Guillaume @ Arizona Films

After two docs and an intense career as a producer - On Falling, Portuguese Mário Patrocínio presents his first fiction Maria Vitoria at #38Tokyo comp. A coming-of-age story about football in a difficult family, the pitch is less original than its execution, ultimately quite subtle and touching.

After two films at Giornate and one in Shanghai Film Fest, Chinese Peng Fei presents Take Off at #38Tokyo comp for Rediance. The rather long period piece is not so classic, the direction is pleasantly discreet, and the actors all seem inspired: a gentle Chinese success worthy of a good Berlin entry.

Without ever really breaking through internationally, Japanese comedy director Yûichirô Sakashita presents Blonde, his seventh feature at #38Tokyo Comp, awarded at HAF. The premise is original and the political tone often intriguing. Unfortunately, the film repeats itself without an original form.

Romanian actress Maria Popistașu, after a short with her husband Alexandru Baciu, won an award at ArrasDays with the project Y. Premiering today in Warsaw comp, the film evolves from a heavy bourgeois theater to a denunciation of a shameful past - against a backdrop of fine wine. Award potential.

2001 Special Jury Prize here, the unconventional documentary filmmaker José Luis Guerin returns with Good Valley Stories to #SanSebastian2025 comp for Shellac. At least 30 to 40 minutes too long and extremely cheaply made, it's difficult to find it interesting unless you're from the neighbourhood.

After a short film in Berlin and a debut in Goteborg and Wroclaw, Swedish director John Skoog presents Redoubt at #SanSebastian2025 ND for Coproduction Office. The b&w images are striking, but the narrative struggles to hold on for more than 20 minutes. Ambitious but hollow and old-fashioned.

Active and award-winning in advertising, Danish Emilie Thalund presents her debut Weightless at #SanSebastian ND for Reinvent. The film is not flashy and the actress is convincing: a gently disturbing film, sometimes primitive but one that stands out from the lot.

Next Step, Locarno & FidLab project, Aro Berria by Spanish director Irati Gorostidi is launched at #SanSebastian2025 ND. While the political reconstruction is moving, community life is then weighed down by long, exhausting and counterproductive group scenes. A pity.

After studying in North America, Chinese Lai Yuqing made several short films and is now launching her Cambodian debut Whisperings of the Moon at #Busan2025 WoAC. Shot on rough handheld video, the film never really manages to rise above the level of a clumsy essay, like a kind of cheap queer therapy.

After winning awards in 2017 Brussels and 2019 Tallinn, Japan-based Indian filmmaker Anshul Chauhan returns to #Busan2025 to launch Tiger at Vision. Following an engaging first part, the lengthy drama settles down and remains (too) gently pink and predictable to really stand out.

Discovered at Berlinale Panorama with her debut Lullaby, Basque Alauda Ruiz de Azúa went on to make Querer tv-series before her third film Sundays at #SanSebastian2025 comp for Le Pacte. Heavily developed and over-edited, the film could have been made 10 or 20 years ago. Schematic, for OoC.

Winner of the Youth Jury Award here in 2005 and Best Basque Film in 2015, Asier Altuna returns to #SanSebastian2025 OoC with Karmele. A gentle and rare historical adaptation, soberly ambitious, a pleasant surprise that could have deserved a major award to help reach a wider international audience.

2012 Berlinale Forum with his promising debut, Olmo Omerzu, a Slovenian-born FAMU graduate, has since been a regular at Karlovy Vary. He presents Ungrateful Beings at #SanSebastian2025 comp for Cercamon. After a clumsy first half, the bilingual film evolves into a rather silly family drama.

Chinese editor Zhang Zhongchen's debut won an award at First without ever travelling. Produced by Midi Z, Nighttime Sounds is launched at #SanSebastian2025 ND. Although the predominantly handheld camera work is exhausting, the strange encounter between these two girls still exudes a rough charm.

After last year's heavyweight Marco at Orizzonti, Spaniards Jose Mari Goenaga & Aitor Arregi present Maspalomas at #SanSebastian2025 comp for Film Factory. The subject matter is courageous, the first part unexpected. A shame that the rest of the film remains so tame, only suitable for LGBT festivals

Awarded in Goa and Hong Kong as WIP, Indian Tribeny Rai presents her debut Shape of Momo at #Busan2025 Vision & #SanSebastian2025 ND for Celluloïd Dreams. The return of a young woman to a village in the Himalayas provokes reflections on the place of women. The setting is authentic, that's about all.

Discovered at Locarno and then Cannes Critics Week, Chinese Zhang Lu presents his fifteenth film, Gloaming in Luomu, at #Busan2025 comp. Both gentle and intense, the film reveals an amusing ghostly poetry that could charm audiences beyond the specialists. Better than his 2023 Berlinale comp entry.

Scotland-based Iranian Hassan Nazer has only been invited to Fribourg once in six films. He is presenting Without Permission at #Busan2025 comp for DreamLab. An attempt at experimental cinema about cinema with children, the political ambition struggles to convince – even when invoking Kiarostami.

Iranian Shahram Mokri presented a third interesting film at Orizzonti in 2020. Black Rabbit, White Rabbit, his fourth, Tajik but still as long, is launched at #Busan2025 Vision for DreamLab. The romantic and experimental ambition, under-exposed this year, is further thwarted by overly loose editing.

Following their debut Beyond in 2013, Kyrgyz Erke Dzhumakmatova and the late Emil Atageldijev present Kurak at #Busan2025 Vision. With two rather unoriginal stories artificially intertwined, this gently feminist and ambitious film, co-produced by half a dozen European companies, accumulates blunders

Awarded here in 2000 for his debut, Spain's Alberto Rodriguez returns to #SanSebastian2025 comp with his ninth film, Los Tigres, for Film Factory. An appealing subject, industrial divers, developed in a heavy-handed manner into drug dealing. Beautiful images, promising fast pace, but too light.

After two shorts in Clermont, Taiwanese Tsao Shih-Han presents his debut Before the Bright Day at #SanSebastian2025 ND for Maboroshi. This beautiful coming-of-age set in 1996 pays tribute to the master Edward Yang. The technique is exquisite, and it is clearly the best Taiwanese film seen this year.

A discreet regular at major festivals, Belgian Joachim Lafosse returns to #SanSebastian2025 with Six Days in Spring for Losange. A short, implausible pretext for a minor film, but still with enough cinema to make the experience interesting. Gently disappointing, saved by Eye Haïdara, of course.

Under-exposed with his 2013 debut, Canarian José Alayón launches his second film Dance of the Living at #SanSebastian2025 New Directors for Bendita. A beautiful family immersion into the Canarian wrestling tradition filmed in S16 like tribal dances. Simple, not so predictable and quite captivating.

Director of romantic domestic films and series, Japanese Kori Nagata launches her Baka's Identity at #Busan 2025 revamp comp. A minor crime thriller about young con artists starring local stars, this long genre drama will struggle to appeal to non-Asian audiences. Unpretentious but not original.

Best emerging director at Locarno FotP 2016, Japan's Mariko Tetsuya presents Dear Stranger at #Busan2025 WAC for EST N8 after its release in Japan. A long family suspense in clumsy English, this multicultural film never quite hits the mark – despite the star of Drive My Car and the French editor.

2nd of 14 fiction films not invited to Cannes, Two Pianos by French Arnaud Desplechin is being launched at #TIFF50 Gala and then #Sansebastian2025 comp for Goodfellas. Even with a musical setting, the melodrama seems dated, parodic. Neither Lyon nor the tedious handheld camera are ever interesting.

Wip in Ventana Sur and Cinelatino, The Condor Daugther, second feature by Bolivian Álvaro Olmos Torrico is being launched at #TIFF50 Centrepiece for Bandita. A beautiful image with a majestic setting, but the urban calculation used to seduce the educated audience annihilates the genuine surprise.

2009 Orizzonti, 2010 Fortnight & 2022 Locarno, Malaysian Woo Ming Jin presents Fox King at #TIFF50 Centrepiece with the magnetic Dian Sastrowardoyo. A little too well-behaved and pretty, unlike the surprising fruit, this story of twins lacks modernity and punch.

2020 Cinelink project teased in E-Wip last October, Our Father, debut by Serbian Goran Stanković, is launched at #TIFF50 Discovery for Split Screen. Dark and masculine, rehab in this religious setting is painful to the end. The technique is okay, but one wonders a little about the point of it all.