This year's International Competition presents six films to audiences, including three documentaries and three fiction films. The two documentaries, Any Other Way: the Jackie Shane Story and Beethoven's Nine, allow viewers to experience how the form of modern documentaries is evolving. Any Other Way: the Jackie Shane Story actively utilizes storytelling techniques typical of fiction films by employing animation and reenactments instead of archival footage. Meanwhile, Beethoven's Nine integrates the impact of the Israel-Palestine conflict that occurred during the film's production, prompting reflection on the current state of documentary filmmaking. Resynator, a documentary about a daughter discovering that her late father, who died when she was young, was a pioneer who built the first prototype synthesizer machine called Resynator, and her investigation into the mystery surrounding his death, exemplifies the recent trend in documentaries driven by personal stories. The three fiction films selected alongside the documentaries offer a diverse range of genre-based enjoyment through the theme of music. 15 Years, a sequel to the film Four Minutes, which was released in 2007 and later adapted into a popular musical in 2021, is one such work. The Blue Star follows an unhappy musician who, having lost his creative drive, impulsively travels to Argentina, where his idol resides, to rediscover his life's meaning and musical inspiration. Lastly, The City, the first Hebrew rap musical, draws inspiration from black music, noir films, and detective movies. This year's selected fiction films satisfy various genre-based imaginations that can be inspired by the theme of music.