The Passing

Xu Zao’s mellow, melancholy film follows a bottom-tier employee at a decaying film studio as he gets pulled into an online obsession. Mixing animation with live action, this is a whimsical satire and a lament for the pre-digital world.

You don’t have to look far; life is beautiful!

Winner of the Special Jury Award at Visions du Réel, A Fire There follows three teenage friends in rural Georgia as adulthood arrives. Marlene Edoyan’s finely observed film redefines coming of age as something slower and more quietly rebellious.

Image: © Nemesis Films F3M

An adopted teen and his friend coerce a younger adoptee to go for a drive out to the countryside — but things turn violent. With a fragmented structure and unresolved questions, Clubfoot reflects the uncertainty and isolation that often follow adoption.

This rousing hockey drama centres on the Treaty 6 Blades, a team of Indigenous youth on a quest for redemption. Blessed with a terrific cast, this is a crowd-pleaser in which victory is about much more than winning the game.

Congo Boy is a deeply moving coming-of-age drama about Robert, a 17-year-old Congolese refugee in the Central African Republic balancing school, odd jobs, and the care of his four younger siblings — while dreaming of success as a musician.

Image: © 2026 MAKONGO FILMS UNITÉ KIRIPIFILMS KARTA FILM CANAL