A young girl who’s the new kid in school is also the newest member of an award-winning elementary school choir. Unfortunately, the instructor dislikes her singing voice and directs her to lip sync rather than sing during performances so as not to bring down the group. Her confidence wounded, she hides this from her only friend in fear of alienating her, until both learn their choir’s prestige is beyond tainted. An honest story about friendship in the face of childhood injustice and the integrity of competition not only has universal appeal, but also unexpected wit and clever turns.

A male and female security guard who alternate shifts at a parking garage spark up a relationship that’s extremely uncommon: during a shift, one will dance for a security camera and leave the precise time code for the other who, upon their arrival, will watch and then reciprocate. This inventive, spirited short plays like a cartoon in charm, audacity, and mastery of visual storytelling.

When a middle-aged Algerian who has spent nearly all of his life in France finally applies for citizenship, he subjects himself to intense probing by the state which unwittingly puts him in a serious dilemma: he must either provide names of people at a local mosque or be deported. Tense, focused direction and sharp writing explores the complexity of identities and loyalties in the face of a government that would rather bully them into simplicity.

An old, single Swiss woman has a strange routine: at a set time each day, she opens her window that overlooks train tracks and waves a flag at the approaching TGV. One day, she finds a letter from her garden, thrown from the train’s conductor, who communicates the joy she brings him. This sparks a pen-pal relationship between the two strangers that is charming, grounded, and filled with close calls and missed chances.

A Danish woman volunteering at a homeless shelter begins a relationship with a refugee who, unbeknownst to her, has a wife and children in his native Ghana. A solid concept that speaks to the plight of refugees and their difficulties assimilating, the story isn’t a natural fit in short-form narrative. It often feels rushed and cheated with characters acting below their intelligence, building to unsatisfying developments that are devoid of nuance.