Home can be a country, a kitchen or a crowded dance floor. What happens when you lose it, or have to go looking for another?
Six films follow people on the move and the places that hold them. A father and daughter flee Iran for England’s shores, a deported man faces the family who risked everything to send him away, and a Romanian in London finds that her mother’s jars have become her anchors. Elsewhere, three dancers get ready for a Valentine’s night in East LA, a dreamer drifts through visions of gender and fate, and a Caribbean bar in East London throws one last, defiant party.
Made across the UK, China, New Zealand and Romania, these films are tender, restless and stubbornly hopeful about finding somewhere to land.
A ROSE FOR IRIS, 2025 (13 mins) [local film]
Director: Abolfazl Talooni
A young father and his daughter flee war-torn Iran, arriving hopeful on England’s shores. Believing they’ve found safety, their lives change dramatically after an encounter with a proud local father and his daughter, leaving lasting scars on the children.
TALLER THE HAT, CLOSER TO HEAVEN, 2025 (9 mins)
Director: James Pearson-Howes
Taller the Hat, Closer to Heaven is a story about love found through dance. It follows three friends, three dancers, as they get ready for a night at ‘Pico’ in East LA. It’s a coming-of-age portrait set to the beat of Banda and Norteño.
THE BACKWAY, 2024 (17 mins)
Director: Cherno Jagne
A young economic migrant (Momodou) returns to the home country that he was illegally smuggled out of 2 years ago, following his deportation from the U.K. Battling with feelings of shame and acceptance, he must come to terms with the sacrifice his family made.
DAWN OF DREAMS, 2026 (11 mins)
Director: Zed Xu
A dreamer moves through three interconnected dreams shaped by gender, fate and migratory displacement. Through a game of Chinese chess, tangled red threads and an encounter with their own double, the film considers a self divided and the desire to belong.
MELANCHOLY JARS, 2026 (15 mins)
Director: Katia Hiver
Ana, a Romanian in London, receives her indefinite leave to remain but feels herself drifting. As borrowed language replaces her own, jars from home become anchors. A quiet portrait of displacement and the hunger to remain oneself.
THE LAST DANCE, 2025 (17 mins)
Director: Hayden Mclean
When Fox’s “LA Bar” is hit with a compulsory purchase order, a cornerstone of Caribbean life in 90’s East London is threatened. In defiance and longing, a last dance ignites, one that will be remembered for the ages.
Runtime: 81 mins