Unmade Beds 

2008. Great Britain. Directed by Alexis Dos Santos. Few if any directors can capture the world of Bohemian youth with the dead-on aim and exuberance of Alex Dos Santos (Glue, ND/NF 2007). When wide-eyed Spaniard Axl comes to London, ostensibly to find the father who abandoned him, he lands in the middle of a creative hotbed of polyglot youth. Girls and boys from different countries congregate in an underground squat, coming and going as the spirit moves them. Axl finds an ally in Vera, a Belgian girl newly dumped by her boyfriend, and they both find romance with a handsome, elusive stranger. This perfectly titled second film vibrates with soulful energy, enhanced by a musical score that suits the story's shifting mood from slapstick to yearning. Dos Santos employs a startlingly original visual and sonic language to tell his story of these irreverent and irresistible searchers. 93 min.

La Copie de Coralie (Copy of Coralie)

2008. France. Directed by Nicolas Engel. The ins and outs of love, memory, and illusion are imaginatively explored in a totally original, offbeat musical. 22 min.