Five films are competing in the Official Competition, in which the coveted audience award «Eye of the Beholder» and 5,000 francs in prize money are presented. During the festival, the audience will select the winning film, which will be crowned on Saturday evening, April 26, 2025, at Cinema Excelsior. Productions from Ecuador, Argentina, Belgium, Estonia and Mexico were selected by the selection committee.
- Alucina, Javier Cutrona (Ecuador, 2024): A young woman with amnesia goes in search of her missing lover and uncovers more and more parts of her forgotten past. ALUCINA (FISHGIRL), the film contribution from Ecuador, reveals a moving, dramatic story and mixes dream-like images with earthly reality. The dream ideas of Alucina, the Pisces woman, are cleverly brought to life and thus give the film a surreal touch.
- Deus Irae, Pedro Cristiani, (Argentina, 2023): Javier has an ambivalent relationship with his Catholic faith. As a priest, he dedicated his life to driving out demons. A job that often has to be carried out not only with prayer, but with brute force. Work that leaves physical and psychological wounds. DEUS IREA will not leave the audience unmoved either. The brutal, powerful, dark work is recommended for more experienced horror fans.
- Else,Thibault Emin, (Belgium/France, 2024): A romance develops between an introverted man with strange phobias and a self-confident woman, which is unpleasantly interrupted by a strange epidemic. Infected people begin to merge with their environment. A shape-shifting nightmare that increasingly challenges the perception of reality and fiction. The visually stunning experimental cinema takes you on a fascinating, surreal journey.
- Must auk (The Black Hole), Moonika Siimets, (Estonia, 2024): In search of prosperity and a better life, residents of an apartment block experience all sorts of strange things. Aliens who pay 1000 euros for scientific experiments, a fearless female bodybuilder, an Austrian vacuum cleaner salesman in lederhosen and a black hole waiting in a lilac bush. With MUST AUK, director Moonika Siimets delivers the strangest and funniest contribution to the competition.
- Un Cuento De Pescadores (A Fisherman's Tale), Edgar Nito, (Mexico, 2024): Legend and reality are mixed in this Mexican folk horror tale. An evil force lurks around a lake surrounded by natural idyll. Local fishermen call her “La Miringua” - “she who drags you into the lake for your sins.” There are many sins and dark desires in the rural population. The story develops eerily and draws the film audience into the depths of human abysses.
