Adam Elliott’s Memoir of a Snail immediately engages audiences, creating an interactive experience from the start. Audience reactions—laughter, collective attempts to grasp its gentle humor—added a lively layer to each screening. Elliott’s film, a feature-length animation created using the intricate stop-motion technique with plasticine figures, stands out for its meticulous attention to visual detail. Every aspect, from the “Paris” and “Australia” settings to the finely crafted interior of the protagonist’s room, is remarkable. The film is one to revisit simply to savor its witty dialogue and detailed visuals.

The storyline is a journey of overcoming loneliness, following Grace, a young woman who grows up meeting various characters, gradually retreating into her “snail’s shell” and facing the challenges of breaking free from it. Twins Grace and Gilbert, raised by their father—a former Parisian juggler now confined to a wheelchair after a street accident—are separated after his death. Grace lives with a globe-trotting family of swingers, leading to isolation, while Gilbert, seen only through letters, lives with a cult-like “apple” family. Eventually, he’s locked in a church he wanted to set ablaze. Grace, meanwhile, meets and parts with her fetishist husband, turning her home into a shrine of snail trinkets. She befriends Pinky, a woman who, unfazed by convention, has traveled widely and lived adventurously. The heartwarming, unexpected conclusion reassures viewers that it’s never too late for a fresh start.

On Falling, directed by Laura Carreira, won Best Debut and is a British-Portuguese collaboration. Other entries in this category also focused on young women’s lives, a theme that resonated at the festival. For example, the Danish film My Eternal Summer, directed by Sylvia Le Fanu, explores the turbulent transition to adulthood of fifteen-year-old Fanny, who is coping with her mother’s illness. Unlike Memoir of a Snail, Carreira’s On Falling isn’t a fairy tale but also delves into loneliness, this time through the monotony of everyday life. The protagonist, Aurora, a Portuguese warehouse worker in the UK, lives a mechanical existence among towering rows of goods in an environment reminiscent of an Amazon warehouse. Her interactions with others are limited to fleeting words with coworkers or neighbors. Desperate for meaningful connection, she seeks ways to make her life feel normal. The film’s careful, honest portrayal of social isolation critiques how modern employment systems can diminish individual significance, serving as a profound sociological study of the hazards within contemporary, impersonal labor environments.

The Best Documentary award went to Mother Vera, a British film by Cecile Embleton and Alice Tomlinson. This category also featured other films about young women, such as the tragic Kamay by Ilyas Yurish and Shahrokh Bikaran, which tells the story of a young Afghan woman’s tragic death following harassment. Like Memoir of a Snail, Mother Vera uses powerful visual techniques to enhance its narrative.

The first half of Mother Vera explores the last days of Olga (Mother Vera) in a Belarusian monastery. Filmed in black and white, scenes include baptisms in icy water, Easter services, and monastery meals, while Olga reflects on her troubled past, including her drug-addicted husband and her role in leading young women into addiction. Despite her past, Olga’s kindness and introspective nature, along with her sincere regrets, reveal a complex character. One striking scene shows Olga riding through the snowy Belarusian landscape on a white horse in her monastic black attire. The film’s second half, in color, follows Olga as she returns home and travels to France to pursue her dream of learning horseback riding from a top European trainer. Now at peace with her past, Olga embraces a new life, free to move forward. This visually stunning film offers a profound exploration of redemption, echoing Memoir of a Snail in its hopeful message about the possibility of renewal and fresh beginnings.