In a remote, tradition-bound village, teenage Ahmet dreams of more than a life tending sheep. Against grieving his mother’s death, being silenced by his father, and protecting his mute younger brother, Ahmet finds hope in unexpected place - a secret rave – and in a blooming love with the beautiful Aya. Director Georgi M. Unkovski’s debut captures the tension between tradition and individuality with heart and authenticity, using a largely non-professional cast to tell a poignant, liberating coming-of-age story about love, identity, and art’s liberating power.

It’s 1990 in Iraq, and under the iron fist of Saddam Hussein extreme poverty is on the rise. Despite the circumstances, it’s still mandatory that all Iraqis celebrate the president’s birthday. An unlucky classroom draw finds nine-year-old Lamia given the unenviable task of baking the birthday cake for her class. Accompanied by grandmother, Lamia departs her home in the marshes for the big city, to procure the ingredients for the dreaded cake. Beautifully shot and acted, and with a keen sense of time and place, this film makes for an exhilarating adventure.

Pavel “Pasha” Talankin loves his job as a teacher in the small Russian town of Karabash – until his country invades Ukraine. He is outraged by the new government propaganda in the curriculum, not to mention the school’s being used as a military recruitment ground. In class, Pasha finds ways to playfully protest the regime; more crucially, he becomes a whistleblower, secretly filming the alarming shifts under the guise of his work as school videographer. He risks his life to send the footage overseas to filmmaker David Borenstein – while also planning his own escape. Winner of Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Prize, this hugely daring and noble collaboration is one of the strongest docs of the year.

The near future. Having lived her 77 years in a small Brazilian town, Tereza (Denise Weinberg) receives a government order to relocate to a senior housing colony – a place from which no one has ever returned. But before agreeing, Tereza decides to fulfil a long-held dream to fly on a plane. Unable to buy a ticket for a flight but undeterred, she hitches a boat ride with skipper Cadu (Rodrigo Santoro, Love Actually), who introduces Tereza to the psychedelic use of a rare blue snail. Her transformative journey through the Amazon’s rivers and tributaries becomes a mind- and destiny-altering one. Says Mascaro: “I wanted to create an interplay between the lyrical and the playful – a post-tropical delirium that blurs the line between dystopia and fantasy.” With its stunning imagery, Mascaro’s unforgettable, anti-authoritarian fable is filled with surprises, delight and magic.

Musician Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden) travels to Wallis Island, Wales, to play a private gig for a huge fee – courtesy of resident millionaire Charles (Tim Key). Herb isn’t too pleased to learn that the gig is actually a reunion show with his former bandmate and lover, Nell Mortimer (Mulligan). As the pair rehearse, old tensions resurface and sparks fly, while the relentlessly positive Charles tries to keep the peace and his dream gig on track. Combining laughs with deep emotion, this beautifully performed ballad is pitch perfect.

A crowd-pleaser set in a picturesque Scottish village where contestants from around the globe have gathered for the annual World Porridge Making Championship. CPH:DOX 2025. Each year, the sleepy Scottish village of Carrbridge bursts to life for the World Porridge Championships. Locals and eccentric international contestants - including Lisa, a reigning champ, Toby, a taco chef from Australia, and seven-time finalist, Nick - go head-to-head in a spirited oat-off. With warmth and humour, director Constantine Costi captures the charm and spunk of this Highlands competition with warmth, respect, and lashings of humour.

The film begins with a family traveling on an isolated road, where an unfortunate bump in the road leads to their car being damaged. At the repair shop in the middle of the night, a worker observes something that triggers a memory with immense repercussions. From here, Panahi takes the audience on a thrilling emotional rollercoaster involving a great ensemble cast. We follow characters whose circumstances might well be very different from our own, but whose dilemmas, and choices between forgiveness and retribution, immerse us fully.

Being of short stature, Will (Phil Moniz) could never compete in the sport he loved: racewalking. When he sets his sights on channelling his passion into coaching instead, everyone is quick to write him off – not least the national walking champ, Ched, a himbo coached by Will’s own volatile uncle. Enter Matt (Kevin Claydon, 21 Thunder; The Girlfriend Experience), a burnt-out baseball pitcher who happens to have an ideal racewalking stride. He and Will team up to take on Ched and all those who would dismiss them. Written and directed by stars Moniz and Claydon, this charming, Happy Gilmore-inspired sports comedy was a hit with audiences and critics – and the jury – at Slamdance.

Nora (Reinsve), an accomplished stage actress, reunites with her estranged father, the once-revered director Gustav (Skarsgård). He asks Nora to take the lead role in a new, deeply personal film. In anger over his past abandonment of her and her sister, Nora declines. He instead casts eager Hollywood star Rachel Kemp (Fanning), and begins work on the ambitious and risky film. But filial connections run deep, and the personal and the artistic intersect in this profound, funny and deeply moving film.