THE FINALE

Other movies
GIRL
Director: Shu Qi
Superstar Shu Qi, icon of Asian cinema and muse of Hou Hsiao-hsien, makes her directorial debut with this self-penned, deeply personal coming-of-age drama. In a cramped home ruled by abuse, young teenager Lin Xiaoli keeps her head down, caring for her little sister while her father’s drunken rages cascade into her mother’s cruelty. Everything shifts when she befriends Li Lili, a rebellious classmate who skips class, smokes and urges Xiaoli to challenge the family’s toxic status quo. As escape glimmers, Shu Qi films with poised restraint, observing at a remove and tuning the viewer to intimate, everyday textures with a quietly harrowing strength. Tender yet unsentimental, Girl finds fragile beauty amid hurt and announces a formidable new directorial voice.
ALL THAT'S LEFT OF YOU
Director: Cherien Dabis
This compelling family drama traces three generations of Palestinians from 1948-2022, revealing the profound impacts of the Nakba. The story begins in 1988 with Noor, a man who joins a protest that turns violent in the West Bank. Decades later his mother, Hanan, recounts her son’s story, starting with the 1948 expulsion of his grandfather from Jaffa. Amid the hardship, the family holds on to the hope of returning to their ancestral home. A love story between Hanan and her husband Salim serves as a beacon of light. Through intimate, moving performances, this film explores how trauma and heritage shape the bonds between a grandfather, a father and son, while filled with moments of joy, love and humor.
LOST LAND
Director: Akio Fujimoto
In this quietly powerful, first-ever Rohingya-language feature, Japanese filmmaker Akio Fujimoto offers a haunting, intimate portrait of two siblings fleeing persecution in Myanmar. With nothing but vague directions and each other, nine-year-old Somira and her younger brother Shafi begin a harrowing journey to join an uncle in Malaysia, crossing borders by sea and land and navigating a world shaped by smugglers, fear and exploitation. With a cast of non-professional actors, most of whom lived refugee experiences, the film blends realism with lyrical restraint. Eschewing melodrama for quiet observation, Fujimoto captures the disorientation of displacement and the uncertainty of fragile hopes. Lost Land is a timely, deeply human reflection on survival, resilience and the Rohingya’s eternal search for a place to call home.