After the Storm

The shadows of screams climb beyond the hills. It has happened before. But this will be the last time. The last few sense it, withdrawing deep into the forest. They cry out into the black, as the shadows pass away, into the ground.

Peggy Robles-Alvarado is a Jerome Hill Foundation Fellow in Literature, a Latinx Playwrights Circle Fellow, and a three-time International Latino Book Award winner who authored Conversations With My Skin, and Homage To The Warrior Women. In this film by New York-based filmmaker Matt Haller, she recounts the grief and pain of losing her father, interwoven with her Puerto Rican heritage.

A dramatic recreation of Dylan Thomas' last tour of America, starring actor Bob Kingdom as the Welsh poet. Originally a successful stage production, the show was adapted for this recorded version by renowned actor Anthony Hopkins (in his directorial debut). Dylan Thomas was one of the twentieth century's greatest poets. He was born in the Uplands district of Swansea in 1914 and died in New York in 1953 at the age of 39. Towards the end of his life, Dylan Thomas toured America, performing his works before sell out audiences across the country. The film features the poems "Fern Hill"; "Do Not Go Gently into that Good Night"; "A Poem in October"; "And Death Shall Have No Dominion"; "A Story (The Outing)" and "Return Journey" .

A journey among the forgotten: U.S. citizens experiencing homelessness, forced to live in extreme marginalization. Giving voice to these wounded souls is the unmistakable sound of Tom Waits.

At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern headmaster.

A young woman revisits memories of her fiancé while silently coping with the distance that separates them. Amid routines that now feel different, she confronts the emptiness left behind and tries to understand what remains when everything around her seems to have changed.

This documentary highlights the evolution of Brazil's Circo Voador venue from homespun artists' performance space to national cultural institution.

Emma approaches adulthood, she tries to live an ordinary life and keep up to her late mothers expectations. However her anxiety weighs over her, stopping her from enjoying the last few youthful years.

After his parents' death in a traffic accident, Ibrahim decides to go to their summer house, where he goes every summer with his family, alone this time in order to accept this fact. Here, while confronting his past summer relationships and his own loneliness, he encounters a poet named Ahmet Tikici, who writes the same poems as him in a poetry magazine, and begins to follow Ahmet. This pursuit will show him that he is not as alone in his life as he thinks.

The experiences of five free-spirited individuals trying to break free from societal norms. Each narrative discusses creativity, mental health, labor activism and gender politics.

From the music of Uruguayan composer Florencia Di Concilio, English filmmaker Terence Davies does a cinematic reading of his own poem about his late sister, delivered over a single serene shot of the countryside near his home in Essex. This short film is part of the 2x25 Project of Film Fest Gent and the World Soundtrack Awards. The project commissioned 25 composers to compose a short piece of music, after which 25 filmmakers made short films that are the ultimate symbioses of music and cinematography, fitting completely within the DNA of the festival. The result: 25 exceptional films where the music inspired the form, narrative and texture.

Pooja Mathew, a spirited young girl, wants to have a love marriage in her life. Thus, she stops at nothing to impress Giri, who saved her once from a group of unruly men.

A bucolic fantasy frolic in which an adaptable young woman must navigate a bewildering and whimsical phantasmagoria, populated by anthropomorphic and bombastic creatures. The characters she encounters, she discovers, reject established facts and knowledge in favour of: galvanising, albeit meaningless soundbites (often in the form of riddles and poetry), vigilantism and its blunt implementation of “justice” and cult-like acts of dissent. Ironically, leading these academic rebellions are the establishment figures themselves.

A short film written by Hussain Manawer about 2020 and mental health.

On the beach at sunset a man waits for his one true love. When she arrives, a bittersweet romance ensues.

About the life and work of the poet Sergei Yesenin, his connection with his native country, its people and nature. Childhood, love, painful searches for his place in the new, revolutionary Russia — everything found a place in Yesenin's lyrics. Frames illustrating Yesenin's poetry and poems are side by side in the film with episodes of the poet's biography: the film reflects the days of his stay in America, World War I, revolution and village round dances, a daring uncle, a wise mother...

An elderly woman finds out by the rumors of her friends that a teenager in her neighborhood has been kicked out of her home for being a lesbian. This triggers a traumatic memory that will reunite her with whom she really is, even if it means loosing her friends.

WAR OF WORDS is an energizing, controversial and inspiring feature documentary that lifts the lid on the fast growing UK Battle Rap scene. The documentary is an examination of an exciting subculture of youth in the UK today; their creativity and work ethic, their passion for language and ability to control their own destiny. It investigates freedom of expression and respect for other cultures and lifestyles. While the language is often harsh and unflinching, the 'anything goes' philosophy of the battle arena results in one of the most harmonious and creative scenes in youth culture. The film is a truly entertaining expose on how the UK has embraced this American art form, creating one of the most exciting youth subcultures happening right now.

When asked a question on politics, late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish once answered: “I write about love to expose the conditions that don’t allow me to write about love.” In TWO TRAVELERS TO A RIVER Palestinian actress Manal Khader recites such a poem by Mahmoud Darwish: a concise reflection on how things could have been.

Poet John Betjeman is shown visiting locations including Vauxhall Park, Aldersgate Street station, Camden Town and Hatfield, where he recites a handful of his poems.