The Pearl Comb

Director: Daphne Di Cinto

Year: 2026

Aurora, a Nigerian-Italian student in London, needs a real, authentic, traditional tiramisù for a dinner that evening, but when she walks into Caldo’s family deli the dessert is sold out. Caldo - a London born, aspiring rapper raised by his sharp-tongued Italian Nonna - offers to whip up tiramisù from scratch, sparking a spirited, hilarious, romantic journey across culture, identity and love, that will change the way they see each other (and themselves) forever.

Director: Daniel Audritt, Kat Butterfield

Year: 2026

Bill is ready for the end. The end isn’t ready for him. At 83, confined to a hospice bed, Bill finds himself caught in a cruel and absurd glitch: every time he dies, the day begins again. Trapped in an endless loop of his final day, Bill is forced to relive the same conversations with visitors, the same silences with his daughter, the same missed opportunities—again and again. As frustration turns to reflection, he begins to realise that what’s keeping him here isn’t fate, but something left unresolved. Balancing dark humour with quiet tenderness, the film explores mortality and what it means to truly finish a life - and whether we ever really can. An unexpectedly hopeful, life-affirming story about second chances and the vulnerability it takes to say what really matters—while there’s still time.

Director: Dorothea Sing Zhang

Year: 2026

Burdened by traditions and her mother’s silence, a girl tries to sift through the desert sand to find her identity card in order to enroll in the Beijing Opera academy.