Ellen De Waele

Hokwerda's Child

Lin, a long-distance swimmer, is training for a cross-channel swim when she encounters Henri, a deep-sea welder, who, like her, thrives on danger. Drawing each other deep into an intense love affair, they forget that lovers too can drown.

Amal

An idealistic and passionate literature teacher in a suburban Brussels school becomes the target of intense hostility from students and colleagues tied to Islamic extremism when she chooses to help a teenage Muslim girl accused of homosexuality.

Ozogoche

Cuviví is the Ecuadorean indigenous name for the upland sandpiper, a wading bird that has special significance for the communities living around the Ozogoche lakes in the middle of the Andes. Each year, these birds migrate south from North America. Around September they pass the Ozogoche lakes, where large numbers then “commit suicide,” plunging from great heights into the ice-cold water. A girl lives near the lake. Her uncle lives in the US, and she might be heading there herself. In the meantime, she awaits the arrival of the cuvivís, few of which have appeared in recent years. The lakes are drying up.

Los Veo

Mexico, near the celebration of Día de los Muertos. Alejandro (40), a loving single father, struggles to straighten up his life for the sake of his daughter Gabriela (6). He wants to leave the migrant smuggling gang where he works for, but fears for his life. When he gets assigned the task of transporting Central American immigrants to the border of the U.S., he sees an opportunity to escape with this daughter. During the trip, things start to go wrong and Alejandro has to make difficult decisions. It opens his eyes to a world he was unaware of.

Howling

Nine-year-old Bo moves to the countryside with her mother Iris and her half-sister Rani. Slightly bored in the new environment of fields and farms, the sisters look forward to the weekend when their fathers come to pick them up. Bo's father, however, doesn't show up time and time again. While Rani spends the weekends at her dad's, Bo often stays home alone. In the isolated landscape, she has to rely on herself and becomes more independent.

Death of a Shadow

Soldier Nathan died during World War I. A strange collector imprisoned his shadow and gave him a new chance: a second life against 10000 captured shadows. It is love that guides him, as his purpose is to meet Sarah again, the woman he fell in love with before he died. But then he discovers that she's already in love with someone else, jealousy clouds his mind and pushes him towards a bitter decision, not without consequences.

She Is Not Crying, She Is Singing

Laura, in her thirties, lives alone on the outskirts of a big city. She learns that her father is in a coma, following a serious traffic accident. She decides to visit him regularly at the hospital: the opportunity finally presents itself to settle accounts, perhaps even to take revenge... But life is unpredictable and Laura's desire for revenge will lead to a reunion troubling with her family and her past. She will come out of it reconciled, with herself and with life.

Grande Hotel

Grande Hotel, Beira, Mozambique. In one of the grandest hotels in the world, born of and to luxury, today you enter 'at own risk'. More than 2500 people live there without water or electricity. They have taken possession of the building and manipulated not only the stones but also the dreams. A journey through present and past of a city in a city; a story about colonial megalomania, revolutionary vanity and feeling at home.

Brownian Movement

A psychiatrist's adulterous past continues to haunt her and her husband after they move to India.

Maria-Dolores

Geert seemingly has a double life with two different women. He captures his relationship with them both in intricate detail with his video camera. Marie is an actress. She lives on her own and spends most of her time rehearsing. Dolly, who lives with Geert, works in radio, doing voice-overs. She is terminally ill. The young women never meet. It seems an impossible situation to sustain until the true nature of their relationship is revealed ...

Carlo

Nicky breaks both of his feet, and asks his cousin Carlo to stand in for him during a footballmatch. But when Carlo is picked up on the day of the match, he gets in the wrong car.