THE SUITCASE

Other movies
NIGHTTIME SOUNDS
Director: Zhang Zhongchen
Nighttime Sounds blends social realism with surrealist poetry to explore the emotional landscapes of women in rural China: their buried desires and muted cries for freedom, love and recognition. Eight-year-old Qing lives with her mother, while her father works in a distant city. One morning, Qing encounters a ghostly child searching for their missing mother. Through dreamlike imagery and a haunting soundscape, director Zhang Zhongchen weaves a powerful tale of memory, longing and the silence passed from one generation of women to the next.
LATE SHIFT
Director: Petra Volpe
Petra Volpe’s salute to caregivers is executed with strength and admiration. Led by a nuanced and meticulous performance from Leonie Benesch, Late Shift is an eloquent plea for compassion, as well as being a gripping story about a day in the life of a hospital worker. Floria (Benesch) is a nurse on an understaffed surgical ward, where she balances the constant demands of her patients — medical and emotional — knowing that every decision she makes (or neglects) could have fatal consequences. Floria, and Volpe’s camera, are constantly on the move to beeping monitors and crash carts in the ward’s confined quarters. As Switzerland’s Oscar submission, Late Shift delivers high drama and a sharp question: who will care for the carers?
IRKALLA: GILGAMESH'S DREAM
Director: Mohamed Jabarah Al-Daradji
Nine-year-old dreamer Chum-Chum and Moody, a tough 13-year-old, navigate the harsh streets of Baghdad. Moody is obsessed with escaping to the Netherlands with Chum-Chum and his sister, Sara. Things changes when they meet Maryam, a fiery woman who has converted an old double-decker bus into a mobile school for street kids. After Maryam shows Chum-Chum an animation about the mythical hero Gilgamesh’s journey to the underworld, a new obsession takes hold. But Chum-Chum’s dream collides with a dark secret: Moody’s alliance with a ruthless militia leader and his plot to bomb protestors. Chum-Chum must now confront a brutal reality. Can one child's mythical quest save his friend, or will Moody’s dark path consume them both?
THE SETTLEMENT
Director: Mohamed Rashad
When 23-year-old Hossam's father dies in a factory accident, management of the factory offer a deal: a job for Hossam and his younger brother, 12-year-old Maro, in exchange for burying the truth. With a criminal record and a disabled mother to support, Hossam has little choice but to accept the job, even as his brother insists on working beside him. Hossam is pulled in multiple directions — between the truth of his father's death, a first love affair with a disappearing coworker and his community's dark reputation. This thriller has an intriguing atmosphere, and to emphasize the characters' oppression, director Mohamed Rashad uses sound — especially the overwhelming noise of the factory machines — to immerse the audience in a corrupt world.