De Cinema actively explores and celebrates the global contemporary film landscape. In our CINEMA NOW-series, we collect those titles that challenged or moved us most: new films that dare to defy cinematic boundaries and narrative structures as we know them. CINEMA NOW highlights remarkable debut features as well as the latest films from renowned directors. But most importantly, it highlights those gems that received little to no media attention or were not released in Belgium in the first place.

HIGHLIGHTS

In ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT, Payal Kapadia’s acclaimed fiction debut, we follow nurse Prabha and her roommate and colleague Anu. They hold radically different views on life and love. Prabha is estranged from her husband, who lives and works in Germany, while Anu is secretly involved with a Muslim man. On March 5, following the screening, director Payal Kapadia will engage in a conversation with Paolo Silvio Harald Favero (UA), professor of Visual Culture and Anthropology and specialist in Indian visual culture, about her film practice.

Debut director and screenwriter Eva Victor – who also plays the lead role – was ‘discovered’ by director Barry Jenkins (MOONLIGHT, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK). It was Victor’s short comedy videos on Instagram that caught his attention. “He saw me as a director before I even saw myself as one,” Victor said, and it was Jenkins who gave Victor the opportunity to make a film with his production company, Pastel. They produced SORRY, BABY and gave Victor the chance to create one of the best films of 2025.

Drowned in memory, reborn in words. In her long-awaited, daring directorial feature debut, acclaimed actress Kristen Stewart brings the raw, poetic memoirs of Lidia Yuknavitch to the screen. THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER had its world premiere in Cannes 2025’s Un Certain Regard section, where it received thunderous applause for its hypnotic style and Poots’ powerhouse performance.