After the sudden death of her father, Helen loses herself in the memories of their time birding and exploring the natural world together. The film is based on the memoirs of Helen MacDonald, and details how she saves herself from her grief by a unlikely friendship with a stubborn goshawk named Mabel. She starts training Mabel in the art of falconry, and as she teaches her to hunt and fly free, Helen discovers how deeply she has neglected her own emotions and life. What begins as an act of endurance, transforms into an intimate journey of resilience and healing.

No Other Choice is a darkly comic thriller from acclaimed South Korean director Park Chan-wook. After losing his long-held job, an ordinary office worker becomes increasingly desperate as months of unemployment begin to unravel his life, marriage and sense of self-worth. Blending sharp social commentary with suspense and dark humour, the film explores the pressures of modern life and the lengths people may go to when they feel trapped. Stylish, unsettling and often unexpectedly funny, it’s another compelling and distinctive work from one of contemporary cinema’s most celebrated filmmakers.

A moving, funny and deeply human documentary about André Ricciardi, whose life changes after a late-stage cancer diagnosis following a missed routine colonoscopy. Rather than turning away from his illness, André faces it with honesty, humour and remarkable openness, giving filmmakers intimate access to his final years with family and friends. What emerges is not simply a film about dying, but a thoughtful reflection on love, friendship, regret and making the most of the time we have. Emotional and candid, it balances difficult subject matter with warmth, humour and humanity.

Louise Courvoisier’s Holy Cow is a warm, authentic, and refreshing coming-of-age drama set in the French Jura region. The story follows Totone, an 18-year-old party animal who must suddenly care for his young sister after their father’s death. Seeking quick cash, he starts a chaotic, often humorous quest to make award-winning Comté cheese. Featuring a largely non-professional cast, the film thrives on raw, naturalistic performances, particularly from newcomer Clément Faveau. It is a compassionate, earthy look at rural youth, balancing grief with resilience, culminating in a
touching, feel-good story.

Seventeen year old Christy moves in with his estranged older half brother after being thrown out of his suburban foster home. Christy starts to feel at home in Cork’s working class Northside, making friends and reconnecting with their seemingly more corrupting extended family. But his brother wants a better future for Christy and tough choices need to be made. Will the two brothers be reconciled or divided by reckoning with their turbulent past and deciding their future?

Directed in secret under an Iranian government ban, the film refers to the tyranny of the Iranian regime. It depicts an ex-political prisoner who by chance apparently captures his former jailer and, with fellow ex-prisoners, goes on a road journey and has to decide what to do with the captive. Is he really their jailer? It’s a meditation on ethics and justice with comic touches as what to do with him is explored.

A pitch-perfect film with unexpected moments of grace and a taut, stunning, fulfilling final act.

Sentimental Value is an intimate and emotionally rich Norwegian drama from acclaimed director Joachim Trier. Following the death of their mother, sisters Nora and Agnes are forced to reconnect with their estranged father, a once celebrated film director hoping to make a comeback with a deeply personal new project. As old wounds resurface, the film explores family, memory, grief and the complicated ways people seek reconciliation. Warm, thoughtful and beautifully acted, it combines humour and emotional honesty in a moving reflection on art, relationships and forgiveness.

Over the space of a fortnight, Thibaud, a famous conductor, finds out in quick succession that he has leukemia, that he was adopted and that he has a younger brother Jimmy who works in a school canteen and plays the trombone in a local marching band. Everything seems to set them apart except their love of music. Sensing his brother’s exceptional talent, Thibaud decides to remedy the injustice of fate. Jimmy begins to dream of a better life. Warm, emotional and filled with music, this touching French drama explores family, class and the unexpected connections that
can change lives forever.

The film is the story of Robert, a logger in the Pacific Northwest, USA, where this beautiful film was shot. His life unfolds against a rapidly changing early 20th Century.

Robert helps prepare for the coming of the railroad, which represents both progress and destruction, and with the railroad workers will come some tragic events. A profound generation-spanning drama, a film of echoes, a meditation on  beauty and change. A poetic story of love, loss and loneliness, with a quiet eloquence, and feeling like an eyewitness account of the 20th Century.

The Blue Trail is a visually striking Brazilian drama set in a near-future society where older people are removed from everyday life and sent to remote retirement colonies. Refusing to quietly accept her fate, 77-year-old Tereza escapes and begins a journey through the Amazon in pursuit of freedom, independence and one final dream. Blending dystopian storytelling with warmth, humour and humanity, the film explores ageing, dignity and resilience with imagination and originality. Both thought-provoking and uplifting, it’s a distinctive and beautifully filmed road movie with a powerful emotional core.