The "New International Restorations" program enters its third year of scouting global film festivals to curate a selection of classic, rare, and ill-fated films that once slipped through the cracks of time. Through the efforts of film archives and restoration institutions worldwide, dormant images flow once more across the screen, granting cinema a second life.

Spanning two months, the program presents 17 programs that bridge the silent-era through the 1990s. Two spectacular live cine-concerts with brand-new scores will accompany the world's oldest animated feature, The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926), and an assembly of the silent era comedy masters aims to haunt the theater with laughter. Following the traces of three Taiwanese restored titles by TFAI—Love Never Ceases (1962), The Game They Called Sex (1987), and Vive L'Amour (1994)—the selection reflects distinctive interpretations of their respective eras. Meanwhile, the home video Life Continued (1966) captures an authentic Taipei, preserving the city's 1960s footprints.

These international restorations feature unfamiliar landscapes that utilize cinema as a universal language to shatter cultural frameworks and tell stories of humanity. Centering on African-American independent pioneer Charles Burnett, this spotlight presents four restored works brought back to the big screen after years of hardship and dedication, offering a profound gaze into the African American experience.

Jan Troell's 1970s Swedish masterpieces, The Emigrants (1971) and The New Land (1972), star legends Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann, depicting the hardships and hopes of pioneering experiences with an intimate yet epic scope. Indian pioneer Ritwik Ghatak's Pathetic Fallacy (1958) humanizes a car in a seemingly absurd premise that harbors profound national sentiments. Iranian New Wave master Dariush Mehrjui's The Cycle (1976) exposes the brutal reality of poverty, while Idrissa Ouédraogo's The Law (1990) delivers a tragic, striking challenge to collective discipline.

Shifting from communal consciousness to personal desire, the Turkish art-house gem Time to Love (1965) and Robert Bresson's long-lost romance Four Nights of a Dreamer (1971) boldly navigate unspoken desires within unconventional relationships. Lastly, Thelma & Louise (1991) showcase the untamed audacity of the 1990s.

Once submerged in history, these films return with their respective testimonies. Inside the darkened theater, we walk alongside these historical souls, gazing at the present with a "new" perspective on "old" cinema.