Mid Fest films at MIFF 2026 explore human behaviour through myth, violence and identity

MUMBAI: The 19th Mumbai International Film Festival offered audiences a striking trio of international stories under its Mid Fest programme, where three distinct films explored the emotional and psychological extremes of human behaviour.

The segment featured Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe!, Hyena and I Love You, I Leave You, each presenting a different lens on isolation, conformity and self-discovery while showcasing the diversity of global storytelling in short fiction, thriller and documentary formats.

Leading the lineup was Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe!, directed by Andrea Szelesová. The animated film follows Yios, a lonely mythical boy with a sun-like glowing head who struggles to fit in among children in the clouds. After an accidental fall to Earth, he meets a boy who offers him friendship, setting off a quiet transformation in his understanding of belonging, empathy and acceptance.

The film uses its imaginative premise to explore themes of exclusion and emotional isolation among children, while highlighting the healing power of connection. Director Szelesová, known for her earlier works such as Malady, Mon Ami and Afternoon Tea, has built a reputation for emotionally driven animation. Her award-winning graduation film Sisters premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and travelled to more than 60 international festivals. The MIFF screening marked the film’s international premiere and was attended by layout and background artist Andrea Arce.

The second film, Hyena, directed by Altay Ulan Yang, offered a darker examination of group psychology and violence. Making its Indian premiere at MIFF 2026, the Mandarin-language short draws from the director’s personal experiences of adolescence to depict how peer pressure and mob dynamics can distort morality.

The story follows a student known as Master, a former victim of bullying, who is drawn into a dominant group of boys in an isolated setting. As the group targets a talented new student and destroys his artwork through ritualised violence, Master is forced to confront the seductive nature of collective cruelty and his own moral compromise.

The final entry, I Love You, I Leave You, marked its international premiere at MIFF 2026 and presented a deeply personal documentary directed by Moris Freiburghaus. The film follows Swiss musician Dino Brandao as he navigates creativity, identity and societal expectations in a world that often misunderstands expressive individuals.

The documentary, which received the Golden Eye for Best Documentary and the Audience Award at the Zurich Film Festival, blends observational footage with stylised sequences, gradually incorporating the filmmaker himself into the narrative. This approach creates a shared exploration of empathy, mental perception and artistic freedom.

Across the three films, MIFF audiences encountered sharply contrasting worlds: mythic animation, psychological thriller and introspective documentary. Yet all three converged on a shared theme of human vulnerability and the search for connection.

The Mid Fest programme ultimately reinforced MIFF 2026’s role as a platform for bold, unconventional storytelling, offering viewers a window into how contemporary filmmakers are reinterpreting identity, behaviour and emotional truth across cultures and genres.