The Cavalry

Arie and Chuko Esiri’s Clarissa brings Mrs. Dalloway to present-day Lagos, with Sophie Okonedo playing the titular society hostess opposite David Oyelowo, Ayo Edebiri, and India Amarteifio in a Nigerian vision of class, privilege, and past lives.

Image: © Courtesy of Elevation Pictures

How We Stand follows three Indigenous sisters separated after their family relocates to Los Angeles under Native American Relocation Program in the 1950s. Twenty years later, they navigate identity, trauma, and very different lives.

Bảo Lê makes a notable entrance with this lush, meticulously composed feature debut that unfolds as a series of film tableaux drawing on moments in the life of a middle-aged mechanic whose work involves installing decibel meters across public spaces.

In the Heart of the South, from the director of Slash/Back, brings North of North co-stars Anna Lambe and Zorga Qaunaq together for a propulsive, psychological meta-thriller about an Inuk multimedia writer possessed by her own narrative.

Liz Sargent’s film stars her sister Anna, who plays a woman quite like her real self: thirty something, cognitively disabled, and utterly vivacious. Exploring one unique family and the hardships it faces, this is a film of deep empathy and subtle beauty.

Image: © Farhad Ahmed Dehlvi

As evening approaches, residents of Cologne gather in bars, cafes, and clubs, talking about everything from immigration, war in the Middle East, feminism, and racial profiling. As the alcohol flows, conversations get louder and opinions looser.

Image: © Montell Taraschewski_Monte Kalk Film