Five movie tips from member of the programming team Rastislav Steranka

Rastislav Steranka picking his top five.

I Am Not a Witch / dir. Rungano Nyoni

The eight year old nowhere girl Shula is accused being a witch. She is expelled from the village after a short trial and finds herself in a witch camp. There, like all the camp’s inhabitants, she is tied to a truck by a long ribbon wrapped on a spool. She must never cut it, otherwise she will be cursed and turned into a goat.

The VVitch: A New-England Folktale / dir. Robert Eggers

New England in the year 1630. A family of Christian puritans is expelled from the relative safety of the settlement because of disagreements in the practicing of faith. Father William, mother Katherine, daughter Thomasin, son Caleb, the twins Mercy and Jonas and the newborn son Samuel find their new home on a farm under a vast, dark forest. One day, during an innocent game at the edge of the forest, little Samuel disappears in front of Thomasin ‘s eyes.

Hagazussa: A Heathen’s curse / dirr. Lukas Feigelfeld

The Alps of the 15th century. Albrun is a young girl living with her mother in a cabin deep in the mountains. Her mother gets sick and strange things start to happen. Finally she dies. Little Albrun remains forsaken. 15 years later Albrun is living in a hamlet with a small daughter. Sometimes she is visited by the – at first glance – nice villager Swinda. However, superstition and paranoia have enormous, destructive powers.

In Fabric / dir. Peter Strickland

The lately divorced Sheila tries to return to her normal life. She puts up an ad in a newspaper dating section. In a January sale at a local department store, she buys, on the recommendation of shop assistant Miss Luckmor, a blood-red dress embroidered with a mysterious Latin inscription. Sheila has no idea that the dress has a deadly curse sewn into it.

Monos / dir. Alejandro Landes

Eight young soldiers, girls and boys, are camping high in ruins hooded in impenetrable fog. Their mission is as unclear as the view of the surrounding jungle. Since the commanding officer only goes into the remote part of the Amazon only occasionally, the discipline begins to fall. Sudden orders can completely subvert behavior the operation of this strange unit.