A mysterious woman named Grace hides in a small mountain town from criminals who pursue her. The town is two-faced and offers to harbor Grace as long as she can make it worth their effort, so Grace works hard under the employ of various townspeople to win their favor. Tensions flare, however, and Grace's status as a helpless outsider provokes vicious contempt and abuse from the citizens of Dogville.

We follow 24 hours in the life of a being moving from life to life like a cold and solitary assassin moving from hit to hit. In each of these interwoven lives, the being possesses an entirely distinct identity: sometimes a man, sometimes a woman, sometimes youthful, sometimes old. By turns murderer, beggar, company chairman, monstrous creature, worker, family man.

Three distinct tales unfold in the bustling city of Tokyo. Merde, a bizarre sewer-dweller, emerges from a manhole and begins terrorizing pedestrians. After his arrest, he stands trial and lashes out at a hostile courtroom. A man who has resigned himself to a life of solitude reconsiders after meeting a charming pizza delivery woman. And finally, a happy young couple find themselves undergoing a series of frightening metamorphoses.

In South Yorkshire, a small group of railway maintenance men discover that because of privatization, their lives will never be the same. When the trusty British Rail sign is replaced by one reading East Midland Infrastructure, it is clear that there will be the inevitable winners and losers as downsizing and efficiency become the new buzzwords.

After a group of Parisian youths pull off a deadly terrorist attack, they decide to shelter for a night in a shopping center.

Summer, 1910. Inspectors Machin and Malfoy investigate the mysterious disappearances of several tourists on the beautiful beaches of Slack Bay, where a strange community of fishermen lives.

The O'Neills lived happily in their house in the Australian countryside. That was until one day fate struck blindly, taking the life of Peter, the father, leaving his grief-stricken wife Dawn alone with their four children. Among them, eight-year-old Simone denies this reality. She is persuaded that her father still lives in the giant fig tree growing near their house and speaks to her through its leaves. But the tree becomes more and more invasive and threatens the house. It must be felled. Of course, Simone won't allow it.

In the Swedish city of Lethe, people from different walks of life take part in a series of short, deadpan vignettes that rush past. Some are just seconds long, none longer than a couple of minutes. A young woman (Jessica Lundberg) remembers a fantasy honeymoon with a rock guitarist. A man awakes from a dream about bomber planes. A businessman boasts about success while being robbed by a pickpocket and so on. The absurdist collection is accompanied by Dixieland jazz and similar music.

Through interviews with both victims and instigators, Nanfu Wang, a first-time mother, breaks open decades of silence on a vast, unprecedented social experiment that shaped — and destroyed — countless lives in China.

A sea captain makes a bet in a cafe with a friend that he will marry the first woman who walks in.

A ghost and a French marquis wander through the Winter Palace in St Petersburg, encountering scenes from many different periods of its history.

Exil tells the story of a chemical engineer of foreign origin who feels discriminated and bullied at work, plunging him into an identity crisis.

A 15-year-old discovers the joys and heartaches of first love with an older teen, but in the ensuing years, cannot seem to move past their breakup.

Mia, who lends her voice to a Japanese Anime super heroine, finds reality and fiction to be interlacing more and more. Suddenly, Mia can see electricity, leap off rooftops and save people’s lives. But as Mia’s superpowers grow, so does her awareness of looming danger. Just as in the Kimiko anime, hostile powers are planning a massive electric blackout to destroy the city, maybe even humanity itself. And while Mia tries to save everybody from the imminent crisis, it's her own stability which seems to be put at stake.

This exploration of Japan's fascination with girl bands and their music follows an aspiring pop singer and her fans, delving into the cultural obsession with young female sexuality and the growing disconnect between men and women in hypermodern societies.

Abandoned at birth in the Greek mountains on a stormy night, Jon is taken in and adopted, without having known his father or mother. As a young man, he meets Iro, a warden in the prison where he is incarcerated after a deadly tragic accident. She seems to seek out his presence, takes care of him, records music for him. Jon’s eyesight begins to fail … From then on, for every loss he suffers, he will gain something in return. Thus, in spite of going blind, he will live his life more fully than ever.

Five houses, one bus stop, cows and nothing but fields. 24-year-old Christin lives on the farm of her long-term boyfriend Jan. The exciting post-reunification years that defined her childhood are long gone. Her relationship is loveless. She keeps the cherry liqueur close at hand. In the shimmering heat of summer, time seems to stand still – until 46-year-old wind energy engineer, Klaus, arrives.

Under the auspicious name "Magical Mystery" the Berlin techno label BummBumm Records wants to go on a rave tour. Karl Schmidt aka Charly himself was once an aspiring artist on the scene, until he retired after a nervous breakdown five years ago. Since then he lives in a supervised withdrawal WG in Hamburg. Now, as a driver and custodian for the party-loving DJs and their producers, he becomes part of "Magical Mystery", trying to lead a self-determined life after years of patronizing and well-intentioned advice.

Fanny, a shy and lonely teenager, goes on a language exchange to Germany. In Leipzig, she meets her pen pal, Lena, a teenager eager to become politically active. Fanny is troubled. To win over Lena, she invents a life for herself, to the extent of becoming trapped in her lies.

An emotional journey back to the 50s and 60s: Through photos and film footage from her childhood, the 48-year-old filmmaker Marie remembers growing up in bourgeois post-war Germany. Marie is once again confronted with the early death of her mother and the excessive demands of her conservative father. He has no understanding for her and deports her to a Catholic girls' boarding school. A youth characterized by constant rebellion against the mustiness of the post-war years and against a society that expects one thing above all from girls: to smile nicely into the camera and under no circumstances direct the film themselves!