In the program of the Network of Festivals in the Adriatic Region, three exceptional film creations: Pink Moon, Alma Viva, and Wet Sand were strung as beads of a universal necklace of the imaginary embrace of life and death. The seal of that necklace is love. Wrapped in a veil of mystery, the striking film scenes created incredible life situations, which, through unlived and complex emotions, brought the unthinkable closer to the real, brought dreams closer to reality, and "hell to heaven".

Pink Moon, directed by Floor Van Der Meulen, has a strong dramatic beginning. After a shocking statement by Jan (Johan Leysen) during the family's celebration of his 74th birthday that he was tired of life and wanted to end it, daughter Iris (Julia Akkermans) tirelessly strives to restore her father's meaning of existence, spending a lot of time with him. Very strong emotions are born through touching scenes of daughter and father. The grieving Iris experiences a catharsis of painful truth and an outpouring of desperate weeping, which, through forced maturation, leads her to the unknown within her. Throughout the film, the music excellently follows the main character. This exceptionally directed and well-played Dutch film teaches us that humans work in mysterious ways and that surprising forces lie within us.

Alma Viva directed by Cristèle Alves Meira is a powerful debut film the structure of which stems from the subjective world of the main character, the girl Salome (Lua Michel). She is from France, but spends the summer with her family in a Portuguese village, observing strange faces and unusual situations there. The girl is often accompanied by her beloved grandmother Avo, a mysterious and controversial figure, who teaches her magic. Salome's love for her grandmother and her work seems impressive, and she, by experiencing surreal states in a religious setting, becomes the connective tissue of that world. The grandmother continues to live through her granddaughter, pushing her into an act of revenge. Particular strength is given to this great, timeless film by not expressing the main character's motivation for her works. Salome's calmness and reactions through silence are in complete contrast to the noisy discussions, complex family and neighborly relationships that were fantastically acted. Amazingly beautiful are the close-ups of Salome, who absorbs the world around her with her eyes wide open, while the film tells the story of her growing up through a charming film story colored by black humor.

Wet Sand by director Elene Naveriani is a love story with detective elements, wrapped in the mist of the mysterious. The film is a humanist talk about the fight against discrimination, and the director skillfully builds film suspense. In the opening scene of the film, we listen to pleasant music and watch the handsome and elegantly dressed Eliko who writes a letter in a nice apartment and packs a bottle of drink. The scene ends with the sound of a knock on the door. This is followed by an unexpected thematic capsule, i.e. suicide, which draws us into the intriguing world of the Georgian coastal community. The community is led by the enigmatic owner of the tavern, Amnon (Gia Agumava). His mysterious solitude and sudden appearance look strange, as well as his appearance in a ceremonial suit beside the catafalque of the deceased and the final, discreet caress of Eliko. Interesting dramaturgical twists, intertwined with lies and truths, gradually break the long-standing chain of secrets. Eliko’s granddaughter Moa (Bebe Sesitashvili) transforms her grandfather's funeral into the fulfillment of his wish. Wet Sand is a film about the dignity that strives for absolute freedom. Encouraged by true love, Moa becomes a symbol of her generation fighting for personal identity. The community is beginning to “smell” of bursting change. It's a film about an individual's right to freedom of choice in love.

To me, these three films, each in their own current way, purified the soul, turning the impossible into the possible, pain into understanding, and sadness into happiness. In Pink Moon these were tears, in the Alma Viva,rain, and in Wet Sand, sea water.