In 1990s Iraq, 9-year-old Lamia must bake Saddam Hussein's birthday cake. She scrambles to find ingredients for this compulsory task while facing potential punishment if she fails.

Rookie novelist Kayoko (Non) struggles with her career. Holding a grudge over the harsh criticisms from prominent literary figure Munenori (TAKITO Kenichi), she sets out to take revenge on him — but her misfortune continues. Can she claim her position in the literary world?

Isiah Medina's third feature marks another key evolution in his work, with performance and character coming into greater focus, as he continues to develop his cinema-of-thought through the form of a philosophical hangout movie.

When Hiiro (MINAMI Sara) befriends classmates who face similarly difficult upbringings by their mothers, the gears of a dynamic relationship begin to turn — in a direction they do not expect — in this female-centred film free from the shackles of pity.

Igor Bezinović weaves archive and interview to recount poet and military officer Gabriele D’Annunzio’s radical 1919 occupation of Fiume (Rijeka, Croatia), revealing the stirrings of European fascism in the wake of World War I.

Retired French literature professor Gisuke (NAGATSUKA Kyozo) lives a quiet, solitary life — until a mysterious email plunges him into haunting dreams and growing dread, forcing him to reckon with his deepest sins as his respectable facade begins to crumble.

Introverted welfare caseworker Mamoru (KITAMURA Takumi) reluctantly helps a colleague investigate coercion against single mother Aimi (KAWAI Yuumi). As he becomes personally involved, a harrowing tale of crime, deception, and hidden dangers unfolds in this satirical social crime drama.

A moment of defiance in the West Bank opens a quiet reflection on inherited resilience, as one Palestinian family’s past—from the Nakba to today—casts a long shadow over the present.