On her way home at the end of a late shift, Molly realises she is being followed by a strange hooded man.
DAY 2 - MORGANE DIR. LILOU MASSOUTY
A woman victim of domestic violence realizes that her body is fragmenting as the time is passing by.
DAY 3 - BEFORE DAWN, KABUL TIME DIR. TARA MOTAMEDI
On the final day of the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, a prosecutor in Kabul seeks the help of a journalist in California to get evacuated before the Taliban takes full control of the country and captures her.
DAY 4 - NICE TO MEET YOU ALL DIR. GUEN MURRONI
“Nice To Meet You All” is a celebration of a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder who has survived human trafficking rings in the US.
DAY 5 - WHALE DIR. LORNA FITZSIMONS
Mam seeks refuge at a women's shelter with her teenage son, Cian. Their situation is complicated and the system fails them so Cian saves Mam the only way he knows how. A family in crisis looking for help only to find rules that bind them further to their fate. An exploration of the tragedy that is domestic violence and how it can be fostered and perpetuated in a cycle of hopelessness. A filmic journey exploring the intense and inescapable nature of violence against women. A film that grabs you and doesn’t let go.
DAY 6 - VISCÉRAL DIR. ALEXANDRA MIGNIEN
A long time ago, Alex felt her organs moving. Nothing is the same anymore.
DAY 7 - CANDY DIR. SARAH GRANT
Mandy is a plus size burlesque enthusiast who is nervously practicing for her first public performance with the help of her best friend and dance partner, Jenna. It’s not until Jenna is in trouble that Mandy realises she doesn’t need the glittering stage and best friend at her side to take up space and perform in all her fat and sexy glory.
DAY 8 - THEY WILL NOT SILENCE OUR VOICES DIR. YENNUÉ ZÁRATE VALDERRAMA
"Nobody told us that they would kill us, but neither did they tell them they would not silence us". Women journalists from several parts of Mexico who cover the beat of hard news, reveal the challenges they face when doing their work with various actors: their sources, law enforcement officers, drug trafficking and the state. Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries in which to practice journalism. Several reporters have been assassinated since 2000. Within this context, female journalists face a double challenge: firstly, to work in a country with a high level of anti-press, violence, and, secondly, the state and situation of their gender in a country riddled with femicide.
DAY 9 - ENTITLED DIR. KELSEY FORDHAM
Lenna is thrust into the spotlight when the details of her sexual assault go viral. As her story spreads, lines blur between physical reality and the social media world when a swarm of strangers force their way into her home and frantically rifle through her belongings in search for answers.
DAY 10 - HAIR UNCOVERED DIR. CATHY HEFFERNAN
When artist Mim cut off her own hair and used it to create brooches to display, she was defying the regime she grew up under and setting herself free. When she was nine years old, she started wearing a headscarf to cover her tresses. After all, it was the rules in Iran where she was born – from that age onwards, it would be her responsibility to ensure she didn’t tempt men by having her hair on show. Starting with Mim’s ninth birthday, this short documentary traces Mim’s journey from that child forced to cover her hair into the artist who showcases hair in her work.
DAY 11 - BRUISE DIR. MO O'CONNELL
From the outside it looks like Heather has it all, the fancy house, the good looking husband, but then the cracks begin to show. Heather is dealing with a serious situation of coercive control, domestic and sexual abuse. After a particularly harrowing incident at her house she manages to escape, she runs outside and screams but nothing comes out. She continues her journey and she faces a situation of sexual violence followed by being harassed by a stalker. She screams with all her might but yet again there is only silence. Heather drops to her knees, beaten, but then a little girl dressed as Grace O' Malley the Pirate Queen finds her offers her hope. Grace leads Heather into a wooded area to find a group of women who have dealt with similar situations of abuse holding a candlelight vigil. They empathise with Heather, they understand what she is going through. Surrounded by the support of these women Heather faces her husband, who is now in front of her and she screams at the top of her lungs. This time the scream is deafening. It is a defiant, guttural scream. The women join in and her husband is left powerless and cowering.
DAY 12 - BERTIE MI HA SCRITTO UNA POESIA DIR. VITTORIA RIZZARDI PEÑALOSA
2005. Vittoria, fifteen-year-old, after having sex for the first time, secretly goes to the hospital to take the morning after pill. In the long and tedious hospital process, Vittoria struggles to hide a big secret.
DAY 13 - MALEVOLENCE DIR. EUGENIA HAMILTON
Navigate the club scene through the lens of a predatory man's mouth. A social commentary on the sexualisation of the nightclub industry and an anti-spiking film.
DAY 14 - LOLA DIR. SILVIA STADEROLI
In the wild maquis, Lola, 15, is letting a boy kiss her. When desire turns into violence, Lola finds herself surrounded by silence. The silence of her mother, of her friend, of her abuser. Lola decides she will not keep quiet.
DAY 15 - THE VIOLENCE BETWEEN US DIR. CAMILLA GUERREIRO
In Salvador, Brazil there is an invisible war: a group of police officers trained in domestic violence risk their lives by visiting women whose lives are endangered every minute by offering them confidence and protection. The tension between police and the underworld is dwarfed by the tension of women who face the daily threat of death at the hands of family members.
DAY 16 - HONESTY DIR. ROXY REZVANY
A young woman goes to the police to report her husband for domestic abuse, but rather than finding the relief she longs for, she faces a gruelling interrogation.