With a timeline that starts with the invention of photography in the 1800s and (so far) ends with Instagram, this fast-paced and award-winning film takes us on an entertaining surf across the last 150 years of visual culture.

Iranian film and poetry is a beautiful bird in a cage that gets smaller and smaller. An Indian filmmaker has learnt the language and created a love letter to cinema and freedom. Beautiful, genuine and with liberating humour.

Award-winning existential portrait of artist Apolonia Sokol told over 13 years by filmmaker Lea Glob. One of last year's great sensations, and a film of rare depth and power.

Behind the camera during Hollywood's sex scenes in an eye-opening and engaging film-about-film that sheds light on the rotten sides of the film world with wit and bite. A must-see for any serious cineast.

The incredible friendship of two 2-year-old Norwegian boys in a delightful and seriously cute film with all the ups and downs that accompany any real friendship. A tale about how two little humans take shape along the way.

Isabelle Huppert on stage and backstage, preparing for a Chekhov play. A vivid and elegant portrait of one of the world's coolest and most charismatic women, who lets us into her creative process.

The lively, touching and until now secret story of a trans community in 1950s New York and their sanctuary in a villa outside the city, told by the guests themselves to the director of 'Little Girl'.

A hauntingly beautiful real-time dance performance on stage at the English National Ballet, sublimely conveyed on camera by the Oscar-winning director behind 'Amy'. An aesthetic experience unlike any other whether on stage or on screen.

Two of Pina Bausch's mythological dance works are reinterpreted in Dresden and Senegal in an iconic film that pays tribute to both Bausch and the hard-working dancers who today embody her revolutionary ideas about dance.

The first major film portrait of Austrian playwright and author Elfriede Jelinek sets new cinematic standards, painting a phantom portrait of a reclusive, intellectual giant and fearless social observer.

A life-affirming and colourful documentary cousin to an Almódovar film about a middle-aged woman's search for love – and about learning to navigate a dating app in your second youth.

In Godard we trust! The story of one of modern cinema's most influential directors, told in six chapters in the spirit of the director’s own films, with the participation of icons like Anna Karina.

A divine journey around the world in the footsteps of Pope Francis, observant and respectfully portrayed by the award-winning Italian documentarian Gianfranco Rosi.

When does propaganda become truth? And who pays the price? An Oscar-nominated director's film deconstructs the patriotic myths that protect mandatory conscription into the Israeli army, and pays tribute to those whose young lives ended along the way.

Based on her own rare disability, director Ella Glendining takes us on a journey to find others with the same experience as her. A unique and thought-provoking film about overlooked disabilities and invisible norms.

The incredible story of how 55,000 rare cult films from the world's most famous video store ended up in Sicily is just the first chapter in a wildly entertaining gonzo detective film. A festival favourite and a must for all video freaks.

One of the sensations at this year's Sundance Film Festival was this candid, taboo-breaking in-your-face depiction of life as a black, transgender sex worker in New York and Atlanta.

A political epic about the female icon with the modest but determined appearance, and about the important 16 years in modern European history when she was at the helm. Based on a treasure trove of archive footage and narrated by Merkel herself.

The humour is arch-British, but the emotions are genuine in this Shakespearean tale of a wonderfully mad man who is dying (or not!), and of his nephew who is trying to immortalise him on film.

A fierce heat wave sets the sub-Arctic forests ablaze, but the authorities don't care. Locals rally to extinguish the inferno and fight ‘the Dragon’ in a monumental cinematic film from the end of the world.

From Hollywood star to a Parkinson's diagnosis. A heart-warming portrait of star actor Michael J. Fox's career and illness – told with blistering humour and irrepressible optimism by the man himself.

Being in a documentary can change your life forever, and not always for the better. Drawing on some of the greatest successes of recent times, 'Subject' lets the cast speak for themselves in a film about ethics, trauma and ambiguous truths.

Barefoot roadtrip around Guinea in search of the first film made by a local filmmaker. A charming and cinematic adventure, where the journey and the destination are equally important, and a film about collective memory and porous film reels.

A thorough and sober examination of the US response to genocide and war crimes over the past 40 years. From the corridors of power in the White House and with Henry Kissinger, Hillary Clinton and Madeleine Albright as expert witnesses.

Beautiful and genuine, this Sundance winner from Chile is an intimate account of a woman's deep love for her husband, who is slowly losing his memory. An audience favourite and a contender for most beautiful love film of the year.

One of last year's great festival successes is an eminently observed psychological drama from a small theatre in Ukraine, where a group of untrained actors come together to interpret scenes from Shakespeare and heal their inner wounds.

Bittersweet and darkly humorous about the 58-year-old beach bum Ivan from Sunny Beach, who dreams of retiring from life as a romantic companion to rich women, but will Ivan find happiness before his time runs out?

Ultra-cinéaste Mark Cousins tells the story of the rise of right-wing nationalism in the West through rare film clips mined from deep within the archives, masterfully assembled into an incisive analysis of a history that threatens to repeat itself.

Nobel Prize-winning author Annie Ernaux's debut as a film director is based on home movies shot during her life. A personal film with an intellectual wingspan that stretches from 1960s France to the present day.

Formula 1 legends Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi were team-mates at Ferrari before becoming deadly rivals. A full-blooded drama - and an absolute must for anyone with petrol in their blood.

Master director, actor, producer, writer, explorer, icon, cult figure, madman, genius: Werner Herzog. Portrait of one of the greatest filmmakers of our time, created in the spirit of the man himself.

What do we do with an art history where all the works are made by men? Join the meetings as the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam tries to bring art into a new age. It is wise and funny to listen to in an elegant film that sets the bar high.

A touching, humorous and taboo-breaking story about two intersex people trying to figure out what or who determines which gender they should consider themselves to be.

Beautifully observant film from Tokyo's answer to Central Park, a much-needed respite for millions of people that daily evolves into a picture-perfect, absurdist piece of real-life theatre.

The animals are home alone in the zoo as the pandemic shuts down the world and cages all the rest of us in our own homes. An understated, almost dialogue-free film from Salzburg Zoo off season.