Saman Amini

How a desperate bishop, an Islamic brass polisher and a gang of Vatican cardinals want to use the Messiah, who has just returned, to save themselves.

A mother attempts to reconnect with her jihadist son when he is allowed to await his trial at home with her.

Nothing is what it seems during this brief meeting in an empty night shop. When Claire has to carry out a silly assignment from her sorority, Hafid is standing behind the counter. The serious looking Amsterdam guy seems to give her a taste of her own medicine. The question soon arises who is manipulating who. One thing is certain: after those few minutes when the lives of these completely different people intersect, everything will be forever different.

The pain of losing an unborn child destroyed balance in marriage and leads to tragedy.

No other language has so many words for the notion of pain than Farsi does. When the originally Iranian choreographer and dancer Arezo gets a surprise visit from her brother Koshan, this observation becomes the leitmotiv of a serene, emotional tug-of-war between two refugees. Where does pain lead to tension, where to conciliation? In sober colours, the director visualises the struggle of two creative people trying to give vent to an unspeakable trauma from the past that they have in common, but are unable to share.

With a heavily pregnant wife who does not take him seriously, a young Iranian man struggles with the choice between searching for a respectable job and the fast money he can make with pitbull fights. A short but ruthless downfall that qualifies a violent world, but at the same time shows that, once having descended the downward spiral, escape is almost impossible.

Two Afghan illegal aliens take a walk at night. To the rhythm of their nocturnal stroll, we see how the Dutch reality, from bare mattresses in a condemned building, breakdancing in the street to running from the police, is at odds with their phone calls to relatives who stayed behind and have both concerns and high expectations. To reassure the home front, one Afghan takes a picture of himself in front of a nice house and expensive car.