5
7
La bola negra (The Black Ball)
Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo
Queer epic La bola negra breathes new life into unfinished work by Federico García Lorca. Filmmakers Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, awarded Best Director at Cannes, explore and celebrate the interconnected stories of three gay men across different eras in Spain. A moving and ...
4.74/5
8
Memory
Vladlena Sandu
In the deeply personal, poetic documentary Memory, Crimea-born filmmaker Vladlena Sandu seeks to deal with the war trauma from her Chechen childhood. She longs to transform fear into love using the power of imagination as her weapon, rooted in her memories and directed towards a ...
4.73/5
9
Wild Horse Nine
Martin McDonagh
Two CIA agents arrive on Easter Island for an apparently innocent assignment, only to be confronted with their past. In this offbeat buddy comedy by Martin McDonagh, a tropical getaway spirals into an absurdist trip filled with dark humour and paranoia.
4.72/5
9
The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer (La ilusión de un verano sin fin)
Alessandra Sanguinetti
Best friends Guille and Beli live on the vast Argentian pampas, where they give free rein to their imagination. For 25 years, photographer Alessandra Sanguinetti followed them—from their lives as a prolonged children’s game to adulthood, which comes with a script of its own. ...
4.72/5
10
Iron Boy (7+) (Le Corset)
Louis Clichy
When 11-year-old Christophe is forced to wear an iron corset, he discovers an unexpected refuge in music. Inspired by animator and Pixar veteran Louis Clichy's own childhood in the French countryside, Iron Boy is a tender, hand-drawn coming-of-age tale about the longing to break ...
4.71/5
10
No Good Men
Shahrbanoo Sadat
A feelgood film in a feel bad place, is the tagline for No Good Men, which opened this year’s Berlin International Film Festival. It serves a flesh-and-blood love story in Afghanistan on the eve of the Taliban’s return to power. Screenwriter, director, and lead actress ...
4.71/5