International Competition showcases ten films from directors presenting their first or second features, all making their Asian premieres. Selected through a rigorous process by five international jurors, this year's competition drew 662 submissions from 86 countries—an increase from last year's 83 participating nations. By continent, Asia led with 328 entries, with China contributing the highest number at 91 films. Notably, documentaries continued their strong showing with over 200 submissions for the second consecutive year, with many being 'personal documentaries' based on directors' individual experiences—likely reflecting the challenging production environment following the COVID-19 pandemic, which underscores the urgent need for support for filmmakers. Yet, despite these difficulties, we celebrate all directors who submitted their work for their efforts to view and express the world through their unique visual languages.

Chinese director Chen Deming's Always is a documentary that follows a rural Chinese boy crafting his life through poetry, capturing his transformation over time with beautiful visuals. Japanese filmmaker Uwagawa Hikaru presents Ulysses, a three-part film that quietly observes and savors the minute details in characters' lives. From India, Suhel Banerjee's CycleMahesh recounts the journey of a young man who travels 2,000 kilometers home on his bicycle during the pandemic, skillfully blending documentary and fictional elements. Canadian director Devin Shears offers Cherub, a nuanced character study examining body image and identity through the overweight protagonist, while Joel Alfonso Vargas' Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo) provides an authentic portrait of Dominican Americans in the Bronx, New York.

In Ollie, French filmmaker Antoine Besse crafts a tender story of friendship between a young boy and an outsider through skateboarding, set in a rural French village. Austrian director Isabella Brunäcker makes her impressive debut with Sugarland, demonstrating remarkable control in a narrative largely confined to a car's interior, elevated by the cast's powerful performances and minimalist directorial style. Yuri Semashko, who was born in Belarus but currently lives in exile in Poland, presents The Swan Song of Fedor Ozerov, a surprisingly innocent and uplifting portrayal of the creative generation and their efforts to transcend difficult realities.

Argentine director Martín Sappia's debut film Then, the fog offers a man's moving exploration of personal reconciliation with his past, while Spanish co-directors Alejandro Alvarado Jódar and Concha Barquero Artés present Resistance Reels, a fascinating documentary that revisits and reinterprets an unfinished work of filmmaker Fernando Ruiz Vergara—who, after completing his only documentary Rocio in 1980, faced censorship and confiscation amid Spain's political turbulence and was ultimately forced to flee to Portugal. (Chun Jinsu)