Best of Europe: ESFAA #1

THE PRICE 29’, Álex Sardá, Spain, 2024

Today is the premiere day, and Artur, son of a bourgeois family and dancer in a contemporary dance company, acts like the prince in a kingdom tailored to his own image. Everything changes when his father is arrested for corruption in a real estate scandal.

THE NINTH VILLAGE 4’, Gregor Kocjančič, Slovenia, 2025

Using Street View on Google Maps, the author takes a virtual stroll through Slovenia and, along the way, encounters a series of places with exceptionally picturesque and semantically distinctive names. This witty experimental documentary functions both as a curious postcard and as an insight into the diverse traditions of local place-naming.

BECAUSE TODAY IS SATURDAY 12’, Alice Eça Guimarães, Portugal, France, Spain, 2025

It is Saturday, a day of rest. A woman wakes up early so that she can give herself a birthday present: some time to write. But whenever an inspirational moment occurs, it is interrupted by domestic situations that claim her attention: the children, laundry, the meals. The mental load of those tasks ends up being unbearable and she reaches a breaking point.

SIGN AND SEE THE WORLD 11’, Safi Graauw, Netherlands, 2025

Sign and See the World sheds light on the journey of three young Surinamese men who, far from home, travel from Suriname via Canada to Europe during World War II to join the Princess Irene Brigade. Driven by a determination to help liberate the Netherlands, the film reveals the challenges and hardships of their journey, as well as the personal motivations, courage, and sacrifice that drove them to play a crucial role in the liberation of the Netherlands and Europe – one that never made it to the history books.

UNDER THE RADAR 20’, Frederique de Montblanc, Belgium, 2025

Mentally overburdened, Vonvon (40), a magazine editor and mother of two, struggles when forced to work from home under a swarm of airplanes. Determined to manage without her laid-back husband Diamantis, sleep-deprived Vonvon grows obsessed with air traffic nuisance. With her sanity hanging by a thread, Vonvon embarks on a wacky journey to find peace.