Awarded Best First Feature at the Locarno International Film Festival, German-Argentinian newcomer Nele Wolatz’s THE FUTURE PERFECT explores fractured relationships within culture, tradition and language in this whimsical romantic comedy. Xiaobin has just moved to Argentina to reunite with her family, who own a laundromat in Buenos Aires. She finds work at a nearby grocery store, but after struggling to communicate with customers, she becomes determined to learn Spanish, enrolling in group language lessons for Chinese immigrants. The independence afforded by learning Spanish is offset by the anxiety of becoming further enclosed in Chinese culture through an arranged marriage, or alternately, accepting the proposal of coworker Vijay, who hopes to marry her and take her to live with him in India. As lessons progress, these decisions are placed on hold while the possibilities posed by Argentina expand with each new tense learned, providing a guide to hypothetical futures, hopes, fantasies and fears. — Malin Kan

巴西滨海小镇的艳阳晴空，照耀俯瞰着一连串的错过与邂逅：被男友放鸟的台湾女生只身旅游，不通的语言、出包的酒店，将她带往这无雨之地的雨伞小店。店主原是中国移工，在塑料与成服间生活劳动，想望着有朝一日创业成功。中国留学生到此探亲，与这群移工共享收工啤酒与度日节奏，而台湾女生以陌生文字记下所有的擦身而过，巧合地以书写串连起三人的生命段落。