We take the most meaning away from the most difficult stories. The emotional lives of the most vulnerable people in society, whose battles with the regular world will move even the coldest of hearts, are highlighted in this selection

These films are waiting for all those who dare to experience life from a different perspective, to experience a world that works against them. Movies that strike, shake, and leave behind the experience of living in someone else's skin. Powerful stuff.

Animals
Thursday, Nov. 18 at 9 p.m., Coca-Cola Plaza.
International premiere. With director Nabil Ben Yadir

The film "Animals" by the Belgian director Nabil Ben Yadir is inspired by real life events. We follow Brahim, a young man who's gay and has picked his moment to get out of the closet. Wanting to break free at all costs, he loses his sense of danger. A slow and powerful film with a beautiful visual language, it looks at different forms of homophobia, taking the viewer on a tense and immersive journey.

The Radio Amateur
Nov. 18, at 6:15 p.m., Coca-Cola Plaza.
International premiere, with filmmakers

Belonging is a basic human need. For some it’s easy, for others not. The needs of the autistic Nikolas are quite ordinary in a way: he wants to be a part of the community, to do honest work, to travel and see the world and, of course, to love. After his mother's death, Nikolas escapes from his social workers to the port city of his childhood, where he meets his former schoolmate Ane, who decides to help. Their common mission is to escape the soul-wrenching reality of love and the warm sincerity of this common cause melts even the coldest of hearts.

The Dark Heart of the Forest
Nov. 20, Saturday at 3:15 p.m., Coca-Cola Plaza.
International premiere. With filmmakers

The Dark Heart of the Forest is a moving film about loneliness and the search for love and peace, told through young people who have never had a family in the usual sense. Through the film’s art and strong symbolic undercurrents, the authors have been able to capture the real soul of the forest with. The sound design, recorded in a church with mystical acoustics, accurately capturing tones and halftones, and the impressive cinematography carries the mood and keeps viewers entranced.

A Place Called Dignity
Monday, Nov. 22, at 6:15 p.m., Coca-Cola Plaza.
International premiere. With filmmakers

Pablo, 12, receives a scholarship to go to a remote and mysterious private school, founded by German settlers in Chile. The Colonia Dignidad, or School of Dignity, was a notorious commune in southern Chile, closely linked to the methods and actions of Augusto Pinochet's regime. Chile is a country where the younger generation is really starting to study and pick through its history. Colonia Dignidad is one of the darkest shadows in their recent past.

The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic
Monday, Nov. 22, at 9:15 p.m., Coca-Cola Plaza.
With guest Jani Pösö

An intense and atypical action-thriller about a man who has to go through hell to reach his sweetheart. "The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic" is the fifth feature film by Finnish director Teemu Nikki ("Euthanizer", PÖFF 2017). Nikki's style could be described as a fundamentally benevolent but also intensely political satire on humanity. He has never seen the movie Titanic.

Let The Devil Laugh
Thursday, Nov. 25, 5:30 p.m., Coca-Cola Plaza.
International premiere. With filmmakers

The naive idealist committed a crime to protect his mother Yukiko and younger sister Madoka from domestic violence. This is the story of the modern samurai. A powerful heartbreaking drama describes a feverish struggle for survival with dignity and indelible optimism. One of the most unexpected and overlooked discoveries in the Asian independent cinema scene. The strikingly stunning finish will be scratched long after the final subtitles.