This year, 29-year-old Syrian director Avo Kaprealian was among them. His first feature film, Houses Without Doors, was featured at the Forum section of the festival.
In it, he tackles the civil war in his country and the resulting refugee crisis from his home town of Aleppo.
In it, he tackles the civil war in his country and the resulting refugee crisis from his home town of Aleppo.
Over a period of several years, he filmed daily life in his Armenian neighbourhood from the balcony of his childhood home.
"Especially living in a regime [controlled] area, it was so hard to make a film there. I had the feeling of fear - even from the balcony," he says.
"This is your neighbourhood and these are people you know. You are filming someone who may die tomorrow. Maybe you will die as well. It was so strange."
"This is your neighbourhood and these are people you know. You are filming someone who may die tomorrow. Maybe you will die as well. It was so strange."
Snippets of conversations with his mother punctuate the film, as she recounts their own family's experience fleeing Turkey during the mass killings of Armenians during the early 20th century. Growing up as a Syrian-Armenian, Kaprealian feels that he has a deep understanding of what it means to be a refugee.
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