Norway, Romania202598 minKurdish, Norwegian with English subtitlesToronto PremiereAvailable Online, Comedy, Drama

Akam’s comfortable routine as a literature teacher in Oslo is disrupted by an uncle he’s never met, Khdr, who overstays his welcome on an unannounced visit from Iranian Kurdistan. Familial obligations take hold as Akam offers his uncle a space to stay in the cramped room of his shared co-op flat. Overlooking the unspoken rules of life in the West, Khdr becomes more comfortable than his nephew would like in shared spaces and while interacting with his roommates. The tense stay grows even more strained when Akam learns authorities are after Khdr, and that his uncle may not be who he says he is.

With cleverly timed situational comedy, Brwa Vahabpour’s feature directorial debut puts a finger on the diasporic experience of being sheltered from the challenging realities of life in our ancestral lands. My Uncle Jens playfully depicts situations familiar to first- and second-generation youth in predominantly white societies, examining assimilation and borders with levity and heart.

– Amreen Kullar

India, Italy, Qatar, Romania202089 minGondiya, Madiya, Hindi with English subtitlesNorth American PremiereDocumentary, Family, Open Captions, Women Filmmakers

Somi and her husband met and fell in love while fighting alongside fellow Naxalites, a communist rebel group fighting for the rights of tribal communities in India for the past 50 years. Although the group represents a quarter of the population and lives in extreme poverty, Naxalites are seen as the biggest threat to national security for the State of India.

After a decade of armed struggle, Somi and her husband choose to surrender under the government’s Surrender Policy and begin the draining bureaucratic process of integrating into a hostile and unwelcoming Indian society. Through thoughtfully executed vignettes and with intimate access to Somi and her family, directors Arya Rothe, Cristina Hanes, and Isabella Rinaldi of the NoCut Film Collective construct a moving verité portrait of an ex-Naxalite family seeking a future for their children while being held hostage to the whims of a rigid and unforgiving contemporary Indian State.

– Mariam Zaidi