Lorna is a young Albanian woman in a marriage of convenience with Claudy, a heroin addict. Just as Lorna is about to be granted Belgian citizenship, Claudy finds the strength to detox; this presents a problem not only for Lorna, but for the criminal who brokered the deal.
The story of a young mother with a failed marriage behind her, who fights daily for her dream to open a hair salon, challenging her fate in an effort to free herself and gain independence and right to happiness.
A day in the life of photo model Liv. But it's no ordinary day. She breaks up with her fiance, father and her own empty life as a model, and has to find a new place to live. But is it that easy to make a clean break?
Young, impulsive Rosetta lives a hard and stressful life as she struggles to support herself and her alcoholic mother. Refusing all charity, she is desperate to maintain a dignified job.
Working-class Angie, sacked from a recruitment agency for bad public behaviour, teams up with her flatmate to run a similar business from their kitchen. With immigrants desperate for work, the opportunities are considerable, particularly for two girls so in tune with these times.
Heroin addict Mark Renton stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends --Sick Boy, Begbie, Spud and Tommy. He also has an underage girlfriend, Diane, along for the ride. After cleaning up and moving from Edinburgh to London, Mark finds he can't escape the life he left behind as Begbie and Sick Boy come knocking.
Steelworker Nangong Cheng is dying from an infected wound when he encounters Zhuang, a stranger with a similar affliction seeking vengeance for his murdered wife. Cheng, a disciple of a traditional martial-healing sect, must use his final strength to help him.
A wandering homeless man seizes an opportunity.
A family of young 'chavs' and their mother unleash their anger in a clash over a parking space.
In Los Angeles, undocumented Mexican immigrant Maya finds work as a janitor through her sister, Rosa. However, as both work non-union, conditions are grim. After enduring abuse from her superiors, Maya is open to the pro-union rhetoric offered by organiser Sam Shapiro. Rosa, meanwhile, is far less interested in clashing with management, given the needs of her family, and a rift forms between the sisters.
In South Yorkshire, a small group of railway maintenance men discover that due to privatisation, their lives will never be the same. When the trusty British Rail sign is replaced by one reading East Midland Infrastructure, it becomes clear that there will be the inevitable winners and losers as downsizing and efficiency become the new buzzwords.
Zoë is a single mother who lives with her four children in Dartford. She is poor and can't afford to buy food. One day her old flame drives by and asks her to go on a date with him. Scared that he doesn't want to go out with her, she lies and tells him that she is just babysitting the kids. This will be her first date in years.
Viveca is 31, divorced, and has a son of 6 years. She and her friend Aud have left the hectic everyday life and moved in with bohemians and artists. We follow these two women for five days, as they come in contact with many different people.
After a night out, a young woman chooses to walk home alone, turning an ordinary journey into a tense confrontation with the fear many women experience daily.
An arthouse debut feature follows a grizzled ex-con's first day of freedom as he struggles to reconnect with his conflicted son.
At the edge of Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula, two women’s lives will intersect – for a brief moment – while trapped in circumstances unforeseen. Between a struggling Icelandic mother and an asylum seeker from Guinea-Bissau, a delicate bond will form as both strategize to get their lives back on track.
Tinskani mourns the death of his friend and mentor, Salvador. His partner, Citlali, urges him to attend the funeral with her, but Tinskani is haunted by the photograph of his friend's corpse. He'd rather wander through the town’s carnival, camera in hand, seeking to replace that ghostly portrait with new ones.
Claudio is a construction worker living in the outskirts of Rome. He's happily married and his wife is pregnant with their third child. However, a dramatic event comes to upset this simple and happy life.
Using verite conventions, a young couple with a baby and a child are worn away by the monotony of their lives.
Under the neon lights of the prostitution area in Ostend's Hazegras district, local residents struggle with their small and big problems. Loneliness overtakes them every now and then. Yet they appear to be more connected then they think.