A Place Called Home

Lichter is an episodic tale from Hans-Christian Schmid about the life on the border between Germany and Poland. The film sheds light on the everyday stories of escape and desperateness.

The story of three women searching for more potent, meaningful lives. Each is alive at a different time and place, all are linked by their yearnings and their fears. Their stories intertwine, and finally come together in a surprising, transcendent moment of shared recognition.

Clara and Hans are left-wing terrorists who have been sought by police for almost fifteen years. Their increasingly rebellious daughter Jeanne begins to pose a threat to their security when she falls in love with a boy she meets on the beach.

War journalist Paul Prior returns to his New Zealand hometown after his father’s death, rekindling strained relationships with his brother and memories of a troubled past. He befriends Celia, a curious and aspiring writer, who shares a fascination with his world. When Celia mysteriously disappears, Paul becomes the prime suspect, forcing him to confront buried secrets and uncover the dark truths of his family and community.

The three friends Ertan, Kemal and Mehdi live in Kiel. They are foreigners, "Kanaks", as they proudly call themselves. For them, this term is an expression of their attitude to life. The trio keeps their heads above water with small-time crooks, but over time they are drawn deeper and deeper into a maelstrom of violence and crime. On a whim, Erkan acts as the protector of two prostitutes and makes enemies of two unscrupulous pimps. After a failed robbery, Ertan ends up in prison for a short time and Kemal is deported to Turkey. However, the two proud "Kanaks" don't let this get them down, on the contrary: together, the friends now want to build a drug air bridge between Istanbul and Germany. But the dream of quick money ends in death and grief for Kemal and Ertan.

A film killing itself.

In a north Indian village, a family reunites at their ancestral home to celebrate a new birth in the family. It’s a joyous, carefree occasion. Over the next two decades, through festivals and feasts, births and deaths, the film observes one house as it ages and falls to neglect.

Return Home

A working class family move into a new condo purchased after 11 years of hard work. They throw a housewarming party to show his co-workers when overnight a heavy downpour creates an extremely deep sinkhole that engulfs the entire building.

15 years ago, Luiza decided to make a fresh start in Spain. She left her 3-year-old daughter Cristina in the care of her relatives and took off. When she returns to Romania, the woman learns some shocking truths that were kept hidden from her: Cristina ran away from home, is a drug addict and has a 2-year-old girl who lives in an orphanage. Overwhelmed by guilt, Luiza attempts to save her daughter

Eun-seo struggles repeatedly to find her own place. Her father Jin-cheol lives alone in a house where his family has left. Eun-seo unexpectedly returns her childhood home to live with her father. There, she faces traces of her family she had forgotten.

Ken Park focuses on several teenagers and their tormented home lives. Shawn seems to be the most conventional. Tate is brimming with psychotic rage; Claude is habitually harassed by his brutish father and coddled, rather uncomfortably, by his enormously pregnant mother. Peaches looks after her devoutly religious father, but yearns for freedom. They're all rather tight, or so they claim.

MARIAN is an 80 year old resident of Meadow Park Rest Home. During a difficult visit, her daughter PHILLIPA is forced out and accidentally leaves something important behind. Wandering out of the rest home, the outside world proves challenging, as Marian battles her mind in an attempt to return her daughter’s beloved possession.

Ned Kendall is asked to return to the remote and isolated family home by his sister, to say goodbye to his father who is dying. Ned also brings his young aspiring actress fiancee who struggles with the isolation. When home he starts having memories of his childhood many involving his beautiful twin sister and his older brother. These memories awaken long-buried secrets from the family's past.

The story is set at the beginning of the 20th century in Sicily. Salvatore, a very poor farmer, and a widower, decides to emigrate to the US with all his family, including his old mother. Before they embark, they meet Lucy. She is supposed to be a British lady and wants to come back to the States. Lucy, or Luce as Salvatore calls her, for unknown reasons wants to marry someone before to arrive to Ellis Island in New York. Salvatore accepts the proposal. Once they arrive in Ellis Island they spend the quarantine period trying to pass the examinations to be admitted to the States. Tests are not so simple for poor farmers coming from Sicily. Their destiny is in the hands of the custom officers.

A student searching for hope recalls his childhood memories

A family that lives apart goes looking for a house to live with.

A family embarks on an annual tormenting journey along with 130 million other peasant workers to reunite with their distant family, and to revive their love and dignity as China soars as the world's next super power.

Miso lives from day to day by housekeeping. Cigarettes and whiskey are the two things that get her through the day. As cigarette prices and rent start to rise, Miso decides to give up her house for cigarettes and whiskey, leading her to couch surf with old friends while reconsidering her place in life.

After the closure of US Japanese Internment Camps at the end of World War II, a Japanese American family returns home and must find the strength to rebuild both their house and family amidst the emotional and physical destruction.