As these six cautionary tales illustrate, the words we use and the actions we take in our daily lives can have profound consequences.

Eye & Mermaid, Shahad Ameen | Qatar/Saudi Arabia

Burning with curiosity about where her father finds the stunning black pearls he regularly brings back from his fishing trips, young Hanan trails the men when they set out to sea. A darkly lyrical tale that teaches that those things we most cherish — beauty, freedom, riches — may come at a terrible cost.

An Immortal Man, Josh Koury, Myles Kane | USA

Baseball legend Ted Williams lived his life in the public eye, but his story took a strange turn upon his death and subsequent preservation (contrary to the instructions in his will) via cryostasis. In this fascinating investigative documentary, filmmakers Josh Koury and Myles Kane uncover the familial machinations that resulted in Williams being quite literally frozen in time.

The Last Day of Summer, Feike Santbergen | Netherlands

The inherent melancholia of the end of summer is suddenly intensified for three teenage friends on a quiet beach when one of them receives a phone call with tragic news. Reeling from shock and realizing that the future has changed irrevocably, the trio desperately seeks some kind of solace beneath the expansive, uncaring canopy of the overcast skies.

A Single Life, Job Joris Marieke | Netherlands

Life sucks and then you die? Upon playing a mysterious vinyl record, Pia begins to travel through space and time, experiencing her own reality at different ages and stages in this vibrantly animated witty ditty showcasing a life in (one) song.

Tricycle Thief, Maxim Bessmertnyi | Macau

Macau’s colour-saturated late-night landscape of dark streets, back alleys, and neon lights is tailor-made for trouble, as a desperate tricycle driver discovers in this cautionary tale of need and greed.

Voila L'Enchainement, Claire Denis | France

With two actors and no sets, master filmmaker Claire Denis traces the arc of a strained relationship, with a focus on race and language. In this fraught arena, words omitted can be as potentially devastating as words used, and what is not seen can have greater political consequences than what is.