QCinema’s ‘Screen International’ features critically acclaimed films from around the globe

In its 2024 iteration, the QCinema International Film Festival feature the year’s most talked-about, award-winning films from over the world. Under the banner of its “Screen International,” 10 carefully curated films from world-renowned directors, each celebrated for their unique approaches and acclaimed works.

From Cannes, QCinema presents four major award winners from India, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the US.

All We Imagine as Light by Payal Kapadia is an evocative portrayal of the challenges of urban life in Mumbai. It captures the lives of three nurses, Prabha, Anu and Parvaty (Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, and Chhaya Kadam). Each woman faces complex issues related to the men in their lives: an estranged husband, a relationship tainted by gossip and an uncertain future due to missing documentation. It is the first Indian film in decades to compete in Cannes, where it won the Grand Prix.

Grand Tour, by Miguel Gomes, is set in 1917 and follows Edward (Gonçalo Waddington), a British civil servant in Burma who, upon receiving a telegram from his fiancée Molly (Crista Alfaiate) after years apart, panics and embarks on a journey across Asia in search of love. It is Portugal’s official entry for the 97th Academy Awards.

Critics’ Week’ Grand Prize winner Simon of the Mountain follows Simon (Lorenzo Ferro), whose eccentric behavior and enigmatic nature leave others questioning his motives as he befriends a group of intellectually disabled individuals, while his mother insists he is simply misunderstood.

American film Anora centers on the titular character, a Brooklyn sex worker played by Mikey Madison, who is paid $15,000 by a Russian billionaire’s son to spend a week with him. After an impulsive, ketamine-fueled wedding in Las Vegas, word reaches Russia, prompting Ivan’s father to annul the marriage. The film already bagged a Palme d’Or in Cannes, and is regarded as a strong Oscar contender.

Fresh from Venice world premieres are four out-of-competition titles, each one compelling in narrative and execution. First up is Phantosmia by Pinoy auteur Lav Diaz, which follows Hilarion Zabala (Ronnie Lazaro), a retired soldier haunted by a mysterious, lingering phantom smell that prevents him from leading a normal life.

Filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer delivers the musical-fantasy, The End. In the film, an affluent family resides in a mansion built inside a salt mine, cut off from a devastated outside world.

Said to be the most expensive French film of 2024, Alexandre de la Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte offer up an adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas’ classic The Count of Monte Cristo. It tells the story of Edmond Dantès (Pierre Niney), wrongfully imprisoned on his wedding day. After escaping and discovering hidden treasure, he returns to society as the Count of Monte Cristo, seeking revenge against those who betrayed him.

Great Spanish director Pedro Almodovar is the genius behind Venice Golden Lion winner, The Room Next Door, based on Sigrid Nuñez’s What Are You Going Through. It follows Ingrid and Martha (Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton) as they reconnect after years apart.

Completing the section are two recent titles from the San Sebastian Film Festival — Afternoons of Solitude by Albert Serra, the award-winning documentary on the life of Andrés Roca Rey, and When Fall is Coming, a tender exploration of family ties, where Michelle (Hélène Vincent), who lives a quiet life in Burgundy gets involved in a poisonous mushroom accident that threatens her relationship with her daughter.