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© 2026 The Couch Critic
Browse 13 movies from Stær
Sámi reindeer herder Maia fights to protect her ancestral lands from a looming mining project. Amid the growing protests, she is also confronted with deeply buried family traumas. Maia is forced to make a decision.
Jan 2027
End of summer. Danielius (in mid 30s) makes a return to his hometown to sell his parents' flat. Having nowhere to rush, he reconnects with people and the town that's no longer his. He is confronted with a quiet sense of loneliness.
Sep 2025
Ninh lives with his mother and misses his ex-wife Ngoc and their young children. In his work as a mechanic who installs decibel meters in public spaces and homes, Ninh observes the silence that haunts relationships. Wishing for his parents, who live apart and do not speak to each other, to reconcile, his fear of losing connection to his loved ones forces Ninh to face life’s unpredictable rhythms.
Aug 2026
Touda is a Sheikha, a traditional Moroccan singer. Performing in the bars of her provincial town under the gaze of men, she plans to leave for the lights of Casablanca in search of recognition and to ensure a better future for her deaf-mute son.
Dec 2024
In a Somali village, Barni, a mysterious hitwoman in her fifties, dramatically resurfaces years after vanishing without a trace. There, she's intent on getting revenge on vicious gangster Ardo, who rules the village with an iron fist.
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GURIA (its a region in western Georgia) is an astute dramedy about everyday life in a village in western Georgia. This poignant, yet humorous slice of life, brims with charming, loveable characters – fighting against all odds to live a proud and joyful life. Guria champions ingenuity, kindness, and the eternal search for love despite a raging civil war. Though set after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it is a timely reminder of how shared humanity and compassion are the truest measure of our capacity.
Sep 2026
It’s Aleksandras’ first day at his new workplace, where the office turns out to be a suicide helpline center once a man his age calls to share his wish to end his life, revealing an interconnection of destinies which unexpectedly changes both men’s lives forever.
Mar 2025
A prefabricated estate in Moscow is meant as a transit stop for four queer Cuban exiles – until Russia’s attack on Ukraine radically shifts their outlook. Moving telephone calls back home provide the structure of Luís Alejandro Yero’s debut work.
Feb 2023
Yajaira, a young but strong Embera woman, lives with her daughter Maria in a violent Bogotá neighborhood. Haunted by dreams of the jungle, she longs to return to the village she once called home. After a tragedy strikes, they have no choice but to leave. Jhon, a charismatic young gang member, joins them on their dangerous journey to the Andágueda River, driven by motives he keeps hidden. Donde Comienza el Río is a poignant, poetic film where a perilous escape becomes a journey of healing. As the jungle reemerges through memory and dream, masks fall and reality is touched by the magic of Yajaira’s inner world.
Filmmaker Ester Martin Bergsmark interrogates their response to a transphobic slur hurled at them following their move to Berlin. Exploring the root of violence and its nature, this is a powerful meditation on the trans experience and a treatise on how to move forward from fear.
Mar 2026
Amidst crashing waves and monumental rocks on a distant coast, two young couples open up a realm of shifting realities. Unbeknownst to them, a mysterious entity watches from high above with Godlike judgment. Between these spaces exists a world balanced on the edge of the modern and the primitive, the high-tech and the rural, the corporeal and the mythic.
While facing his mother’s illness, Oliver (7) clings to his aunt Paloma (26), projecting on her the fantasy of a new mother. As their bond grows, Paloma begins to develop an unwanted maternal instinct, while the birds announce an early farewell.
Amid the aftermath of Mozambique’s civil war, I visit my grandmother, confronting fading memories and blurred lines between truth and fiction. A former rebel’s presence in the village echoes the relentless ghosts of war, mirroring the tensions of my generation.
Feb 2024