Shot entirely in secret, Mohammad Rasoulof’s searing drama depicts a man’s growing paranoia around encroaching state repression, whilst his family’s increasingly anti-patriarchal conviction at home threatens his carefully constructed public life.

When a self-proclaimed artistic dancer who goes by the stage name of Carmen (TAKAMINE Hideko) returns to her rural hometown, her behaviour and dress sense soon cause confusion and upset. This light-hearted comedy marks Japan’s first ever full-colour feature, humorously depicting shifts in post-war moral standards.

Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia’s stunning sophomore feature – which follows ICA Distribution project A Night of Knowing Nothing (2021) – is a profound meditation on urban migration and dislocation.

Frugal housewife Atsuko’s (AMAMI Yuki) retirement savings are struck by a series of disasters: she is forced to pay for an expensive funeral for her father-in-law, her husband loses his job, and above all, her big-spending mother-in-law (KUSABUE Mitsuko) moves in… Can the family overcome their newfound financial adversity?

Teacher Ushimatsu (MAMIYA Shotaro) has a potentially devastating secret: he is a burakumin, a member of Japan’s outcaste community. Despite rumblings of anti-discrimination activism, those around Ushimatsu are beginning to doubt his roots, threatening both his position at the school and his romantic prospects.

Once-popular novelist Yoko (MIYAZAWA Rie) starts work at an institution for the disabled, where she discovers the residents’ horrifying living conditions. When even empathetic carer SATO (ISOMURA Hayato) – her only solace – starts considering the residents soulless societal burdens, the consequences are devastating.

Marianne Jean-Baptiste delivers a career-best performance as Pansy, a woman battling grief, rage, and disconnection in Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths, three decades after their collaboration on Secrets and Lies.