Among Friends

Inspired by true events, a young Frederick Douglass is secretly taught to read and write by his master's wife. Using only the air as their blackboard, this random act of kindness provided an education that paved the way from slavery to freedom.

An intersex runaway searches for love and a way out of his working class neighborhood in New Jersey.

Pakistan, 1978. Lenny, a rockstar from the Christian community, is offered the chance to reinvent himself as a state-sanctioned singer. With Islamic fervor gripping the nation, he must decide if he can change along with the times.

A lonely and failed musician gets to know a young woman who lives in a next-door apartment, a victim of sexual and domestic abuse by her husband. On the anniversary of her mother's death, the woman shares a dish of fish soup with him and they spend some time together. The man knows about her victimhood and he feels sorry for her. One day when her husband is not at home, he comes and comforts her. But their relationships takes a different turn when her husband unexpectedly comes back.

Oskar Matzerath is a very unusual boy. Refusing to leave the womb until promised a tin drum by his mother, Agnes, Oskar is reluctant to enter a world he sees as filled with hypocrisy and injustice, and vows on his third birthday to never grow up. Miraculously, he gets his wish. As the Nazis rise to power in Danzig, Oskar wills himself to remain a child, beating his tin drum incessantly and screaming in protest at the chaos surrounding him.

In 25 AD, Judah Ben-Hur, a Jew in ancient Judea, opposes the occupying Roman empire. Falsely accused by a Roman childhood friend-turned-overlord of trying to kill the Roman governor, he is put into slavery and his mother and sister are taken away as prisoners.

The rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. After weeks of being trained to kill for the arena, Spartacus turns on his owners and leads the other slaves in rebellion. As the rebels move from town to town, their numbers swell as escaped slaves join their ranks. Under the leadership of Spartacus, they make their way to southern Italy, where they will cross the sea and return to their homes.

A man with social anxiety gets followed by a naive and clumsy creature. Terrified the man tries to escape, unaware that the creature is actually a helper with slightly unconventional methods.

While reflecting on the present, a young Palestinian recalls childhood memories of the military invasion and siege of Bethlehem. By trying to understand how his parents led him though those difficult times, he hopes to find the strength and support he needs to cope with the present.

After a lifetime of unfortunate events, a diagnosed bipolar and depressed comedian shares his last jokes on an unexpected crowd.