By Panos Liakos

Classicist-Film Historian

With a consistent focus on younger filmmakers—European, Asian, and American— this year’s program surprises with its eclecticism, as it literally “dives” into cinematic genres and showcases directors with a bold vision and innovative screenwriting. As a member of the jury for the “Golden Aphrodite” award, I had the good fortune to watch these seven films.

“KIM CHEOL” – Chengfeng Jin, China, 2025, 89’

A story of a summer friendship between Sang-min and another young boy he meets in his grandmother’s village. This is Kim Cheol, after whom the film is named—a boy isolated from a community that views his choice to remain silent as a sign of limited intelligence. With a striking recreation of the era (1980), exceptional performances, and a seamless chemistry between the young leads and the older actors, as well as evocative cinematography, Jin Chengfeng’s film stands out for the powerful emotions it evokes in the viewer, while the way our experience is brought to a close in this moving film is akin to the work of Marcel Proust, since the heightened senses of sight and smell are enough to instantly bring back to the adult protagonist’s mind that entire summer of his childhood.

“The Distance We Drift” – Sonnie Lee, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, 2026, 87’33”

How many of you have often thought about getting back together with an old flame? Sonnie Lee’s film is rooted in that universal feeling of the person who’s always running away from us, slipping almost through our fingers, and places its two immigrant protagonists in bustling London and its outskirts. An intoxicating, sentimental narrative that seems inspired by Céline Song’s Past Lives, dialogues that reveal the secrets of the two former lovers, and a sound and music design that lingers with you long after the film’s end credits roll… .something like “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,”…

“That`s it for today” – Marko Djordjevic, Serbia, 2023, 90’

Although most of us have primarily associated Serbia in our minds with the extroverted cinema of contemporary auteurs, such as Emir Kusturica, young filmmakers like Marko Djordjevic are turning toward a more introspective cinema, zooming in on the story of a family in disarray, whose members the screenplay attempts to reunite. Despite the at times lengthy dialogues, in this film Djordjevic demonstrates his mastery when he turns to scenes of frenzied action and, above all, when he writes the epilogue to his screenplay.

“Yugo Florida” – Vladimir Tagić, Serbia, 2024, 112’

One of the biggest surprises in this year’s festival program comes once again from Serbia, directed by Vladimir Tagić. Here we have a solid, Aristotelian screenplay centered on a protagonist, Zoran, who is trying to survive in modern reality and works at night as an editor-observer of people sleeping in a reality TV house. As the theme of modern social isolation and automation unfolds, issues in the father-son relationship simultaneously come to the surface; the two are now forced to grow closer due to the father’s illness. The chemistry between the two actors, Andrija Kuzmanović and Nikola Pejaković, is memorable, as is Tagic’s direction (particularly in how he realistically handles the crowds in the hospital scenes), while the writing of the excellent supporting characters (the “rock” roommate) and the romantic scenes—which seem inspired by Wim Wenders’ “Paris, Texas” make the film a genuine cinematic experience that no cinephile would want to miss.

“Not Only For The Ladies: The Fantastic Adventures of Miss Cleopatra” – Piotrek Golebiowski, Poland

In a year when the young leads’ performances are stealing the show, the adorable Cleopatra from Poland is sure to win a place in your heart. Brilliant and raised in an orphanage, the six-year-old heroine (Sylwia Piorkowska, who is unbeatable in the role) will wish for a family of her own. The almighty god of storytelling will bring Cleopatra together with the disillusioned salesman Robrik on a journey that is both touching and full of laughter. As is evident from the film’s poster design, the references here lie in the cinema of Blake Edwards as well as in the most surreal moments of Pedro Almodóvar. With dance sequences and costumes that lift our spirits, this film from Poland serves as a prime example of how, regardless of budget, you can breathe new life into a cinematic genre we all need.

“Whimper” – Carlos Woo, Million, Hong Kong, 2026, 55’3”

Every time we come across images of the Hong Kong countryside—or any region of Asia, for that matter—we feel as if the beauty takes our breath away. In this film, although it deals—in just 55 minutes—with themes of obsession, competition, and loneliness, which apparently extends its tentacles beyond the urban fabric, the cinematography once again takes center stage; together with the music, it launches a coordinated assault on our senses and introduces a “cursed” protagonist whom we will take a long time to forget.

“TIGER” – Kerry Ann Enright, USA, 2026, 90’

This gritty coming-of-age story is set in the 1980s, in a dark New York City, and it, too, centers on a very young female protagonist. Her name is Tiger, and her gaze is torn between her father’s “Goodfellas”-style gang, the women this cruel man torments with his reckless behavior, and a school environment that judges and condemns. Tiger, however, is a straight-A student. And her eyes conceal a deeper understanding of what’s happening around her than the adults suspect she possesses. Filmed with a tender gaze toward its protagonist by director Kerry Ann Enright, this production ultimately shines thanks to its economical use of set design, the cinematography by Jo Jo Lam on set, and above all, through its central performance. Such an introspective performance—with the nuances and portrayal of complex emotional states that Enright draws from Jorie Blake Rosen (a child prodigy!) make her presence, on the one hand, irreplaceable and, on the other, reminiscent of similar career beginnings, such as those of actresses Elle and Dakota Fanning!