PRIFF 2026: The Shape of Belonging

Part of PRIFF 2026, now in its fifth year, The Shape of Belonginging brings together seven films exploring the ways people search for connection, independence and a sense of place within families, communities and the identities imposed upon them.

Across the programme, belonging takes many forms. A bullied boy discovers friendship through an older man’s quiet act of creativity. A newlywed woman finds her footing within a Scottish fishing community. An eleven-year-old girl returns to her mother after a custody battle, only to find that the reality she longed for does not match the life she imagined.

Elsewhere, a Taiwanese New Zealander confronts the difficulty of separating from a damaging relationship with her mother, while a brother and sister in 1990s Kazakhstan navigate cycles of violence within their home. A wheelchair user living alone for the first time challenges the stereotypes that have begun to define them, and in a tragicomic vision of masculinity and emotional repression, a former comedian faces a treatment that could take away his ability to laugh.

Together, these films examine what it means to belong without losing yourself, and how identity is shaped by the people, places and expectations we inherit, resist, embrace or ultimately choose to leave behind.

Info: When a bullied young boy discovers an elderly man quietly covering a forgotten brick wall with painted eggshells, an unlikely friendship begins to form. What first appears to be a meaningless ritual gradually becomes something transformative, offering the boy a new way of seeing creativity, connection and the value of small acts.

Directed by Welsh filmmaker Asa Bailey, Something Pointless stars BAFTA-winner Owen Teale, Olivier Award-winner Sophie Thompson, Sule Rimi and Leo Harris. Bailey’s work spans film, television and emerging production technologies, with credits connected to projects for Apple TV+, Netflix and Disney/National Geographic.

Info: Newlywed Jeannie struggles to find her place in a Scottish fishing town until her mother-in-law brings her into the close-knit community of women gutting fish at the harbour. Through work, ritual and shared experience, Jeannie begins to discover a sense of belonging within a world that at first felt unfamiliar.

Directed by Duncan, Guttin’ Quines draws on his own family history and generations of Fisherfolk. His work is rooted in telling stories and representing characters rarely seen on screen, with previous projects including the documentary short Selkies and the narrative film Mr. Balloonhead Man.

Info: After a custody battle, 11-year-old Elli is finally allowed to return to her mother just as rehearsals intensify for the school play in which she has the lead role. But the homecoming she has long imagined begins to fracture as disappointment replaces expectation, forcing Elli to confront a more complicated reality.

Directed by Leanne Hartner, Mausi reflects her interest in using filmmaking to create access for others. Her background spans theatre, documentary and commercial production, and her work focuses on developing a distinctive voice while exploring intimate, character-led stories.

Info: After writing a novel inspired by her relationship with her mother, Taiwanese New Zealander Alina Wang is forced to confront the emotional consequences of turning lived experience into art. As she begins to separate herself from a complicated and destructive relationship, the film explores the difficult process of establishing boundaries, identity and independence.

Written and directed by New Zealand filmmaker Acacia Wong, My Years of Fear and Trembling reflects her interest in centring female voices and telling specific, culturally grounded stories about connection, family and growing up. Wong won Best Directing at the 2024 New Zealand Youth Film Festival for her short film Dear Dad.

Info: Set in Rudny, North Kazakhstan, in the mid-1990s, My Brother Lyosha And I follows a brother and sister growing up in a home where violence arrives in cycles. As they move through fear, silence and moments of tenderness, the film asks whether the patterns inherited within a family can ever truly be escaped.

The film marks a move into directing for Kazakh actor Lena Tronina, whose screen work includes Kids Run, which premiered at the Berlinale, as well as Once Were Rebels and the German series Tatort. Tronina also produced the short, which was filmed in her hometown of Rudny, and is currently developing her debut feature as a writer-director-producer.

Info: When Tendai’s housemate moves out, they are left to navigate access challenges alone for the first time. As they adjust to greater independence, they also find themselves confronting narrow expectations of what a wheelchair user is supposed to look like or how they are expected to live. Rather than continue measuring themselves against that stereotype, Tendai begins to reclaim the narrative on their own terms.

Written and directed by Theo Angel, But Still, We Move marks their first narrative film as a director. An experienced actor with credits across independent film, HBO, Sky, BBC and Netflix, Angel’s work is shaped by a commitment to expanding representation both on screen and behind the camera.

Info: In a world where men have been conditioned not to cry, emotional repression has taken a dangerous turn: joy itself has become toxic, and laughter can K*ll. Former comedian Melvin enters an institution offering a brutal treatment that would remove his ability to laugh forever, leaving him caught between emotional survival and a life stripped of one of its most human pleasures.

Directed by French filmmaker Anna Deluche, The Best Medicine continues her interest in social pressures, discrimination and the consequences of restrictive gender expectations. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin’s MFA in Film Production, Deluche has worked internationally across the United States, Turkey, South Korea and Nepal, with previous films screening at festivals including the Nepal International Film Festival and Human Rights Film Festival.

Info: Q&A TBC

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