Bitter Sweetness

Held for Ransom(da)

HELD FOR RANSOM tells the true story of Danish photojournalist Daniel Rye who was held hostage for 398 days in Syria by the terror organization ISIS along with several other foreign nationals including the American journalist, James Foley. The film follows Daniel’s struggle to survive in captivity, his friendship with James, and the nightmare of the Rye family back home in Denmark as they try to do everything in their power to save their son. At the center of this crisis, we find hostage negotiator, Arthur, who plays a pivotal role in securing Daniel’s release.

Sirocco(en)

A mysterious American gets mixed up with gunrunners in Syria.

The Shelter(ar)

Leila is a former concert pianist from Aleppo, which bore much of the brunt of the ghastly Syrian Civil War. Now living in exile in Paris, she works as a caregiver for Georges, a diplomat nearing the end of his life. Within the confines of his opulent apartment, filled with relics of colonial memory, Leila begins to experience ghostly visitations from her late husband and son. At first tender, these apparitions gradually take on a sinister form, blurring the lines between trauma and madness, memory and haunting. As the echo of distant bombs returns, the walls between Georges’s apartment and Leila’s lost home begin to collapse.

The Boy of The Fish(ar)

"The Boy Of The Fish" follows Noon, a young boy living in a Syrian refugee camp, who finds solace and a sense of freedom in a whale-shaped doll he names "Bahr." Set against the challenging realities of camp life, Noon’s journey is both a story of resilience and a testament to the boundless imagination of childhood. Through vivid symbolism and a unique soundscape, the film explores themes of loss, hope, and the longing for freedom amidst confinement. Shot entirely on an iPhone due to restrictions in the conflict zone, the film combines raw authenticity with poetic depth to capture the emotional landscape of a young soul navigating adversity.

Refuge(ar)

Refugees are captured by border patrol officers as one woman escapes to find herself surviving on her own in a foreign land.

On the Road(ar)

Youssef and his mother journey to find a new limb after he lost his leg and house to the shelling of his town in Syria.

Cold Feet(ar)

Winter has approached Damascus, causing more electricity shortages in the city! In their last chance to communicate, Hazeem takes Maya on a car ride between fuel stations. Their road trip will expose a different side of the city and its inhabitants.

Damascus Time(fa)

Two Iranian pilots are in a special mission to save the people of a Syrian city who are surrounded by the terrorists. But they have to face many challenges before manage to accomplish their mission.

Besieged Bread(ar)

In battle-ridden Syria, a woman trying to smuggle bread into a blockaded area crosses paths with a soldier on the run.

City of Love(bn)

A Hindu woman elopes with her Muslim lover, moving with him to Syria. Eventually separated by war, she cares for their handicapped child on her own.

The Lover(ar)

The autobiography of a film director who grows up in a small town then leaves for the city to finish his studies. When he became famous, he decided to make a film about his upbringing in the village based on his childhood memories.

Aporia(ko)

Aporia tells the story of someone caught in the midst of cultural, religious, ethnic, and national conflict. After fleeing Syria, Haleem hopes to bring his wife and children and settle in Germany. During a layover in South Korea, he is found in possession of a fake passport. Haleem then finds himself struggling in an unfamiliar country, taking illegal and illicit work in the hopes of being reunited with his family…

Nights of The Jackal(ar)

Syria, 1967, rumors of war. Abu Kamel, a peasant who farms tomatoes near Latakia, bullies his family. One by one, each rebels against him or finds a route to break away.

Elles deux(fr)

A Private War(en)

One of the most celebrated war correspondents of our time, Marie Colvin is an utterly fearless and rebellious spirit, driven to the frontlines of conflicts across the globe to give voice to the voiceless.

The Cheetah(ar)

Set in Syria in the early 1900s. A peasant has his land taken from him by the authorities. He gets imprisoned and beaten by the gendarme, but manages to escape to the mountains where starts a bloody struggle for revolution.

67 Hours(en)

Laila, a grieving mother living under occupation, insists on crossing a militarized border to bury her father, only to be trapped in an endless state of waiting. As time suspends and authority tightens its grip, endurance becomes an act of resistance, and love is tested against the limits of power.

Sacrifices(ar)

As an elderly man on his deathbed looks to give his name to one of his newborn grandsons, he's unable to acknowledge any of them. The three boys grow up with no name in the Syrian mountains, as they struggle to survive in a war-torn country.

Gold(sv)

Amal lives in a bomb shelter with her sisters in a wartime Syria. Food and water is scarce. One day when Amal is out playing, she finds a piece of gold. Suddenly other people claims the gold belongs to them.

Broken Keys(ar)

In a war-torn Middle Eastern city where music has been banned by Islamic extremists, Karim, a brilliant musician, struggles to rebuild his destroyed piano while trying to escape to Europe.

Where the Red Fern Grows(en)

Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for two years to achieve his dream of buying two red-bone coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in life as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with his dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann.

I Believe(en)

A 9 year old boy experiences God's power in a supernatural way.

Little Lord Fauntleroy(en)

Young Cedric Errol and his widowed mother live in genteel poverty in 1880s Brooklyn after the death of his father. Cedric's grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, has long ago disowned his son for marrying an American. But after the death of the Earl's remaining son, he decides to accept Cedric as his heir.

Heidi(en)

Swiss girl Adelheid 'Heidi' is orphaned young. Aunt Detie brings her to grandpa Alp and his wife, who live isolated in the Alps since his murder charge. Heidi soon takes to the wild country, especially accompanying young goatherd Peter. Grandpa refuses to send her to school in the city, but aunt Detie returns and forces him to give in. She's sent to a posh lady in Frankfurt, where she'll be a companion for crippled daughter Clara after school hours.

I Am David(en)

A 12-year-old boy manages to flee a Communist concentration camp on his own, through sheer will and determination. All he has in his possession is a loaf of bread, a letter to deliver to someone in Denmark, and a compass to help get him there.

Hoovey(en)

The true and inspiring story of the Elliott family, who refused to surrender, instead turning to one another and their faith in the worst of circumstances, to rebuild their lives, their boy, and their dreams... together. Step by grueling step, with faith, love, and the tireless work of a mother and father to save their family, their farm, their dream, Hoovey learns to walk again. To read again. To dribble and shoot a basketball again. And yes, to dream again himself. Then stepping out in his faith, back onto the hard court, to live that dream of playing this game once more...

The Girl Who Believes in Miracles(en)

When Sara hears a preacher say faith can move mountains, she starts praying. Suddenly people in her town are mysteriously healed! But fame soon takes its toll – can Sara’s family save her before it’s too late?

The Longshots(en)

The true story of Jasmine Plummer who, at the age of eleven, became the first female to play in Pop Warner football tournament in its 56-year history.

Foster(en)

Looking to adopt a child and unable to conceive a child of their own, the Morrisons' lives are turned upside down when a seven-year-old boy unexpectedly shows up on their doorstep.

A Second Chance(en)

A young girl and her coach overcome adversity to make their way into the National Australian Gymnastics Squad.

Christmas Cottage(en)

Inspired by the picturesque paintings of Thomas Kinkade, The Christmas Cottage tells the semi-autobiographical tale of how a young boy is propelled to launch a career as an artist after he learns that his mother is in danger of losing the family home.

Greyfriars Bobby(en)

In Scotland 1865, An old shepherd and his little Skye terrier go to Edinburgh. But when the shepherd dies of pneumonia, the dog remains faithful to his master, refuses to be adopted by anyone, and takes to sleeping on his master's grave in the Greyfriars kirkyard, despite a caretaker with a "no dogs" rule. And when Bobby is taken up for being unlicensed, it's up to the children of Edinburgh and the Lord Provost to decide what's to be done.

An Autumn Romance(en)

When librarian Taylor Harris suddenly loses her job, she decides to visit her brother in a small town in Montana. There, she gets involved in the fight to help save her brother's hotel from tycoon Joel Sheenan, who wants to renovate it.

Flicka(en)

Katy McLaughlin desires to work on her family's mountainside horse ranch, although her father insists she finish boarding school. Katy finds a mustang in the hills near her ranch. The headstrong 16 year old then sets her mind to tame a mustang and prove to her father she can run the ranch. But when tragedy happens, it will take all the love and strength the family can muster to restore hope.

Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Scroll(en)

As Po looks for his lost action figures, the story of how the panda inadvertently helped create the Furious Five is told.

Trishna(en)

When her father is killed in a road accident, Trishna's family expect her to provide for them. The rich son of an entrepreneur starts to restlessly pursue her affections, but are his intentions as pure as they seem?

The Fugitive Kind(en)

Val Xavier, a drifter of obscure origins, arrives at a small town and gets a job in a store run by Lady Torrence. Her husband, Jabe M. Torrance, is dying of cancer. Val is pursued by Carol Cutere, the enigmatic local tramp-of-good-family.

Embattled(en)

The eldest son of a ruthlessly tough MMA champion must fight his way out of the abusive cycle his father has continued.

A Simple Twist of Fate(en)

When Michael McCann is thrown over by the woman he loves, he becomes something of a misanthrope and a miser, spending all of his spare money on collectible gold coins. Living in the same town is an affluent family with two sons: John and Tanny. Tanny's a wild boy, whom John cannot control, and one night he breaks into McCann's house, and steals the gold and disappears, which nearly confirms McCann's distrust of mankind. But then, a mysterious young woman dies in the snow outside McCann's house, and her small daughter makes her way to McCann's house and into McCann's life and heart.

The Color of Friendship(en)

Mahree Bok lives on a farm in South Africa. Her father is a policeman who cannot hide his joy when activist Steve Biko is caught by the South African authorities. Piper Dellums is the daughter of a US congressman from California and who lives in a nice home in Washington DC. When Mahree is chosen to spend a semester at the Dellums' house, she doesn't expect that her host family would be black. Nor do her hosts suspect that she is not a black South African.