Milan, 2026 : Right Place Right Time

Director: Sheida Kiran

Year: 2026

In a remote village in southeast Turkey, 35-year-old Meryem begins the annual olive harvest. For generations, the groves have sustained the village women's livelihoods, but this year, the harvest takes place under a shadow of fear. Following a devastating earthquake that destroyed Meryem’s home, 60% of the village’s olive lands have been seized by the government to build a new satellite city. As the concrete edge presses steadily toward their remaining fields, this harvest may be their last. Once a stay-at-home mother, Meryem picks up a camera to document the slow unraveling of her community. Women, previously confined to the home, step into public life - leading protests, sit-ins, and a landmark lawsuit alongside thousands of indigenous landowners, to protect the land they have tended for centuries. Interweaving Meryem’s video diaries with observational footage, the film moves between intimate scenes of the family harvest and the female-led resistance. As the movement unfolds, the once-perfect harvest is gradually disrupted by destruction. HERE TO STAY tells the story of a people’s fight for justice, tracing how tragedy transforms Meryem from mother to resistance leader, as she seeks to protect the land she calls home.

Director: Suki Chan

Year: 2026

In an era of increasing brain fog and cognitive decline a profound exploration of humanity’s greatest conundrum - the nature of consciousness and self. A powerful, dream-like journey delving into the hearts and minds of four individuals whose lives intersect at the threshold of memory and reality. A quartet of voices: Maureen Winfield represents the struggle of the caregiver - her husband regressed to the period when they were engaged and no longer recognised her or the home they lived in for 40 years; Wendy Mitchell, diagnosed with young-onset dementia, embodies resilience, she uses ingenious coping mechanisms to navigate her changing perceptions; Pegeen O’Sullivan, daughter of novelist Liam O’Flaherty, offers a surprising perspective - although she has lost her memories, she has also been liberated her from fears; providing a scientific counterpoint is neuroscientist Anil Seth, who suggests that our "normal" reality is itself a form of controlled hallucination. By weaving together deeply personal lived experiences with performance and scientific theory, CONSCIOUS illustrates how dementia shifts our internal worlds. The film challenges our preconceptions of ageing, and shows us that whilst there are devastating losses on on the dementia journey, there can also be triumphant gains.

Director: Isaac Atkin-Mayne

Year: 2025

In the mid-2000s, Rick Canty lost both his mother and their home in Barry, Wales. Evicted, he climbed onto his roof and stayed there for years in protest. Through candid interviews and archive, RICK ON THE ROOF reveals how a quiet neighbourhood becomes a community, throwing street parties and keeping him alive through storms, until Rick is suddenly injured under mysterious circumstances. Today, amidst the UK’s ongoing cost of living crisis, the community he shaped reflect on the legacy of their local hero. This slightly bizarre, emotional documentary explores one man’s fight for his home. Official Selection Folkestone Documentary Festival 2025 - World premiere