When war erupts between Russia and Ukraine, a Turkish couple's surrogacy plan takes an unexpected turn, forcing their surrogate, Lia—a young artist of Ukrainian and Georgian descent—to stay in Istanbul longer than planned. As tensions grow over Lia’s bond with the baby, the couple decides to send her back, but Lia instead chooses to return to Georgia. What begins as a simple journey to the Georgian border transforms into a three-day passage where Lia and Ferhat, the husband, confront their fears and redefine their ideas of family and belonging.
Taratoa Stappard’s brooding debut feature plunges us into the dour moors of 1859 North Yorkshire, where the British Empire’s reach casts long and twisted shadows. Mary Stevens (Ariāna Osborne), a young Māori teacher from Aotearoa (New Zealand), arrives in search of family truths, only to find the man who summoned her already dead and no clear path home. Stranded in an unfamilia...