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USA | 2024 | 123
Unstoppable is the inspiring true story of Anthony Robles (Jharrel Jerome) who was born with one leg but whose indomitable spirit and unbreakable resolve empowered him to defy the odds and pursue his dreams.
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Finland/Austria/Estonia/Germany/Sweden | 2025 | 85
This powerful film reveals a little-known chapter of history: the deportation of eight Austrian-Jewish refugees from Finland by the Gestapo during World War II. Abraham Stiller (Ville Virtanen), a pillar of Helsinki's Jewish community, fights to save them in director Klaus Härö’s resonant, moving drama.
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USA | 2024 | 108
Patricia Clarkson shines in this rousing profile of courage as Lilly Ledbetter, the Alabama Goodyear factory worker whose tireless fight for women’s equal pay went all the way to the Supreme Court. Like <i>Norma Rae</i> and <i>Erin Brockovich</i>, Lilly packs a sweet punch for justice.
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USA | 2024 | 89
In this crackling buddy comedy, Rickey (director/co-writer Michael Angarano) reunites with estranged friend Glenn (Michael Cera) for an impulsive road trip from Los Angeles to California's capital. At vastly different stages in life, the two men reluctantly – and hilariously – confront fatherhood, fragile masculinity, and self-discovery.
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USA | 2024 | 89
In this crackling buddy comedy, Rickey (director/co-writer Michael Angarano) reunites with estranged friend Glenn (Michael Cera) for an impulsive road trip from Los Angeles to California's capital. At vastly different stages in life, the two men reluctantly – and hilariously – confront fatherhood, fragile masculinity, and self-discovery.
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USA | 2024 | 98
With a career spanning eight decades, Ottawa-born singer-songwriter Paul Anka has left a lasting mark on the music industry. In this all-encompassing tribute, brimming with archival footage and candid moments, Anka – still going strong – offers in his own words a vivid glimpse into his remarkable life and enduring legacy.
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Italy/Israel | 2024 | 108
In this gripping adaptation of Azar Nafisi’s memoir, a fearless professor secretly gathers seven of her most dedicated female students to discuss forbidden Western classics after fundamentalists seize control of their country. Their solidarity helps them navigate life-altering choices in a repressive society. Winner of the Audience Award and the Special Jury Award for the Female Cast at the 2024 Rome Film Festival.
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USA | 2024 | 123
In this delicious adaptation of Sigrid Nunez's beloved novel, an author (Naomi Watts) inherits a Great Dane after her best friend (Bill Murray) commits suicide. This enormous (and irresistible) dog wreaks havoc on her happily solitary New York life.
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Ireland/United Kingdom | 2024 | 89
Winner of the Audience Award at the 2024 London Film Festival, this Irish twist on <i>Mid-August Lunch</i> (PSIFF 2009) follows a shy, commitment-phobic gay novelist living with his elderly mother. When his friends take off for Pride weekend, he finds himself caring for four eccentric, combative and wildly different women.
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France/Spain/Portugal | 2024 | 102
The director of <i>Stranger by the Lake</i> concocts a sly brew of sex, religion, and murder in a provincial French village where the return of a polyamorous former local sets off a macabre chain of erotic events as unpredictable as it is perversely funny.
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United Kingdom | 2024 | 132
Legendary crossbow marksman William Tell gets an epic drama that goes beyond the apple on his son's head. In 1307, the power-hungry Austrian Hapsburgs encroach on peaceful Switzerland. Tell (masterfully played by Claes Bang, also at the festival in <i>Bonjour Tristesse</i>) realizes what matters most: his family and preserving his country's independence for future generations.
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Hong Kong | 2024 | 126
The densely populated Kowloon Walled City becomes a battleground between ruthless crime boss Mr. Big and a fierce band of protectors led by the citadel's formidable leader, Cyclone. Meanwhile, a young refugee is caught in the martial arts melee in this nerve-jangling action spectacular.
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Romania | 2024 | 138
This slyly funny tragicomedy explores the 1989 fall of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu through the interconnected stories of six ordinary citizens. The feature debut of 2019 Palm Springs ShortFest Best of the Festival winner Bogdan Mureşanu is a thrillingly confident work full of wit, irony, and empathy.
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India | 2023 | 123
This delightful adventure follows two young brides from arranged marriages who are mistakenly swapped during a chaotic train ride, and find their lives flipped upside down when, upon arrival, they lift their veils, revealing that each husband is now with the wrong wife.
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Australia | 2024 | 119
Based on a harrowing true story, Australian war correspondent Peter Greste (a stellar Richard Roxburgh) is arrested and imprisoned in Egypt while covering the 2013 political unrest. Accused of terrorism, Greste becomes ensnared in a ruthless crackdown on truth, exposing the dangerous reality faced by journalists worldwide.
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Brazil/Portugal | 2024 | 101
Set in a remote corner of Brazil largely untouched by the modern world, this earnest and moving drama centers on 13-year-old Marcielle, who yearns to escape her hostile home and a village that has resisted change for generations.
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Argentina/Uruguay | 2024 | 90
With the intrigue of a detective story, this poignant documentary combines testimonials, archival material, animation, and reenactments to explore a dark chapter in Argentina's history: the infamous "death flights" carried out by the country's brutal 1976-1983 military dictatorship, in which 30,000 people were disappeared.
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USA | 2024 | 99
A father and son journey through Atlanta on their way to their first baseball game together, navigating a new reality while facing both exasperating challenges and moments of tenderness. Director David Fortune's debut feature delicately examines a father's love in the wake of tragedy, creating an intimate family portrait.
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Note: Filmmaker David Fortune is one of <a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/news/variety-10-directors-to-watch-2025-1236213938/" target="_blank">Variety's 10 Directors to Watch for 2025</a>!
Greece/Bulgaria/USA | 2024 | 99
Set in a ghostly, off-season Greek resort town, this haunted tale of grief and lost love begins when a retired doctor and his wife are summoned to identify the victim of a tragic car accident. What follows is a mysterious quest in a slippery realm where the dead seem to coexist with the living.
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India | 2024 | 123
Sanu is a child learning to navigate the challenges of identity and belonging as he struggles to fit into society's norms and build a loving relationship with his father. Meanwhile, his grandmother, harboring secrets of her own, teaches him to embrace his uniqueness.
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USA | 2024 | 94
The director of wonderful documentaries on Cecil Beaton and Diana Vreeland turns her keen eye to the astonishing Jean Cocteau – artist, filmmaker, poet, novelist, designer, opium addict, and proud lover of men – who mastered every art form of the 20th century.
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USA | 2024 | 104
This mesmerizing, music-rich documentary charts the dazzling rise and tormented fall of keyboard genius and conflicted gay artist Billy Preston. Follow his journey from gospel roots in the 1950s to inspired collaborations with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, to the 1970s in Topanga Canyon.
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Norway | 2024 | 141
Both a bold historical drama and a penetrating psychological study of a delusional authoritarian, the latest from director Erik Poppe (<i>The King’s Choice</i>, PSIFF 2016) revisits Germany’s occupation of Norway and its aftermath through the story of wartime puppet leader and Nazi collaborator Vidkun Quisling.
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Canada | 2024 | 89
In this whimsical ensemble comedy, two kids find a banknote frozen in ice, a tour guide leads baffled visitors, and a government drone returns home to uncover something amiss with his family, creating a mosaic of wintry Winnipeg that’s both comically surreal and profoundly human.
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Congratulations to the <i>Universal Language</i> team on making the shortlist for Best International Feature Film for the 97th Academy Awards!
Israel/Italy | 2024 | 104
In an ultra-Orthodox community in Jerusalem, Bati leads a seemingly perfect life with her husband and three children. But her world begins to crumble when her gentle husband is blackmailed over a secret affair with his male Torah study partner.
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Palestine | 2024 | 115
Featuring the collective work of 22 filmmakers, this omnibus offers a view of life in Gaza during the ongoing war with Israel. Showcasing unique perspectives – from non-fiction and narrative to animation and experimental forms – this collaborative effort yields an expansive and powerful result.
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Congratulations to the <i>From Ground Zero</i> team on making the shortlist for Best International Feature Film for the 97th Academy Awards!
Georgia/Israel/Iran | 2023 | 103
Co-directed by the Iran-born Cannes Best Actress winner from <i>Holy Spider</i> (PSIFF 2023) and the Israel-born filmmaker behind <i>Golda</i> (PSIFF 2024), this tension-filled sports drama follows an Iranian judo champion who defies her country’s orders to forfeit a match, leading to dire consequences for her and her coach.
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Congratulations to the <i>Tatami</i> team on receiving the Young Cineastes Award at the 2025 Palm Springs International Film Festival!
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Switzerland/Portugal/Cape Verde | 2024 | 95
Weaving between the natural and magical worlds, young Nana lives on a remote volcanic island from which everyone eventually departs. Abandoned by her mother shortly after birth, she spends her days seeking the answer to the lingering question: Should she stay or should she go?
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Slovakia, Czechia | 2024 | 129
Set in the nationalistic, Nazi-allied wartime Slovak state, this powerfully visual tale follows Marika, a widowed dressmaker from the Hungarian minority, who loses her job in Bratislava. Back in her late husband’s village home, she hides a young Jewish boy.
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USA | 2024 | 90
For over 20 years, Dick Perez was the official artist of the Baseball Hall of Fame, painting the game's history and every Hall of Famer – a project he continues into his 80s. Director Marq Evans (<i>Claydream</i>, PSIFF 2022) tells the fascinating story of this childhood immigrant whose portraits transformed the commemoration of America's most iconic pastime.
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Australia | 2024 | 97
When her spoiled teenage daughter Audrey falls into a coma, a delusional, washed-up soap star seizes the opportunity for a second chance by assuming her identity, hurling the wildly dysfunctional Lipsick family into a whirlwind of deceit, absurdity, and uproarious revelations.
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Canada/Germany | 2024 | 110
In Durga Chew-Bose’s enchanting adaptation of Françoise Sagan’s classic novel, 18-year-old Cécile (Lily McInerney) navigates a sun-drenched summer at the French seaside with her charming father (Claes Bang) and his new lover, until the arrival of an old friend (a deliciously wicked Chloë Sevigny) disrupts their idyllic existence.
Note: Filmmaker Durga Chew-Bose is one of <a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/news/variety-10-directors-to-watch-2025-1236213938/" target="_blank">Variety's 10 Directors to Watch for 2025</a>!
THIS IS A TEST
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Sweden | 2024 | 91
In a heartfelt effort to rekindle his 80-year-old father’s zest for life, filmmaker Filip Hammar surprises him with a road trip to the French coastal town where they spent family holidays to revisit cherished memories in this touching and humorous first-person documentary. Audience Award, Newport Beach.
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India/USA | 2024 | 127
Based on the life of aspiring filmmaker Nasir Shaik, who, short on funds but driven by his love of movies, sets out to remake a classic, enlisting his pals as cast and crew while transforming his small town of Malegaon into an unlikely dream factory.
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Congratulations to the <i>Superboys of Malegaon</i> team on receiving the Young Cineastes Special Mention at the 2025 Palm Springs International Film Festival!
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Australia | 2024 | 98
Stubborn and cantankerous Australian director Bill Bennett adapts his own bestselling memoir chronicling his experience walking the 800-kilometer Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail across northern Spain just months before his 60th birthday.
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France | 2024 | 92
Exhausted by the grueling Parisian gig economy, undocumented Guinean immigrant and bicycle courier Souleymane (2024 Cannes Un Certain Regard Best Actor winner Abou Sangaré) races against time to prepare for his asylum interview in this gripping social thriller.
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Congratulations to the <i>Souleymane's Story</i> team on receiving the Bridging the Borders Award at the 2025 Palm Springs International Film Festival!
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United Kingdom | 2024 | 88
Many may not have heard of British artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, but filmmaker Mark Cousins’ personal, provocative testament to this remarkable woman raises the question of why she isn’t a household name. In a rare feat for a documentary, this poetic portrait took the top prize at the 2024 Karlovy Vary Film Festival.
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USA | 2024 | 86
A small, determined group of Blackfoot people strive to restore their land's ecology, cultural roots, and spiritual connection by reintroducing buffalo to Blackfeet territory, a century after the species' near-extinction. Narrated by Oscar®-nominee Lily Gladstone, this evocative and moving film captures a powerful, community-led journey toward renewal and healing.
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USA | 2024 | 85
A family fractured by a tragedy seeks a fresh start in a new home, only to discover a spirit awaiting them. Visionary director Steven Soderbergh combines stylistic innovation with the melancholy of a classic gothic, all told through a unique visual concept: a ghost story from the perspective of the ghost.
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Colombia | 2023 | 84
In a forgotten Colombian town, a teenage girl dreams of becoming a boxer. When she learns her uncle will be fighting for the world title on live television, she and her community do whatever it takes to watch the event and win their own existential battle against obscurity.
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Peru/Chile | 2024 | 83
An eight-year-old alpaca shepherd, elated by Peru's potential qualification for the 2018 World Cup, finds his world in peril when a mining company threatens to poison the water, destroy the region's delicate ecosystem, and jeopardize the future of his community.
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USA | 2024 | 87
In the unforgiving Sonoran Desert, Rafael Larraenza leads a volunteer organization dedicated to searching for migrants risking their lives to cross into the United States. When a Salvadoran woman reports her son is missing, Rafael sets off to find him in the sweltering borderlands.
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Congratulations to the <i>Desert Angel</i> team on receiving the Desert Views Award Special Mention at the 2025 Palm Springs International Film Festival!
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Spain | 2024 | 105
A rock band in the '90s navigates the narrow path between dazzling success and complete disaster, creating an album that defines a generation and forever changes Spain's music scene. Inspired by one of Spain's most popular bands, this unconventional biopic won multiple top awards at the 2024 Malaga Film Festival.
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USA | 2024 | 98
This is the high-flying story of Joe Jennings, a pioneer of skydiving cinematography and Hollywood's go-to man for gasp-inducing aerial stunts. A man most at home free-falling through space, he attempts the one stunt that has eluded him throughout his death-defying life.
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Malaysia/Hong Kong/South Korea/Japan/Saudi Arabia/Thailand/USA | 2024 | 97
As a centuries-old way of life fades in Mongolia, a herdsman leads a dual existence – tending his ranch by day and performing horse tricks for audiences by night. This intimate, award-winning drama is inspired by lead actor Saina’s real-life journey between the horse show world and his own personal challenges.
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Canada | 2024 | 103
Inspired by a true story, this 1970s-set dramedy follows a gruff New Brunswick plumber (Charlie Creed-Miles) as he reluctantly drives to Toronto to bail his estranged, gay brother (Alan Cumming) out of jail. Forced together, the brothers face their differences on an unforgettable journey home.
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USA | 2024 | 92
Hollywood’s most coveted songwriter – with Beyoncé, Cher, Lady Gaga, Celine Dion, and Toni Braxton among her many devotees – writes heart-rending love songs but prefers animals to people. She’s worth billions but isn’t interested in spending it. Meet the prickly, fascinating musical poet who’s been nominated for 15 Oscars® – and never won.
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Italy | 2024 | 137
From Oscar®-winning director Paolo Sorrentino (<i>The Great Beauty</i>, PSIFF 2014), this enchanting treatise on cinematic beauty unfolds in Naples, following the titular heroine whose irresistible allure captivates everyone around her as she embarks on a journey to discover her place in the world.
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United Kingdom/Spain | 2024 | 97
Legendary British director Mike Leigh reunites with Oscar®-nominee Marianne Jean-Baptiste (<i>Secrets & Lies</i>) for an empathetic portrait of a dysfunctional family and its fierce matriarch, the prickly housewife Pansy (Jean-Baptiste), who stands in stark contrast to her easygoing hair-salon owner sister, Chantelle (Michele Austin).
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New Zealand | 2024 | 124
When grief-stricken Mareta (Anapela Polataivao) takes a substitute teaching role at an elite prep school, she forms a choir to unite the privileged yet disconnected students. As they prepare for an all-school competition, her passion for life is reignited, transforming her students forever in this rousing crowd-pleaser.
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