Becoming Led Zeppelin
Becoming Led Zeppelin explores the origins of this iconic group and their meteoric rise in just one year against all the odds.
Powered by awe-inspiring, psychedelic, never-before-seen footage, performances, and music, Bernard MacMahon’s experiential cinematic odyssey explores Led Zeppelin’s creative, musical, and personal origin story. The film is told in Led Zeppelin’s own words and is the first officially sanctioned film on the group.
Year: 2025
Language: English
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Documentary
Into The Deep
Divers searching for sunken treasure witness the murder of drug dealers by modern-day pirates, but a killer great white is determined not to let any of them escape its waters.
Year: 2025
Language: English
Genre: Action
Longing
Daniel, a wealthy New York bachelor (Richard Gere), is forced to evaluate his life choices when he discovers that a Canadian ex-girlfriend (Suzanne Clément) had given birth to a son after they split up 20 years ago.
Year: 2024
Language: English
Deaner '89
Hard-luck metalhead Dean Murdoch (Paul Spence) reveals how he finally made it, taking us back to the '80s – when being a hockey jock was a badge of honour, Jazzercise was a national movement, seatbelts were optional, and teachers were as drunk as their students.
Year: 2024
Language: English
Genre: Action, Comedy
Red Right Hand
Cash (Orlando Bloom) is trying to live an honest and quiet life taking care of his recently orphaned niece Savannah (Chapel Oaks) in the Appalachian town of Odim County. When the sadistic kingpin Big Cat, (Andie MacDowell) who runs the town, forces him back into her services, Cash learns he’s capable of anything – even killing – to protect the town and the only family he has left. As the journey gets harder, Cash is drawn into a nightmare that blurs the lines between good and evil.
Year: 2024
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Action
Apprentice, The
The Apprentice is a dive into the underbelly of the American empire. It charts a young Donald Trump's ascent to power through a Faustian deal with the influential right-wing lawyer and political fixer Roy Cohn.
Year: 2024
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Biography
Kneecap
When fate brings Belfast schoolteacher JJ into the orbit of self-confessed ‘low life scum’ Naoise & Liam Og, the needle drops on a hip hop act like no other.
Rapping in their native Irish language, KNEECAP fast become the unlikely figureheads of a Civil Rights movement to save their mother tongue. In this fiercely original sex, drugs and hip-hop biopic KNEECAP play themselves, laying down a global rallying cry for the defense of native cultures.
Year: 2024
Language: English, Irish
Room Next Door, The
Ingrid (Julianne Moore) and Martha (Tilda Swinton) were close friends in their youth, when they worked together at the same magazine. Ingrid went on to become an autofiction novelist while Martha became a war reporter, and they were separated by the circumstances of life. After years of being out of touch, they meet again in an extreme but strangely sweet situation.
Year: 2024
Language: English
Cash Out
Thrust into his brother’s botched bank robbery, a heist mastermind (John Travolta) stumbles into his biggest score yet…but can he escape alive?
Year: 2024
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action
Outlaws, The
Helmed by the directorial duo of Joey Palmroos and Austen Paul, The Outlaws plunges viewers into a world where a group of renegades, off the back of completing a successful heist, awaken to the shocking discovery that their every drop of their precious loot has vanished. Suspicion and tension rise amongst the group of five as the outlaws scramble to uncover the traitor among them, setting the stage for intense confrontations and high-stakes drama.
Year: 2024
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Action, Western
Betrayal
Three brothers return to the remote woodland where they killed their abusive father only to discover his shallow grave is now empty, forcing them to question one another's loyalty with devastating consequences as fear and paranoia set in.
Year: 2024
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Mafia Wars
An ex-con gets released early from prison only to be forced into an undercover unit of six men and on his first day the other five are all killed. Now he must go face-to-face with the men who he was tasked to spy on, not knowing if they know who he really is.
Year: 2024
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action
Stoic, The
It follows a group of mercenary leaders in a country retreat after pulling off a raid on a drugs gang. Things take a turn for the worse after they raise the attentions of 'The Stoic', a man from an ancient clan of smugglers.
Year: 2024
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Outrun, The
After living life on the edge in London, Rona (Saoirse Ronan) attempts to come to terms with her troubled past. She returns to the wild beauty of Scotland’s Orkney Islands — where she grew up — hoping to heal. Adapted from the bestselling memoir by Amy Liptrot.
Year: 2024
Language: English
I'm Still Here
BRAZIL, 1971 - Brazil faces the tightening grip of a military dictatorship. Eunice Paiva, a mother of five children, is forced to reinvent herself after her family suffers a violent and arbitrary act by the government. Based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva's biographical book, the film tells the true story that helped reconstruct an important part of Brazil’s hidden history.
Year: 2024
Language: Portuguese
Return, The
After 20 years away, Odysseus (Fiennes) washes up on the shores of Ithaca, haggard and unrecognizable. The King has returned from the Trojan War, but much has changed in his kingdom. His beloved wife Penelope (Binoche) is a prisoner in her own home, hounded by suitors vying to be king.
Year: 2024
Language: English
Hard Truths
Legendary filmmaker Mike Leigh reunites with actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Oscar nominee for Leigh’s SECRETS & LIES) for his latest — a tough but compassionate and intimate film about family life that marks his return to a contemporary setting.
Year: 2024
Language: English
Whiteout
This harsh thriller film opens with an armed raid on the Russian offices of an international corporation. Brutally kidnapped & taken hostage, some workers end up in a labor camp in the middle of nowhere. Two hardened inmates, Kurt and Anthony (Douglas Nyback and Joel Labelle), save Henry (James McDougall) from the lecherous grip of another inmate and his henchman. Henry finds himself in a position to help his new associates escape, igniting a chaotic prison break that engulfs the men and the other prisoners. Those who make it out alive will face several days of deadly terrain and grueling obstacles in their journey for survival.
Year: 2024
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action
Memoir of a Snail
Grace Pudel (voiced by Sarah Snook) is a lonely misfit with an affinity for collecting ornamental snails and an intense love for books. At a young age, when Grace is separated from her twin brother Gilbert (Kodi Smit-McPhee), she falls into a spiral of anxiety and angst. Despite a continued series of hardships, inspiration and hope emerge when she strikes up an enduring friendship with an elderly eccentric woman named Pinky (Jacki Weaver), who is full of grit and lust for life.
From Academy Award-winning animation writer and director Adam Elliot, "Memoir of a Snail" is a poignant, heartfelt, hilarious chronicle of the life of an outsider finding her confidence and silver linings amongst the clutter of everyday life.
Year: 2024
Language: English
Genre: Animation
Parthenope
Parthenope, born in the sea of Naples in 1950, searches for happiness over the long summers of her youth, falling in love with her home city and its many memorable characters. From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino comes a monumental and deeply romantic story of a lifetime.
Year: 2024
Language: Italian, English
Laws Of Man
At the dawn of the Cold War, two U.S. marshals pursue a wanted murderer in the deserts of Nevada.
Year: 2024
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Action
Last Showgirl, The
The Last Showgirl, a poignant film of resilience, rhinestones and feathers, stars Pamela Anderson as Shelly, a glamorous showgirl who must plan for her future when her show abruptly closes after a 30-year run. Directed by Gia Coppola, The Last Showgirl co-stars Oscar®, SAG® Award and Golden Globe® winner Jamie Lee Curtis as Shelly’s best friend, who brings her own unique interpretation and brilliance to the story, Dave Bautista, Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka and Billie Lourd.
Year: 2024
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Aberdeen
ABERDEEN is a raw, authentic drama interwoven with pockets of humor that shines a light on the indomitable Aberdeen, a middle-aged Indigenous climate change refugee who has been forced from her home due to flooding. As she begrudgingly adjusts to big-city life, Aberdeen must face the inter-generational cycle of trauma that has been tearing her family apart for 5 generations in order to protect her grandchildren.
Year: 2024
Language: English
40 Acres
Hailey Freeman (Danielle Deadwyler) and her family are the last descendants of African American farmers who settled in rural Canada after the first Civil War. In a famine-decimated near future, they now struggle to safeguard their farm against those hell-bent on taking their 40 ACRES.
Year: 2024
Language: English and Cree
Can I Get a Witness?
It's the future and we’ve solved all the world’s problems: mitigated climate change, eradicated poverty, achieved trans-species equality. There’s just one catch… humans have to end life at 50 and teenage artists have to document it. It’s Kiah’s first day on the job.
Year: 2024
Language: English
Wicked Little Letters
A 1920s English seaside town bears witness to a farcical and occasionally sinister scandal in this riotous mystery comedy. Based on a stranger than fiction true story, WICKED LITTLE LETTERS follows two neighbours: deeply conservative local Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) and rowdy Irish migrant Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley). When Edith and fellow residents begin to receive wicked letters full of unintentionally hilarious profanities, foul-mouthed Rose is charged with the crime. The anonymous letters prompt a national uproar, and a trial ensues. However, as the town’s women - led by Police Officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) - begin to investigate the crime themselves, they suspect that something is amiss, and Rose may not be the culprit after all.
Year: 2024
Language: English
Movie Man, The
An eccentric entrepreneur looks back on his life’s work ––owning and operating an idiosyncratic multiplex cinema in the forest of Northern Ontario.
Year: 2024
Language: English
Taste of Things, The
France, 1885. The talented cook Eugenie has worked for the preeminent gourmet Dodin for the last two decades. Their mutual admiration turns into a romance, and gives rise to dishes, one more delicious than the next, that confound even the world’s most illustrious chefs. But Eugenie is fond of her freedom and has never wanted to marry Dodin, so he decides to do something he has never done before: cook for her.
Year: 2023
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Promised Land, The
In 1755, the impoverished Captain Ludvig Kahlen sets out to conquer the harsh, uninhabitable Danish heath with a seemingly impossible goal: to build a colony in the name of the King, in exchange for a royal title. The heath meant certain death – a godforsaken place haunted by ravenous wolves, highwaymen, and a brutal and unforgiving nature. The sole ruler of the area, the merciless Frederik de Schinkel, believes this land belongs to him and does everything in his power to drive the captain away.
Year: 2023
Language: Danish
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Action
Memory
Sylvia (Jessica Chastain) is a social worker who leads a simple and structured life. This is blown open when Saul (Peter Sarsgaard) follows her home from their high school reunion. Their surprise encounter will profoundly impact both of them as they open the door to the past.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Food, Inc. 2
In Food, Inc. 2, the sequel to the 2008 Oscar®-nominated and Emmy®-award winning documentary, Food, Inc., filmmakers Robert Kenner and Melissa Robledo reunite with investigative authors Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) to take a fresh look at our efficient yet vulnerable food system.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Escape
Best friends Carla and Tamsin, embark on a serene island vacation seeking relaxation and adventure. Their idyllic getaway takes an ominous turn when a ruthless criminal gang kidnaps them. As the gang soon discovers, they have gravely underestimated the strength and determination of these two women. What was meant to be an easy score becomes a high-stakes game of survival, as Carla and Tamsin turn the tables on their captors, transforming a vacation nightmare into a gripping tale of empowerment, resilience, and unexpected retribution.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action
_%7B7d7893d9-e6fc-ee11-ba56-0efdbb9167fd%7D.jpg)
End of the Rope
When a family mysteriously disappears, the local sheriff struggles to keep order in a town set on vengeance. Based on the true story of the infamous Charles Bannon case.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Action, Mystery, Western
Duchess
Follows a tough, working-class, petty criminal who morphs into an anti-heroine to be reckoned with in a murky underworld, in the treacherous world of diamond smuggling.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action
Daaaaaali!
A French journalist meets the iconic surrealist artist Salvador Dalí on several occasions for a documentary project that never came to be.
Year: 2023
Language: French
Genre: Comedy
_%7B87068a7e-edb3-ef11-ba59-0efdbb9167fd%7D.jpg)
Sunray: Fallen Soldier
A war veteran calls on friends from his past to hunt down those responsible for the death of his daughter. Along the way, he learns more about himself than he anticipated as a violent crime syndicate unravels in his wake.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Action
Joan Baez I Am A Noise
Facing the end of a 60-year musical career, legendary singer and activist Joan Baez takes an honest look back and a deep look inward as she tries to make sense of her large history-making life and reveals, for the first time, personal struggles she’s kept private, until now.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Immediate Family
IMMEDIATE FAMILY tracks the rise and collaborations of a group of legendary session musicians Danny Kortchmar, Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel, and Waddy Wachtel through the 1970s and onward, chronicling their illustrious partnerships and their formidable record of hit-making.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Four Daughters
The life of Olfa, a Tunisian woman and mother of four daughters, oscillates between light and shadow. One day, her two eldest daughters disappear. To fill their absence, director Kaouther Ben Hania calls upon professional actors to re-enact the story of Olfa and her daughters.
Year: 2023
Language: Arabic
Genre: Drama, Documentary
Anselm
In "Anselm", Wim Wenders creates a portrait of Anselm Kiefer, one of the most innovative and important painters and sculptors of our time. Shot in 3D and
6K-resolution, the film presents a cinematic experience of the artist’s work which explores human existence and the cyclical nature of history, inspired
by literature, poetry, philosophy, science, mythology and religion.
Year: 2023
Language: German, English
Genre: Documentary
Close to You
Sam (Elliot Page) hasn’t been home since his transition. After four years in Toronto, he takes along-dreaded trip back to his hometown for his father’s birthday. Once there, he confronts unresolved wounds and reconnects with an old friend.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Which Brings Me to You
Two romantic burnouts, Jane and Will, are immediately drawn to each other at a mutual friend's wedding. After a disastrous hookup in the coatroom, the two spend the next 24 hours together, trading candid confessions of messy histories and heartbreak, on the off chance that this fling might be the real thing.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Romance, Comedy
In the Fire
A doctor (Amber Heard) from New York travels to a remote plantation in the 1890s to care for a disturbed boy who seems to have inexplicable abilities. She begins treating the child, but in doing so ignites a war of science versus religion with the local priest who believes the boy is possessed by the Devil and is the reason for all the village's woes. Directed by Conor Allyn (No Man’s Land), he co-wrote the film with Pascal Borno (Children of the Corn) and Silvio Muraglia (After the Wedding).
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Boudica: Queen Of War
After her family is slain and her land stolen, warrior queen Boudica (Olga Kurylenko) leads a fierce rebellion against the Roman Empire, inspiring her people to fight for freedom.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Action
Black Noise
Members of an elite security team deployed to rescue a VIP on an exclusive island.The rescue mission becomes a desperate attempt to survive, escape the island and elude the sinister presence that seeks to harm them.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
Portrait, The
After her husband is devastated by a tragic accident, a devoted wife obsesses over a mysterious portrait that resembles him as he was; but when it starts to terrorize her, she must decide if it's possessed or if she's losing her mind.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Lord of Misrule
Directed by William Brent Bell (THE BOY, ORPHAN: FIRST KILL), LORD OF MISRULE follows Rebecca Holland (Tuppence Middleton), who has recently taken over as priest of a small town. When her young daughter Grace (Evie Templeton) goes missing at the local harvest festival, a desperate search begins. The closer they edge towards finding Grace, the more secrets emerge from the town’s dark past. Soon, Rebecca must decide just how much she is willing to sacrifice to rescue her daughter from the grip of evil.
Year: 2023
Language: English
The Delinquents
Buenos Aires bank employee Morán (Daniel Eliás) dreams up a scheme to liberate himself from corporate monotony: he’ll steal enough money to support a modest retirement, then confess and serve prison time while his co-worker holds on to the cash.
Soon under pressure by a company investigator, accomplice Román (Esteban Bigliardi) heads to a remote rural idyll to hide the funds. There, he encounters a mysterious woman who will transform his life forever.
Year: 2023
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama, Comedy
How to Have Sex
Three British teenage girls go on a rites-of-passage holiday, drinking, clubbing and hooking up in what should be the best summer of their lives. As they dance their way across the sun-drenched streets of Malia, they find themselves navigating the complexities of sex, consent and self-discovery. Captured with luminous visuals and a pitch-perfect soundtrack, Manning Walker’s directorial debut paints a painfully familiar portrait of young adulthood, and how first sexual experiences should – or shouldn’t – play out.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara
In 1858, in the Jewish quarter of Bologna, the Pope’s soldiers burst into the home of the Mortara family. By order of the cardinal, they have come to take Edgardo, their seven-year old son. The child had been secretly baptized by his nurse as a baby and the papal law is unquestionable: he must receive a Catholic education. Edgardo’s parents, distraught, will do anything to get their son back. Supported by public opinion and the international Jewish
community, the Mortaras’ struggle quickly take a political dimension. But the Church and the Pope will not agree to return the child, to consolidate an increasingly wavering power …
Year: 2023
Language: Italian
Genre: Drama
Animal Kingdom, The
In a world hit by a wave of mutations that are gradually transforming some humans into animals, François does everything he can to save his wife, who is affected by this mysterious condition. As some of the creatures disappear into a nearby forest, he embarks with Émile, their 16-year-old son, on a quest that will change their lives forever.
Year: 2023
Language: French
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
Freud's Last Session
On the eve of the Second World War, two of the greatest minds on the twentieth century, C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud converge for their own personal battle over the existence of God. FREUD’S LAST SESSION interweaves the lives of Freud and Lewis, past, present, and through fantasy, bursting from the confines of Freud’s study on a dynamic journey.
Year: 2023
Language: English
_%7B801f976f-9d7c-ed11-a9e4-c9f45dbdfde1%7D.jpg)
Last Resort
Tells the story of a former special forces soldier who becomes a one-man army when his wife and daughter are taken hostage during a bank robbery.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Action
Kokomo City
A raw depiction of the lives of four black trans sex workers in New York and Georgia as they confront the dichotomy between the black community and themselves.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
League, The
Directed by Sam Pollard (MLK/FBI) and executive produced by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson (Oscar winning SUMMER OF SOUL), THE LEAGUE celebrates the dynamic journey of Negro League baseball's triumphs and challenges through the first half of the twentieth century.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Little Prayer, A
A man tries to protect his daughter-in-law when he discovers his son is having an affair, touching upon a variety of issues in a changing modern South, including a woman's volition over her own body, war veterans grappling with PTSD, and the limits of patriarchal interference.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Persian Version, The
Coming from two countries at odds with each other, Iranian-American Leila (Layla Mohammadi) strives to find balance and embrace her opposing cultures, while boldly challenging the labels society is so quick to project upon her. When her family reunites in New York City for her father’s heart transplant, Leila navigates her relationships from arms length in an effort to keep her “real” life separate from her family life.
Year: 2023
Language: English and Farsi
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Shayda
Shayda, a brave Iranian mother, finds refuge in an Australian women’s shelter with her six-year-old daughter. Over Persian New Year, they take solace in Nowruz rituals and new beginnings, but when her estranged husband re-enters their lives, Shayda’s path to freedom is jeopardized.
Year: 2023
Language: English and Farsi
Teachers' Lounge, The
Carla Nowak (LEONIE BENESCH), a dedicated sports and math teacher, starts her first job at a high school. She stands out among the new staff because of her idealism. When a series of thefts occur at the school and one of her students is suspected, she decides to get to the bottom of the matter on her own. Carla tries to mediate between outraged parents, opinionated colleagues and aggressive students, but is relentlessly confronted with the structures of the school system. The more desperately she tries to do everything right, the more the young teacher threatens to break.
Year: 2023
Language: German
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Shortcomings
Ben, a struggling filmmaker, lives in Berkeley, California, with his girlfriend, Miko, who works for a local Asian American film festival. When he’s not managing an arthouse movie theater as his day job, Ben spends his time obsessing over unavailable blonde women, watching Criterion Collection DVDs, and eating in diners with his best friend Alice, a queer grad student with a serial dating habit. When Miko moves to New York for an internship, Ben is left to his own devices, and begins to explore what he thinks he might want.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Strange Way of Life
A man rides a horse across the desert that separates him from Bitter Creek. He comes to visit Sheriff Jake. Twenty-five years earlier, both the sheriff and Silva, the rancher who rides out to meet him, worked together as hired gunmen. Silva visits him with the excuse of reuniting with his friend from his youth, and they do indeed celebrate their meeting, but the next morning Sheriff Jake tells him that the reason for his trip is not to go down the memory lane of their old friendship....
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Drama, Western
_%7B009f5e30-4115-ee11-a9e8-874087ffb4a3%7D.jpg)
Shrapnel
A former Marine and his old war buddy face off against the Mexican cartel behind the disappearance of his daughter.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action
Flood, The
A daring jail break during a dangerous Louisiana hurricane is interrupted by a horde of large hungry alligators.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Action
Island, The
When his brother is killed, LAPD officer Mark (Michael J. White) leaves the city to return to the island he grew up on. Seeking answers and ultimately vengeance, he soon finds himself in a bloody battle with the corrupt tycoon who's taken over the island paradise.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action
Due Justice (fka Palido)
In the heart pounding thriller, DUE JUSTICE, former marine Max (Kellan Lutz) experiences a devastating loss when his beloved wife and daughter are brutally murdered in a cold blooded act of violence. Consumed by grief and driven by revenge, Max embarks on a relentless mission to hunt down those responsible.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Action
Operation Napoleon
A lawyer sucked into an international conspiracy after being accused of a murder she didn't commit. Only chance of survival lies in uncovering the secret of an old German World War II airplane, discovered on Iceland's largest glacier.
Year: 2023
Language: Icelandic
Genre: Thriller
Carlos (2023)
The immersive and intimately-crafted documentary CARLOS catapults us into rock icon Carlos Santana’s life and musical trajectory. Filmmaker Rudy Valdez bolsters this personal narrative with pulsating, never-before-seen footage — guided by Santana himself, and in his own words.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
They Shot the Piano Player
A New York music journalist goes on a quest to uncover the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of young Brazilian piano virtuoso Tenorio Jr.
A celebratory origin story of the world-renowned Latino musical movement Bossa Nova, "They Shot The Piano Player" captures a fleeting time bursting with creative freedom at a turning point in Latin American history in the 60s and 70s, just before the continent was engulfed by totalitarian regimes.
Year: 2023
Language: English, Spanish
Deliver Us
When a nun in a remote convent claims immaculate conception, the Vatican sends a team of priests
to investigate, concerned about an ancient prophecy that a woman will give birth to twin boys: one
the Messiah, the other the Anti-Christ.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Stones And Brian Jones, The
Featuring revealing interviews with all the main players and unseen archive released for the first time, "The Stones and Brian Jones" explores the creative musical genius of Jones, key to the success of the band, and uncovers how the founder of what became the greatest rock'n'roll band in the world was left behind in the shadows of history.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Mob Land
A sheriff tries to keep the peace when a desperate family man violently robs a pill mill with his brother-in-law, alerting an enforcer for the New Orleans mafia.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Crime, Action
Tripped Up
Four girlfriends take a chaotic road trip to a mind-blowing food festival.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Beyond Utopia
A suspenseful look at the lengths people will go to gain freedom, BEYOND UTOPIA embeds with a courageous pastor as he works tirelessly to guide various individuals attempting to flee one of the most oppressive places on Earth: North Korea.
Year: 2023
Language: English/Korean
Genre: Documentary
Seeding, The
A man finds himself trapped in a desert canyon with a woman living off-grid who is captive to a pack of sadistic boys.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Ruthless
Harry (Dermot Mulroney) is a high school wrestling coach recovering from the loss of his daughter who was murdered in a brutal attack. When one of his students disappears under conditions eerily similar to his daughter's, Harry decides to finally take matters into his own hands to hunt down the men responsible for her kidnapping and will stop at nothing to rescue her from their human trafficking operation.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action
Peasants, The
The Peasants tells the story of Jagna, a young woman determined to forge her own path within the confines of a late 19th century Polish village – a hotbed of gossip and on-going feuds, held together, rich and poor, by pride in their land, adherence to colourful traditions and deep-rooted patriarchy. When Jagna finds herself caught between the conflicting desires of the village’s richest farmer, his eldest son, and other leading men of the community, her resistance puts her on a tragic collision course with the community around her.
Year: 2023
Language: Polish
We Grown Now
In 1992 Chicago, as Michael Jordan solidifies himself as a champion, a story of two young legends in their own right begins. As wide-eyed and imaginative best friends Malik and Eric traverse the city, looking to escape the mundaneness of school and the hardships of growing up in public housing, their unbreakable bond is challenged when tragedy shakes their community just as they are learning to fly.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Hellhound
In the heart of Bangkok, a seasoned hitman on the cusp of retirement finds himself pulled back into the deadly world he’s yearning to leave behind. Reluctantly accepting a final assignment, he believes it to be a routine job. However, as the intricacies of the mission unravel, he is plunged into a whirlwind of intrigue, danger, and unexpected alliances, causing his last endeavor to spiral into a treacherous odyssey that challenges his skills, convictions, and the limits of his own morality.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action
Bad Shepherd, The
When a group of friends go hunting and accidentally kill someone carrying a bag full of money, their friendships are put to the test when the bag's true owner comes looking.
Year: 2023
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Elizabeth: A Portrait in Part(s)
A documentary on the life of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-lived, longest reigning British monarch and longest serving female head of state in history.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
You Can Live Forever
When lesbian teen Jaime is sent to live in a Jehovah's Witness community, she falls hard for a devout Witness girl and the two embark on an intense affair with consequences that will reshape the rest of their lives.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Temps des secrets, Le
Marcel Pagnol embarks on his last summer vacation before high school and returns to his beloved hills in Provence. His summer of boyhood adventures becomes one of first loves and secrets.
Year: 2022
Language: Français
Genre: Children, Family
Phantom of the Open, The
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN follows Maurice Flitcroft (Mark Rylance), a dreamer and unrelenting optimist who managed to gain entry to The British Open Golf Championship Qualifying in 1976 and subsequently shot the worst round in Open history, becoming a folk hero in the process.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Sports, Drama, Comedy
Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song
HALLELUJAH: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song is a definitive exploration of singersongwriter Leonard Cohen as seen through the prism of his internationally renowned hymn, “Hallelujah.” This feature-length documentary weaves together three creative strands: The songwriter and his times; the song’s dramatic journey from record label reject to chart-topping hit; and moving testimonies from major recording artists for whom “Hallelujah” has become a personal touchstone. Approved for production by Leonard Cohen just before his 80th birthday in 2014, the film accesses a wealth of never-before-seen archival materials from the Cohen Trust including Cohen’s personal notebooks, journals and photographs, performance footage, and extremely rare audio recordings and interviews.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Agent Game
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action
Pure Grit
Pure Grit is both a thrilling tale of extreme bareback horse racing, and an intimate love story. Chronicling three years in the life of a young Native American bareback horse racer, her dogged determination, and the relationships that sustain her. Sharmaine dreams of becoming a champion. She is determined to ride and win. It's been a year since she's raced. A year since her sister was paralyzed in a catastrophic accident on the track. Sharmaine quit racing to care for her. In the remote Wyoming wilderness of the Wind River reservation, Sharmaine and her girlfriend Savannah begin to build a life for themselves. They hope for better. But the atmosphere at home soon turns toxic and the young lovers are forced to leave for the industrial Commerce City, Denver. The city brings freedom and opportunity, but also distractions and a strain on their fledgling relationship. When racing season starts up, Sharmaine and Savannah hit the road and put it all on the line. With a new horse from her city earnings, Sharmaine sees the potential for a fresh start. But life, like the race track, doesn't always go according to plan.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Simulant
A humanoid A.I.'s attempt to win over a widow's heart places it in the path of a government agent trying to stop the rise of machine consciousness.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action, Sci-Fi
Notre Dame on Fire
A film relating from the inside the Notre-Dame de Paris fire of April 2019.
Year: 2022
Language: Français
Genre: Drama
So Much Tenderness
Having fled Colombia after her husband was murdered, an environmental lawyer rebuilds her life in Toronto with her tempestuous daughter, only to risk losing everything when her traumatic past re-surfaces.
Year: 2022
Language: English/Spanish
Genre: Drama
Living
LIVING is the story of an ordinary man, reduced by years of oppressive office routine to a shadow existence, who at the eleventh hour makes a supreme effort to turn his dull life into something wonderful. An English-language adaptation of the script of "Ikiru" (1952), set in London in the 1950s.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Deep in the Forest
"Deep in the Forest" is a thriller about a group of progressives who are forced to hide out at a remote ski lodge during a near-future civil war between the American Right and the American Left.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action
Siege of Robin Hood
After the merciless Sheriff of Nottingham orders a brutal attack on his family, a young man named Robin swears bloody revenge on the men responsible, vowing to restore freedom to those trapped under the realm's oppressive rule.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Action
Framing Agnes
After discovering case files from a 1950s gender clinic, a cast of trans actors turn a talk show inside out to confront the legacy of a young trans woman forced to choose between honesty and access.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Bitterbrush
In the remote and rugged mountains of the American West, two young women contemplate the future as they work alone herding cattle.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Dreaming Walls: Inside The Chelsea Hotel
The end of a long upmarket renovation of the legendary Chelsea Hotel is partly longed for and partly dreaded by the artists who still live there. The film grants us access to their apartments and interweaves the past with the present.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Cryo
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi
Altar Boy
A passive-natured teenager struggles to navigate the school year while trying to break free from the persona built around his religious upbringing.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Drama
My Old School
In 1993, 16-year-old Brandon Lee enrolled at Bearsden Academy, a secondary school in a well-to-do suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. What followed over the next two years became the stuff of legend.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Documentary
I Like Movies
Socially inept 17-year-old cinephile, Lawrence Kweller (Isaiah Lehtinen) gets a job at a video store, where he forms a complicated friendship with his older female manager.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama, Comedy
I Love My Dad
Inspired by writer, director, and star James Morosini’s true life experience, I LOVE MY DAD follows Chuck (Patton Oswalt), a hopelessly estranged father who desperately wants to reconnect with his troubled son, Franklin (Morosini). Blocked on social media and concerned for his son’s life, Chuck impersonates a waitress online and starts checking in with Franklin. But things begin to spiral when Franklin falls for this imaginary girl (Claudia Sulewski) and wants nothing more than to meet her in person, as Chuck has inadvertently catfished his own son. A thrilling comedy with an unexpected twist, I LOVE MY DAD also stars Rachel Dratch, Lil Rel Howery, Amy Landecker and Ricky Velez.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Blackwood
Dutch Wilder and his crew are tasked with ambushing prospectors who’ve discovered gold in the uncharted Black Wood Forest. But first they must track the horse thief who killed one of their men. The “thief” is a Native American, herself a victim of barbaric frontier injustice. Coerced in-to accompanying the gang through the treacherous terrain, she leads them deeper into darkness where they’re attacked by a malevolent, ancient entity.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Western
Therapy Dogs
The Class of 2019 at Cawthra Park Secondary School is gearing up for their senior year. Teen angst fills the hallways. Nervous students convene in classrooms. Hopeful romantics ask each other out for prom. Amidst these moments of self-discovery, friends Ethan and Justin set out to shoot a film under the pretense of being a yearbook project, recording pivotal moments and character portraits during this tumultuous stage of adolescence. No one at Cawthra Park seems to be prepared for what will come next in their rebellious filmmaking adventure.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Dig
A widowed father and his daughter whose house is up for demolition, are taken hostage by a dangerous couple, who won't stop until they retrieve what lies beneath the property.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action
Smoking Causes Coughing
A group of vigilantes called the "tobacco-forces" is falling apart. To rebuild team spirit, their leader suggests that they meet for a week-long retreat, before returning to save the world.
Year: 2022
Language: French
Genre: Comedy
One Fine Morning
Sandra (Lea Seydoux) is a widowed young mother raising her daughter on her own, while also caring for her sick father (Pascal Greggory). She’s dealing with the loss of the relationship she once had with her father, while she and her mother and sister fight to get him the care he requires. At the same time, Sandra reconnects with Clément (Melvil Poupaud), a friend she hasn’t seen in a while and, although he’s married, their friendship soon blossoms into a passionate affair.
Year: 2022
Language: English, French, German
Genre: Drama, Romance
Ernest And Celestine: A Trip To Gibberitia
Ernest and Celestine are travelling back to Ernest’s country, Gibberitia, to fix his broken violin. This exotic land is home to the best musicians on earth and music constantly fills the air with joy. However, upon arriving, our two heroes discover that all forms of music have been banned there for many years - and for them, a life without music is unthinkable. Along with their friends and a mysterious masked outlaw, Ernest and Celestine must try their best to bring music and happiness back to the land of bears.
Year: 2022
Language: Français
Genre: Adventure, Family, Animation
November (2022)
5 days into the heart of the French anti-terrorism services during the hunt for suspects after the 13/11/2015 attacks in Paris.
Year: 2022
Language: Français
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Action
Hunted
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action
Supercell
A teenage boy runs away to follow his fathers footsteps, legendary storm chaser Bill Brody.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Thriller, Action
Shadow Master
After being slain by a group of criminals, a man reborn with animal-like superpowers makes it his mission to right the wrongs of his city.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Action
Turn Every Page - The Adventures Of Robert Caro And Robert Gottlieb
Turn Every Page explores the remarkable fifty-year relationship between two literary legends, writer Robert Caro and his longtime editor Robert Gottlieb. Now 86, Caro is working to complete the final volume of his masterwork, The Years of Lyndon Johnson; Gottlieb, 91, waits to edit it. The task of finishing their life’s work looms before them. With humor and insight, this unique double portrait reveals the work habits, peculiarities and professional joys of these two ferocious intellects at the culmination of a journey that has consumed both their lives and impacted generations of politicians, activists, writers, and readers.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Carmen
Benjamin Millepied’s CARMEN is a gritty modern day tale, with a majestic score by Nicholas Britell, and dream-like dance sequences that evoke magic realism. The story follows a young and fiercely independent woman who is forced to flee her home in the Mexican desert following the brutal murder of her mother, another strong and mysterious woman. Carmen survives a terrifying and dangerous illegal border crossing into the US, only to be confronted by a lawless volunteer border guard who cold-bloodedly murders two other immigrants in her group. When the border guard and his patrol partner, Aidan—a Marine with PTSD—become embroiled in a deadly standoff, Carmen and Aidan are forced to escape together.
Year: 2022
Language: Spanish & English
Genre: Drama, Musical
Next Exit
Two strangers decide to partake in a controversial medical procedure which allows people to commit painless suicide following the scientific discovery that an afterlife does exist…
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Sci-Fi
Decision to Leave
A detective falls for a mysterious widow after she becomes the prime suspect in his latest murder investigation.
Year: 2022
Language: Korean
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
_%7B6a6479d0-9e54-ed11-a9e3-b56b3cdbd6d0%7D.jpg)
There There
A lover's doubt in the cold light of morning leads a chain of uneasy intimacies--counselors, disruptors, peacemakers and fire-starters--every one looking to have a little faith rewarded.
Year: 2022
Language: English
_%7B45ff60cb-642a-ed11-a9de-0edcbcd33718%7D.jpg)
752 Is Not a Number
Toronto dentist Hamed Esmaeilion is determined to uncover the truth behind the missile attacks that downed Ukrainian Flight PS752 shortly after its takeoff from Tehran on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 on board, including Hamed’s wife and nine-year-old daughter.
Year: 2022
Language: English and Farsi
Genre: Documentary
Hunt
After a high-ranking North Korean official requests asylum, KCIA Foreign Unit chief Park Pyong-ho (LEE Jung Jae) and Domestic Unit chief Kim Jung-do (JUNG Woo Sung) are tasked with uncovering a North Korean spy, known as Donglim, who is deeply embedded within their agency. When the spy begins leaking top secret intel that could jeopardize national security, the two units are each assigned to investigate each other. In this tense situation where if they cannot find the mole, they may be accused themselves, Pyong-ho and Jung-do slowly start to uncover the truth. In the end, they must deal with an unthinkable plot to assassinate the South Korean president...
Year: 2022
Language: Korean
Genre: Thriller, Action
Blue Jean
In BLUE JEAN, it’s England,1988, and Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government is about to pass a law stigmatizing gays and lesbians, forcing Jean
(Rosy McEwen) a gym teacher, to live a double life. As pressure mounts from all sides, the arrival of a new student catalyzes a crisis that will challenge Jean to her core.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Repeater
Find. Kill. Repeat. For hit man Smith (Paul Sidhu), these are the only words to live by. But a botched job in Colombia forces him to take a high-stakes open contract arranged by his handler, Mann (Corbin Bernsen). Smith's latest target? The hacker-activist Rousseau (Nick Moran), who has run afoul of corrupt corporations and powerful men like Silver (James Faulkner), the boss of a criminal empire. In the border towns of Mexico, Smith confronts local gangs, competing contract killers Botha (Gary Daniels) and Sykes (Kristanna Loken), and a crisis of conscience with deadly consequences.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Action
Heart of A Champion
A heartwarming family film starring Casper Van Dien, Edward Furlong, and YaYa Gosselin. A 14-year-old coping with the divorce of her parents, a new school, and typical teenage growing pains finds purpose and pride in a lost horse she cares for and trains for a state competition.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Family
Sanctuary
A wickedly dark comedy follows dominatrix, Rebecca (Emmy Award® nominee
Margaret Qualley), and her wealthy client, Hal (Christopher Abbott),
as they engage in a high stakes role playing game for power and control.
In the wake of inheriting his father’s hotel chain, Hal attempts to end his long and
secret relationship with Rebecca. A battle of wills ensues over the course of
one incredibly fraught night, with both Rebecca and Hal struggling to
keep the upper hand as the power dynamics swing wildly back and forth.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Transfusion
A former Special Forces operative is thrust into the criminal underworld in a bid to prevent his only son from being taken from him.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Action
Siege, The
International assassin Walker is compromised during a mission and sent to a reassignment center for a new identity. During his stay at the facility, a ruthless assault team storms the compound searching for someone their boss has lost. Walker begrudgingly falls in with skilled hitwoman Elda and her mysterious ward Juliet in order to survive the night.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Action
Daliland
In 1973, a young gallery assistant goes on a wild adventure behind the scenes as he helps the aging genius Salvador Dali prepare for a big show in New York.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: History, Drama, Biography
L'immensita
The story of love between Clara and her children, set in Rome in the '70s.
Year: 2022
Language: Italian
Genre: Drama, Foreign
Baby Ruby
The tightly scripted world of a vlogger and influencer unravels after she becomes a mother, in noted playwright Bess Wohl's feature debut.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
It Ain't Over
An intimate portrait of a misunderstood American icon, this emotional and uplifting documentary about Yogi Berra takes us beyond the caricatures and "Yogisms," and into the heart of a sports legend whose unparalleled accomplishments on the baseball diamond were often overshadowed by his off-the-field persona.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Documentary, Biography
Old Way, The
An old gunslinger and his daughter must face the consequences of his past, when the son of a man he murdered years ago arrives to take his revenge.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Action, Western
Night Train
A single mom struggling to make ends meet as a Hollywood teamster evades capture by a ruthless FBI Agent while running black market medical supplies in her legendary souped-up pickup truck.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action
Moving On
Two old friends reconnect at a funeral and decide to get revenge on the widower who messed with them decades before.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Compassionate Spy, A
A gripping real-life espionage thriller about controversial Manhattan Project physicist Ted Hall, who infamously provided classified nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union, told through the perspective of his loving wife Joan, who protected his secret for decades.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
June Zero
Set during the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann, architect of the mass murder of the Jews during World War II, and based on true accounts, it tells its story from the intertwined perspectives of three largely unrelated figures: Eichmann’s Jewish Moroccan prison guard; an Israeli police investigator for the prosecution and a Holocaust survivor; and a 13-year-old Jewish Libyan immigrant.
Year: 2022
Language: Hebrew / Arabic
Genre: History, Drama
What's Love Got to do with It
How do you find lasting love in today's world? For documentary-maker and dating app addict Zoe (Lily James), swiping right has only delivered an endless stream of Mr. Wrongs to her eccentric mother Cath's (Emma Thompson) dismay. For Zoe's childhood friend and neighbor Kaz (Shazad Latif), the answer is to follow his parents' example and opt for an arranged (or "assisted") marriage to a bright and beautiful bride from Pakistan. As Zoe films his hopeful journey from London to Lahore to marry a stranger chosen by his parents, she begins to wonder if she might have something to learn from a profoundly different approach to finding love.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Dark Asset
A charming guy attempts to pick up a woman in a bar by spinning a tale involving spies, implanted microchips and the dangerous military scientist hunting him.
Year: 2022
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action
Julia
JULIA will tell the story of the legendary cookbook author and television superstar who changed the way Americans think about food, television, and even about women. Using never-before-seen archival footage, personal photos, first-person narratives, and cutting-edge, mouth-watering food cinematography, the film will trace Julia Child's surprising path, from her struggles to create and publish the revolutionary Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961) which has sold more than 2.5 million copies to date, to her empowering story of a woman who found fame in her 50s, and her calling as an unlikely television sensation.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Documentary, Biography
A Glitch in the Matrix
What if we are living in a simulation, and the world as we know it is not real? To tackle this mind-bending idea, acclaimed filmmaker Rodney Asher (ROOM 237, THE NIGHTMARE) uses a noted speech from Philip K. Dick to dive down the rabbit hole of science, philosophy, and conspiracy theory. Leaving no stone unturned in exploring the unprovable, the film uses contemporary cultural touchstones like THE MATRIX, interviews with real people shrouded in digital avatars, and a wide array of voices, expert and amateur alike. If simulation theory is not science fiction but fact, and life is a video game being played by some unknowable entity, then who are we, really? A GLITCH IN THE MATRIX attempts to find out.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Hands that Bind
A farm hand struggles to establish roots for his family in a world that is increasingly unfamiliar and, as a darkness settles over the land and mysterious occurrences begin, his paranoia and desperation escalate.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama
All My Puny Sorrows
Based on the international best-selling novel by Miriam Toews, ALL MY PUNY SORROWS unexpectedly infuses wry humour into this heart-wrenching story of two loving sisters: one a gifted pianist (Sarah Gadon) obsessed with ending her life, the other a struggling writer (Alison Pill) who, in wrestling with this decision, makes profound discoveries about herself.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Prisoners of the Ghostland
In the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town, a ruthless bank robber (Nicolas Cage) is sprung from jail by wealthy warlord The Governor (Bill Moseley), whose adopted granddaughter Bernice (Sofia Boutella) has gone missing. The Governor offers the prisoner his freedom in exchange for retrieving the runaway. Strapped into a leather suit that will self-destruct within five days, the bandit sets off on a journey to find the young woman—and his own path to redemption.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action
Lost Leonardo, The
THE LOST LEONARDO is the inside story behind the Salvator Mundi, the most expensive painting ever sold at $450 million. From the moment the painting is bought for $1175 at a shady New Orleans auction house, and the restorer discovers masterful Renaissance brushstrokes under the heavy varnish of its cheap restoration, the Salvator Mundi’s fate is determined by an insatiable quest for fame, money and power. As its price soars, so do questions about its authenticity: is this painting really by Leonardo da Vinci?
Year: 2021
Language: English, French
Genre: Documentary
Mothering Sunday
A maid living in post-World War I England secretly plans to meet with the man she loves before he leaves to marry another woman.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Salvatore, Shoemaker of Dreams
In the early 20th century, impoverished teenage Italian cobbler Salvatore Ferragamo sailed from Naples to America to seek a better life. He settled in Southern California, and became Hollywood's go-to shoemaker during the silent era. In 1927, he returned to Italy and founded in Florence his namesake luxury brand. This feature-length documentary recounts his adventures.
Year: 2021
Language: Italian, English
Genre: Documentary
12 Mighty Orphans
12 MIGHTY ORPHANS tells the true story of the Mighty Mites, the football team of a Fort Worth orphanage who, during the Great Depression, went from playing without shoes—or even a football—to playing for the Texas state championships. Over the course of their winning season these underdogs and their resilient spirit became an inspiration to their city, state, and an entire nation in need of a rebound, even catching the attention of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The architect of their success was Rusty Russell, a legendary high school coach who shocked his colleagues by giving up a privileged position so he could teach and coach at an orphanage. Few knew Rusty's secret: that he himself was an orphan. Recognizing that his scrawny players couldn't beat the other teams with brawn, Rusty developed innovative strategies that would come to define modern football.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Sports, Drama, Family
Jockey
An aging jockey (Clifton Collins Jr.), hopes to win one last title for his longtime trainer (Molly Parker), who has acquired what appears to be a championship horse. But the years – and injuries – have taken a toll on his body, throwing into question his ability to continue his lifelong passion. And the arrival of a young rookie rider (Moises Arias), who claims to be his son, and whom he takes under his wing, further complicates the path to fulfilling his dream.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Cryptozoo
Cryptozookeepers try to capture a Baku, a dream-eating hybrid creature of legend, and start wondering if they should display these beasts or keep them hidden and unknown.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Fantasy, Animation
They Who Surround Us
A Ukrainian farmer living in Alberta loses his wife in a tragic accident. Guilt and grief send him into an emotional spiral where mysterious and inexplicable events force him to relive traumatic incidents from his childhood in Ukraine.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Censor
After viewing a strangely familiar video nasty, Enid, a film censor, sets out to solve the past mystery of her sister's disappearance, embarking on a quest that dissolves the line between fiction and reality.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Horror
First Date
Conned into buying a shady ‘65 Chrysler, Mike’s first date with the girl-next-door, Kelsey, implodes as he finds himself targeted by criminals, cops, and a crazy cat lady. A night fueled by desire, bullets and burning rubber makes any other first date seem like a walk in the park.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Comedy
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
Emi, a school teacher, finds her career and reputation under threat after a personal sex tape is leaked on the Internet. Forced to meet the parents demanding her dismissal, Emi refuses to surrender to their pressure.
Year: 2021
Language: Romanian
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Parallel Mothers
Two women, Janis and Ana, coincide in a hospital room where they are going to give birth. Both are single and became pregnant by accident. Janis, middle-aged, doesn’t regret it and she is exultant. The other, Ana, an adolescent, is scared, repentant and traumatized. Janis tries to encourage her while they move like sleepwalkers along the hospital corridors. The few words they exchange in these hours will create a very close link between the two, which by chance develops and complicates, and changes their lives in a decisive way.
Year: 2021
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama
Twist
A Modern take on the classic tale of Oliver Twist.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Action
Colony, The
Set in the distant future, a female astronaut, shipwrecked on the long-decimated Earth, must decide the fate of the wasteland's remaining populace.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi
Blood Conscious
A vacationing family turns the tables on a mass shooter who claims to be fighting demonic forces.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
False Positive
As if getting pregnant weren't complicated enough, Lucy sets out to uncover the unsettling truth about her fertility doctor.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
Boiling Point
Enter the relentless pressure of a restaurant kitchen as a head chef wrangles his team on the busiest day of the year.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama
I'm Your Man
In order to obtain research funds for her studies, a scientist accepts an offer to participate in an extraordinary experiment: for three weeks, she is to live with a humanoid robot, created to make her happy.
Year: 2021
Language: German, English
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Ninjababy
When Rakel (23), finds out she’s six months pregnant after a not-so-romantic one-night stand, her world changes. Her boyfriend, who’s not the father, is kind of ok with her having a baby. But Rakel is absolutely not ready to be a mother. Since abortion is no longer an option, adoption is the only answer. That’s when Ninjababy, an animated character who insists on making Rakel’s everyday life a living hell, turns up. He climbs out from her note book, jumps into her tea cup, and keeps reminding her what a terrible person she is.
Year: 2021
Language: Norwegian
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Only the Animals
Following the disappearance of glamourous housewife Evelyne Ducat (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) in the French highlands, the lives of five people inextricably linked to Evelyne are brought together to devastating effect as the local police investigate the case. Elegantly structured and darkly funny, Dominik Moll’s seamy thriller reveals the secret connections of a lonely farmer, an unfaithful husband and wife, a lovelorn waitress and an African con artist to expose a world of greed, lust, betrayal, desperation and murder spanning the wintery French highlands to the sun kissed streets of Sierra Leone. With his finest cast to date, including an astonishing performance by Denis Ménochet (Inglorious Bastards), ONLY THE ANIMALS finds Dominik Moll at the height of his filmmaking powers as he masterfully exposes the secret connections that lie at the underbelly of Evelyne’s disappearance.
Year: 2021
Language: Français
Genre: Drama
Gagarine
Youri, 16, has lived all his life in Gagarine Cité, a vast red brick housing project on the outskirts of Paris. From the heights of his apartment, he dreams of
becoming an astronaut. But when plans to demolish his community’s home are leaked, Youri joins the resistance. With his friends Diana and Houssam, he
embarks on a mission to save Gagarine, transforming the estate into his own “starship” – before it disappears into space forever.
Year: 2021
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Mayday
Ana is transported to a dreamlike and dangerous land where she joins an army of girls engaged in a never-ending war along a rugged coast. Though she finds strength in this exhilarating world, she comes to realize that she's not the killer they want her to be.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Fantasy, Drama
Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story
Celebrating the music, food, and arts and crafts of all of Louisiana since 1970, The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, also known as Jazz Fest, is an essential showcase of the rich heritage of the region, and hundreds of thousands attend the event each year. Local music heroes are joined on 14 stages by some of the most important figures in entertainment, highlighting the connections between Louisiana culture and the world.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Learn to Swim
After a tragic event, Dezi (Thomas Antony Olajide), a Toronto jazz musician, flees in an attempt to rebuild his life, only to find himself haunted by his grief and truths of his past.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Jesus Music, The
This documentary reveals Jesus Music's untold story - from its humble beginnings at the Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California through its transformation into the multi-billion-dollar industry of Christian Contemporary Music today.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Burning Sea, The
On Christmas Eve 1969, the Norwegian government announces something that will change Norway forever: One of the world's largest offshore oil discoveries is a fact, and Ekofisk becomes the start of an unprecedented financial adventure. 50 years of experience has given us many answers, but we might have yet to fully understand the consequences of our operations at sea. Will the adventure last or have we created one of the largest mass destruction weapons in the world?
Year: 2021
Language: Norwegian
Genre: Adventure, Drama
American Night
A neo-noir set in the New York City's corrupt contemporary art world where the art dealer John Kaplan and the ruthless head of New York's mafia, Michael Rubino, fight for money, art, power and love.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action
Last Man Down
John Wood left the pieces of a broken civilisation behind, to go back to his roots in the woodland, after a virus pandemic struck the world.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Action
American Sicario
Follows the story of a high-ranking Mexican-American lieutenant of the Feliz Cartel who was the first known American Sicario.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Action
Compartment No. 6
A young Finnish woman escapes an enigmatic love affair in Moscow by boarding a train to the arctic port of Murmansk. Forced to share the long ride and a tiny sleeping car with a larger than life Russian miner, the unexpected encounter leads the occupants of Compartment No. 6 to face major truths about human connection.
Year: 2021
Language: Russian, Finnish Saami
Genre: Drama
Red Rocket
Finding himself down and out in Los Angeles, ex porn star Mikey Saber decides to crawl back to his hometown of Texas City, Texas, where his estranged wife and mother-in-law are living. Just as this dysfunctional family seems to be making things work, Mikey meets a young woman named Strawberry working the cash register at a local doughnut shop.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Catch the Fair One
A former champion boxer embarks on the fight of her life when she goes in search of her missing sister.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story
American Underdog tells the inspirational true story of Kurt Warner (Zachary Levi), who went from a
stockboy at a grocery store to a two-time NFL MVP, Super Bowl champion, and Hall of Fame quarterback.
The film centers on Warner’s unique story and years of challenges and setbacks that could have derailed
his aspirations to become an NFL player – but just when his dreams seemed all but out of reach, it is only
with the support of his wife, Brenda (Anna Paquin) and the encouragement of his family, coaches, and
teammates that Warner perseveres and finds the strength to show the world the champion that he
already is. American Underdog is an uplifting story that demonstrates that anything is possible when you
have faith, family and determination.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Moonfall
In Moonfall, a mysterious force knocks the Moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision course with life as we know it. With mere weeks before impact and the world on the brink of annihilation, NASA executive and former astronaut Jo Fowler (Academy Award® winner Halle Berry) is convinced she has the key to saving us all – but only one astronaut from her past, Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson, “Midway”) and a conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman (John Bradley, “Game of Thrones”) believe her. These unlikely heroes will mount an impossible last-ditch mission into space, leaving behind everyone they love, only to find out that our Moon is not what we think it is. Directed by Roland Emmerich and written by Roland Emmerich & Harald Kloser & Spenser Cohen, the film also stars Michael Peña, Charlie Plummer, Kelly Yu, Eme Ikwuakor, Carolina Bartczak, and Donald Sutherland.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Sci-Fi
Agnes
Rumors of demonic possession at a religious convent prompts a church investigation into the strange goings-on among its nuns. A disaffected priest and his neophyte are confronted with temptation, bloodshed and a crisis of faith.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Drama
Barbaque
Year: 2021
Language: French
Genre: Horror, Comedy
You Are Not My Mother
In a North Dublin housing estate Char's mother goes missing. When she returns Char is determined to uncover the truth of her disappearance and unearth the dark secrets of her family.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Drama
Italian Studies
A writer loses her memory. Adrift in NYC, she connects with a group of teenagers - in conversations both real and imagined - and searches for a way home.
Year: 2021
Language: English & French
Genre: Drama
Wildhood
A rebellious two-spirit teenager runs away from home to find his birth mother and reclaim his Mi'kmaw heritage.
Year: 2021
Language: English, Mi'kmaq
Genre: Drama
Girl on the Mountain, The
When a reclusive backwoodsman finds a mute little girl wandering alone in the forest, he must protect her from the evil forces determined to end her life.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Thriller, Drama
Warhunt
In Warhunt, when Ruthless Major Johnson (Rourke) sends out a squad of his bravest soldiers (Rathbone, Knepper) on a dangerous rescue mission after the violent crash of a World War 2 cargo plane, they are soon attacked by a powerful, supernatural force. Fighting for their sanity and struggling to survive profound horrors, they must uncover the shocking truth behind the force before the Nazis, and remove all evidence that it ever existed, even at the cost of their own lives.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Action
Legend of la Llorona, The
While vacationing in Mexico, a couple discovers their son's disappearance is tied to a supernatural curse.
Year: 2021
Language: English, Spanish
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Requin, The
A couple on a romantic getaway find themselves stranded at sea when a tropical storm sweeps away their villa. In order to survive, they are forced to fight the elements, while sharks circle below.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Here Before
A taut and sophisticated psychological thriller set in Northern Ireland.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Hyperions, The
Professor Ruckus Mandelbaum invents the Titan badge, a dazzling new device that gives humans superpowers but also creates a rift between the empowered.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Action
So Cold the River
A documentary filmmaker's research on a town's mysterious benefactor unearths an unexplained evil while staying at a local resort.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Ultrasound
After his car breaks down, Glen spends one hell of an odd night with a married couple, setting into motion a chain of events that alter their lives plus those of several random strangers.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Sci-Fi
Indemnity
Theo Abrams is an ex-Cape Town fireman suffering from severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, unable to return to work due to the psychological trauma sustained during a failed rescue mission. An increasingly frustrated and volatile Theo's world is rocked when one morning, he wakes up next to his wife's murdered corpse with no recollection of what transpired and all evidence suggesting that he's killed her. When the police label him as the prime suspect, Theo goes on the run, and is soon being hunted by Deputy Chief of Police, Alan Shard, a notoriously ruthless soldier of the law, who is hell-bent on catching Theo as one last act of service before he officially retires. However, when an unknown third party is thrown into the mix, Theo discovers an alarming connection between the sinister forces hunting him in an attempt to silence him permanently for a reason he can't comprehend; and a recent investigation his wife was conducting into a global armament contractor. When connecting the dots becomes a matter of life and death, Theo becomes embroiled in a desperate fight for survival and must figure out who really murdered his wife before a terrifying conspiracy changes the course of a nation forever.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Action
Bull
Bull mysteriously returns home after a 10 year absence to seek revenge on those who double crossed him all those years ago.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Hostile Territory
In post-civil war America, when a Union soldier is presumed dead, his children are mistakenly sent away on the orphan train. This is a wild-west story of people uniting for the greater good, and children forced to grow up quickly.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Western
Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, The
Creatively unfulfilled and facing financial ruin, the fictionalized version of Cage must accept a $1 million offer to attend the birthday of a dangerous superfan (Pedro Pascal). Things take a wildly unexpected turn when Cage is recruited by a CIA operative (Tiffany Haddish) and forced to live up to his own legend, channeling his most iconic and beloved on-screen characters in order to save himself and his loved ones. With a career built for this very moment, the seminal award-winning actor must take on the role of a lifetime: Nick Cage.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Diabolik
The dark and romantic story of the first meeting between master thief Diabolik and Eva Kant, set in the fictional state of Clerville in the late 1960s. Inspector Ginko is on the hunt for the criminal, trying to stop his evil plans.
Year: 2021
Language: Italian
Genre: Crime, Action
How to Please a Woman
When her all-male house-cleaning business gets out of control, a mature woman must embrace her own sexuality, if she is to make a new life for herself.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Good Boss, The
Awaiting a visit by a committee that could give his company an award for excellence, the owner of an industrial scales manufacturing business tries to resolve any problems from his workers in enough time.
Year: 2021
Language: Spanish
Genre: Comedy
Shepherd
Eric Black is lost after the mysterious death of his adulterous wife. Running from his past to a new job as a Shepherd, he finds himself trapped alone on a majestic, weather-beaten island with an ominous secret. One mans spiraling madness meets a vengeful supernatural force. What starts as the perfect wind-swept escape becomes a race to save his sanity and his life
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Piggy
During the sweltering summertime of rural Spain, Sara carries an extra load of teenage agony due to the perpetual bullying from her peers. She’s also an outsider at home—her parents and little brother just don’t understand her—so, feelings internalized, she’s often found buried in her headphones, drowning out her surroundings. One day, Sara’s usual solo dip at the local pool is disrupted by the presence of a mysterious stranger in the water and an exceptionally grueling bout of abuse at the hands of three girls. But, in a strange twist of fate, along the way home Sara witnesses her bloodied tormentors being kidnapped in the back of the stranger’s van.
Year: 2021
Language: Spanish
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
Return of Tanya Tucker - Featuring Brandi Carlile, The
Decades after Tanya Tucker slipped from the spotlight, music star Brandi Carlile takes it upon herself to write an entire album for her hero based on Tanya's extraordinary life, spurring the greatest comeback in country music history.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Take the Night
When a resentful brother organizes a prank kidnapping, he unwittingly hires career criminals who have plans of their own.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
My Favorite Girlfriend
My Favorite Girlfriend is a sparkling, romantic comedy with a unique twist, starring Tyler Johnson (“Sons of Thunder”) and Bonnie Piesse (“Obi-Wan Kenobi”) from writer/director Amanda Raymond (You Are My Home). It’s complicated for new couple Conrad and Molly. He’s a handsome, aspiring chef who leads a perfectly structured life. She’s a cute, bubbly social media influencer prone to spontaneity. The attraction is immediate for the mismatched duo and everything is going great until Southern charmer “Vanessa” shows up. Followed by bad-ass rocker “Silk”, and more. The woman of Conrad’s dreams is actually several of them. Molly has multiple personalities which can switch in a heartbeat. Is he cheating on Molly if he has sex with “Silk?” And can he choose a favorite when he loves them all?
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Runner, The
After being busted for drug possession, Aiden, a troubled Teenager is forced by the cops to go undercover and risk his life to bring down a dangerous drug king pin.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Return to Seoul
After an impulsive travel decision to visit friends, Freddie, 25, returns to South Korea for the first time, where she was born before being adopted and raised in France. Freddie suddenly finds herself embarking on (an unexpected) journey in a country she knows so little about, taking her life in new and unexpected directions.
Year: 2021
Language: Korean
Genre: Drama
American Murderer
American Murderer is based on the true story of Jason Derek Brown - a charismatic con man turned party king who bankrolls his luxurious lifestyle through a series of scams. When his funds run low and his past catches up with him, he plots his most elaborate scheme yet and, in the process, becomes the FBI's most unlikely - and elusive - top ten fugitive.
Year: 2021
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Ambush, The
When three soldiers are ambushed in hostile territory, their commander leads a daring mission to rescue them. From the director of TAKEN.
Year: 2021
Language: Arabic
Genre: War, Action
Death of a Ladies' Man
Inspired by the work of Leonard Cohen, and set to some of his most beloved music, Death of a Ladies' Man tells the story of a carousing college professor whose life takes a series of unimaginable turns, and all the old stories are given a new twist, when he begins to have surreal hallucinations and learns he may not be long for this world.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Drama
My Salinger Year
In New York City in the late ‘90s, Joanna (Margaret Qualley) is a young aspiring writer who lands a day job at J.D. Salinger’s literary agency. While her eccentric, old-fashioned boss Margaret (Sigourney Weaver) assigns her to answer Salinger’s voluminous fan mail, Joanna struggles to find her own voice.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Pompéi
Victor and his little brother scrape by through the thieving of artifacts as part of a community of vagrant children.
Victor et son petit frère Jimmy survivent dans un environnement où la misère sentimentale semble éternelle. L’arrivée de Billie et son romantisme fou ébranlent les croyances de chacun…
Year: 2020
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Percy
Based on events from a 1998 lawsuit, PERCY follows small-town farmer Percy Schmeiser, who challenges a major conglomerate when the company’s genetically modified (GMO) canola is discovered in the 70-year-old farmer’s crops. As he speaks out against the company’s business practices, he realizes he is representing thousands of other disenfranchised farmers around the world fighting the same battle. Suddenly, he becomes an unsuspecting folk hero in a desperate war to protect farmers’ rights and the world’s food supply against what they see as corporate greed.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Biography
Ride Like a Girl
The incredible true story of Michelle Payne, who overcame impossible odds and became one of the first female jockey champions in the world.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Sports, Drama, Family, Biography
Lie Exposed
When recovering alcoholic Melanie (Leslie Hope) learns devastating news, she leaves her husband (Bruce Greenwood) in Toronto and heads to Los Angeles for a bender. In LA she meets a mysterious tintype photographer (Jeff Kober) and agrees to pose for him at his downtown studio. Upon her return to Canada, freshly sober Melanie and husband Frank stage a surprise art show for their friends. The exhibition of the tintype photos ignites passionate, provocative, incendiary and disparate discussions amongst the group, none of whom know Melanie is the subject of this intimate and provocative work.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Falling
John (Viggo Mortensen) lives with his partner, Eric (Terry Chen), and their daughter, Monica (Gabby Velis), in California, far from the traditional rural life he left behind years ago. His father, Willis (Lance Henriksen), a headstrong man from a bygone era, lives alone on the isolated farm where John grew up. Willis’s mind is declining, so John brings him west, hoping he and his sister, Sarah (Laura Linney), can help their father find a home closer to them. Their best intentions ultimately run up against Willis’s angry refusal to change his way of life in any way.
In his directorial debut, Mortensen explores the fractures and contrasts of a contemporary family. Willis’s abrasive nature, by turns caustic and funny, is aggravated by memory loss, bringing past and present into conflict. As father and son finally confront events that have torn them apart, including their differing recollections of John’s mother, Gwen (Hannah Gross), we embark on a journey from darkness to light, from rage and resentment to acceptance and hard-won grace.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Drama
We Summon the Darkness
A night of fun and youthful debauchery between three best friends and a group of aspiring musicians takes a deadly turn.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Comedy
Whistlers, The
A policeman intent on freeing a crooked businessman from prison on Gomera, an island in the Canaries. However, he must first learn the difficult local dialect, a language which includes hissing and spitting.
Year: 2020
Language: Romanian
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Comedy
Climb, The
Kyle and Mike are best friends who share a close bond - until Mike sleeps with Kyle's fiancée. The Climb is about a tumultuous but enduring relationship between two men across many years of laughter, heartbreak and rage. It is also the story of real-life best friends who turn their profound connection into a rich, humane and frequently uproarious film about the boundaries (or lack thereof) in all close friendships.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Slash/Back
In a remote Arctic community, a group of Inuit girls fight off an alien invasion, all while trying to make it to the coolest party in town.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Horror
I Still Believe
From the creators of I Can Only Imagine comes an inspiring love story for the ages. Rediscover the wonder of love in I STILL BELIEVE, the real-life story of chart-topping singer Jeremy Camp.
A hopeful reminder that faith tested is faith worth sharing, I STILL BELIEVE stars K.J. Apa, Britt Robertson, Nathan Parsons, Melissa Roxburgh, Shania Twain, and Gary Sinise. The new movie from Jon and Andrew Erwin (directors) and Kevin Downes (producer),
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Biography
Run
They say you can never escape a mother’s love... but for Chloe, that’s not a comfort — it’s a threat. There’s something unnatural, even sinister about the relationship between Chloe (newcomer Kiera Allen) and her mom, Diane (Sarah Paulson). Diane has raised her daughter in total isolation, controlling every move she’s made since birth, and there are secrets that Chloe's only beginning to grasp. From the visionary writers, producers and director of the breakout film Searching, comes a suspense thriller that shows that when mom gets a little too close, you need to RUN.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar
This summer break out of your shell with Barb and Star. From the gals who brought you BRIDESMAIDS (co-stars and co-writers Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo) comes BARB & STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR. Lifelong friends Barb and Star embark on the adventure of a lifetime when they decide to leave their small town for the first time…ever. Romance, friendship, a villain’s evil plot? Is there anything these two can’t handle? Hold onto your culottes because you’re about to find out.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Burnt Orange Heresy, The
An ambitious art critic steals a rare painting and becomes consumed by his own greed as the operation spins out of control, in Giuseppe Capotondi's (The Double Hour) thriller based on Charles Willeford's noir novel and starring Elizabeth Debicki, Donald Sutherland, Claes Bang, and Mick Jagger.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Beans
Inspired by true events, BEANS is about a Mohawk girl on the cusp of adolescence who must grow up fast and become her own kind of warrior during the armed stand-off known as the 1990 Oka Crisis.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Guns Akimbo
An ordinary guy gets guns bolted to his hands, and finds himself forced to fight a gladiator-like battle for a dark website that publicly streams the violent proceedings.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Action, Comedy
Best Sellers
A cranky, retired author reluctantly embarks on a final book tour to help out a young publisher.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Collective
Director Alexander Nanau follows a crack team of investigators at the Romanian newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor as they try to uncover a vast health-care fraud that enriched moguls and politicians — and led to the deaths of innocent citizens.
Year: 2020
Language: Romanian
Genre: Documentary
Antebellum
Successful author Veronica Henley (Janelle Monáe) finds herself trapped in a horrifying reality and must uncover the mind-bending mystery before it’s too late. ANTEBELLUM is a terrifying new thriller from directors Gerard Bush & Christopher Renz (BUSH/RENZ) and the producers of GET OUT and US.
Year: 2020
Genre: Horror
Cave Rescue
Based on the true nail-biting mission that captivated the world... An international team of elite divers is mobilized to rescue a boys soccer team trapped in a cave by rising floodwaters.
Year: 2020
Language: Chinese
Genre: Adventure, Thriller, Action
Australian Dream, The
The Australian Dream uses the remarkable and inspirational story of AFL legend and passionate advocate for Indigenous causes, Adam Goodes, as the prism through which to tell a deeper and more powerful story about race, identity and belonging.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Two of Us
Pensioners Nina (Barbara Sukowa) and Madeleine (Martine Chevallier) have hidden their deep and passionate love for many decades. From the point of view of those surrounding them, including Madeleine's meddling daughter (Léa Drucker), they are simply two neighbours sharing a hallway during their sunset years. In reality, this landing is a bridge between two worlds: one belonging to a widowed, doting grandmother, the other to a free-spirited, fiercely independent woman who longs to spend her life with the person she loves. Clandestinely, Nina and Madeleine share a tender life, moving freely between their apartments until, one day, an unexpected event closes the portal. In this new reality, their secret cannot remain hidden if they are to stay together — and their unconditional love is put to the test.
Year: 2020
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Six Minutes to Midnight
Summer 1939. Influential families in Nazi Germany have sent their daughters to a finishing school in an English seaside town to learn the language and be ambassadors for a future looking National Socialist. A teacher there sees what is coming and is trying to raise the alarm. But the authorities believe he is the problem.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Burden
When a museum celebrating the Ku Klux Klan opens in a South Carolina town, the idealistic Reverend Kennedy strives to keep the peace even as he urges the group's Grand Dragon to disavow his racist past.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Truffle Hunters, The
Deep in the forests of Northern Italy resides the prized white Alba truffle. Desired by the wealthiest patrons in the world, it remains a pungent but rarified mystery. It cannot be cultivated or found, even by the most resourceful of modern excavators. The only souls on Earth who know how to dig it up are a tiny circle of canines and their silver-haired human companions—Italian elders with walking sticks and devilish senses of humor—who only scour for the truffle at night so as not to leave any clues for others.
Still, this small enclave of hunters induces a feverish buying market that spans the globe. With unprecedented access to the elusive truffle hunters, filmmakers Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw (The Last Race, 2018 Sundance Film Festival) follow this maddening cycle from the forest floor to the pristine restaurant plate. With a wily and absurdist flare, The Truffle Hunters captures a precarious ritual constantly threatened by greed and outside influences but still somehow protected by those clever, tight-lipped few who know how to unearth the magic within nature.
Year: 2020
Language: Italian
Genre: Documentary
Shadow of Violence, The (fka Calm With Horses)
The enforcer for an Irish criminal family is torn between his loyalty to his bosses and his increasingly complex personal life. Starring Barry Keoghan.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Occupation: Rainfall
Two years into an intergalactic invasion of earth, survivors in Sydney, Australia, fight back in a desperate ground war. As casualties mount by the day, the resistance and their unexpected allies, uncover a plot that could see the war come to a decisive end. With the Alien invaders hell-bent on making earth their new home, the race is on to save mankind.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Action
Fight, The
When a migrant mother is separated from her child, when a transgender soldier is at risk to lose his career, when reproductive rights and basic voting rights are under attack — five unsung heroes take legal action to protect our freedoms.
THE FIGHT is an inspiring, emotional look at four pivotal cases and the lawyers on the front lines of relentless attacks on civil liberties. Directors Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, and Eli Despres capture the rollercoaster ride of the thrill and defeat in these deeply human battles.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Nine Days
A reclusive man conducts a series of interviews with human souls for a chance to be born.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Fantasy, Drama
Assassins
The puzzling murder of Kim Jong Un’s brother in an Malaysian airport sparks a captivating investigation. At the center of the story, two women are on trial. Who are they? Fierce assassins or pawns in a twisted game? The story goes far beyond the headlines, probing further into each woman’s upbringing, one in rural Indonesia and one in Vietnam. ASSASSINS questions every angle of this case, from human trafficking to high-level political espionage to the inner dynamics of the North Korean dynasty.
Year: 2020
Language: Korean
Genre: Documentary
I Am Greta
The story of teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg is told through compelling, never-before-seen footage in this intimate documentary from Swedish director Nathan Grossman. Starting with her one-person school strike for climate action outside the Swedish Parliament, Grossman follows Greta—a shy student with Asperger’s—in her rise to prominence and her galvanizing global impact as she sparks school strikes around the world. The film culminates with her extraordinary wind-powered voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to speak at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York City.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Amulet
An ex-soldier, living homeless in London, is offered a place to stay at a decaying house inhabited by a young woman and her dying mother. As he starts to fall for her, he cannot ignore his suspicion that something sinister is going on.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Horror
Death of Me
A husband and wife on a remote South Pacific island holiday awaken one morning with a hangover and no recollection of what transpired. When playing back a video of the previous night, they see they participated in a local ritual that somehow ends with him murdering her.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Alone
Set in the Pacific Northwest wilderness, the film follows recently widowed Jessica who, fleeing the city in a desperate attempt to cope, is kidnapped and locked away in a mysterious man’s cabin. Her escape from the clutches of this murderous captor land her in the heart of the untamed wilderness, with only her wits to rely on for survival as her pursuer closes in.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Stray
This beautiful film from director Elizabeth Lo brings us into the world of Zeytin, a stray dog living life on the streets of Istanbul. Deceptively simple and wonderfully touching, Stray is a tour-de-force of documentary filmmaking. Lo shows us the fragile world through Zeytin’s eyes, taking the audience to seemingly impossible places, all while staying quite literally grounded. Just when you think you have settled into the rhythm of the film, the brilliance of Lo’s vision becomes clear. The camera begins to focus not just on Zeytin and her ragtag bunch of fellow strays; we are also introduced to the revealing parallels of the young Syrian refugees that inhabit the same streets as these dogs.
Year: 2020
Language: Turkish, English
Genre: Documentary
The Tunnel
When a truck crashes inside a tunnel, people on their way home for Christmas are brutally trapped in a deadly fire. With a blizzard raging outside, and the first responders struggling to get to the accident, it’s every man for himself.
Year: 2020
Language: Norwegian
Genre: Thriller
398 Days: Hostage
The story of Danish photographer Daniel Rye, who was captured by ISIS in Syria in 2013 and held hostage for 398 days.
Year: 2020
Language: Danish
Genre: Drama
Breaking Surface
A winter diving trip in Norway turns into a desperate race against time for two sisters when one of them becomes trapped on the bottom of the ocean by falling rocks.
Year: 2020
Language: Swedish
Genre: Thriller
Mortal
A young man must discover the origins of his God-like powers before he is captured by the authorities.
Year: 2020
Language: Norwegian
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Action
Hidden Life of Trees, The
When Peter Wohlleben published his book "The Hidden Life of Trees" in 2015, he quickly entered bestseller lists. The forester wrote vividly about his experience that trees are able to communicate with each other, a thesis explored here.
Year: 2020
Language: German
Genre: Documentary
Boys vs. Girls
It’s the summer of 1990, and Camp Kindlewood is forced to go co-ed for the first time in its 77 year history, sparking a prank-filled battle of the sexes.
Year: 2020
Language: English
12 Hour Shift
Over the course of a twelve-hour shift, a nurse and a group of black market organ-traders attempt a heist that could lead to their demise. Co-starring David Arquette and Mick Foley.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Comedy
John Lewis: Good Trouble
Using interviews and rare archival footage, JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE chronicles Lewis’ 60-plus years of social activism and legislative action on civil rights, voting rights, gun control, health-care reform and immigration. Using present-day interviews with Lewis, now 80 years old, Porter explores his childhood experiences, his inspiring family and his fateful meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1957. In addition to her interviews with Lewis and his family, Porter’s primarily cinéma verité film also includes interviews with political leaders, Congressional colleagues, and other people who figure prominently in his life.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles
Documenting the collaboration between world renowned chef Yotam Ottolenghi (Jerusalem, Plenty) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, this feature film follows five visionary pastry makers as they endeavor to construct an extravagant food gala based on the art exhibit "Visitors to Versailles." Exploring the relationship between modern-day social media and the open court of the French Monarchy, the film studies the alarmingly cyclical intersection between food, culture, and history.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Another Round
There's a theory that we should be born with a small amount of alcohol in our blood, and that modest inebriation opens our minds to the world around us, diminishing our problems and increasing our creativity. Heartened by that theory, Martin and three of his friends, all weary high school teachers, embark on an experiment to maintain a constant level of intoxication throughout the workday. If Churchill won WW2 in a heavy daze of alcohol, who knows what a few drops might do for them and their students? Initial results are positive, and the teachers' little project turns into a genuine academic study. Both their classes and their results continue to improve, and the group feels alive again! As the units are knocked back, some of the participants see further improvement and others go off the rails. It becomes increasingly clear that while alcohol may have fueled great results in world history, some bold acts carry consequences.
Year: 2020
Language: Danish
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Love, Weddings & Other Disasters
In this multi-story rom-com, Oscar-winner Jeremy Irons and Maggie Grace are perfectionist wedding planners, even though their own relationships are far from perfect. Also starring Oscar-winner Diane Keaton.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Delete History
In a provincial suburb, three neighbours are overtaken by new technologies and social media. There's Marie, who could be about to lose the respect of her son because of a sex tape; Bertrand's daughter, a victim of online bullying; and Christine whose Uber ratings are refusing to take off. With the help of small-time crooks and a genuine hacker, they resolve to fight the mighty windmills of contemporary life: the Big Tech companies. Maybe their battle is screwed from the beginning - but you never know...
Year: 2020
Language: Français
Genre: Comedy
Zappa
With unfettered access to the Zappa family trust and all archival footage, ZAPPA explores the private life behind the mammoth musical career that never shied away from the political turbulence of its time. Alex Winter’s assembly features appearances by Frank’s widow Gail Zappa and several of Frank’s musical collaborators including Mike Keneally, Ian Underwood, Steve Vai, Pamela Des Barres, Bunk Gardner, David Harrington, Scott Thunes, Ruth Underwood, Ray White and others.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Don't Tell a Soul
When Matt (Fionn Whitehead) convinces his younger brother Joey (Jack Dylan Grazer) to rob a house to pay for their sick mother Carol’s (Mena Suvari) medical bills, security guard Hamby (Rainn Wilson) falls in a well chasing them. Now Hamby must match wits with these two teenagers, as Joey’s conscience gets the best of him wanting to help out Hamby, and Matt becomes increasingly aggressive, fearful they will be caught. As the tension rises, so does the violence, and as Joey tries to do what’s best for his family, these two brothers will come head to head, as Hamby tries to outsmart them both.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Wrong Turn
A hiking expedition in the Appalachian Trail goes horribly wrong when it is confronted by "The Foundation", a community of people who have lived in the mountains for hundreds of years.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Horror
I Carry You With Me
Academy-Award® nominee Heidi Ewing's luminous, moving debut as a narrative filmmaker, follows a tender romance spanning decades. Starting in provincial Mexico and continuing as first Iván, then Gerardo, journey towards sharing a life together in New York City, I CARRY YOU WITH ME is an intimate love story, as well as a soulful rumination on family, sacrifice, regret, and ultimately, hope.
Year: 2020
Language: Spanish & English
Genre: GLBT, Drama
Ip Man: Kung Fu Master
Ip Man’s promising career as a policeman is threatened when he’s framed for murder and targeted by the mob.
Year: 2020
Language: Mandarin
Genre: Action
Escape from Auschwitz
After capturing Kazimierz Piechowski at the Hungarian border, he is sent to Auschwitz where he is forced to move corpses from the gas chambers to the crematorium.
Year: 2020
Language: Czech with English subtitles
Supernova
Sam (Academy Award winner Colin Firth) and Tusker (Academy Award nominee Stanley Tucci) are traveling across England in their old RV to visit friends, family and places from their past. Since Tusker was diagnosed with dementia two years ago, their time together is the most important thing they have.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Derek DelGaudio's In & of Itself
Storyteller and Conceptual Artist Derek DelGaudio attempts to understand the illusory nature of identity and answer the deceptively simple question 'Who am I?'
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show
In February 1968, Johnny Carson gave up his chair to legendary singer, actor and activist Harry Belafonte, who would become the first Black American to host a late night TV show for a whole week.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Enforcement
For unclear reasons, a young immigrant taken into police custody has fallen into a coma. Meanwhile, two police officers are on routine patrol in a notorious Copenhagen ghetto area. When the news of the youngster’s death gets out, all hell breaks loose and the two edgy (anti)heroes have to fight tooth and claw for a way out. A sharp-edged adventure of life-and-death urgency that delivers an acute social commentary, without resorting to simpleminded blame games or clean-cut definitions.
Year: 2020
Language: Danish
Genre: Crime, Action
Bring Me a Dream
On the run for murder, Avery Quinn bursts into Alpha Omega Pi house looking for help. Desperate to prove her innocence and her sanity, she holds a handful of people hostage and forces them into the reality of her ongoing nightmare. As a last resort, she summons the legendary Sandman and from that point on, all of the unfortunate souls inside have two choices: Face their worst nightmares...or...face the Sandman
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Horror
Toll, The
A socially awkward driver and a weary passenger try to make it to their destination while being haunted by a supernatural force.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Vagrant
Frank - a homeless alcoholic - lives a fruitless existence. All that begins to change when he finds a puppy that was left to die in a garbage bin.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Delicieux
France, 1789, just before the Revolution. With the help of a surprising young woman, a chef who has been sacked by his master finds the strength to free himself from his position as a servant and opens the first restaurant.
Year: 2020
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Bandar Band
Manijeh Hekmat's music-infused twist on a road movie follows a band's day-long journey across a flooded landscape to Tehran.
Year: 2020
Language: Persian
Genre: Drama
American Traitor: The Trial Of Axis Sally
An American woman named Mildred Gillars broadcast Nazi propaganda during World War II. She was dubbed Axis Sally by the American GIs who simultaneously loved and hated her. The story plunges the viewer into the dark underbelly of the Third Reich's hate-filled propaganda machine, Sally's eventual capture, and subsequent trial for treason in Washington D.C. after the war.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Sun Children
12-year-old Ali and his three friends. Together they work hard to survive and support their families. In a turn of events that seems miraculous, Ali is entrusted to find hidden treasure underground.
Year: 2020
Language: Persian
Genre: GLBT, Drama
Riders of Justice
RIDERS OF JUSTICE follows recently-deployed Markus, who is forced to return home to his care for his teenage daughter after his wife is killed in a tragic train accident. But when a survivor of the wrecked train surfaces claiming foul play, Markus begins to suspect his wife was murdered and embarks on a mission to find those responsible.
Year: 2020
Language: Danish
Genre: Thriller, Action, Comedy
Held
In HELD, Emma (Jill Awbrey) and Henry's (Bart Johnson) marriage is losing its spark. In an effort to reconnect, they vacation to a remote high-end rental, complete with automated smart house features and integrated security. However, after suspecting a nighttime intruder they decide to flee, only to become forcibly trapped inside by the automated security system. Emitting from the house, an unknown 'Voice' watches their every move through an array of hidden cameras, revealing an intimate and unsettling knowledge of their relationship. While the situation grows increasingly brutal, Emma and Henry must work together to uncover the truth and find a way out before it's too late.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Initiation
Whiton University unravels the night a star-athlete is murdered, kicking off a spree of social media slayings that force students to uncover the truth behind the school's hidden secrets and the horrifying meaning of an exclamation point.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Crime
Human Voice, The
A woman watches time passing next to the suitcases of her ex-lover (who is supposed to come pick them up, but never arrives) and a restless dog who doesn’t understand that his master has abandoned him.
Year: 2020
Language: Italian
Genre: Drama
Swan Song
SWAN SONG follows retired hairdresser and local bar performer icon Pat Pitsenbarger (Kier) who has given up on life from the confines of his small-town Sandusky, Ohio nursing home. But when Pat gets word that a former client's dying wish was for him to style her final hairdo, he sets out on an epic journey across Sandusky to confront the ghosts of his past - and collect the beauty supplies necessary for the job. SWAN SONG is a comical and bittersweet journey about rediscovering oneself, and looking gorgeous while doing so.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Apples
Amidst a worldwide pandemic that causes sudden amnesia, middle-aged Aris finds himself enrolled in a recovery program designed to help unclaimed patients build new identities.
Year: 2020
Language: Greek
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Memories of My Father
The story about a Colombian writer's father. His father was an University md professor who promoted tolerance and human rights in his country. Writer exposes his feelings related to his lovely father and he describes his family story and all drama related with the killing of his father. It is a moving film based on a book with the same title. It is a sample of violence related events to political Colombia's social life during last three decades.
Year: 2020
Language: Spanish, English dub
Genre: Drama
Persian Lessons
Occupied France, 1942. Gilles (Nahuel Pérez Biscayart) is arrested by SS soldiers alongside
other Jews and sent to a camp in Germany. He narrowly avoids sudden execution by
swearing to the guards that he is not Jewish, but Persian.
This lie temporarily saves him, but Gilles gets assigned a life-or-death mission: to teach
Farsi to Head of Camp Koch (Lars Eidinger), who dreams of opening a restaurant in Iran
once the war is over.
Year: 2020
Language: German, French, English
Genre: War, Drama
Together
A husband and wife are forced to re-evaluate themselves and their relationship through the reality of the lockdown in London.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Drama
End of Us, The
After a savage breakup, two exes must continue living together when California issues its stay-at-home order for COVID-19. Now they'll try to move on without moving out.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Humans, The
Erik Blake has gathered three generations of his Pennsylvania family to celebrate Thanksgiving at his daughter’s apartment in lower Manhattan. As darkness falls outside and eerie things start to go bump in the night, the group’s deepest fears are laid bare. The piercingly funny and haunting debut film from writer-director Stephen Karam, adapted from his Tony Award-winning play, The Humans explores the hidden dread of a family and the love that binds them together.
Year: 2020
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Goalie
The life of a professional hockey player was not always a glamorous one. For legendary goaltender Terry Sawchuk, each save means one more gash to his unmasked face and one more drink to numb the pain. Even with a wife and seven children at home, he is haunted by the void left from his childhood which he tried to fill with cheering crowds. Sawchuk traveled across the country racking up 103 shutouts and 400 stitches to his face, proving that this is a man who lives, breathes, and dies a goalie.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Sports, Drama, Biography
Trading Paint
John Travolta, Shania Twain and Michael Madsen star in this thrilling race car actioner about a father-and-son driving duo and their nemesis.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Action
Berlin, I Love You
An omnibus of ten stories set in the German capital, this is the latest installment in the Cities Of Love franchise (Paris, je t’aime/New York, I Love You/Rio, Eu Te Amo), featuring a star-studded cast including Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren and Luke Wilson.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Breaking Habits
Cheated and betrayed by her bigamist husband of 17 years, once high-flying corporate exec Christine Meeusen fled penniless with her young children as
her American dream began to unravel.
Determined to fend for her family, she discovered the lucrative business of cannabis farming and met her calling as founder of medicinal-marijuana empire
Sisters of the Valley. Shedding her former life, Christine became Sister Kate — on a mission to provide her medicinal products to those in need.
Fighting off the county sheriff, and protecting her crop from deadly black market thieves, BREAKING HABITS is a story of rebellion, hope and revival.
This is Sister Kate’s journey to becoming the head of a fast growing enterprise and a voice for the unheard.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Body at Brighton Rock
Wendy, a part time summer employee at a mountainous state park, takes on a rough trail
assignment at the end of the season, trying to prove to her friends that she’s capable enough to do
the job. When she takes a wrong turn and ends up deep in the backcountry, she stumbles upon
what might be a potential crime scene. Stuck with no communication after losing her radio and
with orders to guard the site, Wendy must fight the urge to run and do the harder job of staying
put — spending the night deep in the wilderness, facing down her worst fears and proving to
everyone - including herself - that she’s made of stronger stuff than they think she is.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Drama
Come to Daddy
Norval’s (Elijah Wood) life has been, to put it lightly, difficult. Currently living home with his mother, the troubled young man is coming off alcohol-related struggles. So when he receives an unexpected letter from his estranged father requesting a visit, Norval catches a bus up to his dad’s secluded and scenic waterfront home. Maybe reconnecting with his father will give Norval the emotional fulfillment he’s been lacking. Before long, though, he notices something off about his dad, an uneasy feeling triggered by inappropriate comments and a possible over-dependence on booze. Norval quickly realizes that his hope of father/son bonding is doomed. Instead of a family reunion, he finds himself in waking nightmare.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Comedy
Unthinkable, The
TV, internet and telephone networks are down amidst a mysterious attack, and before anyone realizes what’s behind the collapse, a series of unexplained events begin to take place.
Year: 2019
Language: Swedish
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Action
Never Grow Old
When outlaws take over a peaceful American frontier town, an undertaker thrives until his family comes under threat and the death toll rises. Starring John Cusack.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Action, Western
Haunting of Sharon Tate, The
26-year-old pregnant Hollywood actress Sharon Tate (Hilary Duff) becomes plagued by visions of her imminent death at the hands of the Manson Family.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
Hail Satan?
A shocking and hilarious look at the quick rise and influence of the controversial, outsider religious group known as The Satanic Temple.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Ailo's Journey
Ailo's Journey is an uplifting story of a newborn Arctic reindeer’s first year of life, warmed by an endless mother’s love as she watches over his adventures with other creatures. Narrated by Donald Sutherland.
Year: 2019
Language: French
Genre: Adventure, Environment, Children, Documentary, Family
Vita & Virginia
VITA & VIRGINIA is the true story of the passionate relationship between literary trailblazer Virginia Woolf
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Biography
Brink, The
When Steve Bannon left his position as White House chief strategist less than a week after the Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally in August 2017, he was already a notorious figure in Trump’s inner circle, and for bringing a far-right ideology into the highest echelons of American politics. Unconstrained by an official post — though some say he still has a direct line to the White House — he became free to peddle influence as a perceived kingmaker, turning his controversial brand of nationalism into a global movement. THE BRINK follows Bannon through the 2018 mid-term elections in the United States, shedding light on his efforts to mobilize and unify far-right parties in order to win seats in the May 2019 European Parliamentary elections. To maintain his power and influence, the former Goldman Sachs banker and media investor reinvents himself — as he has many times before — this time as the self-appointed leader of a global populist movement. Keen manipulator of the press and gifted self-promoter, Bannon continues to draw headlines and protests wherever he goes, feeding the powerful myth on which his survival relies.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Domino
In a world wracked by terror and suspicion, a police officer seeks justice for his partner’s murder by a mysterious man. Directed by Brian De Palma, starring Guy Pearce and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Crime
Ask Dr. Ruth
The incredible life of Dr. Ruth Westheimer, a Holocaust survivor who became America's most famous sex therapist.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
There Are No Fakes
A painting by an iconic Native artist leads the rock star who buys it into the tragic, brutal world of an art forgery ring in Canada's far north.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Photograph
A struggling Mumbai street photographer pressured to marry by his grandmother convinces a shy stranger to pose as his fiancée during a family visit. Despite vast cultural differences, the pair develops a surprising connection that challenges their worldviews in a wistful and funny romance from Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox). Starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Sanya Malhotra.
Year: 2019
Language: Hindi, English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Souvenir, The
A young film student in the early 80s becomes romantically involved with a complicated and untrustworthy man.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Mystery
Cold Case Hammarskjöld
The mysterious death of a former United Nations Secretary-General is dug up decades later, uncovering an unbelievable crime far worse than anyone could have ever imagined.
Year: 2019
Language: English & French
Genre: Crime, Documentary
Bottom of the Ninth, The
After serving 17 years in prison for a violent crime, a former baseball player returns to his Bronx neighborhood. Starring Sofía Vergara, Joe Manganiello and Burt Young.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Sports, Drama
Where's My Roy Cohn?
Roy Cohn personified the dark arts of American politics, turning empty vessels into dangerous demagogues - from Joseph McCarthy to his final project, Donald J. Trump. This thriller-like exposé connects the dots, revealing how a deeply troubled master manipulator shaped our current American nightmare.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
David Crosby: Remember My Name
Meet David Crosby in this portrait of a man with everything but an easy retirement on his mind.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Documentary, Biography
Pavarotti
Featuring never-before-seen footage, concert performances and intimate interviews, Academy Award winning filmmaker Ron Howard examines the life and career of famed opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Documentary, Biography
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am
This artful and intimate meditation on the legendary story- teller examines her life, her works and the powerful themes she has confronted throughout her literary career.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Dead Water
When a relaxing getaway turns deadly, a former Marine must risk his life once again to save his wife and best friend from a modern-day pirate.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Mike Wallace is Here
A look at the career of '60 Minutes' newsman, Mike Wallace.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Pain and Glory
Pain and Glory tells of a series of reencounters experienced by Salvador Mallo, a film director in his physical decline. Some of them in the flesh, others remembered: his childhood in the 60s, when he emigrated with his parents to a village in Valencia in search of prosperity, the first desire, his first adult love in the Madrid of the 80s, the pain of the breakup of that love while it was still alive and intense, writing as the only therapy to forget the unforgettable, the early discovery of cinema, and the void, the infinite void that creates the incapacity to keep on making films. Pain and Glory talks about creation, about the difficulty of separating it from one’s own life and about the passions that give it meaning and hope. In recovering his past, Salvador finds the urgent need to recount it, and in that need he also finds his salvation.
Year: 2019
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Cunningham
The iconic Merce Cunningham and the last generation of his dance company is stunningly profiled in Alla Kovgan's documentary, through recreations of his landmark works and archival footage of Cunningham, John Cage, and Robert Rauschenberg.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Documentary, Biography
Tone-Deaf
In this suspenseful and hilarious thriller, a woman rents a country house from a mysterious widower who struggles to hide his psychopathic tendencies.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Comedy
American Dreamer
A rideshare driver who makes extra cash chauffeuring a drug dealer finds himself in a serious financial bind and decides to kidnap the dealer's child. Starring Jim Gaffigan.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Crime
Mob Town
Local trooper Ed Croswell (David Arquette) foils a mafia summit in rural New York and exposes the mob’s brutal tactics to the wider world.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Crime
3022
After Earth suffers a cataclysmic extinction-level event, four astronauts marooned on a dying space station must embark on a desperate fight for survival amidst the mind-shattering horror of what it means to be the last humans alive. Starring Kate Walsh and Omar Epps.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Sci-Fi
Danger Close
On a rubber plantation in August 1966, 108 young and inexperienced soldiers fight for their lives against 2500 Vietnamese forces.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: War, Action
After The Wedding
Seeking funds for her orphanage in India, Isabelle travels to New York to meet Theresa, a wealthy benefactor. An invitation to attend a wedding ignites a series of events in which the past collides with the present as mysteries unravel.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Vivarium
A young couple looking for the perfect home find themselves trapped in a mysterious labyrinth-like neighborhood of identical houses.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Sci-Fi
Mister America
From the hilarious minds of comedians Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington, the duo behind ON CINEMA, comes a political satire involving a murder charge, e-cigarettes, an EDM festival, and a campaign to unseat the San Bernardino District Attorney.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
I See You
In this nail-biting thriller starring Helen Hunt, strange occurrences plague a small-town detective and his family, as he investigates the disappearance of a young boy.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Rogue Warfare
In this shoot ‘em up actioner, a group of military operatives from around the world join forces to fight an elite underground terrorist network.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Action
Frankie
Three generations grappling with a life-changing experience during one day of a vacation in Sintra, Portugal, a historic town known for its dense gardens and fairy-tale villas and palaces.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Knives Out
Acclaimed writer and director Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper, Star Wars: The Last Jedi) pays tribute to mystery mastermind Agatha Christie in KNIVES OUT, a fresh, modern-day murder mystery where everyone is a suspect. When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan’s dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan’s untimely death. With an all-star ensemble cast including Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, LaKeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford and Jaeden Martell, KNIVES OUT is a fun, witty and stylish whodunit guaranteed to keep audiences guessing until the very end.
Year: 2019
Genre: Mystery
I Am Vengeance
An ex-soldier-turned-mercenary sets out to take down those responsible for the murder of his best friend and a sinister conspiracy.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Action
Easy Land
Jasna, a Serbian architect and mother, wants to create a better future for her daughter Nina, but her mental illness proves to be a problem in their relationship.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Drama
The Traitor
The real life of Tommaso Buscetta the so called "boss of the two worlds", first mafia informant in Sicily 1980's.
Year: 2019
Language: Italian
Genre: Drama, Crime, Biography
Jay & Silent Bob Reboot
The stoner icons who first hit the screen 25 years ago in CLERKS are back! When Jay and Silent Bob discover that Hollywood is rebooting an old movie based on them, the clueless duo embark on another cross-country mission to stop it all over again!
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Wrinkles the Clown
Forget Pennywise… Your worst nightmare’s come to life in this bonkers documentary about Florida’s infamous freaky clown who became an internet sensation when hired by parents to terrorize their naughty children.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Documentary, Comedy
Raise Hell: The Life & Times Of Molly Ivins
A passionate documentary on Molly Ivins, Pulitzer Prize-nominated political journalist, best-selling author, and Bill of Rights warrior, who took no prisoners, leaving both sides of the aisle laughing.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Scandalous
Sex! Gossip! Scandal! A wild and probing look at the most infamous tabloid in US history, the National Enquirer, and how it has fed our obsessions with the rich, famous and powerful by pumping out salacious, shocking stories, while stretching the limits of journalism and blurring the lines between truth and fiction.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Little Joe
A genetically engineered plant species scatters its seeds, causing uncanny changes in human beings, in this Cannes award-winning sci-fi.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Sci-Fi
Bombshell
Starring Academy Award® winner Charlize Theron, Academy Award® winner Nicole Kidman, Academy Award® nominee John Lithgow and Academy Award® nominee Margot Robbie, based on the real scandal, BOMBSHELL is a revealing look inside the most powerful and controversial media empire of all time; and the explosive story of the women who brought down the infamous man who created it. Directed by Emmy® Award winner Jay Roach and written by Academy Award® winner Charles Randolph.
BOMBSHELL also stars Emmy® Award winner Kate McKinnon, Golden Globe® nominee Connie Britton, Emmy® Award winnerMark Duplass, Emmy® Award nominee Rob Delaney, Golden Globe® nominee Malcolm McDowell and Academy Award® winner Allison Janney.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Greed
Michael Winterbottom skewers the fast-fashion industry in this scathing farce about the grotesque inequality between a retail billionaire (Steve Coogan) and the female garment workers who toil on his trendy clothing line.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Kill Team, The
A young American soldier in Afghanistan is disturbed by his commanding officer’s behaviour, and is faced with a violent and dangerous moral dilemma. Starring Alexander Skarsgard and Nat Wolff.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: War, Thriller, Action
In Fabric
In this haunting ghost story starring GAME OF THRONES' Gwendoline Christie, a cursed dress passes from person to person… with devastating consequences.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Comedy
63 Up
In this latest entry in the UP documentary series, director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults -- followed since their childhoods, beginning in 1964 -- after another seven-year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Great War, The
During the last days of World War I, a group of soldiers are sent behind enemy lines to rescue a lost platoon.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: War, Action
Last Vermeer, The
While Joseph Piller (Bang), a Dutch Jew, was fighting in the Resistance during the Second World War, the witty, debonair aesthete, Han van Meegeren (Pearce) was hosting hedonistic soirées and selling Dutch art treasures to Hermann Goring and other top Nazis. Following the war, Piller becomes an investigator assigned the task of identifying and redistributing stolen art, resulting in the flamboyant van Meegeren being accused of collaboration — a crime punishable by death. But, despite mounting evidence, Piller, with the aid of his assistant (Krieps), becomes increasingly convinced of Han's innocence and finds himself in the unlikely position of fighting to save his life.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Slay the Dragon
A secretive, high-tech gerrymandering initiative launched 10 years ago threatens to undermine our democracy. Slay the Dragon follows everyday people as they fight to make their votes matter.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Human Factor, The
With unprecedented access to the foremost American negotiators, THE HUMAN FACTOR is the behind-the-scenes story from the last 25 years, of how the United States came within reach of pulling off the impossible - securing peace between Israel and its neighbors. Today, the need to learn from past mistakes couldn't be more urgent.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Silencing, The
A reformed hunter living in isolation on a wildlife sanctuary becomes involved in a deadly game of cat and mouse when he and the local Sheriff set out to track a vicious killer who may have kidnapped his daughter years ago.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Action
Crazy About You
Dumped by his girlfriend and sponsored by media scoundrel Brian King, desolate Jake walks all-but-naked up Western Australia's coast for charity, in the hope his gesture will win back Jasmine, until he meets mesmerizing backpacker Valerie.
Year: 2019
Language: English
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Giant Little Ones (GLO)
Franky Winter (Josh Wiggins) and Ballas Kohl (Darren Mann) have been best friends since childhood. They are high school royalty: handsome, stars of the swim team and popular with girls. They live a perfect teenage life – until the night of Franky's epic 17th birthday party, when Franky and Ballas are involved in an unexpected incident that changes their lives forever. Giant Little Ones is a heartfelt and intimate coming-of-age story about friendship, self-discovery and the power of love without labels.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Drama
0r1g1n Unkn0wn
After the first manned mission to Mars ends in a deadly crash, an investigation uncovers a mysterious object under the surface that threatens the future of earth as we know it.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Sci-Fi
Higher Power
From the producer of the Transformers and G.I. Joe franchises, comes a new sci-fi movie with mind-blowing special effects that follows an ‘everyman’ who wakes up to discover he’s been given god-like powers that are controlled by a maniacal scientist.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action, Sci-Fi
God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness
The third installment in the GOD'S NOT DEAD film series. Pastor Dave responds to the unimaginable tragedy of having his church, located on the grounds of the local university, burned down.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Quake, The
In this pulse-pounding race-against-time disaster thriller, a family tries to survive a major earthquake. Sequel to THE WAVE.
Year: 2018
Language: Norwegian
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Action
Before We Vanish
Three aliens travel to Earth on a reconnaissance mission in preparation for a mass invasion. Having taken possession of human bodies, the visitors rob their hosts of the very essence of their being - all sense of good, evil, property, family, belonging - leaving psychological and spiritual devastation in their wake.
Year: 2018
Language: Japanese
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
Lemonade
Mara, a young Romanian woman, has just moved to the US with Dragos, her 9-year-old son, marrying Daniel, an American she has met only a few months ago. The film follows her through a series of revealing encounters during one day, from her problems of babysitting, her unplanned and uncomfortable meeting with a U.S. immigration official, to dealing with the police about her son she had to leave in a motel room and the bank issue for a loan with her husband.
Year: 2018
Language: Romanian
Genre: Drama
How to Talk to Girls at Parties
When a beautiful and rebellious alien teenager (Elle Fanning) meets a wannabe human punk-rocker, they embark on an adventure through the punk scene of 1970s London.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Samson
After losing the love of his life to a cruel Philistine prince, a young Hebrew with Supernatural strength defends his people, sacrificing everything to avenge his love, his people, and his God.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Action
In the Fade
Katja's life collapses after the death of her husband and son in a bomb attack. After a time of mourning and injustice, Katja seeks revenge.
Year: 2018
Language: German / Greek
Genre: Drama, Crime
Final Year, The
A sweeping, insiders’ account of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy team during their final year as they set out to define their legacy, promote diplomacy and react to the unexpected rise of Donald Trump. Featuring unprecedented access inside the White House, the State Department, and the machinery of American power.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
All the Devil's Men
A bounty hunter is forced to go on a manhunt for a disavowed CIA operative, which leads him to a deadly battle with a former military comrade and his private army.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Action
Occupation
A small group of town residents have to band together after a devastating alien ground invasion. As they struggle to survive, they realize they must stay one step ahead of their attackers, and work together for a chance to strike back.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
Black Water
A deep cover operative awakens to find himself imprisoned in a CIA black site on a submarine.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Action
Mercy, The
The nail-biting true story of an amateur sailor’s solo attempt to sail the globe. Starring Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Biography
An Ordinary Man
A fugitive war criminal forms a relationship with his only connection to the outside world - his maid - setting them both on a collision course with the past.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: War, Thriller, Drama
Under the Tree
UNDER THE TREE follows a man who is accused of adultery and forced to move in with his parents. While he fights for custody of his four-year-old daughter, he is gradually sucked into a dispute between his parents and their neighbors over an old and beautiful tree. What starts as a typical spat between suburban neighbors unexpectedly and violently reached a boiling point, soon spiraling out of control.
Year: 2018
Language: Icelandic
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Escape of Prisoner 614
Two inept, small-town Sheriff's Deputies catch an escaped prisoner that they believe was wrongly convicted.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Crime, Comedy
Final Score
When a packed sports stadium is seized by a group of heavily armed terrorists, an ex-soldier must use all his military skills to save the unknowing crowd.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Action
Kayak to Klemtu
14-year-old Ella is determined to travel the length of the Inside Passage, along the shores of the Great Bear Rainforest by kayak in order to testify against a proposed pipeline that would see oil tanker traffic through her beloved homeland waters. She's prepared to handle all of the challenges the wildlife, the weather, the water, and her gear have to offer up. The most challenging of all is that she has to bring her dysfunctional family with her. Her neurotic aunt, her cranky uncle, her wayward cousin, and the memory of her late uncle all come along for the ride to make it a fun and amazing adventure. From Tla'Amin to Klemtu, BC, this family navigates their blend of cultures and desires, while their spirits honour the coast as a place for each of us to call home and protect.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Canadian, Drama, Family
Mara
As a criminal psychologist digs into the mystery of an ancient demon who kills people in their sleep, she experiences the same petrifying symptoms as all previous victims and races to save herself before she dares to fall asleep again.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Crime
RBG
A look at the life and work of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Three Identical Strangers
A jaw-dropping, stranger-than-fiction tale of three long-lost identical brothers who are joyously reunited, only to discover an unimaginable secret about their pasts.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Speed Kills
John Travolta stars in this action-packed true story of an ‘80s speedboat champion and multimillionaire caught between the mob and the law.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Action
Skate Kitchen
In the first narrative feature from The Wolfpack director Crystal Moselle, Camille, an introverted teenage skateboarder (newcomer Rachelle Vinberg) from Long Island, meets and befriends an all-girl, New York City-based skateboarding crew called Skate Kitchen. She falls in with the in-crowd, has a falling-out with her mother, and falls for a mysterious skateboarder guy (Jaden Smith), but a relationship with him proves to be trickier to navigate than a kickflip.
Writer/director Crystal Moselle immersed herself in the lives of the skater girls and worked closely with them, resulting in the film's authenticity, which combines poetic, atmospheric filmmaking and hypnotic skating sequences. SKATE KITCHEN precisely captures the experience of women in male-dominated spaces and tells a story of a girl who learns the importance of camaraderie and self-discovery.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Boundaries
Single mom Laura (Farmiga), along with her awkward 14 year-old son Henry (MacDougall) is forced to drive Jack (Plummer), her estranged, care-free pot dealing father across country after he's kicked out of yet another nursing home. The road trip veers off course when Jack decides to make a couple 'stops' and Henry asks to see his ne'er-do-well dad Leonard (Cannavale), completely upending Laura's attempt to hold her family together and ultimately forcing her to finally see her father for the man he really is.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Puzzle
Agnes, taken for granted as a suburban mother, discovers a passion for solving jigsaw puzzles which unexpectedly draws her into a new world - where her life unfolds in ways she could never have imagined.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Bad Reputation
A music documentary that dives into the life and career of the first female punk rocker, Joan Jett.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Guilty, The
A dispatch duty police officer enters a thrilling race against time when he answers an emergency call from a kidnapped woman.
Year: 2018
Language: Danish
Genre: Thriller
Siberia
When an American diamond trader's Russian partner goes missing, he journeys to Siberia to find him. Starring Keanu Reeves.
Year: 2018
Language: English, Russian
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Action, Romance
Lizzie
Oppressed, independent-minded Lizzie Borden experiences a sexual awakening when a pretty new maid is hired and the two develop an intimate relationship. But Lizzie explodes in rage and violence when her domineering parents try to control her desires. A psychological thriller based on the infamous 1892 murders of the Borden family.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Mystery, Biography
Anthropocene: The Human Epoch
A cinematic meditation on humanity’s massive reengineering of the planet, ANTHROPOCENE: The Human Epoch is a four years in the making feature documentary film from the multiple-award winning team of Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, and Edward Burtynsky. Narrated by Alicia Vikander.
Year: 2018
Language: English, Russian, Italian, German, Mandarin, Cantonese, with English Subtitles
Genre: Documentary
Never Look Away
German artist Kurt Barnert has escaped East Germany and now lives in West Germany, but is tormented by his childhood under the Nazis and the GDR-regime.
Year: 2018
Language: German
Genre: History, Thriller, Drama
Quest of Alain Ducasse, The
With 23 restaurants worldwide and 18 Michelin stars, Alain Ducasse fearlessly continues creating trendy new places, building schools, writing books and launching major projects.
Year: 2018
Language: French
Genre: Documentary
Under the Silver Lake
From the dazzling imagination that brought you It Follows comes a delirious neo-noir fever dream about one man's search for the truth behind the mysterious crimes, murders, and disappearances in his East L.A. neighborhood.
Sam (Andrew Garfield) is a disenchanted 33-year-old who discovers a mysterious woman, Sarah (Riley Keough), frolicking in his apartment’s swimming pool. When she vanishes, Sam embarks on a surreal quest across Los Angeles to decode the secret behind her disappearance, leading him into the murkiest depths of mystery, scandal, and conspiracy in the City of Angels.
From writer-director David Robert Mitchell comes a sprawling, playful and unexpected mystery-comedy detective thriller about the Dream Factory and its denizens—dog killers, aspiring actors, glitter-pop groups, nightlife personalities, It girls, memorabilia hoarders, masked seductresses, homeless gurus, reclusive songwriters, sex workers, wealthy socialites, topless neighbors, and the shadowy billionaires floating above (and underneath) it all. Mining a noir tradition extending from Kiss Me Deadly and The Long Goodbye to Chinatown and Mulholland Drive, Mitchell uses the topography of Los Angeles as a backdrop for a deeper exploration into the hidden meaning and secret codes buried within the things we love.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Mystery
American Chaos
For six months before the election, director Jim Stern traveled red states asking about Donald Trump's appeal, and why voters were untroubled by things he had said and done. What he learned was a lesson in the central differences dividing America and the cultural divide that is tearing apart our democracy today.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Happy Prince, The
The last days of legendary poet, playwright and novelist, Oscar Wilde. Starring Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Emily Watson and Tom Wilkinson.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Biography
Shoplifters
After one of their shoplifting sessions, Osamu and his son come across a little girl in the freezing cold. At first reluctant to shelter the girl, Osamu’s wife agrees to take care of her after learning of the hardships she faces. Although the family is poor, barely making enough money to survive through petty crime, they seem to live happily together until an unforeseen incident reveals hidden secrets, testing the bonds that unite them...
Year: 2018
Language: Japanese
Genre: Drama, Crime
Support The Girls
The general manager at a highway-side ''sports bar with curves" has her incurable optimism and faith, in her girls, her customers, and herself, tested over the course of a long, strange day.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Summer of 84
In the summer of 1984, four teens suspect that their neighbor, a police officer, might be the serial killer being featured on the local news.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama, Mystery
Changing Saddles
A city teen decides to spend her summer at her family-owned horse ranch in a small southern town, and care for her sick mother.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Family
Capernaum
A politically-charged fable, featuring mostly non-professional actors, about a child who launches a lawsuit against his parents.
Year: 2018
Language: Arabic
Genre: Drama
Love, Gilda
In her own words, comedienne Gilda Radner looks back and reflects on her life and career. Weaving together recently discovered audiotapes, interviews with her friends, rare home movies and diaries read by modern day comediennes (including Amy Poehler), LOVE Gilda offers a unique window into the honest and whimsical world of a beloved performer whose greatest role was sharing her story.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
What Keeps You Alive
On the eve of their one-year wedding anniversary, Jules and Jackie become embroiled in a merciless fight for their lives when they find themselves pitted against the most unexpected of adversaries: each other.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Dogman
Marcello, a small and gentle dog groomer, finds himself involved in a dangerous relationship of subjugation with Simone, a former violent boxer who terrorizes the entire neighborhood. In an effort to reaffirm his dignity, Marcello will submit to an unexpected act of vengeance.
Year: 2018
Language: Italian
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
The House That Jack Built
The story follows Jack, a highly intelligent serial killer over the course of 12 years and depicts the murders that truly develop Jack as a serial killer.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
Woman At War
Halla is a committed undercover eco-terrorist trying to save Iceland’s natural landscapes from industrialist destruction, but when a long-desired child becomes available for adoption, she must choose between the greater good and her own dreams.
Year: 2018
Language: Icelandic
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Cold War
A passionate love story between two people of different backgrounds and temperaments, who are fatefully mismatched, set against the background of the Cold War in the 1950s in Poland, Berlin, Yugoslavia and Paris.
Year: 2018
Language: Polish, German, Yiddish, Ukrainian
Genre: War, Drama, Romance
Viking Destiny
In this battle-packed actioner, an exiled Viking princess builds an army in an attempt to win back her rightful throne.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Action
Becoming Astrid
A coming-of-age story depicting the early years of the beloved Swedish author of 'Pippi Longstocking', who defies the conventions of the time and builds a life and career as a single mother.
Year: 2018
Language: Swedish
Genre: History, Drama, Biography
Galveston
A hitman (Ben Foster) returns to his hometown where he rescues a young prostitute (Elle Fanning) and plans to exact revenge on the man who set him up. From the writer of "True Detective".
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Action
Sunset
1913, Budapest, in the heart of Europe. The young
Irisz Leiter arrives in the Hungarian capital with
high hopes to work as a milliner at the legendary
hat store that belonged to her late parents. She is
nonetheless sent away by the new owner, Oszkár Brill.
While preparations are under way at the Leiter hat store,
to host guests of uttermost importance, a man abruptly
comes to Irisz, looking for a certain Kálmán Leiter.
Refusing to leave the city, the young woman follows
Kálmán’s tracks, her only link to a lost past. Her
quest brings her through the dark streets of Budapest,
where only the Leiter hat store shines, into the
turmoil of a civilization on the eve of its downfall.
Year: 2018
Language: Hungarian
Genre: Drama, Mystery
White Crow, The
A young man of just 22, dressed in a black beret and a dark narrow suit, is on an airplane flying from St Petersburg to Paris. It is 1961 and Rudolf Nureyev, not yet the imperious figure of legend, is a member of the world-renowned Kirov Ballet Company, travelling for the first time outside the Soviet Union. Parisian life delights Nureyev and the young dancer is eager to consume all the culture, art and music the dazzling city has to offer. But the KGB officers who watch his every move become increasingly suspicious of his behavior and his friendship with the young Parisienne Clara Saint. When they finally confront Nureyev with a shocking demand, he is forced to make a heart-breaking decision, one that may change the course of his life forever and put his family and friends in terrible danger. From Nureyev’s poverty-stricken childhood in the Soviet city of Ufa, to his blossoming as a student dancer in Leningrad, to his arrival at the epicentre of western culture in Paris in the early 1960s and a nail-biting stand-off at the Le Bourget airport, “THE WHITE CROW” is the true story of an incredible journey by a unique artist who transformed the world of ballet forever.
Year: 2018
Language: Russian, English
Genre: Drama, Biography
Harrowing, The
A detective is plunged into a living hell when he goes undercover and unlocks the truth behind a demonic myth.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Broken Ghost
A family moves to Montana to escape their past but find themselves terrorized by ghosts and old secrets in their new, haunted house.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Tyrel
A black man attends an otherwise all-white weekend of drunken bro debauchery at a cabin in the Catskills.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Divide and Conquer: The Story Of Roger Ailes
Alexis Bloom charts the rise and fall of the late Republican Party booster and controversial Fox News mogul who went down in flames amid multiple sexual harassment allegations.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Mail Order Monster
A mail order robot monster helps a young girl cope with bullies at school.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Family, Sci-Fi
Border
When a border guard with a sixth sense for identifying smugglers encounters the first person she cannot prove is guilty, she is forced to confront terrifying revelations about herself and humankind.
Year: 2018
Language: Swedish
Genre: Thriller, Fantasy, Romance
Wind, The
In this sinister western-horror mash-up, a woman moves to the American frontier to settle it with her husband, ,but an evil presence soon makes itself know and infects her.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Western
Ruben Brandt, Collector
Ruben Brandt, a famous psychotherapist, is forced to steal 13 paintings from the world's
renowned museums and private collections to prevent his suffering from terrible nightmares he
has as a result of subliminal messaging he received as a child. Accompanied by his four patients,
he and his band of thieves strike regularly and with great success: the Louvre, Tate, Uffizi,
Hermitage, the Museum of Modern Art.
"The Collector" quickly becomes the most wanted criminal in the world. Gangsters and
headhunters chase him around the world while the reward for his capture keeps rising, approaching
a hundred million dollars. A cartel of insurance companies entrusts Mike Kowalski, a private
detective and leading expert on art theft, to solve the "Collector Case."
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Crime, Animation
Maiden
The story of Tracy Edwards, a 24-year-old cook on charter boats, who became the skipper of the first ever all-female crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Sports, Documentary
All Is True
The final days in the life of the greatest playwright of all time, William Shakespeare. Starring Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench and Ian McKellen.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: History, Drama, Biography
Aniara
A spaceship carrying settlers to Mars collides with an asteroid, knocking it off course. Slowly, the passengers realize they’ll never make it to their destination, or back to Earth…
Year: 2018
Language: Swedish
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
Red Joan
The story of Joan Stanley, who was exposed as the KGB's longest-serving British spy.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: History, Thriller, Drama, Biography
Blood Bound
Bound to an ancient pact, a family with unlimited powers descends upon a small rural town to ritualistically sacrifice people.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
King of Thieves
Michael Caine stars in the incredible true story of the biggest and most daring diamond heist in British history.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Comedy
Vanishing, The
Gerard Butler stars in this true crime psychological thriller about three lighthouse keepers locked in a tense battle for survival.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Aquarela
AQUARELA takes audiences on a deeply cinematic journey through the transformative beauty and raw power of water. Captured at a rare 96 frames-per-second, the film is a visceral wake-up call that humans are no match for the sheer force and capricious will of Earth’s most precious element. From the precarious frozen waters of Russia’s Lake Baikal to Miami in the throes of Hurricane Irma to Venezuela’s mighty Angel Falls, water is AQUARELA’s main character, with director Victor Kossakovsky capturing her many personalities in startling cinematic clarity.
Year: 2018
Language: Russian, English
Genre: Environment, Documentary
Black '47
An Irish mercenary fighting for the British Army abandons his post to seek revenge on those responsible for the death of his family, in this action-packed war thriller. Starring Hugo Weaving, Barry Keoghan, Jim Broadbent, James Frecheville and Stephen Rea.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action
Peterloo
The epic recreation of the 1819 Peterloo Massacre, where British forces attacked a peaceful pro-democracy rally in Manchester. Directed by 7-time Oscar nominee, Mike Leigh.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: History, War, Drama
Vigilante, A
In this thrilling crime mystery, a vigilante (Olivia Wilde) helps victims escape their domestic abuser.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Mystery
Boat, The
A lone fisherman encounters an abandoned sailboat, soon finding himself caught in a fight for survival against an unknown enemy.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Public, The
When the homeless occupy a city library to escape freezing temperatures, it triggers an extreme reaction by local authorities and media. Starring Alec Baldwin, Emilio Estevez and Taylor Schilling.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Professor, The (FKA Richard Says Goodbye)
A college professor (Johnny Depp) lives his life with reckless abandon, a biting sense of humor, and a touch of madness.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Dead Trigger
In the near future, a deadly virus has turned millions into bloodthirsty zombies. Unable to stop the virus, the government recruits an elite team to combat the zombie menace. Starring Dolph Lundgren.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Action, Sci-Fi
The Command (FKA Hostile Waters FKA Kursk)
In this nail-biting action-thriller, sailors fight for survival on a sinking submarine while their families desperately battle political obstacles and impossible odds to save them.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: History, Thriller, Drama, Action
Nightingale, The
From the writer and director of The Babadook. A young Irish convict chases a British officer through the wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence committed against her family.
Year: 2018
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Action, Western
Grizzlies, The
Inuit youth in a small community gain a powerful sense of pride through the sport of lacrosse, in this true-story account of tenacity, renewal, and inspiring resilience.
Year: 2018
Language: English, Inuktitut
Genre: Sports, Drama, Biography
Happy End
Isabelle Huppert stars in this drama about a well-off French family living in a bourgeois bubble in northern France, oblivious to the human misery unfolding in migrant camps a few miles from their home.
Year: 2017
Language: French, English
Genre: Drama
Black Site Delta
A group of military prisoners must fight off a terrorist attack on their prison which, unbeknownst to them, is a cover for a secret drone control facility.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Action
Menashe
Performed entirely in Yiddish, a language not used in cinema for many decades, MENASHE follows a kind, hapless grocery store clerk as he struggles to make ends meet and responsibly parent his young son, Rieven. But in the wake of his wife Leah’s death, tradition prohibits Menashe from raising his son alone, so Rieven’s strict uncle adopts him, leaving Menashe heartbroken. Meanwhile, though Menashe seems to bungle every challenge in his path, his rabbi grants him one special week with Rieven before Leah’s memorial and a chance to prove himself a suitable man of faith and fatherhood.
Year: 2017
Language: Yiddish
Genre: Drama
Case For Christ, The
Based on the true story of an award-winning investigative journalist -- and avowed atheist -- who applies his well-honed journalistic and legal skills to disprove the newfound Christian faith of his wife... with unexpected, life-altering results.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Biography
Beach Rats
Frankie, an aimless teenager on the outer edges of Brooklyn, is having a miserable summer. With his father dying and his mother wanting him to find a girlfriend, Frankie escapes by causing trouble with his delinquent friends and flirting with older men online. As his chatting and webcamming intensify, Frankie simultaneously enters into a cautious relationship with a young woman. Inevitably, Frankie’s struggle to reconcile his competing desires lead to irreparable consequences.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Resurrection of Gavin Stone, The
A struggling actor is forced to do community service at a local church and pretends to be Christian so he can land the part of Jesus in their annual Passion Play, only to discover that the most important role of his life is far from Hollywood.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Family
Call Me By Your Name
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, the new film by Luca Guadagnino, is a sensual and transcendent tale of first love, based on the acclaimed novel by André Aciman. It’s the summer of 1983 in the north of Italy, and Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet), a precocious 17- year-old American-Italian boy, spends his days in his family’s 17th century villa transcribing and playing classical music, reading, and flirting with his friend Marzia (Esther Garrel). Elio enjoys a close relationship with his father (Michael Stuhlbarg), an eminent professor specializing in Greco-Roman culture, and his mother Annella (Amira Casar), a translator, who favor him with the fruits of high culture in a setting that overflows with natural delights. While Elio’s sophistication and intellectual gifts suggest he is already a fully-fledged adult, there is much that yet remains innocent and unformed about him, particularly about matters of the heart. One day, Oliver (Armie Hammer), a charming American scholar working on his doctorate, arrives as the annual summer intern tasked with helping Elio’s father. Amid the sun-drenched splendor of the setting, Elio and Oliver discover the heady beauty of awakening desire over the course of a summer that will alter their lives forever.
Year: 2017
Language: English, French
Genre: Drama, Romance
Novitiate
Spanning over a decade from the early 1950s through to the mid-60s, NOVITIATE is about a young girl's first experience with love. In this case, her first love is God. Raised by a vehemently non-religious, single mother in rural Tennessee, a scholarship to Catholic school soon finds Cathleen drawn into all the mystery and romanticism of a life devoted to the worship and servitude of God. With the dawn of the Vatican II era, radical changes in the Church are threating the course of nuns’ lives. Cathleen finds herself struggling with issues of faith, sexuality, and the changing administration. As she progresses from the postulant to the novitiate stage of training, she finds her faith repeatedly confronted and challenged by the harsh, often inhumane realities of being a servant of God.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Fantastic Woman, A
A transgender singer faces scorn and discrimination after the sudden death of her older boyfriend.
Year: 2017
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama
Brigsby Bear
Brigsby Bear Adventures is a children's TV show produced for an audience of one: James. When the show abruptly ends, James's life changes forever, and he sets out to finish the story...
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Blind
A novelist (Alec Baldwin), blinded in a car crash which killed his wife, embarks on an affair with the neglected wife (Demi Moore) of an indicted businessman.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Wilde Wedding, The
While preparing for her wedding to husband number four (Patrick Stewart), a retired film star (Glenn Close) invites husband number one (John Malkovich) and their collective families to a summer weekend in the country.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Ghost Story, A
With A Ghost Story, acclaimed director David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Pete’s Dragon) returns with a singular exploration of legacy, loss, and the essential human longing for meaning and connection. Recently deceased, a white-sheeted ghost (Academy Award-winner Casey Affleck) returns to his suburban home to console his bereft wife (Academy Award-nominee Rooney Mara), only to find that in his spectral state he has become unstuck in time, forced to watch passively as the life he knew and the woman he loves slowly slip away. Increasingly unmoored, the ghost embarks on a cosmic journey through memory and history, confronting life’s ineffable questions and the enormity of existence. An unforgettable meditation on love and grief, A Ghost Story emerges ecstatic and surreal—a wholly-unique experience that lingers long after the credits roll.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Romance
It Comes At Night
Imagine the end of the world. Now imagine something worse. Award-winning filmmaker Trey Edward Shults follows his breakout debut KRISHA with the psychological horror-thriller IT COMES AT NIGHT, centering on a teenaged boy (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.) as he grapples with mounting terrors — external and otherwise — in the aftermath of an unnamed cataclysm. Secure within a desolate home with his vigilant, protective and heavily armed parents (Joel Edgerton and Carmen Ejogo), 17-year-old Travis navigates fear, grief and paranoia amid scarce resources as a desperate young couple (Christopher Abbott and Riley Keough), with their own child, seeks refuge in his family home. Despite the best intentions of both families, panic and mistrust boil over as the horrors of the outside world creep ever closer. But they are nothing compared to the horrors within, where Travis discovers that his father’s commitment to protecting the family may cost him his soul.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery
6 Days
In 1980, armed gunmen stormed the Iranian Embassy in London, England, taking everyone hostage. After 6 days, a group of highly trained SAS soldiers launched an epic raid to end the standoff.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: History, Thriller, Drama, Action
Churchill
Tensions mount for the beleaguered British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Brian Cox) in the days leading up to infamous Allied D-Day landings in Normandy, France in June, 1944. Fearful of repeating his deadly mistakes from World War I in the Battle of Gallipoli, exhausted by years of war, plagued by depression and obsessed with his historical destiny, Churchill is reluctant to embark on the large-scale campaign, one that the entire war effort hinges upon. Clashing with his Allied political opponents U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower (John Slattery) and British Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery (Julian Wadham), the troubled Churchill receives support and devotion from his wife, the brilliant and unflappable Clementine Churchill (Miranda Richardson). With her strength and shrewdness, “Clemmie” halts Winston’s physical, mental spiritual collapse and inspires him on to greatness.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: History, War, Drama, Biography
Borg vs. McEnroe
The story of the tennis rivalry between the placid Björn Borg and the volatile John McEnroe, culminating in their encounter at the 1980 Wimbledon Championships men's final.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Sports, Drama, Biography
Racer And The Jailbird, The
Set against the background of a brutal crime gang in Brussels, a tragic love story between Gigi, a high-flying gangster, and Bibi, a young racing driver with very upper-class roots.
Year: 2017
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Crime
Roxanne, Roxanne
In the early 1980s, the most feared battle MC in Queens, New York, was a fierce teenage girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders. At the age of 14, Lolita "Roxanne Shanté" Gooden was well on her way to becoming a hip-hop legend as she hustled to provide for her family while defending herself from the dangers of the streets of the Queensbridge Projects in NYC.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Biography
Ingrid Goes West
Following a series of self-inflicted setbacks, young Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza) escapes a humdrum existence by moving out West to befriend her Instagram obsession and LA socialite Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen). After a quick bond is forged between these unlikeliest of friends, the façade begins to crack in both women's lives — with comically malicious results.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Marjorie Prime
Eighty-six-year-old Marjorie spends her final, ailing days with a computerized version of her deceased husband. With the intent to recount their life together, Marjorie's "Prime" relies on the information from her and her kin to develop a more complex understanding of his history. As their interactions deepen, the family begins to develop ever diverging recounts of their lives, drawn into the chance to reconstruct the often painful past. Built around exceptional performances from a veteran cast, MARJORIE PRIME shines a light on an often-obscured corner in the world of artificial intelligence and its interactions with mortality. Bringing us robustly into the future, Michael Almaryeda's poetic film forces us to face the question - If we had the opportunity, how would we choose to rebuild the past, and what would we decide to forget?
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Mystery
Hunter's Prayer, The
Lucas, (Sam Worthington), a solitary assassin, is hired to kill a young woman, Ella, (Odeya Rush) but when he can’t bring himself to pull the trigger, the plan falls apart, setting in motion a twisted game of cat and mouse. Now both are marked for death and forced to form an uneasy alliance. Relentlessly pursued across Europe, Their only hope for survival is to expose those responsible for brutally murdering her family and bring them to justice.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action
Lovers, The
Debra Winger and Tracy Letts play a long-married, dispassionate couple who are both in the midst of serious affairs. But on the brink of calling it quits, a spark between them suddenly reignites, leading them into an impulsive romance.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Kill Switch
A pilot battles to save his family and the planet after an experiment for unlimited energy goes wrong.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action, Sci-Fi
Gracefield Incident, The
A video game developer embeds a camera into his prosthetic eye, which inadvertently captures a terrifying battle against extraterrestrials.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Action, Sci-Fi, Mystery
Small Town Crime
An alcoholic ex-cop (John Hawkes) seeks justice for the murder of a teen prostitute in this gritty crime-noir. Also starring Octavia Spencer and Robert Forster.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Brimstone and Glory
The National Pyrotechnic Festival in Tultepec, Mexico is a site of festivity unlike any other in the world. In celebration of San Juan de Dios, patron saint of firework makers, conflagrant revelry engulfs the town for ten days. Artisans show off their technical virtuosity, up-and-comers create their own rowdy, lofi combustibles, and dozens of teams build larger-than-life papier-mâché bulls to parade into the town square, adorned with fireworks that blow up in all directions. More than three quarters of Tultepec’s residents work in pyrotechnics, making the festival more than revelry for revelry’s sake. It is a celebration that anchors a way of life built around a generations-old, homegrown business of making fireworks by hand. For the people of Tultepec, the National Pyrotechnic Festival is explosive celebration, unrestrained delight and real peril. Plunging headlong into the fire, Brimstone & Glory honors the spirit of Tultepec’s community and celebrates celebration itself.
Year: 2017
Genre: Documentary
Little Hours, The
Medieval nuns Alessandra (Alison Brie), Fernanda (Aubrey Plaza), and Ginevra (Kate Micucci) lead a simple life in their convent. Their days are spent chafing at monastic routine, spying on one another, and berating the estate’s day laborer. After a particularly vicious insult session drives the peasant away, Father Tommasso (John C. Reilly) brings on new hired hand Massetto (Dave Franco), a virile young servant forced into hiding by his angry lord. Introduced to the sisters as a deaf-mute to discourage temptation, Massetto struggles to maintain his cover as the repressed nunnery erupts in a whirlwind of pansexual horniness, substance abuse, and wicked revelry.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Armed Response
When a team of highly trained operatives becomes trapped inside an isolated military compound, they begin to experience strange and horrific phenomena as they hunt down what killed the previous team.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
7 Sisters
Seven identical sisters (all portrayed by Noomi Rapace) live a hide-and-seek existence in an overpopulated future world that has limited families to one child.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi
Gun Shy
An aging rock star (Antonio Banderas) is forced to navigate deadly jungles and ruthless bandits to rescue his super-model wife (Olga Kurylenko) from kidnappers.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Action
Take Every Wave
TAKE EVERY WAVE tracks the remarkable life and legendary career of big wave surfer Laird Hamilton. Much admired by the public, though often disdained or ignored by the surf industry itself, Laird is a unique sports icon — an athlete who has refused to compete professionally yet has dominated big wave surfing as no other figure in history has ever done. Laird's biographical story is told against the backdrop of a winter surf season on Kauai, where El Niño storm systems threaten to bring the biggest surf in decades. Mixing never-before-seen archival footage, with contemporary verité scenes shot in Southern California, Bermuda and Kauai, TAKE EVERY WAVE weaves the past and present into an intimate and compelling portrait of a superstar athlete at the top of his game. Threaded throughout is a revealing, deeply personal interview with Laird as well conversations with the family members, friends, collaborators and detractors who know him best. Take Every Wave provides an intimate, uncompromising look at a lifetime devoted to riding giant surf—and the price an athlete pays for greatness.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Sports, Documentary
Loving Vincent
On July 27, 1890, a gaunt figure stumbled down a drowsy high street at twilight in the small French country town of Auvers. The man was carrying nothing; his hands clasped to a fresh bullet wound leaking blood from his belly. This was Vincent van Gogh, then a little known artist; now the most famous artist in the world. His tragic death has long been known, what has remained a mystery is how and why he came to be shot. LOVING VINCENT tells that story.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Animation, Mystery, Biography
Adam at the Wedding
Still reeling from his break-up with his college sweetheart Allison (Cobie Smulders), Adam (Justin Long) is devastated when she invites him to her wedding.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Killing Gunther
A group of assassins decide to kill Gunther (Arnold Schwarzenegger), the world's greatest hit-man, but their plan turns into a series of fumbled encounters as Gunther seems to always be one step ahead.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Action, Comedy
Singularity
In 2020, a super-computer attacks mankind. Ninety-seven years later, a teenage boy, lost in a world run by machines, meets a female survivor searching for the last human stronghold. Starring John Cusack.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi
Only Living Boy in New York, The
Thomas Webb (Callum Turner), the son of a publisher and an artistic wife, has just graduated from college and is trying to find his place in the world. Moving from his parents' Upper West Side apartment to the Lower East Side, he befriends his neighbor W.F. (Jeff Bridges), a shambling alcoholic writer who dispenses worldly wisdom alongside healthy shots of whiskey. Thomas's world begins to shift when he discovers his long-married father (Pierce Brosnan) is having an affair with a seductive younger woman (Kate Beckinsale). Determined to break up the relationship, Thomas ends up sleeping with his father's mistress, launching a chain of events that will change everything he thinks he knows about himself and his family.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Mark Felt - The Man Who Brought Down the White House
MARK FELT - THE MAN WHO BROUGHT DOWN THE WHITE HOUSE centers on “Deep Throat”, the pseudonym given to the notorious whistleblower for one of the greatest scandals of all time, Watergate. The true identity of the secret informant remained a mystery and source of much public curiosity and speculation for more than 30 years. That is until, in 2005, special agent Mark Felt shockingly revealed himself as the tipster. This unbelievable true story chronicles the personal and professional life of the brilliant and uncompromising Felt, who risked and ultimately sacrificed everything – his family, his career, his freedom – in the name of justice.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: History, Thriller, Drama, Biography
Ava
Coming of age among the strict traditions of Iran, Ava's life is dictated by rules. As she struggles to find her place within a culture of authority, Ava is pushed deeper into isolation as she challenges duty, family, and the hypocrisy of her surroundings.
Year: 2017
Language: Farsi
Genre: Drama
Meditation Park
Mina Shum directs an all-star cast — including Cheng Pei Pei, Sandra Oh, Tzi Ma, and Don McKellar — in her latest feature, about a devoted wife and mother who is forced to reassess her reverence for her husband after she finds another woman’s undergarment in his laundry.
Year: 2017
Language: English, Cantonese
Genre: Drama
Band Aid
In a last-ditch effort to save their marriage, Anna and Ben decide to turn all of their fights into songs, and with the help of their neighbor, Dave (Fred Armisen), they start a band.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Tribes of Palos Verdes, The
When the situation at her idyllic Palos Verdes home turns volatile, young Medina attempts to surf her way to happiness. Starring Jennifer Garner and Alicia Silverstone.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Walking Out
An estranged father and son are forced to rely on one another to survive an unforgiving wilderness in this riveting story of survival.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Thriller, Drama, Mystery
I Remember You
An elderly woman hangs herself in a church. A grieving father searches for the truth about what happened to his missing son. And a trio of young city dwellers unleash a sinister force when they begin renovating a cursed home on a remote island. They don't know it yet, but each of these strangers is connected by a disturbing, decades-old secret -- a mystery that holds the key to a series of terrifying supernatural events. Based on the acclaimed novel by the "Queen of Icelandic Crime," this atmospheric chiller is both a hair-raising ghost story and a powerful tale of life beyond death.
Year: 2017
Language: Icelandic
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama, Mystery
Rebel in the Rye
The world of legendary writer J. D. Salinger is brought vividly to life in this revealing look at the experiences that shaped one of the most renowned, controversial, and enigmatic authors of our time. Set amidst the colorful backdrop of mid-20th century New York City, REBEL IN THE RYE follows a young Salinger (Nicholas Hoult) as he struggles to find his voice, pursues a love affair with famed socialite Oona O'Neill (Zoey Deutch), and fights on the frontlines of World War II. It’s these experiences that will inform the creation of his masterpiece, The Catcher in the Rye, bringing him overnight fame (and notoriety) and leading him to withdraw from the public eye for the rest of his life. Co-starring Kevin Spacey and Sarah Paulson, REBEL IN THE RYE offers a tantalizing window into the life and times of a little-understood genius who broke the rules and redefined American literature.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Biography
Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
Based on Peter Turner’s memoir, the film follows the playful but passionate relationship between Turner (Jamie Bell) and the eccentric Academy Award®-winning actress Gloria Grahame (Annette Bening) in 1978 Liverpool. What starts as a vibrant affair between a legendary femme fatale and her young lover quickly grows into a deeper relationship, with Turner being the person Gloria turns to for comfort. Their passion and lust for life is tested to the limits by events beyond their control.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Biography
Final Portrait
FINAL PORTRAIT is the story of the touching and offbeat friendship between American writer and art-lover James Lord and Alberto Giacometti, as seen through Lord’s eyes and revealing unique insight into the beauty, frustration, profundity and sometimes the chaos of the artistic process. Set in 1964, while on a short trip to Paris, Lord is asked by his friend, Giacometti, to sit for a portrait. The process, promises Giacometti, will take only a few days and so Lord agrees — ultimately wondering “how much longer can it go on like this?”
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Biography
Loveless
Zhenya and Boris are going through a vicious divorce marked by resentment, frustration and recriminations. Already embarking on new lives, each with a new partner, they are impatient to start again, to turn the page – even if it means threatening to abandon their 12-year-old son Alexey. Until, after witnessing one of their fights, Alexey disappears…
Year: 2017
Language: Russian
Genre: Drama
Rider, The
After suffering a near fatal head injury, a young cowboy undertakes a search for new identity and what it means to be a man in the heartland of America.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama
High Fantasy
Four young South African friends on a camping trip on an isolated farm wake up to discover they’ve all swapped bodies. As they navigate a labyrinth of so-called Rainbow Nation politics, they capture their bizarre predicament in selfie videos - with hilarious and tragic results.
Year: 2017
Genre: Drama
Hangman
A homicide detective (Al Pacino) teams up with a criminal profiler to catch a serial killer whose crimes are inspired by the children's game Hangman.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Mystery
Foxtrot
Michael and Dafna are devastated when army officials show up at their home to announce the death of their son Jonathan. While his sedated wife rests, Michael spirals into a whirlwind of anger only to experience one of life's unfathomable twists, which rival the surreal military experiences of his son.
Year: 2017
Language: Hebrew
Genre: Drama
Wonder Wheel
WONDER WHEEL tells the story of four characters whose lives intertwine amid the hustle and bustle of the Coney Island amusement park in the 1950s: Ginny (Kate Winslet), an emotionally volatile former actress now working as a waitress in a clam house; Humpty (Jim Belushi), Ginny's rough-hewn carousel operator husband; Mickey (Justin Timberlake), a handsome young lifeguard who dreams of becoming a playwright; and Carolina (Juno Temple), Humpty's long-estranged daughter, who is now hiding out from gangsters at her father's apartment. Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro captures a tale of passion, violence, and betrayal that plays out against the picturesque tableau of 1950s Coney Island.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Wife, The
Based on the novel by the bestselling author Meg Wolitzer, THE WIFE interweaves the midcentury story of a couple’s youthful passion and ambition with a portrait of a marriage, thirty-plus years later—a lifetime’s shared compromises, secrets, betrayals, and genuine, mutual love.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama
China Hustle, The
In 2008, Wall Street brought the economy to the brink of collapse with a shell game based on bankrupt mortgages… Nine years later, the stock market is sky high again, and the game has gone global. There are no good guys in this story, but there are a few people—a ragtag band of short sellers—who are sick of being lied to. THE CHINA HUSTLE follows their story through Wall Street, China and your retirement savings to uncover the biggest heist you’ve never heard of.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Disobedience
Sebastián Lelio (A Fantastic Woman, Gloria) directs Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams in this adaptation of Naomi Alderman’s novel about a woman who returns to her Orthodox Jewish community after the death of her rabbi father and stirs up controversy when she shows an interest in an old childhood friend.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Forgiven, The
After the end of Apartheid, Archbishop Desmond Tutu meets with a brutal murderer seeking redemption.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Seagull, The
THE SEAGULL is the heartbreaking and funny story of friends and lovers, all of whom are in love with the wrong person. The movie is timely in its depiction of the tragic consequences of narcissism, particularly on young dreams and romantic love. Based on the Play by Anton Chekhov
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Marvin
A young man runs away from his family to become an actor.
Year: 2017
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Marrowbone
Four siblings seek refuge in an old home after the death of their mother, only to discover that the house has another, more sinister, inhabitant.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
Revenge
When a millionaire brings his sexy mistress to his annual hunting trip with his buddies, things get out of hand, and soon the men become the hunted.
Year: 2017
Language: English & French
Genre: Thriller, Action
Let The Sunshine In
Juliette Binoche delivers a luminous performance in the deliciously witty, sensuously romantic new film from acclaimed director Claire Denis (White Material). Isabelle (Binoche) is a divorced Parisian painter searching for another shot at love, but refusing to settle for the parade of all-too-flawed men who drift in and out of her life. There’s a caddish banker (Xavier Beauvois) who, like many of her lovers, happens to be married; a handsome actor (Nicolas Duvauchelle) who’s working through his own hang-ups; and a sensitive fellow artist (Alex Descas) who’s skittish about commitment. What reads like a standard romantic comedy premise is transformed, in the hands of master filmmaker Denis, into something altogether deeper, more poignant, and perceptive about the profound mysteries of love.
Year: 2017
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Retaliation
A victim of childhood sexual abuse confronts the horrors of his past.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Mobile Homes
In forgotten towns along the American border, a young mother drifts from one motel to the next with her intoxicating boyfriend and her 8-year-old son. The makeshift family scrapes by, living one hustle at a time, until the discovery of a mobile home community offers an alternative life.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Jasper Jones
JASPER JONES is a riveting and moving Australian coming of age story about Charlie Bucktin, a bookish boy of 14. On the night that Jasper Jones, the town’s mixed race outcast, shows him the dead body of young Laura Wishheart, Charlie’s life is changed forever. Entrusted with this secret and believing Jasper to be innocent, Charlie embarks on a dangerous journey to find the true killer. Set over the scorching summer holidays of 1968, Charlie defeats the local racists, faces the breakup of his parents and falls head over heels in love as he discovers what it means to be truly courageous.
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Teen, Drama, Family, Mystery
Big Time
Big Time follows Danish architect Bjarke Ingels over a period of 5 years while he is struggling to complete his largest projects yet, the New York skyscraper called W57 and World Trade Center 2, projects that will change the skyline of Manhattan. According to The Wall Street Journal he has ‘rapidly become one of the design world’s biggest stars’. An intimate insight into the life of a genius innovative mind and his struggle to maintain his own persona while making the world a better place to live.
Year: 2017
Language: English, Danish
Genre: Documentary
Leaning Into the Wind
Sixteen years after the release of the ground-breaking film Rivers and Tides – Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time director Thomas Riedelsheimer has returned to work with the artist. Leaning into the Wind – Andy Goldsworthy follows Andy on his exploration of the layers of his world and the impact of the years on himself and his art. As Goldsworthy introduces his own body into the work it becomes at the same time even more fragile and personal and also sterner and tougher, incorporating massive machinery and crews on his bigger projects. Riedelsheimer’s exquisite film illuminates Goldsworthy’s mind as it reveals his art.
Year: 2017
Language: English, French, Portuguese
Genre: Documentary
Desierto
A deranged, rifle-toting vigilante chases a group of illegal immigrants through the treacherous U.S.-Mexican border.
Year: 2017
Language: English, Spanish
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Tale, The
A woman filming a documentary on childhood rape victims starts to question the nature of her childhood relationship with her riding instructor and running coach.
Director: Jennifer Fox
Year: 2017
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Handmaiden, The
A Korean woman is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, but secretly she is involved in a conman's plot to defraud her.
Year: 2016
Language: Korean
Genre: Drama, Romance
Drifter, The
A pair of outlaw brothers seek temporary refuge in a desolate town inhabited by a small family of psychotic cannibalistic lunatics.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Crime
Paradox
A group of young scientists are working on a time-travel project, sending one of their own ahead one hour. He returns pleading with them to shut it down, explaining that within that hour, they will all die.
Director: Mike Hurst
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Action, Sci-Fi
Pandemic
Featuring non-stop action from a first-person perspective, Pandemic puts you in the middle of every fire fight in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, where a global epidemic threatens the future of humanity.
Director: John Suits
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Action
.jpg)
Lovesong
Neglected by her husband, Sarah embarks on an impromptu road trip with her young daughter and her best friend, Mindy. Along the way, the dynamic between the two friends intensifies before circumstances force them apart. Years later, Sarah attempts to rebuild their intimate connection in the days before Mindy’s wedding.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Trust, The
Two dirty cops (Nicolas Cage, Elijah Wood) team up to break into a mysterious vault. Once they find out what’s inside, it’s too late to turn back.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
I Am Wrath
When the police are unable to catch his wife’s brutal killers, a former black-ops agent (John Travolta) takes justice into his own hands.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Crime, Action
Last Heist, The
A bank heist descends into violent chaos when one of the hostages turns out to be a serial killer (Henry Rollins).
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Action
Cell
Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack star in Stephen King's apocalyptic thriller about a mysterious signal that reprograms the minds of cellphone users around the globe.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Action, Sci-Fi
Kill Command
An elite squad of marines are sent to a remote island to train with the soldiers of the future: intelligent machines with a devastating capacity to kill. But the exercise soon takes a terrifying turn when the machines become sentient, leaving the soldiers in a desperate fight for survival.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Action, Sci-Fi
Love & Friendship
In this delightfully hilarious Jane Austen adaptation, Kate Beckinsale stars as the seductive and manipulative Lady Susan, who uses devious tactics to win the heart of the eligible Reginald De Courcy.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Burn Country
THE FIXER follows Osman (Dominic Rains) who is granted asylum in the United States after acting as a fixer for US journalists in Afganistan. He lands in a small bohemian town in Northern California, and lives on the couch of his friend’s mother (Melissa Leo) while working on the crime blotter for the local newspaper. Restless and eager to find purpose in the context of his new life, he befriends a couple of locals—the eccentric and unstable Lindsay (James Franco) and the elusive Sandra (Rachel Brosnahan)—recruiting them to help him penetrate the town’s peculiar subculture. When Lindsay mysteriously goes missing, Osman gets drawn into the town’s dark underbelly in order to find him. As things begin to take a dangerous turn, Osman is forced to confront the untenable reality of his situation.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama
We Are X
X Japan was formed by childhood friends, Yoshiki and Toshi, who ignited a musical revolution in Japan during the late 80’s with their melodic metal and flamboyant fashion. With more than 30 million albums sold worldwide, X is the most successful rock band in Japanese history. However, their success never translated to the West, despite influencing many popular American bands. In the fall of 1997, at the height of their success, X broke up - devastating millions of fans and leaving enigmatic leader Yoshiki to battle physical and spiritual demons in a solitary campaign to bring their music to the world. Almost twenty years after the tragedy-fueled split, the band prepares to reunite for a show at the legendary Madison Square Garden while struggling to reconcile a haunted past with the insatiable thirst for perfection that has made them legendary. WE ARE X is the story of the most influential band in the world that you’ve never heard of…yet.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Mostly Sunny
There is no one else in the world like Sunny Leone. An adult film star of Sikh heritage, Sunny is attempting to cross over into mainstream Bollywood. Her life is the subject of much controversy in a conservative Indian culture where pornography is illegal. Curiosity about her life and career makes an enhanced eBook the ideal digital media extension to complement the feature documentary.
Year: 2016
Language: English/Hindi
Genre: Documentary
Café Society
Café Society is Woody Allen's star-studded retro comedy about a young New Yorker who moves to Hollywood and falls for the secretary of his powerful uncle, an agent to the stars.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Gleason
When NFL player Steve Gleason was diagnosed with ALS at 34, they gave him no more than 5 years to live. Steve embarked on a courageous journey to fight the illness, recording a video journal along the way for his newborn son.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Weiner
After disappearing from the public eye following his 2011 sex scandal, politician Anthony Weiner attempts a comeback by running for mayor of New York - until a new scandal derails his campaign.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Innocents, The (Agnus Dei)
In 1945 Poland, a young French Red Cross doctor who is sent to assist the survivors of the German camps discovers several nuns in advanced states of pregnancy during a visit to a nearby convent.
Year: 2016
Language: French
Genre: History, Drama
Alien Arrival
An interstellar Jekyll and Hyde, Arrowhead tells a tale of survival set amongst the distant stars. Kye is a prisoner of war caught between two armies, neither of whose ideology he believes in. When offered an opportunity for freedom, Kye sets out on one last rescue mission only to become stranded when his ship crash lands. Kye soon realises that the deadliest creature on the desert moon is himself.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Action, Sci-Fi
Wiener-Dog
In this riotous comedy, an adorable dachshund puppy finds itself shuffled from one oddball owner to the next, including two couples, a veterinary nurse (Greta Gerwig), a screenwriter (Danny DeVito) and a cranky old woman (Ellen Burstyn).
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Window Horses
Rosie, a young poet, travels to a poetry festival in Iran and discovers her own voice while opening herself to those of others in this whimsical, animated coming-of-ager.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Animation
Skiptrace
A Hong Kong cop (Jackie Chan) pursues a notorious crime lord with the help of a brash American gambler (Johnny Knoxville) in this action comedy from the director of Cliffhanger and Die Hard 2.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Action, Comedy
Where is Rocky II?
In 1979, American artist Ed Ruscha allegedly made a fake rock out of resin and hid it among real ones somewhere in California's vast Mojave Desert. Named Rocky II after the Sylvester Stallone film, the work is never spoken about publicly nor is it listed in any catalogue of Ruscha's work. Obsessed with this mystery piece, Academy Award winning screenwriter Pierre Bismuth sets out to find it in his directorial debut. Probing and inventive, this thoroughly original art quest blends documentary and fiction, and is as enigmatic as the mystery it seeks.
WHERE IS ROCKY II? features High Fidelity and Gross Pointe Black screenwriter DV De Vincentis, Sherlock Holmes and Invictus writer Anthony Peckham, and Mike White of School Of Rock fame, alongside art world luminaries such as Los Angeles County Museum of Art director Michael Govan, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art director Philippe Vergne, philanthropist and collector Eli Broad, and Hammer Museum chief curator Connie Butler.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Infiltrator, The
Federal agent Robert Mazur (Bryan Cranston) goes undercover on a high-stakes mission to infiltrate the criminal network of Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. Based on the incredible true story.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Crime, Biography
Manchester by the Sea
A critically acclaimed drama about a man who must face his painful past when he returns to his Massachusetts hometown after the sudden death of his brother. Starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams and Kyle Chandler.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Levelling, The
Somerset, England. Trainee veterinarian Clover Catto returns to the farm where she grew up after hearing news that her brother Harry has died in what appears to be a suicide. Finding the family home in a state of horrendous disrepair following the 2014 floods that devastated the area, Clover is forced to confront her father Aubrey about the farm, the livestock and, crucially, the details surrounding Harry's death. Clover's discoveries send her on an emotional journey of reckoning with her family, her childhood and herself.
Year: 2016
Genre: Drama
31
Rob Zombie's latest follows five carnival workers who are kidnapped and forced to participate in a violent game, the goal of which is to survive twelve hours against a gang of sadistic clowns. Welcome to 31.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Ascent
Through a grey blanket of clouds, we barely discern the contours of Mount Fuji, a volcano with many faces. 4,500 exceptional and diverse photographs from the past 150 years form the basis for Ascent. Made entirely with stills, it is a filmic experiment balancing between documentary and fiction, photography and film, where an English woman and her deceased Japanese partner, Hiroshi, lead the way. As Mount Fuji is climbed across geographical, temporal and cultural divides, the narrative unfolds, exploring unexpected paths.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Ordinary World
The story follows former punk rocker Perry (Billie Joe Armstrong) who is ten years into his band's "indefinite hiatus" and is struggling with his adjustment to the real world (which includes working in his family's hardware store). When Perry's hotshot attorney wife and precocious young daughter forget his 40th birthday, his brother takes pity and gives him the money to throw a huge rockstar blowout in a fancy New York hotel. At the party, Perry's punk past clashes hilariously with his middle-aged reality as he encounters crazy former bandmates and an old-flame-turned-manager, who offers him a chance to revive his stalled career.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Drama, Comedy
Paris Can Wait
Eleanor Coppola's feature film directorial and screenwriting debut at the age of 81 stars Academy Award® nominee Diane Lane as a Hollywood producer's wife who unexpectedly takes a trip through France, which reawakens her sense of self and her joie de vivre. Anne (Lane) is at a crossroads in her life. Long married to a successfully driven but inattentive movie producer (Alec Baldwin), she finds herself taking a car trip from Cannes to Paris with a business associate of her husband (Arnaud Viard). What should be a seven-hour drive turns into a journey of discovery involving mouthwatering meals, spectacular wines, and picturesque sights.
Year: 2016
Language: English & French
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Comedian, The
De Niro plays a comic icon who has seen better days. Despite his efforts to reinvent himself, the audience only wants to know him as the former television character he once played. He’s a strain on his younger brother and his wife and is being forced to serve out a sentence doing community service for accosting an audience member. While there, he finds inspiration by meeting the daughter of a sleazy Florida real estate mogul.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Kill Ratio
An American covert operative (Tom Hopper) fights to save an Eastern European democracy from a ruthless coup d'etat by the country’s military leader.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Action
Catfight
A reunion between two former college friends (Sandra Oh, Anne Heche) sparks a no-holds-barred war of attrition, in this outrageously madcap black comedy.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
I Am Not Your Negro
Raoul Peck’s Oscar-nominated I Am Not Your Negro is a radical, up-to-the-minute examination of race in America. Using James Baldwin’s original words and flood of rich archival material, this incendiary film is a sobering reminder of how far we've yet to go.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Last Face, The
A passionate and poignant story of two lovers brought together—and brutally torn apart—by violent conflict in a war-torn country. Starring Academy Award® winners Charlize Theron and Javier Bardem.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Assignment, The
This jaw-droppingly audacious revenge thriller from the great Walter Hill (The Warriors, 48 Hours) stars Michelle Rodriguez as a lowlife killer put through full male-to-female gender reassignment surgery by a score-settling surgeon (Sigourney Weaver).
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Action
Frantz
In the aftermath of WWI, a young German who grieves the death of her fiancé in France meets a mysterious Frenchman who visits the fiancé's grave to lay flowers.
Year: 2016
Language: French
Genre: History, War, Drama
Bad Batch, The
THE BAD BATCH follows Arlen (Suki Waterhouse) after she's left in a Texas wasteland fenced off from civilization. While trying to navigate the unforgiving landscape, Arlen is captured by a savage band of cannibals led by the mysterious Miami Man (Jason Momoa). With her life on the line, she makes her way to The Dream (Keanu Reeves). As she adjusts to life in 'The Bad Batch' Arlen discovers that being good or bad mostly depends on who's standing next to you.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
B-Side, The: Elsa Dorfman's Portrait Photography
Portrait photographer Elsa Dorfman found her medium in 1980: the larger-than-life Polaroid Land 20x24 camera. For the next thirty-five years she captured the “surfaces” of those who visited her Cambridge, Massachusetts studio: families, Beat poets, rock stars, and Harvard notables. As pictures begin to fade and her retirement looms, Dorfman gives Errol Morris an inside tour of her backyard archive.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Risk
The Academy Award-winning director of Citizenfour turns her camera on WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, offering an intimate portrait of the cypherpunk underground in an era of ever-increasing surveillance and secrecy.
Year: 2016
Language: English/Arabic
Genre: Documentary
My Art
A 65-year-old single artist living in New York City has a good life: a stable teaching job, successful friends, and a loyal, aging dog named Bing. As her dream of a respectable place in the art world becomes more elusive, her frustration with her lack of recognition feels alarmingly urgent.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Killing Ground
A young couple’s romantic camping trip turns into a waking nightmare when they discover the scene of a horrific crime.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Journey, The
The Journey is the gripping account of how two men from opposite sides of the political spectrum came together to change the course of history. In 2006, amidst the ongoing, decades-long conflict in Northern Ireland, representatives from the two warring factions meet for negotiations. In one corner is Ian Paisley (Timothy Spall), the deeply conservative British loyalist; in the other is Martin McGuinness (Colm Meaney), a former Irish Republican Army leader who has devoted his life to the cause of Irish reunification. Opposites in every way, the two men at first seem to have little chance of ever finding common ground. But over the course of an impromptu, detour-filled car ride through the Scottish countryside, each begins to see the other less as an enemy, and more as an individual—a breakthrough that promises to at last bring peace to the troubled region. Driven by two virtuoso central performances, The Journey is a more-relevant-than-ever reminder of how simple humanity can overcome political division. John Hurt costars.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Biography
Wakefield
A successful suburban lawyer withdraws from his life and hides-out in the loft of his garage, where he secretly watches his family move on without him.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Red Dog: True Blue
An iconic Australian story of family, friendship and adventure, between a young boy and a scrappy one-of-a-kind dog that would grow up to become an Australian legend.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy, Family
Dark Crimes
Jim Carrey stars as a detective investigating the murder of a slain businessman.. Based on the 2008 article "True Crimes - A Postmodern Murder Mystery" by David Grann.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Windmill, The
Jennifer is an Australian girl on the run from her past who washes up in Amsterdam. In a desperate attempt to stay one step ahead of the authorities, she joins a coach-load of tourists embarking on a tour of Holland's world famous windmills. When the bus breaks down in the middle of nowhere, she and the other tourists are forced to seek shelter in a disused shed beside a sinister windmill where, legend has it, a Devil-worshiping miller once ground the bones of locals instead of grain. As members of the group start to disappear, Jennifer learns that they all have something in common - a shared secret that seems to mark them all for doom.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Drama
First Monday in May, The
Every spring, New York City is home to the biggest night in fashion: The Met Gala. The First Monday in May takes you behind the scenes of this ultra-exclusive affair, where the world’s top designers and celebrities come together to showcase fashion as fine art.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Julieta
Spanish maestro Pedro Almodóvar adapts three stories from Canadian Nobel Prize winner Alice Munro for this time-tripping tale about the relationship and eventual rupture between a teacher and her beloved daughter.
Director: Pedro Almodovar
Year: 2016
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama, Romance
One Thousand Ropes
Retired boxer Maea lives a quiet, comfortable but lonely life, working as a baker and also as a traditional healer and midwife, atoning for his violent and damaging past. He is still enmeshed in his guilt and remorse, which day and night taunt and haunt him. When his estranged daughter Ilisa comes back to him seeking refuge, he has the rare chance to return to her, what he stole from her mother and change her future; and she in turn takes her opportunity, to change his.
Director: Tusi Tamasese
Year: 2016
Language: Somoan, English, Fijian
Genre: Drama
Date For Mad Mary, A
A woman newly released from prison seeks a date to bring to her best friend's wedding.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words
This documentary explores the life and career of avant-garde musician Frank Zappa entirely via archival footage of the man, including interviews and concert performances.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Documentary, Biography
Tempest Storm
Tempest Storm is a feature documentary that follows the controversial life story of America's greatest exotic dancer, who at 87 years old is preparing for her final and most important act: to repair her broken relationship with her daughter Patricia, who she walked away from fifty years ago.
Director: Nimisha Mukerji
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
I'm Not Ashamed
The inspiring and powerful true story and journal entries of Rachel Joy Scott - the first student killed in the Columbine high school shooting in 1999.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Biography
God's Not Dead 2
A high-school teacher's response to a student's question about Jesus lands her in big trouble, leading to an epic court case that could cost her the career she loves and expel God from the classroom - and the public square - once and for all.
Director: Harold Cronk
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Unless
An accomplished writer and translator, Reta Winters (Catherine Keener) is dumbfounded after the recent actions of her eldest daughter, Norah (Hannah Gross). For no clear reason, Norah has dropped out of university to spend her days panhandling on the sidewalk outside of Toronto landmark Honest Ed’s. She holds a cardboard sign with only one word: “Goodness”.
Director: Alan Gilsenan
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Call Up, The
A group of hardcore gamers are invited to test a state-of-the-art virtual reality warzone, but things turn sinister when the stakes are raised to fatal.
Director: Charles Barker
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
Equity
In this financial thriller, a senior investment banker (Anna Gunn) is threatened by a financial scandal and must untangle a web of corruption.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Elle
A high-powered businesswoman's brutal sexual assault elicits both erotic fantasies and dreams of revenge.
Year: 2016
Language: French
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Toni Erdmann
A practical joking father tries to reconnect with his hard working daughter by creating an outrageous alter ego and posing as her CEO's life coach.
Year: 2016
Language: German, English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Whole Truth, The
Keanu Reeves and Renée Zellweger star in this thriller about a defense attorney (Reeves) who fights to get his teenage client acquitted of murdering his wealthy father.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama
USS Indianapolis
After delivering key components for the atomic weapons that would end WWII, the crew of the USS Indianapolis face a harrowing nightmare as their ship goes down in the shark infested Philippine Sea. Based on a true story.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: War, Action
Before I Wake
A young couple adopt an orphaned child whose dreams - and nightmares - become reality as he sleeps.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Drama
Hillsong
This inspiring film chronicles the spectacular rise of the Christian band, Hillsong UNITED, to a worldwide recording and concert sensation.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Documentary, Family
Eagle Huntress, The
A 13-year-old girl trains to become the first female in twelve generations of her family to become an eagle hunter. Narrated by Star Wars’ Daisy Ridley.
Year: 2016
Language: Kazakh
Genre: Adventure, Documentary, Family
Rehearsal, The
Stanley, a naïve 1st year drama school student, meets Isolde, 15, whose sister has been caught having sex with her tennis coach. Jolted into a precocious sexual awakening, Isolde initiates a relationship - a first for both of them.
Everything changes when Stanley’s drama group hits on the tennis scandal as fertile material for their end of year devised show. Stanley soon finds himself in morally tricky territory as his growing intimacy with Isolde provides secrets that feed his status in the group. Soon the boundaries between private and public, fact and fantasy, real and performed begin to dissolve…
THE REHEARSAL is a darkly comic, razor-sharp look at adolescence, sexual awakening and the tricky process of becoming who we are.
Director: Alison Maclean
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Maudie
MAUDIE, based on a true story, is an unlikely romance in which the reclusive Everett Lewis (Ethan Hawke) hires a fragile yet determined woman named Maudie (Sally Hawkins) to be his housekeeper. Maudie, bright-eyed but hunched with crippled hands, yearns to be independent, to live away from her protective family and she also yearns, passionately, to create art. Unexpectedly, Everett finds himself falling in love. MAUDIE charts Everett's efforts to protect himself from being hurt, Maudie's deep and abiding love for this difficult man and her surprising rise to fame as a folk painter.
Director: Aisling Walsh
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Biography
Paterson
A week in the life of Paterson (Adam Driver), a city bus driver in Paterson, NJ, as he balances the demands of his working-class job with his passion for poetry and the creative yearnings of his stay-at-home wife Laura (Golshifteh Farahani). Jim Jarmusch wrote and directed this meditative, slice-of-life dramedy.
Year: 2016
Language: English, Italian
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
I, Daniel Blake
A 59-year-old carpenter recovering from a heart attack befriends a single mother and her two kids as they battle the impersonal, bureaucratic forces of the benefits system in order to receive Employment and Support Allowance. British master Ken Loach won his second Palme d’Or at Cannes for this timely drama with equal amounts of humor, warmth and despair.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Vincent N Roxxy
When Vincent saves Roxxy from a violent assailant, they unexpectedly fall in love. But when a sadistic gangster from their past shows up, their brief solace is shattered.
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Black Code
Toronto-based documentary filmmaker and cinematographer Nicholas De Pencier (Four Wings and a Prayer, Watermark) examines the complex global impact that the internet has had on matters of free speech, privacy and activism.
Director: Nick De Pencier
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer
Norman Oppenheimer (Gere) only wants to matter. Living a lonely life in the shadow of power and money, he uses any angle or connection to put himself in a position of significance. He is an opportunist, just not a very good one. Until he finally bets on the right horse by buying a pair of expensive shoes for Micha Eshel (Ashkenazi), a lowly Israeli politician. When Micha becomes Prime Minister, Norman finds himself in the center of a geopolitical drama beyond anything he could have imagined. Using his small-time skills, Norman tries to solve a growingly complex puzzle with big-time implications. This everyman’s journey is filled with the comedy, drama, and tragedy of a man propelled out of anonymity yet ultimately too small to ever be valued.
Year: 2016
Language: English, Hebrew
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Race to Win
When a greedy rancher threatens to seize their horse farm, a young woman must find the strength to face her fears and compete in the horse race of her life, or her family will lose everything.
Director: Teddy Smith
Year: 2016
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Family
Gift Horse, A
10-year-old Amanda loves to spend time at the local horse ranch, owned by business tycoon Mr. Canton. When tragedy strikes Amanda's family, a beautiful, challenging horse named Misty helps her cope. Misty is rejected by Mr. Canton's spoiled daughter, Abigail, but with the help of an inspiring horse trainer, Amanda proves that Misty is a champion.
Director: Teddy Smith
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Sports, Family
Forbidden Room, The
A submarine crew, a feared pack of forest bandits, a famous surgeon and a battalion of child soldier all get more than they bargained for as the wend their way toward progressive ideas on life and love.
Director: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Mystery
3 Coeurs
One night in a French provincial city, Marc meets Sylvie after missing his train back to Paris. They wander through the streets until morning, talking about everything except themselves, in rare, almost choreographed, harmony. Marc takes the first train back, and sets a date with Sylvie in Paris, a few days later. They know nothing about each other, but this is much more than a game. It's the way it has to be. Sylvie keeps the date. Misfortune befalls Marc, and he cannot. He searches for her and ends up finding someone else. Sophie. He does not know that she is Sylvie's sister. Marc and Sylvie meet again. Their unparalleled harmony still exists... but it is too late...
Year: 2015
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Spare Parts
Spare Parts is a true life story about four underdog students who beat the odds and build a robot with little more than a dream. With no experience, 800 bucks and used car parts, this rag tag team goes up against the country's reigning robotics champion, MIT. On their journey, they learn not only how to build a robot - they learn to build a bond that will last a lifetime.
Director: Sean McNamara
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Natasha
A forbidden romance develops between a 16-year-old Russian Jewish immigrant and his 14-year-old cousin-by-marriage - a girl from Moscow with a scandolous past.
Director: David Bezmozgis
Year: 2015
Language: Russian, English
Genre: Drama
Amy
A once-in-a-generation talent, Amy Winehouse became an international sensation with her unforgettable voice and intimate lyrics. But with her meteoric rise to fame came invasive media attention that, coupled with her troubled relationships and addictions, led her into a cycle of self-destruction. Featuring extensive unseen archival footage and previously unheard tracks, this strikingly beautiful film invites audiences to remember and celebrate Amy as a brilliant artist rather than the tabloid fodder she sadly became.
Director: Asif Kapadia
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Documentary, Biography
Diamond Tongues
Edith dreams of being a successful actress but just can't seem to make things happen. When she can't figure out what she's doing wrong, she begins to do everything wrong.
Director: Pavan Moondi, Brian Robertson
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Slow West
Set at the end of the 19th Century, 'Slow West' is an American western filtered through the eyes of European filmmaking. The story centers on 16-year-old Jay Cavendish who has travelled from Scotland to Colorado to be reunited with the woman with whom he is infatuated. He is quickly confronted by the dangers of the frontier and so teams up with a mysterious traveler named Silas, who agrees to protect him for cash. Jay's journey is fraught with danger, double-crossing and violence as he comes to realize that America is not easy on the innocent.
Director: John Maclean
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Thriller, Action, Western
Brooklyn
BROOKLYN tells the profoundly moving story of Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan), a young Irish immigrant navigating her way through 1950s Brooklyn. Lured by the promise of America, Eilis departs Ireland and the comfort of her mother's home for the shores of New York City. The initial shackles of homesickness quickly diminish as a fresh romance sweeps Eilis into the intoxicating charm of love. But soon, her new vivacity is disrupted by her past, and Eilis must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within.
Director: John Crowley
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Autrui
On a bitingly cold winter night, Lucie, an introvert young woman, offers shelter to Eloi, a homeless man on the verge of freezing to death in the streets. This charitable gesture will entwine the two of them in a complex relationship and help them to find fresh hope, each in their own way.
Director: Micheline Lanctôt
Year: 2015
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Florida
At over 80, Claude Lherminier has lost none of his charm and presence. He has decided to visit his youngest daughter, Alice, who is married to an American and living in Miami. Soon we've rewound several weeks to follow the events leading up to Claude's trip. Claude has two daughters, Alice and Carole. Carole, the eldest, is the single mother of a 20-year old son. Things are not easy for her, whether in the workplace or sentimentally. In addition, she is the one who has to take care of her father, who has lately been having trouble with his memory. It's hard to say just how advanced Claude's condition really is. Often he plays up his forgetfulness and uses it to tyrannize the people around him. At other times he seems truly lost, confusing faces, places and even his age. That discrepancy, as comical or as droll as it may sometimes be, gradually becomes the cause of his friends and relations' distress.
Director: Philippe Le Guay
Year: 2015
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Unbranded
On an epic 3,000-mile journey from Mexico to Canada, four young cowboys riding wild mustangs embark on the adventure of a lifetime. With exquisite cinematography of breathtaking terrain from the Grand Canyon to Yellowstone, Unbranded celebrates the worth of these magnificent creatures while exposing the issues that threaten their very existence.
Director: Phillip Baribeau
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Meru
After suffering dramatic set backs in their lives, three close friends, who are among the world's best professional climbers, battle their complicated pasts, inner demons and nature's harshest elements in an attempt to climb the Shark's Fin on Mount Meru, considered the ultimate prize in the exclusive high stakes game of Himalayan big wall climbing.
Director: Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Victoria
Victoria, a young Spanish woman, dances through the Berlin scene with abandon. She meets four mates outside a club who introduce themselves as Sonne, Boxer, Blinker and Fuß. They quickly get chatting. Sonne and Victoria take a fancy to each other and slip away from the group at the first opportunity. But their tender flirting is rudely interrupted by the others because, for these pals, the night is far from over. To settle an old debt they have to pull off a dodgy deal. And because one of them is too drunk, they decide that Victoria, of all people, should take over the role of driver. What began as a game suddenly becomes deadly serious.
Director: Sebastian Schipper
Year: 2015
Language: German/Turkish/English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Every Thing Will Be Fine
EVERY THING WILL BE FINE, based on an original script by the Norwegian Bjørn Olaf Johannessen, tells the story of Tomas (James Franco), a writer who loses control of his life after a car accident. Even though he is not directly at fault, his relationship with his girlfriend breaks down because of this event and his life and work suddenly set off in a completely new direction. The film follows Tomas over a period of 12 years and tells an intimate story of guilt and the search for forgiveness.
Director: Wim Wenders
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Drama
(Dis)Honesty
From ticket-fixing in our police departments to test-score scandals in our schools, from our elected leaders' extra-marital affairs to financial schemes undermining our economy, dishonesty seems to be a ubiquitous part of the news. But it's not just true in the headlines - we ALL cheat.
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Man Up
When Nancy is mistaken for Jack's blind date under the clock at Waterloo Station, she decides to take fate into her own hands and just go with it. What could possibly go wrong? Man Up is an honest, heartwarming romantic comedy about taking chances and rolling with the consequences. One night, two people, on a first date like no other...
Director: Ben Palmer
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Romance, Comedy
MI-5
Based on the BAFTA-winning hit TV series that has sold to more than 60 countries worldwide. When charismatic terrorist Adam Qasim (Elyes Gabel) escapes from MI5 custody during a high profile handover, the legendary Harry Pearce (Peter Firth), Head of Counter-terrorism, is blamed. Disgraced and forced to resign, no-one's surprised when Harry disappears one night off a bridge into the Thames...
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Thriller, Drama, Action
400 Days
In preparation for a journey into deep space, four astronauts are sent on a simulated mission that lasts 400 days. But when they emerge from the ship, they realize it may not have been a simulation after all…
Director: Matt Osterman
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi, Mystery
Fits, The
While training at the gym 11-year-old tomboy Toni becomes entranced with a dance troupe. As she struggles to fit in she finds herself caught up in danger as the group begins to suffer from fainting spells and other violent fits.
Director: Anna Rose Holmer
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Angry Indian Goddesses
ANGRY INDIAN GODDESSES is India's first female buddy movie with a fresh, realistic portrait of women in India today. Frieda, a fashion-commercial photographer trying to find her own art, gathers her closest girlfriends from all over India to travel to Goa for a surprise announcement: she's getting married! Thus begins an impromptu bachelorette party that lasts for a full week-a riotous roller-coaster ride in a sumptuous setting. Through the fun and frenzy, heartbreak and heartache, passion and obsession, youth and innocence, secrets tumble out, tensions emerge, bonds are formed and emotions run high. Soon events will take a more serious turn, but for the moment these women are determined to seize the day.
Director: Pan Nalin
Year: 2015
Language: Hindi
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Viva
Jesus is a hairdresser for a troupe of drag performers in Havana, but dreams of being a performer. When he finally gets his chance to be on stage, a stranger emerges from the crowd and punches him in the face. The stranger is his father Angel, a former boxer, who has been absent from his life for 15 years. As father and son clash over their opposing expectations of each other, Viva becomes a love story as the men struggle to understand one another and become a family again.
Director: Paddy Breathnach
Year: 2015
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama
Beeba Boys
Deepa Mehta mixes guns, bhangra beats, bespoke suits, cocaine and betrayal in BEEBA BOYS: an adrenaline-charged portrait of an Indo-Canadian gang war, depicting an exciting and violent clash of culture and crime. Gang leader Jeet Johar (Randeep Hooda) and his young, loyal, and brutal crew dress like peacocks, love attention and openly compete with an old-style Indo crime syndicate to take over the Vancouver underground drug and gun industries. Blood is spilled, hearts are broken and family bonds are shattered as the Beeba Boys (the "nice boys") will do anything to be seen and to be feared, in a white world. BEEBA BOYS is a modern gangster film by an internationally celebrated female director; a movie where stereotypes are intentionally challenged and which takes us deep inside this Indo-Canadian underworld - a specific culture that no crime movie has explored before.
Director: Deepa Mehta
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Departure
A nuclear family unravels in the South of France.
Director: Andrew Steggall
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Faith of Our Fathers
With the Vietnam War raging in 1969, two young fathers report for duty. A man of great faith and a doubtful cynic. A quarter-century later, their sons, Wayne and John Paul, meet as strangers.
Guided by handwritten letters from their fathers from the battlefield, they embark on an unforgettable journey to The Wall-the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Along the way, they discover the devastation of war cannot break the love of a father for his son. FAITH OF OUR FATHERS: a story of fatherhood; a journey of brotherhood.
Director: Carey Scott
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Mustang
Five beautiful and beguiling young sisters become imprisoned in their own home, forbidden by their controlling, conservative elders from having any contact with the outside world.
Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven
Year: 2015
Language: Turkish
Genre: Drama
Standoff
A 12-year-old girl witnesses a murder and is chased by the assassin to an isolated farmhouse occupied by a suicidal man holding a shotgun with a single shell. A tense standoff ensues over the next 24 hours as the two desperate men fight for the little girl’s life and engage in physical and psychological warfare.
Director: Adam Alleca
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Admiral
Michiel de Ruyter (1607-1676) was one of the largest and passionate innovators in combat engineering and therefore he became a naval hero in Holland. As the deeply torn Netherlands is attacked from all sides and on the verge of civil war, one man tries to fight for the interests of the country: Michiel de Ruyter. But in the eyes of those in power, his successes make him too popular and Michiel was sent on a deadly mission…
Director: Roel Reiné
Year: 2015
Language: Dutch, English, French
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Action, Biography
Boy and the Beast, The
"The Boy and the Beast" is a coming-of-age tale about Kyuta, a lonely Japanese boy living in Shibuya and Kumatetsu, a lonesome beast inhabiting Jutengai, an imaginary world. One day, Kyuta forays into the imaginary world and, as he's looking for his way back, meets Kumatetsu who becomes his guide and friend. That chance encounter leads them to many adventures filled with fantasy and action.
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Year: 2015
Language: Japanese
Genre: Adventure, Action, Animation
45 Years
There is just one week until Kate Mercer's forty-fifth wedding anniversary and the planning for the party is going well. But then a letter arrives for her husband. The body of his first love has been discovered, frozen and preserved in the icy glaciers of the Swiss Alps. By the time the party is upon them, five days later, there may not be a marriage left to celebrate.
Director: Andrew Haigh
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Woodlawn
A gifted high school football player must learn to embrace his talent while battling racial tensions on and off the field in Woodlawn, a moving and inspirational new film based on a remarkable true story. Starring Academy Award® winner Jon Voight as college football coaching legend Paul "Bear" Bryant, and Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings).
Director: Andrew Erwin, Jon Erwin
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Avril et le Monde Truqué
In an alternate history where Napoleon's heirs rule France, scientists and scholars have gone missing for years, leaving behind a world deprived of their technological innovations. In this land powered by coal and steam, young April searches for her missing scientist parents.
Year: 2015
Language: French
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Animation
Neon
NEON celebrates the beauty, colour and vibrant history of the neon sign from an International perspective as we face a world where it will soon be lost and superceded by L.E.D. signage. Neon is 100 years old and the craft and construction has changed very little, making neon one the greenest forms of light ever produced and an amazing and enduring force of colour and light in the visual landscapes of our lives.
Director: Lawrence Johnston
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Phoenix Incident
A group of men find themselves caught in the middle of a war between alien forces and the military in this sci-fi thriller from legendary gaming director Keith Arem (Call of Duty).
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi
Oddball
An eccentric chicken farmer, with the help of his granddaughter, trains his mischievous dog Oddball to protect a penguin sanctuary from fox attacks in an attempt to reunite his family and save their seaside town.
Director: Stuart McDonald
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Family
Sunday Horse, A
After a near-fatal accident, a determined young rider (Nikki Reed) defies all odds to chase her dreams of competing in a national horse-jumping championship. Inspired by a true story.
Director: Vic Armstrong
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Sports, Drama, Family
Wave, The
In this pulse-pounding thriller, a geologist tries to prevent a tsunami from destroying a popular tourist destination. With less than 10 minutes to react, it becomes a race against time in order to save as many as possible, including his own family.
Director: Roar Uthaug
Year: 2015
Language: Norwegian
Genre: Adventure, Thriller, Drama, Action
Man Who Knew Infinity, The
Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire) and Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons star in this inspirational biopic about an early-20th century mathematician whose groundbreaking theories revolutionized the field.
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Biography
Adderall Diaries, The
Based on the bestselling memoir by Stephen Elliott, The Adderall Diaries is the story of an author (James Franco) paralyzed by writer's block and an escalating drug dependency who is sucked down the rabbit hole of a high-profile murder case. As Elliott becomes increasingly obsessed with the trial, his own nightmarish childhood memories resurface, particularly of his cruel and distant father (Ed Harris). But when his estranged father returns with his own story to tell, fact and fiction become blurred in an amphetamine-induced haze.
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Action
Little Men
Jake (Theo Taplitz) is a quiet, sensitive middle schooler with dreams of being an artist. He meets the affably brash Tony (Michael Barbieri) at his grandfather’s funeral, and the unlikely pair soon hit it off. The budding friendship is put at risk, however, when a rent dispute between Jake’s parents, Brian and Kathy (Greg Kinnear and Jennifer Ehle), and Tony’s mother, Leonor (Paulina Garcia), threatens to become contentious.
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Drama
History's Future
Part fiction, part documentary, part speculative essay on the contemporary world, HISTORY’S FUTURE is about one man’s odyssey through a Europe in turmoil – and through his own mind. After a violent mugging causes him to lose his memory, a man known only as ‘MP’ (Missing Person) leaves his home and sets out on a journey – a search not only for his own identity but also for enlightenment about a world in crisis. On his travels from country to country, through a series of strange, illuminating, sometimes comic encounters, MP gains insight into the complexity of life in the 21st-century West – into what commentators have called an age of ‘rolling catastrophe’. As such the film deals not with the crisis itself, but with the array of feelings it has triggered. By the time his journey ends, MP has learned to survive, newly armed with an understanding of how we live today.
Year: 2015
Genre: Drama
Colonia
A young woman (Emma Watson) embarks on a desperate journey to rescue her boyfriend from a mysterious and dangerous cult.
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: History, Thriller, Drama, Romance
Emelie
After their regular babysitter Maggie can’t make it, the Thompson family turns to her friend Anna to supervise their children while the parents go out to celebrate their anniversary. At first Anna seems like a dream come true to the kids, allowing them to eat extra cookies and play with things that are usually off-limits, but as her behavior becomes increasingly odd, the kids soon find out that her intentions are dark and twisted, and she is not who she seems to be.
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Other Half, The
A psychological drama that centers on a passionate love affair between a self-destructive drifter and a bi-polar woman.
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Blackcoat's Daughter, The
Stranded at their Catholic prep school over winter break, two young girls fall into the terrifying grasp of an unseen evil force. Meanwhile, a mysterious hospital escapee (Emma Roberts), charts a course towards the school.
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Survivalist, The
In a kill-or-be-killed post-apocalyptic future ravaged by starvation, a lone survivalist is threatened by two women claiming to seek food and shelter.
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Sci-Fi
Do You Believe?
A dozen different souls—all moving in different directions, all longing for something more. As their lives unexpectedly intersect, they each are about to discover there is power in the Cross of Christ … even if they don't believe it. Yet.
When a local pastor is shaken to the core by the visible faith of an old street-corner preacher, he is reminded that true belief always requires action. His response ignites a faith-fueled journey that powerfully impacts everyone it touches in ways that only God could orchestrate.
Director: Jonathan M. Gunn
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Second Mother, The
After leaving her daughter for 13 years in Bahia to work as a nanny raising a boy in São Paulo, Val decides to bring her daughter, Jessica, to live with her at her employer's house. The intimacy of her biological daughter with her boss' son seems to turn into a time bomb.
Director: Anna Muyalert
Year: 2015
Language: Portuguese
Genre: Drama
Where to Invade Next
Where to Invade Next is an expansive, rib-tickling, and subversive comedy in which Moore, playing the role of "invader", visits a host of nations to learn how the U.S. could improve its own prospects. The creator of Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine is back with this hilarious and eye-opening call to arms. Turns out the solutions to America's most entrenched problems already exist in the world - they're just waiting to be co-opted.
Director: Michael Moore
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Miles Ahead
MILES AHEAD is a wildly entertaining and moving exploration of one of 20th century music's creative geniuses, Miles Davis, featuring a career-defining performance by Oscar nominee Don Cheadle in the title role. Working from a script he co-wrote with Steven Baigelman, Cheadle's bravura directorial debut is not a conventional biopic but rather a unique, no-holds-barred portrait of a singular artist in crisis.
Director: Don Cheadle
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Drama, Biography
Diary of a Teenage Girl, The
Like most teenage girls, Minnie Goetze (Bel Powley) is longing for love, acceptance and a sense of purpose in the world. Minnie begins a complex love affair with her mother's (Kristen Wiig) boyfriend, "the handsomest man in the world," Monroe Rutherford (Alexander Skarsgård). What follows is a sharp, funny and provocative account of one girl's sexual and artistic awakening, without judgment.
Director: Marielle Heller
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Lace Crater
After a bizarre sexual encounter with a ghost, a twenty-something woman (Lindsay Burdge) begins experiencing inexplicable changes in her body.
Director: Harrison Atkins
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Drama, Romance, Comedy, Mystery
Meddler, The
Susan Sarandon delivers one of her most richly satisfying performances in this insightful and winning comedy-drama about an incessantly doting mother who, after her husband passes away, follows her daughter (Rose Byrne) to Los Angeles and makes an unexpected connection.
Director: Lorene Scafaria
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Son of Saul
October 1944, Auschwitz-Birkenau. Saul Ausländer is a Hungarian member of the Sonderkommando, the group of Jewish prisoners isolated from the camp and forced to assist the Nazis in the machinery of large-scale extermination. While working in one of the crematoriums, Saul discovers the corpse of a boy he takes for his son. As the Sonderkommando plans a rebellion, Saul decides to carry out an impossible task: save the child's body from the flames, find a rabbi to recite the mourner's Kaddish and offer the boy a proper burial.
Director: László Nemes
Year: 2015
Language: Hungarian
Genre: History, Thriller, Drama
Maggie's Plan
A young woman whose determination to have a child involves her in a love triangle with an unhappy academic and his eccentric critical-theorist wife.
Director: Rebecca Miller
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Grandma
Elle Reid (Lily Tomlin) has just gotten through breaking up with her girlfriend when her granddaughter Sage (Julia Garner) unexpectedly shows up needing $600 before sundown. Temporarily broke, Grandma Elle and Sage spend the day trying to get their hands on the cash as their unannounced visits to old friends and flames end up rattling skeletons and digging up secrets.
Director: Paul Weitz
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Gridlocked
Former SWAT leader David Hendrix and hard-partying movie star Brody Walker must cut their ride-along short when a police training facility is attacked by a team of mercenaries.
Director: Allan Ungar
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Action
Bronze, The
In 2004, Hope Ann Greggory became an American hero after winning the bronze medal for the women's gymnastics team. Today, she's still living in her small hometown, washed-up and embittered. Stuck in the past, Hope must reassess her life when a promising young gymnast threatens her local celebrity status.
Director: Bryan Buckley
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Sports, Drama, Comedy
Lady in the Van, The
A big screen adaptation of writer Alan Bennett's iconic and celebrated memoir, directed by long-standing Bennett collaborator Nicholas Hytner. The film tells the true story of the relationship between Alan Bennett and the singular Miss Shepherd, a woman of uncertain origins who 'temporarily' parked her van in Bennett's London driveway and proceeded to live there for 15 years. Their unique story is funny, poignant and life-affirming.
Director: Nicholas Hytner
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Biography
High Rise
In this visionary tale based on J.G. Ballard’s classic novel, human society slips into violent reverse as once-peaceful residents, driven by primal urges, re-create a world ruled by the laws of the jungle.
Director: Ben Wheatley
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Action, Sci-Fi
Land of Mine
In this based-on-fact war drama, a group of German POWs are put to work by the Allies, defusing their own landmines on the west coast of Denmark in the immediate aftermath of World War II.
Director: Martin Nadvliet
Year: 2015
Language: Danish, German
Genre: History, War, Drama
Mr. Gaga
Mr. Gaga tells the story of Ohad Naharin, renowned choreographer and artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company, an artistic genius who redefined the language of modern dance.
Year: 2015
Language: English, Hebrew
Genre: Documentary
Irrational Man
When a burned-out, brilliant professor - one who believes in lessons from life rather than textbooks - takes a job at a small college, everyone there is abuzz. He becomes involved with a teacher as well as a precocious student, but it takes a dramatic, existential act to turn his life around and make him see the world through a much rosier and more positive perspective.
Director: Woody Allen
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Infinitely Polar Bear
Mark Ruffalo and Zoe Saldana star in this comedic drama about a manic-depressive Harvard dropout struggling to care for his two daughters as his estranged wife attends graduate school in New York City.
Director: Maya Forbes
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
13 Minutes
A carpenter from Königsbronn in Swabia, Georg Elser was a man who could have changed world history and saved millions of human lives. If only he had had 13 more minutes. With 13 more minutes, the bomb he had personally assembled would have torn apart Adolf Hitler and his henchmen. But this was not to be, and on 8 November 1939, Hitler left the scene of the attempted assassination earlier than expected - leaving Elser to fail catastrophically.
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Year: 2015
Language: German
Genre: War, Drama, Biography
I Saw The Light
The story of the country-western singer Hank Williams, who in his brief life created one of the greatest bodies of work in American music. The film chronicles his rise to fame and its tragic effect on his health and personal life.
Director: Marc Abraham
Year: 2015
Language: English
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Drama, Biography
Prince
Director: Sam de Jong
Year: 2015
Coming Home
Lu and Feng are a devoted couple forced to separate when Lu is arrested and sent to a labor camp as a political prisoner during the Cultural Revolution. He finally returns home only to find that his beloved wife no longer remembers him.
Director: Zhang Yimou
Year: 2014
Language: Mandarin
Genre: Drama, Romance
Kung Fu Elliot
Elliot Scott plans on becoming Canada’s first action hero with his third low-budget action film, Blood Fight. This bizarre story spans two years in the life of Elliot, his supportive partner Linda Lum, and their cast and crew of outrageous dreamers striving to achieve success. As Linda tries to ground Elliot in reality and commit to their relationship he retreats further and further into his world of make-believe. Elliot sees himself as a moralistic hero; however, as Linda probes into Elliot’s impressive martial arts history, his Asian lineage, and his tragic past, she begins to unravel all of Elliot's tall tales. With everyone’s hopes and dreams pinned on Elliot, this film asks, “can you believe in your dreams too much before you end up living in a fantasy world?”
Director: Matthew Bauckman and Jaret Belliveau
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Documentary, Comedy
Gemma Bovery
Gemma Arterton stars in this amusing and sexy modern-day re-working of Flaubert’s 19th century novel, Madame Bovary. Having moved to a rustic farm with her older husband, Gemma (Arterton) soon tires of their ‘simpler’ life and finds distraction in a torrid affair with a handsome young aristocrat. Meanwhile, Martin, a local baker and lover of literature, becomes besotted with Gemma, but also fears she may suffer the same fate as the heroine in his favourite novel.
Director: Anne Fontaine
Year: 2014
Language: French, English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Wild Tales
A story about love deception, the return of the past, a tragedy, or even the violence contained in an everyday detail, appear themselves to push them towards the abyss, into the undeniable pleasure of losing control.
Director: Damián Szifron
Year: 2014
Language: Spanish
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Comedy
Winter Sleep
Aydin, a former actor, runs a small hotel in central Anatolia with his young wife Nihal with whom he has a stormy relationship and his sister Necla who is suffering from her recent divorce. In winter as the snow begins to fall, the hotel turns into a shelter but also an inescapable place that fuels their animosities...
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Year: 2014
Language: Turkish
Genre: Drama
New Girlfriend, The
A young woman makes a surprising discovery about the husband of her late best friend.
Director: François Ozon
Year: 2014
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Deux jours, une nuit (Two Days, One Night)
Sandra has only one weekend to visit her colleagues and - with the help of her husband - convince them to sacrifice their bonuses so she can keep her job.
Director: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
Year: 2014
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Duke of Burgundy
Day after day, Cynthia (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and Evelyn (Chiara D'Anna) act out a simple yet provocative ritual that ends with Evelyn's punishment and pleasure. As Cynthia yearns for a more conventional relationship, Evelyn's obsession with erotica quickly becomes an addiction that may push the relationship to a breaking point.
Director: Peter Strickland
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Mystery
It Follows
For 19-year-old Jay, fall should be about school, boys and weekends at the lake. Yet, after a seemingly innocent sexual encounter she suddenly finds herself plagued by nightmarish visions; she can't shake the sensation that someone, or something, is following her. As the threat closes in, Jay and her friends must somehow escape the horrors that are only a few steps behind.
Director: David Robert Mitchell
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Clouds of Sils Maria, The
Olivier Assayas' drama The Clouds of Sils Maria stars Juliette Binoche as Maria, a celebrated actress who is traveling with her personal assistant Valentine (Kristen Stewart) to accept a lifetime achievement award for the playwright and director who launched her career. On the way, they learn that the celebrated artist has passed away. At the gala, a talented young director offers Maria the chance to star in a revival of the play that made her famous, this time portraying the part of the older woman that the young woman in the play seduces and destroys. Maria tentatively accepts, and as she attempts to find her way into the other character, she learns more about her new young co-star Jo-Ann (Chloe Grace Moretz), a talented but troubled teen the tabloids have made a fixture for her tantrums and bad behavior.
Director: Olivier Assayas
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Seymour: An Introduction
Meet Seymour Bernstein: a beloved pianist, teacher and true inspiration who shares eye-opening insights from an amazing life. Ethan Hawke helms this poignant guide to life.
Director: Ethan Hawke
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Boychoir
A recently orphaned 12 year old boy is sent to a musical boarding school by an anonymous donor – no-one expected this rebellious loner to achieve the standards required to join the Boychoir – a choral band of brothers who travel the world and maintain the school’s famed status.
Director: François Girard
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Family
Blue Room, The
Two adulterous lovers go from pillow talk to possible murder in this sexy, brain-teasing thriller. Mathieu Amalric (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Grand Budapest Hotel) directs and stars as Julien, a middle-aged salesman embroiled in a steamy love affair with a married woman who, after a round of kinky sex, makes a startling suggestion. Suddenly Julien is caught up in a police investigation-but just what exactly happened? Based on a novel by celebrated crime writer Georges Simenon, this beguiling cinematic puzzle unfolds in an elliptical style that keeps the audience guessing every step of the way.
Director: Mathieu Amalric
Year: 2014
Language: French
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Romance
Life Partners
Life Partners tells the comedic tale of two lifelong best friends, Paige and Sasha. The two are polar opposites who turn to each other for all of life's up and downs. All is fine until Paige meets Tim, a young and charming doctor. As the relationship heats up, Paige and Sasha must learn how to work Tim into their friendship.
Director: Susanna Fogel
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Son of a Gun
While locked up for a minor offence, 19-year-old JR (Brenton Thwaites) becomes apprentice to the enigmatic Brendan Lynch (Ewan McGregor), a calculating crime boss with connections both inside and out. After helping Lynch and his crew orchestrate a daring prison escape, JR is invited to join in on their next job – a high stakes heist that promises to deliver millions. But as they plan the heist, JR begins to suspect he is being played and soon finds himself on a collision course with his mentor, in a very dangerous game.
Director: Julius Avery
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Crime, Action, Family
Over Your Dead Body
A theatre troupe rehearsing a classic play of murder, betrayal and phantasmagorical vengeance find life bloodily imitating art backstage, in this wild cinematic detour from madly prolific Japanese auteur Takashi Miike.
Director: Takashi Miike
Year: 2014
Language: Japanese
Genre: Horror
Electric Boogaloo
ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: THE WILD, UNTOLD STORY OF CANNON FILMS centres on the story of two movie-obsessed immigrant cousins, Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, who in pursuit of the ‘American dream’ launched an indie studio that would produce over 120 exploitation films from 1979 – 1989. No one could have anticipated just how close these two outsiders would get in nearly taking over both Hollywood and the UK film industry. Their passion for cinema changed the way movies were made and marketed. Ultimately this passion would come between them and the company they built together. This is a one-of-a-kind story about two-of-a-kind men who (for better or worse) changed film forever.
Director: Mark Hartley
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Action, Documentary
Salt of the Earth
Co-directed by master filmmaker Wim Wenders (Pina), The Salt of the Earth takes us on a stunning visual odyssey as we see the world through the eyes of one of the greatest image-makers of the last century - world-renowned photographer Sebastião Salgado. Having captured some of the major events of our recent history, Salgado is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories and grandiose landscapes as tribute to the planet's beauty.
Director: Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado
Year: 2014
Language: English, French, Portuguese
Genre: Documentary
Yeux jaunes du crocodile, Les
When her chronically-unemployed husband runs off to start a crocodile farm in Kenya with his mistress, Joséphine Cortès is left in an unhappy state of affairs. The mother of two confident, beautiful teenage girls, Hortense and shy, babyish Zoé, is forced to maintain a stable family life while making ends meet on her meager salary as a medieval history scholar. Meanwhile, Joséphine’s charismatic sister Iris seems to have it all - a wealthy husband, gorgeous looks, and a très chic Paris address - but she dreams of bringing meaning back into her life. When Iris charms a famous publisher into offering her a lucrative deal for a twelfth-century romance, she offers her sister a deal of her own: Joséphine will write the novel and pocket all the proceeds, but the book will be published under Iris’s name. All is well - that is, until the book becomes the literary sensation of the season.
Year: 2014
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Camp X-Ray
A young woman, Amy Cole, (Kristen Stewart) joins the military to be part of something bigger than herself and her small-town roots. Instead, she ends up as a new guard at Guantanamo Bay, where her mission is far from black and white. Surrounded by hostile jihadists and aggressive squadmates, she strikes up an unusual friendship with one of the detainees. As two people on opposite sides of a war, they struggle to find their way through the ethical quagmire of Guantanamo Bay. In the process, they form an unlikely bond that changes them both.
Director: Peter Sattler
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: War, Drama
5 to 7
20-something aspiring writer Brian enters into a passionate love affair with a glamorous French woman. The catch? She's married, and can only meet him for brief trysts in fancy Manhattan hotels. Co-starring Frank Langella, Glenn Close, and Olivia Thirlby, this sexy romantic romp captures the giddy thrill of being young and in love.
Director: Victor Levin
Year: 2014
Language: English, French
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Salvation, The
After killing the men who murdered his newly arrived wife and son, immigrant settler Jon (Mads Mikkelsen) unleashes the fury of the local gang and its ruthless leader (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), who rule their frontier town. Betrayed by his corrupt and cowardly community, Jon must fight for his life, slay the outlaws, and cleanse the town’s black heart.
Director: Kristian Levring
Year: 2014
Language: English, Danish
Genre: Drama, Western
Time Lapse
Three friends discover a mysterious machine that takes pictures 24hrs into the future. When they start to use it for personal gain, the machine takes over their lives and controls their future, with devastating results.
Director: Bradley King
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi
Extinction
Deep in the Amazon jungle a research team lead by Professor Howson (Ben Loyd Holmes - Skyfall) strive to protect vulnerable and endangered species, but when their guide Carlos (Ernesto Cantu - World War Z) abandons them, they begin to realize they are in the hunting ground of an apex predator.
Director: Adam Spinks
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Horror, Thriller, Action, Sci-Fi
5 Flights Up
5 Flights Up is set over a weekend where a couple must decide whether or not to sell their Brooklyn walk up of 40 years. The story takes a comedic turn when the dynamic couple have to contend with eccentric open house guests, their pushy realtor niece, and the health of their beloved family dog - all while navigating a New York on edge from what turns out to be an media-generated terror threat.
Director: Richard Loncraine
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Banksy Does New York
A chronicle of British street artist Banksy's "Better Out Than In" project, a surreptitious residency in New York City boroughs that drew a devoted following eager to find a new piece for each day in October 2013.
Director: Chris Moukarbel
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Aloft
ALOFT tells the story of a struggling mother, Nana Kunning (Jennifer Connelly) and her evolution into a renowned artist and healer. When a young journalist (Mélanie Laurent) tracks down her son Ivan (Cillian Murphy) 20 years after Nana abandoned him, she sets in motion an encounter between the two at the very edge of the earth that will bring the very meaning of their lives into question, and force them to contemplate living life to its fullest, despite the distance between them and the uncertainties littering their paths.
Healing will bring warmth, even in the coldest place on earth.
Director: Claudia Llosa
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Dancing Arabs
Dancing Arabs tells the story of Eyad, a Palestinian-Israeli boy from the town of Tira whose parents send to a prestigious Jewish boarding school in Jerusalem. At school he finds himself struggling with issues of language, culture, and identity – trying to survive and to find his way in a place where war constantly rages around him. Feeling foreign and alienated, Eyad realizes that in order to be accepted as an equal, in order to allay people’s suspicions, in order to work, to love, and, above all, to belong – he has to make personal sacrifices.
Director: Eran Riklis
Year: 2014
Language: Arabic/English/Hebrew
Genre: Drama
American Heist
James (Hayden Christensen) owes his life to his older brother Frankie (Adrien Brody) after Frankie took the rap for a crime they both committed. After Frankie serves his time, he convinces James to join him in an ill-fated bank robbery in the hopes that one last job will change both their lives.
Director: Sarik Andreasyan
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Thriller, Drama, Crime, Action
Preggoland
When 35-year-old Ruth ruins a baby shower with her juvenile antics, her old high school cronies-who are all mothers now-promptly de-friend her. But when she is later mistakenly thought to be ‘with child’ she is inexplicably welcomed back into the group. Although she initially tries to come clean, the many perks of pregnancy are far too seductive to ignore. Preggoland is a comedy about our societal obsession with babies and the lengths we’ll go to be part of a club.
Director: Jacob Tierney
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Rançon de la gloire, La
Eddy, recently out of prison, needs money to support his family. With the death of Charlie Chaplin announced on television, Eddy decides to steal his casket, and demand ransom from the deceased actor’s family.
Director: Xavier Beauvois
Year: 2014
Language: French, English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Hungry Hearts
New York City newlyweds Jude and Mina have a seemingly perfect relationship. But things take an unsettling turn with the birth of their son. Convinced that the baby must be kept free of all contaminants, Mina (Alba Rohrwacher) becomes increasingly isolated from the world and outrageously protective of the baby, while Jude (Adam Driver) tries to cope with his wife's escalating obsessions.
Director: Saverio Costanzo
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Romance
Robot Overlords
Following an alien invasion, Earth’s inhabitants are forbidden from leaving their homes while their new Robot Overlords carry out their mysterious research. But when a band of adoptive siblings find a way to override their implants, a quest begins to find a missing father, even if it means defying an empire.
Director: Jon Wright
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Action, Sci-Fi
Face of an Angel, The
Why are we fascinated by murder? Inspired by the killing of British student Meredith Kercher in Italy, FACE OF AN ANGEL looks beyond the salacious headlines to explore both the media and the public's obsession with violent stories, whether fictional or real.
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Year: 2014
Language: English, Italian
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Time Out of Mind
Director: Oren Moverman
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama
What We Have
Haunted by his life on stage in France, Maurice Lesmers seeks refuge in a remote town in Northern Canada where he discovers there is little outlet for his gay appetite for anonymous one-night stands. To make ends meet, Maurice takes a job tutoring French to 15-year old Allan, a shy student struggling at school, and auditions for the local theatre company’s French production of Molière’s The Miser. When he lands the leading role, Maurice is surprisingly drawn to the company’s handsome manager, Michael. But their relationship is endangered when Maurice gets caught up in Allan’s adolescent world and risks everything to protect his young student from a relentless bully and the hardships of coming out.
Director: Maxime Desmons
Year: 2014
Language: French, English
Genre: Drama
Narcopolis
In 2022, the manufacture and consumption of drugs has been legalised. Drecks are an elite unit created by an over-stretched police force to keep the black market dealers off the streets and the licensed drug companies rich. When dreck and former addict Frank Grieves is called to investigate an unidentifiable corpse, he makes a connection to the biggest and most powerful drug producer of them all: The Ambro Company. But Ambro have friends in high places and as his corrupt superiors turn on him, Grieves finds himself cut loose by the law and separated from the people he loves. The only way to clear his name is to find the identity of the dead body and its connection to Ambro. But not even Grieves is ready for what the future has in store.
Director: Justin Trefgarne
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi, Mystery
When Animals Dream
16-year old Marie lives on a small island with her seriously ill mother and her father, who takes care of the family. But suddenly mysterious deaths happen and Marie can feel something strange happening to her body.
Director: Jonas Alexander Arnby
Year: 2014
Language: Danish
Genre: Horror, Drama, Mystery
Daughter, The
In the last days of a dying logging town Christian (Paul Schneider) returns to his family home for his father Henry's (Geoffrey Rush) wedding to the much younger Anna (Anna Torv). While home, Christian reconnects with his childhood friend Oliver (Ewen Leslie), who has stayed in town working at Henry's timber mill and is now out of a job. As Christian gets to know Oliver's wife Charlotte (Miranda Otto), daughter Hedvig (Odessa Young) and father Walter (Sam Neill), he discovers a secret that could tear Oliver's family apart. As he tries to right the wrongs of the past, his actions threaten to shatter the lives of those he left behind years before.
Director: Simon Stone
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Manglehorn
Left heartbroken by the woman he loved and lost many years ago, AJ Manglehorn (Al Pacino), a small-town locksmith, tries to start his life over again with the help of a new friend (Holly Hunter).
Director: David Gordon Green
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Snowman
From childhood, Kevin Fogolin dreamed of living and working in the mountains. After breaking the shackles of small-town expectations, his dream comes crashing down in a helicopter avalanche bombing mission gone horribly wrong. In the aftermath, Kevin and his childhood friend, freeskiing icon Mike Douglas, are forced to confront the risks and rewards of following their passion for the mountains. Set in British Columbia's rugged Coast Mountain Range, SNOWMAN is a familiar tale of dreaming big and a life where the greatest risk is not daring to dream at all.
Director: Mike Douglas, Anthony Bonello
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Action, Documentary
Don't Tell Me The Boy Was Mad
In the 80s, Aram, a young man from Marseille of Armenian origin, blows up the Turkish ambassador's car in Paris. Gilles Tessier, a young cyclist who was passing at that moment, is seriously injured. Aram, on the run, joins the Armenian Liberation Army in Beirut, the hotbed of international revolution in those years. Gilles is trying to understand when Anouch, Aram's mother, arrives in his hospital room to beg his forgiveness. She admits that her son planted the bomb. Aram clashes with his comrades in Beirut and decides to meet his victim to make him his spokesman...
Director: Robert Guédiguian
Year: 2014
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Rams
In a remote Icelandic farming valley, two brothers who haven't spoken in 40 years have to come together in order to save what's dearest to them - their sheep.
Director: Grímur Hákonarson
Year: 2014
Language: Icelandic
Genre: Drama
Early Winter
David, 45, works long nights as a night guard in a retirement home. He dotes on his children, plies his wife with latest model gadgets and cars, and keeps the wheels of his life turning with painkillers and antidepressants. But when he catches her with a lover, his life spirals out of control, bringing him to the brink of insanity, gaunt and alone, but free, maybe, for the first time in his adult life.
Director: Michael Rowe
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Lobster, The
A love story set in the near future where single people, according to the rules of The City, are arrested and transferred to The Hotel. There they are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days. If they fail, they are transformed into an animal of their choosing and released into The Woods. A desperate Man escapes from The Hotel to The Woods where The Loners live and falls in love, although it is against their rules.
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Creative Control
In a near-future Brooklyn, David is an overworked, tech-addicted advertising executive working on a high profile campaign for a new generation of Augmented Reality glasses. Envious of his best friend Wim's charmed life and obsessed with his entrancing girlfriend Sophie, David uses the glasses to develop a life-like avatar of her; but he isn't prepared for what happens when the line between reality and virtual reality begins to blur.
Director: Benjamin Dickenson
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
Dheepan
Winner of the Palme D’Or at Cannes. An improvised "family" flees civil war in Sri Lanka only to end up in another violent conflict in Parisian slums.
Director: Jacques Audiard
Year: 2014
Language: French, Tamil
Genre: Drama, Crime
Fall
Father Sam Ryan, (Michael Murphy), an aging Roman Catholic Priest living contentedly at a Niagara Falls parish, receives a letter forcing his complacent life into a downward spiral. The letter, from "Christopher," confronts him about an incident that happened 40 years ago. Father Sam was a young, charismatic priest, serving a remote, Northern Ontario parish. Christopher was a 14-year-old adolescent, whom Sam mentored. The letter asks Father Sam for the truth: what did take place all those years ago? Were lines blurred or crossed? What choices were made?
Director: Terrance Odette
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Pact 2, The
A woman who is plagued by nightmares involving a serial killer learns her dreams have a horrifying connection to the real world.
Director: Dallas Richard Hallam, Patrick Horvath
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Un été en Provence
Lea, Adrian, and their little brother Theo go on holiday in Provence with their estranged grandfather, whom they have never met because of a family quarrel. It is not the holiday they dreamed of, especially since their parents have just announced that they are splitting up. But despite the initial disappointment and the inevitable clash of generations, over the course of their turbulent summer, both generations will be transformed by the other.
Director: Roselyne Bosch
Year: 2014
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Romance
Merchants of Doubt
Documentarian Robert Kenner (Food, Inc.) investigates the shadowy world of professional skeptics, whose services are bought and paid for by corporations, think tanks and other special interests to cast doubt and delay public and governmental action on climate change.
Director: Robert Kenner, Maya Anand
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Cocaine Cowboys Reloaded
Cocaine Cowboys Reloaded is the true story of how Miami became the drug, murder and cash capital of the US. With over an hour of previously unreleased material, including never-before-seen interviews, stories and archival news footage, this is the most comprehensive look at Miami's Cocaine Wars yet, exposing the biggest, most ruthless players in the business.
Director: Billy Corben
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: History, Crime, Documentary
God's Not Dead
Director: Harold Cronk
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama
By the Gun
Nick Tortano is an ambitious criminal from the streets of Boston whose life spirals out of control once he joins the mafia. When he comes head-to-head with the ‘Boss’ (Harvey Keitel), Nick’s girlfriend, family, and friends’ lives are placed in danger. To protect himself and the ones he loves, Nick is forced to gun down anyone that stands in his way.
Director: James Mottern
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Green Prince, The
This real life thriller tells the story of one of Israel's prized intelligence sources, the son of a top Hamas leader. Under the code name "The Green Prince", he is recruited to spy on his own people for over a decade. Focusing on his complex relationship with his handler, this is a gripping account of terror, betrayal, impossible choices - and of a friendship that defies all boundaries.
Director: Nadav Schirman
Year: 2014
Language: English, Hebrew
Genre: Documentary, Biography
Foxcatcher
Based on true events, FOXCATCHER tells the dark and fascinating story of the unlikely and ultimately tragic relationship between an eccentric multi-millionaire and two champion wrestlers. FOXCATCHER is a rich and moving story of brotherly love, misguided loyalty and the corruption and emotional bankruptcy that can accompany great power and wealth. As with Academy Award nominee Bennett Miller's previous feature films, CAPOTE and MONEYBALL, he explores large themes in society through his complex character portraits of real people.
Director: Bennett Miller
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Sports, Drama, Biography
Alien Outpost
Ten years after a devastating alien invasion, an elite team of marines continues to fight, and die, defending the crucial but deadly zone known as Outpost 37. When a soldier disappears during an ambush, the unit launches a raid deep into enemy territory to rescue him… only to discover that the first invasion was only the beginning.
Director: Jabbar Raisani
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Thriller, Action, Sci-Fi
Elsa & Fred
"Elsa and Fred" is the story of two people who, at the end of the road, discover that it's never too late to love and make dreams come true.
Director: Michael Radfort
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Difret
Three hours outside of Addis Ababa, a bright 14-year-old girl is on her way home from school when men on horses swoop in and kidnap her. The brave Hirut grabs a rifle and tries to escape, but ends up shooting her would-be husband. In her village, the practice of abduction into marriage is common and one of Ethiopia's oldest traditions. Meaza Ashenafi, an empowered and tenacious young lawyer, arrives from the city to represent Hirut and argue that she acted in self-defense. Meaza boldly embarks on a collision course between enforcing civil authority and abiding by customary law, risking the continuing work of her women's legal-aid practice to save Hirut's life.
Director: Zeresenay Berhane Mehari
Year: 2014
Language: Amharic
Genre: Drama, Crime, Biography
Red Army
From Oscar® nominated and Emmy award winning filmmakers, RED ARMY is a feature documentary about the Soviet Union and the most successful dynasty in sports history: the Red Army hockey team. Told from the perspective of its captain Slava Fetisov, the story portrays his transformation from national hero to political enemy. From the USSR to Russia, the film examines how sport mirrors social and cultural movements and parallels the rise and fall of the Red Army team with the Soviet Union.
RED ARMY is an inspiring story about the Cold War played out on the ice rink, and a man who stood up to a powerful system and paved the way for change for generations of Russians.
Director: Gabe Polsky
Year: 2014
Language: English, Russian
Genre: History, Documentary, Biography
Princess Grace
Nicole Kidman stars as legendary Hollywood actress-turned-princess Grace Kelly in this lavish biographical drama from acclaimed director Olivier Dahan. Six years after leaving Hollywood to become Princess of Monaco, Grace, now a mother of two, considers a comeback in the movies against her husband's wishes. But with political strife threatening war in her country, Grace must choose once and for all between her life as a film star and her role as princess.
Director: Olivier Dahan
Year: 2014
Language: English, French
Genre: Drama, Romance, Biography
Ritournelle, La
Brigitte and Xavier have a good life. Their farm exploitation prospers and their children have left home to live on their own…A man of few words, Xavier spends most of his time taking care of the cattle.
A sophisticated dreamer, Brigitte keeps hoping for something else, something more... To escape the monotony of her everyday life, she decides to go on a solo, whirl-wind weekend in Paris. And the French capital does indeed offer freedom and adventure…
Director: Marc Fitoussi
Year: 2014
Language: French
Genre: Comedy
Lambert & Stamp
In the crazy, chaotic gospel of chance that is LAMBERT & STAMP, aspiring filmmakers Chris Stamp and Kit Lambert set out to find a subject for their underground movie, one that will reflect the way it feels to be young and dissatisfied in postwar London. This brilliant, but unlikely, partnership of two men from vastly different backgrounds was inspired by the burgeoning youth culture of the early 1960s. Lambert and Stamp searched for months and finally found in a band called the High Numbers a rebellious restlessness that was just what they were looking for. Abandoning their plans to make a film, they instead decided to mentor and manage this group, which evolved into the iconic band known as the Who. The result was rock 'n' roll history.
Director: James D. Cooper
Year: 2014
Language: English, French, German
Genre: History, Documentary, Biography
Vacances du Petit Nicolas, Les
It's the end of the school year. The long-awaited holidays have finally arrived. Little Nicolas, his parents and Mémé hit the road heading for the sea, and move into the Beau-Rivage Hotel. At the beach, Nicolas wastes little time making new friends: there's Blaise, who isn't on holiday because he lives here; Fructueux, who eats anything, all the time... Even fish... raw. There's Djodjo, who talks funny because he's English, Crépin the constant crybaby and Côme, who always wants to be right and is really, really annoying. Nicolas also gets to know Isabelle, a little girl who follows him everywhere, wide-eyed. "How sweet, those two. I hear wedding bells in the future," laugh the grown-ups. Nicolas panics! Luckily his pals are there to help him... and to cause trouble. Between the beach, the hotel and the forest, with his friends, his family, the beach attendant and the swimming coach, Nicolas is really going to enjoy a holiday to remember.
Director: Laurent Tirard
Year: 2014
Language: French
Genre: Comedy, Family
Long Way Down, A
A Long Way Down is a funny and charming comedy starring Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Aaron Paul, Imogen Poots and Sam Neill. On New Year’s Eve, four strangers meet atop a London skyscraper, each looking for a way out. Instead, these perfect strangers make a pact to stay together until Valentine’s Day, sparking a media frenzy as they help one another find the beauty in being alive. Based on the novel by acclaimed writer Nick Hornby (About a Boy, Fever Pitch).
Director: Pascal Chaumeil
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Labyrinth of Lies
Frankfurt 1958: nobody wants to look back to the time of the National Socialist regime. Young prosecuting attorney Johann Radmann comes across some documents that help to initiate the trial against some members of the SS who served in Auschwitz. But both the horrors of the past and the hostility against his work bring Johann to the point of meltdown. It is nearly impossible for him to find his way through this maze; everybody seems to have been involved or guilty.
Director: Giulio Ricciarelli
Year: 2014
Language: German
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Goodbye to All That
Paul Schneider (Parks and Recreation) stars as a newly single dad navigating the good, the bad, and the weird of the 30-something singles scene in this whip-smart comedy. When his wife unexpectedly informs him that she wants a divorce, well-meaning but oblivious husband Otto Wall (Schneider) finds himself thrust back into bachelorhood. Cue a hilarious sequence of romantic encounters—from reconnecting with a former crush to online dating—as Otto searches for the real thing amidst a string of one night stands.
Director: Angus MacLachlan
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Love Is Strange
Ben and George take advantage of New York's new marriage laws and tie the knot after being together for 39 years. Unfortunately, the Catholic school where George teaches does not approve and they reluctantly fire him, forcing the couple to split up and stay with friends while they sell their apartment and look for cheaper housing. George crashes with two gay police officers, while Ben, who's a painter, bunks with his nephew's family in Brooklyn -- a temporary situation that weighs heavily on all involved.
Director: Ira Sachs
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Little Accidents
When a mining disaster tears at the fabric of an Appalachian coal-mining town, the lives of three very different inhabitants become inexplicably tangled in a web of secrets. Amos Jenkins, the sole survivor of the tragedy, unwillingly becomes a focal point of the resulting investigation. As tensions rise over who to blame for the deadly mishap, the teenage son of a top executive at the coal mine goes missing. Diane, the boy's mother, grows emotionally estranged from her husband Bill as they search in vain for their child. Turning to the local church for support, Diane not only finds a comforting friend in Amos, but also meets one of her son's classmates, Owen Briggs, whom she learns was present at the time of his disappearance.
Director: Sara Colangelo
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Heartbeat
Justine, paralyzed by stage fright, gave up a far fetched dream of becoming a singer songwriter and tucked her heart away, ignoring what it was desperately trying to tell her: that in order to live, it needs to beat. Now accustomed to avoiding what makes her heart beat, Justine is stuck. She lives in a mausoleum - the house she inherited from her grandmother; writes uninspired copy for a data management company and lies to her best friend, Lorna, about continuing to sleep with her ex, Ben. After Ben leaves town, putting an end to their late night trysts, Justine, depressed and unfulfilled, picks up her dusty guitar and finally faces the music - her music - and her heart begins to beat again. Heartbeat mixes Justine’s live-action story about facing her greatest fear with an animated fable about the joy of her beating heart.
Director: Andrea Dorfman
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama, Romance, Comedy
Our Little Sister
Three sisters - Sachi, Yoshino and Chika - live together in a large house in the city of Kamakura. When their father - absent from the family home for the last 15 years - dies, they travel to the countryside for his funeral, and meet their shy teenage half-sister. Bonding quickly with the orphaned Suzu, they invite her to live with them. Suzu eagerly agrees, and a new life of joyful discovery begins for the four siblings...
Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Year: 2014
Language: Japanese
Genre: Drama
Boyhood
Filmed over 12 years with the same cast, Richard Linklater's BOYHOOD is a groundbreaking story of growing up as seen through the eyes of a child named Mason (a breakthrough performance by Ellar Coltrane), who literally grows up on screen before our eyes. Starring Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as Mason's parents and newcomer Lorelei Linklater as his sister Samantha, BOYHOOD charts the rocky terrain of childhood like no other film has before. Snapshots of adolescence from road trips and family dinners to birthdays and graduations and all the moments in between become transcendent, set to a soundtrack spanning the years from Coldplay's Yellow to Arcade Fire's Deep Blue. BOYHOOD is both a nostalgic time capsule of the recent past and an ode to growing up and parenting. It's impossible to watch Mason and his family without thinking about our own journey.
Director: Richard Linklater
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Diplomatie
August 25th, 1944. The Allies enter Paris. Warsaw has been destroyed three weeks earlier by the Germans.
Shortly before dawn, Dietrich von Choltitz (Niels Arestrup), German military governor of Paris, prepares to execute Adolph Hitler’s orders to blow up the French capital. Bridges and monuments are all rigged to explode.
And yet, Paris is not destroyed. For what reasons did von Choltitz refuse to carry out the Fuhrer’s commands, despite his boundless loyalty to the Third Reich?
Was it Raoul Nordling (André Dussollier), Swedish consul-general to Paris, who made the General change his mind?
Director: Volker Schlöndorff
Year: 2014
Language: French
Genre: War, Drama
Ironclad: Battle for Blood
Brace yourselves for another brutal battle, as one of the few survivors of the Great Siege of Rochester Castle fights to protect his family’s estate from fierce Celtic raiders. With a new battleground and a new enemy, IRONCLAD: BATTLE FOR BLOOD promises to deliver the same ferocious, adrenaline-filled action and gory kills that defined IRONCLAD.
Director: Jonathan English
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Action
Hard Drive
Hard Drive is the story of one young man’s unexpected plunge into adulthood–from youthful restlessness to the uplifting joy of first love.
Director: William D. MacGillivray
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Action, Romance
Open Windows
From the visionary director behind the sci-fi classic Timecrimes comes another technical masterpiece. Elijah Wood stars as Nick, a super fan who has won a contest to meet his favourite actress, Jill Goddard (Sasha Grey), star of a series of sci-fi action films. But when Jill refuses to honour the contest, her manager—an ominous figure named Chord—makes Nick an offer he can't refuse: the opportunity to spy on Jill through his computer. Nick begins watching the unknowing star, unaware that his actions will put both himself and Jill in mortal danger.
Director: Nacho Vigalondo
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Thriller, Crime, Action, Sci-Fi
I Put a Hit on You
A brokenhearted woman teams up with her ex-boyfriend to try and stop the hitman she accidentally hired to kill him.
Director: Dane Clark, Linsey Stewart
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Romance, Comedy
Testament of Youth
Testament of Youth is a powerful story of love, war and remembrance, based on the First World War memoir by Vera Brittain, which has become the classic testimony of that war from a woman's point of view. A searing journey from youthful hopes and dreams to the edge of despair and back again, it's a film about young love, the futility of war and how to make sense of the darkest times.
Director: James Kent
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: History, Drama, Biography
Free the Nipple
Inspired by true events, Free the Nipple follows a group of young women who take to the streets of New York City topless, to protest the archaic censorship laws in the United States. Activist Liv and With set out to start a movement and change the system through publicity stunts and graffiti installations while armed with First Amendment lawyers. The film explores the contradictions in our media-dominated society, where acts of violence and killing are glorified, while images of a woman's body are censored by the FCC and the MPAA. What is more obscene: Violence or a Nipple?
Director: Lina Esco
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Jimmy's Hall
In 1921 Jimmy opened a dance hall, where he encouraged young Irish men and women not only to dance, but to discuss the cultural oppression and poverty of the time. However, Jimmy's past as a leader of the Revolutionary Workers' Group, a predecessor of the Communist Party of Ireland, sparked protests against Jimmy running a hall where he was influencing young people.
Director: Ken Loach
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: History, Drama, Biography
V/H/S Viral
A police chase after a deranged ice cream truck has captivated the attention of the greater Los Angeles area. Dozens of fame-obsessed teens flock to the streets with their video cameras and camera phones, hell-bent on capturing the next viral video. But there is something far more sinister occurring in the streets of L.A. than a simple police chase. A resounding effect is created onto all those obsessed with capturing salacious footage for no other purpose than to amuse or titillate. Soon the discovery becomes that they themselves are the stars of the next video, one where they face their own death.
Director: Justin Benson, Gregg Bishop, Todd Lincoln, Aaron Moorhead, Marcel Sarmiento, Nacho Vigalondo
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Whiplash
Andrew Neyman is a 19-year-old drummer, dreaming of greatness but unsure if his dream will ever come true. He attends a cutthroat music conservatory and practices at all hours of the day, but he's haunted by the failed writing career of his father and wonders if he has what it takes to leave a mark. Then he meets Terence Fletcher, a larger-than-life music instructor with a very particular teaching style. Under Fletcher's ruthless direction, Andrew begins to pursue perfection at any cost – even his humanity.
Director: Damien Chazelle
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Drama
Anniversary, The
On the morning of their 20th wedding anniversary, Teresa's husband Sam goes for a run and keeps on running. Teresa carries on with the dinner celebrations figuring he'll show up eventually. As the evening unfolds we realize Sam ran away a year ago and Teresa's tenacity is holding onto his return. Their teenage son, Nicky, gives the party a bit of magic as he spikes the food with some hallucinogenics causing a wide variety of effects on the dinner guests. After a lot of laughter, tears and awkward embraces, Teresa realizes the truth about Sam's departure and what it means to say I Love You.
Director: Valerie Buhagiar
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Riot Club, The
Two young men are inducted into the exclusive, debaucherous company of Oxford's elite "Riot Club", in this scathing dissection of the British class system.
Director: Lone Sherfig
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Astérix - Le Domaine des dieux
Julius Caesar unveils his latest plan to get rid of those indomitable Gauls once and for all. As his army has not been able to crush "the last pocket of resistance", he decides to try a stealth invasion: civilization delivered to the village gates! He builds a new Rome? The Land of the Gods? around Asterix's village, pressuring the Gauls to assimilate or vanish. Despite Asterix and Obelix's plans to stop the construction work, the buildings quickly rise and the Roman citizens start to peacefully invade their surroundings, bringing chaos to Asterix's village. Could this finally mean victory for Caesar?
Director: Alexandre Astier, Louis Clichy
Year: 2014
Language: French
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Animation
Cold in July
How can a split-second decision change your life? While investigating noises in his house one balmy Texas night in 1989, Richard Dane puts a bullet in the brain of a low-life burglar, Freddy Russell. Although he’s hailed as a small-town hero, Dane soon finds himself fearing for his family’s safety when Freddy’s ex-con father, Ben, rolls into town; hell-bent on revenge. However, not all is as it seems. Shortly after Dane kills the home intruder, his life begins to unravel into a dark underworld of corruption and violence. Twists and turns continue to pile up as the film reaches its inevitable destination: a gore-soaked dead end.
Director: Jim Mickle
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Homesman, The
Mary Bee Cuddy, 31, lives a solitary existence in a God-fearing mid-western town. She is designated by members of her church to take back East three women who have lost their minds. On the way from Nebraska to Iowa, where those women will at last find refuge, Mary Bee saves the life of Briggs, a claim-jumper and outlaw. He agrees to help in her mission through snowstorms and perilous encounters with settlers, Indians and the harshness of the Frontier territory.
Director: Tommy Lee Jones
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Western
Leviathan
In a Russian coastal town, Kolya is forced to fight the corrupt mayor when he is told that his house will be demolished. He recruits a lawyer friend to help, but the man's arrival brings further misfortune for Kolya and his family.
Director: Andreï Zviaguintsev
Year: 2014
Language: Russian
Genre: Drama, Crime
God's Pocket
In the gritty, blue-collar neighborhood of God's Pocket, Mickey Scarpato's crazy stepson, Leon, is killed in a construction “accident,” and Mickey quickly tries to bury the bad news with the body. But when a local columnist comes sniffing around for the truth, things go from bad to worse. Mickey finds himself stuck in a life-and-death struggle compounded by a body he can't bury, a wife he can't please, and a debt he can't pay.
Director: John Slattery
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Crime
Machine, The
Amidst a future cold war, a scientist develops a game-changing android weapon called The Machine. But when it shows signs of consciousness and is ordered to be destroyed, it fights back with vengeance.
Director: Caradog W. James
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi
Hellion
Hard-drinking Texas single dad Hollis (Paul) struggles to raise his two boys, including rebellious teenager Jacob (first-time actor Josh Wiggins in a stunning breakthrough performance). Seething with anger, Jacob finds release in the high-risk, white-knuckle world of motocross—but his increasingly reckless behavior threatens to spin out of control.
Director: Kat Candler
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Dark Horse SPC
Set in a former mining village in Wales, Dark Horse is the inspirational true story of a group of friends from a working men's club who decide to take on the elite 'sport of kings' and breed themselves a racehorse. Their young foal, raised on nearby waste-land, grows into an unlikely champion, beating the finest thoroughbreds in the country, before suffering a near fatal accident. Nursed back to health by the love of his owners - for whom he's become a source of inspiration and hope - he makes a remarkable recovery, returning to the track for a heart-stopping comeback.
Director: Louise Osmond
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Documentary
Wedding Guest, The
When Jay (Scott Speedman), a charming ladies man, meets Daisy (Evan Rachel Wood), a free-spirited but sheltered woman, he’s not looking for love. Instead, he needs a convincing date to take to his estranged brother's wedding so he can trick his family into believing that he's finally straightened out his life. What starts out as a simple deception turns into a wild road trip.
Director: Andrew Fleming
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Devil's Hand, The
In the small, isolated village of New Bethlehem, members of the quietly devout community live in fear. The Elders have warned that an ancient prophecy may soon be fulfilled – that upon turning 18 years old, one of six girls, all born on the sixth day of the sixth month, will become the “Devil’s Hand.” As that day approaches, one-by-one the girls begin to die. Could this be the act of a serial killer, a village elder, or the horrific prophecy come true...?
Director: Christian E. Christiansen
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Premature
You're in highschool. Facing the biggest day of your life. You need to nail a college interview ensuring your admittance to your parents' beloved alma mater. To keep cool when your life-long crush finally seems to show interest. And then you wake up one morning and realize someone's playing a sick joke, because you're reliving the day's events over and over...and over again. Are you A.) stuck in a dream? B.) Experiencing déjà vu? C.) Having a psychotic break? Whether it's finding a way to get into college, into your life-long crush's pants, or having an even bigger epiphany, you must figure out how to break the cycle before losing your mind. This is the set-up for Premature, the hilarious-yet-heartfelt comedy from first time feature director (and co-writer) Dan Beers that won over audiences at this year's SXSW. An ingenious collision between Groundhog Day and American Pie.
Director: Dan Beers
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy
Amapola (INTL)
Director: Eugenio Zanetti
Year: 2014
Language: English, Spanish
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Musical
Hybrid, The
From a torturous cell in Africa, Abel Powell is released and given the chance to regroup his team of skilled mercenaries for one last job.
A top scientist will guide them half a mile underground through an ex-soviet bunker to extract the vital specimens and information being paid for by a mysterious backer, but what they seek should never have been found!
Director: Billy O'Brien
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi
Ex Machina
When a young programmer arrives at his reclusive CEO's private mountain retreat, he learns that he will be a key player in a breakthrough experiment in artificial intelligence. The subject is Ava, a breathtaking A.I. whose emotional intelligence proves more sophisticated - and more deceptive - than the two men could have imagined.
Director: Alex Garland
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Sci-Fi, Mystery
Crème de la crème, La
Three sophomore business students take their professors theories and apply the business model to their social lives and those of others, hiring beautiful women to act as their dates in order to inflate their popularity. Soon enough, their concept takes off like a rocket, but at a cost.
Director: Kim Chapiron
Year: 2014
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Cam 2 Cam
In this dark and haunting thriller, Five Bangkok tourists have gone missing after making online contact with an unknown party. Newly-arrived Allie Westbrook (Tammin Sursok) meets a pair of ex-pats, Michael and Marit, who perform on a provocative interactive website. The dark menace beneath Michael's easy charm and the strange magnetism of the group's leader, Marit, drive Allie to the brink of madness. In a city where foreigners come to re-invent themselves, Allie learns, too late, that nothing is what it seems.
Director: Joel Soisson
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Mr. Turner
MR. TURNER explores the last quarter century of the great if eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851). Profoundly affected by the death of his father, loved by a housekeeper he takes for granted and occasionally exploits sexually, he forms a close relationship with a seaside landlady with whom he eventually lives incognito in Chelsea, where he dies. Throughout this, he travels, paints, stays with the country aristocracy, visits brothels, is a popular if anarchic member of the Royal Academy of Arts, has himself strapped to the mast of a ship so that he can paint a snowstorm, and is both celebrated and reviled by the public and by royalty.
Director: Mike Leigh
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: History, Drama, Biography
Land Ho!
A pair of ex-brothers-in-law set off to Iceland in an attempt to reclaim their youth through Reykjavík nightclubs, trendy spas, and rugged campsites. This bawdy adventure is a throwback to 1980s road comedies, as well as a candid exploration of aging, loneliness, and friendship.
Director: Martha Stephens, Aaron Katz
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Comedy
Last Weekend
Matriarch Celia Green (Patricia Clarkson) is at a crossroads. She and her husband, Malcolm (Chris Mulkey), are the founders of a fitness empire and among San Francisco’s wealthiest citizens. They have been coming to Lake Tahoe for more than thirty years, and yet Celia now feels that something in her life is missing.
She gathers her two adult sons (Zachary Booth and Joseph Cross) and their partners for a rare weekend together. As the holiday begins, Celia finds herself torn between the house—and the past that it represents—and her desire to move forward with her life.
Director: Tom Dolby, Tom Williams
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Still Alice
Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children, is a renowned linguistics professor who starts to forget words. When she receives a devastating diagnosis, Alice and her family find their bonds tested.
Director: Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama
That Sugar Film
An expectant father undertakes a perilous/delicious mission to see what the hidden sugars in seemingly healthy products can do to both his body and brain chemistry in this eye-opening new documentary that must be seen to be believed.
Director: Damon Gameau
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Saint Laurent
The life of acclaimed fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent during the peak of his career, from 1967 to 1976.
Director: Bertrand Bonello
Year: 2014
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Romance, Biography
Kelly & Cal
Kelly, a punk-rocker turned suburban mom, is nostalgic for a life she can no longer have and uncertain of a future she doesn't yet fit in. Seventeen-year-old Cal is frustrated at his lack of control over the hand he's been dealt. When the two strike up an unlikely friendship, it's the perfect spark needed to thrust them both back to life.
Director: Jen McGowan
Year: 2014
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Family
Louder Than Words
This inspiring film, based on a true story, finds a couple, John (David Duchovny) and Brenda (Hope Davis) trying to put their life back together after the tragic death of their young daughter, Maria (Olivia Steele-Falconer). As they deal with their numbing grief, they discover a way to honor their daughter's wish for health and well-being for all children. With the help of their community, led by good friend Bruce (Timothy Hutton), they establish a children's hospital called the Maria Fareri Children's Hospital... a state of the art health facility that brings the whole family into the healing process. Instead of being torn apart by their tragedy, John and Brenda celebrate their very special daughter and help thousands of children and their families.
Director: Anthony Fabian
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Family
Violette
Violette Leduc, an illegitimate child born in the early 20th century, poor and unloved, meets Simone de Beauvoir in the post-war years, in St-Germain-des-Prés. An intense lifelong relation starts between the two women, based on the freedom to write for Violette, and, for Simone, on the conviction that the fate of an outstanding writer is in her hands.
Director: Martin Provost
Year: 2013
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Romance, Biography
I'm So Excited!
Described as "a light, very light comedy", the film, written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, is set almost entirely on an aeroplane and is about intimate relationships of lovers.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Year: 2013
Language: Spanish
Genre: Comedy
Nymph()maniac
Nymph()maniac is the wild and poetic story of a woman's journey from birth to the age of 50 as told by the main character, the self-diagnosed nymphomaniac, Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg). On a cold winter's evening the old, charming bachelor, Seligman (Stellan Skarsgård), finds Joe beaten up in an alley. He brings her home to his flat where he cares for her wounds while asking her about her life. He listens intently as Joe over the next 8 chapters recounts the lushy branched-out and multifaceted story of her life, rich in associations and interjecting incidents.
Director: Lars von Trier
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Young & Beautiful
Acclaimed director François Ozon (Swimming Pool, 8 Women) helms this erotic tale of sexual awakening. After losing her virginity, 17-year-old budding beauty Isabelle (Marine Vacth) takes up a secret life as a call girl, meeting her older gentlemen clients for sleazy hotel room trysts. Throughout, she remains curiously aloof, showing little interest in the encounters themselves or the money she makes, while Ozon slyly refrains from offering easy answers. As the enigmatic Isabelle, Marine Vacth is magnetic, delivering a star-making breakout performance in this sleek and sexy coming-of-age drama.
Director: Francois Ozon
Year: 2013
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Damned, The
After a car accident leaves them stranded in a rundown, secluded inn, David and his family discover the old innkeeper has locked a young girl in the basement. When they set her free they realize, too late, that she is possessed by an evil spirit from centuries past. What’s worse, the spirit can jump from person to person, creating a deadly dynamic among the once loving family. Before it destroys all that he loves, David must figure out a way to seal this ancient evil up for good.
Director: Víctor García
Year: 2013
Language: English & Spanish
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Beaux Jours, Les
Bright Days Ahead is a sophisticated and sexy story about a married woman tumbling into an affair with a much younger man. French cinema icon Fanny Ardant stars in this absorbing story about erotic reawakening and the renewal of one's sense of self.
Director: Marion Vernoux
Year: 2013
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Romance
Fanny (La Trilogie Marseillaise)
Fanny loves Marius and is expecting his child, but he has set off on a 5-year journey at sea without knowing about the baby. For the sake of the baby's future, Fanny agrees to marry a prosperous shopkeeper. Meanwhile, Marius has finally realized his profound love for Fanny but his father convinces him to stay out of her life for the sake of the child's future and the honor of the family.
Director: Daniel Auteuil
Year: 2013
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Henri
After the death of his wife, restaurant-owner Henri is urged by his daughter and friends to leave the restaurant open, catering to the new patrons from the neighbourhood hospital for the mentally handicapped. It is here that Rosette, beautiful, young, and a little odd (although her mental difficulties are only mild), comes into Henri's life.
Director: Yolande Moreau
Year: 2013
Language: French
Genre: Drama
4 Soldats
During a Civil war, four soldiers aged 15 to 21 meet and bond. Trapped in an adults' war that they neither understand nor want any part of, Mateo, Dominique, Big Max and Kevin save themselves by creating a kind of family, making their home in a cabin by a pond. Slowly, each of them finds his place. The family grows with the arrival of young Gabriel, who must be trained to their ways. The narrator, Dominique, immerses us in this beautiful, poignant, fleeting story.
Director: Robert Morin
Year: 2013
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Action, Sci-Fi
Elle s'en va
Bettie (Catherine Deneuve) suddenly finds herself abandoned by her lover and facing the loss of the family restaurant. What begins as a drive around the block turns into a road trip filled with chance encounters, the rekindling of Bettie's relationship with her daughter, and a new bond with her grandson.
Director: Emmanuelle Bercot
Year: 2013
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian
Jimmy Picard, a Native American Blackfoot who fought in France during WWII, is admitted to Topeka Military Hospital in Kansas - an institution specializing in mental illness. Although he does not suffer any psychological causes for his painful symptoms, he is diagnosed as schizophrenic. Nevertheless, the hospital management decides to seek the opinion of Georges Devereux, a French anthropologist, psychoanalyst and specialist in Native American culture.
Director: Arnaud Desplechin
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Armstrong Lie, The
Lance Armstrong was considered one of the greatest sports figures of all time and put competitive cycling into the global spotlight, by beating cancer and winning the Tour de France seven times. That success earned him an immense fortune and worldwide fame. His was also one of the most influential and inspiring sports stories of recent memory and became a pop culture phenomenon, thanks to his Livestrong initiative. Beginning in 2009, documentarian Alex Gibney followed Armstrong for four years chronicling his return to cycling after retirement, as he tried to win his eighth title. Unexpectedly, Gibney was also there in 2012 when Armstrong admitted to doping, following a federal criminal investigation, public accusations of doping by his ex-teammates, and an investigation by the US Anti-Doping Agency, that led USADA's CEO, Travis Tygart, to conclude that Armstrong's team had run "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen."
Director: Alex Gibney
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Watermark
Watermark is a feature documentary film that brings together diverse stories from around the globe about our relationship with water: how we are drawn to it, what we learn from it, how we use it and the consequences of that use. We see massive floating abalone farms off China’s Fujian coast and the construction site of the biggest arch dam in the world – the Xiluodu, six times the size of the Hoover. We visit the barren desert delta where the mighty Colorado River no longer reaches the ocean, and the water-intensive leather tanneries of Dhaka.
Director: Jennifer Baichwal, Edward Burtynsky
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Environment, Documentary
Inside Llewyn Davis
From legendary directors Joel & Ethan Coen (Fargo, No Country for Old Men, True Grit), Inside Llewyn Davis follows a week in the life of a brilliant but troubled folk singer struggling to make it as a musician in 1960s New York. Featuring a stellar ensemble cast that includes Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman and Garrett Hedlund—and brimming with unforgettable music produced by T Bone Burnett—Inside Llewyn Davis is “a great film by two American masters.” (Variety)
Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Drama
Lunchbox, The
Middle class housewife Ila is trying once again to add some spice to her marriage, this time through her cooking. She desperately hopes that this new recipe will finally arouse some kind of reaction from her neglectful husband. She prepares a special lunchbox to be delivered to him at work, but, unbeknownst to her, it is mistakenly delivered to another office worker, Saajan, a lonely man on the verge of retirement. Curious about the lack of reaction from her husband, Ila puts a little note in the following day’s lunchbox, in the hopes of getting to the bottom of the mystery. This begins a series of lunchbox notes between Saajan and Ila, and the mere comfort of communicating with a stranger anonymously soon evolves into an unexpected friendship. Gradually, their notes become little confessions about their loneliness, memories, regrets, fears, and even small joys. They each discover a new sense of self and find an anchor to hold on to in the big city of Mumbai that so often crushes hopes
Director: Ritesh Batra
Year: 2013
Language: Hindi, English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Gangster's Tale, A
A Gangster's Tale (starring John Malkovich) is a riveting story of two best friends who grow up to become fierce enemies. As they find themselves on opposite sides of the strict code of honour in their community of banished criminals, they try to overcome who they are and where they're from. They may be destined for a life of violence but can they live this life with honour?
Director: Gabriele Salvatores
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Crime, Action
The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box
When his parents vanish and his younger brother is kidnapped, a brave 17-year-old boy must do everything he can to find them. Following a trail of clues that lead to the darkly majestic Prince Regent Hotel, he discovers a hidden realm of monsters, deadly secrets and a long-lost artifact that grants limitless wealth – but also devastating supernatural power. With the fate of the world, and his family at stake, he will risk everything to unravel the Curse of the Midas Box!
Director: Jonathan Newman
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Action, Family
Selfish Giant, The
THE SELFISH GIANT is a contemporary fable about 13 year old Arbor (Conner Chapman) and his best friend Swifty (Shaun Thomas). Excluded from school and outsiders in their own neighborhood, the two boys meet Kitten (Sean Gilder), a local scrapdealer – the Selfish Giant. They begin collecting scrap metal for him using a horse and cart. Swifty has a natural gift with horses while Arbor emulates Kitten – keen to impress him and make some money. However, Kitten favors Swifty, leaving Arbor feeling hurt and excluded, driving a wedge between the boys. Arbor becomes increasingly greedy and exploitative, becoming more like Kitten. Tensions build, leading to a tragic event, which transforms them all.
Director: Clio Barnard
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama
These Final Hours
It's the last day on earth, twelve hours before a cataclysmic event will end life as we know it. James makes his way across a lawless and chaotic city to the party to end all parties. Along the way, he somewhat reluctantly saves the life of a little girl named Rose who is desperately searching for her father. Stuck with the unexpected burden of responsibility, James is forced to come to terms with what really matters in life as the final hours tick away.
Director: Zak Hilditch
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Aroused
Get up close and personal with 16 of the most successful women in the adult film industry as they shed their clothes for an intimate photo shoot with director Deborah Anderson. As questions are asked, personal stories about their lives are revealed - from why they chose the business of sex to how they got into it in the first place. These porn stars have always been discreet about their private lives, yet Anderson has a way of opening up a dialog allowing them to share more than just their naked skin on screen.
Director: Deborah Anderson
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Angel of the Skies
When Britain declares war against the Nazis in WWII, a young fighter pilot signs up with the Royal Air Force to join the fight. Flying in combat over Northern Germany, his bomber takes a hit and crash lands, forcing him and his crew to parachute into enemy territory. While they struggle to find a way back to allied lines, a vengeful German SS Officer becomes determined to find, capture and kill them all.
Director: Christopher-Lee Dos Santos
Year: 2013
Language: German, English
Genre: War, Drama
Austenland
“AUSTENLAND” is a romantic comedy about 30-something, single Jane Hayes (Keri Russell), a seemingly normal young woman with a secret: her obsession with all things Jane Austen. But when she decides to spend her life savings on a trip to an English resort catering to Austen–crazed women, Jane’s fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency–era gentleman suddenly become more real than she ever could have imagined. Based on the novel by Shannon Hale (who also co-wrote the script), the film was written and directed by Jerusha Hess (writer, Napoleon Dynamite) and produced by Stephenie Meyer’s Fickle Fish Films.
Director: Jerusha Hess
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Fine Step, A
A Fine Step is an uplifting family drama centering on Cal Masterson (Luke Perry, Beverly Hills 90210) an award winning horseman whose relationship with his beloved horse Fandango allows him to achieve multiple championship wins. However tragedy strikes when Cal and Fandango are involved in a serious accident, ending Cal's horse riding days forever. Cal's devastation is slowly overcome when his new neighbour, 14 year old Claire Mason (Anna Claire Sneed, Glee) takes an interest in Fandango and convinces him that Fandango's competing days might not be over.
Director: Jonathan Meyers
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Family
Like Father, Like Son
Ryota has earned everything he has by his hard work, and believes nothing can stop him from pursuing his perfect life as a winner. Then one day, he and his wife, Midori, get an unexpected phone call from the hospital. Their 6-year-old son, Keita, is not their son - the hospital gave them the wrong baby.
Ryota is forced to make a life-changing decision, to choose between nature and nurture. Seeing Midori's devotion to Keita even after learning his origin, and communicating with the rough yet caring family that has raised his natural son for the last six years, Ryota also starts to question himself: has he really been a 'father' all these years… The moving story of a man who finally faces himself when he encounters an unexpected wall for the first time in his life.
Director: Hirokazu Kore-Eda
Year: 2013
Language: Japanese
Genre: Drama
Blue Jasmine
After everything in her life falls to pieces, including her marriage to wealthy businessman Hal (Alec Baldwin), elegant New York socialite Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) moves into her sister Ginger’s (Sally Hawkins) modest apartment in San Francisco to try to pull herself back together again.
Director: Woody Allen
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Diego Star
A serious accident occurs onboard the Diego Star, a dilapidated Russian cargo ship. Traoré, a mechanic from the Ivory Coast, is unfairly blamed for it. The ship is towed to the nearest shipyard for repairs. In the interim, crewmembers find shelter with the inhabitants of the small local village. Far from everyone he loves and knows, Traoré is engulfed by the Quebec winter.
Director: Frédérick Pelletier
Year: 2013
Language: French, English
Genre: Drama
Bethlehem
"Bethlehem" tells the story of the complex relationship between an Israeli Secret Service officer and his teenage Palestinian informant. Shuttling back and forth between conflicting points of view, the films is a raw portrayal of characters torn apart by competing loyalties and impossible moral dilemmas, giving an unparalleled glimpse into the dark and fascinating world of human intelligence.
Director: Yuval Adler
Year: 2013
Language: Hebrew, Arabic
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Attila Marcel
Paul is in his thirties and lives in a Paris apartment with his aunts, a pair of elderly aristocrats who have raised him since the age of two, and who dream of him becoming a piano virtuoso. His life boils down to a daily routine spent at the grand piano in the salon, and his aunts' dance classes where he works as an accompanist. Cut off from the outside world, Paul has grown old without ever having lived. That is, until the day he meets Madame Proust, a neighbor who lives on the fourth floor. This eccentric lady knows how to make a herbal infusion which, when combined with music, can stir the most repressed of memories. Thanks to her, Paul will discover the secret of his own past, and find the key to finally unlock his life.
Director: Sylvain Chomet
Year: 2013
Language: French
Genre: Comedy
Knight of the Dead
Hunted by assassins, a band of crusading knights escorting the holy grail are forced into a forbidden valley of black death. What they discover is far more terrifying than the plague. Overrun by hordes of flesh eating zombies, they're only chance of survival is to hack and slash their way to freedom.
Director: Mark Atkins
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Horror, Fantasy, Action
Resurrection, A
Following the murder of his older brother, a troubled high school student devises a sinister plan to resurrect his sibling from the grave and exact revenge on the students responsible for his death. When these students become trapped in their high school, a guidance counselor, the school principal and a local police officer must fight to save them before the resurrected brother kills them all.
Director: Matt Orlando
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Jodorowsky's Dune
In 1975, Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky, whose films EL TOPO and THE HOLY MOUNTAIN launched and ultimately defined the midnight movie phenomenon, began work on his most ambitious project yet. Starring his own 12 year old son Brontis alongside
Orson Welles, Mick Jagger, David Carradine and Salvador Dali, featuring music by Pink Floyd and art by some of the most provocative talents of the era, including HR Giger and Jean ‘Moebius’ Giraud, Jodorowsky’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel DUNE was poised to change cinema forever.
Director: Frank Pavich
Year: 2013
Language: English, French, German
Genre: Documentary
Uvanga
Uvanga is the story of a 13 year-old boy looking for himself in a world that gave him life, but it is a world that he does not know. The boy and his mother make a two-week visit north so that he can connect with his deceased father’s family. Their emotions will follow unexpected trajectories, paralleled by the disorienting High Arctic summer and its twenty-four hours of sunlight.
Director: Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Madeline Piujuq Ivalu
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Né quelque part
A 26 year-old law student, Farid, must go to his parents’ homeland Algeria under his ill father’s instructions, to try and save the family home from demolition. Having no interest in the culture or country, Farid is slowly won over by the many characters, including his swindler cousin. After a riotous night of partying, his cousin steals all his documents, escaping to France. Now Farid is stuck in Algeria, trying to find a way back to France, where his father’s condition has worsened.
Director: Mohamed Hamidi
Year: 2013
Language: French, Arabic
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Tracks
From director John Curran (The Painted Veil, We Don't Live Here Anymore) comes TRACKS, which tells the remarkable true story of Robyn Davidson (Mia Wasikowska), a young woman who leaves her life in the city to make a solo trek through almost 2,000 miles of sprawling Australian desert. Accompanied by only her dog and four unpredictable camels, she sets off on a life-changing journey of self-discovery. Along the way, she meets National Geographic photographer Rick Smolan (Adam Driver) who begins to photograph her voyage. The film, adapted from Davidson's own memoirs, was produced by Emile Sherman and Iain Canning (The King's Speech, Shame).
Director: John Curran
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Action, Biography
Gloria
Gloria is 58 years old and still feels young. Making a party out of her loneliness, she fills her nights seeking love in ballrooms for single adults. This fragile happiness changes the day she meets Rodolfo. Their intense passion, to which Gloria gives everything as she feels it may well be her last, leaves her dancing between hope and despair. Gloria will have to pull herself together and find a new strength to realize that, in the last act of her life, she could burn brighter than ever.
Director: Sebastián Lelio
Year: 2013
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Salauds, Les (Bastards)
Supertanker captain Marco Silvestri is called back urgently to Paris. His sister Sandra is desperate - her husband has committed suicide, the family business has gone under, her daughter is spiralling downwards. Sandra holds powerful businessman Edouard Laporte responsible. Marco moves into the building where Laporte has installed his mistress and her son. But he hasn't planned for Sandra's secrets, which muddy the waters...
Director: Claire Denis
Year: 2013
Language: French, English
Genre: Drama, Romance
9 Mois Ferme
Ariane Felder's pregnant. It's quite surprising because the young judge is a very straight-laced hardened bachelorette. It all gets even more surprising when a paternal test reveals that the child's father is none other than Bob, a criminal charged for a frightful assault. Ariane, who remembers nothing, tries to understand what on earth happened and what she should be expecting.
Director: Albert Dupontel
Year: 2013
Language: French
Genre: Comedy
Everyday Is Like Sunday
Everyday Is Like Sunday is a comedy/drama aiming the lens at post-collegiate characters stuck between their imminently-ending youth and impending adulthood. The film follows Mark, Jason, and Flora, as they realistically attempt to pull themselves out of economic and emotional doldrums.
Director: Pavan Moondi
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Hateship, Loveship
A feisty teenage girl (Hailee Steinfeld) orchestrates a romance between her nanny (Kristen Wiig) and her father (Guy Pearce) in this funny and moving love story based on award-winning Canadian author Alice Munro’s acclaimed short story. Also starring Nick Nolte, Christine Lahti, Sami Gayle and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Director: Liza Johnson
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Only Lovers Left Alive
Set against the romantic desolation of Detroit and Tangier, an underground musician, deeply depressed by the direction of human activities, reunites with his resilient and enigmatic lover. Their love story has already endured several centuries at least, but their debauched idyll is soon disrupted by her wild and uncontrollable younger sister. Can these wise but fragile outsiders continue to survive as the modern world collapses around them?
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Drama, Romance, Comedy
Fading Gigolo
In this hilarious sex comedy, Woody Allen stars as Murray, a cash-strapped guy who "pimps" his shy friend Fioravante (John Turturro) out as a male escort to pay the bills. As business begins to boom, Fioravante finds an unexpected connection with one of his clients, while Murray soon discovers that the life of a pimp is not so easy. Also starring Sharon Stone, Sofia Vergara, and Liev Schreiber.
Director: John Turturro
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Empire of Dirt
Going home was never an option for single mother Lena Mahikan (Cara Gee). But when her 13-year-old, Peeka (Shay Eyre) overdoses in the streets of Toronto, she is forced to return home to her estranged mother and face a life-long legacy of shame and resentment. Empire of Dirt is a story about second chances and summoning the power of family to soothe the pain of cyclical damage.
Director: Peter Stebbings
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Which Way is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington
Shortly after the release of his documentary Restrepo, photographer Tim Hetherington was killed in Libya. Colleague and filmmaker Sebastian Junger traces Hetherington's work across the world's battlefields to reveal how he transcended the boundaries of image-making to become a luminary in his profession.
Director: Sebastian Junger
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Last Keepers, The
When the teenage daughter of a reclusive family of artists falls in love with an unusual boy at school, she awakens mysterious powers and discovers ancient family secrets that will change her life forever.
Director: Maggie Greenwald
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Family
Beyond The Edge
The thrilling true story of two men who achieved the impossible and became the first to stand atop the world's deadliest mountain - Everest.
Director: Leanne Pooley
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: History, Drama, Documentary
Witching and Bitching
An absurd, racy comedy starring a group of desperate thieves who rob a Cash-for-Gold shop in Madrid's Puerta del Sol and make a crazy dash for Disneyland with one of the heister's sons in tow. But on the border with France, they fall into the hands of Basque witches who apply themselves diligently to the ancient customs of their craft and bringing the men down a peg or two.
Director: Álex de la Iglesia
Year: 2013
Language: Spanish
Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Action, Comedy
Great Beauty, The
In this Oscar-nominated comedy, journalist Jep Gambardella (Toni Servillo, Il divo and Gomorrah) charms and seduces his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome as a permanent fixture in the city's literary and social circles. However, when his sixty-fifth birthday coincides with a shock from the past, Jep finds himself unexpectedly taking stock of his life, turning his cutting wit on himself and his contemporaries, and looking past the extravagant nightclubs, parties, and cafés to find Rome in all its glory: a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.
Director: Paolo Sorrentino
Year: 2013
Language: Italian
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Drinking Buddies
Luke and Kate are co-workers at a Chicago brewery, where they spend their days drinking and flirting. They're perfect for each other, except that they're both in relationships. Luke is in the midst of marriage talks with his girlfriend of six years, Kate is playing it cool with her music producer boyfriend Chris. But you know what makes the line between "friends" and "more than friends" really blurry? Beer.
Director: Joe Swanberg
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Very Good Girls
Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen star in this story of two lifelong best friends both determined to lose their virginity as a rite of passage into the adult world. When they fall in love with the same boy, their quest threatens to tear their relationship apart.
Director: Naomi Foner
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Almost Human
A quiet night on the outskirts of a small town in Maine is interrupted when Seth (Graham Skipper) witnesses his best friend Mark (Ethier) vanish in a brilliant flash of blue light. Two years later, Seth is still dealing with the fallout from the freaky incident, amid local suspicion that he is to blame for his friend's disappearance. When a string of grisly murders disrupts the community, Seth believes Mark has returned. Together with Mark's ex-girlfriend Jen (Vanessa Leigh), he races to find out if their friend is responsible - or if something beyond their understanding is unfolding before them. Almost Human is a horror film that delivers the splatter, drawing from many of the touchstones of cinematic shock for a refreshingly intense thriller bound to excite a new generation of moviegoers.
Director: Joe Begos
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
Notebook, The
In a village on the Hungarian border, two young brothers grow up during wartime with their cruel grandmother and must learn every trick of evil to survive in the absurd world of adults. Adaptation of the bestseller by Agota Kristof "Le Grand cahier".
Director: János Szász
Year: 2013
Language: Hungarian
Genre: War, Drama
Before Midnight
We meet Celine and Jesse nine years after their last rendezvous. Almost two decades have passed since their first encounter on a train bound for Vienna, and we now find them in their early forties in Greece. Before the clock strikes midnight, we will again become part of their story.
Director: Richard Linklater
Year: 2013
Language: English, Greek
Genre: Drama, Romance
Boule et Bill
A film adaptation of the comic series created by Jean Rogan in 1959. It relates the adventures of seven-year-old boy Boule and his dog Bill, a Cocker Spaniel, as well as that of Boule's mother and father and Caroline the turtle.
Director: Alexandre Charlot, Franck Magnier
Year: 2013
Language: French
Genre: Comedy, Family
Cutie and the Boxer
Once a rising star in the '70's New York art scene, 80-year-old "boxing" painter Ushio Shinohara is prepping for his latest show, hoping to reinvigorate his career. His wife and de facto assistant, Noriko, seeks her own recognition through her "Cutie" illustrations, which depict their chaotic 40-year marriage. Cutie and the Boxer captures two lives united by a dedication to art-making for a touching meditation on the eternal themes of love and sacrifice.
Director: Zachary Heinzerling
Year: 2013
Language: English, Japanese
Genre: Documentary
Face of Love, The
THE FACE OF LOVE is a romance filled with intrigue, surprise, and reflections on the mystery of love. Five years after losing the love her life, Nikki (Bening) falls in love again...at first sight. Tom (Harris) is an art teacher with a kind heart and a great zest for life, but what he doesn't know is that he's also a near perfect double for Nikki's deceased husband. Seduced by the chance to live as if her husband was never lost, Nikki spirals into a fantasy of the present as past, while Tom must unravel the mystery behind her immediate and unconditional love.
Director: Arie Posin
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Raze
Awakening after being abducted, JAMIE finds herself in a concrete bunker, and she discovers that she is not alone. She and SABRINA, a fellow abductee, both soon realize that they are in a modern day "coliseum" where, along with 48 other women, they are condemned to kill each other in order to protect their very own loved ones.
Director: Josh C. Waller
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Drama, Action
Outpost: Rise of the Spetsnaz
In the closing stages of WWII, an elite squad of Russian soldiers fall victim to a counter-attack by the Nazis. Those who aren’t killed are taken to a secret bunker where horrifying experiments are under way to create a breed of undead Nazi super soldiers. In order to survive, the prisoners must outrun and outgun the most vicious and powerful enemies they have ever faced.
Director: Kieran Parker
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Action, Sci-Fi
Blood Brother
Blood Brother is an intimate portrait of Rocky Braat, a young man who longed to find a family. He didn't know it, but this desire would lead him to an AIDS hostel in India, a place of unspeakable hardship, where he would find almost more love and need than he could bear.
Director: Steve Hoover
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Michael H. Profession: Director
How should violence be portrayed on the screen? What causes the family unit to fall apart? And, more generally, how does Evil worm its way into our so-called "civilised" Western societies? Already present in Michael Haneke's initial film work, these issues continue to haunt all his films. As we follow the director from Vienna to Paris, from northern Germany to Rumania, he reveals his philosophical and moral thinking.
Director: Yves Montmayeur
Year: 2013
Language: German
Genre: Documentary
Avant L'Hiver
Lucie (Kristin Scott Thomas) presumes that her husband Paul (Daniel Auteuil), an older neurosurgeon, is having an affair. Indeed, Paul’s recent behavior has been strange, but the truth behind it is dark and complicated.
Director: Philippe Claudel
Year: 2013
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Den, The
After receiving a grant for her graduate thesis, Elizabeth Benton logs onto a video-chat site known as The Den, on a mission to explore the habits of its users. During one of her random video-chats, Elizabeth watches in horror as a teenage girl is gruesomely murdered in front of her webcam. While the police dismiss it as a viral prank, Elizabeth believes what she saw is real and takes it upon herself to find the truth. Her life quickly spirals out of control as she gets pulled deeper into the darkest recesses of the internet. And eventually, Elizabeth finds herself trapped in a twisted game in which she and her loved ones are targeted for the same grisly fate as the first victim.
Director: Zachary Donohue
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Canyons, The
Notorious writer Bret Easton Ellis (American Psycho) and acclaimed director Paul Schrader (writer of Taxi Driver and director of American Gigolo) join forces for this explicitly erotic thriller about youth, glamour, sex and surveillance. Manipulative and scheming young movie producer Christian (adult film star James Deen) makes films to keep his trust fund intact, while his actress girlfriend and bored plaything, Tara (Lindsay Lohan), hides a passionate affair with an actor from her past. When Christian becomes aware of Tara's infidelity, the young Angelenos are thrust into a violent, sexually-charged tour through the dark side of human nature.
Director: Paul Schrader
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Past, The
Following a four year separation, Ahmad returns to Paris from Tehran at his French wife Marie's request, in order to finalize their divorce. During his brief stay, Ahmad discovers the conflicting nature of Marie's relationship with her daughter Lucie. Ahmad's efforts to improve this relationship soon unveil a secret from their past.
Director: Asghar Farhadi
Year: 2013
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Best Offer
Geoffrey Rush is superb in this stylish art world thriller as Virgil Oldman, managing director of a leading auction house. Over the years, he has collected hundreds of masterful, priceless portraits of women that he keeps hidden in his villa. One day, Oldman receives a special assignment: a mysterious young woman, who refuses to appear in person, asks him to sell her family's antiques. Not only interested in her classical paintings and furniture, Oldman becomes increasingly fascinated by the mysterious incognito woman, leading to a sumptuous and entertaining mystery of passions, neuroses and intrigue. Directed by Academy Award winner Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso) with music by the brilliant Ennio Morricone, The Best Offer also stars Jim Sturgess and Donald Sutherland.
Director: Guiseppe Tornatore
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Mystery
Marius (La Trilogie Marseillaise)
The story takes place in the Old Port of Marseille, in the Bar de la Marine run by César and his son Marius. Marius dreams of embarking on one of the ships that sail past the bar, heading off to distant horizons.
Fanny, a pretty young woman who sells shellfish outside the bar, has been secretly in love with Marius since childhood. Without admitting it, Marius has always loved Fanny back.
When Marius is due to leave on a exploration vessel, Fanny tries to keep him back by revealing her love for him. She succeeds in fanning his jealousy by provoking a fight between Marius and the sea captain Panisse, an old friend of César's, who, despite being much older than Fanny, is enamored with her.
Director: Daniel Auteuil
Year: 2013
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Animal Project, The
Leo (Aaron Poole) is a mid-30s widower, single parent, and struggling acting teacher. His relationship with his teenage son (Jacob Switzer) is rocky, and he's dissatisfied with his everyday life. So, after he has an unusual and inspiring dream, he decides to shake things up by having the group of actors he teaches do something called "The Animal Project" -- whereby they will all don furry mascot suits and become 'animals' in the real world.
It's a long, rainy night, and not everything goes as planned. But in the process of opening themselves up to the unknown, each participant in The Animal Project not only learns something about themselves, but also has the chance to grow a little bit.
Director: Ingrid Veninger
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Magic in the Moonlight
Magic in the Moonlight is a romantic comedy about an Englishman brought in to help unmask a possible swindle. Personal and professional complications ensue. The film is set in the south of France in the 1920s against a backdrop of wealthy mansions, the Côte d’Azur, jazz joints and fashionable spots for the wealthy of the Jazz Age.
Director: Woody Allen
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Look of Love, The
The true tale of British adult magazine publisher and entrepreneur Paul Raymond (Steve Coogan of "24 Hour Party People", "The Trip"). A modern-day King Midas, Raymond became one of the richest men in Britain - at the cost of losing those closest to him.
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Biography
Afterparty
On the night of his brother's wedding, best man Charlie (Graham Coffeng) gets the old gang back together for a fun-filled, post reception after party, at the newlyweds' home, where he has been staying for several weeks. Unsure of how to proceed with his own troubled marriage, Charlie reunites "the fellas" fifteen years after high school, in hopes that revisiting the past will help him find clarity for the future. What he finds, however, is that while his friends have all taken different paths, they are all faced with similar conundrums that comes with being in one's thirties.
Director: Michelle Ouellet
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama
L'amour est un crime parfait
The new film by Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu (To Paint or Make Love), 4th adaptation of a novel by Philippe Djian (Betty Blue, Blue Hell, Unforgivable)
Director: Arnaud Larrieu, Jean-Marie Larrieu
Year: 2013
Language: French
Genre: Thriller, Drama
En Solitaire (Turning Tide)
François Cluzet (The Intouchables) stars in this high seas adventure as a sailor determined to win a grueling 3-month-long solo around-the-world yacht race. After a brief lay-up, Yann (Cluzet) rejoins the race and discovers a teenage stowaway. While realizing his dream of winning is imperiled by the presence of the young man, Yann's hostility slowly gives way to empathy and an understanding of his predicament.
Director: Christopher Offenstein
Year: 2013
Language: French
Genre: Adventure, Sports, Drama
Beneath
A crew of coal miners becomes trapped 600 feet below ground after a disastrous collapse. As the air grows more toxic and time runs out, they slowly descend into madness and begin to turn on one another. Inspired by true events.
Director: Ben Ketai
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Horror
VHS-2
From the innovative minds that brought you last year’s V/H/S comes V/H/S/2, an all-new anthology of dread, madness, and gore. Searching for a missing student, two private investigators break into his abandoned house and find a collection of mysterious VHS tapes. In viewing the horrific contents of each cassette, they realize there may be terrifying motives behind the student’s disappearance.
Director: Simon Barrett, Jason Eisener, Gareth Evans, Gregg Hale, Eduardo Sanchez, Timo Tjahjanto, Adam Wingward
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of Inside Llewyn Davis
This documentary about a concert that was held at Town Hall in New York City celebrates the music from the film Inside Llewyn Davis. It follows the musicians from rehearsal to performance and includes a roster of over twenty artists including Patti Smith, Jack White, Marcus Mumford and Joan Baez.
Director: Christopher Wilcha
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Tim's Vermeer
Tim Jenison, a Texas based inventor, attempts to solve one of the greatest mysteries in all art: How did 17th century Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer ("Girl with a Pearl Earring") manage to paint so photo-realistically -- 150 years before the invention of photography? The epic research project Jenison embarks on to test his theory is as extraordinary as what he discovers.
Spanning a decade, Jenison's adventure takes him to Delft, Holland, where Vermeer painted his masterpieces; on a pilgrimage to the North coast of Yorkshire to meet artist David Hockney; and eventually even to Buckingham Palace, to see the Queen's Vermeer.
Director: Teller
Year: 2013
Language: Dutch, English
Genre: Documentary
Dirty Wars
This eye-opening documentary lays bare the dirty little secret of America’s War on Terror: all bets are off, and almost anything goes. Drone strikes, night raids and government-condoned torture occur in hidden corners across the globe, generating unprecedented civilian casualties. Investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill traces the rise of the Joint Special Operations Command, the most secret and elite fighting force in U.S. history, exposing covert ops, unidentifiable fighters who act with impunity and "kill lists" where no target is off-limits.
Director: Rick Rowley
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Crime, Documentary
Under the Skin (2013)
From visionary director Jonathan Glazer (SEXY BEAST, BIRTH) comes a stunning career transformation, a masterpiece of existential science fiction that journeys to the heart of what it means to be human, extraterrestrial - or something in between. A voluptuous woman of unknown origin (Scarlett Johansson) combs the highways in search of isolated or forsaken men, luring a succession of lost souls into an otherworldly lair. They are seduced, stripped of their humanity, and never heard from again.
Based on the novel by Michael Faber, this film examines human experience from the perspective of an unforgettable heroine who grows too comfortable in her borrowed skin, until she is abducted into humanity with devastating results.
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Sci-Fi
Java Heat
A pulse-pounding thriller from beginning to end, Java Heat dives headlong into the world of international espionage. In the exotic and dangerous paradise of Indonesia, undercover FBI agent Jake (Kellan Lutz) poses as a college professor to gather intel on a new breed of terrorist. When the Sultana of Java disappears after a bombing, Jake finds himself at the center of a criminal investigation. As Jake inches closer to the truth, he becomes the target of a mysterious hit man (Mickey Rourke) who will stop at nothing until the American is dead.
Director: Connor Allyn
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Action
100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, The
On his hundredth birthday, just as the celebrations are about to begin out in the lounge in the old people’s home, Allan Karlsson hastily decides that he wants nothing to do with the party. He climbs through his window and disappears – and soon he has turned the whole nation on its head. He does have some experience in these matters. He has previously done the same thing with the world.
Director: Felix Herngren
Year: 2013
Language: Swedish
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Action, Comedy
Khumba
An all-star voice cast brings to life this epic adventure of a one-of-a-kind zebra named Khumba who is born with only half his stripes. After being rejected by his superstitious herd, Khumba embarks on a daring quest to find a legendary waterhole rumored to grant zebras their missing stripes. But when he discovers a villainous leopard on his trail, he must find the courage and self-acceptance to save all the animals of the Great Karoo.
Director: Anthony Silverston
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Family, Animation
Lucky Them
Toni Collette stars as Ellie Klug, a beloved rock journalist working for a struggling music magazine. When her boss (Oliver Platt) orders her to look into the mysterious disappearance of a onetime local rock star, who also happens to be her ex, Ellie joins forces with a music-hating, dot com millionaire (Thomas Haden Church) to hunt down the singer.
Director: Megan Griffiths
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Marque des Anges, La
A choir master is found mysteriously murdered in a Paris church with his eardrums blown out and no witnesses. Investigating is homicide Police Commander Lional Kasdan (Gérard Depardieu), just-retired but desperate to come back to action. Kasdan teams with a short-tempered younger cop, Interpol Captain Frank Salek, who believes the murder is connected to a secret organization that he’s been tracking. Together they work to crack the case, leading to a dark secret from the Captain’s past.
Director: Sylvain White
Year: 2013
Language: French
Genre: Thriller
Adult World
Fresh out of college, quirky but naïve Amy (Emma Roberts, American Horror Story) is convinced she’s going to be a famous poet – she just needs someone to finally acknowledge her greatness. But being unemployed and saddled with debt, her prospects for literary fame look grim. At the behest of her parents, she takes a job at a local sex toy shop, Adult World, where she juggles her newfound retail responsibilities with pursuing a mentorship under a reclusive, crusty and alcoholic poet (John Cusack). But as Amy tries to make her voice heard among a social circle of eccentrics, including Adult World’s adorable young manager Alex, she discovers that a little humility may be just what she needs to achieve her success. Satirically funny and thoroughly-if-awkwardly sexy, ADULT WORLD is a unique comedy about the realities of growing up.
Director: Scott Coffey
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Blue is the Warmest Color
At 15, Adele doesn't question that girls go out with boys. But her life changes when she meets a mysterious girl with blue hair who helps her discover desire in an intense and complicated love story that spans a decade.
Director: Abdellatif Kechiche
Year: 2013
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Romance
Au Bonheur des Ogres
While his mother is off on one romantic adventure or another, Benjamin, professional scapegoat and oldest son, is responsible for his horde of siblings. But when strange incidents happen wherever he goes, police and colleagues begin to eye him suspiciously. It soon becomes a matter of life and death to find out what is going on and who is so interested in ruining his life.
Director: Nicolas Bary
Year: 2013
Language: French
Genre: Comedy
Invisible Woman, The
Nelly (Felicity Jones), a happily-married mother and schoolteacher, is haunted by her past. Her memories, provoked by remorse and guilt, take us back in time to follow the story of her relationship with Charles Dickens (Ralph Fiennes) with whom she discovered an exciting but fragile complicity.
Dickens – famous, controlling and emotionally isolated within his success – falls for Nelly, who comes from a family of actors. The theatre is a vital arena for Dickens – a brilliant amateur actor – a man more emotionally coherent on the page or on stage, than in life. As Nelly becomes the focus of Dickens’ passion and his muse, for both of them secrecy is the price, and for Nelly a life of “invisibility”.
Director: Ralph Fiennes
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: History, Drama, Romance, Biography
Last Days on Mars, The
On the last day of the first manned mission to Mars, a crew member believes he has made an astounding discovery - fossilized evidence of bacterial life. Unwilling to let the relief crew claim all the glory, he disobeys orders to pack up and goes out on an unauthorized expedition to collect further samples. As crew members start to vanish one by one, they begin to suspect that the life-form they have discovered is not yet dead.
Director: Ruairi Robinson
Year: 2013
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi
Omar
Omar is a Palestinian baker who routinely climbs over the separation wall to meet up with his girlfriend Nadja. By night, he's a freedom fighter ready to risk his life to strike at the Israeli military with his childhood friends Tarek and Amjad. Arrested after the killing of an Israeli soldier and tricked into an admission of guilt by association, he agrees to work as an informant.
Director: Hany Abu-Assad
Year: 2013
Language: Arabic, Hebrew
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Grande Boucle, La
Francois is a Tour de France fanatic. When he gets fired by his boss and his wife leaves, he decides the best way to deal with the emotion of it all is to ride the Tour just days ahead of the pros. As rumours of his adventure spreads he is soon joined by others, who are inspired by his challenge.
Director: Laurent Tuel
Year: 2013
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Kiss of the Damned
A Hollywood writer develops an obsession with a seductive female vampire, leading him into the hidden world of the eternal. When her violent sister arrives and unleashes her anger on the local town, loyalties are put to the test, and the entire vampire community is threatened.
Director: Xan Cassavetes
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Jack & Diane
Jack (Riley Keough) and Diane (Juno Temple), two teenage girls, meet in New York City on a hot summer day and become instant friends. Bubbly and naive, Diane’s charming innocence softens tomboy Jack’s tough-skinned heart. But when Jack discovers that Diane is moving at the end of the summer she pushes Diane away. Overwhelmed by her new feelings, Diane's emotions begin to cause mysterious and violent changes to her body. Young love is a monster – can Jack and Diane survive?
Director: Bradley Rust Gray
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Brass Teapot, The
John and Alice are 20-something, married, very much in love, and broke. Once voted “most likely to succeed,” Alice (Juno Temple) struggles to make ends meet while her friends enjoy the good life. Her husband John (Michael Angarano), neurotic and riddled with phobias, just wants to get the bills paid. But an accident leads them to a roadside antique shop where Alice is drawn to a mysterious brass teapot. It isn’t long before they realize that this is no ordinary teapot and that perhaps they have found the answer to all of their financial woes…The Brass Teapot is a magical dark comedy that reminds us to be careful what we wish for.
Director: Ramaa Mosley
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Fantasy, Comedy
Molière à Bicyclette
A TV heartthrob embarks on a journey with a clear mission in mind: to convince his old friend and once great actor to return to the stage in the lead of Molière's The Misanthrope. But for three years this friend has lived in solitude, avoiding the pressures of the limelight. Can he be coaxed out of retirement or will his misanthropic ways get the better of him?
Director: Philippe Le Guay
Year: 2012
Language: French, Italian
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Giant Mechanical Man
The Giant Mechanical Man is a funny and heart-warming romantic comedy that examines the lengths we're willing to go in order to find the perfect partner. Janice (Jenna Fischer of The Office) is down on her luck. Out of work and living with her well-intentioned but overbearing sister, she is struggling to build a fulfilling life. When she meets Tim (Chris Messina), a street performer whose unique talents as a "living statue" don't exactly pay the bills, she recognizes a kindred spirit. Also featuring Topher Grace, Malin Akerman and Bob Odenkirk.
Director: Lee Kirk
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Treasure
Unraveling a series of clues left behind by his grandfather, Mickey Matson and his friends embark on a magical journey in search of a mythical ancient device. With the future of the world hanging in the balance, they will have to outsmart and outrun an evil conspiracy that dates back to the civil war.
Director: Harold Cronk
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Action, Family, Mystery
All in Good Time
Atul and Vina are celebrating their marriage. However, a honeymoon spent with his parents was not part of their plans. Thoughtless patriarch Eeshwar seems determined to emasculate and embarrass his son. As the weeks pass, consummating their union becomes impossiblity that threatens the couples entire future. A breezy mixture of heartbreak and hilarity.
Director: Nigel Cole
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Haute Cuisine
Hortense Laborie, a renowned chef from Perigord, is astonished when the President of the Republic appoints her his personal cook, responsible for creating all his meals at the Elysée Palace. Despite jealous resentment from the other kitchen staff, Hortense quickly establishes herself, thanks to her indomitable spirit. The authenticity of her cooking soon seduces the President, but the corridors of power are littered with traps...
Director: Christian Vincent
Year: 2012
Language: French, English
Genre: Comedy, Biography
Camille Redouble
Camille is sixteen when she meets Eric and proceeds to fall in love and give birth to a daughter. Twenty-five years later, on New Year's Eve, as Eric leaves Camille for a younger woman... Camille suddenly gets transported back to her past. At sixteen again, she rediscovers her parents, her friends, her adolescence, and Eric. This time around, will she shun him and try to change both their lives? Or will she allow herself to fall in love, knowing the consequences?
Director: Noémie Lvovsky
Year: 2012
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Comedy
No
In 1988, Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet, due to international pressure, is forced to call a plebiscite on his presidency. The country will vote Yes or NO to Pinochet extending his rule for another eight years. Opposition leaders for the NO persuade a brash young advertising executive, Rene Saavedra to spearhead their campaign.
Against all odds, with scant resources and under scrutiny by the despot's minions, Saavedra and his team devise an audacious plan to win the election and set Chile free.
Director: Pablo Larraín
Year: 2012
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama
Rust and Bone
It all begins in the North of France.
Ali suddenly finds himself with a five year-old child on his hands. Sam is his son, but he hardly knows him. Homeless, penniless and friendless, Ali takes refuge with his sister in Antibes. There things improve immediately. She puts them up in her garage, she takes the child under her wing and the weather is glorious.
Ali first runs into Stephanie during a night club brawl. He drives her home and leaves her his phone number. He is poor, she is beautiful and self-assured, a princess: his complete opposite.
Stephanie trains killer whales at Marineland. When a performance ends in tragedy, a call in the night again brings them together.
When Ali sees her next, his princess is confined to a wheel chair: she has lost her legs and quite a few illusions. He simply helps her, with no compassion or pity. And she comes alive again.
Director: Jacques Audiard
Year: 2012
Language: French, English
Genre: Drama
Do Not Disturb
When old college friends Ben and Jeff reunite and go to a wild party, they make a booze-induced decision that is about to turn all of their lives upside down. Witnessed by Lily and Monica, their sexy party hosts, Ben and Jeff's project looks much scarier in the hangover light of day... but neither has the guts to be the wimp who pulls out!
Director: Yvan Attal
Year: 2012
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Avant que mon Coeur Bascule
Sixteen-year-old Sarah, standing alongside a highway, pretends to be in trouble. Duped drivers pull over to help - and are robbed. Under the teen’s gaze, a man dies. Sarah’s life will never be the same again.
Director: Sébastien Rose
Year: 2012
Language: French
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Fill the Void
On the verge of her marriage, a young Orthodox Hassidic girl and her family are struck by tragedy when her older sister dies in childbirth -- and when her sister's husband is pressed to remarry and her mother makes a startling proposition, she is forced to choose between her obedience to her family and her heart's desire.
Director: Rama Burshtein
Year: 2012
Language: Hebrew
Genre: Drama, Romance
West of Memphis
West of Memphis is an examination of a failure of justice in Arkansas. The documentary tells the hitherto unknown story behind an extraordinary and desperate fight to bring the truth to light. Told and made by those who lived it, the filmmakers' unprecedented access to the inner workings of the defense, allows the film to show the investigation, research and appeals process in a way that has never been seen before; revealing shocking and disturbing new information about a case that still haunts the American South.
Director: Amy Berg
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Crime, Documentary
30 Beats
Featuring an all-star ensemble cast that includes Academy-Award Nominee® Jennifer Tilly and Paz de la Huerta (Boardwalk Empire), 30 Beats is a light-hearted exploration of seduction, spontaneity and self-discovery. Sparked by a summer heat wave, ten New Yorkers are connected in a series of steamy sexual encounters as sultry and vibrant as the city in which they live.
Director: Alexis Lloyd
Year: 2012
Language: English & French
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Crawlspace
Deep in the heart of the Australian desert lies Pine Gap, a top-secret underground compound run by the United States military. When the base comes under attack from unknown forces, an elite team is sent in to extract the military scientists. There they encounter a beautiful young woman with no memory of who she is or how she came to be there. As they try to escape, the group discovers the facility has become a testing ground for something far more sinister.
Director: Justin Dix
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Sci-Fi, Mystery
Reality
Reality is a dark comedy about a charming man whose unexpected and sudden obsession with being a contestant on the reality show "Big Brother" leads him down a rabbit hole of skewed perceptions and paranoia. So overcome by his dream of being on reality TV, his own reality begins to spiral out of control, making for one of the most compelling tragicomic character studies since Scorsese's The King of Comedy.
Director: Matteo Garrone
Year: 2012
Language: Italian
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Payback
Based on Margaret Atwood' s best-selling book 'Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth', PAYBACK offers a fascinating look at debt, tracing how it influences relationships, societies, governing structures and the very fate of the planet. The film explores the link between debtor and creditor in a variety of contexts - from the mountains of northern Albania to the tomato fields of southern Florida -blending compelling stories of 'owing' and 'being owed' with the insights of renowned thinkers like Karen Armstrong, Louise Arbour, William Rees and Raj Patel, as well as personal reflections from Conrad Black and others. Story and insight are brought into sharper focus by the acute observations of Atwood herself, who demonstrates that 'debt' as an idea lies at the very core of human experience.
Director: Jennifer Baichwal
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Eddie: The Sleepwalking Cannibal
Lars Olaafsen , once a young celebrity in the art world is slipping away fast into the land of has-beens. Ronny, his long-time art dealer wants his meal ticket back but Lars refuses to paint. His creativity comes at too high a cost. His inspiration is carnage – blood, guts and limbs – and he’s vowed to never go down that dark road again. An overly eager Ronny arranges a job for Lars teaching art in a small town. It’s a “therapeutic measure” – a means to conquer his need to paint while in the “safety” of a country retreat… Despite the odd assortment of local eccentrics (and a couple of hostile teachers) things look promising overall for Lars at his new job. That is, until he meets 30-year-old Eddie, a brawny mute who attends the school and harbours a dark and sordid secret of his own…
Director: Boris Rodriguez
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Comedy
Diaz
The film recounts the night of July 21 2001, when 400 police officers raided the Diaz school in Genoa, injuring several nonviolent activists in town for the G8. Amnesty International called it "the most serious suspension of democratic rights in a Western country after the second world war".
Director: Daniele Vicari
Year: 2012
Language: Italian, French, German, Spanish, English
Genre: Drama
Under the Bed
Two years ago Neal knew there was something under his bed but no one believed him. When he burned down the family home trying to kill it he was sent to live with relatives. Now he’s back, but his little brother Paul is being terrorized by the same monster. With no support from their parents the two brothers must band together to get rid of the creature, and their nightmares, once and for all.
Director: Steven C. Miller
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
Ai Weiwei is China's most famous international artist, and its most outspoken domestic critic. Against a backdrop of strict censorship and an unresponsive legal system, Ai expresses himself and organizes people through art and social media. In response, Chinese authorities have shut down his blog, beat him up, bulldozed his newly built studio, and held him in secret detention. AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY is the inside story of a dissident for the digital age who inspires global audiences and blurs the boundaries of art and politics. First-time director Alison Klayman gained unprecedented access to Ai while working as a journalist in China. Her detailed portrait provides a nuanced exploration of contemporary China and one of its most compelling public figures.
Director: Alison Klayman
Year: 2012
Language: English, Mandarin
Genre: Documentary
Royal Affair, A
Nominated for an Academy Award, A Royal Affair is an epic romance about the scandalous love triangle between a Queen, her German doctor (Mads Mikkelsen), and the mad King of Denmark. Drawn together in the pursuit of freedom for their people, their high-flown idealism is undone by blind passion in this notorious true story of illicit love and political intrigue.
Director: Nikolaj Arcel
Year: 2012
Language: English, Danish, German
Genre: History, Drama, Romance
Hunt, The
Following a tough divorce, 40 year-old Lucas has a new girlfriend, a new job and is in the process of reestablishing his relationship with his teenage son, Marcus. But things go awry. Not a lot. Just a small comment. A random lie. And as the snow falls and the Christmas lights are lit, the lie spreads like an invisible virus. The shock and mistrust gets out of hand, and the small community suddenly finds itself in a collective state of hysteria, while Lucas fights a lonely fight for his life and dignity.
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Year: 2012
Language: Danish
Genre: Drama
Love is all you need
LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED is directed by Golden Globe (R) and Oscar (R) winning filmmaker Susanne Bier, written by Bier and Anders Thomas Jensen and starring Pierce Brosnan and Trine Dyrholm. Philip (Brosnan), an Englishman living in Denmark, is a lonely, middle-aged widower and estranged single father. Ida (Dyrholm) is a Danish hairdresser, recuperating from a long bout of illness, who's just been left by her husband for a younger woman, Thilde. The fates of these two bruised souls are about to intertwine, as they embark for a trip to Italy to attend the wedding of Patrick and Astrid, Philip's son and Ida's daughter. With warmth, affection and confidence, Susanne Bier has shaken a cocktail of love, loss, absurdity, humor, and delicately drawn characters that will leave only the hardest heart untouched. It is a film about the simple yet profound pains and joys of moving on - and forward - with your life.
Director: Susanne Bier
Year: 2012
Language: English, Danish
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Charm
Charm is an irreverent black comedy hosted by Malcolm (Ashley Cahill), a New Yorker who's had enough with gentrification and decides to take matters into his own hands. How? By personally starting a murderous crime wave designed to make the news, drive real estate values down, and thereby bring back the golden days of creativity. The only problem is: nobody is paying attention.
Director: Ashley Cahill
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Crime, Comedy
Karakara
Pierre, a retired professor, ends up making a short, unsettling trip around Okinawa with Junko, a 40-year-old runaway wife. The confused intellectual would rather not get involved with this unlikely and unexpected lover but decides to follow his destiny, wherever it (or she) may take him.
Director: Claude Gagnon
Year: 2012
Language: Japanese, English
Genre: Drama
Summit, The
In August 2008, 18 mountain climbers reached the top of K2. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had died or simply vanished into thin air. With breathtaking cinematography and jaw dropping reenactments, The Summit is a thrilling attempt to solve the mystery of what happened on K2 that fateful day.
Director: Nick Ryan
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Sightseers
Chris (Steve Oram) wants to show Tina (Alice Lowe) his world and he wants to do it his way - on a journey through the British Isles in his beloved Abbey Oxford Caravan. Tina's led a sheltered life and there are things that Chris needs her to see - the Crich Tramway Museum, the Ribblehead Viaduct, the Keswick Pencil Museum and the rolling countryside that accompanies these wonders in his life. But it doesn't take long for the dream to fade. Litterbugs, noisy teenagers and pre-booked caravan sites, not to mention Tina's meddling mother, soon conspire to shatter Chris's dreams and send him, and anyone who rubs him up the wrong way, over a very jagged edge.
Director: Ben Wheatley
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Something in the Air
Following his critical triumphs Summer Hours and Carlos, Olivier Assayas returns with his semi-autobiographical new feature Something in the Air. The film follows Gilles, a graduating high school student in Paris deeply involved in the counterculture of the time. While Gilles begins to realize that his interests lie more in the revolutions in music and art, he finds himself pulled into ever more dangerous political protests by the people around him.
Director: Olivier Assayas
Year: 2012
Language: French, English, Italian
Genre: Drama
Tower Block
When Jimmy is brutally murdered by two hooded figures, Becky, Kurtis, Neville and the other residents of the Serenity House tower block are witnesses to the killing but, fearing retribution, are too scared to give detectives any information and the police investigation is going nowhere. One year later, someone has decided to take justice into their own hands. Picked off one by one, the tenants of Serenity House are under threat from a mystery sniper who has set deadly traps throughout the building. Unsure of why they have been targeted, the group undertake daring attempts to escape the building.
Director: Ronnie Thompson, James Nunn
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
2 Days in New York
Hip talk-radio host and journalist Mingus (Chris Rock) and his French photographer girlfriend, Marion (Julie Delpy), live cozily in New York with their cat and two young children from previous relationships. When Marion's jolly father, her oversexed sister, and her sister's lewd boyfriend unceremoniously descend upon them for an overseas visit, it initiates two unforgettable days of family mayhem. Written and directed by Julie Delpy (2 Days in Paris).
Director: Julie Delpy
Year: 2012
Language: English & French
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
L'Homme qui Rit
A carnival boss (Gérard Depardieu) rescues two orphans in a winter storm - a beautiful, blind girl and a boy whose face is deformed by a scar that makes him look as though he's constantly laughing. They travel together for many years performing a show in which the boy is the star - people come from everywhere to see The Man Who Laughs. As he becomes famous and rich, he gradually grows distant from the only two people in the world who love him for what he is.
Director: Jean-Pierre Améris
Year: 2012
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Ernest et Celestine
Deep below snowy, cobblestone streets, tucked away in networks of winding subterranean tunnels, lives a civilization of hardworking mice, terrified of the bears who live above ground. Unlike her fellow mice, Celestine is an artist and a dreamer – and when she nearly ends up as breakfast for ursine troubadour Ernest, the two form an unlikely bond. But it isn’t long before their friendship is put on trial by their respective bear-fearing and mice-eating communities.
Director: Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, Benjamin Renner
Year: 2012
Language: French
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Animation
Wadjda
WADJDA is a 10-year-old girl living in a suburb of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. After a fight with her friend Abdullah, a neighborhood boy she shouldn't be playing with, Wadjda sees a beautiful green bicycle for sale. She wants the bicycle desperately so that she can beat Abdullah in a race. But Wadjda's mother won't allow it, fearing repercussions from a society that sees bicycles as dangerous to a girl's virtue. So Wadjda decides to try and raise the money herself.
Director: Haifaa Al-Mansour
Year: 2012
Language: Arabic
Genre: Drama
Waiting for Lightning
WAITING FOR LIGHTNING is the story of Danny Way, a young boy from a broken home in Vista, CA, whose passion for skateboarding would one day bring him and his creation, a ramp of prodigious and dangerous proportions, across many cultural and ideological boundaries to attempt the impossible: jump China's Great Wall on a skateboard. It's a film about how much abuse the body can sustain, how deep you have to dig to survive the betrayals of family, and how high and far dreams can fly
Director: Jacob Rosenberg
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Sports, Documentary
After
Two bus crash survivors who awake in hospital to discover they are the only people left alive in their small town. As a dark fog advances towards the town they form an unlikely alliance to unravel the truth behind their isolation and escape the ravenous creatures concealed within the mist.
Director: Ryan Smith
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Fantasy, Drama, Mystery
For Greater Glory
What would you pay for the price of freedom? In the exhilarating action epic For Greater Glory, an impassioned group of men and women risk it all for family, faith and the very future of their country. Starring Oscar-nominee Andy Garcia (The Godfather), Oscar-winner Peter O’Toole (Lawrence of Arabia) and Eva Longoria, the film’s adventure unfolds against the 1920s Cristero War, a civil war between peasant guerrillas defending the Church and the Mexican state.
Director: Dean Wright
Year: 2012
Language: English, Spanish
Genre: History, War, Drama
Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie
An all new feature film from the twisted minds of cult comedy heroes Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim (“Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job”)! Tim and Eric are given a billion dollars to make a movie, but squander every dime… and the sinister Schlaaang corporation is pissed. Their lives at stake, the guys skip town in search of a way to pay the money back. When they happen upon a chance to rehabilitate a bankrupt mall full of vagrants, bizarre stores and a man-eating wolf that stalks the food court, they see dollar signs—a billion of them. Featuring cameos from Awesome Show regulars and some of the biggest names in comedy today!
Director: Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Branded
In this mind-bending, sci-fi thriller set in a surreal, not-so-distant future, mega-corporations rule. A terrifying conspiracy has been unleashed - one that controls the minds of the citizens. One man is determined to unlock the truth behind the conspiracy. His quest to find it will plunge him into a tangled web of power and intrigue, leading to a shocking revelation and an epic battle with the hidden forces and creatures that threaten the fate of mankind.
Director: Jamie Bradshaw, Aleksandr Dulerayn
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Sci-Fi
Still Mine
Based on true events and laced with wry humour, STILL MINE is a heartfelt love story about an 89-year-old New Brunswicker (James Cromwell) who comes up against the system when he sets out to build a more suitable house for his wife (Geneviève Bujold) whose memory is starting to go. Although Craig Morrison is using the same methods his father, a shipbuilder, taught him, times have changed. Craig quickly gets on the wrong side of an overzealous government inspector, who finds just about everything unacceptable, including the unstamped wood Craig has milled from his own trees. As Irene becomes increasingly ill – and amidst a series of stop-work orders – Craig races to finish the house. Hauled into court and facing jail, Craig takes a final stance.
Director: Michael McGowan
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Bienvenue parmi nous
When a successful, legendary painter meets a feisty teenage runaway, their lives seem destined to connect. He has fled his life and family without explanation and she is avoiding her abusive stepfather. Striking up a strong friendship and eventually living together as father and daughter, these two misfits help each other make sense of their lives once more.
Director: Jean Becker
Year: 2012
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Everybody Has A Plan
In this gritty thriller, Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings, The Road, Eastern Promises) stars as a successful doctor who conspires to escape his life by assuming the identity of his identical twin brother, a dying criminal. However, his plan backfires when he’s plunged into the sordid depths of his brother’s backwater village, a deadly place where unsettled scores soon embroil him in a desperate fight for survival.
Director: Ana Piterbarg
Year: 2012
Language: Spanish
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Frances Ha
Frances (Greta Gerwig) lives in New York, but she doesn't really have an apartment. She is an apprentice for a dance company, but she's not really a dancer. She has a best friend named Sophie, but they aren’t really speaking anymore. Greta Gerwig shines in Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha, a modern comedy about a charming 27-year-old who wants so much more than she has, but lives her life with unaccountable joy and lightness.
Director: Noah Baumbach
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview
Shot in 1995 for “Triumph of the Nerds,” a PBS documentary series, most of this hour-long interview by Robert X. Cringely was, until now, presumed lost. Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview offers rare and intriguing insights into the mind of the late Apple chief executive and high-tech visionary.
Director: Paul Sen
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Blood Pressure
Nicole, 41, is a pharmacist with a husband and two teenage kids, who is at a point in her life when she is asking if ‘this is it,’ or whether there’s something more. One day she gets a letter from an anonymous Observer who knows her daily habits, and her potential, intimately. He has a plan for her, if she is interested. The letter contains a green card that she should place in her window, if she wishes to pursue the mysterious relationship. If not, she should throw the letter away, and she will never hear from the Observer again. After a few days of internal debate, she puts the card in the window and begins a long relationship with the elusive Observer, who puts her on a program that starts by changing her life, but ultimately threatens everything that has meaning for her.
Director: Sean Garrity
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Blue Like Jazz
Don (Allman), a pious nineteen-year-old sophomore at a Texas junior college, impulsively decides to escape his evangelical upbringing for life in the Pacific Northwest at one ofthe most progressive campuses in America, Reed College in Portland. Upon arrival, Reed's surroundings and eccentric student body proves to be far different than he could possibly imagine from the environment from which he came, forcing him to embark on a journey of self-discovery to understand who he is and what he truly believes.
Director: Steve Taylor
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Amour
Georges and Anne are in their eighties. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, who is also a musician, lives abroad with her family. One day, Anne has an attack. The couple's bond of love is severely tested.
Director: Michael Haneke
Year: 2012
Language: French, English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Cheerful Weather for the Wedding
On a crisp March morning in 1932, bride-to-be Dolly (Felicity Jones) is hiding in her bedroom daydreaming of the whimsical summer before, helped along by an ample jug of rum. Long-lost cousins and quirky aunts are arriving to the house every hour, and the downstairs living rooms are buzzing with speculation about the bride's whereabouts. Exasperated by her daughter's absence, Dolly's scatter-brained mother Hetty (Elizabeth McGovern), is at her wit's end, scurrying around the house trying to quell the relatives' suspicions. Hetty has perfected all of the day's arrangements, but her plans can't prepare everyone for the arrival of Dolly's unpredictable former lover, Joseph (Luke Treadaway).
Director: Donald Rice
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Midnight's Children
“Born in the hour of India’s freedom. Handcuffed to history”
MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN is an epic film from Oscar-nominated director Deepa Mehta, based on the Booker Prize winning novel by Salman Rushdie.
At the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, as India proclaims independence from Great Britain, two newborn babies are switched by a nurse in a Bombay hospital. Saleem Sinai, the illegitimate son of a poor Hindu woman, and Shiva, the offspring of wealthy Muslims, are fated to live the destiny meant for each other. Their lives become mysteriously intertwined and are inextricably linked to India’s whirlwind journey of triumphs and disasters. From the unlikely romance of Saleem’s grandparents to the birth of his own son, MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN is a journey at once sweeping in scope and yet intimate in tone. Hopeful, comic and magical – the film conjures images and characters as rich and unforgettable as India herself.
Director: Deepa Mehta
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Byzantium
Two mysterious women seek refuge in a run-down coastal resort. Clara meets lonely Noel, who provides shelter in his deserted guesthouse, Byzantium. Schoolgirl Eleanor befriends Frank and tells him their lethal secret. They were born 200 years ago and survive on human blood. As knowledge of their secret spreads, their past catches up on them with deathly consequence.
Director: Neil Jordan
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Fantasy, Drama
To Rome With Love
TO ROME WITH LOVE is a story about a number of people in Italy, some American, some Italian, some residents, some visitors, and the romances and adventures and predicaments they get into. Starring Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Penélope Cruz, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig and Ellen Page.
Director: Woody Allen
Year: 2012
Language: English, Italian
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Maniac
Maniac stars Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings) as Frank, a brutal serial killer with a fetish for scalps. Psychologically damaged from an abusive childhood, he uses the fresh scalps for his mannequin collection. When a friendship develops with a beautiful art student, Frank struggles to overcome his psychotic urges, but his twisted obsession only escalates and his compulsion to stalk and kill is unstoppable.
Director: Franck Khalfoun
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Reluctant Fundamentalist, The
Kiefer Sutherland, Kate Hudson and Liev Schreiber star in this explosive political thriller about a brilliant young man (Riz Ahmed) from Pakistan whose meteoric rise on Wall Street puts the American Dream well within his reach. But when the Twin Towers are attacked, his dream turns into a nightmare as he finds himself embroiled in a hostage crisis and torn between the conflicting ideologies of his two homelands.
Director: Mira Nair
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Struck by Lightning
Chris Colfer (“Glee”) stars as Carson Phillips, a small-town high-school senior with big-league ambitions and no one who believes in him. Desperate to escape his hometown and make it big in New York City, Carson, along with his new best friend (Rebel Wilson, Pitch Perfect, Bridesmaids), devises a scheme to blackmail the jocks and cheerleaders into writing for his literary magazine. Also starring Christina Hendricks ("Mad Men"), Allison Janney (Juno, "The West Wing"), Sarah Hyland ("Modern Family"), Angela Kinsey ("The Office") and Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend's Wedding).
Director: Brian Dannelly
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
In No Particular Order
In No Particular Order gives us a glance into Sarah’s life as she messily navigates her way through her late twenties, following a path of meaningless encounters, hangovers, and unmet expectations. Under constant pressure from her newlywed sister to take some responsibility for her life, and after an obsession with a married man and a reconnection with an old fling, Sarah is forced to re- explore her self destructive ideas surrounding commitment and relationships, and confront the effects of her choices on her and those around her.
Director: Kristine Cofsky
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Thanks for Sharing
From Academy Award®-nominated screenwriter Stuart Blumberg (The Kids Are All Right), Thanks for Sharing is a sharply comic and deeply moving look at a new kind of modern family, as a group of friends in recovery learns to face life together with heart, humour and humility. Academy Award-nominee Mark Ruffalo, Academy Award-winner Tim Robbins and Broadway star Josh Gad (“The Book of Mormon”) anchor a stellar ensemble that includes Academy Award-winner Gwyneth Paltrow, and pop star Alecia “Pink” Moore in her first film role.
Director: Stuart Blumberg
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Smashed
Kate and Charlie are a young married couple whose bond is built on a mutual love of music, laughter and drinking...especially the drinking. When Kate's drinking leads her to dangerous places and her job as a school teacher is put into jeopardy, she decides to join AA and get sober. With the help of her friend and sponsor Jenny, and the vice principal at her school, the awkward, but well intentioned, Mr. Davies, Kate takes steps toward improving her health and life. Sobriety isn't as easy as Kate had anticipated. Her new lifestyle brings to the surface a troubling relationship with her mother, facing the lies she's told her employer and calls into question whether or not her relationship with Charlie is built on love or is just boozy diversion from adulthood.
Director: James Ponsoldt
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Love, Marilyn
Two boxes of Marilyn Monroe's private writings were discovered in the home of her acting coach, 50 years after her death. Reading her letters onscreen are a star-studded cast including Marisa Tomei, Glenn Close, Lindsay Lohan, Paul Giamatti, Elizabeth Banks, Uma Thurman, Viola Davis and Adrien Brody. In this fascinating and illuminating film, Academy Award-nominated director Liz Garbus takes an intimate look at the life, death and legacy of a pop icon and offers a glimpse of the human being inside the bombshell.
Director: Liz Garbus
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Documentary, Biography
Grabbers
An idyllic remote Irish island is invaded by enormous bloodsucking tentacled aliens. With islanders turning up decapitated and drained of blood, the inhabitants learn that the creatures—called Grabbers—are allergic to alcohol, making intoxicated people toxic to eat. Overrun and under attack, the hopeless locals realize that in order to stay alive through a storm that's keeping everyone trapped on the island, they're going to have to band together at the pub and do their best to survive the night.
Director: Jon Wright
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Simon Killer
A heartbroken American on a soul-searching trip to Paris finds his buried secrets clawing their way to the surface in this neo-noir thriller from writer/director Antonio Campos (Afterschool). Lovelorn in the aftermath of a recent break-up with his longtime girlfriend, American college graduate Simon (Brady Corbet) wanders the streets of Paris aimlessly, and drifts into a sex parlor where he encounters mysterious prostitute Victoria (Mati Diop). His emotions suddenly reawakened, Simon hatches a plan to blackmail one of her wealthy clients -- a crime that has some unexpected repercussions for all involved.
Director: Antonio Campos
Year: 2012
Language: English, French
Genre: Thriller, Drama
What Maisie Knew
Starring Academy Award-nominee Julianne Moore (The Kids Are All Right), Steve Coogan (Ruby Sparks) and Alexander Skarsgård (True Blood), What Maisie Knew is the touching story of Maisie, a captivating six-year-old girl searching for grace in the midst of her parents' separation. Maisie navigates this ever-widening turmoil with a child’s innocence and generosity of spirit, and eventually finds love in the most unlikely of places.
Director: Scott McGehee, David Siegel
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Girl Most Likely (Imogene)
Imogene (Kristen Wiig) is a failed New York playwright awkwardly navigating the transition from Next Big Thing to Last Year's News. After both her career and relationship hit the skids, she's forced to make the humiliating move back home to New Jersey with her eccentric mother and younger brother (Annette Bening and Christopher Fitzgerald).
Adding further insult to injury, there's a strange man (Darren Criss) sleeping in her old bedroom and an even stranger man sleeping in her mother's bed (Matt Dillon). Through it all, Imogene eventually realizes that as part of her rebuilding process she must finally come to love and accept both her family and her Jersey roots if she's ever going to be stable enough to get the hell away from them.
Director: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Holy Motors
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 to the point of dying; sometimes destitute, sometimes wealthy. By turns murderer, beggar, company chairman, monstrous creature, worker, family man…
Director: Leos Carax
Year: 2012
Language: French, English
Genre: Drama
Searching for Sugar Man
In the late ‘60s, two celebrated producers, who were struck by his soulful melodies and prophetic lyrics, discovered a musician in a Detroit bar. They recorded an album that they believed was going to secure his reputation as one of the greatest recording artists of his generation. In fact, the album bombed and the singer disappeared into obscurity amid rumors of a gruesome on-stage suicide. But a bootleg recording found its way into apartheid South Africa and, over the next two decades, it became a phenomenon. Two South African fans then set out to find out what really happened to their hero. Their investigation led them to a story more extraordinary than any of the existing myths about the artist known as Rodriguez.
SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN is a film about hope, inspiration and the resonating power of music.
Director: Malik Bendjelloul
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Documentary, Biography
Pieta
In this intense and haunting drama, a loan shark mercilessly collects debts from desperate borrowers. One day, a mysterious woman appears claiming to be his long-lost mother. After coldly rejecting her, he gradually accepts her into his life and decides to quit his cruel job to seek a better path. When a dark secret resurfaces, he realizes it may be too late to escape the horrific consequences already set in motion.
Director: Ki-duk Kim
Year: 2012
Language: Korean
Genre: Drama, Crime
Margarita
Behind the facade of a beautiful urban home, a combination of complacency and bad investments has left power couple Ben and Gail disconnected, resentful and just about broke. When the cash-strapped yuppies fire their teen-aged daughter's lesbian Mexican nanny, Margarita, they set off a chain of events that lead to her deportation.
Director: Dominique Cardona, Laurie Colbert
Year: 2012
Language: English, Spanish
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Dinosaur Project, The
The Dinosaur Project follows a team of explorers searching for a mythical, river-dwelling creature in the jungles of Africa. After their helicopter is brought down by a flock of strange birds, they discover a lost kingdom of dinosaurs thought to have been extinct for 65 million years. Very quickly the team realizes they have gravely underestimated the safety of the jungle they came to explore.
Director: Sid Bennett
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Horror, Thriller, Drama, Action, Sci-Fi
Vous n'avez encore rien vu
From beyond the grave, celebrated playwright Antoine d’Anthac gathers together all his friends who have appeared over the years in his play "Eurydice". These actors watch a recording of the work performed by a young acting company, La Compagnie de la Colombe. Do love, life, death and love after death still have any place on a theater stage? It’s up to them to decide. And the surprises have only just begun.
Director: Alain Resnais
Year: 2012
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Picture Day
Forced to repeat her senior year of high school, Claire’s (Maslany) reputation is sliding from bad-ass to bad joke. Armed with an acid tongue and shielded by ever-present headphones, Claire locks onto the only student clueless to her sordid rep: Henry (Van Wyck), a nerdy freshman she used to babysit. At night, Claire escapes to raucous concerts where she catches the eye of 33-year–old Jim (McCarthy, frontman of The ElastoCitizens), a would–be rock star who feeds on young fans’ adoration. Jim leads her into an intoxicating world of hard-partying musicians, while at school, Claire takes Henry under her wing. She reinvents her dorky friend as the mysterious rebel, throwing Henry’s life into hilarious turmoil. As Claire dances across the surface of these relationships, she eventually learns hard lessons about the difference between sex, intimacy, and friendship.
Director: Kate Miles Melville
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
For No Good Reason
Johnny Depp pays a visit to Ralph Steadman, the renowned artist and the last of the original Gonzo visionaries who worked alongside Hunter S. Thompson.
Director: Charlie Paul
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: History, Documentary, Biography
Arthur Newman
Wallace Avery (Colin Firth) hates his job. He’s blown his one shot at living his dream, and his relationships are in shambles. Not wanting to face his life, he stages his death and purchases a new identity as Arthur Newman. His hope-filled new existence is soon interrupted by beautiful, reckless and exciting Mike (Emily Blunt). Together they hit the road -- not only stealing the identities of those they encounter, but engaging in an elaborate game of role play and crime that lead far from home.
Director: Dante Ariola
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Rebelle
Rebelle is a brutal yet poetic snapshot of life as one of Africa's child soldiers, following a young girl who is kidnapped from her village by a group of rebel fighters. Forced to gun down members of her family and enemy soldiers, she takes solace in fellow soldier Magician, a young albino with whom she escapes and starts a new life.
Director: Kim Nguyen
Year: 2012
Language: French
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Shadow Dancer
The story centers around single mother Collette McVeigh -- a Republican living in Belfast with her mother and hardliner IRA brothers. When she is arrested for her part in an aborted IRA bomb plot in London, an MI5 officer offers her a choice: lose everything and go to prison or return to Belfast to spy on her own family. With her son’s life in her hands, Collette chooses to place her trust in the MI5 and return home.
Director: James Marsh
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Populaire
Spring, 1958. 21-year-old Rose Pamphyle lives with her grouchy widower father who runs the village store. Engaged to the son of the local mechanic, she seems destined for the quiet, drudgery-filled life of a housewife. But that's not the life Rose longs for. When she travels to Lisieux in Normandy, where charismatic insurance agency boss Louis Echard is advertising for a secretary, the ensuing interview is a disaster. But Rose reveals a special gift – she can type at extraordinary speed. Unwittingly, the young woman awakens the dormant sports fan in Louis. If she wants the job she'll have to compete in a speed typing competition.
Director: Regis Roinsard
Year: 2012
Language: French
Genre: Sports, Romance, Comedy
Thérèse Desqueyroux
In the late Claude Miller's exquisite adaptation of this classic novel, Audrey Tautou (Amélie) stars as Thérèse, a provincial housewife in 1920s France, suffocating in her arranged marriage to a boorish landowner. When her best friend falls madly in love, Thérèse sees first-hand the awesome power of passionate love and what is missing in her own life. Yearning to break free from the fate imposed upon her, she resorts to extreme measures in a desperate bid for freedom.
Director: Claude Miller
Year: 2012
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Après la neige
A music video producer is forced to shut down his production company (NuFilms) due to the illegal downloading of music. He attempts to reconnect with his teenage son, but realizes he may have lost more than he ever imagined.
Director: Paul Barbeau
Year: 2012
Language: French
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Emperor
Based on true events, Emperor brings to life the secret maneuvers that won peace in post-WWII Japan. General Douglas MacArthur (Tommy Lee Jones), now the de facto ruler of the devastated and hostile Empire, is faced with a difficult mission that will decide Japan’s fate. To help him he assigns an expert in Japanese culture—and psychological warfare—General Bonner Fellers (Matthew Fox), to covertly investigate the looming question: should the Japanese Emperor, worshiped by his people but accused of war crimes, be punished or saved?
Director: Peter Webber
Year: 2012
Language: English, Japanese
Genre: History, War, Drama
Gatekeepers, The
Ninety hours of interviews with six former heads of Shin Bet (Israel’s top security agency) are condensed into a thought provoking, informative, and insightful documentary that examines Israel’s counterterrorism operations. The visually captivating documentary sheds light on the decision making process of these men as well as the morally ambiguous world in which they functioned; all within Israel’s political climate and historical context.
Director: Dror Moreh
Year: 2012
Language: Hebrew, English
Genre: History, War, Documentary
Beyond the Hills
From the director of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days comes a harrowing, visually stunning tale inspired by a case of alleged demonic possession. At a remote monastery watched over by an austere priest, a young woman tries to talk her friend into leaving her training as a nun. But unable to convince her, the visitor decides to stay on a while, upsetting the order’s delicate balance of power.
Director: Christian Mungiu
Year: 2012
Language: Romanian
Genre: Drama
Cornouaille
When Odile visits her family home on the coast of Brittany for the first time since she was a young girl, she is immediately confronted by tragic memories of her father’s accidental death. Faced with ghosts from her past and unsettled by new encounters, Odile slowly loses her grip on reality. Is the house haunted or are her memories playing tricks on her? Once a rational, independent woman, Odile experiences a shift that will change her life forever.
Director: Anne Le Ny
Year: 2012
Language: French
Genre: Drama
End of Time, The
Working at the limits of what can easily be expressed, filmmaker Peter Mettler takes on the elusive subject of time, and once again turns his camera to filming the unfilmmable.
From the particle accelerator in Switzerland, where scientists seek to probe regions of time we cannot see, to lava flows in Hawaii which have overwhelmed all but one home on the south side of Big Island; from the disintegration of inner city Detroit, to a Hindu funeral rite near the place of Buddha’s enlightenment, Mettler explores our perception of time. He dares to dream the movie of the future while also immersing us in the wonder of the everyday.
THE END OF TIME is, at once personal, rigorous and visionary. Peter Mettler has crafted a film as compelling and magnificent as its subject.
Director: Peter Mettler
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Adieu Berthe
In the midst of a full-blown midlife crisis, Armand navigates haphazardly between his job as a chemist and his passion for magic. Where matters of the heart are concerned, he's torn between his wife Hélène and his mistress, Alix. And as for family life, what with an interfering mother-in-law, the kids with whom he can no longer communicate and Alix's daughter, whose birthday is quickly approaching, Armand doesn't know which way to turn… And then his grandmother Berthe dies, and he's landed with the extra task of arranging the funeral. It's too much for Armand, who finds himself forced to confront a profound existential question: do we burn Granny, or bury her?
Director: Bruno Podalydès
Year: 2012
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Superstar
Martin Kazinski is a humble worker. Just another face in the crowd. One morning, as normal, he takes the metro. But it's not a normal day. People are looking at him. A stranger asks for his autograph; another takes his picture. A third just wants to shake his hand. It must be a mistake, a hoax, some sort of joke. Soon, his name is all over the TV, the radio, the internet. Martin Kazinski – with no particular talent, no connections and no idea why – has suddenly become a celebrity. It's incomprehensible. But it's a fact. When he tries to find out why, his fame just grows. The more he questions it, disowns it, denies it – the more famous he becomes. Martin is trapped in a never-ending, ever-expanding media maelstrom. And the worst is yet to come.
Director: Xavier Giannoli
Year: 2012
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Stories We Tell
STORIES WE TELL is an inspired, genre-twisting film by Oscar®-nominated director Sarah Polley, and produced by Anita Lee for the NFB. Her playful investigation into the elusive truth buried within the contradictions of a family of storytellers paints a profound portrait of a complicated and deeply loving family.
Director: Sarah Polley
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Grand Affair, A
On the brink of WWII, the seductive Solal (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a high-ranking official at the League of Nations, grows obsessed with beautiful Ariane, an aristocrat and wife of his subordinate. When Ariane succumbs to Solal's charms, their passionate affair leads the lovers to a tragic fate.
Director: Glenio Bonder
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Late Quartet, A
When the beloved cellist of a world-renowned string quartet receives a life changing diagnosis, the group's future suddenly hangs in the balance: suppressed emotions, competing egos, and uncontrollable passions threaten to derail years of friendship and collaboration. As they are about to play their 25th anniversary concert, quite possibly their last, only their intimate bond and the power of music can preserve their legacy.
Director: Yaron Zilberman
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Drama
Outpost: Black Sun
A pair of investigators team up with a Special Forces Unit to venture deep inside a war raging between the military and a massive army of Nazi Zombie Stormtroopers. Their mission is to fight their way behind enemy lines, locate the technology at the source of this growing threat and prevent the seemingly inevitable rise of the 4th Reich.
Director: Steve Barker
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Action, Sci-Fi
At Any Price
In the competitive world of modern agriculture, ambitious HENRY WHIPPLE (Dennis Quaid) wants his rebellious son DEAN (Zac Efron) to help expand his family’s farming empire. However, Dean has his sights set on becoming a professional race car driver. When a high-stakes investigation into their business is exposed, father and son are pushed into an unexpected crisis that threatens the family’s entire livelihood.
Director: Ramin Bahrani
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Sports, Drama
Celeste and Jesse Forever
CELESTE AND JESSE FOREVER is about two people who met in high school, married young and are growing apart. Now thirty, they decide to get divorced and attempt to stay best friends while pursuing other relationships. This plan is not as simple as they had imagined. Celeste -- imperious, successful and driven -- is convinced that divorcing the boyish Jesse is the right thing to do. Jesse passively accepts this transition into friendship, even though he still is in love with her. As the reality of their separation sets in, Celeste slowly and painfully realizes she has been cavalier about their relationship. But her timing with Jesse is less than fortuitous. While navigating the turbulent changes in their lives and in their hearts, these two learn that in order to truly love someone, you may have to let them go. The film is a humorous and honest examination of a broken heart and the long, hard road it takes to heal it.
Director: Lee Toland Krieger
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Free Samples
A Stanford law-school dropout named Jillian escapes to the anonymity of Los Angeles to figure out what she wants to do with her life, and on the day of her college boyfriend's birthday, she finds herself stuck running an ice cream truck fending off locals and oddball friends alike. This one day spent in a truck on the streets of Los Angeles will wake Jillian from her aimless daze and make her see that life doesn't stop just because you want it to.
Director: Jay Gammil
Year: 2012
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Renoir
The Côte d’Azur. 1915. In his twilight years, Auguste Renoir is tormented by the loss of his wife, the pains of arthritic old age and the terrible news that his son Jean has been wounded in action. But when a young girl miraculously enters his world, the old painter is filled with a new, wholly unexpected energy. Blazing with life, radiantly beautiful, Andrée will become his last model, and the wellspring of a remarkable rejuvenation. Back at the family home to convalesce, Jean too falls under the spell of the new, redheaded star in the Renoir firmament. In their Mediterranean Eden - and in the face of his father's fierce opposition - he falls in love with this wild, untameable spirit... and as he does so, within weak-willed, battle-shaken Jean, a filmmaker begins to grow.
Director: Gilles Bourdos
Year: 2012
Language: French
Genre: History, Drama, Romance, Biography
Rebellion (L'ordre et la morale)
A man struggles to defuse an explosive situation with tragic results in this riveting drama based on actual events. In 1988, France was wracked with political division. After a band of separatists seize a police station, twenty-six officers are taken hostage and three are killed. A counter-terrorism expert is assigned to deal with the situation, and while a peaceful solution at first seems possible, political forces soon necessitate more aggressive options.
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Year: 2011
Language: French
Genre: History, Drama, Action
Lovely Molly
Newlyweds Molly (Gretchen Lodge) and Tim (Johnny Lewis) move into Molly’s deceased father’s house in the countryside. A recovering addict, Molly struggles to regain footing in her simple existence, and her grip on reality begins to waver. Her erratic behaviour is a warning sign to her friends and family, whose interventions drive her further into solitary torment and spur a deep, dark infidelity within her.
From the co-director of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT.
Director: Eduardo Sánchez
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
Your Sister's Sister
Emily Blunt, Rosemarie Dewitt and Mark Duplass star in YOUR SISTER'S SISTER, a new comedy about romance, grief and sibling rivalry. A year after his brother Tom's death, Jack (Duplass) is still struggling emotionally. When he makes a scene at a memorial party, Tom's best friend Iris (Blunt) offers up her family cabin on an island in the Pacific Northwest so Jack can seek catharsis in solitude. Once there, however, he runs into Iris' sister Hannah (Dewitt) who is reeling from the abrupt end of a seven-year relationship and finds solace in Tom's unexpected presence. A blurry evening of drinking concludes with an awkward sexual incident, made worse by Iris' sudden presence at the cabin the next morning. A twisted tale of ever-complicated relationships is set in motion with raw, hilarious and emotional performances from the all-star cast.
Director: Lynn Shelton
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Blind Alley
In a tiny launderette hidden down an alleyway, Rosa finds herself trapped, completely isolated, and unable to escape the nightmarish situation of being attacked by a serial killer. At the break of dawn and after hours of anguish, immersed in the sadistic game of cat and mouse the killer has subjected her to, the young girl will discover something even more disturbing about the nature of her aggressor.
Director: Antonio Trashorras
Year: 2011
Language: Spanish
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Red Dog
This is the story of a legendary, lovable red dog who roamed the outback looking for his original master, finding his way into the hearts of everyone he meets, bringing people and communities together, some who find love, and others who find themselves. Based on true events.
Year: 2011
Language: English
Higher Ground
Vera Farmiga's directorial debut, HIGHER GROUND, depicts the landscape of a tight-knit spiritual community thrown off-kilter when one of their own begins to question her faith. Inspired by screenwriter Carolyn S. Briggs' memoir, 'This Dark World', the film tells the story of a thoughtful woman's struggles with belief, love, and trust in human relationships as well as in God.
Director: Vera Farmiga
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Salt of Life, The
House husband Gianni has many things to worry about while his retirement slips by doing boring chores for his wife, mother, daughter and pretty neighbour. But romance is not one of them. One day his old friend Alfonso, inspired by his own surprising sexual escapades, decides it's time for Gianni to get a girlfriend and reacquaint himself with some of life's pleasures.
Director: Gianni Di Gregorio
Year: 2011
Language: Italian
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Midnight Son
Something is happening to Jacob. Sunlight wreaks havoc on his skin and he's developing a hunger for human blood. When he falls in love with a beautiful bartender, his loneliness comes to an end. But his condition is worsening, forcing him to stalk the streets for prey and making him the prime suspect in a series of grisly murders.
Director: Scott Leberecht
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
Where Do We Go Now?
Set in a remote village where the church and the mosque stand side by side, Where Do We Go Now? follows the antics of the town’s women as they try to keep their men from starting a religious war. Women heartsick over sons, husbands and fathers lost to previous flare-ups unite to distract their men with clever ruses - from faking a miracle to hiring a troop of Ukrainian strippers. A heartfelt and charming follow-up feature to director Nadine Labaki’s widely successful Caramel.
Director: Nadine Labaki
Year: 2011
Language: Arabic, English, French
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest
BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE: THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST is a documentary film directed by Michael Rapaport about one of the most influential and groundbreaking musical groups in hip-hop history. Having released five gold and platinum selling albums within eight years, A Tribe Called Quest has been one of the most commercially successful and artistically significant musical groups in recent history, and regarded as iconic pioneers of hip hop. The band's sudden break-up in 1998 shocked the industry and saddened the scores of fans, whose appetite for the group's innovative musical stylings never seems to diminish.
Director: Michael Rapaport
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Miss Bala
Laura dreams of becoming a beauty queen. But when she witnesses a gang hit in a nightclub, the mob rigs an upcoming pageant and she’s dragged into the world of drug cartels and corrupt cops. Acting as their mule, she is pressured into carrying cash across the border and being a sex-slave to the boss. Every act of resistance she makes – going to the police and warning intended targets – just gets her in deeper.
Director: Gerardo Naranjo
Year: 2011
Language: Spanish, English
Genre: World Cinema, Thriller, Drama, Crime, Action
Pina
Pina, the Oscar-nominated film by Wim Wenders, takes us on a visually and emotionally stunning journey of the works of Pina Bausch, the great German dancer and choreographer. We travel with her legendary dance troupe onto the stage, into the streets and the surrounding countryside, experiencing Pina’s unique creations as they transform the language of dance. “What treasure lies within our bodies, to be able to express itself without words, and how many stories can be told without saying a single sentence.” Wim Wenders
Director: Wim Wenders
Year: 2011
Language: German, French, English
Genre: Documentary
Other F Word, The
What happens when a generation's ultimate anti-authoritarians -- punk rockers -- become society's ultimate authorities -- dads? With a large chorus of Punk Rock's leading men -- Blink 182's Mark Hoppus, Red Hot Chili Pepper's Flea, Rise Against's Tim McIlrath --The Other F Word follows Jim Lindberg, 20 year veteran of skate punk band, Pennywise, on his hysterical and moving journey from belting out his band's anthem, "F*** Authority", to embracing his ultimately pivotal authoritarian role in mid-life, fatherhood.
Director: Andrea Blaugrund
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Drama, Documentary, Comedy
Amy George
Thirteen-year-old Jessie wants to be an artist, but beleives that his mundane middle-class Toronto life has left him unprepared. After reading a book on what it takes to be a true artist, he sets out looking for risk, ecstasy, wildness and woman. Amy George is a microbudget independent drama about a time in a boy's life when he is at his least likeable.
Director: Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Stella Days
Martin Sheen stars as a parish priest in mid-1950’s Ireland, caught in a dramatic struggle between faith and passion, and Rome and Hollywood. In an attempt to raise funds for his church and merge his passion for film with his faith, he opens a small cinema in his community - The Stella - provoking conflict with the Bishop and the parishioners.
Director: Thaddeus O'Sullivan
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Drama
I Melt With You
When four college friends meet up at a spectacular ocean villa for their annual reunion, career and family responsibilities get left behind. But when things spiral out of control, a pact they made as young men is challenged and old secrets threaten to bring them all down. I Melt With You is a visually dazzling trip deep into the male psyche, starring Thomas Jane, Jeremy Piven, Rob Lowe, Christian McKay, and featuring Sasha Grey.
Director: Mark Pellington
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Black Gold: Day of the Falcon
Set in the 1930s Arab states at the dawn of the oil boom, the story centers on a young Arab prince torn between allegiance to his conservative father and modern, liberal father-in-law.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, History, War, Drama, Action
Toutes Nos Envies
Claire has it all: a perfect husband, two adorable kids and a rewarding job as a judge. Celine, an impoverished acquaintance, is being sued by credit agencies and Claire gets involved in her case. When Claire is diagnosed with inoperable cancer, she refuses treatment and tells no one, hoping to spare her family and use her time left to fight for the working poor.
Director: Philippe Lioret
Year: 2011
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Not Another Not Another Movie
Max Storm (Chevy Chase) is the owner of Sunshine Studios, the worst movie studio on the planet. Faced with the possibility of going out of business, Max hires his brother (Michael Madsen), his goon friend (Vinnie Jones), a washed up director (Burt Reynolds), and an idiot writer to save their skins. With no script, no money and no idea what they're doing, they set out to make the biggest spoof movie of all time – Not Another Not Another Movie.
Director: David Murphy
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Source des femmes, La
In a remote, desert village the well is at the top of a treacherous mountain path, and the job of collecting the water is up to the women. After one fall and one miscarriage too many, young newly-wed Leila suggests going on a love strike, arguing that refusal to grant sexual favours is the only power the women truly have over their men.
Director: Radu Mihaileanu
Year: 2011
Language: Arabic
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Forgiveness of Blood, The
Rudina may be only fifteen but dreams of going to university and making something of her life. When her father is accused of murder after a neighbourly squabble over land ownership, the entire family is forced to accord to the dictates of the Kanun - a centuries old system of laws which prohibits any of her brothers from leaving their home. Forced with the responsibilities of her father's affairs, Rudina flourishes while her older brother gives in to anger and frustration and determines to put an end to the feud.
Director: Joshua Marston
Year: 2011
Language: Albanian
Genre: Drama
Take Shelter
A working-class husband and father questions whether his terrifying dreams of an apocalyptic storm signal something real to come or the onset of an inherited mental illness he's feared his whole life. The film stars Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire), Jessica Chastain (The Tree of Life), Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire), Katy Mixon (Eastbound & Down), and Kathy Baker (Edward Scissorhands).
Director: Jeff Nichols
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
Pour l'amour de Dieu
Montreal, 1959. In the classroom of Sister Cecilia, Leonie (aged 11) first met Father Malachy, a young Dominican father who has come to visit his school. It is love at first sight for this lonely and dreamy child who took refuge in religion to escape a mother who is emotional and too worried. But there is also love at first sight between Sister Cecilia and Father Malachy. Between human love and the love of God, which will prevail?
Director: Micheline Lanctôt
Year: 2011
Language: French
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Woman in the Fifth, The
Ethan Hawke and Kristin Scott Thomas star in THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH, a psychological thriller, based on Douglas Kennedy's 2007 novel of the same name. American writer Tom Ricks (Hawke) comes to Paris,desperate to win back the love of his estranged wife and daughter. When things don’t go according to plan, Tom ends up living in a shady hotel and working as a night guard to make ends meet. Then a beautiful, mysterious stranger (Scott Thomas) walks into his life. Things start looking up. But their passionate relationship triggers a series of inexplicable events - as if an obscure power were taking control of his life. The film is written and directed by Polish-born, UK-based Pawel Pawlikowski, whose credits include the BAFTA award-winning features LAST RESORT and MY SUMMER OF LOVE.
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Year: 2011
Language: English, French
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Mystery
Footnote
FOOTNOTE is the tale of a great rivalry between a father and son. Eliezer and Uriel Shkolnik are both eccentric professors, who have dedicated their lives to their work in Talmudic Studies. The father, Eliezer, is a stubborn purist who fears the establishment and has never been recognized for his work. While his son, Uriel, is an up-and-coming star in the field, who appears to feed on accolades, endlessly seeking recognition.
FOOTNOTE is the story of insane academic competition, the dichotomy between admiration and envy for a role model, and the very complicated relationship between a father and son.
Director: Joseph Cedar
Year: 2011
Language: Hebrew
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Terri
A young misfit learns a valuable life lesson from the last person he ever thought possible in this sensitive coming of age tale from director Azazel Jacobs (The Goodtimeskid, Momma's Man). After losing his parents at a young age, overweight Terri (Jacob Wysocki) was sent to live with his uncle. Life has never been easy for the embattled young boy, and as his uncle's health begins to deteriorate, Terri becomes the target of relentless teasing by his cruel classmates. When Terri's apathetic teachers fail to offer him any guidance, his intimidating vice principal, Mr. Fitzgerald (John C. Reilly), recognizes a student in need, and reaches out to him. Through that unlikely friendship, Terri discovers that outcasts needn't endure life alone, and that by banding together, they can accomplish great things.
Director: Azazel Jacobs
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Requiem Pour une Tueuse
A highly skilled assassin, in search of a new life, accepts a final hit posing as the lead soprano for a Swiss opera company. Her mark: a handsome co-performer whose business dealings threaten the interests of a powerful corporation. But things don’t go as planned in this high-class, high-tension thriller.
Director: Jérôme Le Gris
Year: 2011
Language: French
Genre: Thriller
Separation, A
Set in contemporary Iran, A SEPARATION is a compelling drama about the dissolution of a marriage. Simin wants to leave Iran with her husband Nader and daughter Termeh. Simin sues for divorce when Nader refuses to leave behind his Alzheimer-suffering father. Her request having failed, Simin returns to her parents' home, but Termeh decides to stay with Nader.
When Nader hires a young woman to assist with his father in his wife's absence, he hopes that his life will return to a normal state. However, when he discovers that the new maid has been lying to him, he realizes that there is more on the line than just his marriage.
Director: Asghar Farhadi
Year: 2011
Language: Persian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Blackthorn
In the long overdue sequel to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Butch (Sam Shepard) lives under the assumed name James Blackthorn in a secluded Bolivian village. 20 years after his so-called disappearance, he longs to end his personal exile and return home to his family. Reluctantly joining forces with a Spanish mine robber who promises him a cut of the loot, Blackthorn sets out on one final adventure... and discovers he's not the only one harbouring a deep secret.
Director: Mateo Gil
Year: 2011
Language: English, Spanish
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Action, Western
Gerhard Richter Painting
The title says it all. Corinna Belz's documentary is an unprecedented and oddly dangerous journey into the studios of Gerhard Richter, widely considered among the world's most important living painters. Famously cranky and iconoclastic, Richter is an ideal subject to illuminate the deep fissures in the contemporary art world. His career has been a high-wire balancing act between eye-popping, colourful abstractions -- seen in start-to-finish construction throughout much of the film -- and enormously famous photorealist portraiture. He has also been an influential essayist on the subject of art-making and its place in the world.
Director: Corinna Belz
Year: 2011
Language: German, English
Genre: Documentary
Circumstance
Winner of the Sundance Audience Award, Circumstance is a provocative coming-of-age story that cracks open the hidden, underground world of Iranian youth culture. Two vivacious young girls discover their burgeoning sexuality and struggle with their desires in an atmosphere of repression and dangerous secrets.
Director: Maryam Kershavarz
Year: 2011
Language: Persian
Genre: Drama
POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
Boundary-pushing Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Morgan Spurlock explores the world of product placement, marketing and advertising in POM WONDERFUL PRESENTS: THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD, a film that was fully financed through product placement from various brands, all of which are integrated transparently into the film.
While using brands in film promotion is not new for Hollywood, it certainly is new territory for the documentary format. Spurlock exploits the phenomenon to new heights, with everything from branded pizza boxes and in-flight film promotions to branded-everything in-film.
With humor and insight, POM WONDERFUL PRESENTS: THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD unmasks the marketing process to bring audiences behind closed doors directly into the pitch meetings and marketing presentations which ultimately inform our everyday entertainment decisions.
Director: Morgan Spurlock
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Carnage
Set in contemporary Brooklyn, New York, CARNAGE centers on two pairs of parents, one of whose child has hurt the other at a public park, who meet to discuss the matter in a civilized manner. However, as the evening goes on, the parents become increasingly childish, resulting in the evening devolving into chaos.
Director: Roman Polanski
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Deep Blue Sea, The
Hester Collyer (Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz) leads a privileged life in 1950s London as the beautiful wife of high court judge Sir William Collyer (Simon Russell Beale). To the shock of those around her, she walks out on her marriage to move in with young ex-RAF pilot, Freddie Page (Tom Hiddleston), with whom she has fallen passionately in love.
Set in post-war Britain, this adaptation of Terence Rattigan's classic play, THE DEEP BLUE SEA is a study of forbidden love, suppressed desire, and the fear of loneliness - but is at heart a deeply moving love story.
Stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea, what - or whom - should Hester choose?
Director: Terence Davies
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Roméo Onze
Working at the family restaurant and living under his parents’ roof, Rami occupies a world meticulously controlled by his father. Intensely shy but curious about women, Rami escapes online and constructs an avatar called Roméo 11, a confident and successful businessman. Rami’s lies, both online and to his family, will soon catch up with him.
Director: Ivan Grbovic
Year: 2011
Language: French, Arabic
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Shut Up Little Man
Shut Up Little Man features the real-life comical rants, hateful harangues, drunken soliloquies, and audible fistfights of Raymond and Peter – two booze-swilling homicidal roommates in a low-rent district of San Francisco. When two friends secretly tape-record the loud and abusive fights of their next door neighbors, they accidentally create one of the world's first 'viral' pop-culture sensations.
Director: Matthew Bate
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Documentary, Comedy
City State (INTL)
Director: Olaf de Fleur Johannesson
Year: 2011
Language: Icelandic, English, Serbian, Russian
First Position
Every year, thousands of aspiring dancers enter one of the world's most prestigious ballet competitions, the Youth America Grand Prix, where lifelong dreams are at stake. In the final round, with hundreds competing for only a handful of elite scholarships and contracts, practice and discipline are paramount, and nothing short of perfection is expected. Bess Kargman's award-winning documentary, FIRST POSITION, follows six young dancers as they prepare for a chance to enter the world of professional ballet, struggling through bloodied feet, near exhaustion and debilitating injuries, all while navigating the drama of adolescence. A showcase of awe-inspiring talent, tenacity and passion, FIRST POSITION paints a thrilling and moving portrait of the most gifted young ballet stars of tomorrow.
Director: Bess Kargman
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Greetings to the Devil
Angel (Edgar Ramirez - Carlos), a former guerrilla rebel, is seeking a fresh start after turning in his arms and giving up his violent ways. But after a victim from his former life kidnaps his daughter, Angel is given 72 hours to track down and murder the members of his former guerilla unit.
Director: The Orozco Brothers
Year: 2011
Language: Spanish
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Action, Mystery
Robotropolis
While a group of reporters is covering the unveiling of a high-tech facility run completely by robots, one of the machines short circuits and goes haywire. Mayhem and panic spread while the reporters must fight their way out of the building to survive. But when they reach the outside, they discover the battle has only just begun.
Director: Christopher Hatton
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Thriller, Action, Sci-Fi
Bobby Fischer Against the World
In 1958, Bobby Fischer stunned the chess world by becoming the youngest Grand Master in history. Over the next decade and a half, his breathtaking rise to the top echelon of the game riveted the world and inspired an international chess phenomenon. Then, at the apex of his success, Fischer vanished from the public eye. Academy Award®-nominee Liz Garbus reveals the true story behind the troubled genius, from his meteoric rise to fame to the growing madness that finally consumed him.
Director: Liz Garbus
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: History, Sports, Documentary, Biography
Restless
RESTLESS recounts the romance between two teenagers, orphaned, funeral-crashing Enoch (Henry Hopper, son of Dennis), and Annabel (Mia Wasikowska). They meet at a funeral and bond over their mutual morbid obsession, which they have for opposite reasons: Enoch lost his mother and father in an automobile accident that, he claims, left him dead for three minutes before he bounced back, while Annabel has brain cancer, which will take her within a few months.
Director: Gus Van Sant
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Being Elmo
The film traces Kevin Clash's rise from his modest beginnings in Baltimore to his current success as the man behind Elmo, one of the world's most recognizable and adored characters. Millions of children tune in daily to watch Elmo, yet when Kevin walks down the street he is not recognized. Pivotal to the film is the exploration of Jim Henson's meteoric rise, and Kevin's ultimate achievement of his goal to become part of the Henson family of puppeteers. In addition to puppeteering Elmo, Mr. Clash is arguably the creative force behind today's Sesame Street, producing, directing and traveling around the globe training other puppeteers.
Director: Constance Marks
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Project Nim
From the Oscar-winning team behind MAN ON WIRE comes the story of Nim, the chimpanzee who in the 1970s became the focus of a landmark experiment which aimed to show that an ape could learn to communicate with language if raised and nurtured like a human child.
Following Nim's extraordinary journey through human society, and the enduring impact he makes on the people he meets along the way, the film is an unflinching and unsentimental biography of an animal we tried to make human. What we learn about his true nature - and indeed our own - is comic, revealing and profoundly unsettling.
Director: James Marsh
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Moine, Le (The Monk)
Adapted from a cult gothic novel, The Monk follows the tragic destiny of Brother Ambrosio in 17th century Catholic Spain. Abandoned at birth at the gates of a monastery and raised by the friars, he has become a preacher admired far and wide for his fervor and feared for his righteousness. Steadfast in his extreme rigor and absolute virtue he believes he is immune to temptation. But the arrival of a mysterious apprentice undermines his convictions, leading him down the path of sin.
Director: Dominik Moll
Year: 2011
Language: French
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Mystery
Godfathers of Ganja
Miami in the '70s and '80s is a pot smoker’s paradise, with countless tons of marijuana being smuggled into the region through three key channels: The Black Tuna Gang, the ganja-worshipping Coptic Church, and the residents of Everglades City. These notorious smuggling rings are eventually brought down by the White House, leading to fierce showdowns with the cops and hundreds of arrests. The Godfathers of Ganja is a fascinating and often hilarious portrait of the rise and fall of Miami’s stoner culture, and the endlessly entertaining “godfathers” who drove it forward.
Director: Billy Corben
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Animation Express 2
From the producers of Animation Express, this fresh collection of award-winning animated shorts covers a broad range of topics, from body issues to surviving a world war. Each short brings something new and boundary-pushing to the world of animation.
Director: Paul Drissen, Amanda Forbis, Wendy Tilby, Co Hoedeman, Georges Schwizgebel, Koji Yamamura
Year: 2011
Language: English & French
Genre: Canadian
Trishna
Based on Thomas Hardy's classic novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles, TRISHNA tells the story of one woman whose life is destroyed by a combination of love and circumstances. Set in contemporary Rajasthan, Trishna (Freida Pinto) meets a wealthy young British businessman Jay Singh (Riz Ahmed) who has come to India to work in his father's hotel business. After an accident destroys her father's Jeep, Trishna goes to work for Jay, and they fall in love. But despite their feelings for each other, they cannot escape the conflicting pressures of a rural society which is changing rapidly through industrialisation, urbanisation and, above all, education. Trishna's tragedy is that she is torn between the traditions of her family life and the dreams and ambitions that her education has given her
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Dark Horse
Romance blooms between two thirty-somethings in arrested development; an avid toy collector and a woman who is the dark horse of her family.
Director: Todd Solondz
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Big Fix, The
On April 22, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig sank into the Gulf of Mexico, creating the worst oil spill in history. By exposing the root causes of the spill, and the massive cover-up by BP that followed, the filmmakers uncover a vast network of corruption and expose a government that puts the pursuit of profit above all other human and environmental needs.
Director: Joshua Tickell, Rebecca Harrell Tickell
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Angel in the House
Struggling to adopt a child and unable to conceive one of their own, the Morrison family is in need of a miracle. When a charming 7-year-old boy unexpectedly shows up on their doorstep claiming to be from the foster home, their luck changes and joy is brought back into their lives. But amazingly, their surprises have only just begun…Starring Toni Collette (Little Miss Sunshine) and Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic Four).
Director: Jonathan Newman
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Family
Rites of Spring
After abducting the daughter of a wealthy socialite, a group of kidnappers retreat to an abandoned school—unaware that their hideout will soon become the hunting ground for a bloodthirsty creature preparing for its annual killing spree.
Director: Padraig Reynolds
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Future, The
When Sophie and Jason decide to adopt a stray cat, their perspective on life changes radically, literally altering the course of time and space and testing their faith in each other and themselves. In Miranda July's charming film, the adopted cat Paw Paw is the source of anxiety, illumination, and the film’s narration.
Director: Miranda July
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Comedy
Eastern Mystics
n every generation there are people who reach out beyond the cultural and religious boundaries of their time, and even beyond the limits of their own thoughts, searching for answers to life’s deepest mysteries. We call these seekers mystics. In this groundbreaking documentary, well-known mystics from the Buddhist, Hindu, Advaita, and Taoist traditions discuss their own awakening experiences, the nature of mysticism, religious tolerance, love and compassion, spiritual practices, the many paths to truth, and world peace. Their comments and personal messages to the world weave together a tapestry of wisdom, compassion and promise.The mystics encourage us to look beyond our apparent differences, to realize the one truth that unites us all, and most importantly, to manifest that truth in our daily lives. They exhort us to discover The Sacred in the Ordinary.
Director: Eric Temple
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Swell Season
In 2008, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová captivated audiences and earned two Academy Awards for their musical collaboration in the film ONCE. As their fictional romance blurred with reality, they fell in love, recorded an album, and embarked on a world tour. Fueled by two years of exhilaration, performance, and psychological turmoil, THE SWELL SEASON is much more than a musicdocumentary. It is a volatile and intimate portrait of a romance that fractures in the face of life on the road and personal tragedy. As Glen and Markéta’s relationship unhinges, ultimately music prevails as their enduring connection.
Director: Nick August-Perna, Chris Dapkins and Carlo Mirabella-Davis
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Documentary
Late Bloomers
In a romantic comedy a man and a woman love each other but everything conspires to drive them apart. Despite their true feelings, they separate now so they can be together later. The man and woman are Adam and Mary. But Mary and Adam aren't your typical 20 or 30-year-old couple; they're nearing 60. Like many 60-year-old couples of the 21st century, they're high functioning. And what's more, they do it with style. They deftly juggle children, grand children, work and friends, with all the joys and disappointments that come with married life. Until one day they realize, to their great surprise, they've entered the senior category. And they react to this realization in totally opposite ways.
Director: Julie Gavras
Year: 2011
Language: English, Italian
Genre: Drama
X: Night of Vengeance
Holly is getting ready to kiss her life as a callgirl goodbye. She just needs to get through her last night on the job. Shay is a teenage runaway, broke and alone. She just needs to get through her first night as a hooker. But a twist of fate soon brings them together on a job that turns deadly, forcing them to flee for their lives through the sizzling twilight zone of sex-for-sale.
Director: Jon Hewitt
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Take this Waltz
When Margot (Michelle Williams), 28, meets Daniel (Luke Kirby), their chemistry is intense and immediate. But Margot suppresses her sudden attraction; she is happily married to Lou (Seth Rogen), a cookbook writer. When Margot learns that Daniel lives across the street from them, the certainty about her domestic life shatters. She and Daniel steal moments throughout the steaming Toronto summer, their eroticism heightened by their restraint. Swelteringly hot, bright and colorful like a bowl of fruit, TAKE THIS WALTZ leads us, laughing, through the familiar, but uncharted question of what long-term relationships do to love, sex, and our images of ourselves.
Director: Sarah Polley
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Revenge of the Electric Car
In this entertaining sequel to Who Killed the Electric Car, director Chris Paine takes us behind the scenes with four of the world’s leading auto-industry visionaries as they race to create the best electric car. Narrated by Tim Robbins, Revenge of the Electric Car conveys the passion and drive of these leaders as they steer a struggling industry toward a sustainable future.
Director: Chris Paine
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Présumé coupable
A man wrongly accused of an unspeakable crime battles to prove his innocence in this gripping and heartfelt drama. Torn from his family and entangled in a legal nightmare, Alain’s life is turned completely upside down. Jailed, he is forced to fight against prosecutors eager for convictions in this controversial and shocking case. Based on a true story.
Director: Vincent Garenq
Year: 2011
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Thriller, Drama
Turn Me On, Goddammit!
In this offbeat coming-of-age comedy, Alma is a small-town girl with a big imagination and an even bigger libido. Horny and looking for love, she has only her kindly phone sex operator to cure her boredom. After a titillating encounter with a school heartthrob, she gains the uncomfortable nickname “Dick Alma”, and that’s when her troubles begin. Winner of the Best Screenplay Award at the Tribeca Film festival, Turn Me On, Goddammit! perfectly balances candid sexual content with earnest teenage awkwardness.
Director: Jannicke Systad Jacobsen
Year: 2011
Language: Norwegian
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom, The
It's 1976 and Elizabeth is just your average suburban 11-year-old praying for adolescence to arrive when she discovers her whole life has been a lie. With only her imagination to guide her, Elizabeth runs away in search of her true identity. Her adoptive mother Marion is then forced to break out of the carefully constructed "truth" she's been clinging to and go after her daughter. This leads to a cathartic cross-country trek by a mother searching for a daughter who's searching for a mother - both of them really searching for themselves…. The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom is a poignant, sometimes funny, very female, coming of age story that explores the tension between creating identity and finding it within…
Director: Tara Johns
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Impardonnables (Unforgivable)
Francis, 60, arrives in Venice seeking peace and quiet to write his next crime novel. When he meets Judith, a former model much younger than himself, it is love at first sight. But writer’s block and growing jealousy push Francis to desperate measures in this seductive and suspenseful film.
Director: André Téchiné
Year: 2011
Language: French, Italian
Genre: Drama
Snows of Kilimanjaro, The (Neiges du Kilimandjaro, Les)
Despite losing his job, Michel lives happily with Marie-Claire. They have been in love for more than thirty years. Their children and grandchildren delight them. They have plenty of close friends. They are proud of their union and political struggles. Their conscience is as clear as their view of life.
This happiness will be shattered along with their French window by two young men, armed and masked, who beat them, tie them up, snatch their wedding rings and flee with their credit cards and snatch to go for a trip to Kilimanjaro.
Director: Robert Guediguian
Year: 2011
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Tomboy
Laure is 10 years old. Laure is a tomboy. Upon arriving in a new neighborhood, she lets Lisa and her crowd believe that she is a boy. Truth or dare? Dare.
Laure pretends to be 'Michael,' a boy like the others…different enough to get the attention of Lisa who falls in love with him. Laure takes advantage of her new identity as if the end of the summer would never reveal her unsettling secret.
Director: Céline Sciamma
Year: 2011
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Detachment
DETACHMENT is Director Tony Kaye's (American History X) uniquely stylized portrait of the American education system as seen through the eyes of Henry Barthes (Academy Award® winner Adrien Brody), an educator with a true talent to connect with his student, yet has chosen to bury his gift. By spending his days as a substitute teacher, he conveniently avoids any emotional connections by never staying anywhere long enough to form an attachment to either students or colleagues. When a new assignment places him at a public school where a frustrated, burned-out administration has created an apathetic student body, Henry quickly becomes a role model as a teacher who actually cares about the well-being of these students. In finding an unlikely emotional connection to the students, teachers, and a runaway teen he takes in from the streets, Henry realizes that he's not alone in his life and death struggle to find beauty in a seemingly vicious and loveless world.
Director: Tony Kaye
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Heineken Kidnapping, The
The Heineken Kidnapping goes beyond the real-life kidnapping of beer tycoon Alfred Heineken to tell the story of Heineken's revenge, which culminates in a chase across the world. What ensues is a psychological power struggle between the successful and charismatic beer brewer and a ruthless young criminal with a grudge.
Director: Maarten Treurniet
Year: 2011
Language: Dutch, English, French
Genre: Thriller, Crime
Last Call at the Oasis
From Academy Award-winning director Jessica Yu and the producer's of "Food, Inc." LAST CALL AT THE OASIS examines the imminent threat to the water supply in Nevada and California, illustrating the environmental, social and political factors that have resulted in a fast-approaching crisis.
Director: Jessica Yu
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Into the Abyss
Nine years after the murder of three people in Texas, director Werner Herzog takes us inside the minds and hearts of the convicted killers (one of whom was executed soon afterward). The victims' families, the prison’s chaplain and a former executioner, help trace the legacy of this horrific crime.
Director: Werner Herzog
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Crime, Documentary
Damsels in Distress
DAMSELS IN DISTRESS is a comedy about a trio of beautiful girls as they set out to revolutionize life at a grungy American university - the dynamic leader Violet Wister (Greta Gerwig), principled Rose (Megalyn Echikunwoke) and sexy Heather (Carrie MacLemore). They welcome transfer student Lily (Analeigh Tipton) into their group which seeks to help severely depressed students with a program of good hygiene and musical dance numbers. The girls become romantically entangled with a series of men - including smooth Charlie (Adam Brody), dreamboat Xavier (Hugo Becker) and the mad frat pack of Frank (Ryan Metcalf) and Thor (Billy Magnussen) - who threaten the girls' friendship and sanity.
Director: Whit Stillman
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Skin I Live In, The
Ever since his wife was burned in a car crash, Dr. Robert Ledgard, an eminent plastic surgeon, has been interested in creating a new skin with which he could have saved her. After twelve years, he manages to cultivate a skin that is a real shield against every assault.
In addition to years of study and experimentation, Robert needed a further three things: no scruples, an accomplice and a human guinea pig. Scruples were never a problem. Marilia, the woman who looked after him from the day he was born, is his most faithful accomplice. And as for the human guinea pig…
Director: Pedro Almodovar
Year: 2011
Language: Spanish
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
Omar m'a tuer
Omar Killed Me is a gripping adaptation of the real-life case of a Moroccan gardener accused of murdering his wealthy employer on the Côte d’Azur. Many who followed the case believed the man to be innocent, yet watched idly as he suffered under a penal system unwilling to look beyond circumstantial evidence and racial prejudices.
Director: Roschdy Zem
Year: 2011
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Crime, Biography
Neil Young Journeys
This past May, Neil Young brought his solo tour to Toronto's Massey Hall, an iconic venue in the city of his birth. Jonathan Demme was on hand to capture the two nights, which highlighted new songs from the album Le Noise. In Neil Young Journeys, Demme intersperses Massey Hall concert footage with brief scenes from a road trip through Ontario.
Director: Jonathan Demme
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Documentary
Mill & The Cross, The
Pieter Bruegel’s 1564 epic masterpiece, The Procession to Calvary, portrays Jesus staggering to his crucifixion, lost in a panoramic landscape crowded with hundreds of villagers and red-caped horsemen. In depicting Jesus’ plight as one among many vignettes, while soldiers on horseback loom threateningly, Bruegel boldly transposes Christ’s passion and death to sixteenth-century Flanders—a time when the Belgian people were suffering terribly under brutal Spanish occupation. Lech Majewski mischievously invites the viewer to live inside the aesthetic universe of the classic painting "The Procession to Calvary" as we watch it being created.
Director: Lech Majewski
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: History, Drama
Midnight in Paris
This is a romantic comedy set in Paris about a family that goes there because of business, and two young people who are engaged to be married in the fall have experiences there that change their lives. It's about a young man's great love for a city, Paris, and the illusion people have that a life different from theirs would be much better. It stars Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Kathy Bates, Carla Bruni among others.
Director: Woody Allen
Year: 2011
Language: English & French
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Comedy
Tous les Soleils
Alessandro is a music teacher who shares his apartment with his 15-year-old daughter and his anarchist brother. His burn-out brother refuses to move out and his daughter constantly tries to evade her overbearing father. One day a beautiful young woman falls into Alessandro's life. Will he take his chances with her? And more importantly, will he manage to get the rest of his life together?
Director: Philippe Claudel
Year: 2011
Language: French, Italian
Genre: Comedy
In Darkness
IN DARKNESS tells the true story of Leopold Socha, a sewer worker and petty thief in Nazi-occupied Lvov, Poland. Stumbling upon a group of Jews in the sewers, he agrees to hide them for a price. What starts out as a straightforward business arrangement becomes something unexpected, as they all try to outwit certain death during 14 months of intense danger.
Director: Agnieszka Holland
Year: 2011
Language: Polish, German, Yiddish, Ukrainian
Genre: War, Drama
Amour de Jeunesse, Un
Camille (Lola Créton, of Catherine Breillat’s Barbe Bleue) is a wide-eyed fifteen-year-old who throws herself with abandon into the heady adventure of an all-consuming relationship. By the end, she is older, wiser and wistful about what has been experienced — and lost — through her passionate affair.
Director: Mia Hansen-Løve
Year: 2011
Language: French, German, Danish
Genre: Drama, Romance
Fightville
Yell out "fight!" on a street corner and a crowd will always come running--at once attracted and repelled by the violent spectacle of man acting on his most primal urge. The draw of two men fighting is as old as civilization itself, but as far back as Plato, the sport of fighting has been at odds with the notion of a civil society. Over the last decade, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has grown from a controversial no-holds-barred gladiatorial sideshow into a billion dollar phenomenon eclipsing boxing as the dominant combat sport in the world. But far from Las Vegas, in sweat-soaked gyms and low-rent arenas across America, the big lights are but a dream. Here, men fight to test their mettle, fortified with the mythic promise that an ordinary man can transform into a champion. FIGHTVILLE is about the art and sport of fighting: a microcosm of life, a physical manifestation of that other brutal contest called the American Dream
Director: Petra Epperlein, Michael Tucker
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Sports, Documentary
Marécages (Wetlands)
14-year-old Simon feels starkly out of place on his parents’ dairy farm. Life on the farm is demanding, but no matter how hard Simon tries, he cannot live up to his father’s expectations. Resentments simmer, so when a tragic accident hits close to home, the question of blame haunts the family and the possibility for forgiveness seems remote.
Director: Guy Édoin
Year: 2011
Language: French
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Greening of Whitney Brown, The
Whitney, a spoiled pre-teen from Philadelphia, is forced to move to the country when her parents feel the squeeze of economic hard times. A fish out of water, far from her comfort zone, she befriends an amazing horse, and undertakes a misguided journey back to her old life, only to discover that her family is her home.
Director: Peter Skillman Odiorne
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Family
Life in a Day
Director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) and producer Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator) team up to offer this candid snapshot of a single day on planet Earth. Compiled from over 80,000 YouTube submissions by contributors in 192 countries, Life in a Day presents a microcosmic view of our daily experiences as a global society. From the mundane to the profound, everything has its place as we spend 90 minutes gaining greater insight into the lives of people who may be more like us than we ever suspected, despite the fact that we're separated by incredible distances.
Director: Kevin Macdonald
Year: 2011
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Documentary
Chispa De La Vida, La (As Luck Would Have It)
As Luck Would Have It is a black comedy about material success in our reality TV world. When the weak economy brings an end to his once promising career, a devoted husband and father struggles to keep his dire situation a secret from his adoring wife (Salma Hayek). When a freak accident places him at the center of a wild media storm, he hires a brazen agent to help him leverage his new found fame into fortune, but his wife begins to worry about what lengths he’ll go to for his family’s security.
Director: Alex De La Iglesia
Year: 2011
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama
Proie, La
A bank robber’s life turns upside-down after he entrusts sensitive information to a former cellmate who is more dangerous than he appears. In this high-octane, prison-break drama - where deception is the name of the game - it becomes increasingly unclear who is the hunter and who is the prey.
Director: Eric Valette
Year: 2011
Language: French
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Action
War Don Don
In the heart of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, United Nations soldiers guard a heavily fortified building known as the 'special court'. Inside, Issa Sesay awaits his trial. Prosecutors argue that Sesay is a war criminal, guilty of crimes against humanity. His defenders insist that he is a reluctant fighter who protected civilians and played a crucial role in forging the peace.
Director: Rebecca Richman Cohen
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Vie de chat, Une (A Cat in Paris)
Nominated for a Best Animated Feature Oscar®, A Cat in Paris is a delightful caper set in a shadowy, noir-tinged Paris. Nico is a cat burglar who flees across the rooftops with a rubbery grace. Zoe is a mute little girl whose mother works overtime on the police force. Dino is her pet cat who leads a double life. When Zoé follows Dino on one of his nocturnal jaunts, she falls into Nico's dangerous world where adventure and notorious gangsters await.
Director: Jean-Loup Felicioli, Alain Gagnol
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Adventure, Crime, Comedy, Family, Animation
I Am Love
Academy Award® winner Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) stars in this gorgeously composed Italian drama as Emma: dutiful wife, loving mother, and the heart of an affluent Milanese family. While shifting control and internal strife threaten the future of the family business, Emma experiences a sexual and emotional awakening when she falls for her son's friend and business partner, a gifted chef named Antonio, sparking a passionate affair that will change the lives of her family forever.
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Year: 2010
Language: Italian, English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Uninhabited
A young couple arrives on a deserted coral island for a romantic camping holiday, only to discover that the island has a ghost seeking revenge for a past outrage. Soon, their dream holiday becomes their worst nightmare.
Director: Bill Bennett
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Exit Through the Gift Shop
He transforms cityscapes around the world into brilliant works of street art. Some call him a genius--others, a criminal. Though his true identity remains a secret, graffiti artist Banksy has become one of pop culture's greatest icons. Exit Through the Gift Shop follows the attempts of an eccentric L.A. thrift shop owner to capture the ever-elusive Banksy at work--only to have the mischievous artist turn the camera back on him with hilarious results. Is it all real? Or could this be Banksy's greatest stunt yet?
Director: Banksy
Year: 2010
Language: English & French
Genre: Documentary
Balcon sur la Mer, Un
Happily married with a daughter, Marc is a successful real estate agent in Aix-en-Provence. One day, he has an appointment with a woman to view a traditional country house. A few hours later, Marc finally puts a name to her face. It's Cathy, the girl he was in love with growing up in Oran, Algeria, in the last days of the French colonial regime. Marc hurries to her hotel. They spend the night together. Then she's gone again. And Marc's mother tells him Cathy never left Algeria. She was killed with her father in a bombing just before independence...
Director: Nicole Garcia
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Romance, Mystery
Bruit des Glacons, le
Charles is a renowned author whose alcoholism drove his family away years back. Now he spends his days drowning his sorrow in copious amounts of wine. To make matters even worse, he receives a surprising visit from a man claiming to be his brain cancer! Annoying, talkative and wickedly sarcastic, the cancer lingers and taunts while Charles begins to reexamine his life. With time running out, Charles must find a way to remove the intruder before it's too late.
Director: Bertrand Blier
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Shrine, the
After a young American backpacker goes missing in Europe, a group of journalists link his disappearance to a remote village. They travel there hoping to investigate, but soon encounter a series of bizarre occurrences – an otherworldly cloud of fog, a haunting statue drenched in blood, and a chamber of decaying bodies. They were warned to get out, but now that they've discovered the town's deadly secret, the locals won't let them leave…
Director: Jon Knautz
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Re-Cut
When twin girls are found dead in their family's barn, reality star-turned-TV reporter Meredith Phillips and her camera crew are dispatched to rural Wisconsin to investigate the grisly deaths. As the reporters delve deeper into the mystery, they find themselves face-to-face with the small town's disturbing secret. Edited together from the crew's multiple cameras, the film documents their struggle to survive the most terrifying night of their lives, and becomes the only evidence of a crime too horrific to imagine.
Director: Fritz Manger
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Our Home
The selfish doctor Andre Luiz dies, and awakens in a kind of limbo called "Umbral". After a painful numb period in a gruesome swamp, he is rescued and brought to "Nosso Lard" (meaning "Our Home"), a spiritual city. He finds a place of harmony, where people live in peace, working for the good of humanity, for the self-evolution and awaiting for reincarnation. Sooner Andre Luiz changes his behavior becoming a more self-aware and altruist man.
Director: Wagner de Assis
Year: 2010
Language: Portuguese
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin' About Him)?
Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)? is brand-new portrait of the late Grammy Award Winning musician Harry Nilsson - who The Beatles once proclaimed as their favorite group. This gripping retrospective traces Nilsson's rise and his turbulent life as seen by many friends including Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Brian Wilson, Randy Newman, Richard Perry, Robin Williams and more.
Director: John Scheinfeld
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Loose Cannons
Tommaso (Riccardo Scamarcio, Eden Is West) has a comfortable life in Rome as an aspiring writer and a steady relationship with his boyfriend Marco-a life he has kept secret from his family. So when he's called back to his hometown of Lecce in Italy's deep south to help run the family pasta business, he decides to finally reveal his homosexuality to his conservative family and hopefully get out of his business obligations in the process. But when his plans are thwarted by his brother, Tommaso gets stuck on the path that he was desperately trying to avoid.
Director: Ferzan Ozpetek
Year: 2010
Language: Italian
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Tête en Friche, La (My Afternoons with Marguerite)
Academy Award®-nominee Gérard Depardieu stars in this heart-warming, feel-good story as Germain, a barely literate middle-aged man who faces constant ridicule from those around him. But his life takes a turn for the better when he meets Margueritte, an elderly woman with a passion for reading who introduces him to the beautiful world of French literature. With Margueritte’s warmth and guidance, Germain develops the maturity and confidence necessary to take control of his destiny, and live the life he’s always wanted.
Director: Jean Becker
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Inside Job
From Academy Award® nominated filmmaker, Charles Ferguson ("No End In Sight"), comes INSIDE JOB, the first film to expose the shocking truth behind the economic crisis of 2008. The global financial meltdown, at a cost of over $20 trillion, resulted in millions of people losing their homes and jobs. Through extensive research and interviews with major financial insiders, politicians and journalists, INSIDE JOB traces the rise of a rogue industry and unveils the corrosive relationships which have corrupted politics, regulation and academia. Narrated by Academy Award® winner Matt Damon, INSIDE JOB was made on location in the United States, Iceland, England, France, Singapore, and China.
Director: Charles Ferguson
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling Us?
This engaging and uplifting film tells the story of the catastrophic disappearance of bees and takes us inside the mysterious world of the beehive. From the heartfelt struggles of beekeepers, scientists and philosophers from around the world, Queen of the Sun reveals both the problems and solutions in renewing a culture in balance with nature. “One of the most beautiful nature films I’ve seen.” – Roger Ebert, CHICAGO TIMES
Director: Taggart Siegel
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Environment, Drama, Documentary
Precious Life
Born without an immune system, four-month-old Palestinian boy Mohammad Abu Mustaffa will die without a bone marrow transplant, a procedure that can only be done in an Israeli hospital. A desperate plea from his doctor to save Mohammad’s life leads Israeli journalist Shlomi Eldar to document this complex and emotional story. As Israeli and Palestinian doctors put aside their differences to protect the child, we are forced to confront the more personal ramifications of life in Gaza.
Director: Shlomi Eldar
Year: 2010
Language: Hebrew, English, Arabic
Genre: Documentary
L'Italien
With a successful career and wedding bells in his future, Dino “The Italian” Fabrizzi has the perfect life. Unfortunately, it’s all built on a lie. His real name is Mourad Ben Saoud. Neither his boss nor his girlfriend—and even less so his parents—are aware of his false identity. In 10 days Ramadan will begin, and Mourad has promised his sick father that he will observe the religious rite for him. Now, Dino is going to have to think fast if he wants to keep his complicated double life from crashing down around him.
Director: Olivier Baroux
Year: 2010
Language: Français
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Norwegian Wood
Published in 1987 and since translated into 33 languages, NORWEGIAN WOOD is a story of loss and heartbreak in a time of global instability. Haruki Murakami's bestselling novel is brought to the screen by Tran Anh Hung (Golden Lion winner for CYCLO and Academy Award nominee for THE SCENT OF GREEN PAPAYA) and features Japanese rising star Kenichi Matsuyama (DEATH NOTE, DETROIT METAL CITY) and Oscar nominee Rinko Kikuchi (BABEL) alongside newcomer Kiko Mizuhara.
Director: Anh Hung Tran
Year: 2010
Language: Japanese
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Romance
Dans ton Sommeil
One year after her son's tragic death, a vulnerable woman named Sarah accidentally hits a young man during a late night drive. Wounded and frightened, he frantically explains that he’s being hunted down by a homicidal maniac whom he caught ransacking a house. Sarah, reminded of her son, tries to protect the boy from his relentless attacker, triggering a heart-pounding cat-and-mouse chase with a shocking, life-altering twist…
Director: Caroline du Potet, Eric du Potet
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Woman, A Gun and a Noodle Shop, A
A WOMAN, A GUN AND A NOODLE SHOP is a remake of the 1985 directorial debut of Joel and Ethan Coen, BLOOD SIMPLE. Transposing the Coen Brother's celebrated mix of dark humor and riveting suspense to China, the film is helmed by Zhang Yimou (director of THE RED SORGHUM, TO LIVE, HERO, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS and other masterpieces), one of the most eminent directors of the "Fifth Generation". This black comedy thriller is an exposé of how intense desires can consume humanity, and the irony that life never submits to our calculation.
Director: Zhang Yimou
Year: 2010
Language: Mandarin
Genre: Comedy
180° South
180° South follows Jeff Johnson, a bold and daring modern explorer, on his quest to retrace the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to deep Patagonia. Along the way he gets shipwrecked off Easter Island, rides the longest wave of his life, and prepares himself for a rare ascent of Cerro Corcovado. As he travels, his eyes open up to the environmental disasters that threaten these places, as well as the human triumphs that are working to save them.
Director: Chris Malloy
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Sports, Drama, Documentary
Four-Faced Liar, The
4 Face-Liar tells the story of a group of New York 20-somethings. Bridget is a hip, womanizing lesbian who loves Emily Bronte, and who lives with her guy pal Trip. One night, they meet straight-laced New York newbies Greg and Molly at their favorite hangout, The Four-Faced Liar. Molly is a bit appalled by free spirited Bridget – but she’s also attracted to her, and in time, the friends’ lives are hilariously complicated when the two women fall in love.
Director: Jacob Chase
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
L'homme qui voulait vivre sa vie
It could be said that Paul Exben has the perfect life - great career, big house, glamorous wife and two young sons. But when he finds out that his wife has eyes for an old friend, Paul makes a fatal error and kisses that perfect life goodbye. Escaping alone to an isolated coast, Paul steals the life he thought he always wanted, but pays for it with everything he leaves behind.
Director: Eric Lartigau
Year: 2010
Language: French, English
Genre: Thriller, Drama
My Normal
Natalie’s a young lesbian from the Lower East Side trying to balance her quest to become a filmmaker with her lifestyle as a highly successful dominatrix. When she meets a hot new girlfriend and lands an internship on a real movie set, she’s surprised to find she isn’t happy. To make her dreams a reality, Natalie must use her unique talents to get what she really needs.
Director: Irving Schwartz
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Elena Undone
Fate brings two diversely different women together, and sets them on a collision course that will shatter their preconceived notions about love, life and the power of one's soul.
Director: Nicole Conn
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Nostra Vita, La (Our Life)
This award-winning drama (Best Actor, Cannes Film Festival) about life and love tells the story of a working-class man from the suburbs of Rome. In order to keep his job and support his growing family, he conceals a shocking secret. However, when tragedy turns his world upside-down, he must come face-to-face with his past, and look to the help of friends and family to triumph against the odds.
Director: Daniele Luchetti
Year: 2010
Language: Italian
Genre: Drama
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
Woody Allen's YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER follows a pair of married couples, Alfie (Anthony Hopkins) and Helena (Gemma Jones), and their daughter Sally (Naomi Watts) and husband Roy (Josh Brolin), as their passions, ambitions, and anxieties lead them into trouble and out of their minds. Despite these characters' attempts to dodge their problems with pipe dreams and impracticable plans, their efforts lead only to heartache, irrationality, and perilous hot water. Taking its title from the prediction fortune tellers use to beguile their marks, YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER, illustrates with wry humor how easy it is for our illusions to make fools of us all.
Director: Woody Allen
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Certified Copy
In this playful and provocative romantic drama, Juliette Binoche (Best Actress, Cannes Film Festival) plays a gallery owner living in a Tuscan village. After attending a lecture on authenticity and fakery in art, she invites the author on a tour of the picturesque Tuscan countryside. When he is mistaken for her husband, they keep up the pretense, increasingly behaving like a long-married couple. Are they play-acting on a whim or is there more to their relationship than meets the eye?
Director: Abbas Kiarostami
Year: 2010
Language: French, Italian
Genre: Drama, Romance
Caged
Carole, a young nurse with a humanitarian aid group in Eastern Europe, has reached the end of her mission. On her way back home, Carole and her two colleagues are kidnapped by strangers for unknown reasons. Held captive and kept alive in an oppressive and sinister setting, the three prisoners soon discover what horror their kidnappers truly have in store for them.
Director: Yann Gozlan
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Horror, Thriller
L'amour Fou
Yves Saint Laurent is heralded as one of the greatest fashion designers of the twentieth century. Together with his once-lover and longtime business partner, Pierre Bergé, the Yves Saint Laurent Couture House broke boundaries that shook the world of fashion, forever changing the way women dressed. With echoes of Lagerfeld Confidential, Valentino: The Last Emperor and The September Issue, L'Amour Fou is a grand tribute to an empire of decadence and beauty. This gorgeously lush biopic of one of the greatest names in fashion will stay with you, and linger in your mind. As Saint Laurent once said, "Fashions fade, style is eternal", and this gorgeously stylish film will not soon fade from memory.
Director: Pierre Thoretton
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Documentary
Smash His Camera
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis sued him, Marlon Brando broke his jaw and Steve McQueen shot him a look that would have killed (if looks could kill). Academy Award® winning director Leon Gast (When We Were Kings) tells the incredible story of notorious, reviled paparazzo Ron Galella, whose controversial tactics have led to some of the most iconic celebrity photographs ever, and opened a Pandora's Box of issues including right to privacy, freedom of the press and the ever-growing vortex of celebrity worship.
Director: Leon Gast
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Outrage (Kitano)
The plot concerns a struggle for power amongst Tokyo's Yakuza clans, today just as likely to be playing the stock market as shaking down pachinko parlors, over which the Sanmo-kai clan holds sway in the face of constant betrayal and ever-changing allegiances. Sanmo-kai chairman Ototomo (played by Kitano himself) learns that his henchman Ikemoto has struck an alliance with the drug-dealing Murase family, and is not best pleased, to say the least. The ensuing retaliation triggers an orgy of killings, territorial invasions and score settling while law enforcement officers, too corrupt to intervene.
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Year: 2010
Language: Japanese, English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Action
Winter in Wartime
Nazi-occupied Holland, 1945. In a snow-covered village, thirteen-year-old Michiel (Martijn Lakemeier) is drawn into the Resistance when he aids a wounded British paratrooper. Michiel‘s boyish sense of defiance and adventure soon turns to danger and desperation, as Michiel is forced to act without knowing whom to trust among the adults and townspeople around him. Wartime's harsh reality encroaches on childhood innocence as Michiel confronts good and evil, courage and duplicity, and his own burden of responsibility.
Director: Martin Koolhoven
Year: 2010
Language: Dutch/German
Genre: Drama
Howl
James Franco stars as counter-culture revolutionary Allen Ginsberg, who recounts the road trips, love affairs and search for personal liberation that led to the most electrifying work of his career: the poem Howl. Meanwhile, in a San Francisco courtroom, Howl is on trial as prosecutor Ralph McIntosh (David Strathairn), defense attorney Jake Ehrlich (Jon Hamm), and a host of witnesses (Jeff Daniels, Mary-Louise Parker, Treat Williams) debate the artistic merits of the controversial poem, and whether or not it should be banned from publication.
Director: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Biography
Old Cats
Isadora (Bélgica Castro) and Enrique (Alejandro Sievking) live a comfortable life. They have a modest yet elegant apartment in Santiago’s old downtown district - complete with a lovely terrace and mountain views. Well into their 80’s, they both maintain their independence and live happily with their books, their eclectic art and most of all with their beloved two ample cats. That is until, one day, the building’s elevator breaks and unable to descend the ten flights down - Isadora is left a prisoner in her own home. At the same inconvenient time, Isadora’s passionate “wild child” daughter Rosario (Claudia Celedón) and her butch female lover, Hugo, (Catalina Saavedra) come for a visit with a new 'scheme' of how to make them all rich. The one glitch is that the elderly couple must sign over the lease to their apartment. Using many of the same actors as THE MAID, Sebastián Silva and co-director Pedro Peirano have made a touching film of black humor and pathos.
Director: Pedro Peirano, Sebastián Silva
Year: 2010
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama
Blanc Comme Neige
Maxime's got it made—a gorgeous wife, a magnificent house and a successful luxury car dealership. But his charmed life takes a gruesome turn when his business partner is murdered by a group of cold-blooded mobsters, who threaten Maxime with the worst if he doesn't pay off his partner's enormous debt. With no one else to turn to, he contacts his scheming brothers for help, but their plan unravels into a bloody mess, leaving Maxime and his family with their backs against the wall.
Director: Christophe Blanc
Year: 2010
Language: French, English, Finnish, German
Genre: Thriller
Mother
A peaceful community is rocked by the horrific discovery of a murdered schoolgirl dangling over the ledge of a building. Local detectives, anxious to finger someone for the crime, unjustly convict a mentally challenged man. But in the mind of his fiercely protective mother, this case is far from closed. Fed up with incompetent officials, she conducts her own investigation into the killer's true identity. To clear her son's name, she's willing to do whatever it takes. Critically-acclaimed director Bong Joon-ho (The Host) delivers a chilling look at the depths of maternal devotion in this beautifully crafted murder mystery that draws you in and keeps you guessing at every turn.
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Year: 2010
Language: Korean
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Mystery
Bedways
A huge, run-down apartment in Berlin Mitte. Two women and a man, rehearsals for a movie about love and sex, that will never be shot. Acting and reality mingle into a dangerous melange. Berlin is the shelter, love is impossible, flesh is the law.
Director: Rolf Peter Kahl
Year: 2010
Language: German
Genre: Drama, Romance
Somewhat Gentle Man, A
Ulrik is a somewhat gentle man: he has no special wishes and makes no demands. If he's given some food and a place to sleep, he will give people what they want in return, whether it be a little affection... or murder. Ulrik has killed some people and landed in jail - it's all part of the job when you're a gangster. Now Ulrik is out again, and his boss Jensen is waiting on the outside. Stubborn and proud, Jensen demands that Ulrik kill the snitch that ratted him out.
Director: Hans Petter Moland
Year: 2010
Language: Norwegian
Genre: Drama, Crime, Comedy
Teenage Paparazzo
When precocious 13-year-old paparazzo Austin Visschedyk snapped a photo of celebrity Adrian Grenier (HBO's Entourage), little did he know his life was about to change. Turning the tables on the juvenile paparazzo, Grenier stepped on the other side of the lens in an attempt to mentor a teenager obsessed with the lure of the Hollywood lifestyle. Grenier develops a meaningful relationship with his camera-clicking young friend as he attempts to reconcile their mutual exploitation. Indeed, Grenier puts himself on the line here, trying to make sense of his own recently acquired fame.
Director: Adrian Grenier
Year: 2010
Language: English & French
Genre: Documentary
Of Gods And Men
Eight French Christian monks live in harmony with their Muslim brothers in the mountains of North Africa in the 1990s. When a crew of foreign workers is massacred by an Islamic fundamentalist group, fear sweeps through the region. The army offers them protection, but the monks refuse. Should they leave? Despite the growing menace in their midst, they slowly realize that they have no choice but to stay…come what may. This stunning tale of faith and heroism is based on a remarkable true story.
Director: Xavier Beauvois
Year: 2010
Language: French, Arabic
Genre: History, Drama
Petals
Petals is an intimate journey into a traditionally risqué and taboo subject: the vagina. Visual artist Nick Karras has set out to challenge society's pre-conceived notions about the vagina with a provocative series of photographs displaying its remarkable beauty and diversity. Exploring reactions to the project from sexperts to people on the street, Petals sparks a funny and engaging dialogue that will make you think outside the box.
Director: Beck Peacock
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Prankster, The
Chris Karas is the brilliant leader of The Pranksters, a secret society that rights the wrongs of high school by pulling sophisticated pranks on deserving oppressors. But with graduation looming ahead, Chris longs for more from life. Guided by the homespun wisdom of his charmingly eccentric Uncle Nick, Chris embarks on a challenging path of self-discovery and romance. Hilarious, heartfelt, and magical, The Prankster is an exciting new high school comedy, destined to be the next teen classic.
Director: Tony Vidal
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Black Heaven
Gaspard and Marion are madly in love and enjoying summer in the south of France… until the two teenagers stumble upon a lost cell phone. At first they playfully decide to track down the owner…But the game takes on a much somber path when they find him dead, in a mysterious suicide ceremony. Next to him, lies a half unconscious girl, Audrey. With her enigmatic tattoo and her gothic looks, she soon lures Gaspard into Black Heaven, a dangerously addictive video game.
Director: Gilles Marchand
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Good Food, Bad Food
We've been warned about the impending disasters facing our food supply - GOOD FOOD, BAD FOOD shows us that solutions to "McFood" do exist. Farmers, philosophers and economists have their say in this revealing documentary about the environment and the consequences of big agribusiness. Filmmaker Coline Serreau delivers a refreshing and optimistic message on the state of cultivation by exploring organic and local alternatives to the global food production industry.
Director: Coline Serreau
Year: 2010
Language: French, English
Genre: Documentary
Meute, La
While driving through a northern rural wasteland, Charlotte picks up Max, a hitchhiker. They stop in a truck-stop restaurant run by a woman named Spack. When Max disappears in the bar, Charlotte decides to investigate and things take a turn for the worse. Charlotte finds herself in Spack's gruesome human farm, with other prisoners, semi-alive or dead, reared for their blood to feed Spack's "kids"- a pack of blood thirsty ghouls, who come out of the earth each night to be fed fresh human blood.
Director: Franck Richard
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Happy Happy
Kaja is an optimistic and easygoing housewife—despite her loneliness and the fact that her husband won’t have sex with her. So when the “perfect couple” moves in next door, Kaja struggles to keep her emotions in check, leading to a full-on affair and the inevitable secrets and lies that come with it.
Director: Anne Sewitsky
Year: 2010
Language: Norwegian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Pièce Montée (The Wedding Cake)
Based on Blandine Le Callet's acclaimed novel, The Wedding Cake follows a dashing bride and groom down the aisle and through their over-the-top wedding reception. Family, in-laws and grumpy old priests prove to be more than the newlyweds can handle, resulting in a chain of events that threatens to bring the matrimony to a halt.
Director: Denys Granier-Deferre
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Curling
Curling is a lyrical look at the unusual private life of a father and his daughter. Between his unremarkable jobs, Jean-François devotes most of his time to his 12-year-old daughter, Julyvonne, whom he obsessively protects from the outside world. Their simple existence in the remote countryside revolves around each other until a series of disturbing occurrences and secrets threatens to destroy the fragility of their relationship.
Director: Denis Côté
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Love Shack
A dysfunctional "family" of adult film stars reunites for a memorial porn shoot following the death of legendary producer, Mo Saltzman. Along the way, the film's hapless director must contend with dueling Divas, bickering couples, emotionally-scarred tag-team brothers, and a dominatrix with low self-esteem. Given its all-star cast and lofty pedigree, the film should be the greatest porno of all time. In the tradition of Waiting for Guffman and Spinal Tap, LOVE SHACK is a mockumentary that does for the adult film industry what Best in Show did for dog shows. Hilariously inappropriate!
Director: Gregg Sacon, Michael B. Silver
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Modra
17-year-old Lina plans to visit her extended family in Modra, a small town in Slovakia, for a week during the summer holidays. After being dumped by her boyfriend, she spontaneously invites a cute boy from school named Leco to join her instead. Not long after their arrival, however, Lina and Leco discover that they have little in common. To make matters worse, Lina's family mistakenly assumes that romance is afoot.
Director: Ingrid Veninger
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
8: The Mormon Proposition
A searing indictment of the Mormon Church's secretive, decades-long campaign against gay rights, and particularly of their involvement in the passage of California's Proposition 8, which denied gays the right to marry.
Director: Reed Cowan, Steven Greenstreet
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Mao's Last Dancer
Two-time Academy Award®-nominated director Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy) celebrates the inspirational true story of ballet dancer Li Cunxin in this stunning adaptation of Li’s best-selling autobiography. When granted the opportunity of a lifetime to train with the renowned Houston Ballet, eighteen-year-old Li leaves behind a life of poverty and oppression in Communist China to embark on a transformative journey to the West, where he soars to stardom—and meets the love of his life. But he soon learns that his quest for freedom must come at a price.
Director: Bruce Beresford
Year: 2010
Language: English, Mandarin
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Drama, Romance, Biography
Dumbstruck
The “dummies” may be small, but the hearts are huge in this hilarious and touching portrait of five ventriloquists who dream of taking their passion for entertaining to the masses. Share a rollercoaster of emotions with a quirky and unique cast of characters: Kim, a former beauty queen; Dylan, an introverted 13-year-old; Wilma, a 6-foot-5 former security guard; Dan, a successful cruise ship performer; and Terry, who emerges from obscurity to win “America's Got Talent” and sign a multi-million dollar Vegas deal.
Director: Mark Goffman
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Crime d'Amour (Love Crime)
Within the sterile offices of a powerful multinational corporation, two women come to a face-off. Isabelle is a young executive under the orders of Christine, apowerful woman she absolutely idolizes. Confident of her control over Isabelle, Christine leads her into a confusing, perverse game of seduction and domination. A dangerous game that goes too far - to the point of no return.
Director: Alain Corneau
Year: 2010
Language: French, English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Mystery
Freakonomics
In 2005, economist Steven Levitt teamed up with journalist Stephen Dubner to bring us the best-selling phenomenon “Freakonomics”, a revelatory investigation into the hidden side of everything that introduced us to a new way of understanding our world. Now, six rogue filmmakers behind some of the most acclaimed documentaries in recent years have brought Levitt and Dubner’s groundbreaking vision to life, compiling a series of fascinating, visually arresting and often hilarious case studies that prove the key to unlocking the mysteries of everyday life lies in one very important question: what’s the incentive?
Director: Heidi Ewing, Alex Gibney, Morgan Spurlock, Seth Gordon, Rachel Grady, Eugene Jarecki
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
American Grindhouse/Nightmares in Red, White & Blue
Two disc double feature box set includes Nightmares in Red, White & Blue, the hit horror documentary about the evolution of the American Horror Film and American Grindhouse, the SXSW hit documentary that explores the history of the American exploitation film. Two great movies... One low price!
Director: Elijah Drenner
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Brownian Movement
Charlotte and Max live with their young son in Brussels. When Max finds out Charlotte has been taking some of her male patients to a rented apartment, their relationship is put to the test. Charlotte agrees to go to therapy and is forced to stop working as a doctor. When they move to India because of his work, both seem happy again, at least initially. For it appears that their past has not been completely laid to rest.
Director: Nanouk Leopold
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Immaculate (Sans Laisser de Traces)
Etienne seems to have everything; he's got a beautiful wife, financial success, and is about to become the CEO of a major corporation specializing in household cleaning products. However, during a chance reunion with a long-lost friend, Etienne reveals a shocking secret: his success is based on a cleaning formula he stole years back. When he attempts to make amends with the man he wronged, he gets caught in a dangerous web of murder, blackmail and infidelity.
Director: Grégoire Vigneron
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Taqwacores, The
Yusef, a first-generation Pakistani engineering student, moves off-campus with a group of Muslim punks in Buffalo, New York. His new "un-orthodox" house mates soon introduce him to Taqwacore- a hardcore, Muslim punk rock scene that only exists out west. As the seasons change, Taqwacore influences the house more and more. The living room becomes a mosque during the day, while it continues to host punk parties at night. Ultimately, Yusef is influenced by Taqwacore too, as he begins to challenge his own faith and ideologies. The Taqwacores deals with the complexities of being young and Muslim in modern-day America.
Director: Eyad Zahra
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Happiness Runs
Happiness Runs, the sophomore feature from director Adam Sherman, confronts head on a hangover of free love and rampant drug use lingering well past the hippie 60s. Loosely based on experiences from Sherman's own youth, the film is a stylishly conceived consideration of the boundaries of hedonism and the dangers of a world where personal pleasure is the first consideration.
Director: Adam Sherman
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Angèle et Tony
Angèle, a beautiful young woman with a past, arrives in a small fishing harbor in Normandy. She meets Tony, a professional fisherman, who finds himself attracted to her although he dislikes her blunt ways. Tony hires her as a fishmonger, lodges her and teaches her the tricks of the trade. The relationships between Myriam, Tony's mother, and Angèle are far from easy but the young woman gradually adapts to her new environment and little by little Tony and Angèle manage to tame each other.
Director: Alix Delaporte
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Life, Above All
LIFE, ABOVE ALL is a emotional and universal drama about a young girl (stunningly performed by first-time-actress Khomotso Manyaka) who fights the fear and shame that have poisoned her community. The film captures the enduring strength of loyalty and a courage powered by the heart. Directed by South African filmmaker Oliver Schmitz (MAPANTSULA, PARIS JE T'AIME), it is based on the international award winning novel "CHANDA'S SECRETS" by Allan Stratton.
Director: Oliver Schmitz
Year: 2010
Language: Pedi
Genre: Drama
Dry Land, The
James arrives home to West Texas from Iraq. He doesn't remember much about the war, and it's soon clear he has post traumatic stress. He takes a job at an abattoir. After an alcohol-fueled fights with co-workers and his wife, he seeks help at the VA. He returns to find she's leaving him until he can regain control. He leaves his dog with his ailing mother and drives northeast to visit an Army buddy and find out what it is he can't remember. His friend won't say much, so James drives on to Walter Reed Hospital where another friend convalesces.
Director: Ryan Piers Williams
Year: 2010
Language: English, Spanish
Genre: Drama
Kiss Me Again
Carlo and his friends, now in their forties, long for the care-free days of bachelor pads and casual affairs. Now, there are children to get to school, bills to pay and routines to follow. They must find the passion and excitement that drove their relationships and careers or will be left wondering: what happens next?
Director: Gabriele Muccino
Year: 2010
Language: Italian
Genre: Drama, Romance
The Constance Talmadge Double Feature: Her Night of Romance/Her Sister from Paris
In HER NIGHT OF ROMANCE, an heiress traveling in England disguises herself to discourage fortune-hunters. She falls in love with a handsome nobleman (Ronald Colman) who is secretly impoverished. When they spend a night alone at his former estate, they are forced to pretend that they are married, a situation that threatens to unravel their storybook romance just as it is getting started. HER SISTER FROM PARIS allowed Talmadge to demonstrate her comic range in dual roles: a frumpy-but-faithful housewife and her sophisticated twin sister. When a hausfrau’s husband (Colman) begins to lose interest in his wife, the arrival of her twin, a dancer and “woman of the world,” provides just the right impetus to reinvigorate their relationship. Talmadge was truly an icon of the silent screen. At the end of the era, she chose (without regret) to retire from motion pictures and enjoy her personal life, without ever having made a “talkie.”
Director: Sidney Franklin
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Gardiens de l’Ordre, Les
While responding to a disturbance call, a police officer is murdered by a suspect high on a strange glowing drug. In defense, the officer’s long-time partner, Julie, has no choice but to shoot back. When the suspect—a prominent politician’s son—recovers, Julie and new partner Simon are wrongly accused of using excessive force. Without the support of their superiors, Julie and Simon must infiltrate a drug-fueled underworld to find the dealer behind the new and highly dangerous drug, known on the streets as Sphinx.
Director: Nicolas Boukhrief
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Sound of Mumbai, The
A group of children from the slums of Mumbai, India, are given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform The Sound of Music with a classical orchestra. As they prepare for their magical moment in the spotlight, they hold immense hope that it could change their lives for the better. Director Sarah McCarthy crafts a heartwarming and uplifting story that celebrates not only the power of dreams, but a uniquely charming rendition of the Rodgers & Hammerstein favourite that's sure to change your association with it forever.
Director: Sarah McCarthy
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
In A Better World
The latest film from Academy Award nominated director Susanne Bier (AFTER THE WEDDING, BROTHERS), IN A BETTER WORLD revolves around the lives of two Danish families who cross each other, and an extraordinary, but risky friendship comes into bud. But loneliness, frailty and sorrow lie in wait. Soon, friendship transforms into a dangerous alliance and a breathtaking pursuit in which life is at stake.
Director: Susanne Bier
Year: 2010
Language: Dutch
Genre: Drama
Flamenco, Flamenco
Another generation. Another flamenco. And Carlos Saura is always taking it a little step further. Sixteen years after his groundbreaking film FLAMENCO Saura thinks "there is a really mighty new flamenco; a flamenco of young talents," and introduces these newcomers, accompanied by some of the great living maestros such as Manolo Sanlucar, Paco de Lucia, Tomatito and José Mercé. Trying to recapture the lighting and atmosphere of flamenco, gigantic reproductions of works by Spanish painters like Goya form the background, FLAMENCO, FLAMENCO is the greatest exponent of producing musical cinema through film, art, music, dancing and incredibly beautiful singing.
Director: Carlos Saura
Year: 2010
Language: Spanish
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Documentary
Film Socialisme
In Godard's latest masterpiece, politics are discussed aboard a luxury liner, where none of the passengers can understand each other; two children challenge their parents in a family tribunal as the media looks on; and the past and future of Europe are debated around the globe. A breathtaking meditation on the decline of modern culture, Film Socialism is "a must-see work by one of the greatest artists of our time." (Toronto International Film Festival).
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Year: 2010
Language: Français
Genre: Drama
American Grindhouse
Dive into the sordid history of American exploitation films in this documentary narrated by Academy Award-nominee Robert Forster, and featuring interviews with John Landis, William Lustig, Larry Cohen, Jack Hill, and Herschell Gordon Lewis. This is the story of the movies that kept audiences coming back to the cinema for more, and the filmmakers who helped turn bad taste into fine art.
Director: Elijah Drenner
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
When We Leave
Umay flees an abusive marriage in Istanbul and joins her family in Berlin. But her parents are unsympathetic - social stigma causes them to side with their conservative neighbors and cast out their daughter for refusing to go back to her husband. When they try to send her son back to Turkey without her, Umay is forced to move to a women's shelter. She struggles to build a new life and retain contact with her family, but can't escape the consequences of her actions.
Director: Feo Aladag
Year: 2010
Language: German
Genre: Drama
The Norma Talmadge Double Feature: Kiki/Within the Law
From World War I until the Great Depression, the most famous sisters in the entertainment world were the Brooklyn-raised Talmadges: Norma, Natalie and Constance. Norma, the eldest, was a dramatic actress of great talent and restraint, and revered by a public that could identify with the brave, tragic heroine through a myriad of melodramas and tragedies. Appearing in vehicles with exceedingly high production values and helmed by some of Hollywood’s finest directors, Norma developed into one of the screen’s greatest actresses, and by 1920 had eclipsed Mary Pickford as the top worldwide female box-office attraction. KIKI showcases Norma in a rare comedic performance. A high-spirited Parisian gamine is determined to become a chorus girl and win the heart of the Follies manager — even if it means performing some rather unladylike stunts. WITHIN THE LAW follows a shopgirl who is unjustly accused of stealing, and then sent to jail.
Director: Clarence Brown, Frank Lloyd
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Senna
Senna's remarkable story, charting his physical and spiritual achievements on the track and off, his quest for perfection, and the mythical status he has since attained, is the subject of SENNA, a documentary feature that spans the racing legend's years as an F1 driver, from his opening season in 1984 to his untimely death a decade later. Far more than a film for F1 fans, SENNA unfolds a remarkable story in a remarkable manner, eschewing many standard documentary techniques in favour of a more cinematic approach that makes full use of astounding footage, much of which is drawn from F1 archives and is previously unseen.
Director: Asif Kapadia
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Sports, Documentary, Biography
Day I Was Not Born, The
Whilst changing flights in Buenos Aires on her way to Chile, and without knowing a word of Spanish, a young German woman feels connected with Argentina when she hears a children’s song and decides to stay in the country to get to know it, and herself, better. Her father returns to Buenos Aires to join her and confesses that she was born in Argentina , a daughter of one of the “Disappeared”, during the years of military dictatorship. The father has to fight not to lose his daughter because of the lie.
Director: Florian Micoud Cossen
Year: 2010
Language: German, Spanish
Genre: Drama
600 Kilos dor Pur
When a group of daring adventurers executes a plan to rob a gold mine in the heart of the Amazon, their getaway chopper is brought down in a hail of gunfire by heavily armed forces. Now the thieves must haul their loot—600 kilos of gold—to freedom by foot. But first they'll need to survive the jungle, the enormous bounty on their heads and, most importantly, each other.
Director: Éric Besnard
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Adventure
Illusionist, the
THE ILLUSIONIST is a story about two paths that cross. An outdated, aging magician, forced to wander from country to country, city to city and station to station in search of a stage to perform his act meets a young girl at the start of her life's journey. Alice is a teenage girl with all her capacity for childish wonder still intact. She plays at being a woman without realizing the day to stop pretending is fast approaching. She doesn't know yet that she loves The Illusionist like she would a father; he already knows that he loves her as he would a daughter. Their destinies will collide, but nothing - not even magic or the power of illusion- can stop the voyage of discovery.
Director: Sylvain Chomet
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Animation
Legacy: Black Ops
Idris Elba portrays Malcolm Gray, a decorated anti-terrorist black-ops soldier. When a military effort to assassinate a chemical weapons dealer ends in Gray's capture and torture, he later finds himself back in his Brooklyn apartment struggling to overcome the effects of severe paranoia and anxiety. While isolated, he reflects on the inconsistencies of the assignment gone wrong and begins to question the loyalty of his own brother, a senator on the verge of a presidential campaign.
Director: Thomas Ikimi
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Henry IV (Henry of Navarre)
This sweeping historical epic recounts the incredible story of 16th century Protestant leader Henry of Navarre. During his ascent to the French throne, Henry was consumed by brutal warfare, torrid lust and deadly political intrigue—including a sinister plot by his Catholic rival, Catherine de Medici, that led to the slaughter of 30,000 innocent Protestants.
Director: Jo Baier
Year: 2010
Language: German
Genre: War, Drama, Biography
Brilliant Moon
Glimpses of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche chronicles the life of the writer, poet, and meditation master Khyentse Rinpoche, one of Tibet's most revered 20th-century Buddhist teachers. Known as the instructor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Royal Family of Bhutan, his life and teachings were an inspiration to all who encountered him. Two of his admirers are Richard Gere and Lou Reed, who provide the narration for his dangerous journey out of China and the subsequent spread of his influence around the world. Brilliant Moon was filmed in Tibet, India, Bhutan, the United States and Nepal, and uses animation, rare archival footage and interviews with some of Tibet's great thinkers, to tell his moving life story, from birth to death to rebirth. Written and Directed by Neten Chokling (Milarepa), one of Khyentse Rinpoche s students, it is an intimate, moving and revelatory look at a transcendent spiritual being.
Director: Neten Chokling
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Cameraman
This passionate documentary about the legendary cinematographer Jack Cardiff reveals a unique figure in British and international cinema. Jack Cardiff’s career spanned an incredible nine of moving picture’s first ten decades and his work behind the camera altered the look of films forever through his use of Technicolor photography. Jack Cardiff provided the canvas for classics like The Red Shoes and The African Queen. He won his first Oscar for his stunning Technicolor cinematography on Black Narcissus. Amongst many fascinating revelations and anecdotes in the film, Jack relates what it was like to work with Hollywood’s greatest icons, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, Kirk Douglas and Sophia Loren.
Director: Craig McCall
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Life with Murder
20-year-old Mason Jenkins was convicted of brutally murdering his 18-year-old sister with multiple rifle shots to the head and chest. Overwhelming forensic evidence delivered an airtight case against him, yet Mason maintained his innocence, forcing his grief-stricken parents into a difficult decision: break with their son or stand by him unconditionally. Compiled from astonishing footage shot over a 10-year period, Life With Murder follows the evolving relationship of a family struggling to survive in the wake of tragedy.
Director: John Kastner
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Crime, Documentary
Bedevilled
On a remote island, a young woman is forced to live like a slave. When a desperate escape attempt results in tragedy, she finally snaps—and takes bloody revenge. One of the most shocking and acclaimed tales of vengeance since Old Boy, Bedevilled is "a must-see." (Beyond Hollywood)
Director: Jang Cheol-soo
Year: 2010
Language: Korean
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
Oliver Sherman
Feeling lost and disconnected, with no family of his own, veteran Sherman Oliver sets out to the countryside in search of the soldier who saved him back in the war. That man, Franklin Page, has long since moved on - to a wife, two children, and a reliable job in a quiet, rural town. Upon arriving, Sherman seems at first a harmless, if awkward, shell of a man. But as he inserts himself further into the Pages' lives, he reveals himself to be an angry, unstable individual prone to great jealousy and deep resentment. The stability Franklin worked so hard to establish is soon threatened, and the violence he believed he'd left behind in the war begins to re-emerge and cloud over both the household and the town itself.
Director: Ryan Redford
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: War, Thriller, Drama
Thieves by Law
They've appeared as menacing villains in some of Hollywood’s greatest crime thrillers. Now, meet the real godfathers of the Russian Mafia. Thieves by Law reveals shocking tales of murder, torture and extortion from three mobsters-turned-businessmen so cold-blooded they would have Tony Soprano begging for mercy. Covering everything from their strict codes of honour to the meaning behind those tattoos made so famous by Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises, these kingpins expose every last dark detail of the most feared crime syndicate in the world.
Director: Alexander Gentelev
Year: 2010
Language: Russian/Hebrew
Genre: Documentary, Biography
Lost Journey
Arriving in Toronto from Iran, 19-year-old Pedram Abasi embarks on a journey shared by millions of people every year, adapting to a new language and culture. His aunt and uncle take him in and are delighted by his progress, until he meets Nima and Chrissy, who introduce him to a world of all night raves, promiscuous sex, and taking Ecstasy till sunrise. Before long, his family begins to regret letting him live with them. With his education in peril and his life on a downward spiral, Pedram have to get his life back on track before all hope is lost.
Director: Ant Horasanli
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Jo pour Jonathan
In a world where ambition amounts to little more than a few material possessions, Thomas has everything that his younger brother Jo wants: a job, a car, and a hot girlfriend. When Jo fails his driving test he lies to his friends and steals his brother's car, but his increasing delinquency ultimately forces the brothers into a dangerous situation that takes both their lives on a turn.
Director: Maxime Giroux
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Canadian, Drama
White Irish Drinkers
Scarred by years of savage abuse from their father, Danny and Brian dream of escaping working-class Brooklyn. They turn to petty crime, but Brian secretly fosters hopes of going to art school instead. A unique opportunity gives him the chance to finally realize his dreams, but Danny's reckless crimes threaten to ruin everything and tear the brothers apart.
Director: John Gray
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Émotifs Anonymes, Les
Angélique and Jean-René are "emotionally-challenged" and terminally single. While looking for a sales manager for his small chocolate factory, Jean-René hires Angélique, a master chocolatier operating secretly to avoid attention. When their shared passion for chocolate boils into a passion for each other, they must overcome their fears to realize their professional dreams and sample the bittersweet tastes of love.
Director: Jean-Pierre Améris
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Boycrazy
This collection of popular gay short films includes two award-winning short musicals: FAIRIES directed by Tom Gustafsen, which was the basis for the hit movie WERE THE WORLD MINE, and the colorful and romantic BOYCRAZY plus four other acclaimed shorts: TEDDY, a wistful story of a man trying to win back his ex lover; THE BACK ROOM, the surprising story of unexpected romance between two art lovers; FREQUENT TRAVELER, about a man with a crush on an airport guard; and DISH, a look at a kids bragging via text message.
Director: Various
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Way, The
From director Emilio Estevez and starring Martin Sheen comes a modern-day odyssey – the soulful journey of a man rocked by personal crisis who sets off on an epic mountain trek, thinking he is utterly lost, only to keep bumping into surprise moments of community, companionship and inspiration that begin to steer his way. This spirited road-movie-on-foot crosses territory that is alternately comic, adventurous and keenly moving, even as it becomes an unforeseen gift from a son to his father.
Director: Emilio Estevez
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Comedy
Village des Ombres, Le
On a weekend road trip, half of Emma's friends go missing – leaving her to wander a deserted village in search of them. But as she begins to uncover the town's sordid past, she experiences horrifying visions and finds a series of drawings that illustrates the disappearance of her friends. Even worse, Emma's discovery may foretell her own gruesome fate.
Director: Fouad Benhammou
Year: 2010
Language: French, German, Spanish
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Score: A Hockey Musical
17-year-old Farley has the stick-handling skills to be the next Sidney Crosby—not that Farley has any idea who that is. His sheltered life consists of being homeschooled by his pacifist parents, hanging out with Eve, the beautiful girl next door, and playing shinny with the local rink rats. However, his idyllic world is turned upside down when he becomes an overnight success in a major hockey league, throwing him into a whirlwind of media hype and endorsement deals. Farley soon learns that there’s an ugly side to hockey fame, which not only threatens to compromise his values, but his relationship with Eve.
Director: Michael McGowan
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Sports, Comedy, Musical
Get Low
For years, townsfolk have been terrified of the backwoods recluse known as Felix Bush (Duvall). People say he's done all manner of unspeakable things - that he's killed in cold blood; that he's in league with the Devil; that he has strange powers - and they avoid him like the plague. Then, one day, Felix rides to town with a shotgun and a wad of cash, saying he wants to buy a funeral. It's not your usual funeral for the dead Felix wants. On the contrary, he wants a "living funeral," in which anyone who ever had heard a story about him will come to tell it, while he takes it all in. Sensing a big payday in the offing, fast-talking funeral home owner Frank Quinn (Murray) enlists his gentlemanly young apprentice, Buddy Robinson (Black), to win over Felix's business. Buddy is no stranger to Felix's dark reputation, but what he discovers is that behind Felix's surreal plan lies a very real and long-held secret that must get out.
Director: Aaron Schneider
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Gasland
After receiving an offer of $100,000 for the natural gas drilling rights to his property, filmmaker Josh Fox travels across the country to investigate the potential hazards. What he discovers is shocking: contaminated groundwater that bubbles and hisses, residents suffering from chronic illnesses, and—perhaps most disturbingly—flammable tap water. They’re all consequences of a rapidly expanding drilling campaign that’s guaranteeing unsuspecting landowners a quick and easy payoff, but leaving behind a burning trail of secrets, lies and catastrophic environmental damage. Welcome to Gasland.
Director: Josh Fox
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Transfer
A wealthy couple decides to pay for a new procedure that allows their minds to be transferred to younger, purchased bodies. But there's a catch: the host bodies wake up as themselves for four hours each night and have ideas and desires of their own.
Director: Damir Lukacevic
Year: 2010
Language: German, French, English
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Last Circus, The (Balada Triste)
Álex de la Iglesia's genius for dark humour is at its most eloquent in his latest parody about the Spanish Civil War. Two clowns attack and disfigure one another in jealous rages over a beautiful dancer. In the name of love, they destroy the very object of their affection.
Director: Álex de la Iglesia
Year: 2010
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Nightmares in Red, White and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film
Horror and sci-fi veteran Lance Henriksen (Alien, Near Dark) takes you through a fascinating look at the history of the American horror film, examining the earliest monster movies of the silent era up to the scariest modern-day masterpieces. Highlights include interviews with genre masters Roger Corman, John Carpenter and George A. Romero, plus clips from classic films like The Exorcist, Night of the Living Dead, Friday the 13th, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Hostel, Rosemary's Baby and many more!
Director: Andrew Monument
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Tree, The
After the sudden loss of her father, 8-year-old Simone shares a secret with her mother Dawn: her father whispers to her through the leaves of the magnificient tree by their house. Simone is convinced that he's come back to protect her family. Soon, Simone's three brothers and Dawn also take comfort in the reassuring tree. But the new bond between mother and daughter is threatened when Dawn starts dating George. Simone moves into the treehouse and refuses to come down. With branches infiltrating the house and roots destroying the foundations, the tree seems to be siding with Simone. Dawn refuses to let the tree take control of her family...
Director: Julie Bertuccelli
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Rabies
A brother and sister who run away from home find sanctuary in a deserted nature reserve. When the sister falls into the trap of a psychopathic killer, the brother sets out on a race against time to find help. In a twist of fate the rescue of the sister becomes inadvertently intertwined with the lives of a group of young tennis players, a ranger and his dog, as well as a team of policemen.
Director: Aharon Keshales, Navot Papushado
Year: 2010
Language: Hebrew
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
De Vrais Mensonges
Emilie (Audrey Tautou) puts her heart into running her busy hair salon in the sunny south of France. When she receives anonymous love letters, she decides to forward them to her heart-broken mother in the hopes of spicing up her love life. This leads to messy entanglements and a slew of misunderstandings when the secret admirer is revealed.
Director: Pierre Salvadori
Year: 2010
Language: French, English
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Another Year
A married couple who have managed to remain blissfully happy into their autumn years, are surrounded over the course of the four seasons of one average year by friends, colleagues, and family who all seem to suffer some degree of unhappiness.
Director: Mike Leigh
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Jane's Journey
Poignant and endlessly charming, Jane's Journey is a loving portrait of one of the most fascinating women of our time, Dr. Jane Goodall. Renowned for her groundbreaking work with chimpanzees, Dr. Goodall, now 75, has devoted the past two decades of her life to saving our endangered planet. Join her as she spreads her stirring message of hope across the globe, encounters cherished but threatened natural treasures, and reflects on the personal challenges of maintaining a family while being married to her work.
Director: Lorenz Knauer
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Documentary, Biography
Jules Verne's Mysterious Island
In this adaptation of Jules Verne's classic adventure novel, a group of Civil War POWs and two young women from the 21st century find themselves lost in space and time, marooned on a mysterious desert island. Faced with defending themselves against vicious pirates, terrifying creatures, and an active volcano that's ready to blow, they must find a way to survive and escape the island...before it claims them forever.
Director: Mark Sheppard
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Horror, Thriller, Sci-Fi
Rio Sex Comedy
Join the hilarious misadventures of a group of expats gone wild in this “delirious comedic romp”* through the beaches and favelas of Rio de Janeiro. A fugitive American ambassador (Bill Pullman), a British plastic surgeon (Charlotte Rampling) and a French anthropologist filmmaker (Irène Jacob) each get caught up in the excitement and chaos of the city’s exotic charms, leading to erotic encounters, off-the-wall hijinks and more than a few surprising twists along the way.
Director: Jonathan Nossiter
Year: 2010
Language: English, French
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Blood, Sweat and Fear!
Director: Tomas Alfredson, Piraphan Laoyont, Nacho Vigalondo
Year: 2010
Language: Various
Genre: Thriller
Tamara Drewe
Based on Posy Simmonds' beloved graphic novel of the same name (which was itself inspired by Thomas Hardy's classic Far From the Madding Crowd) this wittily modern take on the romantic English pastorale is a far cry from Hardy's Wessex. Tamara Drewe's present-day English countryside - stocked with pompous writers, rich weekenders, bourgeois bohemians, a horny rock star, and a great many Buff Orpington chickens and Belted Galloway cows - is a much funnier place. When Tamara Drewe sashays back to the bucolic village of her youth, life for the locals is thrown tail over teakettle. Tamara - once an ugly duckling - has been transformed into a devastating beauty (with help from plastic surgery). As infatuations, jealousies, love affairs and career ambitions collide among the inhabitants of the neighboring farmsteads, Tamara sets a contemporary comedy of manners into play using the oldest magic in the book - sex appeal.
Director: Stephen Frears
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Viva Riva
Riva has just returned to his hometown of Kinshasa with a bootlegged fortune of hijacked petrol. With wads of cash and a good time on his mind, Riva is soon entranced by the beautiful nightclub siren Nora, the kept woman of a local gangster. Meanwhile, Riva's Angolan crime lord ex-boss relentlessly seeks the return of a certain stolen shipment of gasoline.
Director: Djo Munga
Year: 2010
Language: French, Lingala
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Alan Berliner Collection, The
DVD Box set of five of Alan Berliner’s films -- Wide Awake, The Sweetest Sound, Nobody’s Business, Intimate Stranger, and The Family Album -- is now available. Each film contains subtitles in French, Spanish and English. Each DVD includes a short experimental film by Berliner, made between 1980 and 1985, as well as never before seen clips from interviews conducted with Berliner following the creation of each film. Bonus features include a television profile of Berliner, a PDF file of “The Art of Process”, a 20-page catalogue about Berliner’s films and installations, and more.
Director: Alan Berliner
Year: 2010
Language: English
Womb
Young and shy Rebecca befriends Tommy while visiting her grandfather in a remote coastal area, but their profound fairy-tale romance comes to an end when Rebecca must follow her mother to faraway Tokyo. Twelve years later, Rebecca (Eva Green), now a young woman returns to settle in her late grandfather’s beach house. She seeks out childhood friend Tommy (Matt Smith)… their reunion is marked by a strong mutual attraction, but their passionate relationship is short-lived when Tommy is killed in a freak car accident. Devastated, Rebecca feels life cannot go on without Tommy, so she turns to the controversial “Department of Genetic Replication” for an option. Although wary of the potential repercussions, Tommy’s parents (Lesley Manville and Peter Wight) reluctantly agree to supply Rebecca with the necessary DNA sample for her to clone a new Tommy in her womb. Writer and director Benedek Fliegauf (Dealer) brings us this haunting and heartbreaking one-of-a-kind sci-fi love story.
Director: Benedek Fliegauf
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
Marine Story, A
Marine officer Alexandra is tough enough to kick any guy's ass in a bar fight, but there's one opponent she can't beat: military policy. When she returns to her conservative hometown from Iraq with a mysterious personal life, she finds herself charged with preparing a tempestuous teenage girl to boot camp.
Director: Ned Farr
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Drama
Perfect Host
Warwick Wilson is the consummate host. He carefully prepares for a dinner party, the table impeccably set and the duck perfectly timed for 8:30 p.m. John Taylor is a career criminal. He’s just robbed a bank and needs to get off the streets. He finds himself on Warwick’s doorstep posing as a friend of a friend, new to Los Angeles, who’s been mugged and lost his luggage. As the wine flows and the evening progresses, we become deeply intertwined in the lives of these two men and discover just how deceiving appearances can be.
Director: Nick Tomnay
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Comedy
Happy People: A Year in the Taiga
Werner Herzog presents a picturesque documentary about the life of the indigenous people living in the heart of the Siberian Taiga. With the commentary written and narrated by Herzog, the camera follows a trapper through all four seasons of a year.
Director: Dmitry Vasyukov
Year: 2010
Language: English, Russian
Genre: Documentary
Bloomington
Bloomington, a tale of sordid, Sapphic love between a psychology professor and an undergraduate student, is Fernanda Cardoso’s first full-length feature film. Professor Catherine Stark (Allison McAtee) is a cougar on the prowl, infamous throughout the university for her lesbian liaisons with her students, and is generally feared by the student body a bastion of intimidation. Her newest conquest is Jackie Kirk (Sarah Stouffer), a doe-eyed, former child television star turned college freshman. The plot details the development and rapid decline of their relationship, as Jackie leaves school to return to acting, while Professor Stark gets the ax after the administration discovers her scandalous affair.
Director: Fernanda Cardoso
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Imogène McCarthery
Scottish-born Imogène McCarthery is working as the Secretary to the Admiralty in London, where she lives and pines for her native land. To her surprise and delight, she is selected for a top-secret mission delivering blueprints to her hometown, as her disarming appearance is unlikely to arouse suspicion. But when she returns to Scotland, plans begin to go awry as Imogène comes face to face with Bolshevik agents and realizes she may be in over her head.
Director: Alexandre Charlot, Franck Magnier
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Crime, Comedy, Mystery
Feed The Fish
Joe Peterson is a burned-out children's book writer who's on the brink of a mid-life crisis. With his career at a standstill and his relationship in shambles, he leaves town with his best friend to do the Polar Bear Plunge in the dead of winter in Northern Wisconsin. On his quest for inspiration, Joe encounters three generations of a dysfunctional family that includes an obsessed law enforcement professional, a wise old fisherman and a muse with a pair of hockey skates. With the crew's help, Joe finds his lost passion, survives an assault by a tyrannical ex-girlfriend, and stays out of the way of the law. In the end, he gets the girl and publishes again but not before testing the icy waters of Lake Michigan on a snowy winter day.
Director: Michael Matzdorff
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Robber, The
The Robber tells the story of a multitalented man: Johann Rettenberger is a successful marathon runner and a serial bank robber. Soberly and precisely he measures his heart rate, strain, stamina and efficiency – both during training runs and bank raids, from which, concealed beneath a ludicrous mask and armed with a pump gun, he takes flight from the police. He lives, undiscovered, with his girlfriend Erika in Vienna. However, his addiction to the passion, the kick, the exercise and the symmetry of the perfect robbery propels him to take off for a regular fix
Director: Benjamin Heisenberg
Year: 2010
Language: German
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Nenette
Born in the jungles of Borneo 40 years ago, Nénette the orangutan is now the most senior inhabitant of the world’s oldest zoo -- and the star of this awe-inspiring, tender and funny film, from the director who charmed the world with 2002’s Etre et Avoir. What we see is Nénette, going about her daily business; what we hear are the voices of the many visitors who pass comment on her every day, and reveal more about themselves than they think.
Director: Nicolas Philibert
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Documentary
Nanga Parbat - Cancelled
Centers on the first ascent of the Nanga Parbat mountain's Rupal Wall by the brothers Günther and Reinhold Messner. Only one brother returned alive.
Director: Joseph Vilsmaier
Year: 2010
Language: German
Genre: Drama
Boy
It's 1984, and Michael Jackson is king-even in Waihau Bay, New Zealand. Here we meet Boy, an 11-year-old who lives on a farm with his gran, a goat, and his younger brother, Rocky (who thinks he has magic powers). Shortly after Gran leaves for a week, Boy's father, Alamein, appears out of the blue. Having imagined a heroic version of his father during his absence, Boy comes face to face with the real version-an incompetent hoodlum who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years before. This is where the goat enters. Inspired by his Oscar-nominated short, Two Cars, One Night, Taika Waititi offers a charming. funny, and earnest coming-of-age story where everybody has some coming of age to do-particularly Alamein (affably played by Waititi himself). Never short on humor, Waititi's story is ultimately about three boys (one grown) reconciling fantasy with reality.
Director: Taika Waititi
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Atrocious
In April 4th of 2010, Quintanilla family was found murdered in their country side house. Police reported the existence of 37 hours of recorded evidence. "Atrocious" shows the real images of such evidence. Quintanilla family traveled to their old farm house in Sitges, where Christian and July investigated about the Legend of the Girl in the Garraf woods. Both of them used to record all day whatever they did. On the fifth day of their arrival they were found dead under strange circumstances. ATROCIOUS shows the last five days of life for Cristian Quintanilla and his siblings. It also shows the strange situations that they lived in those moments and which remain unexplained.
Director: Fernando Barreda Luna
Year: 2010
Language: Spanish
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Coach
After being dumped by his girlfriend, Nick Scanlon (Hugh Dancy), an unemployed Manhattan slacker, realizes that coasting by on his bed-head charm won’t get him very far. Motivated to win back his girl, he finds a job coaching a middle school soccer team down the block. But his new gig takes him in an unexpected direction as he falls for a beautiful young doctor named Gabrielle (Lianne Balaban). Now, with a blossoming romance and a team of lovable misfits under his wing, Nick begins to discover that growing up is more complicated than he ever thought possible.
Director: Will Frears
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Beyond the Black Rainbow
Deep within the mysterious Arboria Institute, a beautiful girl is held captive by a twisted scientist, her mind controlled by a sinister technology. To escape, she must journey through the darkest reaches of the Institute and avoid the watchful eye of Dr. Nyle, who won’t easily part with his most gifted and dangerous creation.
Director: Pantos Cosmatos
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama, Sci-Fi
Clean Bin Project, The
The Clean Bin Project is about a regular couple and their quest to answer the question "is it possible to live completely waste free?' Partners Jenn and Grant go head to head in a comedic battle to see who can swear off consumerism and produce the least amount of garbage in an entire year. Their light-hearted competition is set against a compelling examination of the sobering problem of waste in our 'throw away' society. Featuring interviews with renowned artist and TED lecturer, Chris Jordan and marine polluntion expert, Captain Charles Moore. The Clean Bin Project presents the serious topic of waste reduction with optimism, humor, and inspiration for indivdual action.
Director: Grant Baldwin
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Documentary, Comedy
Nom des Gens, le
Young extrovert Baya Benmahmoud lives by this classic motto: "Make love, not war". In order to convert them to her cause, she sleeps with her political enemies - which means a lot of men, because every conservative is her enemy. So far, she's gotten good results.
Until she meets Arthur Martin, 40-something. She figures that with such a common name (there are more than 10,000 Arthur Martins in France), he's bound to be a real conservative and thus hard to convert. Yet, names are treacherous and things aren't always what they seem.
Baya and Arthur are as different as two people can be, but when they fall in love, sparks fly...
Director: Michel Leclerc
Year: 2010
Language: French, English
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Jeu de la Mort, le
Based on a groundbreaking experiment conducted in the ‘60s, The Game of Death puts 80 unassuming research subjects to the test in a fake game show where becoming rich could cost you your life. Research subjects are instructed to inflict extreme pain on a contestant who stands to win one million euros, no matter how much they scream for mercy. The result is a shocking and unsettling study of human behavior that questions the terrifying future of reality TV.
Director: Christophe Nick
Year: 2010
Language: French
Genre: Documentary
Mooz-lum
Pulled between his strict Muslim upbringing by his father and the normal social life he’s never had, Tariq Mahdi enters college in a state of confusion. New relationships with Muslims and non-Muslims alike challenge his already shaken ideals, and the estrangement with his mother and sister troubles him. With the help of new friends, family and mentors, he begins to find himself and open up to an Islam he hasn’t been exposed to. But when the attacks of 9/11 happen without warning, he is forced to face his past and make the biggest decisions of his life.
Director: Qasim Basir
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Venus Noire, La (Black Venus)
“Black Venus is the powerful true story of Saartjie Baartman, a South African woman who was brought to London by her master to be exploited as a sideshow attraction. Free and enslaved at the same time, the “Hottentot Venus” became an icon in the slums, eventually ending up in Paris as a sexual slave and the subject of dubious scientific study. Acclaimed director Abdellatif Kechiche (The Secret of the Grain) brings Baartman’s tragic yet unforgettable tale to life in this “supremely accomplished journey” (THE INDEPENDENT).”
Director: Abdellatif Kechiche
Year: 2010
Language: French, Afrikaans, English
Genre: History, Drama
Black Death
The year is 1348. Europe has fallen under the shadow of the Black Death. In this apocalyptic wasteland, where bodies lay scattered in the thousands, one hope remains: a village rumored to be untouched by the disease. Suspecting the involvement of black magic, the church enlists a fearsome knight (Sean Bean) and his band of mercenaries to investigate. Their treacherous journey takes them into the furthest depths of hell on earth, and puts their faith to the ultimate test.
Director: Christopher Smith
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, History, Horror, Drama, Action, Mystery
Socalled Movie, The
With over 2.5 million YouTube hits for his music video "You Are Never Alone," Montreal-based musician, filmmaker, cartoonist and magician Josh Dolgin—aka Socalled—has set the creative world ablaze. His unique style blends cosmic visuals with his own mash-up of hip-hop, funk and traditional Jewish folk music. Director Garry Beitel takes viewers on a journey inside the mind of the man who has been dubbed "The Yiddish James Brown," exploring his art, life and everything in-between that makes him so damn fascinating.
Director: Garry Beitel
Year: 2010
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Plan B
Bruno is dumped by his girlfriend; behind a calm, indifferent expression, his mind plans a cold, sweet vengeance. She, a modern girl, keeps on seeing him once in a while, but has another boyfriend, Pablo. Bruno becomes Pablo's friend, with the idea of eroding the couple, maybe introducing him to another woman. But, along the way, the possibility of a plan B arises, a more effective one, which will put his own sexuality into question.
Director: Marco Berger
Year: 2009
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Demain dès laube (Tomorrow at Dawn)
Mathieu is a classical pianist undergoing an "existential crisis", according to his estranged wife turned agent, Jeanne. When his mother is hospitalized with cancer, he is left to watch over his younger brother, Paul, who lives for role-playing in historic battle re-enactments. Mathieu decides to join his brother and inadvertently becomes involved in a grave match of honour, discovering that these actors take their role-playing to deadly serious extremes.
Director: Denis Dercourt
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Drama
InSearchOf
When was the last time you had sex? Was it good? Was it safe? In Search Of explores the lives of ten entangled characters who use sex as a vehicle to gain something out of life without thinking about the repercussions or consequences of their actions.
Director: Zeke Zelker
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama
And Then Came Lola
In this time-bending, sexy, lesbian romp—with an irreverent nod to the popular art-house classic "Run, Lola, Run"—a talented, but distracted photographer, Lola, (Ashleigh Sumner) on the verge of success in both love and work, could lose it all if she doesn't make it to a crucial meeting on time. But, as usual, Lola is late. With her job and girlfriend Casey (Jill Bennett) on the line, she has three chances to make it right. In a desperate race through the streets and backrooms of San Francisco, time grows short—will Lola make it? With a pop sensibility that mixes live action, animation and still photography, AND THEN CAME LOLA explores love's age old question in a fresh new way; "If we try, try again, will we finally get it right?"
Director: Ellen Seidler, Megan Siler
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Sound of Insects, The
A hunter in a remote and idyllic forest stumbles on a make shift tent fashioned from sheets of plastic and containing the mummified remains of a corpse. A detailed journal found on site reveals the man committed suicide by self-imposed starvation. Inspired by this true event and by the novella 'Until I Am a Mummy' by Shimada Masahiko, Insects sensuously evokes the mysterious man's last days.
Director: Peter Liechti
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Wonderful World
In this moving dark comedy, Matthew Broderick plays Ben, a failed children's folk singer and less-than-extraordinary weekend dad. Ben gets pleasure from smoking weed and playing chess with his Senegalese roommate, Ibou. When Ibou suddenly falls ill, Ben's pessimistic worldview seems unequivocally confirmed. But when Ibou's sister takes his place in their apartment, what starts as an awkward living arrangement becomes something Ben did not expect...
Director: Joshua Goldin
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Back Nine, The
Upon turning 40, confronted with his own back nine, a man begins his quest to play professional golf. Armed with determination, a competitive spirit and a longing to become what he always wanted to be, he embarks on a journey that will change his life forever.
Director: Ron Vignone
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Mandrill
Chilean action star Marko Zaror shows off the skills and charisma that made him a major box office draw in South America in this thriller. Mandrill (Zaror) became an orphan at an early age when a gang of thugs murdered his parents. The boy was taken in by his uncle Chone (Alejandro Castillo), who taught young Mandrill how to defend himself through an exhaustive course in the martial arts. Mandrill became a prodigy in battle, and now makes his living as a hit man; working for an underworld syndicate, he's a suave but deadly killer for hire who hopes to someday find and take out the men who killed his Mom and Dad.
Director: Ernesto Díaz Espinoza
Year: 2009
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Thriller, Action
Broken Embraces
Fourteen years ago, a writer lost his sight and his lover in a car accident, and is now reduced to his pseudonym, Harry Caine. He has completely erased his original identity. Harry lives thanks to the scripts he writes and to the help of her former and always faithful production manager, Judit Garcia, as well as of her son, Diego, who acts as his secretary, typist and guide. But, one night, Diego has an accident and Harry must look after him. In the long night of sitting up with the boy, he tells him of his past as if it was a story. A story portrayed by a photo of a couple of lovers embracing. A photo torn to pieces, resulting in broken embraces.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Year: 2009
Language: Spanish with English subtitles
Genre: Drama
Women Without Men
Internationally-acclaimed visual artist Shirin Neshat sends shock waves through the world of cinema with her directorial debut, the stunning and provocative Women Without Men. Set against the backdrop of 1953 Iran, a pivotal period of civil unrest in which a British and American-backed coup subverted the country's democratically-elected government, the film weaves together the experiences of four different women, exploring the shocking, profound, and ultimately irreversible ways in which history and culture intertwine to impact their lives.
Director: Shirin Neshat, Shoja Azari
Year: 2009
Language: Persian/English
Genre: Drama
Answer Man, The
In the romantic comedy "The Answer Man," Arlen Faber (Jeff Daniels) is the world's most sought after self-help guru with one small problem: he doesn't like people. Author of "Me and God," a book that's been translated into 100 languages, Arlen seldom leaves his house until an act of God forces him into the hands of Elizabeth (Lauren Graham, "Gilmore Girls"), a single mother raising her seven-year-old son. The two discover that love is unpredictable, but together they can find the answers. Also starring Kat Dennings ("Nick and Norah's Infinite Play List"), and Olivia Thirlby ("Juno").
Director: John Hindman
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Romance, Comedy
End of the Line, The
Scientists predict that if we continue fishing as we are now, we will see the end of most seafood by 2048. In The End of the Line, we see firsthand the effects of our global love affair with fish as food. The film examines the imminent extinction of bluefin tuna brought on by increasing western demand for sushi, the impact on marine life resulting in huge overpopulation of jellyfish, and the profound implications of a future world with no fish...
Director: Rupert Murray
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky
Paris, 1913. At the Theatre Des Champs-Elysées, Igor Stravinsky premieres his The Rite Of Spring. Coco Chanel attends the premiere and is mesmerized, but the revolutionary work is too modern, too radical: the enraged audience boos and jeers. A near riot ensues. Stravinsky is inconsolable. Seven years later, now rich, respected and successful, Coco Chanel meets Stravinsky again -- a penniless refugee living in exile in Paris after the Russian Revolution. The attraction between them is immediate and electric. Coco offers Stravinsky the use of her villa in Garches so that he will be able to work, and he moves in straight away, with his children and consumptive wife. And so a passionate, intense love affair between two creative giants begins...
Director: Jan Kounen
Year: 2009
Language: English/French/Russian
Genre: Drama
Love the Beast
Hollywood superstar Eric Bana (Munich, Star Trek) delivers an exhilarating love letter to classic muscle cars and their die-hard owners in his directorial debut. Featuring conversations with fellow car enthusiast Jay Leno, Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson and Dr. Phil, Love the Beast chronicles Eric's twenty-five year journey with his very first car, a Ford XB Falcon Coupe he's nicknamed "The Beast." In 2007, the duo tackled the Targa Tasmania Rally, a grueling five-day endurance event that totaled The Beast and nearly cost Eric his life. Left to pick up the pieces, will he find the strength to rebuild his faithful companion?
Director: Eric Bana
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Education, An
Jenny is a bright young girl on the cusp of her 17th birthday who finds herself in a whirlwind romance with a much older David. Prior to meeting David, Jenny was trying to excel in her life by going to a prep school to get into Oxford. Once she sees the lifestyle David can provide, one she never imagined might so easily be hers, she is hooked and thoughts of Oxford go out the window. Then, when things are looking pretty good for Jenny with the dashing (yet a little too smooth) David, the truth hits her like a ton of bricks. Jenny goes from being a bright eyed school girl to a sophisticated young lady and then all the way back to questioning if she really knows who she is at all. Will David be the making of Jenny or her undoing?
Director: Lone Scherfig
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Vision
Vision is the profoundly moving true story of famed 12th-century nun Hildegard von Bingen. Bingen was one of the most important, inspirational and visionary female leaders of the Medieval Age, responsible for ushering European women into the modern era of science and enlightenment. A highly gifted composer, philosopher and scientist, Bingen faced outrage from the church over her claims that she received visions from God.
Director: Margarethe von Trotta
Year: 2009
Language: German, Latin
Genre: History, Drama, Biography
À l'Origine
Paul, a small-time con man, takes his new scheme—swindling and re-selling construction equipment—to a depressed community. His arrival, however, ignites an unexpected buzz of excitement among the townspeople—they think he’s there to restart the abandoned highway project that plunged them into economic turmoil. As desperate contractors throw big bucks his way to secure involvement, Paul’s con takes on a life of its own. But how long can he keep up the deception?
Director: Xavier Giannoli
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Signes Vitaux, les
Simone, a beautiful university student in her sexual prime, engages in a torrid romance with a struggling musician. Her carefree world comes crashing down when she receives the news of her grandmother’s shocking death. Now, struggling with profound new questions, she seeks clarity by comforting dying patients in their final days. But her altruistic act soon becomes an obsession, causing a rift with her increasingly frustrated lover.
Director: Sophie Deraspe
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Erreur de la Banque en Votre Faveur
When Julien Foucault, head waiter at the highly venerable merchant bank Berthin-Schwartz, finds out he is to be made redundant, he sees it as an opportunity to realise his long-held dream of opening a restaurant with his best friend Etienne. However, after 17 years of good and loyal service, the bank refuses to give him any financial backing. Julien thus decides to profit from the confidential information of which its employees make use. But the employees catch him red-handed in the act of insider dealing and decide to play a Machiavellian trick on him.
Director: Gérard Bitton, Michel Munz
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Comedy
Please Give
Kate (Catherine Keener) and Alex (Oliver Platt) and their teenage daughter Abby purchase the apartment next door in order to expand their two bedroom Manhattan apartment. Their only problem is the old cranky lady, Andra, living in it, and that they've got to wait for her to die. Andra is cared for by her sweet granddaughter Rebecca (Rebecca Hall) who has no life, and is blatantly rejected by her other highly cynical granddaughter, Mary (Amanda Peet). Simply waiting for Andra to die becomes complicated when the two families' lives intersect, resulting in a dramatic comedy about love, death, and liberal guilt from Nicole Holofcener (Friends With Money, Lovely and Amazing).
Director: Nicole Holofcener
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama
David's Birthday
A group of friends rent a magnificent house by the sea to spend the summer together. The unexpected arrival of Shary and Diego's son David sets something off in everyone, especially Matteo, an accomplished psychoanalyst who is married to Francesca. David's lonely and enigmatic uncle Leonard senses the reasons behind the dangerous tension, hidden beneath layers of silence and friendly banter. This vacation will indelibly mark everybody's life.
Director: Marco Filiberti
Year: 2009
Language: Italian
Genre: Drama
Maison Des Contes, La (Eleonore's Secret)
Natanaël, seven, still doesn't know how to read. His eccentric old aunt bequeaths her house to his parents and her book collection to the young boy. Nat discovers that the books serve as a shelter for all the heroes found in children's literature. They are the original characters and are counting on him for protection. For if they leave the library, they will disappear along with their stories forever! When his parents start selling off the books, Nathanaël, who is shrunk by the evil witch Carabosse, braves everything to save his tiny friends.
Director: Dominique Monféry
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Family, Animation
Boy (video only)
A budding young poet meets a poor macho dancer and they attempt to discover each other’s worlds. Directed by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Auraeus Solito (The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros).
Director: Auraeus Solito
Auraeus Solito
Auraeus Solito
Year: 2009
Language: Philippino/Tagalog
Genre: Drama
Rivers Wash Over Me
After his mother dies, Sequan, a sensitive teenager from Brooklyn, moves in with relatives living in a small town plagued with secrets hidden deep within its lush, rural Alabama terrain. Sequan finds refuge in a friendship with a troubled girl who astutely hones in on his true sexuality and introduces him to her cute brother.
Director: John G. Young
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: GLBT
Berlin 36
The Americans are threatening to boycott the Olympic Games if no Jewish athletes are on the German Olympic team. For this reason, the Jewish high jumper, Gretel Bergmann (Karoline Herfurth), one of the best at the time, is invited to participate in the German training camp. In the eyes of the Nazis, however, she absolutely must not win: so the Sports Director for the German Reich provides a competitor for Gretel, an unknown "female athlete" named Marie Ketteler (Sebastian Urzendowsky) who is to beat Gretel in the Olympic qualifiers. But the National Socialists did not take into consideration that after some initial issues, the two outsiders and putative competitors might become friends. In the end, it remains to be seen if the two will join forces to usurp the Nazi's intrigues, or if athletic ambitions win out.
Director: Kaspar Heidelbach
Year: 2009
Language: German
Genre: Drama, Biography
London River
In the wake of the 2005 terrorist bombings, Elisabeth (two-time Academy Award®-nominee Brenda Blethyn), a widow from a small farming community, travels to London in search of her missing daughter. As she cautiously navigates a world unlike her own, she repeatedly crosses paths with Ousmane (Silver Berlin Bear-winner Sotigui Kouyaté), a Muslim man attempting to locate his missing son. Before long, Elisabeth and Ousmane come to the shocking realization that their children share a connection, and if they have any hope of finding answers, they must put aside their cultural differences and work together.
Director: Rachid Bouchareb
Year: 2009
Language: English, French, Arabic
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Mystery
Villa Amalia
After discovering that her husband of fifteen years is having an affair, an emotionally distraught concert pianist named Ann vows to cut all ties with her shattered life. She sells her apartment, empties her bank account, ditches her belongings and hits the road, venturing toward a brand new life in Villa Amalia, a serene Italian island where absolutely anything is possible.
Director: Benoît Jacquot
Year: 2009
Language: French, Italian
Genre: Drama
Maid, The
Raquel has served as the Valdes family's maid for over two decades. At the age of 41, the stress of her job is finally starting to take its toll, triggering a series of crippling headaches and dizzy spells. The mother of the household decides to hire an additional maid to lighten the workload, but this doesn’t sit well with Raquel. Hell-bent on protecting her territory, she uses a barrage of passive-aggressive tactics to drive her would-be helpers away, one after another. Winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, "The Maid" is a humorous and touching story that will sweep you off your feet.
Director: Sebastián Silva
Year: 2009
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama
Like Dandelion Dust
Winner of a dozen Audience Choice Awards for Best Picture, Like Dandelion Dust tells the story of a young boy, Joey, who lives an idyllic life with his adoptive parents on the coast of Florida. It's a postcard childhood until the day they receive a disturbing phone call: Joey's birth parents want him back. One family is determined to keep the son they love, the other to begin the life they've always dreamed of. With Joey's future hanging in the balance, someone must make the bravest decision of their life.
Director: Jon Gunn
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Tidal Wave
When a South Korean geologist discovers that seismic activity in the Sea of Japan could trigger a deadly megatsunami, his warnings go unheeded by government officials. The premonition soon proves true, though, as a towering 500-mile-an-hour wave charges toward a popular beachfront community called Haeundae, obliterating everything in its path.
Director: Je-gyun Yun
Year: 2009
Language: Korean
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Action
New Twenty, The
Five best friends in their late 20's face the disintegration of their tightly knit urban tribe. Gay and straight, white and brown, driven and aimless, this disparate group lives and breathes New York City with a vivid emotional realism that captures the tenor of a new generation.
Winner - Best Leading Actress Award - Nicole Bilderback, OUTFEST
Winner - Best 1st Time Director Award, Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival
Director: Chris Mason Johnson
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: GLBT
Cargo
In the 23rd century a devastating ecological collapse has forced Earth's inhabitants into overcrowded, disease-ridden space stations. Their only hope of escape is Rhea, a blissful yet expensive-to-reach planet five light years away. Hoping to fund a trip to Rhea and reunite with her family, Dr. Laura Portmann takes up employment on the cargo freighter Kassandra. But when a member of the ship's crew is inexplicably murdered, Laura and the rest of the team begin to uncover the horrifying truth behind the mysterious cargo bay.
Director: Ivan Engler, Ralph Etter
Year: 2009
Language: German
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi, Mystery
Alamar (To the Sea)
Top prize winner at both the Rotterdam and Miami film festivals, Alamar recounts an epic journey into the open sea. Before leaving for Rome with his mother, five-year-old Natan visits his father, Jorge, in breathtaking Chinchorro, home to the second-largest coral reef on the planet. As the two fish, swim and sail the turquoise waters, Natan discovers the beauty of his Mayan roots while growing closer to his father. The result is an enchanting and emotional experience that will remain with him forever.
Director: Pedro González-Rubio
Year: 2009
Language: Spanish, Italian
Genre: Drama, Documentary
Under the Mountain
When teenage twins Rachel and Theo investigate the creepy old house next door, they discover the Wilberforces—shape-shifting creatures that lurk beneath Auckland's ring of extinct volcanoes. Guided by the mysterious Mr. Jones (Sam Neill), and with the help of their older cousin Ricky, the twins must rekindle the unique powers they once shared if they are to destroy this ancient evil...before it destroys them.
Director: Jonathan King
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Thriller, Fantasy, Drama, Sci-Fi
La Danse
The Paris Opera Ballet is one of the world’s great ballet companies. The film follows the rehearsals and performances of seven ballets: Genus by Wayne McGregor, Le Songe de Medée by Angelin Preljocaj, La Maison de Bernarda by Mats Ek, Paquita by Pierre Lacotte, Casse Noisette by Rudolph Nureyev, Orphée and Eurydice by Pina Bausch, and Romeo and Juliette by Sasha Waltz. The film shows the work involved in administering the company and the coordinated and collaborative work of choreographers, ballet masters, dancers, musicians, and costume, set, and lighting designers.
Director: Frederick Wiseman
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Documentary
Kimjongilia
From Executive Producer Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas, Cold Creek Manor), KIMJONGILIA is the first film to fully expose the humanitarian crisis of North Korea. NC Heikin's stylish, deeply moving documentary is centered around astonishing interviews with survivors of North Korea's vast and largely hidden prison camps, and interspersed with archival footage of North Korean propaganda films and original scenes that illuminate the contours of daily life for a people whose every action is monitored and every thought could bring retribution.
Director: N.C. Heikin
Year: 2009
Language: English/Korean
Genre: Documentary
Secret in their Eyes, The
With THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES, Argentinean writer-director-editor Juan Jose Campanella has created a multi-layered and poignant thriller interweaving the personal lives of a state prosecution investigator and a judge, with a manhunt spanning twenty-five years.
Recently retired criminal court investigator Benjamin (Ricardo Darin), decides to write a novel based on a twenty-five year old unresolved rape and murder case, which still haunts him. Sharing his plans with Irene (Soledad Villamil), the beautiful judge and former colleague he has secretly been in love with for years, Benjamin's initial involvement with the case is shown through flashbacks, as he sets out to identify the murderer. But Benjamin's search for the truth will put him at the center of a judicial nightmare, as the mystery of the heinous crime continues to unfold in the present, testing the limits of a man seeking justice and personal fulfillment at last.
Director: Juan José Campanella
Year: 2009
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama
Nuages sur la ville
Jean-Paul (Jean-Pierre Lefebvre) is a public servant, tired of toiling at his soul-destroying job. As a writer, he feels out of touch with the times and longs for inspiration. Touching on the many themes of modern malaise, director Simon Galiero delivers a biting portrayal of media obsession in the 21st century. Starring three of Quebec’s most notable filmmakers, Galiero highlights through ironic parable the difficulties facing the contemporary artist: the precarious nature of social status, the lost direction of art, and the heavy heart of cynicism.
Director: Simon Galiero
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Rapt
Based on the real-life kidnapping of Baron Édouard-Jean Empain in 1978, Rapt follows the downfall of wealthy entrepreneur Stanislas Graff (Yvan Attal, Munich). Kidnapped, beaten and held for ransom, Graff slowly deteriorates while he waits for his wife and colleagues to pay the enormous sum. On the outside, however, his reputation as a respectable business and family man collapses as the press digs up his shocking double life, threatening not only his marriage, but his survival.
Director: Lucas Belvaux
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Bananas!*
Personal injury lawyer Juan "Accidentes" Dominguez stands in the shadow of his mightiest opponent yet. Representing twelve Nicaraguan banana labourers, he is suing Dole, the world's largest agricultural producer, for allegedly exposing thousands of field workers to a banned pesticide known to cause sterility. Faced with a gruelling uphill battle, can Dominguez beat the odds and bring this modern day Goliath to justice? Filmmaker Fredrik Gertten blows the lid off the dark side of our globalized food economy in "BANANAS!*," a gripping account of one man's crusade against corporate corruption that exposes the true cost of the bananas we consume.
Director: Fredrik Gertten
Year: 2009
Language: English, Spanish
Genre: Drama, Crime, Documentary
Vertige
Five friends venture into the mountains for an unforgettable climbing retreat. There's just one small problem: their intended trail has been closed due to safety issues. Stubborn and naïve, they brush past the warning signs and continue their ascent--a grave decision that leaves them clinging for survival at the mercy of faulty equipment and treacherous terrain. As they encounter a barrage of sinister traps, a terrifying reality sets in: someone is out there...someone who doesn't want them to leave alive...
Director: Abel Ferry
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Adventure, Thriller, Action
Soul Power
In 1974, the most celebrated American R&B acts of the time came together with the most renowned musical groups in Africa for a 12-hour, three-night long concert held in Kinshasa, Zaire. The dream-child of Hugh Masekela and Stewart Levine, this music festival became a reality when they convinced boxing promoter Don King to combine the event with “The Rumble in the Jungle,” the epic fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. SOUL POWER is a verité documentary about this legendary music festival (dubbed “Zaire ‘74”), and it depicts the experiences and performances of such musical luminaries as James Brown, BB King, Bill Withers, Celia Cruz, among a host of others. At the peak of their talents and the height of their careers, these artists were inspired by this return to their African roots, as well as the enthusiasm of the Zairian audience, to give the performances of their lives. SOUL POWER finally provides today’s audience the opportunity to experience this historic musical event.
Director: Jeffrey Levy-Hinte
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Loren Cass
A vivid tale of troubled youth, Loren Cass conjures an authentic and menacing emotional landscape shared by three young people in contemporary suburban Florida. Though scripted by Fuller in the aftermath of the 1996 St. Petersburg riots when he was just 15 years old, this “lyrical portrait of angry, disaffected teens” (Village Voice) evokes the unquenchable need, psychic pain and seething rage of disenfranchised youth from any era. Jason (Travis Maynard), a pierced and inked skinhead, takes impulsive and self destructive chances with everyone and everything around him, while his garage mechanic friend Cale (Fuller) embarks on a fleeting, benumbed romance with Nicole (Kayla Tabish), a promiscuous diner waitress. Jason, Cale, and Nicole’s coolly hypnotic, realistic journey to nowhere reveals the bruised young underbelly of a new American century.
Director: Chris Fuller
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama
An American Journey: In Robert Frank's Footsteps
Half a century later, French director Philippe Seclier decided to follow in Robert Frank's footsteps to explore the spirit of the "Beat Generation" and the impact of his book, The Americans, not only on the art of photography, but also on American culture. From Texas to Montana, from Nebraska to Louisiana, from New York to San Francisco, An American Journey is a 15,000-mile odyssey through contemporary America, moving between past and present, photography and cinema, and two Americas, seperated by time.
Director: Philippe Séclier
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Documentary
L'Armée du Crime
In Paris, 1941, Armenian poet Missak Manouchian leads a motley crew of foreign-born resistance fighters in clandestine battle against the Nazi occupation. An initially reluctant Manouchian and his team must resort to guerilla tactics and radical measures in the name of liberté. News of their daring attacks, including the assassination of an SS general, eventually reaches Berlin, and the Manouchian group ultimately have to answer for their brutal role in defending France as the cradle of freedom.
Director: Robert Guédiguian
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: History, War, Drama
Good Heart, The
Brian Cox stars as Jacques, the curmudgeonly owner of a gritty New York dive bar that serves as home to a motley assortment of professional drinkers. Jacques is determinedly drinking and smoking himself to death when he meets Lucas (Dano), a homeless young man who has already given up on life. Determined to keep his legacy alive, Jacques deems Lucas is a fitting heir and takes him under his wing, schooling him in the male-centric laws of his alcoholic clubhouse: no new customers, no fraternizing with customers and, absolutely no women. Lucas is a quick study, but their friendship is put to the test when the distraught and beautiful April (Isild Le Besco) shows up at the bar seeking shelter, and Lucas insists they help her out.
Director: Dagur Kári
Year: 2009
Language: German, English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Grown Up Movie Star
Ray, a disgraced NHL star who was once a hometown hero, returns to Newfoundland following a drug conviction, only to have his wife Lillian leave him for another man and the pursuit of stardom. Left with his precocious daughters, Ruby and Rose, Ray struggles to find his sexual identity, while teenage Ruby begins to spiral down a dark path that leads to a potentially dangerous romance with Ray's best friend, Stuart.
Director: Adriana Maggs
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Butch Factor
A must-watch movie for all gay men! From the Castro culture of the 1970s to I today's Bears and gym rats, this fascinating investigation of gay men and sexuality blows the lid off old stereotypes and showcases a battalion of interviewees including muscle men,
rodeo riders, rugby players and cops. The men speak candidly on topics from homophobia to metrosexuality to embracing effeminacy as they reveal what it means to be a gay man in America today.
Director: Christopher Hines
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Documentary
Undertow
In a tiny Peruvian seaside village, where traditions run deep, Miguel (Cristian Mercado), a young fisherman, and his beautiful bride, Mariela (Tatiana Astengo), are about to welcome their first child. But Miguel harbors a scandalous secret. He's in love with Santiago (Manolo Cardona), a painter, who is ostracized by the town because he's gay. After a tragic accident occurs, Miguel must choose between sentencing Santiago to eternal torment or doing right by him and, in turn, revealing their relationship to Mariela—and the entire village.
Director: Javier Fuentes-León
Year: 2009
Language: Spanish
Genre: GLBT, Drama
Nature of Things with David Suzuki
Rare wildlife, unique perspectives, cutting-edge science and tech--Canada's longest running documentary series, the award-winning The Nature of Things with David Suzuki, cuts through the hype to bring you the latest stories from the frontlines of science and the environment.
For more information on The Nature of Things check out: Nature of Things at CBC.ca
Director: various
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Purple Sea
From the novel Minchia di Re by Giacomo Pilati comes a scandal hidden in 19th century Sicily between two young women, Angela and Sara. Angela isn't like other girls her age, she fears nothing and nobody. She can't hide her feelings for Sara. To maintain the forbidden relationship, she changes her outward appearance to disguise herself as a man. The chains that had imprisoned her existence suddenly disappear and she becomes powerful, but in her heart she never denies her identity as a woman. As intense and compelling as only young love can be, the two women challenge the rules of society in order to be together.
Director: Donatella Maiorca
Year: 2009
Language: Italian
Genre: History, Drama, Romance
At Home by Myself... with You
Romy Scott is afraid of... well, just about everything. At the age of 30, she's sealed herself in her apartment, attempting to battle her phobias with the help of a few close acquiantances. When the kindly old lady across the hall -- Romy's greatest source of support -- passes on, her nomadic nephew shows up to occupy the empty space en route to his next adventure. The two initially clash, but a bond begins to form as the young man helps Romy conquer her fears one at a time. Romy is now left at a crossroads; the man she loves is, by nature, a man on the go.
Director: Kris Booth
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Hungry Ghosts, The
Alums of the hit TV show The Sopranos reunite in Michael Imperioli’s directorial debut, a gripping tale of interconnected New Yorkers attempting to find spiritual fulfillment as they struggle with drugs, alcohol and sex. Frank (Steve Schirripa), a late-night DJ with a cocaine addiction, is forced to confront his ex-wife, Sharon (Sharon Angela), when their depressed teenage son vanishes into a world of sexual promiscuity. Meanwhile, philosophical seeker Gus, fresh out of a detox program, searches for his ex-lover, Nadia.
Director: Michael Imperioli
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Cooking with Stella
When Canadian diplomat Maya (Lisa Ray) and her stay-at-home husband, Michael (Don McKellar), are relocated to exotic New Dehli, they inherit a household of Indian servants ruled by the sweet and charming Stella (Seema Biswas). An out-of-work chef back home, Michael implores Stella to impart her culinary wisdom and help him spice up his own repertoire. After some initial resistance, she agrees to mentor the wide-eyed westerner. As the two prepare a mouthwatering array of colourful and sumptuous cuisines, an unlikely bond begins to form. But Stella isn't who she appears to be. In fact, she's secretly cooking up a few schemes of her own...
Director: Dilip Mehta
Year: 2009
Language: English/Hindi
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Bancs publics (Park Benches)
A black banner hanging beneath a window reads: "Lonely man". Is it a cry from the heart, a call for help? The workers in the office opposite ask themselves this question. They try to find out what it’s all about. On the same day, in the "Square des Francines", lovers, lonely people, children, young and old, a multitude of characters cross paths. Later on, in the "Brico-dream" shop, we see the comings and goings of shop assistants and customers. The protagonists of the three stories meet each other. Connections are formed between them.
Director: Bruno Podalydès
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Comedy
Drool
Anora Fleece has got it rotten in this hilarious and unconventional dark comedy. Her husband is abusive, her children are disresepctful and she lives in the middle of nowhere and feels like a nobody. Then Imogene Cochran moves into the neighbourhood and the women quickly become more then friends. All hell breaks loose when Cheb, Anora's husband, discovers the women's tryst and he winds up dead!
Director: Nancy Kissam
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
It Might Get Loud
Rarely can a film penetrate the glamorous surface of rock legends. It Might Get Loud tells the personal stories, in their own words, of three generations of electric guitar virtuosos – The Edge (U2), Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), and Jack White (The White Stripes). It reveals how each developed his unique sound and style of playing favorite instruments, guitars both found and invented. Concentrating on the artist’s musical rebellion, traveling with him to influential locations, provoking rare discussion as to how and why he writes and plays, this film lets you witness intimate moments and hear new music from each artist. The movie revolves around a day when Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge first met and sat down together to share their stories, teach and play.
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Last Station,The
After almost fifty years of marriage, the Countess Sofya (Helen Mirren), Leo Tolstoy's (Christopher Plummer) devoted wife, passionate lover, muse and secretary (she's copied out War and Peace six times…by hand!), suddenly finds her entire world turned upside down. In the name of his newly created religion, the great Russian novelist has renounced his noble title, his property and even his family in favor of poverty, vegetarianism and even celibacy. After she's born him thirteen children!
Director: Michael Hoffman
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Robsessed
Robert Pattinson, or "R-Patz" as the press has affectionately nicknamed him, became an international heartthrob after starring as Edward Cullen in the chart-topping blockbuster, Twilight. Now, Robsessed offers an exclusive, insider’s look into the world of R-Patz, following his path from a young schoolboy, to his early modelling and acting jobs, all the way through to landing his dazzling role in the Twilight saga.
Director: Irene Antoniades
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Nature of Existence, The
What is the most important question there is? After exploring the phenomenon of STAR TREK fans in the acclaimed documentary TREKKIES, filmmaker Roger Nygard is taking on THE NATURE OF EXISTENCE, traveling the globe to the source of the world's philosophies, religions, and belief systems, interviewing spiritual leaders, scholars, scientists, artists and others who have influenced, inspired, or freaked out humanity.
Director: Roger Nygard
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Hannah Free
Starring Sharon Gless ("Burn Notice," "Queer as Folk," "Cagney & Lacey") in a tremendous performance, "Hannah Free" tells the moving story of the lifelong love affair between two very different women. Weaving between past and present, the story reveals how they maintained their love affair despite a marriage, a world war, infidelity, and family denial.
Director: Wendy Jo Carlton
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Toe to Toe
Toe to Toe tells the story of the friendship and rivalry between lacrosse mates Tosha and Jesse, two senior girls at a competitive Washington, D.C. prep school. Tosha is an African American scholarship student from Anacostia, one of Washington's poorest areas, while Jesse is a troubled and promiscuous white girl from the ritzy suburbs of Maryland. The two forge a close and genuine bond on the field, but their friendship unravels as they navigate through race and class related obstacles. When Jesse and Tosha discover that they've both been dating the same boy, the conflict becomes explosive. "Toe to Toe" is a powerful reminder of the transforming power of honesty and the way that those who test us often make us better.
Director: Emily Abt
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Caesar and Cleopatra
Political drama turns to comedy when veteran strategist Julius Caesar (Christopher Plummer) becomes mentor to the enchanting teenage queen of Roman-occupied Egypt. Their first encounter under a desert moon will lead to a shift in the course of history, as Cleopatra gradually overcomes her timidity to become a determined player in the game of power politics.
Director: Des McAnuff
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Job, The
Stuck in a dying industrial town, Bubba Brady finds himself bouncing endlessly from one dead-end job to the next. The only thing that keeps his wheels turning is Joy (Taryn Manning, Hustle & Flow), a fragile diner waitress and fellow lost soul. His luck appears to change when he crosses paths with a drifter (Ron Perlman, Hellboy) who offers up a promising job lead. To his amazement, Bubba is hired on the spot. But the demands are far more sinister than he anticipated. Does he have the killer instincts to get the job done?
Director: Shem Bitterman
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Comedy
Moon
Starring: Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey.
Sam Bell is nearing the end of his contract with Lunar. He's been a faithful employee for 3 long years. His home has been Selene, a moon base where he has spent his days alone, mining Helium 3. The precious gas holds the key to reversing the Earth's energy crisis. Isolated, determined and steadfast, Sam has followed the rulebook obediently and his time on the moon has been enlightening, but uneventful. The solitude has given him time to reflect on the mistakes of his past and work on his raging temper. But 2 weeks shy of his departure from Selene, Sam starts seeing things, hearing things and feeling strange. And when a routine extraction goes horribly wrong, he discovers that Lunar have their own plans for replacing him and the new recruit is eerily familiar. Before he can return to Earth, Sam has to confront himself and the discovery that the life he has created, may not be his own. It's more than his contract that is set to expire.
Director: Duncan Jones
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Persécution
Daniel (Romain Duris) is a typically cool and collected guy who appears to handle things with great ease—except his girlfriend, Sonia (Charlotte Gainsbourg), with whom he shares a tumultuous love/hate relationship. When a bizarre stranger (Jean-Hugues Anglade) begins inexplicably stalking him, Daniel’s steadfast disposition gives way to growing frustration and paranoia, putting his already troubled romance with Sonia to the ultimate test.
Director: Patrice Chéreau
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Romance
Cairo Time
Juliette, a fashion magazine editor in her 50s, travels to Cairo to meet her husband, Mark, a UN official working in Gaza, for a three week vacation. When he is unavoidably delayed, he sends his friend Tareq, who had been his security officer for many years, to escort her throughout the beautiful and exotic city. The last thing anyone expects is that they will fall in love.
Director: Ruba Nadda
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Answer is You, The
Visionary teacher Michael Bernard Beckwith (The Secret, Spiritual Liberation) delves deep into practical methods for manifesting prosperity and health; living a rich, fulfilling life; understanding universal laws and gaining greater self-awareness, courage and self-reliance.
Director: Mikki Willis
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Picture Me
Supermodel Sara Ziff offers an insider's view of the glitzy world of high fashion modeling. From photo shoots with celebrated photographers to runway shows in New York, Milan, and Paris, this intimate account features in-depth interviews with noted photographers, designers, and the models themselves, giving voice to those who are often seen, but rarely heard.
Director: Ole Schell and Sara Ziff
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Prophet, A
Condemned to six years in prison, Malik El Djebena cannot read or write. Arriving at the jail entirely alone, he appears younger and more fragile than the other convicts. He is 19 years old. Cornered by the leader of the Corsican gang currently ruling the prison, he is given a number of "missions" to carry out, toughening him up and gaining the gang leader's confidence in the process. Malik is a fast learner and rises up the prison ranks, all the while secretly devising his own plans...
Director: Jacques Audiard
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Age of Stupid, The
The Age of Stupid imagines the world in 2055, devastated by the disastrous effects of climate change. Humanity's sole survivor (Pete Postlethwaite) takes refuge in an Arctic storage facility, compiling archive footage from 1950-2008 to discover what went wrong. Director Fanny Armstrong presents a fascinating mosaic of people whose lives have been deeply affected by global warming, including a Hurricane Katrina survivor, an elderly French mountain guide, and an 8-year-old Iraq war refugee. Their stories show the ravages of climate change and suggest, in some cases, possible solutions for a more hopeful future.
Director: Franny Armstrong
Year: 2009
Language: English & French
Genre: History, War, Drama, Documentary
Petite Zone de Turbulence, Une
Jean-Paulis recently retired and his life is in shambles. His wife is cheating on him with a former colleague, his divorced daughter is getting married to an oaf, and his son gets dumped for not inviting his lover to the wedding. To make matters worse, his hypochondria reaches an all-time high when the sinister spot on his hip worsens his neurosis. As Jean-Pierre alienates himself from his family, they'll have to band together in order to pull through.
Director: Alfred Lot
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Comedy
Big River Man
Martin Strel is an eccentric Slovenian endurance swimmer -- an "eco-superhero" who traverses rivers to raise awareness about pollution. In 2007, he attempts his greatest feat yet: to swim 3,375 miles down the mighty Amazon River. While he and his motley crew battle predators, pollution, rapids, and psychological distress, Strel flouts his failing health -- refueling on wine, whiskey, and car batteries. As tensions and blood pressure rise, the journey becomes a larger-than-life legend that is as strange and profound as Strel himself. Dark, humorous, and stunning, Big River Man is the surreal portrait of an extraordinary man who knows no limits.
Director: John Maringouin
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Macabre
Two newly weds Adjie and Astrid, along with 3 of their best friends decided to have an interstate road trip as a last attempt to reconcile Adjie with his estranged little sister Ladya. Their trip is however abruptly interrupted when they run into Maya, a strange girl out of nowhere, who wanders aimlessly into their path. "I've been robbed" is all she has to say. The friends unanimously decided to give her a ride to her isolated house by the end of the woods. Maya introduces Adjie and friends to her blue-blooded mother Dara, a woman of ageless enigma and few spoken words. Dara insists that their kindness should be repaid with a dinner feast. This is where the night turns into a crimson-hell for the 6 friends, who find themselves trapped and hunted down by Dara and her cult-like family of her three deadly protégés, born and raised to systematically eliminate unsuspecting passers-by for one nefarious reason.
Director: Kimo Stamboel, Timo Tjahjanto
Year: 2009
Language: Indonesian
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
Backyard, The
Based on chilling true events, The Backyard follows Blanca Bravo, a tough, idealistic cop assigned to investigate thousands of unsolved female murders in North America's deadliest city, Juárez, Mexico. Determined to bring an end to the bloodshed, Blanca fights through the corruption, indifference and incompetence of her colleagues, uncovering a shocking truth that puts her career—and life—in jeopardy.
Director: Carlos Carrera
Year: 2009
Language: Spanish, Tzotzil, English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
We Have to Stop Now
The series follows two lesbian therapists as they struggle to keep up the pretense of their own marriage after the success of their book "How To Succeed In Marriage Without Even Trying." Ultra-sleek, intellectual Dyna and quirky, emotional Kit gain insights into their own relationship -- when they're actually listening -- in sessions with their own therapist Susan, played by the charming and hilarious Suzanne Westenhoefer. Things get complicated when Kit's flakey sister Cindy moves in after her latest eviction. But their greatest challenge comes from the documentary film crew filming every minute of their home life, meaning Dyna and Kit's secrets are not so safe.
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Diamant 13
Diamond 13 traces the slow descent into hell of a policeman faced with a society ruled by money, the corruption of his colleagues and the shadow of death. Mat (Gérard Depardieu ) is a member of the 13th night division of the criminal police. His lifelong friend, Franck Novak (Olivier Marchal) - who works for the drug squad - has been involved for some time in shady dealings. But the confines of morality are easily crossed and when Franck goes too far Mat has to take matters into his own hands.
Director: Gilles Béat
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Action
Spooner
Herman Spooner (Matthew Lillard) is a used car salesman who still lives at home with his parents. He meets the girl of his dreams, Rose (Nora Zehetner), but on their perfect date, she breaks the news that she is about to leave for the Philippines. How far will Spooner go to keep Rose in town and show her he really does know how to spoon?
Director: Drake Doremus
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Malice in Wonderland
Lewis Carrol's classic fable Alice in Wonderland is given a tongue-in-cheek reimagining in the dark and twisted Malice in Wonderland. Alice (Lost's Maggie Grace), an American law student studying in London, tumbles down a cerebral rabbit hole after being struck by a cab driver named "Whitey" (Danny Dyer as our modern White Rabbit) and suffering from amnesia. Awaking amidst the city's seedy underbelly, she desperately searches for a way to recover her lost memories and escape the clutches of her psychedelic nightmare.
Director: Simon Fellows
Year: 2009
Language: English, Spanish
Genre: Adventure, Thriller, Fantasy, Drama, Comedy, Mystery
Girlfriend Experience, The
Starring adult film actress Sasha Grey in her mainstream debut, The Girlfriend Experience is a sexy, gorgeously shot time capsule set in the weeks leading up to the 2008 presidential election. The twentieth film from Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh observes five days in the life of Chelsea -- an ultra high-end Manhattan call girl -- who offers not just sex to her clients, but companionship and conversation -- "the girlfriend experience." Chelsea believes her life is totally under control and her future is secure: she runs her own business her way, makes $2000 an hour, and has a devoted boyfriend who accepts her lifestyle. But when you're in that business, you never know who you're going to meet...
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Year: 2009
Language: English & French
Genre: Drama
Dernier Pour la Route, Le
The autobiographic story of a reporter confronting his alcoholism at a retreat in the French Alps. He meets a quirky cast of recovering addicts -- including a loudmouthed lush and a vodka-sipping vixen -- who reveal the hazards of falling off the wagon as they encourage him to admit his own dependency and start anew.
Director: Philippe Godeau
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Outbreak: Anatomy of a Plague
Montreal, 1885: A train conductor traveling inbound from Chicago is admitted to a small hospital with symptoms resembling chickenpox. His disease quickly spreads, and as the number of infected multiplies, a sobering reality sets in: smallpox -- history’s silent killer -- has returned. Containment is possible, but Montreal is a city divided by language, class and religion. A complete societal collapse is imminent. Montreal, present day: A flight attendant is grounded with flu-like symptoms. Her ailments subside, but more severe cases soon crop up. The unbelievable is confirmed: smallpox -- a disease thought to have been eradicated -- has returned. As the death toll rises, racism and scapegoating divide the city. Montreal stands on the brink of collapse.
Director: Jefferson Lewis
Year: 2009
Language: English/French
Genre: Documentary
Act of God
From the award-winning director of "Manufactured Landscapes" comes "Act of God," a film that explores the paradox of being singled out by randomness and raises questions about chance, fate, and the meaning of life. Exploring seven stories from around the world, "Act of God" responds to these questions while keeping the sky and what comes out of it as a central visual metaphor. Paul Auster, the best-selling novelist who was struck as a teenager, anchors the film, along with improvisational musician Fred Frith, whose original compositions demonstrate the ubiquity of electricity in our bodies and in the universe.
Director: Jennifer Baichwal
Year: 2009
Language: English, French
Genre: Documentary
Get Ready for School
Get Ready For School helps kids to make the transition to school.
As Sticks prepares to go to school, Gisèle and his puppet friends Jay and Melvin help him talk about his fears and concerns: How do I make a friend? What do I do if I have a question? What if I get hungry? This six-part series helps to highlight common fears for kids, parents and caregivers so children can familiarize themselves with what's ahead.
Polkaroo's Number Wonders
Synopsis: Discover the wonderful world of numbers with Polkaroo! Using music, kids and a computer-animated Polkaroo, Polkaroo's Number Wonders helps preschoolers learn about numbers and counting in a fun way.
Director: TVO Kids
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Children
Love & Savagery
In 1968, Michael McCarthy travels from Newfoundland to Ireland to explore the Burren, a rich geological wonder. There he meets Cathleen, a beautiful woman who has devoted herself to God and the church from a young age. Michael falls hopelessly in love, and Cathleen finds herself torn between her faith and her newly discovered desires. As Michael pursues his beloved, his persistence stirs anger and violence in her small town. Ultimately, Cathleen must decide which love she is to follow...
Director: John N. Smith
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Pornography: A Thriller
This intriguing thriller weaves together three different but curiously related stories centering on the mysterious disappearance of quintessential "boy-next-door" porn star Mark Anton.
Director: David Kittredge
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Domination Masculine, La
In the starkness of reality, actions rarely adhere to ideals. We live in a society that deems the sexes to be equal, but is this how the gender dynamic functions in the 21st century? Are we charting towards equality, or are we on the brink of a return to the patriarchal ideals of past generations? Director Patric Jean sets out to reflect on these questions in "Male Domination", a candid look at the current state of sexual relationships in the modern world.
Director: Patric Jean
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Documentary
Ward No. 6
Simultaneously nihilistic and heartening, Ward No. 6 is based on a story by Chekov, in which a psychiatric doctor becomes a patient in his own asylum. Updated to contemporary Russia, the film is a cocktail of anxieties and riddles, showcasing how easy it is to become what we fear most.
Director: Aleksandr Gornovsky, Karen Shakhnazarov
Year: 2009
Language: Russian
Genre: Drama
Le Père de mes enfants (The Father of my Children)
Grégoire, a Parisian film producer, has it all — a beautiful wife, three adorable daughters, wealth and a buzzing career. On the surface he seems invincible, maintaining humor and charm as he tirelessly juggles the demands of his production company with his family's needs. But when Grégoire's reserves — both financial and emotional — reach a dramatic breaking point, his family's love and resilience is tested.
Director: Mia Hansen-Love
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Drama
GFE Girlfriend Experience
A man obsessed with prostitutes discovers that love is a lot more expensive than sex.
A feature film told in a faux-doc style, Girlfriend Experience reveals the hidden world of the john. Movies often portray sex-workers, but their customers remain well hidden – faceless and nameless. Girlfriend Experience calls attention to this bias, at the same time as it shifts the cinematic gaze onto the client.
Director: Ileana Pietrobruno
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Reel Injun
Hollywood has an impressive track record -- one that spans more than 4000 films -- of blatantly misrepresenting Native people and their cultures. Featuring interviews with filmmakers and activists such as Clint Eastwood, Jim Jarmusch and Russell Means -- and clips from hundreds of classic films including Stagecoach, The Outlaw Josey Wales and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Dances with Wolves -- Reel Injun delves into the fascinating history of the Hollywood Indian with razor-sharp insight and humour, tracing its checkered cinematic evolution from the silent film era to today.
Director: Neil Diamond
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Documentary, Western
Eclipse, The
Mystery, suspense, and romance intertwine in The Eclipse, a ghostly tale set on the shores of small-town Cobh, Ireland. Michael Farr (Ciarán Hinds) has been experiencing abnormal occurrences in his home. While volunteering at the town literary festival, he bonds with a supernatural author named Lena - the only person willing to entertain his otherworldly stories. Their growing relationship is complicated, however, by Lena's ongoing affair with another author (Aidan Quinn). As the festival progresses, the trajectories of these three people head toward a shocking, life-altering conclusion.
Director: Conor McPherson
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Drama, Romance
Power Kids
The next generation of martial arts masters has arrived. Get ready for the Power Kids—a ferocious quintet of high-flying, butt-kicking warriors poised to take the world by storm. Tragedy strikes the clan when one of its members falls ill. He's in desperate need of a heart transplant, but the hospital carrying his donor heart is being held for ransom by a menacing terrorist group. Their demands are simple: a huge sum of money delivered within four hours. With no time to spare, the Power Kids must infiltrate the hospital, take down the terrorists, and save their friend's life.
Director: Krissanapong Rachata
Year: 2009
Language: Thai
Genre: Thriller, Action, Comedy
Mein Kampf
In 1910, young Adolf Hitler migrates to the cultural beacon of Vienna, determined to conquer the world as a famous painter. Upon his arrival, he moves into a hostel occupied by Schlomo, an elderly Jewish Bible salesman who takes the brash and arrogant artist under his wing. But when Hitler is callously rejected by the Academy of Fine Arts, Schlomo attempts to save his increasingly radical and suicidal disciple by pushing him towards a career in politics—a fateful and ironic decision that will forever impact the course of human history.
Director: Urs Odermatt
Year: 2009
Language: German
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Biography
No Impact Man
In November 2006, author Colin Beaven announces his No Impact Project. He vows to unsettle his complacent liberal consumerism and, along with his family, to make no environmental impact from their Manhatten home for one year. While two-year-old Isabella is content among the compost worms, mother Michelle endures withdrawal from coffee and shopping, and Colin suffers heavy criticism from friends and the media. Humorous and insightful, No Impact Man discovers the strength of a family living off the grid, and the quiet truths that reveal themselves when the lights go out.
Director: Laura Gabbert, Justin Schein
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Mary and Max
From the creators of the Oscar-winning short "Harvey Krumpet", "Mary and Max" is the claymation tale of pen pals whose friendship spans 20 years and 2 continents. Mary (Toni Collette) is a lonely 8-year-old in the suburbs of Melbourne. Struggling with questions that no one can answer, she writes to Max (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), an obese 44-year-old Jewish man with Asperger's Syndrome living in New York City. Over time the two form a bond that explores the profound and often dark themes of friendship, difference, trust, fear, and life's many surprises.
Director: Adam Elliot
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Animation
Damned United, The
Starring: Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Colm Meaney, & Jim Broadbent
Set in 1960’s and 1970’s England, THE DAMNED UNITED tells the confrontational and darkly humorous story of Brian Clough’s doomed 44 day tenure as manager of the reigning champions of English football Leeds United. Previously managed by his bitter rival Don Revie, and on the back of their most successful period ever as a football club, Leeds was perceived by many to represent a new aggressive and cynical style of football - an anathema to the principled yet flamboyant Brian Clough, who had achieved astonishing success as manager of Hartlepool and Derby County building teams in his own vision with trusty lieutenant Peter Taylor. Taking the Leeds job without Taylor by his side, with a changing room full of what in his mind were still Don’s boys, would lead to an unheralded examination of Clough’s belligerence and brilliance over 44 days. This is that story. The story of The Damned United.
Director: Tom Hooper
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Siffleur, Le
Armand is horrified when he finds out that a property developer with mafia connections is putting the squeeze on his favourite restaurant. But Armand never gets mad—he leaves that to his identical twin brother, Maurice "The Whistler." When Maurice rides into town in his Aston Martin and designer suit, the mob and corrupt local politicians are in trouble. But what if Maurice and Armand are one and the same?
Director: Philippe Lefebvre
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Crime, Comedy
Countess, the
Based on the chilling true story of Erzsébet Báthory (Julie Delpy), The Countess chronicles the infamous Hungarian noble's tragic fall from grace -- and subsequent descent into madness. When her blossoming romance with the dashing István (Daniel Brühl) is sabotaged by the young nobleman's father, Thurzó (William Hurt), Countess Báthory is left heartbroken and confounded. Convinced that her fading beauty is to blame, she begins to practice a ritual that she believes holds the key to eternal youth: bathing in the blood of young virgins.
Director: Julie Delpy
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: History, Horror, Thriller, Drama, Biography
Assassin Next Door, The
In this sexy, edge-of-your-seat thriller, Bond girl Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) bares all as Galia, a prostitute-turned-deadly assassin working against her will for the sex-trade mafia. She shares an adjoining wall in a seedy apartment with Elinor, a beautiful grocery store clerk struggling to survive her savagely abusive husband. Brought together by desperation, their only chance of escape is an explosive, hyper-violent dash for freedom.
Director: Danny Lerner
Year: 2009
Language: English/Hebrew/Russian
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Action
Outrage
Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Kirby Dick ("This Film Is Not Yet Rated") delivers a searing indictment of the hypocrisy of closeted politicians who actively campaign against the LGBT community they covertly belong to. "Outrage" boldly reveals the hidden lives of some of our nation's most powerful policymakers, details the harm they've inflicted on millions of Americans, and examines the media's complicity in keeping their secrets.
Director: Kirby Dick
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
White Ribbon
In a village in Protestant northern Germany, on the eve of World War I, the children of a church and school run by the village schoolteacher and their families experience a series of bizarre incidents that inexplicably assume the characteristics of a punishment ritual. Who could be responsible for such bizarre transgressions? Leonie Benesch, Josef Bierbichler, and Rainer Bock star in director Michael Haneke's Palm d'Or-winning period drama.
Director: Michael Haneke
Year: 2009
Language: German
Genre: Drama
Universe of Keith Haring, The
The creator of some of the most popular and enduring images of late 20th Century art, Keith Haring was also an iconic figure of the downtown New York scene in the ’80s. Christina Clausen’s documentary offers an affectionate and deeply personal glimpse into Haring’s life, from his early years growing up in a small, conservative Pennsylvania town to his heyday as a world-renowned artist, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Madonna, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol. THE UNIVERSE OF KEITH HARING
includes audio excerpts from original interviews with Keith Haring conducted by his biographer John Gruen (Keith Haring: the Authorized Biography, Simon and Schuster, 1991). This film features interviews with Fred Brathwaite (A.K.A. Fab 5 Freddy), David LaChapelle, Hans Mayer, Samantha McEwen, Carlo McCormick, Roger Nellens, Yoko Ono, the Haring family and many other people touched by the life and art of Keith Haring.
Director: Christina Clausen
Year: 2009
Language: English, French, German
Genre: Documentary
Theatre of War
In this gripping documentary, Academy Award Winner Meryl Streep (It's Complicated, Mamma Mia!), for the first time, allowed cameras to record her preparation for her lead stage performance in Bertolt Brecht's MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN. Along with co-star, Academy Award Winner Kevin Kline (Wild Wild West, The Big Chill), this amazing documentary not only offers a plenitude of insights into the actress's craft, but also focuses on the play itself--whose themes of warfare and violence have both parallels to life in the present in addition to Brecht's tortured history in America.
Director: John Walter
Year: 2009
Language: English/German
Genre: Documentary
Panique au Village
Cowboy and Indian's plan to surprise their pal Horse with a homemade barbeque pit goes awry when the 50 million bricks they accidentally ordered online show up on their doorstep. This sets off a raucous chain of events as the trio travels to the center of the earth, treks across frozen tundra (complete with a giant snowball-throwing robot penguin) and discovers a parallel underwater universe of treacherous, pointy-headed creatures. And with panic a permanent feature of life in this papier-mâché burg, will Horse and his equine girlfriend the flame-tressed music teacher Madame Longray (Jeanne Balibar) ever find a quiet moment alone? A Town Called Panic is zany, brainy and altogether insane-y!
Director: Vincent Patar/Stéphane Aubier
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy, Family, Animation
Peter and Vandy
A riveting and unique take on a couple's relationship. PETER AND VANDY takes us on a journey, showing us the romantic beginnings and shaky turns that inevitably develop after Peter, a terminally insecure architect, falls for an art gallery employee. With star-making performances by Jason Ritter (HAPPY ENDINGS) and Jess Weixler (TEETH), the film is an innovative and fresh look at the relationship of a young couple in Manhattan and the exhilaration and frustrations love can bring.
Director: Jay DiPietro
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama
We Live in Public
At the height of his $80-million dollar dot-com career, internet pioneer Josh Harris began hosting bizarre surveillance experiments, including "Quiet", an underground society linked by all-seeing cameras and quickly driven to chaos by Harris's militaristic rule. He then turned the cameras on himself, and his girlfriend, streaming their affair online in real-time until their inevitable break-up and Harris's own mental collapse. Over a cacophony of music and colorful graphics, Ondi Timoner (DiG!) chronicles the strange forays into voyeurism, exhibitionism, and mind control that led to Harris's terrific fall from disgrace when the dot-com bubble finally burst.
Director: Ondi Timoner
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Amazing Racer
After the sudden death of her father leaves a teenage girl without a family, she becomes lost in her own anger and sadness. Her family doctor informs her that her father had a secret, that the mother she never knew was alive and well. When she travels to meet her, she befriends a horse trainer and discovers that in caring for the horse, she is able to overcome her hardships and emotional trauma. Together they begin to win many races and upset the favorites, owned by an egocentric mogul. Through the victories and new friendships she forms, she learns to find her way back to happiness.
Director: Frank E. Johnson
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Sports, Teen, Drama, Family
Waterlife - Cancelled
Waterlife follows the cascade of the Great Lakes from Lake Superior to the Atlantic Ocean, telling the story of the last huge supply of fresh water on Earth. Filled with fascinating characters and stunning imagery, Waterlife is a cinematic poem about the beauty of water and the dangers of taking it for granted. Narrated by Gord Downie, lead vocalist of The Tragically Hip and Waterkeeper’s Trustee of Lake Ontario. Featuring music by Sam Roberts, Sufjan Stevens, Sigur Ros, Robbie Robertson and Brian Eno.
Director: Kevin McMahon
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Tales from the Golden Age
The last fifteen years of the Ceausescu communist regime were, without question, the worst in Romania's history. Not surprisingly, the Ceausescu propaganda machine shared a different opinion, referring to that period as "the golden age". By adapting the period's most popular myths, Golden Palm winner Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) recaptures the humorous spirit that kept Romanians alive during their darkest hour.
Director: Cristian Mungiu, Hanno Höfer, Razvan Marculescu, Constantin Popescu and Ioana Uricaru
Year: 2009
Language: Romanian
Genre: History, Drama, Comedy
Soul Kitchen
Gut-busting laughs are on the menu in Fatih Akin’s hilarious follow up to his critically acclaimed hits Head-On and The Edge of Heaven. When down-and-out restaurateur Zinos attempts to follow his recently relocated girlfriend to Shanghai, he leaves his troubled blue-collar restaurant, Soul Kitchen, in the hands of his shady ex-con brother—a disastrous decision that puts the restaurant’s future in jeopardy. But if the brothers can stop their bickering and pull it together, Soul Kitchen might have one last shot at survival…
Director: Fatih Akin
Year: 2009
Language: German / Greek
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Tetro
In Francis Ford Coppola's first original screenplay since 1974's "The Conversation," he tells a bittersweet tale of the secrets that haunt a highly creative family. Fresh-faced and na?e, 17-year-old Bennie arrives in Buenos Aires to search for his older brother, Tetro, a volatile and melancholy poet who has tried to leave his family behind. But their reunion is not what either expects, as the two brothers grapple with the unsettling experiences of their shared past.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Year: 2009
Language: English, Spanish
Genre: Drama
Canyon, The
A honeymooning couple will do whatever it takes to have their dream tour through the Grand Canyon. When a mysterious stranger offers his services as a Canyon guide, the couple happily accept. Along the way, they take a wrong turn and the Canyon becomes a vicious and dangerous place. As their technology fails, supplies dwindle and they get hopelessly lost, panic sets in and they slip into a world of increasingly murky moral decisions. The Canyon is a survival thriller that pits lovers against nature...and each other!
Director: Richard Harrah
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Chawz
A gory tribute to classic horror, Chawz is a wild and funny monster movie about a giant, vicious pig terrorizing a small town. When a young girl goes missing and mangled body parts appear around a popular tourist destination, the locals start to fear for their lives. Deducing the killer’s identity from teeth marks and a set of hoof prints, a group of individuals join forces to track down and defeat the man-eating boar – before their beloved town becomes pig fodder!
Director: Jeong-won Shin
Year: 2009
Language: Korean
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Action, Comedy
Happy Tears
California-based sisters Jayne (Parker Posey) and Laura (Demi Moore) have traveled down very different paths in their adult lives. Jayne, a ditsy, self-centered shopaholic, married the wealthy son of a famous artist. Laura, a pragmatic environmental research biologist, ended up with a handful of children. When their father's mental health takes a turn for the worse, Jayne and Laura head back home to deal with the situation, leading to a chaotic family reunion brimming with laughter and tears.
Director: Mitchell Lichtenstein
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Exploding Girl, the
While home in New York City for spring break, twenty-year-old Ivy finds her romantic life in turmoil. As her relationship with her college boyfriend falls to pieces, she begins to develop a newfound bond with her long time best friend, Al. Overwhelmed by the increasing weight of the situation, Ivy wrestles to keep her emotions in check; if she fails, her crippling epilepsy could consume her at any moment.
Director: Bradley Rust Gray
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Fille du RER, La (The Girl on the Train)
Jeanne (Émilie Dequenne) is a young woman living in the suburbs of Paris with her widowed mother Louise (Catherine Deneuve). Her slacker lifestyle is disrupted when she sparks an online courtship with Franck, an aspiring wrestler. When their real-life romance becomes destructive, Jeanne responds by going public with a story of being attacked on the train, casting herself as a mistaken victim of a hate crime.
Director: André Téchiné
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Inspector Bellamy
Police chief Paul Bellamy (Gerard Depardieu) and his wife Françoise are vacationing in Nimes. Their quiet holiday is interrupted by the arrival of Paul's half-brother, Jacques, who has a propensity for drinking and deception. But family problems are put aside when Bellamy is contacted by Noël Gentil, a man on the run who appears to be responsible for murder. Trusting his intuition, Bellamy embarks on a private investigation to help Gentil clear his name.
Director: Claude Chabrol
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
I, Don Giovanni
Venice, 1763. When writer and libertine Lorenzo Da Ponte is exiled to Vienna, he is introduced to the King’s favourite composer, Salieri, and a newcomer named Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Seeing an opportunity to undermine his rival's ascension, Salieri tricks Mozart into hiring the unknown Da Ponte as his librettist. But Da Ponte’s free spirit and amorous wanderings in Vienna only inspire the composer, and lead to one of Mozart’s most bold and powerful compositions: Don Giovanni.
Director: Carlos Saura
Year: 2009
Language: Italian/German
Genre: History, Music & Live Performance, Drama
Animation Express
As it celebrates its 70th anniversary, the NFB comes steaming round an historic corner with "Animation Express: The Blu-ray Edition" -- a dazzling collection of recent work from its legendary animation unit. Featured are audacious masterworks like the Genie-winning "Sleeping Betty" and the Oscar®-nominee "Madame Tutli Putli," along with groundbreaking experimental shorts and a party caboose of classic cartoons. The Blu-ray Edition offers an additional 11 titles, including two Oscar®-winners: Torill Kove's "The Danish Poet" and Chris Landreth's "Ryan." Embark and enjoy!
Year: 2009
Language: English/French
Genre: Animation
Quelque chose à te dire
Meet the Celliers: your typical, dysfunctional family. Mother Mady is a vivacious sixty-year-old who gossips mercilessly about her children, while her retired husband Henry shows strange signs of regression. Their eldest child, Antoine, is a CEO who excels at declaring bankruptcy; sister Alice, rebounding from two abortions, compulsively paints portraits of a drug-addled Madonna; while nurse Annabelle reads the fortunes of her patients in intensive care. The Celliers’ lives take an unexpected turn when they encounter Jacques, a lonely, disillusioned police officer. The outsider fans the flames of their comfortable family neuroses, and conflict erupts – for better or for worse.
Director: Cécile Telerman
Year: 2009
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Easier with Practice
Davy Mitchell is an introverted writer struggling on tour to promote his unpublished short stories. His lonely nights heat up when Davy receives a seemingly random phone call from a woman named Nicole. The sultry stranger seduces him into an intense session of phone sex, sparking an erotic and intimate relationship that is based entirely around phone calls that she initiates. Davy wants to make it work, but he becomes frustrated when she refuses to give out her number. Fed up with her games, he determines to meet Nicole in person. That is, if she ever calls again
Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Diamonds
Following a trail of greed and obsession, this powerful miniseries traces the international web that brings us diamonds - the world's purest and most dazzling gems. From the fashionable enclaves of London, to the icy tundra of the Canadian Arctic, to the war-ravaged villages of Sierra Leone, DIAMONDS takes us inside the glamorous - and sometimes dangerous and illegal - international diamond industry.
Director: Andy Wilson
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Rudo y Cursi
Beto (Diego Luna) and Tato (Gael García Bernal) Verdusco are brothers who work at a banana plantation and also play soccer for the village team. Nicknamed “Tough” because of his personality and football style, Beto dreams of becoming a professional soccer player; Tato’s dream is to be a famous singer, and both share the dream of building a house for their mother, Elvira (Dolores Heredia). They have a change in luck when “Batuta”, a soccer talent scout, discovers them accidentally. Tato is the first to move to the big city where he becomes the star goal scorer for the prestigious Deportivo Amaranto (Amaranto Club). Although Beto feels he has been betrayed and left behind, he soon travels to Mexico City to become the goalkeeper for Atlético Nopaleros (Nopaleros Team). At the very real possibility of fulfilling all of their dreams, the siblings must face an innate rivalry as well as their own demons and limitations.
Director: Carlos Cuarón
Year: 2009
Language: Spanish with English subtitles
Genre: Comedy
Vanquisher
From the producers of the Ong Bak franchise comes an action-packed, martial arts thrill ride of epic proportions. After completing a covert mission and narrowly escaping an attempt on her life, a fearsome female CIA agent goes AWOL. Resurfacing in Bangkok two years later to investigate a murder, she finds herself forced to fight off operatives who've been ordered to take her out at all costs.
Director: Manop Udomdej
Year: 2009
Language: Thai
Genre: Thriller, Action
Joueuse (Queen to Play)
Hélène works as a hotel maid in a small Corsican village. Her humdrum routine is interrupted one day when she notices a young couple playing chess. Fascinated by the game and eager to learn it, Hélène seeks the help of Mister Kröger (Kevin Klein), a doctor in the village who reluctantly agrees to be her mentor. Under his guidance, she prepares for a tournament -- but she is not prepared for the passion she will discover and the profound effect it will have on her life.
Director: Caroline Bottaro
Year: 2009
Language: French, English
Genre: Drama
Zonad
Zonad (Simon Delaney) is from space... probably. Or so the Cassidy family assume when they discover an apparent alien in a shiny red space suit and helmet passed out on the living room floor beside the drinks cabinet. But Zonad is not a space cadet in the literal sense. This alcoholic chancer has escaped from a rehabilitation clinic. At first, Zonad tries to evade the warm welcome of the villagers, but the procession of wanton women and free beer soon gets the better of him.
Director: John Carney, Kieran Carney
Year: 2009
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Let's Make Money
The financial crisis is sending shockwaves all over the world, yet most of us have no idea where our money is. The only sure thing is that it's not in the bank to which we entrusted it. The bank has submitted it for circulation in the global money market. Following the tracks of money through the world-wide finance system, Let's Make Money points out the consequences of our greed for money.
Director: Erwin Wagenhofer
Year: 2008
Language: German, Spanish, English, Tamil and French
Genre: Documentary
When Life Was Good
Brooklyn flies home to surprise her boyfriend on his birthday, but when she gets to his apartment, instead of waiting for him to return home from work, she removes all traces of her arrival and leaves. Brooklyn's friend Faith and her boyfriend Casey are working hard at not working on their relationship, so when Brooklyn decides she's going to "hide out" with Faith for the summer; everyone is happy to focus their attention on Brooklyn and her problems.
Director: Terry Miles
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
One Week
When confronted with his mortality, Ben Tyler (Joshua Jackson) impulsively buys a vintage motorcycle and sets off on a road trip that starts in Toronto and ends up on Vancouver Island in the town of Tofino. Humourous, profound and extremely moving, One Week uses the great Canadian landscape as the backdrop to the story of a man and his life’s journey. In the search for himself, he finds out what makes this country, and his life, so beautiful.
Director: Michael McGowan
Year: 2008
Language: English & French
Genre: Adventure, Canadian, Drama
S is for Sexy
A series of shorts from across the globe focuses on gay men looking for love. There is some success and there is some failure but each short offers a geniune slice of humanity.
Director: Johnathon Blanc, Jason Butchman etc
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: GLBT
Nurse.Fighter.Boy
NURSE: JUDE is a single mother who descends from a long line of Jamaican caregivers.
FIGHTER: SILENCE is a ‘past his prime’ boxer who fights illegally to survive.
BOY: CIEL is a boy who delves into music, conjuring dreams for his mother.
During the last week of summer, a late-night brawl finds the fighter in the nurse's care causing their three fates
to be forever entwined.
Director: Charles Officer
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Loft
Five friends, all married men, share a luxury loft apartment – a secret getaway they use to meet their mistresses. Their carefree affairs take an ill-fated turn when the body of a dead woman is found chained to the bed. Afraid to go to the police, lest their lecherous digressions be revealed to their wives, the men stay quiet. Certain that one among them must be the killer, they soon grow suspicious of one another. As their paranoia grows, they run the risk of destroying old friendships and outing their dark secret to the world.
Director: Erik Van Looy
Year: 2008
Language: Flemish
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Romance, Mystery
Sugar
Sugar follows the story of Miguel Santos, a.k.a. Sugar, a Dominican pitcher from San Pedro De Macorís, struggling to make it to the big leagues and pull himself and his family out of poverty. Playing professionally at a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic, Miguel finally gets his break at age 19 when he advances to the United States’ minor league system; but when his play on the mound falters, he begins to question the single-mindedness of his life’s ambition.
Director: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Donkey Punch
It's party time on the Mediterranean and three hot girls are out to lose themselves in a hedonistic whirlwind of sun-soaked, booze-drenched, depraved fun. When a group of likeminded lads offers to keep the party going by taking them to their luxury yacht, it's just the glamourous adventure the girls are up for. The evening suddenly erupts into a drug-fuelled frenzy of bizzare sex acts including the 'donkey punch,' savage violence and a ruthless fight for survival ...
Director: Oliver Blackburn
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama, Crime
Yonkers Joe
Joe is a hustler in Yonkers trying to juggle big schemes, family trouble, and a rocky relationship. He's preparing for a big score when his son, Joe Jr., shows up. Joe Jr. has left the institution that has cared for him, and arrives home angry and belligerent. Joe tries to reconnect with his son while he struggles with his guilt - and continues to plan his big score. Can Joe pull off his scheme and save his relationship with Joe Jr.?
Director: Robert Celestino
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Harvard vs. Yale
Harvard Stadium November 23, 1968. With Vietnam raging, Nixon in the White House, and issues from civil rights to women's lib dividing the country, Harvard and Yale, both teams undefeated for the first time since 1909, meet for the annual climax of the Ivy League football season. On the blue-blooded Yale campus, gridiron fever has made local celebrities out of a Yale team led by quarterback Brian Dowling, who hadn't lost a game that he finished since the 7th grade, and who was the role model for Doonesbury's "B.D." At civil unrest scarred Harvard, a melting pot team of working class players, antiwar activists, and a decorated Vietnam vet set aside their differences for the Big Game. Together, Yale and Harvard stage an unforgettable football contest that baffled even their own coaches.
Director: Kevin Rafferty
Year: 2008
Language: English
Picasso and Braque go to the Movies
A documentary that looks at how early filmmaking influenced the Cubist painters Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.
Director: Arne Glimcher
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Baghead
While the Duplass Brothers were shooting their last feature film The Puffy Chair, a crew member raised the question “what’s the scariest thing you can think of?” Someone immediately said “a guy with a bag on his head staring into your window.” Some agreed, but some thought it was downright ridiculous and, if anything, funny (but definitely not scary). Thus, BAGHEAD was born, an attempt to take the absurdly low-concept idea of a “guy with a bag on his head” and make a funny, truthful, endearing film that, maybe, just maybe, was a little bit scary, too.
Director: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
CJ7
From Stephen Chow, the director and star of Kung Fu Hustle, comes CJ7, a new comedy. Ti (Stephen Chow) is a poor father who works all day, everyday at a construction site to make sure his son Dicky Chow (Xu Jian) can attend an elite private school. Despite his father's good intentions, Dicky, with his dirty and tattered clothes and none of the "cool" toys stands out from his schoolmates like a sore thumb. Ti can't afford to buy Dicky any expensive toys and goes to the best place he knows to get new stuff for Dicky - the junk yard! While out "shopping" for a new toy for his son, Ti finds a mysterious orb and brings it home for Dicky to play with. To his surprise and disbelief, the orb reveals itself to Dicky as a bizarre "pet" with
extraordinary powers. Armed with his "CJ7" Dicky seizes this chance to overcome his poor background and shabby clothes and impress his fellow schoolmates for the first time in his life. But CJ7 has other ideas.
Director: Stephen Chow
Year: 2008
Language: Mandarin with English subtitles
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
India Reborn
MYTH AND MIGHT: An array of charismatic characters introduces you to the world’s newest superpower. Experience the rich tapestry of India’s ancient myths played out against the modern might of this sprawling, diverse democracy.
INDIA ON THE MOVE: Capture the excitement of cities pulsating with new wealth from a surging economy. Experience the despair of a countryside rife with loss and longing.
MANUFACTURING DREAMS: Through the prism of Bollywood, Manufacturing Dreams pulls back the curtain on the new India, revealing a cast of diverse characters caught in a world of bright spectacle… and stark divisions.
MOTHER INDIA: Tradition and modernity collide and merge in a spicy and delicious episode about “the land of a thousand dishes” during a time of unparalleled change.
Director: various
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Redbelt
Set in the west-side of Los Angeles fight world, a world inhabited by bouncers, cagefighters, cops and special forces types, Redbelt, is the story of Mike Terry (Chewitel Ejiofor), a Jiu-Jitsu teacher who has avoided the prize fighting circuit, choosing instead to pursue an honorable life by operating a self-defense studio with a samurai’s code. Terry and his wife Sondra (Alicia Braga), struggle to keep the business running to make ends meet. An accident on a dark, rainy night at the Academy between an off duty officer (Max Martini) and a distraught lawyer (Emily Moritimer) puts in motion a series of events that will change Terry’s life dramatically introducing him to a world of promoters (Ricky Jay, Joe Mantegna) and movie star Chet Frank (Tim Allen). Faced with this, in order to pay off his debts and regain his honor, Terry must step into the ring for the first time of his life.
Director: David Mamet
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Drama
9 to 5: Days in Porn
9 TO 5: DAYS IN PORN is a portrait about people who work in adult entertainment, a business bigger than the music industry.
Filmed over a period of more than a year, ten different stories unfold, delivering insight into the personal lives of people in the adult movie business, their hopes and their dreams. However, the demands of the job can take a toll; and a short time in this world can be the start, a part... or the end of both a career and a normal life.
Director: Jens Hoffmann
Year: 2008
Language: English/German
Genre: Documentary
Downloading Nancy
Albert (Rufus Sewell) comes home from work one day to find a note from his wife Nancy (Maria Bello) saying she has gone to see friends. After waiting several days, Albert realizes that his wife is missing. Nancy has met her salvation on the Internet in the form of Louis (Jason Patric). Nancy and Louis take comfort in one another through e-mail, pictures, and promises of perverse sexual encounters. Nancy has finally found the one and only thing that can liberate her from the pain in her life. While she pursues the freedom that she feels will only come with ultimate liberation, Albert is left to put the pieces together and try to salvage what is left.
Director: Johan Renck
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Late Fragment
Eyelids smeared with black shadow, a teenage girl pulls the trigger on a sleeping man. In an instant, lives shatter: A distant mother is haunted by love, lust, betrayal and memories of a dead man. She lives in a world of denial. A repressed man has lost everything - marriage, career and the respect of his son. He sees blood on the floor. Now it’s gone. Onstage in a nightclub, a beautiful young man dances provocatively for an older one. He could be a lover. Or a father. Or a stranger. Faye, Kevin and Théo - three troubled strangers, three lives fractured by thoughts and acts of seething violence.
In the interactive feature film Late Fragment, you navigate their interlocking narratives with a simple click. These characters meet only in a series of Restorative Justice group sessions for perpetrators and victims of violent crime. There they confront their histories and you, the audience, unravel their secrets by piecing together the cinematic narrative in front of you.
Director: Daryl Cloran, Anita Doron, Mateo Guez
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
I've Loved You So Long
A woman struggles to interact with her family and find her place in society after spending fifteen years in prison.
Director: Philippe Claudel
Year: 2008
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Memoires des anges, la
Luc Bourdon's The Memories of Angels is a poignant collage of Montreal’s glorious and romantic past, brimming with poetic delicacy and exuberance for life. Assembling clips from over 100 films produced by the National Film Board of Canada, the film revisits the famous figures, symbolic places and colourful residents of the Montreal of the ’50s and ’60s.
Director: Luc Bourdon
Year: 2008
Language: Français, English
Genre: Documentary
Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary
A genre as unique as the people who bring it to life, Documentary challenges perceptions and the perennially contested notion of “truth”. Over 30 renowned directors – including Errol Morris, Nick Broomfield, Werner Herzog – reflect on the power, ethical and social responsibility of their craft in Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary. With emotionally charged insight and clips from essential works of the genre, this is an enlivened and panoramic view of contemporary cinema unlike any other. Required viewing for all cinephiles!
Director: Pepita Ferrari
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Tony Manero
Raul Peralta, a middle-aged criminal in 1970's Chile, is obsessed the idea of impersonating Tony Manero, John Travolta¹s character in Saturday Night Fever. Every Saturday night, he unleashes his passion for the film's music by imitating his idol and leading a small group of dancers as they perform at a bar in the outskirts of the city. His dream of being recognized as a successful showbiz star is about to become a reality when a Tony Manero impersonating contest is announced on national television. However, his obsession to reproduce his idol's likeness and perfect his act drives him to commit a series of violent crimes and thefts, leading to shocking violence and murder.
Director: Pablo Larraín
Year: 2008
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama
Secret Défence
A counter terrorism thriller following the interconnected lives of an undercover agent and the terrorist she’s following. Diane, a language student, is recruited by the French secret service. Pierre, a troubled young man, falls under the influence of an Islamist fanatic who believes that terrorism is a legitimate means to achieve his objectives. Trained and indoctrinated for missions which are beyond them, they are both drawn into a chain of events from which they seem incapable of escaping …
Director: Philippe Haïm
Year: 2008
Language: French
Genre: Thriller
Narrows, The
"The Narrows" is a gritty crime drama set in New York City. Mike Manadoro (Kevin Zegers), a 19-year-old from Brooklyn, will do almost anything to get out of his neighborhood and away from his father (Vincent D'Onofrio) to study photography at a Manhattan university. When local mob boss Tony offers Mike a high paying job delivering mysterious packages, he takes it. Juggling new friendships, old loyalties, a new romance (Sophia Bush), an old romance (Monica Keena) and the world of organized crime, Mike's choices invite dangerous and potentially fatal consequences for himself and everyone around him.
Director: Francois Velle
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Mes Stars et Moi
Fascinated by actresses, Robert is undoubtedly the clingiest fan in French cinema. A handling agent by night in a large artistic agency, he devotes his days to "his" stars, whom he follows relentlessly, not hesitating to interfere in their lives. Working together on the same film set, his three favourite actresses discover one day that they have the same problem...with the same fan. They thus decide to join forces and settle their score with him: they were his idols, but they become his worst nightmare!
Director: Laetitia Colombani
Year: 2008
Language: French
Genre: Comedy
Mia et le Migou
Mia is a young South American girl. Just after her tenth birthday she has a premonition and decides to leave her village to go look for her father. Her dad works at a giant construction site whose goal it turn a rain forest into a luxury resort. But that's a long way from Mia and the journey will be difficult. She must climb a tall mountain, surrounded by a mysterious forest filled with unknown creatures. At the heart of the forest, Mia discovers a very special tree with marvelous powers.
An extraordinary adventure for all...
Director: Jacques-Rémy Girerd
Year: 2008
Language: French
Genre: Family, Animation
Stoning of Soraya M., The
Based on Freidoune Sahebjam’s acclaimed international best-seller, Academy Award® nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo (“House of Sand and Fog”) stars in the heroic role of Zahra, an Iranian woman with a burning secret. When a journalist (Jim Caviezel, “The Passion Of The Christ” ) is stranded in her remote village, she takes a bold chance to reveal a truth that the villagers will stop at nothing to keep hidden. And so unfolds the remarkable story of Soraya, a woman whose cruel husband conspires against her by trumping up charges of infidelity, which carry a severe and unimaginable penalty. Based on a true story, this powerful tale of persecution becomes both a daring act of witness and a compelling parable about mob rule.
Director: Cyrus Nowrasteh
Year: 2008
Language: Persian/English
Genre: Drama
Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai
One person can make a difference! TAKING ROOT tells the dramatic story of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai whose simple act of planting trees grew into Kenya's "Greenbelt Movement" —a globally recognized movement for which this charismatic woman became an iconic inspiration. TAKING ROOT details how Maathai mobilized women to rally against deforestation, poverty, embedded economic interests, and government corruption ... becoming a national political force that helped to bring down Kenya's 24-year dictatorship. TAKING ROOT captures a world view in which nothing is perceived as impossible ...
Director: Alan Dater and Lisa Merton
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Environment, Documentary
Il y a longtemps que je t'aime (I've Loved You So Long)
This powerful story of familial struggles and redemption follows a shell-shocked Juliette (Scott-Thomas), who returns to live with her younger sister Lea (Zylberstein) after being banished from the family for 15 years. An enormous critical and box office success in France, Scott-Thomas' phenomenal performance has already been singled out by critics for end-of-year award consideration.
Director: Phillipe Claudel
Year: 2008
Language: French/English
Genre: Drama
Pageant
PAGEANT takes you behind the scenes as 52 ordinary gentlemen go to extraordinary lengths to be crowned Miss Gay America®. PAGEANT follows five of the most talented and beautiful female impersonators as they prepare to dominate in this underground competition. The contest is about the art of illusion, so enhancements such as hormones are forbidden. Instead, the men work their magic using makeup, costumes, and movement. Interviews with the competitors, their families and support teams reveal the hopes and dreams that motivate these men, while stunning musical numbers show off their amazing talents.
Director: Ron Davis, Stewart Halpern-Fingerhut
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Shuttle
Jules and Mel are returning from a girls’ weekend vacation in Mexico. They board an airport shuttle, along with two frat boys and a nervous accountant, for what should be a short trip home. But when the driver takes a detour through a seedy neighborhood, he sparks a chain of terrifying events that will test his passengers’ character and strength. Against this gruesome and relentless oppressor, they will face the fight of their lives - and they will have to be fierce and resourceful if they are to have any chance of survival.
Director: Edward Anderson
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama, Crime, Mystery
Cocaine Cowboys - Gangster Edition Box Set
The incredible true story that inspired Scarface and Miami Vice.
Cocaine Cowboys 1 - How Miami Became the Cocaine Capital of the United States
Cocaine Cowboys 2: Hustlin' With the Godmother - "Cocaine Godmother" Griselda Blanco and her lover Charles Cosby become the First Couple of crime!
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Drifting Flowers
OFFICIAL SELECTION, BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL!
WINNER! AUDIENCE AWARD, BEST WOMEN'S FILM: PITTSBURGH GLBT FILM FEST
Teddy Award-winning Director Zero Chou (Spider Lilies) weaves three poetic tales as the lesbians in Drifting Flowers seek their true identity. In the first story, Jing, a blind singer, falls in love with her band’s tomboy accordionist Diego. In another time and place, Lily, an elderly lesbian and Yen, her gay friend, create an unexpected bond and support each other in a time of crisis. Finally, we see Diego before she joined the band, when as a teenager she came to grips with her gender identity.
Director: Zero Chou
Year: 2008
Language: Mandarin
Genre: GLBT
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
From Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney and producer Graydon Carter comes a probing look into the uncanny life of national treasure and gonzo journalism inventor Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. A fast-moving, wildly entertaining documentary with an iconic soundtrack, the film addresses the major touchstones in Thompson's life--his intense and ill-fated relationship with the Hells Angels, his near-successful bid for the office of sheriff in Aspen in 1970, the notorious story behind the landmark Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, his deep involvement in Senator George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign, and much more.
Director: Alex Gibney
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary, Biography
Frozen River
Courtney’s feature-length script is set in a real-life smuggling zone on a Native American reservation between New York State and Quebec where the lure of fast money presents a daily challenge to single moms who would otherwise be making minimum wage. Strapped for money and having been deserted by her husband, working class Ray (Melissa Leo), reluctantly teams up with Lila (Misty Upham), a widowed Mohawk Indian, to smuggle illegal immigrants across the frozen St. Lawrence River from Canada to the U.S. in the trunk of a Dodge Spirit. Both women swear each trip will be their last, but one final run across the river leads to a showdown with the law on all sides.
Director: Courtney Hunt
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Chevolution
How did the iconic image of Che Guevara end up on beer bottles and bikinis? This inquiry into the ethics and aesthetics of appropriation investigates how the enduring symbol of Cuba's revolution skyrocketed to fame and was ultimately devoured by its own worst enemy: capitalism.
Director: Luis Lopez, Trisha Ziff
Year: 2008
Language: Spanish, English
Genre: Documentary
French Lovers Have All The Answers
Why is it that French lovers seem to have all the answers, while the rest of us have only questions? Could it be that French is the true language of love? English journalist Jed Winter is a skeptic, and while interviewing a celebrated French film-maker, he finds his own romantic life plays out like the plot of a French film. When his long-term girlfriend, Cheryl, refuses to marry him and instead forces him into couples counseling, Jed begins to realize that his own emotions aren't as straightforward as he once believed. And it isn't until his relationship falls apart that Jed truly falls in love - the French way.
Director: Jackie Oudney
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Man on Wire
On August 7th 1974, a young Frenchman named Philippe Petit stepped out on a wire illegally rigged between New York's twin towers, then the world’s tallest buildings. After nearly an hour dancing on the wire, he was arrested, taken for psychological evaluation, and brought to jail before he was finally released.
James Marsh’s documentary brings Petit’s extraordinary adventure to life through the testimony of Philippe himself, and some of the co-conspirators who helped him create the unique and magnificent spectacle that became known as “the artistic crime of the century.”
Director: James Marsh
Year: 2008
Language: English/French
Genre: Documentary, Biography
The Toe Tactic
Writer-director-animator Emily Hubley’s feature length debut The Toe Tactic is a “highly emotional fable” (Gillian Reagan, New York Observer) that imaginatively fuses live action and animation (in the style Hubley memorably brought to life in Hedwig and the Angry Inch). A light-hearted and perceptive exploration of memory, regret and the nature of reality itself, The Toe Tactic follows Mona Peek (Lily Rabe) on an impulsive visit to her abandoned suburban childhood home. There, her lonely life is shaken by a flood of grief for her dead father and nostalgia for the world the two shared in decades gone by. A lost wallet and a buried bone become the keys to a playfully fractured reality of talking dogs, a single mom, her son, his piano teacher, an amorous elevator man, an eccentric dowager, and the intricate web of secrets, longings and intersections that connects them.
Director: Emily Hubley
Year: 2008
Language: English
Tyson
Tyson is acclaimed indie director James Toback's stylistically inventive portrait of a mesmerizing Mike Tyson. Toback allows Tyson to reveal himself without inhibition and with eloquence and a pervasive vulnerability. Through a mixture of original interviews and archival footage and photographs, a startlingly complex, fully-rounded human being emerges. The film ranges
from Tyson’s earliest memories of growing up on the mean streets of Brooklyn through his entry into the world of boxing, to his rollercoaster ride in the funhouse of worldwide fame and fortunes won and lost. It is the story of a legendary and uniquely controversial international athletic icon, a figure conjuring radical questions of race and class. In its depiction of a man rising from the most debased circumstances to unlimited heights, destroyed by his own hubris, TYSON emerges as a modern day version of classic Greek tragedy.
Director: James Toback
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Wackness, The
Its the summer of 1994, and the streets of New York are pulsing with hip hop and wafting with the sweet aroma of marijuana. The newly-inaugurated mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, is only beginning to implement his anti-fun initiatives against crimes like noisy portable radio, graffiti and public drunkenness.
The Wackness centers upon a troubled high school student named Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck)a teenage pot dealer who forms a friendship with Dr. Jeffrey Squires (Ben Kingsley), a psychiatrist and kindred lost soul. When the doctor proposes Luke trade him weed for therapy sessions, the two begin to explore both New York City and their own depression.
Propelled by an exuberant hip hop score, The Wackness captures the spell of 1994--a time of pagers, not cell phones; a time when Tupac and Biggie were alive but Kurt Cobain had just died. Funny and moving, The Wackness is an offbeat tale of two lost souls stumbling towards maturity.
Director: Jonathan Levine
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight
For many, Milton Glaser is the personification of American graphic design. Best known for co-founding New York Magazine and the enduring I ? NY campaign, the full breadth of Glaser's remarkable artistic output is revealed in this documentary portrait, Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight. From newspapers and magazine designs, to interior spaces, logos, and brand identities, to his celebrated prints, drawings, posters and paintings, the documentary offers audiences a much richer appreciation for one of the great modern renaissance men. Artfully directed by first time filmmaker Wendy Keys, the film glances into everyday moments of Glaser's personal life and capture his immense warmth, humanity and the boundless depth of his intelligence and creativity.
Director: Wendy Keys
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
De L'autre côté du lit (Changing Sides)
Ariane and Hugo decide to exchange the lives they lead to escape from their routine, which after ten years of marriage, gives them the feeling of being hamsters in a wheel. She suddenly finds herself at the head of a construction equipment rental company and he tries to take the role of a house calling jewelry salesman... But is life really better when you live it on the other side of the bed?
Director: Pascale Pouzadoux
Year: 2008
Language: French
Genre: Comedy
Flow: For Love of Water
The world water crisis has rapidly become one of the most topical issues of our day as our global resources dwindle. Tensions continue to mount between politics, the environment and human rights in the battle for the future of our planet’s supply of drinking water. Irena Salina’s award-winning documentary FLOW (For Love Of Water) investigates this crisis at the global and human scale like never before, begging the question: Can anyone really OWN water? FLOW offers a scathing look at the emergence of a world water cartel as well as an examination of the solutions we can embrace in the future. FLOW will make you thirsty for change!
Director: Irena Salina
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
North Face
In 1936, the Nazi party was fervently demonstrating its superiority to the rest of the world. Turning its attention toward the "unclimbable" North Face of the Eiger, German officials commissioned two competing teams to conquer the treacherous rock wall. The ascent goes smoothly at first, but an accident brings the teams together, forcing them to battle the elements as one in an exhilarating race against time.
Director: Philipp Stölzl
Year: 2008
Language: German, French, Italian with English subtitles
Genre: Adventure, History, Thriller, Sports, Drama, Biography
Forgotten Woman, The
Following the international success of Deepa Mehta’s Oscar-nominated film Water, which has achieved, to date, sales of over $15 million and more than 1,000,000 viewers, Ms. Mehta received thousands of letters from the audience. After viewing the film, many wanted to know more about the state of widows in India today. The Forgotten Woman was made in direct response to this interest and aims to bring about an understanding of the destitution and marginalization of many of the millions of widows in India today, who are forced by age-old traditions to live out their remaining years isolated from and shunned by the society at large. The film explores how these widows, coerced by their families to give up their possessions, become non-entities in society.
Director: Dilip Mehta
Year: 2008
Language: Bengali/Hindi/English
Genre: Canadian, Documentary
Orgies and the Meaning of Life
Orgies and the Meaning of Life is a funny and exciting film illuminating the inner and outer life of Baxter Goode, a man trying to find an ending to his book (about a sex obsessed stick figure searching for a portal to the three dimensional world) even as his father, a best selling Christian author, tries to stop him. His life is further complicated by his search for the ‘one’, a woman he is sure will liberate him from his long addiction to orgy fantasies. Both of these pursuits are somehow connected to God, who may or may not be a stick figure, and Baxter’s lesbian roommate, who may or may not be imaginary.
Director: Brad T. Gottfred
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Crime est Notre Affaire, Le
A delightful whodunit, this adaptation of Agatha Christie's "The House of Lurking Death". tells the comedic adventures of Belisaire and Prudence Bersford. Prudence ventures off to a creepy chateau in the middle of a forest to solve a murder mystery. When her husband catches up with her, the pair of amateur sleuths bumbles their way through solving the crime!
Director: Pascal Thomas
Year: 2008
Language: French
Genre: Crime, Comedy
Moscow, Belgium
Matty works as a counter clerk at the post office. She is 41, has nothing but three kids to her name, and her husband just ran off with of one his students. One day she gets into a fender-bender with a 29 year old truckdriver named Johnny, who finds himself enamored with her. She enjoys his affections, and decides to take a chance with him ... just as her wandering husband comes home. Matty must now choose to settle back into the life she was leading or to take a big leap into the unknown ...
Director: Christophe Van Rompaey
Year: 2008
Language: Flemish
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Take Out
Authentic, suspenseful, funny, and alive with surprising detail, Shih-Ching Tsou and Sean Baker’s Take Out reveals an unseen world of illegal Chinese immigrants at work in New York City. A day in the life of Ming Ding (Charles Jang) begins as a pair of hammer-wielding loan sharks come to the door of Ming’s squalid apartment. Their ultimatum is as simple as it is virtually impossible to fulfill: “You give us $800 tonight, or your debt is doubled.” With the family he supports half a world away, Ming has a single rain-soaked shift at his job -- anonymously and almost wordlessly delivering Chinese food on Manhattan’s Upper West Side -- in which to pay off his thuggish creditors. Deftly combining professionals and non-actors with ingenious DV photography, Take Out intelligently illuminates an immigrant underdog and his small community of harried co-workers with the same in-the-moment, pragmatic honesty with which Ming endures the constant deprivations of life on the American margin.
Director: Sean Baker & Shih-Ching Tsou
Year: 2008
Language: English and Chinese
A Wink and a Smile
An intoxicating mix of private yearnings and public spectacle, A WINK AND A SMILE exposes more than the human body by putting gender, power and sexuality under the spotlight, as it follows the lives of ten “ordinary” women who do something extraordinary – learn the art of burlesque dancing and striptease. Through their adventures, we see how a homemaker, a reporter, a doctor, an opera singer, a taxidermist and a college student join the American cultural revival of burlesque, as it moves from fringe fascination to mainstream obsession, engaging a world where performance art and showgirl spectacle, music, theater and sensuality crash into over-the-top glamour – a world where many want to go, but very few dare.
Director: Deirdre Timmons
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Sex: How To Do Everything
SEX: How To Do Everything is a groundbreaking ten-part series featuring renowned sexperts Em & Lo setting out to whip your sex life into seriously seductive shape. Each episode is full of information, interviews and how-to demonstrations from various models illustrating a variety of different techniques, from the ordinary to the super-scandalous. Aimed equally at guys and gals, singles and couples - Em & Lo will stop at nothing to dish out all there is to know about everything from orgasms and seduction to roleplay and toys. So don't be afraid of some explicit explorations of sex in every flavor - SEX: How To Do Everything is a fun-loving series designed to get you having better sex and more of it.
Director: Andy Devonshire
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Surviving Crooked Lake
Four friends take an overnight canoe trip to celebrate their last year of camp together. 14-year-old Steph is deathly afraid of water, and is only persuaded to go when her brother Jonah agrees to be their guide. But their fun-filled adventure takes a dark turn when an accident claims Jonah¿ life. The girls are suddenly stranded - lost and alone in the wilderness. It doesn¿ help when Steph insists that they bring Jonah¿ body along, making their uncertain journey home all the more perilous.
Director: Sascha Drews, Ezra Krybus, Matthew Miller
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Mr. Right
In this colourful romantic comedy, a group of beautiful, successful young men experience the pleasures and pitfalls of their complicated modern urban relationships. Living fast-paced and flashy lives in London, the men seem to orbit Louise, a woman who serially dates men who turn out to be gay. The friends’ love lives entangle as they help one another navigate careers, aspirations, love, and even parenthood. And as their lives overlap in the pursuit of sex, love, and fortune, they will have to learn what love and friendship are truly about.
Director: David Morris, Jacqui Morris
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Comedy
Sicilienne, la
The Sicilian Girl is inspired by the true story of Rita Atria, a 17-year-old girl who suffers the loss of her father and brother, slain members of the Cosa Nostra in Sicily. Unwilling to grieve in silence, Rita collaborates with anti-Mafia police investigators to bring her family’s murderers to justice. But in order to honour her family, she must betray another – putting herself, and anyone willing to help her, in grave danger.
Director: Marco Amenta
Year: 2008
Language: Italian
Genre: Drama, Crime
35 Rhums
35 Shots of Rum is the story of a father and daughter living in a working class Parisian neighborhood. The daughter, Josephine, a university student; is on the verge of leaving the family nest and making her own way in the world. She feels obliged to stay and take care of her father, Lionel, filling the role her mother used to have. Lionel feels responsible for needing her so much, yet helpless to let her go.
Director: Claire Denis
Year: 2008
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Bride Flight
In this sweeping romantic epic, brides-to-be Marjorie, Ada and Esther become fast friends while traveling aboard the famous 1953 “Bride Flight” that brought young women to their waiting fiancés in New Zealand. During the flight the three women also befriend the handsome and charming Frank, whom each takes an instant shining to. Though all four are destined for different lives, their paths continually intertwine throughout the ensuing decades, leading to forbidden love, an impossible choice and a secret pact.
Director: Ben Sombogaart
Year: 2008
Language: Dutch, English
Genre: Drama, Romance
American Swing
Larry Levenson, a.k.a. the King of Swing, was the quixotic owner of Plato's Retreat during the late 1970's. From 1977 to 1985, Plato's Retreat was home for Larry and his gang of swinging couples, inquisitive singles and celebrities of all kinds. Nights included dancing, drinking, drugs and, of course, the live group sex. Despite attacks from the media, politicians, the IRS and finally the Mayor of New York, Larry responded to his critics with a sometimes jovial, always honest defense of the lifestyle. This provocative documentary chronicles the rise and fall of the notorious nightclub.
Director: Jon Hart, Matthew Kaufman
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Hollywood je t'aime
After a breakup, gay Parisian Jerome impulsively books a solo Christmas vacation to Los Angeles. Like many before him, he plans to pursue his secret dream to become a movie star – and, of course, to find love along with fame and fortune! Completely naïve about what he is getting into, Jerome nonetheless hooks up with some colorful locals, and stumbles headlong into an acting role. Nothing about Hollywood quite matches Jerome’s fantasies, however, and his misadventures are both hilarious and touching.
Director: Jason Bushman
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Drama, Comedy
Wendy and Lucy
Wendy Carroll (Michelle Williams) is driving to Ketchikan, Alaska, in hopes of a summer of lucrative work at the Northwestern Fish cannery, and the start of a new life with her dog, Lucy. When her car breaks down in Oregon, however, the thin fabric of her financial situation comes apart, and she confronts a series of increasingly dire economic decisions, with far-ranging repercussions for herself and Lucy. WENDY AND LUCY addresses issues of sympathy and generosity at the edges of American life, revealing the limits and depths of people's duty to each other in tough times.
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Frontrunners
Frontrunners follows four charming and idiosyncratic high school candidates as they run for Student Council President in one of the most competitive high schools in America - New York City's Stuyvesant. These teenage candidates face the same political issues as candidates of any age; picking the right running mates, shaking as many hands as possible, preparing for televised debates, impressing the pundits and journalistic community, addressing sensitive race-related issues and mobilizing an apathetic voter base. A smart and funny documentary that shows politicking and the pluralities of the US electoral system through an adolescent experience.
Director: Caroline Suh
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Kreutzer Sonata, The
Edgar (Danny Huston) is married to beautiful pianist Abby (Elisabeth Röhm), but despite two children and a happy marriage, sexual jealousy overtakes him when Abby starts working with a handsome young violinist. Edgar's possessiveness begins to overwhelm him and his marriage, as a tragic ending slowly develops into a certainty. Danny and Anjelica Huston shine in this adaptation of the short story by Leo Tolstoy, set to the music of Beethoven.
Director: Bernard Rose
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Children of Huang Shi, The
About young British journalist, George Hogg, who with the assistance of a courageous Australian nurse, saves a group of orphaned children during the Japanese occupation of China in 1937.
Director: Roger Spottiswoode
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Barrage contre le Pacifique, Un
Starring the legendary Isabelle Huppert, The Sea Wall is a beautifully shot story set in 1930s French Indochina (now Cambodia). Mrs. Dufresne (Huppert) is the matriarch of a small land-owning family who try to survive by working on rice fields located dangerously close to the ocean. Driven to fight against both nature and corrupt bureaucrats, she devises an imaginative scheme to build a dam against the sea with the help of the villagers.
Director: Rithy Panh
Year: 2008
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Rachel Getting Married
When Kym (Anne Hathaway) returns to the Buchman family home for the wedding of her sister Rachel (Rosemarie Dewitt), she brings a long history of personal crisis and family conflict along with her. The wedding party’s abundant cast of friends and relations have gathered for an idyllic weekend of feasting, music and love, but Kym with her black-comic one-liners and knack for bombshell drama is a catalyst for long-simmering tensions in the family dynamic.
Filled with the rich and eclectic characters that have always been a hallmark of Jonathan Demmes films, Rachel Getting Married paints a strikingly perceptive and sometimes hilarious family portrait. Director Demme, first-time writer Jenny Lumet, and the stellar acting ensemble leaven the drama of these difficult but compelling people with wry affection and generosity of spirit.
Director: Jonathan Demme
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Sans Rancune!
While attending boarding school in post-war Belgium, 17-year-old Laurent searches for his father, who disappeared during an air raid. He feels as though he has found him in the charismatic French teacher, Vapour, an eccentric figure who inspires Laurent to become a writer. Laurent’s quest to find his father becomes entangled in the plot of his first novel, and as he investigates his uncertain past, he will be forced to confront the truth of his present.
Director: Yves Anchar
Year: 2008
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Training Rules
TRAINING RULES examines how a wealthy athletic department, enabled by the silence of a complacent university, allowed talented athletes to be dismissed from their college team due to allegations of homosexuality. The film follows the lawsuit filed by student athlete Jennifer Harris in 2006 against Portland and Penn State. This high profile case ignited the world of women’s collegiate sports. It inspired the discussions so sorely needed to end discrimination based on sexual orientation that pervades organized sport. Powerfully narrated by international swimming great Diana Nyad (National Public Radio), TRAINING RULES is a riveting must-see film.
Director: Fawn Yacker and Dee Mosbacher
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Headless Woman, The
A mysterious and intriguing tale of a woman who may have killed someone or something while driving on a dirt road. Dazed and confused, she tries to piece together what happened, while her husband systematically tries to erase her tracks. From the acclaimed director of THE HOLY GIRL, Lucrecia Martel’s third feature explores the intricacies of class in a male dominated society.
Director: Lucrecia Martel
Year: 2008
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama
Return to Sleepaway Camp
It's summer as usual at Camp Manabe, where the kids torment each other for fun while the underpaid camp staff provides as little supervision as possible. Greedy camp owner Frank and junior partner Ronnie do their best to keep everyone in line, but something sinister is about to put a slash in the roster. When campers and staff mysteriously begin disappearing and turning into gruesome corpses, paranoid Ronnie can't shake the memory of a series of grisly murders that took place at Camp Arawak, where he worked two decades earlier...
Director: Robert Hiltzik
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Comedy, Mystery
Chiko
The epic story of druglords and ill fated friendships is brought to the screen in "Chiko." Wanting in on a piece of the action in the local drug scene in his 'hood, Chiko forces a street dealer to give him the name of the man he works for. Stopping at nothing and intimidating those who get in his way, Chiko earns the attention of the local drug lord, Brownie (Moritz Bleibtreu, "Run Lola Run"), who brings Chiko in to sell exclusively through him. The money begins to flow and it looks as though Chiko and his friends are one step closer to fulfilling their dreams. A white Mercedes, a chopper motorcycle, women and influence -- it'll all soon be at their fingertips. But when Chiko's closest and most trusted friend makes a grave mistake, he is forced to decide between wealth and friendship, power and loyalty.
Director: Ozgur Yildirim
Year: 2008
Language: German
Genre: Drama, Crime
World According to Monsanto, The
Monsanto is the world leader in genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as well as one of the most controversial corporations in industrial history. This century-old empire has created some of the most toxic products ever sold, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the herbicide Agent Orange. Based on a painstaking investigation, The World According to Monsanto puts together the pieces of the company’s history, calling on hitherto unpublished documents and numerous first-hand accounts.
Misleading reports, collusion, pressure tactics and attempts at corruption: the history of Monsanto is filled with disturbing episodes. Behind its clean, green image, Monsanto is tightening its grasp on the world seed market, striving for market supremacy to the detriment of food security and the global environment.
Director: Marie-Monique Robin
Year: 2008
Language: English & French
Genre: Documentary
Don't Look Down (No mires para abajo)
When his father dies, grief-stricken 19-year-old Eloy begins an unusual habit of sleepwalking. One night, stumbling across rooftops in a daze, he accidentally tumbles into the open window of his beautiful neighbor, Elvira - nine years his senior. Her intense desire for Eloy is heightened by her studies of tantric sex techniques and quickly she takes him as her willing pupil. Entwined by destiny, the two are soon exploring hidden realms of eroticism the young man never knew existed...as she opens his eyes to the possibilities of lovemaking, he's introduced to new worlds that allow him to leave his body and travel through time and space.
Director: Eliseo Subiela
Year: 2008
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Triage
TRIAGE: DR. JAMES ORBINSKI'S HUMANITARIAN DILEMMA follows the powerful odyssey of James Orbinski, a humanitarian and doctor who accepted the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders. In TRIAGE he returns to Africa to ponder the meaning of his life's work and the value of helping others. Drawing on his experience deep in the trenches of genocide and famine, this extraordinary man relives the triumphs and tragedies of relief work in Somalia, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Bristling with energy, TRIAGE brings the causes and cures of conflict into sharp focus through Orbinski's unflinching, fearless perspective.
Director: Patrick Reed
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Last Stop 174
Based on true events, "Last Stop 174" tells the story of Sandro, a boy who loved to rap, to kiss, and whose dream was to see Copacabana. Sandro witnessed the murder of his mother and then moved to his aunt's, from where he escaped and became a street child. The movie tells the parallel saga of Marisa, a mother searching for her son who was stolen from her when he was still a baby, by the drug kingpin of the ghetto where she lived. The two stories intertwine and culminate in the hijacking of a city bus.
Director: Bruno Barreto
Year: 2008
Language: Portugese
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Beautiful Losers
BEAUTIFUL LOSERS celebrates the spirit behind one of the most influential cultural moments of a generation. In the early 1990's a loose-knit group of likeminded outsiders found common ground at a little NYC storefront gallery. Rooted in the DIY (do-it-yourself) subcultures of skateboarding, surf, punk, hip hop & graffiti, they made art that reflected the lifestyles they led. Developing their craft with almost no influence from the "establishment" art world, this group, and the subcultures they sprang from, have now become a movement that has been transforming pop culture.
Director: Aaron Rose, Joshua Leonard
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Vanished Empire
Trapped by obligations to his pre-teen brother, archaeologist single mother and aging grandfather, the illicit temptations of youth, and the social hypocrisy of life in a USSR fifteen years away from its own inevitable transformation, 18 year old Sergey rebels by sidestepping responsibility altogether. Aided and enabled by the privileged, westernized diplomat’s son Kostya and straight-laced schoolmate Styopa, Sergey pursues girls, vodka, pot, and Western rock and roll with equal abandon. But then the arrival of gorgeous, innocent Lyuda threatens to break Sergey out of his rootless cycle of teenage kicks, even as it tests his already tenuous connection to friends, family, past, and future. Working in widescreen, director Karen Shakhnazarov expertly recreates Brezhnev-era Moscow, captures the hypnotic otherworldliness of the West Asian desert, and crafts a bracingly unsentimental, humorous, and moving portrait of youth and country on the threshold of inevitable change.
Director: Karen Shaknazarov
Year: 2008
Language: Russian
Genre: Drama
Dante 01
Deep in the abyss of space, a floating asylum for the criminally insane known as Dante 01 orbits the volatile surface of planet Dante. Throughout the ship's twisted corridors, inmates are used as guinea pigs in a host of highly dangerous experiments. When an enigmatic new inmate arrives, armed with the mysterious ability to heal, a deadly struggle for control is ignited. Blending arresting visuals with cryptic storytelling, visionary filmmaker Marc Caro ("Alien Resurrection") delivers a mind-bending sci-fi nightmare that will leave you breathless.
Director: Marc Caro
Year: 2008
Language: French
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi
Half Life
Writer-director Jennifer Phang's bold film combines live action with amazing animated flights of fancy to tell a powerful story. In a changing world, a precocious boy and his jaded sister react to their father's desertion and the powerful presence of their mother's charmingly manipulative boyfriend. Through imaginative powers, they escape their confining homelife, save their self-destructive mother, and finally, reinvent their world in a mind-bending conclusion.
Director: Jennifer Phang
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Ashes of Time Redux
Ashes of Time Redux is inspired by Louis Cha's novel "The Eagle-Shooting Heroes." It centers on a man named Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung). Since the woman he loved rejected him, he has lived in the western desert, hiring skilled swordsmen to carry out contract killings. His wounded heart has made him pitiless and cynical, but his encounters with friends, clients and future enemies make him conscious of this solitude...
Director: Kar Wai Wong
Year: 2008
Language: Cantonese with English Subtitles
Genre: World Cinema
Cocaine Cowboys II: The Godmother Returns
Set in 1991 on the inner-city streets of Oakland, California, cocaine dealer Charles Cosby's life is changed forever when he writes a fan letter to the "Cocaine Godmother" Griselda Blanco, who is serving time at a nearby federal prison. Six months later, Cosby is a multi-millionaire, Blanco's lover, and the head of her $40 million a year cocaine business. Also known as "The Black Widow" for her propensity to permanently dispose of her men when she's done with them, Blanco will stop at nothing to ensure that Charles is faithful to her. Cosby soon learns that he's in way over his head.
Director: Billy Corben
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: History, Crime, Documentary
Cloud 9
Love can sneak up on you at any point. Inge, a married seamstress in her 60s, delivers a pair of trousers to her customer, Karl, himself well into his 70s. Shortly after, the two of them are making passionate love on the floor of his apartment. This is all the more surprising as Inge has been happily married for over 30 years, and suddenly she feels like a young girl again. Whether you are 70 or 17, affairs of the heart can be complicated!
Director: Andreas Dresen
Year: 2008
Language: German
Genre: Drama, Romance
I Can See You
Three aspiring ad-men take a weekend in the wilderness to brainstorm their assignment: the re-branding of a once popular cleaning product. Out in the woods, strange technical anomalies begin to plague their equipment. As night falls, the trio encounters temptress Summer Day (Heather Robb) fanning old flames and inflaming old rivalries. A mysterious disappearance sparks a harrowing descent into unreality.
This double-feature DVD also features THE VIEWER... A brand new 3D stereoscopic short film from director Graham Reznick.
Director: Graham Reznick
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Thriller
Hello, Goodbye
Alain (Gerard Depardieu) is a successful doctor in his mid-fifties who has been married to Gisele (Fanny Ardant) most of his adult life. Looking for a change and eager to embrace their Jewish heritage, they decide to pull up stakes and move from Paris to Tel Aviv. But fate puts a damper on their enthusiasm when the apartment they rented is not at all what they expected, their baggage gets lost en route, Alain's job falls through, and to add insult to injury, Gisele strikes up an uncomfortably close friendship with a handsome young rabbi (Lior Ashkenazi).
Director: Graham Guit
Year: 2008
Language: French, English
Genre: Comedy
Let The Right One In
A fragile, anxious boy, 12-year-old Oskar is regularly bullied by his stronger classmates but never strikes back. The lonely boy’s wish for a friend seems to come true when he meets Eli, also 12, who moves in next door to him with her father. A pale, serious young girl, she only comes out at night and doesn’t seem affected by the freezing temperatures. Coinciding with Eli’s arrival is a series of inexplicable disappearances and murders. Blood seems to be the common denominator - and for an introverted boy like Oskar, who is fascinated by gruesome stories, it doesn’t take long before he figures out that Eli is a vampire. But by now a subtle romance has blossomed between Oskar and Eli, and she gives him the strength to fight back against his aggressors.
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Year: 2008
Language: Swedish
Genre: Horror, Drama, Romance
Addicted to Plastic
For better and for worse, no ecosystem or segment of human activity has escaped the shrink-wrapped grasp of plastic. "Addicted to Plastic" is a global journey to investigate what we really know about the material of a thousand uses and why there's so darn much of it. On the way we discover a toxic legacy, and the men and women dedicated to cleaning it up.
Director: Ian Connacher
Year: 2008
Language: English & French
Genre: Documentary
Not Quite Hollywood
Unashamedly packed full of pubes, boobs, tubes... and Kung Fu, NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD is a fast-moving journey through Australian genre cinema of the '70s and early '80s - a forgotten cinematic era. Featuring outrageous anecdotes, lessons in maverick filmmaking, a smattering of international names (including 'Ozploitation' devotee Quentin Tarantino), NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD will charm and thrill you with its infectious love of Aussie movies.
Director: Mark Hartley
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Birdwatchers
The Fazendeiros lead a wealthy and leisurely existence. They own huge fields with transgenic plantations and they spend their nights with tourists who come birdwatching. Meanwhile, at the borders of their lands, the uneasiness of the indios, who were the legitimate inhabitants of those lands, is rapidly growing. Enclosed in reserves, with no other perspective except that of working as semi-slaves in sugarbeet plantations, many young people commit suicide.
And it is a suicide which stirs up a rebellion. Led by an indio, Nadio, and by a shaman, a group of Guarani-Kaiowà starts camping outside one of the properties to claim their land back. Two opposing worlds facing each other. They engage a metaphorical as well as a real war. But they never stop studying each other. It’s the young people mainly who are “curious of the other”. A curiosity which will create a deep bond between the young shaman apprentice Osvaldo and a fazendero’s daughter…
Director: Marco Bechis
Year: 2008
Language: Portuguese, Guarani
Genre: Drama
Dear Zachary
On the evening of Nov. 5, 2001, Dr. Andrew Bagby was murdered in a parking lot in western Pennsylvania. The prime suspect, his ex- girlfriend Dr. Shirley Turner, promptly fled the United States for St. Johns, Newfoundland -- where she announced that she was pregnant with Andrew's child. She named the little boy Zachary. Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne, Andrew's childhood friend, originally began this film as a way for little Zachary to learn about his father -- until Shirley Turner, whom Canada allowed to walk free on bail while awaiting extradition to the United States, took matters into her own hands....
Director: Kurt Kuenne
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Crime, Documentary, Biography
S.O.P. Standard Operating Procedure
Errol Morris, Academy Award® winning documentary filmmaker, trains his camera on the abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison, the photographs that exposed the scandal and the procedures and legal opinions that made it possible. After two-plus years of investigation, yielding a million and a half words of interview transcript, thousands of pages of unredacted reports, and hundreds of photographs, Morris discovers that "Abu Ghraib photographs serve as both an expose and a coverup. An expose,because the photographs offer us a glimpse of the horror of Abu Ghraib; and a coverup because they convinced journalists and readers they had seen everything, that there was no need to look further."
While exposing the previously unpublicized scope of the abuse Morris tries to answer the essential and unresolved question, "how could American values become so compromised that Abu Ghraib and the subsequent coverup-could happen?"
Director: Errol Morris
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Growing Op
GROWING OP is a provocative dramatic comedy about a teenage boy coming of age in a suburban grow-operation, where every day is either paradise or fresh hell. But it's always a trip.
Sheltered all his life and home-schooled by loving parents who are also committed neo-hippie criminals, Quinn Dawson is a lonely kid who yearns to experience the normalcy of the suburban world around him. When his new neighbor Crystal turns out to be the blonde girl of the his dreams, Quinn is motivated to rebel against his parents and attend high-school for the first time.
Director: Michael Melski
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama, Comedy
Blue Gold: World Water Wars
Wars of the future will be fought over water, not oil, as the source of all life enters center stage on the global political arena. Corporate giants, private investors, and corrupt governments all vie for control of our dwindling fresh water supply. Is there enough water for everyone? Based on the groundbreaking book by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke and narrated by Malcolm McDowell, Blue Gold will make you thirsty for action!
Director: Sam Bozzo
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Unwinking Gaze, The
The Unkwinking Gaze was filmed over a period of three years with exceptional access showing the daily agonies of the Tibetan leader as he tries to strike a balance between his Buddhist vows and the realpolitik needed to placate China. David and Goliath is played out in front of us as the world’s emerging superpower and the Dalai Lama walk a tightrope over an issue of global importance.
Director: Joshua Dugdale
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Let the Right One In Limited Edition
Bullied and lonely, Oskar is a timid 12 year old boy whose dream for a friend finally comes true when Eli moves in next door. The strange young girl is ghostly pale, only comes out at night and is unaffected by freezing temperatures. Coinciding with Eli's arrival is a series of inexplicable disappearances and murders that cause Oskar's inquisitive mind to race. Caught between the innocence of childhood romance and the truth of Eli's identity, this darkly atmospheric tale is also an unexpectedly tender tableau of adolescence.
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Year: 2008
Language: Swedish with English Subtitles
Genre: Thriller
Lost Song
Pierre and Elisabeth, a couple in their thirties, move with their baby into a cottage on a lake for the summer. The setting is idyllic, and the couple's happiness seems within reach. Every day, Pierre goes to work in the city while Elisabeth rehearses for an upcoming voice recital. Despite the benevolent presence of her mother-in-law who lives in the neighbouring house, the yong woman feels isolated and overwhelmed in her new role as a mother. Her entourage is concerned, but no one fully grasps the extent of Elisabeth's distress. Muted violence soon takes hold and tightens it's grip.
Director: Rodrigue Jean
Year: 2008
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Cherry Blossoms
One of Germany’s foremost filmmakers, award-winning Doris Dörrie (Men, Naked, Am I Beautiful?), directs this tender, emotionally intense and profoundly moving story of marital love. Only Trudi knows that her husband Rudi is suffering from a terminal illness. She decides not to tell him and convinces him to visit their family in Berlin. Then, suddenly, Trudi dies. Rudi is devastated but vows to make up for her lost life. And so he embarks on his last journey - to Tokyo - in the midst of the cherry blossom festival, a celebration of beauty, impermanence and new beginnings.
Director: Doris Dorrie
Year: 2008
Language: German/English/Japanese
Genre: Drama, Romance
Herb & Dorothy
HERB & DOROTHY tells the extraordinary story of Herbert Vogel, a postal clerk, and Dorothy Vogel, a librarian, who managed to build one of the most important contemporary art collections in history with very modest means. In the early 1960s, when very little attention was paid to Minimalist and Conceptual Art, Herb and Dorothy Vogel quietly began purchasing the works of unknown artists. Devoting all of Herb's salary to purchase art they liked, and living on Dorothy's paycheck alone, they continued collecting artworks guided by two rules: the piece had to be affordable, and it had to be small enough to fit in their one-bedroom Manhattan apartment. Within these limitations, they proved themselves curatorial visionaries; most of those they supported and befriended went on to become world-renowned artists. Their circle includes: Sol LeWitt, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Richard Tuttle, Chuck Close, Robert Mangold, Sylvia Plimack Mangold, Lynda Benglis, Pat Steir,and Lucio Pozzi.
Director: Megumi Sasaki
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Gates, The
In February, 2005, artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude installed 7,500 arches (gates), curtained with orange cloth that waved and billowed and decked miles of walkways in Central Park in Manhattan. "The Gates" stood for 16 days, the first unfurled by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who championed the project, giving it the okay after the artists 25-year quest to gain approval. Archival footage shows pro-and-con debates and various mayors and commissions turning down the project. By the end, "The Gates" installed, the camera travels a winter landscape, orange shining through trees and reflected in ponds. Passers-by, quintessential New Yorkers, express pleasure. Art dwarfs the nay-sayers.
Director: Albert Maysles, Antonio Ferrera
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Resurrection County
When traveling through Resurrection County, watch your step and mind the signs. One false move could be your last. When two suburban couples roll into the backwoods southern town of Enoch for a weekend of all-terrain riding, their camping trip turns deadly at the hands of bloodthirsty locals who don't take kindly to outsiders.
Director: Matt Zettell
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Terribly Happy
White-knuckle suspense meets delightfully quirky noir in Terribly Happy, an expertly crafted mood piece that plays like a collaboration between David Lynch and the Coen brothers. After suffering a nervous breakdown, straight-laced cop Robert Hansen is pulled away from his wife and children in the city and reassigned to what feels like "The Twilight Zone"--a remote small town inhabited by a collection of strange, enigmatic characters. In the blink of an eye, his first case appears: a damsel in distress seeking protection from her booze-guzzling husband. Probing the townspeople for answers merely sinks Robert deeper into mystery and danger. Can he escape the clutches of his nightmare and make it back to his family?
Director: Henrik Ruben Genz
Year: 2008
Language: Danish
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Obscene: a Portrait of Barney Rosset and Grove Press
OBSCENE is the definitive film biography of Barney Rosset, the influential publisher of Grove Press and the Evergreen Review. He acquired the then fledgling Grove Press in 1951 and soon embarked on a tumultuous career of publishing and political engagement that continues to inspire today's defenders of free expression. Not only was he the first American publisher of acclaimed authors Samuel Beckett, Kenzaburo Oe, Tom Stoppard, Che Guevara and Malcolm X, but he also battled the government in the highest courts to overrule the obscenity ban on groundbreaking works of fiction such as Lady Chatterly s Lover, Tropic of Cancer and Naked Lunch. But the same unyielding and reckless energy Rosset used to publish works such as Allen Ginsberg s Howl in the controversial Evergreen Review and distribute films like I Am Curious (Yellow) also brought him perilously close to destruction.
Director: Neil Ortenberg and Diael O'Connor
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Colin
Already a worldwide phenomenon with huge media coverage, Colin is the first zombie movie told from the zombie's perspective. Our hero Colin is bitten by a zombie; he dies and returns as one of the undead. We follow him as he wanders through suburbia during the throes of a cadaverous apocalypse. Made for only $75, this is the zombie phenomenon that cannot be missed!
Director: Marc Price
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Action
Every Little Step
EVERY LITTLE STEP explores the incredible journey of A CHORUS LINE from ambitious idea to international phenomenon. The film compares and contrasts the original musical with the current revival and investigates the societies in which they’ve debuted, and why the themes are so timeless and universal. It goes behind the scenes with exclusive interviews and footage of a revival’s audition process, revealing the dramatic journey of the performers, unfolding a story of life imitating art.
Director: Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Ballast
A double prize winner at the Sundance Film Festival and one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2008, BALLAST is a stunningly evocative story of personal catastrophe and communal redemption. In the cold winter light of the Mississippi Delta, three lonely people stumble under the weight of a shared tragedy. Lawrence is paralyzed with grief after the loss of his twin brother. Twelve-year-old James drifts into the perilous orbit of local teenagers while his single mother, is too exhausted from her menial job to interpret the clues. When sudden violence forces mother and son to flee their home in the night, they alight desperately on Lawrence’s property. Though this provides safe harbor, it rekindles the fury of a bitter, longstanding conflict. Writer-director Lance Hammer and his gifted cast of local, non-professional actors have created an unflinching, profoundly humane story of lost souls forced by circumstance v
Director: Lance Hammer
Year: 2008
Language: English
Belle Personne, La
"The Beautiful People" is a modern take on Madame de La Fayette's classic novel, The Princess of Clèves. Junie is just 16 years old when her mother dies and she finds herself starting at a new high school mid-year. She takes comfort in the company of Otto, a quiet boy who stands out from the crowd of Junie's many suitors. Their young romance is soon interrupted when Junie catches the eye of her Italian teacher, Mr. Nemours; he may be the love of her life, but he is also caught up in his own romantic problems. Junie will have to grow up fast to figure out who she loves, and what, if anything, will bring her happiness.
Director: Christophe Honoré
Year: 2008
Language: French, Italian
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Go Fast
When special agent Marek’s friend, Jean-Do Paoli, is killed in action by drug traffickers, Marek asks to be posted to a new undercover drug unit. There he infiltrates a gang that makes quick cash smuggling hashish using fast cars and high-powered speed boats. Racing from Morocco to Spain, and then on to France, Go Fast is an adrenaline rush fueled by fast action, dangerous deals, and one man’s quest for vengeance.
Director: Olivier Van Hoofstadt
Year: 2008
Language: French
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Action
Queen and I, The
30 years after filmmaker Nahid Persson Sarvestani participated in the revolution to overthrow the Shah and the Monarchy regime in Iran, she finds herself still fascinated by the former queen whose fairytale life had intrigued her as a child. Disillusioned by the Islamic revolution that betrayed her trust and forced her into exile, Persson Sarvestani turns the focus to her new film to an unlikely subject: Queen Farah Pahlavi, wife of the former and late Shah of Iran. In the process of filming the antagonist of her revolutionary past for almost two years, Persson Sarvestani and her former enemy encounter frequent confrontations and revelations that evolve into an unforeseen journey of two women in exile, who have more in common than either of them could envision.
Director: Nahid Persson Savestani
Year: 2008
Language: Persian/English
Genre: Documentary
Adam Resurrected
From acclaimed director Paul Schrader (Auto Focus), Adam Resurrected follows former magician and circus impresario Adam Stein (Jeff Goldblum) at the Seizling Institute, an Israeli rehabilitation outpost for Holocaust survivors. A magnetic performer, Stein dazzles patients with his showmanship while struggling to grasp the abuses he faced under Commandant Klein (Willem Dafoe) in the Stellring death camp. His world is rocked, though, when a young boy arrives that seems to have the power to absolve him of his tortured past.
Director: Paul Schrader
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: War, Drama
Julia (2008)
Julia (Tilda Swinton) struggles to maintain her flamboyant lifestyle of partying and one-night stands. An alcoholic at 40, surviving on nickel-and-dime jobs, Julia will lie, cheat, and steal to get what she wants. But when her desire and desperation drive her to commit an extremely violent act, she is forced to choose between life and death...
Director: Erick Zonca
Year: 2008
Language: English, Spanish
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Day After Peace, The
Following the infectiously idealistic Jeremy Gilley - a British actor-turned-activist and founder of the Peace One Day organization - The Day After Peace charts his attempts to create a day of simultaneous global ceasefire and non-violence in the conflict hot-spots of the globe. A day where people put down their weapons for 24 hours and experience calm and peace, perhaps for the first time. Featuring Jude Law, Angelina Jolie, the Dalai Lama, Kofi Annan, Annie Lennox and Jonny Lee Miller.
Director: Jeremy Gilley
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Documentary
Whirlwind
Handsome David Rudd stars as Drake, a sexy and charismatic stranger who infiltrates a group of good-looking, successful, thirty-something gay men in New York City. The flirtatious Drake spices up the lives of this tight knit circle of friends, but soon creates unexpected drama. Drake has a bitter past filled with hurt and betrayal. He thinks that all gay men are cheaters and resents anyone who seems happy and committed. He proceeds to manipulate, seduce and tear apart these friends to prove that no one deserves happiness. Will these friends survive Drake's cunning schemes or prove that love and friendship can prevail against all odds?
Director: Richard Lemay
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: GLBT
Class, The (Entre les Murs)
Click on the PRESS tab (above, right) to download the study guide.
Cannes Film Festival - Golden Palm Winner
Francois and his fellow teachers prepare for a new year at a high school in a tough neighborhood. Armed with the best intentions, they brace themselves to not let discouragement stop them from trying to give the best education to their students. Cultures and attitudes often clash in the classroom, a microcosm of contemporary France. As amusing and inspiring as the teenaged students can be, their difficult behavior can still jeapordize any teacher's enthusiasm for the low-paying job. Francois insists on an atmosphere of respect and diligence. Neither stuffy nor severe, his extravagant frankness often takes the students by surprise. But his classroom ethics are put to the test when his students begin to challenge his methods...
Director: Laurent Cantet
Year: 2008
Language: French
Genre: Drama
New Protocol, The
One morning, Raoul Kraft learns that his 18-year-old son has died in a car accident. Soon after, Diane, a young activist from Paris, arrives with a troubling revelation: It may not have been an accident after all. She tells Kraft that his son was part of the testing protocol for a new medication, and the drug’s side-effects could have cost him his life. Kraft leaves with Diane for Paris to investigate his son’s death and with Diane’s help, he leaves his simple world behind. Pursued, attacked, shot at... they go on the run and get caught up in the New Protocol, where the truth is never what you expect …
Director: Thomas Vincent
Year: 2008
Language: French/English/German
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Action, Mystery
Legend of the Tsunami Warrior
On the treacherous high seas, a battle for power intensifies as a rebel prince joins forces with a rogue band of pirates to overthrow the kingdom of Pattani, led by Queen Hijau and her two daughters. The key to victory lies in a massive, state-of-the-art cannon submerged deep in the ocean's abyss, guarded by enormous jelly fish. Who will wield the prized artifact depends upon which party can master the ancient art of Dim Lum -- the power to manipulate the forces of the ocean.
Director: Nonzee Nimibutr
Year: 2008
Language: Thai
Genre: Adventure, World Cinema, History, Fantasy, Action
Three Monkeys
If you ignore the truth, will it go away? This is the central theme of THREE MONKEYS, a film noir whose title refers to the adage: see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil. Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan won the 2008 Cannes Film Festival Best Director prize for this story about a politician who hits a pedestrian with his car and asks his driver to take the rap. Gradually the driver and his family discover their lies beget tragedy. More narrative than Ceylan's previous Cannes favorites (DISTANT and CLIMATES), THREE MONKEYS bears all his trademarks, including brooding cityscapes, a natural soundtrack, and breathtaking cinematography.
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Year: 2008
Language: Turkish
Genre: Drama
Pedro
This exciting new feature film celebrates the extraordinary life of Pedro Zamora; a young man who when he found out he was HIV positive at 17, made the courageous decision to dedicate the rest of his life to speaking out about his condition in an attempt to raise awareness about the disease in his community. His appearance on The Real World brought his story and his message to MTV’s youthful audience and beyond; and when Zamora’s health began to deteriorate in late 1994 (after he left the show), it became front page news nationwide, and his death at age 22 provoked a worldwide outpouring of grief.
Director: Nick Oceano
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Drama
Inju
Alex Fayard, a successful crime novel author, has been invited to Japan for the release of his latest book. One night, he encounters Tamao, a geisha, who confides to him her fears. One of her former lovers, who may well be Shundei Oe, a novelist famous for his extremely violent and disturbing books, is threatening to kill her. Fayard, an Oe specialist, agrees to help her and finds himself pitted against a man who turns his trip into a bloody investigation where fiction becomes indistinguishable from reality.
Director: Barbet Schroeder
Year: 2008
Language: French
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
Heaven on Earth
Chand (Preity Zinta) is a young woman who travels from India to Canada to marry Rocky (Vansh Bhardwaj), a man she has never met. Her dream of a new life morphs into a nightmare as marriage to Rocky and his family becomes a numbing spiral of confusion and pain. Chand finds hope in her friendship with Rosa (Yanna McIntosh), a street-smart woman from Jamaica who works with Chand at a laundry factory. Rosa gives Chand a magical root and promises that it will make Rocky fall deeply in love with her. The experiment ends in a surreal parallel life that mirrors an Indian fable involving a King Cobra.
Director: Deepa Mehta
Year: 2008
Language: Punjabi, English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Down to the Dirt
Thirty-year-old Keith Kavanagh (Joel Thomas Hynes) ekes his way through life in a small town in Newfoundland. A hard-drinking hooligan, he keeps his ragged collection of poetry a closely guarded secret… as secret as his regret for the shattered relationship with his father. When Keith meets the darkly exotic Natasha, his life is changed forever. Scary, sexy, and funny -- and sometimes all three at once – Down to the Dirt is a raw and poignant adaptation of the internationally acclaimed novel .. a visceral, darkly humorous chronicle of the transformative power of love, and the improbable roads that lead to redemption
Director: Justin Simms
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Burning the Future
West Virginia provides coal to produce electricity for half the nation. Ironically, while preserving jobs, coal mining disfigures mountainsides, destroys plant and animal species and spreads toxic groundwater. Yet so effective is the coal industry's public relations campaign promoting "clean coal" that these long-term environmental disasters remain largely unreported. In response, documentary filmmaker David Novack provides an impassioned, harsh exposé of big coal.
"As upsetting as it is informative" -- New York Times
Director: David Novack
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Resolution 819
The United Nations’ Resolution 819 was adopted by the UN Security Council to verify and condemn crimes against humanity perpetrated during the Balkans Conflict, after the independence of Bosnia Herzegovina. With this mandate, the International Criminal Tribunal at The Hague sends volunteer French police officer Jacques Calvez to Srebrenica to find evidence of the genocide carried out by the Bosnian Serbs. After six years of research, and hampered by countless obstacles, Calvez institutes proceedings that bring formal accusations against Karadzic and Mladic.
Director: Giacomo Battiato
Year: 2008
Language: French, English
Genre: History, War, Drama
Mulligans
Two college friends take a journey home. One of them makes a mistake that may tear a family apart. Sometimes there are no second chances, sometimes there are no mulligans.
Director: Chip Hale
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Canadian, Drama
Ready? Okay!
In this hilarious and touching comedy, single mom Andrea struggles to understand her young son Josh. He's smart, happy and enthusiastic - and he's also obsessed with dresses and dolls. And although Andrea convinces him to join the school wrestling team, Josh's true heart's desire is to be a cheerleader.
Stars: Carrie Preston (Duplicity, True Blood) as Andrea; Michael Emerson (Lost) as her gay neighbor Charlie; and introducing Lurie Poston as the kid who calls Maria Von Trapp his most influential role model!
Director: James Vasquez
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Drama
Were the World Mine
When Timothy is cast as Puck in A Midsummer's Night's Dream, the young gay man stumbles upon a secret love-potion recipe hidden in the script. He creates chaos as he turns much of his narrow-minded town gay, starting with the rugby jock of his dreams.
Director: Tom Gustafson
Year: 2008
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Comedy
Junior
There's no margin for error, no getting drunk, and no breaking curfew in the high-stakes game of junior hockey. Capture the joys and anguish of young Baie-Comeau players throughout an entire season when the team isn't doing well and the pressure to win is intense. Junior juxtaposes the life the hockey players wish to have - signing autographs and playing for the fun of it - against the reality of the money and wheeling and dealing of the junior hockey league organization. This is not your typical sports documentary: Superb filmmaking and the boys' rough and tumble passage to manhood play out in an entertaining drama which took the Best Canadian Documentary Award at Hot Docs 2008.
Director: Isabelle Lavigne, Stéphane Thibault
Year: 2008
Language: English/French
Genre: Documentary
Insoumis, Les
When a notorious gangland boss escapes from police custody and goes into hiding, it’s up to a tough big-city cop - Vincent Drieu - to track him down. Near the end of his career, Drieu is hardened, disillusioned, and resents being assigned to a hellhole of a town where crime is completely out of control. But unlike his demoralized colleagues, Drieu is determined to carry out his assignment, using whatever means necessary…
Director: Claude-Michel Rome
Year: 2008
Language: French
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Action
How to Cook Your Life
HOW TO COOK YOUR LIFE is a cheerful documentary about the art of cooking and the art of cooking your life without burning it, putting too much salt or overcooking it. Food and being determine life, and life determines food. Doris Dörrie and the cooking Zen priest, Edward Brown demonstrates that eating is more than just the intake of food. Cooking is a festival of senses, and an act of love and generosity.
During the summer of 2006, Doris Dörrie and her crew filmed Edward Brown at his cooking classes at the Buddhist center, Scheibbs in Austria and the two Californian Buddhist centers, the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center and the Zen Center in San Francisco, where he teaches people of all generations. Practical and entertaining, Edward Brown knows how to translate those philosophical thoughts into today’s zeitgeist.
HOW TO COOK YOUR LIFE can change your view on cooking, eating and your own life. You will never again cut your vegetables the way you used to.
Director: Doris Dorrie
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Environment, Documentary
Jihad for Love
In a time when Islam is under tremendous attack - from within and without -'A Jihad for Love' is a daring documentary filmed in twelve countries and eight languages. Muslim gay filmmaker Parvez Sharma has gone where the silence is loudest, filming with great risk in nations where government permission to make this film was not an option.
A Jihad for Love is Mr. Sharma's debut and is the world's first feature documentary to explore the complex global intersections between Islam and homosexuality. The director enters the many worlds of Islam by illuminating multiple stories as diverse as Islam itself. The film travels a wide geographic arc presenting lives from India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, South Africa and France. Always filming in secret and as a Muslim, Mr. Sharma makes the film from within the faith, depicting Islam with the same respect that the film's characters show for it.
Director: Parvez Sharma
Year: 2007
Language: English/Arabic/Hindi/Persian/Urdu/French
Genre: Documentary
Pope's Toilet, The (El Bano Del Papa)
In 1988, the people of Melo are bustling with the news that Pope John Paul II plans to visit their small town, with tens of thousands of visitors expected to follow in his wake. While many make plans to profit off the event, petty smuggler Beto is certain he's found the best business idea of all, a place where the multitude of pilgrims can find relief: "The Pope's Toilet."
Director: Enrique Fernandez/Cesar Charlone
Year: 2007
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
Jane Austen Book Club, The
Today’s central California may be far removed from Regency England, but some things never change. We’re still every bit as preoccupied with the complexities of marriage, friendship, romantic entanglements,
position, and social manners and mores as was Jane Austen at the turn of the 1800s. THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB reveals the lives of an ensemble of present-day friends through the witty prism of their literary
heroine.
Six book club members, six Austen books, six interwoven story lines over six months in the busy modern setting of Sacramento, where city and suburban sprawl meet natural beauty. While the contemporary stories
never slavishly parallel the Austen plots, the six characters find echoes, predictions, warnings and wisdom about their own trajectories within Austen’s beloved narratives.
Director: Robin Swicord
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Timecrimes
A man who travels accidentally back to the past and meets himself there. A naked girl in the middle of the forest. A scissor-wielding madman with his face covered by a pink bandage. A disquieting mansion on the toip of a hill. All of them pieces of an unpredictable jigsaw puzzle where terror, drama, and suspense lead to an unthinkable sort of crime. Who's the murderer? Who's the victim? In Nacho Vigalondo's time-jumping brain-twister, the future is never the same twice!
Director: Nacho Vigalondo
Year: 2007
Language: Spanish
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama, Sci-Fi, Mystery
Walk into the Sea, A
Esther Robinson's portrait of her uncle Danny Williams -- Warhol's onetime lover, collaborator and filmmaker in his own right -- offers a exploration of the Factory era, an homage to Williams's talent, a journey of family discovery and a compelling inquiry into Williams's mysterious disappearance at age 27.
Director: Esther B Robinson
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Fighter
Aicha is a high-school student who is more interested in kung fu than academics. Defying her parents’ strict rules, she begins to train secretly at a professional, co-ed kung fu club. There, she meets Emil, a boy who helps her train for the club championship, and soon wins her heart. As Aicha’s passion for fighting becomes complicated by family conflict and forbidden love, she discovers that the rules of life are not as clear cut as the rules of kung fu.
Director: Natasha Arthy
Year: 2007
Language: Danish
Genre: Drama, Action
Baker, The
Milo is a professional hit man living on the edge. When failing to fulfill a contract for the first time, he escapes the city to avoid the wrath of his employers. Hiding out in a remote rural village, the locals mistake him for the new baker. But as the villagers discover his true identity and begin securing his services, things start to get messy. He’s about to discover that you can’t have your cake and eat it. The Baker is a killer comedy starring top British talent, including Damian Lewis (Band of Brothers), Michael Gambon (Harry Potter) and Kate Ashfield (Shaun of the Dead).
Director: Gareth Lewis
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Comedy
Temoins, Les (The Witnesses)
Manu arrives in Paris, where he shares a cheap hotel room with his sister Julie. He strikes up a joyous, chaste friendship with Adrien, a wealthy doctor in his early fifties who opens Manu’s eyes to a different way of life.
On a trip out on a speedboat, Adrien introduces Manu to Sarah and Mehdi, a young couple who have just had their first child.
An unplanned love affair and the onset of the AIDS epidemic - seen by the media and in the collective imagination as a shameful, modern-day plague - upset the ordered tranquility of their individual destinies. Each of them becomes a protagonist in - and witness to - a contemporary tragedy, where those who don’t die may emerge stronger, but not undamaged.
Director: André Téchiné
Year: 2007
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Uncorked
UNCORKED! is the must-have contemporary guide to wine. This acclaimed and unpretentious public television series strips away the mystique of the world’s most fabled beverage and restores the fun for wine lovers everywhere. Through interviews with some of the most important wine experts, makers and critics, UNCORKED! is as informative as it is entertaining.
Narrated by Ted Allen
Ted Allen is devoted to making good wine and delicious food accessible to everyone. On the Emmy® Award-winning NBC/Bravo hit Queer Eye, he helped guests and viewers sharpen their cooking and entertaining skills.
Director: Kevin Whelan
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Deuxième Souffle, Le
Alain Corneau brings colour and stylized flare to the noir gangster opus in his remake of Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le deuxieme souffle. Gustave Minda, one of France’s most notorious gangsters, escapes from prison and resolves to start fresh. He plans to flee the country with Manouche, the woman he loves. With the police on his heels, Gustave needs one last score to make it work. The job is a success, but the fallout is a disaster. Complications abound, and Gustave will have to do whatever it takes to regain his honour.
Director: Alain Corneau
Year: 2007
Language: French
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Mystery
Brick Lane
At the tender age of seventeen, Nazneen’s life is turned upside down. After an arranged marriage to an older man, she exchanges her Bangladeshi village home for a block of flats in London’s East End. In this new world, pining for her home and her sister, she struggles to make sense of her existence – and to do her duty to her husband. A man of inflated ideas (and stomach), he sorely tests her compliance.
Told from birth that she must not fight her fate, Nazneen submits, devoting her life to raising her family and slapping down her demons of discontent. Until the day that Karim, a hot-headed local man, bursts into her life.
Against a background of escalating racial tension, they embark on an affair that finally forces Nazneen to take control of her life. Set in multicultural Britain, Brick Lane is a truly contemporary story of love, cultural difference, and ultimately, the strength of the human spirit.
Director: Sarah Gavron
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
L'île aux trésors (Treasure Island)
Adapted from the classic tale by Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island is the story of a rag-tag crew of scruffy pirates who set sail for the adventure of a lifetime and a fortune in buried treasure. Without a map or a hope, the team of vagabonds, baronesses and headstrong buccaneers will stop at nothing for their prize. Treasure Island is a fantastic quest for the whole family to enjoy, taking you to the ends of the earth and the edge of your seat.
Director: Alain Berbérian
Year: 2007
Language: French
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Family
Chambre des morts, La (Chamber of Death)
A young, blind child, Melody, is kidnapped and held for ransom. That same night, two computer programmers run over a man carrying a bag filled with money. This series of tragic, random events lead police to the abandoned warehouse where Melody's lifeless body is found and leaves them strugging to put together the murder mystery. Across town, another child is kidnapped and the countdown is on to track down the killers before their time runs out.
Director: Alfred Lot
Year: 2007
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Jindabyne
On an annual fishing trip, in isolated high country, Stewart, Carl, Rocco and Billy (‘the Kid’) find a girl’s body in the river. It’s too late in the day for them to hike back to the road and report their tragic find. The next morning, instead of making the long trek back, they spend the day fishing. Their decision to stay on at the river is a little mysterious—almost as if the place itself is exerting some kind of magic over them.
When the men finally return home to Jindabyne, and report finding the body, all hell breaks loose.
Director: Ray Lawrence
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Gone with the Woman
Gone with the Woman is a film about a young man’s encounter with the enigma that is love and the even greater enigma that is woman. After being invaded, seduced and conquered, our main character realizes that he has a girlfriend. How else can you explain the presence of a talkative woman in his apartment that has only begun to turn his life upside-down?
Director: Petter Naess
Year: 2007
Language: Norwegian
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
Youth Without Youth
YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH stars Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction) as Dominic Matei, a professor whose life changes after a cataclysmic incident during the dark years prior to World War II. Becoming a fugitive, he is pursued through far-flung locations including Romania, Switzerland, Malta and India.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Mad Detective
Detective Bun (Lau Ching Wan) was recognised as a talented criminal profiler until he sliced off his right ear to offer as a gift at his chief’s farewell party. Branded as ‘mad’ and discharged from the force, he has lived in seclusion with his beloved wife May (Kelly Lin) ever since. Strangely, Bun has the ability to ‘see’ a person’s inner personality, their subconscious desires, emotions, and mental state. When a missing police gun is linked to several heists and murders, hotshot Inspector Ho (Andy On) calls on the valuable skills of his former mentor Bun to help unlock the killer’s identity. However, Bun’s unorthodox methods point to a fellow detective and take a schizophrenic turn for the worse…
Director: Johnny To, Ka-Fai Wai
Year: 2007
Language: Cantonese/English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime, Action, Mystery
My Father My Lord
This modern interpretation of the story of Abraham and Isaac traces the struggles of one Israeli family. With a rigid adherence to religious tenants, a rabbi, his wife and young son lead a life completely devoted to God. As they embark upon their journey to the Dead Sea, a sudden tragedy forces the rabbi to re-evaluate his strict religious beliefs against the wellbeing of his family. My Father, My Lord is a powerful film that artfully explores an extremist worldview put to the ultimate test.
Director: David Volach
Year: 2007
Language: Hebrew
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Steam
Steam is an absorbing drama about life's many challenges and rewards. Ruby Dee (American Gangster), Ally Sheedy (High Art) and Kate Siegal (The O.C) are three very different women going through life’s struggles but find solace in each other at the steam room at the local gym.
Director: Kyle Schickner
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Drama
When Did you Last See Your Father?
"When Did You Last See Your Father?" is Blake Morrison's moving and candid memoir of his father in the weeks leading up to his death. When Arthur Morrison was diagnosed with terminal cancer he had only a few weeks left to live. Morrison traveled to Yorkshire to stay with his mother in the village where he grew up. He visited his father at the hospital where he had spent so much time with his own patients as a GP. As his father's condition worsened Morrison contemplated their shared experiences, the intimacies and the irritations of their relationship. After his father's death Morrison questions the nature of the bond between them, articulately expressing the contradictions, frustrations, love and loss bound into the complicated relationships which most of us have with our parents as we grow up.
Director: Anand Tucker
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Surveillance
This fast-paced British thriller stars Tom Harper (Blood And Chocolate, Telstar) as Adam, a gay teacher swept up in a national scandal that starts when his mysterious one-night stand shows up dead - and leads all the way to the British Royal family. In his desperate race to discover the killer, Adam's every move is tracked through the streets of London by hundreds of closed circuit cameras.
An exhilarating, edge-of-your-seat mystery, SURVEILLANCE co-stars a tremendous British cast including Brit star Dawn Steele ("Monarch of the Glen"), Sean Brosnan (Pierce Brosnan's son) and gay icon Simon Callow. From the first frame to the last, director Paul Oremland (Like It Is) crafts a paranoid tale that is at once terrifying and wildly entertaining.
Director: Paul Oremland
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Drama
Blood on the Flat Track
Filled with big hits, fishnets and short skirts, "Blood on the Flat Track" is the true story of the rise of all-girl roller derby. Set in "Rat City" (Seattle), the roller girls tell all in the story of their first two seasons through the voices of skaters like Burnett Down, Basket Casey, Shovey Chase and many more. "Blood On the Flat Track" takes you inside the "for the skater, by the skater" world of all-girl roller derby and gives you an inside glimpse of what it's like to be on the track, and on top of the world.
Director: Lainy Bagwell, Lacey Leavitt
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Sports, Documentary
Devil Came on Horseback, The
THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK exposes the tragedy taking place in Darfur as seen through the eyes of an American witness who has since returned to the US to take action to stop it.
Using the exclusive photographs and first hand testimony of former U.S. Marine Captain Brian Steidle, THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK takes the viewer on an emotionally charged journey into the heart of Darfur, Sudan, where an Arab run government is systematically executing a plan to rid the province of its black African citizens. As an official military observer, Steidle had access to parts of the country that no journalist could penetrate. Ultimately frustrated by the inaction of the international community, Steidle resigned and returned to the US to expose the images and stories of lives systematically destroyed.
Director: Ricki Stern, Anne Sundberg
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair, The
An Iraqi journalist, along with his three brothers, in an absurd comedy of errors, was suspected of plotting the assassination British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The siblings eventually wound up at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison, where they were physically and mentally tortured by American soldiers for months - though there was no evidence against them.
Director: Petra Epperlein & Michael Tucker
Year: 2007
Language: English/Arabic
Genre: Documentary
Sacred Love-Making
Sacred Love-Making is the kind of film that will awaken all of your senses, challenge you, enrich your intimate understanding, increase your spontaneity, cultivate your artistry, and– without a doubt– make you a better lover. Watch as best-selling author and relationship expert, Karinna Kittles-Karsten, introduces ancient Taoist love secrets and rituals for deeper sexual satisfaction and emotional connection as she guides you through the Sacred Love-Making experience in this exquisitely beautiful, breakthrough educational DVD. Karinna helps two married couples, one together four years and one twenty, take their most intimate relationship experience to new levels of passion, connection, communication, pleasure, freedom and sublime union. Follow these two couples at two different stages of their relationships and discover how you and your partner can experience the sensually sublime.
Director: Matt Levin
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
You Belong to Me
Jeffrey has met the man of his dreams, hunky Frenchman René, but he's an elusive lover. When Jeffrey discovers where René lives, he impulsively moves into the same building. But the move backfires as René becomes cold and distant. Instead, the landlady Gladys lavishes attention on her new tenant.
Soon Jeffrey realizes that there's something strange going on, especially when he hears mysterious moans beneath his floorboards and learns that he's not the first Jeffrey to live in the apartment. When he stumbles on Gladys' dark secret, will it cost him his life?
Director: Sam Zalutsky
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Drama
Entre les Mains de Michel Tremblay
“Fiction is a letter that I’m writing to myself to make sense of the world.” These are the words of Michel Tremblay and the opening of this delicate and touching documentary that explores the creative mind behind Les Belles Soeurs. From Glasgow to Tokyo, from Key West to Montreal, In the Hands of Michel Tremblay sensitively paints the portrait of a singular career.
Director: Adrian Willis
Year: 2007
Language: French
Genre: Canadian, Documentary
Dakota
Brian and Jack were inseparable; now they barely speak. Their formerly close-knit group has all but disbanded in the wake of encroaching adulthood. But when Jack tries to hang himself from a plant hook while house-sitting, he inadvertently triggers an impromptu reunion that brings the old gang back together and could change everything... forever.
Welcome to DAKOTA: friendship, fistfights, concussions, quarter-life crises, blow-ups, breakdowns, toy guns, telemarketing, love, lies, and breakfast - all in someone else's home.
In this dark, offbeat comedy everyone comes together to examine what went wrong. Along the way, they may just remind each other what went right.
Director: Matthew Atkinson
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama, Comedy
Newcastle
A coming-of-age tale combining the gorgeous Australian surfing beaches with raw energy, music and rebellion of teen culture. 17-year-old Jesse and his brothers live in the small town of Newcastle. Jesse spends his time chasing waves and battling with his resentful older brother. Jesse's got the natural skills to surf his way into the international circuit, but can he overcome his equally natural ability to sabotage himself? On a get-away weekend with his friends, Jesse discovers what is really important in life.
Director: Dan Castle
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Elijah
Told with a surprising combination of heart and humour, Elijah balances drama and comedy to create an entertaining portrait of Elijah Harper, one of the first Aboriginal politicians in Canada. Billy Merasty commands the screen with his light, but heartfelt portrayal of Harper, with help from the all-star supporting cast that includes Gary Farmer, Lorne Cardinal, Maury Chaykin, Glen Gould and Gabrielle Miller. Unexpectedly funny, Elijah is a fresh take on one of the key figures in recent Canadian history
Director: Paul Unwin
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Je Crois Que Je L'Aime (Could this be Love)
Lucas is a wealthy and handsome industrialist recovering from a recent heartbreak until he finds himself falling head over heels for Elsa, an acclaimed ceramist and fresco artist. Elsa is also enamored but unsure of her new suitor. While Elsa is creating a fresco for Lucas’ office foyer, he hires a private investigator to discover why this enchanting woman is still single.
Director: Pierre Jolivet
Year: 2007
Language: French/Japanese/Italian/English/Italian/Cantonese
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days
When the flighty Gabita decides to terminate her pregnancy -- a crime in Romania from 1966 until 1989 -- her fiercely loyal university dorm-mate and best friend, Otilia, accompanies her to a hotel room to be "helped" by one Mr. Bebe , the only black-market practitioner they can afford. When the foul Bebe requests something far more precious than money for his services, the girls descend into a harrowing journey of the soul that is nothing short of shattering. Taking place over a single Saturday in 1987, the film holds an enormous emotional gravitas. It evolves into a profound exploration not only of sorority in harsh times but of choices and responsibility when options are few.
Director: Cristian Mungiu
Year: 2007
Language: Romanian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Chaotic Ana (Caotica Ana)
From acclaimed Spanish director Julio Medem comes a thriller that negotiates the personal, the political and the mystical. Ana leads a sheltered existence with her father on Ibiza until a mysterious philanthropist (Charlotte Rampling) stumbles on Ana’s artwork and invites her to Madrid to develop as a painter. There Ana meets Said, a Berber refugee, and suddenly their passionate relationship leads to the discovery of other past lives that Ana appears to have had. As these are peeled away Ana begins to question who she is and her journey takes her across eras and continents on a voyage that goes far beyond self-discovery. Grounded in an extraordinary performance by newcomer Vellés, Chaotic Ana is a tale of remembrance, trauma and identity that negotiates the very boundaries of that which can be known and that which will always defy human control.
Director: Julio Medem
Year: 2007
Language: Spanish with English subtitles
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Walk All Over Me
Arriving from a small town, a young woman looks up the only person she knows in couver, and learns she is doing very well as a full-time dominatrix. Thinking it is a route she herself can exploit for some fast cash, she selects a potential client, only to find he is being pursued by three very bad men, who will stop at nothing to retrieve a large sum of money they believe he has stolen from them. The young woman suddenly finds herself both in the middle and in the way.
Director: Robert Cuffley
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama, Comedy
Delice Paloma
Need a construction permit? How about company tonight? Then Ms. Aldjéria is your woman; there's no job she can't handle. The woman who has given herself the surname of her country, Algeria, isn't shy and won't back down from a challenge - no scam is too daunting, no con is too brazen. With a little beauty and low morals, the women she recruits can make a good living. Her latest, Paloma, is a big hit, especially with Riyad, Ms. Aldjéria's son.
Now with the purchase of Caracalla Springs, the Aldjéria clan has a chance to change their lives... but it may prove to be one scam too many.
Director: Nadir Moknèche
Year: 2007
Language: French/Algerian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Call Girl
Maria, a high-class call girl, is hired to seduce a local politician in an attempt to obtain his permission to build a luxury resort on protected land. Meanwhile, two detectives come upon the case and begin investigating the politician. But when one of the cops discovers that Maria is his long lost love, everything gets a lot more complicated.
Director: António-Pedro Vasconcelos
Year: 2007
Language: Portuguese
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Ex Drummer
In this blackly comic film, Dries, a popular author, is approached by three disabled misfits seeking a drummer for their punk rock band - "The Feminists". The singer is a misogynist skinhead who literally lives his life upside down; the bass player has a paralyzed arm due to a masturbation accident, and the deaf guitarist lives in squalor with his druggie wife and baby daughter. Dries deliberately forces the group’s snarling punk spirit into a downward spiral of chaos and explosive violence. His disability? He can’t play drums. Set to a throbbing punk soundtrack, Ex Drummer dispenses rapid-fire shots of equal-opportunity political incorrectness, taking no prisoners!
Director: Koen Mortier
Year: 2007
Language: Flemish
Genre: Drama, Crime, Comedy
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Master filmmaker Sidney Lumet directs this absorbing suspense thriller about a family facing the worst enemy of all - itself. Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Andy, an overextended broker who lures his younger brother, Hank (Ethan Hawke), into a larcenous scheme: the pair will rob a suburban mom-and-pop jewelry store that appears to be the quintessential easy target. The problem is, the store owners are Andy and Hank’s actual mom and pop and, when the seemingly perfect crime goes awry, the damage lands right at their doorstep.
Oscar-winner Marisa Tomei plays Hoffman’s trophy wife, who is having a clandestine affair with Hawke, and the stellar cast also includes Albert Finney as the family patriarch who pursues justice at all costs, completely unaware that the culprits he is hunting are his own sons. A classy, classic heist-gone-wrong drama in the tradition of "The Killing" and Lumet’s own "The Anderson Tapes."
Director: Sidney Lumet
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Normal
NORMAL explores the lives of three strangers who are struggling for control, having failed to confront their roles in a tragic accident two years earlier. Catherine is a well-to-do suburban mother who has lost the ability to connect on any level with her surgeon husband and twelve-year-old son after the loss of her elder son. Walt is a failed writer and philandering university professor who deals with impending middle age and haunting memories by sabotaging every relationship around him. Jordie is a sensitive teenager who made a wrong choice one night and although he’s paid the price, still can’t halt his journey downward.
Director: Carl Bessai
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Without the King
Swaziland is Africa's last absolute monarchy and a nation at a dangerous crossroads. The people demand democracy and an end to starvation, while the king insists on banning political parties. The people want relief from a 43 per cent AIDS/HIV infection rate, the world's highest, while the king prices a fleet of luxury limousines. Against this backdrop of blatant inequality, we meet the royal family: Princess Sikhanyiso, a teenage rapper and eldest child; Queen LaMbikiza, a headstrong outsider and first of 12 wives; and King Mswati III, a distant figure out of touch with his home and country. The camera captures the birth of a nation's revolution, a struggle to reconcile First and Third World orders.
Director: Michael Skolnik
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
Shelter Me
Anna and Mara return from a holiday abroad, and realize that Anis, a young Moroccan immigrant, managed to hide in their car in order to cross the border to Italy. At first unsure of what to do, they then decide to take him with them.
Gradually Anis establishes himself in the life of the couple and for a brief moment, the three manage to help and support each other in an unusual and emotionally intricate relation. Yet this precarious balance is short-lived: Anis loses his job and is rejected by Mara whom he has fallen in love with and Anna has to witness her idyllic domestic arrangement fall to pieces.
Director: Marco S. Puccioni
Year: 2007
Language: Italian
Genre: GLBT, Drama
Black White + Gray: a Portrait of Sam Wagstaff & Robert Mapplethorpe + Patti Smith
Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Sam Wagstaff’s transformation from innovative museum curator to Robert Mapplethorpe’s lover and patron is intensively probed in Black White + Gray. During the heady years of the 1970s and 1980s, the New York City art scene was abuzz with a new spirit, and Mapplethorpe would be at the center of it. Wagstaff pulled him from his suburban Queens existence, gave him a camera and brought him into this art world that seemed to be waiting for him, creating the man whose infamous images instilled emotions ranging from awe to anger. In turn, Mapplethorpe brought the formerly starched-shirt preppie to the world of drugs and gay S-and-M sex, well-documented in his still-startling photographs. Twenty five years separated the lovers, but their relationship was symbiotic to its core, and the two remained together forever. The film also explores the relationship both men had with musician/poet Patti Smith, whose 1975 debut album "Horses" catapulted her to fame.
Director: James Crump
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Documentary
Persepolis
The poignant story of a young girl coming-of-age in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.Clever and fearless, she outsmarts the "social guardians" and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden. Yet when her uncle is senselessly executed and as bombs fall around Tehran in the Iran/Iraq war, the daily fear that permeates life in Iran is palpable.
Director: Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud
Year: 2007
Language: French/Persian/English
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
My Kid Could Paint That
In the span of only a few months, 4-year-old Marla Olmstead rocketed from total obscurity into international renown - and sold over $300,000 dollars worth of paintings. And then, five months into Marla’s new life as a celebrity and just short of her fifth birthday, a bombshell dropped. CBS’ 60 Minutes aired an exposé suggesting strongly that the paintings were painted by her father, himself an amateur painter. Embattled, the Olmsteads turned to the filmmaker to clear their name.
Director: Amir Bar-Lev
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Operation Filmmaker
Soon after the fall of Baghdad, a charismatic 25-year-old film student, Muthana Mohmed, stands in the rubble of his film school and explains to an American television audience that his dream of becoming a filmmaker has been destroyed - first by Saddam Hussein, then by American bombs. This brief, fortuitous appearance on MTV changes his life forever. Watching in the U.S., actor Liev Schreiber stops channel surfing, utterly captivated. Feeling guilty about a war he opposed, Schreiber decides to extend to the unknown Iraqi a dream opportunity-to come to Prague to intern on an American movie (Everything is Illuminated). Once on set, however, frustrated expectations and cross-cultural misunderstandings complicate the relationship between Muthana and his American benefactors, and good intentions quickly devolve into bad vibes. Filmmaker Nina Davenport becomes increasingly entangled in the young Iraqi's life, as his visa nears expiration and the threat of returning to Baghdad looms.
Director: Nina Davenport
Year: 2007
Language: English/Arabic
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
Finn's Girl
Finn, a flirtatiously confident and workaholic doctor, has dedicated her life to running her late partner Nancy's abortion clinic while raising their daughter Zelly. When a charming pair of surveillance cops arrives on the scene, they provide a little more than protection for Finn and Zelly - particularly Diana, the female partner of the duo. Gracefully balancing the intrigue of a mystery/suspense film with smart domestic drama, Finn's Girl delivers a refreshingly sophisticated, original story.
Director: Dominique Cardona and Laurie Colbert
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama, Romance
Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens
Through her work for Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair and Vogue, Annie Leibovitz has produced some of the most iconic images of the last 30 years. Masterful at exposing her photographic subjects, Annie's own life has been private and protected. In this film, she made the decision to bare her artistic process, her personal journey and her delicate balancing of fame and family to the camera -- a camera that was vigilantly pointed by a filmmaker who is her younger sister. Life Through a Lens reveals a woman who has become as iconic as the people she photographs.
Director: Barbara Leibovitz
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Your Beautiful Cul-de-Sac Home
Ben McCleary is a former lawyer who starts a 'green' lawn care service in the name of doing something good, or at least as little bad as possible. Trevor Brinkman is a loner whose vigil over his ailing mother seems driven by conscience, but may have a darker aspect. In school they were friends, but now only one thing connects them: a subversive environmental polemic they coauthored, entitled ‘The Suburban Lawn Dynamic’. As the long-lost document once again becomes a focus in their lives, their paths unfold in counterpoint, revealing the self-deception and denial of suburban life in insightful and often hilarious ways.
Director: Cameron Kirkwood
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Comedy
O'Horten
Odd Horten has driven the same train route every day for so long that the rest of his life has become a routine of comfortable rituals. But the time has come for the 67-year-old engineer to retire after forty years of dutiful service. His orderly, solitary existence is about to give way to a future of perplexing questions. How could Horten get himself in such an awkward situation when he should be celebrating his retirement? Will Horten ever travel by plane? Will he finally sell his prized boat? How does Horten end up in a pair of women’s red high-heeled shoes? Will he survive a nighttime drive with a blindfolded man at the wheel? The only thing for certain is that Horten is first in line for some absurd adventures and quirky encounters. And maybe even a new dog and an old love!
Director: Bent Hamer
Year: 2007
Language: Norwegian
Genre: World Cinema
Sleuth
The Anthony Shaffer play originally brought to the screen in 1972 gets the remake treatment in this updating that finds Michael Caine stepping into the role of the brilliant thriller writer portrayed by Laurence Olivier in the original, and Jude Law following in Caine's footsteps as the young hairdresser who steals the literary giant's wife, only to find himself subsequently swallowed up in an elaborate revenge scheme.
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Verite ou presque, La (True Enough)
Anne is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Nothing is going right for this television host; ratings are dropping fast, her marriage is falling apart and her son is a ten year old brat. Alienated from Thomas, her too perfect husband, she seeks refuge in the arms of Marc, her ex-husband who’s married to Caroline. Meanwhile, Thomas has a thing for Caroline but Caroline has eyes for someone else. When Vincent, a novelist and lecturer, arrives on the scene, he turns all their lives upside down. Quickly, they all learn that when lust rings, deception follows. So what’s the truth? The truth is you can love someone forever but not all the time... well, that's true enough.
Director: Sam Karmann
Year: 2007
Language: French with English subtitles
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
La Zona
Set against the gritty canvas of Mexico City, The Zone paints a visceral picture of a society torn apart by class conflict. An affluent suburban neighborhood known as The Zone stands fortified by cement walls, barbed wire and security cameras amidst a poverty-stricken city. It's a plush sanctuary exclusive to Mexico's elite, where justice reigns outside the law. When a violent storm breaches The Zone's barrier, three teenage outsiders sneak in and attempt a petty robbery that ends in tragedy, triggering a heated vigilante manhunt for the only surviving intruder.
Director: Rodrigo Plá
Year: 2007
Language: Spanish
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Arranged
"Arranged" centers on the friendship between an Orthodox Jewish woman and a Muslim woman who meet as first-year teachers at a public school in Brooklyn. Over the course of the year, they learn that they have much in common -- not least of which is that they are both going through the process of arranged marriages.
Director: Diane Crespo, Stefan Schaefer
Year: 2007
Language: English, Hebrew
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
How She Move
Following her sister's death from drug addiction, a high school student is forced to leave her private school to return to her old, crime-filled neighborhood where she re-kindles an unlikely passion for the competitive world of step dancing.
Director: Ian Iqbal Rashid
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Global Warning Box Set
Three award-winning films about our planet in peril.
Manufactured Landscapes:
A stunning documentary by award-winning director Jennifer Baichwal - follows photographer Edward Burtynsky to China, as he captures the effects of the country's massive industrial revolution.
Crude Awakening:
Compelling, intelligent, and highly disturbing, the film visits with the world's top experts and comes to a startling but logical conclusion - our industrial society, built on cheap and readily available oil, must be completely re-imagined and overhauled.
The Refugees of the Blue Planet
This film unveils the way widespread destruction from more frequently-occurring natural disasters has caused the number of environmental refugees (25 million) to outnumber - for the first time in history - those fleeing from war or political persecution (23 million).
Year: 2007
Language: English & French
Genre: World Cinema, Environment, Canadian, Documentary
Secret of the Grain (La Graine et le mulet), The
Director Abdellatif Kechiche’s critically acclaimed and awarding winning film, ‘The Secret of The Grain,’ is a poignant French drama that follows the story of a Tunisian immigrant, Slimane Beiji. One day, he is suddenly dismissed after 35 years as a shipyard worker. Ashamed that he can no longer provide for his family, he buys an old boat and opens up a restaurant that features his ex-wife’s couscous recipe as the signature dish. Along the way he faces contemptuous bankers, disapproving government workers and relentless urgings from his sons to return to his home country. His only supporter is from Rym, played by award-winning newcomer Hafsia Herzi, a loving daughter with a relentless drive. She is the catalyst that helps her father pursue his dreams.
This touching and beautifully composed film plunges into the heart of a changing culture, focusing on the trials and tribulations of a man and his family, and the dreams that inspire individuals to fight for their cause.
Director: Abdellatif Kechiche
Year: 2007
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Eden Log
A labyrinthine underworld of tunnels, demonic pursuers and an abandoned civilization awaits Tolbiac when he is awakened in a cave without any recollection of how he came to be there. The dead body laying next to him is only the first clue to discovering his identity, as he propels through a journey of survival in a cemetery-like world created by a mysterious organization called Eden Log.
Director: Franck Vestiel
Year: 2007
Language: French, English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Sci-Fi, Mystery
Terror's Advocate
Jacques Verges is the kind of lawyer that people love to hate. Over several decades, he's made a career of defending some of the most despised figures of our time - from anti-colonial bombers in Algeria, to left-wing extremists like Carlos the Jackyl, to right-wing dictators like Slobodan Milosevic. At the height of his career he disappeared for an eight year period that no investigator has ever been able to account for. Then he reappeared - refusing to disclose where he had been - and continued where he left off, taking on even more controversial clients.
Director: Barbet Schroeder
Year: 2007
Language: French/English/German/Arabic
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
I Really Hate My Job
I Really Hate My Job sizzles its way through one steamy night and the lives of five feisty women with delusions of grandeur, working in a London restaurant. Customers come and go, unaware of the real concerns of these women; a rat or two in the kitchen, bitter arguments about life and art, as well as a coup d’état in the kitchen… all overshadowed by the anticipation of the arrival of a famous Hollywood movie star. You might assume they’re just three waitresses, one cook and a dishwasher, but they see themselves as an artist, an actor, a lover, an author and a revolutionary.
Director: Oliver Parker
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
Up the Yangtze
In China, it is simply known as “The River.” But the Yangtze—and all of the life that surrounds it—is undergoing a truly astonishing transformation wrought by the largest hydroelectric project in history, the Three Gorges Dam. Canadian documentary filmmaker Yung Chang returns to the gorgeous, now-disappearing landscape of his grandfather’s youth to trace the surreal life of a “farewell cruise” that traverses the gargantuan waterway.
Singularly moving and cinematically breathtaking, UP THE YANGTZE gives a human dimension to the wrenching changes facing not only an increasingly globalized China, but the world at large.
Director: Yung Chang
Year: 2007
Language: English, Mandarin
Genre: Documentary
Counterfeiters, The
The true story of Salomon Sorowitsch, counterfeiter extraordinaire and bohemian.
After getting arrested and placed in a German concentration camp, he agrees to help the Nazis in an organized counterfeit operation set up to help finance the war effort.
It was the biggest counterfeit money scam of all times. Over 130 million pound sterling were printed, under conditions that couldn't have been more tragic or spectacular. During the last years of the war, as the German Reich saw that the end was near, the authorities decided to produce their own banknotes in the currencies of their major war enemies. They hoped to use the duds to flood the enemy economy and fill the empty war coffers. At the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, two
barracks were separated from the rest of the camp and the outside world, and transformed into a fully equipped counterfeiters workshop. "Operation Bernhard" was born. Prisoners were brought to Sachsenhausen from other camps to implement the plan...
Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky
Year: 2007
Language: German
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Planet B-Boy
With compelling characters and vibrant dance sequences, PLANET B-BOY is set in the International world of B-boying - the urban dance more commonly known as "breakdancing."
Weaving between the vivid backdrops of Osaka, Paris, Seoul and Las Vegas, unforgettable images frame the intimate stories of dancers who struggle for their dreams despite being misunderstood by
larger society and even their own families.
An American dancer in Vegas looks for his big break; a Korean son seeks his father’s approval; a twelve-year-old boy in France confronts his family’s racism - all the b-boys’ lives collide in Germany where their skills are put to the ultimate test: the "Battle of the Year" finals, with crews from 18 nations vying for the title of World Champion.
PLANET B-BOY features electrifying dance performances and astonishing displays of power and grace, showing how a street dance from New York has evolved into an inspiring art form for a new generation around the world.
Director: Benson Lee
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Documentary
Three Robbers, The (Les Trois Brigands)
A young orphan girl named Tiffany has her life changed when her carriage is stopped by three robbers. Instead of returning to her overbearing “Auntie” at the orphanage, the charming and clever little girl convinces the robbers that her father is a wealthy king in India who will pay a healthy ransom for her safe return. Blinded by promises of gold, the bumbling robbers agree to take Tiffany captive - she even helps them write the ransom note! With a wonderfully witty script, dramatic design and bold use of colour, this film is a cinematic treat for audiences of all ages.
Director: Hayo Freitag
Year: 2007
Language: German
Genre: World Cinema, Crime, Comedy, Family, Animation
Price of Sugar
Narrated by Paul Newman, "The Price of Sugar" follows Father Christopher Hartley, a charismatic Spanish priest, as he organizes some of this hemisphere's poorest people to fight for their basic human rights. Father Hartley must go up against one of the country's most powerful sugar baron families, the Vicinis, and even the government of the Dominican Republic to give voice to these Haitians, frequently receiving threats to his own life. Filmmaker Bill Haney - in addition to documenting the abysmal living conditions of the cane workers - portrays a developing country trying to find balance between capitalism and the need for unskilled labor and the illegal immigrants who inevitably bear the load.
"The Price of Sugar" raises key questions about where the products we consume originate, at what cost they are produced and ultimately, where our responsibility lies.
Director: Bill Haney
Year: 2007
Language: English/Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
Manufacturing Dissent
Michael Moore, world famous muckraker and flag bearer for the documentary renaissance, has the camera turned on him in this revelatory critical biography by Canadian filmmakers Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine. They follow Moore on the cusp of the release of Fahrenheit 9/11, the subsequent Slacker Uprising Tour and the 2004 US election. But even as they doggedly pursue an elusive interview with Moore (sound familiar?), the filmmakers find many former associates and subjects willing to talk. Some of the findings are quite shocking, calling into question not only Moore's practice as a documentarian, but also the effectiveness of his self-centred approach to political filmmaking. Seeking to separate the fact, fiction and legend that surrounds Moore, Melnyk and Caine ultimately offer a balanced portrait and an effective starting point for further discussion of Moore's contentious work and political filmmaking in general.
Director: Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Documentary
Dernier Gang, Le
From petty theft on the benches of Belleville to the over-publicised hold-ups of the large Parisian banks, this is the spectacular rise of Simon and his gang. They are capable of emptying a series of safes under the very nose of the police who are bewildered by the calm audacity shown by the group. But how long will the inseparable gang manage to avoid bloodshed, endure the boredom of being on the run in the tropics and have a love life, whilst at the same time playing hide-and-seek with the police? This is an especially difficult task, as they have to contend with Milan, a cop who has been determined to defeat them ever since their first criminal activities in the neighbourhood. Obsessed by Simon’s gang, Milan’s sole purpose in life is to catch the leader.
Director: Ariel Zeitoun
Year: 2007
Language: French
Genre: Drama
In Mom's Head (La Tete de maman)
20 years ago, a few years before I was born, Mom was in love with a young man. 20 years ago, they separated and the bastard, when he left, took with along him my mother's smile. I need to find him to set things right. Otherwise, I'll die.
LULU - 15 years old
Director: Carine Tardieu
Year: 2007
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
J'Attends quelqu'un (Waiting for Someone)
A small town...
Divorced father and café manager Louis is more than fond of Sabine. They often meet at a hotel in the afternoon. But he pays each time, because she’s a prostitute. He keeps his painful secret to himself, not even telling his close sister Agnes.
A schoolteacher, Agnes has been married to Jean-Philippe for a long time. But love and years together can’t withhold periods of sadness. One day, Agnes meets Stephane, a young man she knew when he was a child. Distraught, he too, carries a heavy secret...
Director: Jérome Bonell
Year: 2007
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Crude Impact
CRUDE IMPACT deftly explores the interconnection between human domination of the planet and the discovery and use of oil, exposing our deeprooted dependency on the availability of fossil fuel energy. It examines the future implications of peak oil — the point in time whenthe amount of petroleum worldwide begins a steady, inexorable decline. Journeying from the West African delta region to the heart of the Amazon rainforest, from early man to the unknown future, CRUDE IMPACT chronicles the collision of our insatiable appetite for oil with the rights and livelihoods of indigenous cultures, other species and the planet itself. It is a thought-provoking story filled with discovery, sorrow, outrage, humor and ultimately, hope.
Director: James Wood
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Environment, Documentary
Fille Coupée en Deux, La
From the celebrated director Claude Chabrol comes the darkly sensual A Girl Cut in Two. A young woman, Gabrielle, is torn between two wealthy lovers: Charles, a middle-aged writer; and Paul, the heir to a pharmaceutical fortune. Vying for Gabrielle's attention, the two men form an intense rivalry. They both claim to love her, but their motives, and the tactics they will resort to, remain unclear.
Director: Claude Chabrol
Year: 2007
Language: French
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Very British Gangster, A
The Noonan crime family is front and center in this searing profile of a dynasty of corruption. A Very British Gangster is an up-close look at the tribulations of charismatic leader Dominic Noonan, the boss of the Noonan crime dynasty. This deep look into the criminal underbelly of England reveals a world embroiled in kidnapping, narcotics and murder. With unprecedented access into the lives of these contemporary criminals, A Very British Gangster exposes an intriguing world of bravado and brutality unlike anything to come before it.
Director: Donal MacIntyre
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Crime, Documentary
Edge of Heaven, The
Retired widower Ali sees a solution to loneliness when he meets prostitute Yeter. Ali proposes to the fellow Turkish native to live with him in exchange for a monthly stipend.
Ali’s bookish son Nejat seems disapproving about his bully father’s choice. But the young German professor quickly grows fond of kind Yeter, especially upon discovering most of her hard-earned money is sent home to Turkey for her daughter’s university studies.
The accidental death of Yeter distances father and son even more, emotionally and physically. Nejat travels to Istanbul to begin an organized search for Yeter’s daughter
Ayten. He decides to stay in Turkey and trades places with the owner of a German bookstore who goes home to Germany. What Nejat doesn’t know is that 20-something political activist Ayten is already in Germany, having fled the Turkish police.
Director: Fatih Akin
Year: 2007
Language: German/Turkish/English
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Garbage Warrior
What do beer cans, car tires and water bottles have in common? Not much unless you're renegade architect Michael Reynolds, in which case they are tools of choice for producing thermal mass and energy-independent housing. For 30 years New Mexico-based Reynolds and his green disciples have devoted their time to advancing the art of "earthship biotecture" by building self-sufficient, off-the-grid communities where design and function converge in eco-harmony. Shot over three years and in four different countries, Garbage Warrior is a timely portrait of a determined visionary, a hero of the 21st century.
Director: Oliver Hodge
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Environment, Documentary
Cool School, The (Story of the Ferus Art Gallery)
How do you build an art scene from scratch? How do you balance the contradictions of money and purity in the messy art world? How do you make art matter?
Toward the end of 1956, med-school dropout Walter Hopps met artist Ed Kienholz for lunch at a hot dog stand on La Cienega Blvd. The two drafted a contract on a hot dog wrapper that stated simply, "We will be partners in art for five years." And with that the Ferus Gallery was born.
Under the leadership of genius autodidact Walter Hopps, and then the smooth-as-silk Irving Blum, Ferus groomed the art scene in Los Angeles from a loose band of idealistic beatniks into a coterie of competitive, often brilliant artists. What was lost and what was gained is tied up in a complicated web of egos, passions, money, interpersonal relationships and artistic statements - this is the subject of THE COOL SCHOOL.
Director: Morgan Neville
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Wild Horse Redemption
At a prison in the high desert foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, hardened criminals are taught the training methods of ‘horse whisperers’ and given 90 days to tame wild mustangs taken from the herd that roams government lands. Failure means one more defeat for the inmate; success could save both lives. Most of the inmates who volunteer for this unique rehabilitation program have never ridden a horse before, let alone trained a wild one. The Wild Horse Redemption follows the men and mustangs of the Wild Horse Inmate Program through one training cycle. Experienced inmate trainers guide greenhorn trainees while they attempt to gentle and saddle-train wild horses fresh from the range. Can two wild creatures tame each other?
Director: John Zaritsky
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Documentary
Truands
Enter the brutal world of Parisian organized crime, where aging mob boss Claude Corti rules over his pack of power-hungry thugs with an iron fist. In this empire of fast cars, upscale drugs and expensive women, money is God and Corti’s people are always rewarded for their devotion. But when they disobey, his creative use of power drills and metal rods makes them wish for death. Power and money, however, cannot buy trust...
Director: Frédéric Schoendoerffer
Year: 2007
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Alice Neel Documentary
Alice Neel was one of the great portrait painters of the 20th century. She reinvented the genre of portraiture by expressing the inner landscape of her varied sitters, among them Andy Warhol, Annie Sprinkle, Bella Abzug, and Allen Ginsberg. Painting a diverse cross-section of humanity, from Communist Party leaders to art world personalities to her neighbors in Spanish Harlem, Neel created a body of work that serves as a social document of New York and America in the 20th Century. The film will tell the story of Neel's life, exploring the struggles she faced as a woman artist, a single mother, and a painter who defied convention.
Director: Andrew Neel
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Breakfast with Scot
Adapted from the novel by Michael Downing, BREAKFAST WITH SCOT is a touching and very contemporary comedy that tells the story of an "alternative" family finding its feet.
Eric (Tom Cavanagh) lives for all things hockey. At 36, he's managed to turn his stint playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs into a full-time gig commentating for sports TV. He's living the dream! But when Eric's boyfriend Sam (Ben Shenkman) announces that they're to become temporary guardians of a young boy, Eric's comfortable world shatters. Enter Scot (Noah Bernett) -- a recently orphaned, sweet, vulnerable, yet oddly resilient kid, who also happens to be a swishy 11 year-old sissy-of-a-boy -- and Eric's mirror opposite. Freaked out by Scot's "joie de vivre", Eric and Sam gently nudge Scot away from scented hand cream, excessive twirling, and kissing the school bully, towards a more "acceptable" pastime - hockey. But after Scot's disastrous first game, Eric begins to rethink the compromises he's made.
Director: Laurie Lynd
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Comedy
Butch Jamie
Jamie Klein is an out-of-work butch lesbian actor willing to try almost anything for a role. Femme, Butch, and Male Jamie all make appearances throughout this quirky, gender-bending comedy about struggling for success in Hollywood.
Director: Michelle Ehlen
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Comedy
Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains
Last year, former President Jimmy Carter dove headfirst into the most controversial topic in international politics, publishing the book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. Following the path of Carter's recent book tour, Academy Award winner Jonathan Demme reveals a complex individual who, with the gusto and determination of a youngster, criss-crosses the county to get his message of peace across, even as that message creates a media onslaught in which his credibility and judgement are called into question.
Director: Jonathan Demme
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Mirage Man
A different kind of superhero, Marko Zaror stars as a man who dons the hero mask reluctantly, keeping it on only because it seems to help his emotionally disturbed brother. No wires, no CGI -- just loads of heart, a healthy dose of humor and a stunning physical performance from Zaror and his dedicated team of stuntmen, a team so dedicated that they don't even pull their punches.
Director: Ernesto Díaz Espinoza
Year: 2007
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Muffins for Granny
The sad history of the Canadian government's residential school program has had a profound effect on First Nations peoples across the country. For filmmaker Nadia McLaren, it’s personal history as well; her Ojibway grandmother was forced into a residential school and its repercussions have echoed through her family. Looking to understand her loving but troubled grandmother, McLaren interviews seven First Nations elders about their experiences in residential schools. Mixing stark animated moments with human faces and home movie footage, Muffins For Granny is a raw and honest documentary about a difficult chapter in Canadian history — a chapter that, for some, is not over.
Director: Nadia McLaren
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Documentary
No End In Sight
The first film of its kind to chronicle the reasons behind Iraq's descent into anarchy, NO END IN SIGHT is a lucid, jaw-dropping, insider's tale of wholesale incompetence, recklessness and venality. Based on over 200 hours of footage, the film provides a candid retelling of the events following the fall of Baghdad in 2003 by high ranking officials such as former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Ambassador Barbara Bodine (in charge of Baghdad during the Spring of 2003), Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell, and General Jay Garner (in charge of the occupation of Iraq through May 2003), as well as Iraqi civilians, American soldiers and prominent analysts. NO END IN SIGHT examines the manner in which the principal errors of U.S. policy largely created the insurgency and chaos that engulf Iraq today.
Director: Charles Ferguson
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Crazy Love
Dan Klores' CRAZY LOVE tells the astonishing story of the obsessive roller-coaster relationship of Burt and Linda Pugach, which shocked the nation during the summer of 1959. Burt, a 32 year-old married attorney and Linda, a beautiful, single 20 year-old girl living in the Bronx had a whirlwind romance, which culminated in a violent and psychologically complex set of actions that landed the pair's saga on the cover of endless newspapers and magazines.
With the cooperation of the principles, Burt, now 79, and Linda, 68, Klores examines the human psyche and the concepts of love, obsession, insanity, hope and forgiveness. CRAZY LOVE recently had its world premiere at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and earned the Best Documentary award at the 2007 Santa Barbara Film Festival.
Director: Dan Klores and Fisher Stevens
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Sick Nurses
Hell hath no fury like a nurse scorned in this gruesome but witty horror story from Thailand. Dr. Tah is a charming but devious surgeon who has a profitable side business, supplying black market dealers with fresh human organs for transplant. Dr. Tah's staff of seven nubile nurses help him find a steady source of victims, but one of his aides, Tahwan, is shocked to find that her sister Nook is on the doctor's list of upcoming cases, and threatens to turn him in to the police. Dr. Tah puts Tahwan under the knife to keep her quiet, and she conveniently dies during surgery. A few days later, as Dr. Tah is receiving an award for his work saving lives, the ghost of Tahwan begins stalking the halls of the hospital, and she seeks violent revenge against the doctor and her fellow nurses who failed to come to her rescue.
Quite possibly the most entertaining Thai horror movie ever made... An instant classic!
Director: Piraphan Laoyont and Thodsapol Siriwiwat
Year: 2007
Language: Thai
Genre: World Cinema, Horror, Crime
Harry Smith's Old Weird America (Story of Folk Music)
The Old, Weird America tracks the history of the Anthology of American Folk Music from its initial compilation of 78 records from rural Americana to its 1952 release on Folkways Records, the urban folk revival of the 1960s, and its continuing influence on contemporary music.
Director: Rani Singh
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Vieille Maîtresse, Une (Last Mistress, The)
This future wedding is on everyone’s lips. The young and dissolute Ryno de Marigny is betrothed to marry Hermangarde, an extremely virtuous gem of the French aristocracy. But some, who wish to prevent the union, despite the young couples’ mutual love, whisper that the young man will never break off his passionate love affair with Vellini, which has been going on for years.
In a whirlpool of confidences, betrayals and secrets, facing conventions and destiny, feelings will prove their strength is invincible...
Director: Catherine Breillat
Year: 2007
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Romance
Itty Bitty Titty Committee
This latest fabulous movie from Jamie (But I’m a Cheerleader) Babbit is a dynamic, romantic, frequently funny and politically astute movie with a smart script, rockin’ soundtrack and terrific ensemble cast that includes sexy young Melonie Diaz as the new dyke on the block who falls in with a great gang of Feminist troublemakers called Clits in Action (CiA), and then falls in love with leader of the pack, Nicole Vicius. Unfortunately, Nicole has a girlfriend - Melanie Mayron - and, as they say, drama ensues.
Director: Jamie Babbitt
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Comedy
How About You
HOW ABOUT YOU tells the story of Ellie, a young woman left in charge of the residential home run by her older sister, over the Christmas period. Whilst most of the residents have left to spend the festive period with their families, four residents, known as 'the hardcore' remain. Their behavior is so terrible that the home faces closure as potential new residents are put off by their appalling antics.
Director: Anthony Byrne
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Far North
Deep in the bone-chilling Arctic Tundra, two women -- an enigmatic warrior (Michelle Yeoh) and her innocent companion -- battle for survival against sub-zero temperatures, scarce food supplies and hostile soldiers. When a mysterious man (Sean Bean) is found collapsed near their camp, he's nursed back to health and permitted to stay, but his presence creates an increasingly dark rift between the women that climaxes in a shockingly brutal act of vengeance.
Director: Asif Kapadia
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Romance
Steep
Whether it's jumping out of a helicopter hovering above the powdery slopes of Alaska's mountain ranges or trying to outrun an avalanche in the French Alps, STEEP traces the legacy of extreme skiing from its early pioneers to the death-defying daredevils of today.
Director: Mark Obenhaus
Year: 2007
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Echoes of Home
What does a baby's cry have in common with the echo of a mountain yodler, and what connects the head tone of a Tuvin nomad with the stage show of a vocal artist? The answer is: THE VOICE. Against a background of powerful alpine vistas and modern city landscapes, Echoes of Home enters the wondrous sonic world of three exceptional Swiss vocal artists. Their universe of sound extends far beyond what we would describe as singing. In their engagement with local and foreign traditions, the powerful mountain landscape becomes a stage as do the landscapes and sonic backdrops of modern life.
Director: Stefan Schwietert
Year: 2007
Language: German/Russian
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
Princess of the Sun (La Reine Soleil)
The Princess of the Sun follows the adventures of a bubbly and fiercely independent young Egyptian princess named Akhesa who longs to find her mother, Queen Nefertiti. With the help of Prince Tut, the two escape the Royal Palace and travel down the Nile on an action packed adventure to find Elephant Island, where Queen Nefertiti awaits. With innocence their only weapon, Princess Akhesa and Prince Tut overcome many tests and ordeals, and encounter an extraordinary adventure that will unite them forever.
Director: Phillipe Leclerc
Year: 2007
Language: French
Genre: Adventure, History, Fantasy, Family, Animation
Who Killed The Electric Car?
It was among the fastest, most efficient production car ever built. It ran on electricity, produced no emissions and catapulted American technology to the forefront of the
automotive industry. The lucky few who drove it never wanted to give it up. So why did General Motors crush its fleet of EV-1 electric vehicles in the Arizona desert?
WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? chronicles the life and mysterious death of the EV-1; examining the cultural and
economic ripple effects caused by its conception and how they reverberated through the halls of government and big business.
Director: Chris Paine
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: Environment, Documentary
Anytown, USA
This hilarious documentary follows a tightly-run mayoral race in the small town of Bogota, New Jersey. When the much-reviled - and legally blind - Republican incumbent Steven Lonegan boldly announces he will run for re-election, the town citizens go on the offensive to unseat him. Enter Democrat Fred Pesce, coaxed from retirement. With his ailing health and politics akin to those of Tony Soprano, Fred leaves the field wide open for former local football hero Dave Musikant (also legally blind!) to step in as the long-shot independent candidate. With its quirky characters, dilapidated infrastructure and impassioned citizens, Bogota serves as the perfect backdrop for a behind-the-scenes look at a nation’s political heart.
Director: Kristian Fraga
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
War Tapes, The
The first war movie filmed by soldiers themselves, The War Tapes tells the story of Operation Iraqi Freedom through the eyes of three young men from different backgrounds, driven to fight for different reasons. The soldiers’ unfailing candor and honesty paints a complicated picture and tells a story that the 2,700 embedded reporters in Iraq could never get.
Director: Deborah Scranton
Year: 2006
Language: English/Arabic
Genre: Documentary
Stone's Throw, A
Set in the achingly beautiful world of rural Nova Scotia, A Stone’s Throw follows the journey of photojournalist Jack Walker, who arrives unannounced in the remote seaside town where his sister, Olivia lives a carefully constructed and insulated life with her two children. Jack, charming but guarded, is reticent about both the reason for his visit and the secrets of his recent past.
Director: Camelia Frieberg
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
DarkBlueAlmostBlack
DarkBlueAlmostBlack is a state of mind, an uncertain future, a colour: a colour that we don't always recognize and which varies depending on the light, the medium and the mood.
After his father suffers a stroke, Jorge is forced to take over his job. He has spent the last few years working hard, caring for his father and finishing college, but now he wants to strike out on his own. Through his brother Antonio, he meets Paula, a woman with whom he develops an unusual relationship. Through her, Jorge learns to stop feeling responsible for everything and finally confront his own wishes, ignoring what the world expects of him. Everything should change for Jorge as a result... but it may not.
Director: Daniel Sánchez Arévalo
Year: 2006
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
I Served the King of England
Jan Dítì (Ivan Barnev) is short in height, but high in ambition. To put it bluntly, the young provincial waiter wants to become a millionaire. Jan falls in love with Líza (Julia Jentsch), a Sudeten German proud of her Aryan blood. They marry, and soon after Líza is sent to serve on the Polish front, while Jan remains behind to serve as a nurse in a Nazi SS Research Hospital, but when she returns, she has a fortune in rare stamps that Jews had ‘left behind’ … After Líza’s less than heroic death, Jan sells the stamps and becomes … a millionaire. But he only has three years to enjoy his fortune: the new Communist regime puts him behind bars for 15 years. Upon his release Jan reflects on the events that have shaped his life – and to reflect on what might have happened if he had played a different role in these events.
Director: Jiri Menzel
Year: 2006
Language: Czech with English subtitles
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Black Book
When the hiding place of the beautiful Jewish singer Rachel Steinn is destroyed by a stray bomb, she decides with a group of other Jews to cross the Biesbosch to the already liberated south of the Netherlands. However, their boat is intercepted by a German patrol and all the refugees are massacred. Only Rachel survives. She joins the resistance, and under the alias Ellis de Vries manages to get friendly with the German SD officer Müntze. He is very taken with her and offers her a job. Meanwhile, the resistance devise a plan to free a group of imprisoned resistance fighters with Ellis' help. The plan is betrayed and fails miserably. Both the Resistance and the Germans blame her. She goes into hiding once more, with Müntze in tow. Together they wait for the war to end. Liberation does not bring Ellis freedom; not even when she manages to expose the real traitor. Every survivor is guilty in some way.
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Year: 2006
Language: Dutch/German/English/Hebrew
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Offside
In Iran, all Women Are banned from men's sporting events. In June of 2005, Iran defeated Bahrain to qualify for the World Cup. A disparate group of girls, united only by their desire to see their beloved team play live and in-person, disguise themselves in myriad ways, risking arrest to try to get into the game.
Director: Jafar Panahi
Year: 2006
Language: Farsi
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Great Happiness Space, The
The 'Great Happiness Space' is Osaka's Rakkyo Café: a club run by ambitious young entrepreneur Issei, where a core staff of 20 young men are groomed to become the top male escorts in the city. But contrary to expectations, these boy-toys are (mostly) heterosexual, and their clients are strictly female: attractive young women who are willing to spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars on these sharp-dressing, smooth-talking young men - buying their time, 'financially worshipping' them, in return for 'sweet conversation' and ... ahem, other services. A cold-eyed study of love for sale, this is one of the most puzzling, paradoxical, and provocative documentaries of the year.
-Edinburgh International Film Festival
Director: Jake Clennell
Year: 2006
Language: Japanese
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
This Film is Not Yet Rated
This breakthrough film from Oscar®-nominated director Kirby Dick (Twist of Faith) is an unprecedented investigation into the MPAA film ratings system and its profound impact on American culture. Including interviews with top filmmakers such as Kevin Smith (Clerks 2), Atom Egoyan (Where the Truth Lies), Matt Stone (South Park) and John Waters (A Dirty Shame), this film examines the most controversial ratings decisions in recent history, as well as the MPAA’s efforts to protect copyright and control culture in the name of piracy and profit.
Ultimately, Dick tries to uncover Hollywood’s best-kept secret: the identities of the ratings board members themselves. The result is a movie about movies unlike any other movie ever made.
Director: Kirby Dick
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Right of the Weakest, The (La Raison du plus faible)
It's the story of people who have nothing anymore. No work, no hope, no future, and who cling to their memories and the lies of the past.
It's the story of three men who dream that something is still possible, in spite of everything.
It's the story of men who take up arms to go and find money where it lies, in other men's pockets because they feel they have a right to it!
A story without good guys and bad guys. A story of the weak and the strong.
In which all the characters have their reasons, in which they all pick sides.
It's a story in which some will die while others will survive but which will leave no one unscathed.
In the decaying industrial town of Liege, Belgium, three men dream of escape from their endless days of drudgery and of buying a moped for their friend's wife. They decide to organize a large-scale hold-up. As expected, nothing goes to plan.
Director: Lucas Belvaux
Year: 2006
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Hula Girls
Based on a true story... It is 1965 and in Japan, the country has started to shift from coal to oil. One by one the old mining towns begin their long slow decline. But for one small town way up north, its leaders and mining company officials have come up with an idea to develop Japan's first Hawaiian Village. And what's a Hawaiian Village without a troupe of Hula dancers? The only problem is, no one knows how to do the dance, or even knows what the Hula is! The skepticism and conservatism of the locals is gradually overcome as their daughters fall under the spell of one talented and determined dance instructor from the big city of Tokyo.
Director: Sang il-Lee
Year: 2006
Language: Japanese
Genre: Drama
East Side Story
In East Los Angeles, handsome young Diego works at his family’s restaurant while secretly having an affair with a hunky but super-closeted real estate agent, Pedro. For the largely Latino neighborhood, the landscape is literally changing as white folks move in, including gay couple Wesley and Jonathan. Diego, increasingly frustrated with his hush-hush situation with Pedro (who, making matters worse, romantically pursues a female relative of Diego’s!), falls for Wesley. But racist and homophobic friends, relatives and, in Wesley’s case, a pissy ex-boyfriend guarantee this affair will be no picnic!
Director: Carlos Portugal
Year: 2006
Language: English/Spanish
Genre: Comedy
Things To Do
An unstable and indifferent office worker, Adam Stevenson, decides to leave his job and escape to his childhood home to reevaluate his "life strategy". Upon his return, Adam is greeted by the under concern of his baby boom parents and quickly aligns with the lazy comforts of his backyard, yearning for a summer of sulk and solitude.
A chance encounter at the grocery store reunites him with Mac, an unusual acquaintance from his past who acts as the perfect catalyst for Adam to turn the wheel of change and rebirth. Together the underachieving duo set out to complete a "Things To Do" list, a collection of bizarre aspirations plucked from the gaps of an incomplete adolescence.
Director: Ted Bezaire
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Comedy
Summer Rain (El Camino De Los Ingleses)
Summer Rain is a lushly romantic, beautifully crafted paean to young men coming of age in southern Spain in the 1970s. We follow the lives of three young men--each of whom must confront his past, as well as his future, while indulging in the expected pursuits of youth on the threshold of adulthood, especially, of course, love and sex. And as each discovers what life's erratic fortunes have in store for him, they must venture forth, leaving this past and their youthful indiscretions behind.
- Sundance Film Festival
Director: Antonio Banderas
Year: 2006
Language: Spanish with English subtitles
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Journey to Armenia (Voyage en Armenie, Le)
The story centres on a father and his daughter. Barsam is ailing. Anna, a cardiologist, detects a problem with his heart and urges surgery. These two do not have the warmest of relationships, so it is perhaps no surprise that the stubborn patriarch refuses his daughter's advice. He disappears from France, back to Armenia. Anna, grappling with age-old issues - she feels her father ruined her mother's life - sets off in ill-tempered pursuit, helped by the irrepressible and equally irresponsible Yervanth, a family friend who acts as Anna's guide when she touches down in the land of her father.
What ensues is classic: Anna does not know the country at all, does not speak its language and resents being forced into a place where she is not in control. Her search for her father drives the entire film. At the same time, through a series of tiny encounters and, most importantly, through the warmth of its inhabitants, Armenia gradually breaks down the resistance of this outsider.
Director: Robert Guédiguian
Year: 2006
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Four Minutes (Vier Minuten)
The captivating story of an aging German piano teacher who finds a young genius pupil incarcerated in the women's prison. Flashbacks of wartime add depth to the already dramatic setting, as the girl in question is an alienated, angry little punk with a difficult past. This encounter of two very different women tells of rebellion and surrender, pain and longing for the truth - and of the immense power of music.
Director: Chris Kraus
Year: 2006
Language: German
Genre: Music & Live Performance, Drama
Entrance, The
A police detective is swept into a web of deception and, in search of the truth, finds herself in a contest with forces of the occult.
Ryan James, a street-savvy drug dealer, has escaped from the hands of his kidnappers. Jen Porhowski, a strong-willed and dedicated detective, skeptically tries to separate fact from fiction in Ryan's account of the night's horrifying events.
As the two are drawn further into the case, a greater truth unravels, drawing attention to writings from centuries ago. As detective Porhowski tries to save lives she soon finds that the life that needs saving is her own.
Director: Damon Vignale
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Love for Sale
After two years of living in São Paulo, Hermila returns to her village in northeastern Brazil with her newborn son, anxiously awaiting the arrival of her husband. Time passes slowly here and the wait becomes an even heavier burden as she slowly realizes that she's been abandoned. Determined to raise enough money to leave the stifling environment of her hometown, she comes up with an unlikely prize to raffle off - one conceived during her chats with newfound friend and local prostitute Georgina. What is most powerful, however, is the spirit of this abandoned young single mother, who is determined to live life to the fullest and not let other people determine her future.
Director: Karim Ainouz
Year: 2006
Language: Portugese
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema
Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema explores the emergence of gay and lesbian films from the beginning of the gay rights movement in the 1960s to the “New Queer Cinema” of the 90s, the proliferation and influence of gay and lesbian films festivals, the discovery by the film business of the gay market; the explosion of gay images in the mainstream media and the current phenomenon of all things gay.
The story of gay and lesbian cinema is closely related to the world surrounding it, and the use of popular culture is a backdrop against which the film examines important cultural, political and social moments- and movements that intersect with gay life.
Director: Lisa Ades & Lesli Klainberg
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Documentary
Klimt
The lavishly erotic paintings of Gustav Klimt were the subject of great controversy and scandal in Austria at the turn of the 20th century. Amidst the opulence and decadence of Vienna, Klimt depicts the most productive, and tumultuous, period of the artist's life. From his passionate, hedonistic affair with the notorious French dancer Lea de Castro, to his battle with an oppressive government for control of his work, Klimt, as performed by John Malkovich and directed by award-winning filmmaker Raul Ruiz, is a feverish and sensual homage to a man who insisted on living his life as he painted it.
Director: Raoul Ruiz
Year: 2006
Language: English/German/French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Transylvania
Zingarina arrives in Transylvania, in the heart of Romania, looking for the man she loves. She had met him in France, but one day he left without a word of explanation. With her friend Marie, Zingarina throws her body and soul into a romantic quest in this fascinating land.
Director: Tony Gatlif
Year: 2006
Language: French/Romanian/English
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Vitus
Vitus is a boy who almost seems to be from another planet: he has hearing like a bat, he
plays piano like a virtuoso and studies encyclopaedias at the age of five. It is no wonder
his parents begin to anticipate a brilliant future for him. They want Vitus to become a
pianist. However, the child prodigy prefers to play in his eccentric grandfather’s
workshop. He dreams of flying and of a normal childhood. Ultimately, with one dramatic leap, Vitus takes control of his own life.
Director: Fredi M. Murer
Year: 2006
Language: Swiss/German/English
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Refugees of the Blue Planet
Each year, millions of people the world over are driven to forced displacement. From the Maldives to Brazil, and even closer to home, here in Canada, the disturbing accounts of people who have been uprooted are amazingly similar. The enormous pressure placed on rural populations as a result of the degradation of their life-supporting environment is driving them increasingly further from their way of life. The Refugees of the Blue Planet sheds light on the little-known plight of a category of individuals who are suffering the repercussions of this reality: environmental refugees. They are constantly growing in number and often have no legal status, even though their right to a clean and sustainable environment has been violated.
Director: Hélène Choquette & Jean-Philippe Duval
Hélène Choquette et Jean-Philippe Duval
Year: 2006
Language: English & French
Genre: Environment, Canadian, Documentary
Reprise
REPRISE is a playful film about friendship, madness and creativity, about love and sorrow, great ambitions and the often unpleasant clash between youthful presumptions and reality. With its somewhat un-Norwegian structure, REPRISE has a distinct style and narrative technique which moves the story forward in a rich and enthusiastic manner.
Director: Joachim Trier III
Year: 2006
Language: Norwegian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Loving Annabelle
Simone Bradley is Saint Theresa's prized young poetry teacher who finds peace and security within the boarding school walls. Annabelle is a charismatic and enchanting new student who quickly draws attention for her rebellious behavior. Fearing Annabelle will influence the other students, rigid Headmistress (Ilene Graff), instructs Simone to keep an eye on Annabelle and get her under control. Simone, however, quickly learns that the real challenge is not Annabelle's behavior but the attraction budding between the two. As Annabelle pursues her teacher, she unleashes the passion that has been locked deep inside Simone, who must decide whether or not to enter an affair that could cost her everything.
Inspired by the classic lesbian drama Maedchen in Uniform, out writer-director Katherine Brooks unveils this passionate tale of forbidden love with intelligence, wit and sensitivity.
Director: Katherine Brooks
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: GLBT
Jean Philippe
Fabrice is the biggest Johnny Hallyday fan in the world. But one day he wakes up in a subtly different reality... a world where his music idol doesn’t exist! So Fabrice sets out to discover what happened to Jean-Philippe Smet, the man known as Johnny Hallyday. He’s shocked to find that Jean-Philippe is just an ordinary average joe running a bowling alley. This starts a hilarious uphill mission to resurge his idol. But is it possible?
Director: Laurent Tuel
Year: 2006
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
Driving Lessons
Ben (RUPERT GRINT) is a shy, bookish 17-year old begins another unpromising summer vacation when his absurdly straitlaced world is turned upside down when
he gets a job assisting Evie (JULIE WALTERS), an eccentric retired actress. Vulgar, dignified and childish all at once, Evie enters Ben's life with a cataclysmic force. Suddenly caught between two worlds, Ben starts to gravitate towards his employer's unconventional and often bizarre ways, even though it continually gets him into trouble with his highly-strung and overbearing mother (LAURA LINNEY).
What follows is a journey in which Ben and Evie help each other move forward in their radically different lives, as Ben is forced to confront how he was brought up and who he wants to be.
Director: Jeremy Brock
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Fiction
Alex is a successful, married filmmaker who’s stalled on his new script and faces a creative crisis. Seeking inspiration and distance from family distractions, he goes to stay with an old friend in the stunning Catalan Pyrenees. At dinner with mutual friend Judith, Alex is introduced to her guest Mónica, a violinist. Over dinner, the four reflect on their lives, the decisions they’ve made and who they have become.
Director: Cesc Gay
Year: 2006
Language: Catalan/Spanish with English subtitles
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Arrivederci Amore Ciao
Giorgio Pellegrini has been living amongst guerilla fighters in Central America for the past fifteen years. Once a zealous Italian revolutionary, he was forced to flee his homeland after being implicated in a political bombing. Now, weary and war-torn, Giorgio is ready to return to Europe and make a fresh start, but a plan to clear his name is thwarted by a corrupt police officer in possession of incriminating evidence. Trapped at the officer's mercy, Giorgio finds himself being pulled back into the life he was desperate to leave behind.
Director: Michele Soavi
Year: 2006
Language: Italian, Spanish, French
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime
Yacoubian Building, The
The Yacoubian Building in Cairo, a monument to a bygone era, is still an eye-catching construction despite obvious signs of decay. The film portrays the lives its residents. One is the aristocratic Zaki, a lazy man living of family wealth with a weakness for women. A neighbor, Bothayna, is a poor young girl, is obliged to sleep with the owner of the shop where she works in order to feed her family and even has to sacrifices the love of her life to that end. Taha, a young man at a crossroads, has developed a troubling interest in Muslim extremism and as a result has his dream of attending the police academy thwarted. Hatem is a respected newspaper editor who has a dangerous secret -- he's gay, and is romantically involved with young soldier. And atop everyone else are Fanous and Malak, living in a hut on the roof that doubles as the laundry facilities. Different people and different stories, all detached from each other, with only one thing bringing them together... the Yacoubian...
Director: Marwan Hamed
Year: 2006
Language: Arabic
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Heros de la famille, Le (Family Hero, The)
Cabaret owner Gabriel dies unexpectedly and his absent children make the trek from Paris to Nice to attend the funeral. Friends, lovers and former wives (including Catherine Deneuve) are equally grief-stricken and curious about what Gabriel left behind. The reading of the will results in a bombshell: Gabriel has unexpectedly left the Blue Parrot Cabaret to his completely uninterested children, rather than to his devoted friend. He’s also left strict instructions that the show must go on; the dysfunctional family must keep the Blue Parrot running!
Director: Thierry Klifa
Year: 2006
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Cocaine Cowboys
The cocaine trade of the '70s and '80s had an indelible impact on contemporary Miami. Smugglers and distributors forever changed a once sleepy retirement community into one of the world's most glamorous hot spots, the epicenter of a $20 billion annual business fed by Colombia's Medellin Cartel. By the early '80s, Miami's tripled homicide rate had made it the murder capital of the country, which a TIME cover story dubbed the city "Paradise Lost."
Director: Billy Corben
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: History, Crime, Documentary
Special
After enrolling in an experimental drug study, a lonely and depressed comic book geek named Les (Michael Rapaport) believes he has gained a host of bizarre supernatural powers -- the ability to levitate, read people's minds and even walk through walls. Donning a homemade superhero costume, he puts his newfound abilities to use on the streets, fighting crime and protecting the world from the forces of evil. Has he truly become humanity's unlikely savior? Or is he simply losing his mind?
Director: Hal Haberman and Jeremy Passmore
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Comme t'y es belle (Gorgeous)
This delightfully entertaining French take on Sex and the City follows four women trying to balance work, romance, religion and motherhood. Life is a daily soap opera with flirtations, affairs and infidelities, but friendship is the common thread that bonds these women together through all their highs and lows.
Director: Lisa Alessandrin
Year: 2006
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
Brazil in 1970. The country has been under a military dictatorship since 1964 and, in Mexico, the Brazilian football team is trying to win its third World Cup title. There's nothing that twelve-year-old Mauro wants more than this title because then, Jairzinho, Pelé and company would finally be able to sport that third star on their strip - something that no other team has ever achieved. But then, when his parents suddenly go on holiday, Mauro, whose mother is Catholic and whose father is Jewish, finds himself in the completely different world of his paternal grandfather. Putting the sleepy middle-class town of Minas Gerais behind him, Mauro heads for São Paulo's Bom Retiro district. The area's Greek, Arab, Jewish and above all Italian popu lation makes it one of the city's liveliest quarters. And then all at once it's the final and Italy are to play Brazil in Mexico City.
Director: Cao Hamburger
Year: 2006
Language: Portuguese/Yiddish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Takva: A Man's Fear of God
Muharrem is a strict Muslim who lives his life by the rules and rites of an arch-conservative religious order. His fear of God is so unconditional that he captures the attention of the order’s sheikh - who offers him a position of responsibility. Muharrem’s job is to collect the rents from the order’s Istanbul properties. For the first time, he is
confronted with the modern world - witnessing sin, hypocrisy and blasphemy. Worse still, Muharrem has to confront his own personal temptations.
Director: Ozer Kiziltan
Year: 2006
Language: Turkish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Follow My Voice
"Follow My Voice? With the Music of Hedwig" weaves the compelling, courageous stories of four students at New York's controversial Harvey Milk School with a unique chronicle of the yearlong creation of "Wig in a Box," the album whose songs poignantly echo these teens' struggles and aspirations. Audiences around the world became instant "Hed Heads" as Hedwig, like everyone who was ever young, questions "The Origin of Love," dreams of a "Sugar Daddy," feels like a "Freak" and curses a "Wicked Little Town."
Through a dramatic and vibrant combination of verité documentation, student video diaries, and rare in-studio scenes of artists recording tracks, Follow My Voice offers a powerful look at this unlikely intersection of youth, gender and rock. Includes Yoko Ono, Rufus Wainwright, Cyndi Lauper, Ben Folds, The Breeders, Yo La Tengo, John Cameron Mitchell, They Might Be Giants and more.
Director: Katherine Linton
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Documentary
Bombay Calling
Bombay Calling dives into the bustling world of late nights, long hours and hard partying to chronicle the rise of a new force in Indian society - the telemarketers. Fast-paced, gritty and fun, the film is a compelling insider’s look at youth culture in India.
Director: Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Documentary
Sweet Mud
In this dark yet comedic coming-of-age story, a boy enters his bar mitzvah year on a southern Israel kibbutz in the 1970s. Trying to reconcile the community’s motto of equality with the reality that his mentally ill mother has been abandoned, he comes to learn that not every person fits into Utopia.
Director: Dror Shaul
Year: 2006
Language: Hebrew/French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Lockdown, USA
In 1972, New York State established what became known as "The Rockefeller Drug Laws," the strictest legislation against drug trafficking passed by any state in the union. While many felt the laws were unnecessarily harsh under Ronal Reagan's War on Drugs, the laws spread to to 48 other states.
Thanks to the Rockefeller Laws, nonviolent drug offenders now frequently serve longer sentences than those convicted of rape, armed robbery, arson, or other crimes that threaten the lives and safety of others.
Hip-hop mogul and activist Russell Simmons has launched a media campaign to repeal the Rockefeller Laws in favor of more humane legislation that focuses on treatment rather than punishment. Lockdown, U.S.A. is a documentary which examines the history of the Rockefeller Laws and Simmons' battle to raise awareness about the destructive impact of these laws.
Director: Rebecca Chaiklin,Michael Skolnik
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Cats of Mirikatani, The
Eighty-year-old Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani survived the trauma of WWII internment camps, Hiroshima, and homelessness by creating art. But when 9/11 threatens his life on the New York City streets and a local filmmaker brings him to her home, the two embark on a journey to confront Jimmy's painful past. An intimate exploration of the lingering wounds of war and the healing power of friendship and art, this documentary won numerous awards around the world including the Audience Award at its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Director: Linda Hattendorf
Year: 2006
Language: English/Japanese
Genre: Documentary
Iraq In Fragments
An opus in three parts, Iraq In Fragments offers a series of intimate, passionately-felt portraits: A fatherless 11-year-old is apprenticed to the domineering owner of a Baghdad garage; Sadr followers in two Shiite cities rally for regional elections while enforcing Islamic law at the point of a gun; a family of Kurdish farmers welcomes the US presence, which has allowed them a measure of freedom previously denied. American director James Longley spent more than two years filming in Iraq to create this stunningly photographed, poetically rendered documentary of the war-torn country as seen through the eyes of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. 2007 Academy Award® nominee for Best Documentary.
Director: James Longley
Year: 2006
Language: Arabic/Kurdish/English
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
Brigades du Tigres, Les
What is the link between a fatal bank heist, an ambitious prince, an opera première, the Chief of Police and the Triple Alliance between England, France and Russia? Set in Belle-Epoque Paris against a backdrop of political and international intrigue, Tiger Brigades tells the legendary story of Inspector Valentin and his Tiger Brigade men as they battle against corrupt civil servants, anarchist gangsters and Constance, the manipulative wife of a Russian prince. Amidst a chaotic and murderous web of deceit and greed, they race against the clock to protect national security, and perhaps even to prevent war.
Director: Jérôme & François Cornuau
Year: 2006
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Alatriste
Based on Arturo Pérez-Reverte's best-selling novels, Captaine Alatriste is a sweeping 17th-century epic teeming with swordplay, lust and political intrigue. After his company falls prey to a deadly ambush, Alatriste (Viggo Mortensen) returns to Spain to fulfill the dying wish of a fallen friend: to care for his son, Íñigo. But the once-mighty empire has started to crumble under the weight of corruption. With Íñigo under his wing, Alatriste must fight to protect his honour amidst the decay of his cherished homeland.
Director: Agustín Díaz Yanes
Year: 2006
Language: Spanish, Latin, Portuguese, Flemish
Genre: Adventure, History, Drama
Exterminating Angels
After scandalizing France with 2002’s Secret Things, controversial director Jean-Claude Brisseau returns with this semi-autobiographical story of a director whose curiosity leads to unexpected consequences. Francois is holding auditions for his upcoming film about female sexuality. He expects the process to be unconventional but could never predict the dangers... As his female cast embarks on a journey of intense physical pleasure-seeking they become emotionally involved with the director and with each other.
Director: Jean-Claude Brisseau
Year: 2006
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Toi et Moi (You and Me)
Ariane, a writer of photo-novels for the magazine "Toi et Moi", has a tendency to use and embellish her own love life and that of her sister Léna in her work. However, their life is no storybook: Ariane clings to a man who couldn't care less about her while Léna grows bored with her own boyfriend. But what if Ariane surrendered to the love of Paolo, the handsome Spanish builder who works in her building? And what if Léna let her heart beat for Mark, the virtuoso violinist she has just met? Between the real world and photo-novels, will the two sisters find true love at last?
Director: Julie Lopes-Curval
Year: 2006
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
Crude Awakening, A
Our civilization¿ addiction to oil puts it on a collision course with disaster. Compelling, intelligent, and highly disturbing, the film visits with the world¿ top experts and comes to a startling but logical conclusion our industrial society, built on cheap and readily available oil, must be completely re-imagined and overhauled. The world¿ oil supplies are peaking and the crisis of global shortage looms; we are running out of oil and we don¿ have a plan.
Director: Basil Gelpke & Ryan McCormack
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: Environment, Documentary
Emma's Bliss
Diagnosed with a fatal disease, Max impulsively leaves Germany to live out the brief remainder of his life on a beach in Mexico. Instead, he crashes his stolen car into a pig farm run by Emma, a wise seductress whose unique perspective on life and death helps Max achieve the ultimate liberation.
Director: Sven Taddicken
Year: 2006
Language: German
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Away from Her
"Away From Her" is the lyrical screenplay adaptation of celebrated author Alice Munro's short story "The Bear Came Over the Mountain." "Away From Her" is a beautifully moving love story that deals with memory and the circuitous, unnamable paths of a long marriage. Married for 50 years, Grant (Gordon Pinsent) and Fiona's (Julie Christie) commitment to each other appears unwavering, and their everyday life is full of tenderness and humour. This serenity is broken only by the occasional, carefully restrained reference to the past, giving a sense that this marriage may not always have been such a fairy tale. This tendency of Fiona's to make such references, along with her increasingly evident memory loss, creates a tension that is usually brushed off casually by both of them. As the lapses become more obvious and dramatic, it is no longer possible for either of them to ignore the fact that Fiona is suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
Director: Sarah Polley
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
When the Road Bends... Tales of a Gypsy Caravan
When the Road Bends: Tales of a Gypsy Caravan follows the breath-taking performances and behind-the-scenes action of a unique concert tour. We discover the real lives of these musicians; traveling to their homes, meeting their families and seeing what music brings to their lives. At home in Macedonia, Romania, India and Spain, the tales of these characters unfold and are woven between their performances, reflecting the imagery and emotion of the music. We get to know them, allowing us to understand and expand on the riches of their music, history and culture.
During the highs and lows of a whimsical fun-filled U.S. road trip (ranging from screaming fans flocking hundreds of miles for an autograph to cold coffee at Motel-6 machines and plenty of practical jokes), the artists befriend each other and they share the majesty and glory of music whilst overcoming the prejudice that is part of their shared ancestry.
Director: Jasmine Dellal
Year: 2006
Language: English, Romani, Spanish, Romanian, Macedonian, Hindi and Marwari
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
Selon Charlie
A town on the Atlantic ocean, in off season. Three days, seven characters, seven lives, each person in search of themselves. They meet, miss and collide, and after they leave their lives will never be the same again.
Director: Nicole Garcia
Year: 2006
Language: French/English/German
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
U
Mona is a sad princess who lives in a castle by the sea. One day an adorable unicorn named U appears and declares that she is there to help Mona find happiness. The two become inseparable and U introduces Mona to a whole new world - full of joy and adventure. Soon Mona discovers the wonder of music and develops a budding attraction to a young guitarist. But this creates a big dilemna for U... What will happen to her if Mona finds the missing happiness which was the sole reason for U's existence?
Director: Grégoire Solotareff & Serge Elissalde
Year: 2006
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema
For the Love of Dolly
This uniquely energetic film offers a super in-depth look at five of Dolly Parton's most enthusiastic and passionate fans including an adorable gay couple whose house is packed to the rafters with Dollybilia. Although very different, the people in this film share a common purpose - their love of Dolly and a need to be close to her.
Director: Tai Uhlmann
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Documentary
Welcome Home
Eva and Samuel are young twenty-somethings in love who have just moved together to Madrid, where Samuel lands a photography job at a magazine and befriends his off-beat colleagues. When Eva announces that she is pregnant, Samuel’s world turns upside down as he tries to grapple with the doubt, commitment, responsibility and fear in becoming a real adult.
Director: David Trueba
Year: 2006
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Running with Arnold
Running With Arnold is a politically-charged documentary that tells the fascinating and humorous story of one of the most famous men of our time. From his childhood in post World War II Austria, through his days as a weightlifting champion and action movie star, the film exposes Arnold Schwarzenegger's life in all of its sordid glory. We watch how Arnold's ambition for fame and power has led him on a 'take no prisoners' political career that resulted in his winning a circus campaign to become the leader of the world's fifth largest economy as Governor of California.
Director: Dan Cox
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Mon Colonel
1995, Paris. Retired Colonel Raoul Duplan was found at his home, shot in the head. An anonymous letter was sent to investigators: "The colonel died in Saint-Arnaud".
1957, St. Arnaud, eastern Algeria: a young officer/lawyer, Guy Rossi takes office with Colonel Duplan. The machine of special powers and institutionalized torture begins quietly under way. She will turn the lawyer into an executioner, and catch up with Duplan forty years later.
Director: Laurent Herbiet
Year: 2006
Language: French
Genre: History, War, Drama, Crime
Quarter Life Crisis
Dumped on his 27th birthday by his college sweetheart Angel (Lisa Ray, Water, Bollywood Hollywood) for being indecisive, Neil makes a silly bet that takes him on a wild ride through New York’s singles scene, accompanied by four testosterone-packed imbecile buddies and one crazy scheming New York taxi driver (comic sensation Russell Peters). On these madcap adventures Neil journeys from life choice paralysis to real life manhood.
Director: Kiran Merchant
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Tick Tock Lullaby
Cartoonist Sasha (writer-director Lisa Gornick) and her attorney girlfriend Maya (Brit TV phenom Raquel Cassidy) have heterosexual procreation envy. If only they could get pregnant by mistake like everyone else does, laments Sasha.
Bursting with smart, tender observations on prospective parenthood, Tick Tock Lullaby is a clever exploration of sexuality and the search for sperm in hip thirty-something London as Sasha and Maya struggle with whether (and how) to have a baby.
A wry comedy feature about one of life's biggest decisions and how the more you have to think about it, the harder it is.
Director: Lisa Gornick
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Comedy
Requiem
Michaela leaves home, and a deeply religious family, to study at university. Embracing her first taste of freedom, she enjoys a budding romantic relationship and a new friendship until her epilepsy relapses and brings with it a frightening onrush of grotesque faces and voices. Michaela seeks help from a priest, who reinforces her conviction that she is possessed. Soon even her friends can’t break through the religious and moral ties that bind her to her fate. Based on a true story.
Director: Hans Christian Schmid
Year: 2006
Language: German
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Maxed Out
Maxed Out takes viewers on a journey deep inside the American style of debt, where things seem fine as long as the minimum monthly payment arrives on time. With coverage that spans from small American towns all the way to the White House, the film shows how the modern financial industry really works, explains the true definition of "preferred customer" and tells us why the poor are getting poorer while the rich keep getting richer. Hilarious, shocking and incisive, Maxed Out paints a picture of a national nightmare which is all too real for most of us.
Director: James D. Scurlock
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Quinceanera
Magdalena is the daughter of a Mexican-American family in Echo Park, Los Angeles. With her 15-birthday approaching, all she can think about is her boyfriend, her Quinceanera dress, and the Hummer Limo she hopes will carry her on her special day. But a few months before the celebration, Magdalena falls pregnant. As the elaborate preparations for her Quinceañera proceed, it is only a matter of time before her religious father finds out and rejects her. Forced out of her home, Magdalena moves in with great-great uncle Tomas, an old man who makes his living selling a Mexican hot drink in the street. Already living with him is Carlos, Magdalena’s cousin, a tough cholo who was thrown out by his parents. Carlos does not disguise his disapproval of Magdalena’s arrival. The back house rental where Tomas has lived happily for many years is on a property that was recently purchased by an affluent white gay couple. Worlds collide when they become entangled in the lives of their tenants.
Director: Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland
Year: 2006
Language: English & Spanish
Genre: GLBT, Drama
L'Intouchable (The Untouchable)
On her birthday, Jeanne finds out from her mother that her father is Indian, a Hindu she met on her travels. An "Untouchable", her mother says. Jeanne is an actress. She abandons the rehearsals of Brecht’s "Saint Joan of the Stockyards", which her lover is directing. To get to India right now, she needs money. She accepts a role in a movie that she had refused before. We see her play the part like a self-inflicted ordeal. She leaves for India. She searches for her father, just misses him, finds him, and leaves him. She comes back.
Director: Benoit Jacquot
Year: 2006
Language: English/French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Twice Upon a Time (Desaccord Parfait)
In their youth, Alice and Louis were lovers. Their romance fascinated a nation; he was a director and she was his muse, until Alice abruptly left France for England and never looked back. Thirty years later, Louis is being presented an award in England and Alice has been selected to present it to him...
Director: Antoine de Caunes
Year: 2006
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
Entre Adultes (Among Adults)
Six men and six women, 12 adults love, lie, manipulate, cheat and confide in, and leave each other...
In this merry-go-round of sex and love, we are invited into the bedrooms and lives of six couples that are interconnected in surprising and provocative ways. This intimately raw feature film was written, shot and edited in only 18 days, with just 2 video cameras and a microphone.
Director: Stéphane Brizé
Year: 2006
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Libero
11-year-old Tommy, his older sister Viola and their father Renato have formed a strangely united family since their mother abandoned them. Despite all, this family, so full of fury, failings and inconsolable loneliness, keeps going, thanks to their abiding concern for others and their love.
Director: Kim Rossi Stuart
Year: 2006
Language: Italian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Spider Lilies
Taiwanese pop icon Rainie Yang stars as Jade, a spunky webcam girl lustfully pursuing her first love, Takeko (the strikingly handsome Isabella Leong) a Taipei tattoo artist. Meanwhile, an undercover agent is investigating Jade’s webcam activity and Takeko is grappling with the tragedies of her past.
From Taiwan’s hottest female director Zero Chou, this youthful melodrama is a cinematic exploration of love and memory featuring an awesome soundtrack and a great cast.
This terrific lesbian drama has gotten rave reviews (from AfterEllen.com, the San Francisco Chronicle and Curve Magazine) and comes to DVD fresh from its great success at LGBT film festivals around the world.
Director: Zero Chou
Year: 2006
Language: Mandarin
Genre: GLBT, Drama
Very Serious Person
Jan, an itinerant male nurse from Denmark, takes a new job with Mrs. A, a terminally ill Manhattan woman raising her parentless thirteen-year-old grandson, Gil. Spending the summer by the shore, the emotionally reserved Jan finds himself oddly cast as a mentor to Gil in having to prepare the sensitive boy for life with his cousins in Florida after his grandmother's death. A deep friendship grows between these two solitary people. By the end of the summer, Gil has developed a new maturity and independence, while the enigmatic Jan has revealed his own vulnerability.
Director: Charles Busch
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Drama
Jesus Camp
Jesus Camp follows a group of children to Pastor Becky Fischer's "Kids on Fire Summer Camp", where kids are taught to become dedicated Christian soldiers in God's army and are schooled in how to take back America for Christ. The film is a first-ever look into an intense training ground that recruits born-again Christian children to become an active part of America's political future. By the directors of the critically acclaimed The Boys of Baraka.
Director: Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Family Law
Ariel Perelman is an attorney, just like his father... except very different. While his father earns a hefty wage representing a variety of colorful petty criminals, Ariel deals, literally, with ghosts. He works for the justice department representing clients in absentia. His life is manageable but rather grey, until he marries a beautiful woman he’d felt was outside his reach and then has a son of his own. But following an unexpected turn of events, Ariel is faced with some life-changing decisions that will force him to either remain in the shadow of his father or truly become his own person.
Director: Daniel Burman
Year: 2006
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
Volver
Revolving around an eccentric family of women from a wind-swept region south of Madrid, Cruz plays Raimunda, a working-class woman forced to go to great lengths to protect her 14-year-old daughter Paula. To top off the family crisis, her mother Irene comes back from the dead to tie up loose ends.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Year: 2006
Language: Spanish (Castilian)
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Paprika
Dr. Atsuko Chiba is a genius scientist by day, and a kick-ass dream warrior named PAPRIKA by night. In this psychedelic sci-fi adventure, it will take the skills of both women to save the world...
In the near future, a revolutionary new psychotherapy treatment called PT has been invented. Through a device called the DC Mini it is able to act as a dream detective to enter into people’s dreams and explore their unconscious thoughts. Before the government can pass a bill authorizing the use of such advanced psychiatric technology, one of the prototypes is stolen, sending the research facility into an uproar. In the wrong hands, the potential misuse of the devise could be devastating, allowing the user to completely annihilate a dreamer’s personality while they are asleep. Renowned scientist, Dr. Atsuko Chiba, enters the dream world under her exotic alter-ego, code name PAPRIKA, in an attempt to discover who is behind the plot to undermine the new invention.
Director: Satoshi Kon
Year: 2006
Language: Japanese
Genre: World Cinema
My Dad Is Into Terrorism
In the mid-1980s, Gilles Boulouqe’s high-profile investigation into a series of terrorist bombings in Paris made him an overnight celebrity and marked the end of a normal family life for his wife and children. Based on the memoir by his daughter, My Dad Is Into Terrorism recounts Boulouque’s devotion to his work, his ultimate undoing at the hands of the media (and possibly his own superiors) and the downward slope to his eventual suicide.
Director: William Karel
Year: 2006
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
Curse of the Golden Flower
China, Later Tang Dynasty, 10th Century. On the eve of the Chong Yang Festival, golden flowers fill the Imperial Palace. The Emperor returns with his second son, Prince Jie, to celebrate the holiday with his family despite the chilled relations between the Emperor and the Empress.
For many years, the Empress and Crown Prince Xiang, her stepson, have had an illicit affair. Feeling trapped, Prince Xiang dreams of escaping the palace with his secret love Chan, the Imperial Doctor’s daughter. Price Jie, the faithful son, worries over the Empress’s health and her obsession with golden chrysanthemums. Could she be headed down an ominous path?
Meanwhile, The Emperor harbors clandestine plans that only the Imperial Doctor is privy to. When the Emperor senses a looming threat, he relocates the doctor’s family from the Palace. While they are en route, assassins attack them. Chan and her mother are forced back to the palace. Their return sets off a tumultuous sequence of dar surprises.
Director: Zhang Yimou
Year: 2006
Language: Mandarin
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Pressentiment, Le (The Premonition)
A Parisian lawyer leaves his luxurious home to his wife and children to go and live on his own in a small apartment. It is just that he wants to start afresh or could the reason for his seclusion be something more sinister?
Director: Jean-Pierre Darroussin
Year: 2006
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
American Hardcore
Generally unheralded at the time, the early-80s Hardcore Punk Rock scene gave birth to much of the rock music and culture that followed. There would be no Nirvana, Beastie Boys or Red Hot Chili Peppers were it not for Hardcore pioneers such as Black Flag, Bad Brains and Minor Threat.
Hardcore was more than music — it was a social movement created by Reagan-era misfit kids. The participants constituted a tribe unto themselves — some finding a voice, others an escape in the hard-edged music; some sought a better world, others were just angry and wanted to raise hell.
AMERICAN HARDCORE traces this lost subculture, from its early roots to its extinction. The film is based on Steven's book AMERICAN HARDCORE: A Tribal History (Feral House), which detailed the scene's rise and fall, and came out in 2001.
Director: Paul Rachman
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
My Name is Juani (Yo soy la Juani)
Juani, a vivacious girl from the Spanish provinces, is sick of her small town life, dead-end job and deadbeat boyfriend. After her best friend is abused by her boyfriend, and Juani finds her own boyfriend in bed with another woman, the two decide to pack their bags and head for Madrid to seek fame, fortune, and most importantly... fun.
Director: Bigas Luna
Year: 2006
Language: Spanish with English subtitles
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Jack Smith & the Destruction of Atlantis
A mesmerizing collage of images and audio from the life and work of Jack Smith, the underground filmmaker, photographer, performance artist, and anti-capitalist, who worked in New York from the '60s until his death in 1989. Highlights include the story behind the Supreme Court case over the banning of his 1963 classic Flaming Creatures.
Director: Mary Jordan
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Bothersome Man, The
Forty-year-old Andreas arrives in a strange city with no memory of how he got there. He is presented with a job, an apartment - even a wife. But before long, Andreas notices that something is wrong. Andreas makes an attempt to escape the city, but he discovers there's no way out. Andreas meets Hugo, who has found a crack in a wall in his cellar. Beautiful music streams out from the crack. Maybe it leads to "the other side"? A new plan for escape is hatched.
Director: Jens Lien
Year: 2006
Language: Norwegian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Cemetery Club, The
For over two decades, the Mt. Herzl Academy has held its weekly meeting at this cemetery. Seated between the graves of the nation’s dignitaries, they debate the history of modern philosophy, read poetry, eat lunch and determine the fate of the Jewish nation.
Director Tali Shemesh has been following the academy for the last 5 years, focusing on two members: Minia, the director’s grandmother, and Lena, her great aunt. The film unravels the jagged, intense, almost impossible relationship between these two extremely different women, who - each bereaved of the man she loved remain bound together by history and Fate.
As death decimates the group that has given meaning to their lives, the film explores the conflicts between Lena and Minia, and the family secrets that haunt them. The result is a poignant, intimate, sometimes hilarious portrait of the Holocaust generation like you’ve never seen it before.
Director: Tali Shemesh
Year: 2006
Language: Hebrew/Polish
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
Manufactured Landscapes (digital)
Manufactured Landscapes is a feature documentary on the work of internationally renowned artist Edward Burtynsky. The film follows him as he travels through China photographing the evidence and effects of that country's massive industrial revolution. The Three Gorges Dam, factory floors a kilometre long and the breathtaking scale of Shanghai's urban renewal are subjects for his lens and our motion picture camera. Shot in Super-16mm film, the documentary extends the narratives of Burtynsky's photographs, meditating on human impact on the planet without trying to reach simplistic judgements or reductive resolutions. In the process, it shifts our consciousness about the world and the way we live in it.
Director: Jennifer Baichwal
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: Environment, Documentary
Son of Man
In the state of Judea in southern Africa, violence, poverty and sectarianism are endemic. The neighboring Alliance has invaded under the pretense of restoring peace. Promises of a transition to open democratic rule are marred by summary executions and brutal massacres. As the civil war reaches new heights, a divine child is born to a lowly couple. As he grows and witnesses the inhumanity of the world he lives in, his angelic guardians offer him an escape to the heavens. He refuses. This is his world and he must try to save it from the work of evil men and from the darkness working through them. As an adult, he travels to the capital, gathering followers along the way from the armed factions of rebels across the land. He demands that his followers give up their arms and confront their corrupt rulers with a vision of non-violent protest and solidarity. Inevitably, he attracts the attention of the Judean tribal leaders who have struck a power-sharing deal with the aloof Governor Pilat
Director: Mark Dornford-May
Year: 2006
Language: English and Xhosa
Genre: Drama
Sandman
Director J.T. Petty dives into the seedy world of underground horror films, drawing on interviews with filmmakers, actors and experts on the genre. Examining the connection between horror film and voyeurism, Petty draws some disturbing conclusions linking these hard-core fetish films with mainstream horror films. The end result is a documentary that will unnerve even the most hardened horror fans.
Director: J.T. Petty
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Documentary
Gymnast
The talented Jane Hawkins (Dreya Weber, Lovely & Amazing) was an impressive gymnast at the top of her game until a devastating injury ended her career. Now she pours the passion, strength and discipline that once fueled her sport into maintaining both a tedious job as a massage therapist and a loveless marriage. A chance meeting leads sets Jane on a new path: performing a CirqueDu Soleil style aerial act with a mysterious and beautiful dancer named Serena (Addie Yungmee). As the stunning pair prepares to audition their act for a Las Vegas show, the gravitational pull between the two women becomes increasingly unavoidable...
Director: Ned Farr
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Drama
Manufactured Landscapes
Manufactured Landscapes is a feature documentary on the work of internationally renowned artist Edward Burtynsky. The film follows him as he travels through China photographing the evidence and effects of that country's massive industrial revolution. The Three Gorges Dam, factory floors a kilometre long and the breathtaking scale of Shanghai's urban renewal are subjects for his lens and our motion picture camera. Shot in Super-16mm film, the documentary extends the narratives of Burtynsky's photographs, meditating on human impact on the planet without trying to reach simplistic judgements or reductive resolutions. In the process, it shifts our consciousness about the world and the way we live in it.
Director: Jennifer Baichwal
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: Environment, Canadian, Documentary
Summer '04
At 40, Miriam's life seems ideal. Beautiful and assured, she has a happy relationship with her husband André and their 15-year-old son Nils. But when Nils invites his brazenly sensual teenage girlfriend to spend the holidays with them at their summer home, Miriam finds herself unexpectedly jealous of the young girl's ongoing flirtation with an older man. Her newly awakened bitterness and self-doubt draw her into a secret affair that threatens to bring her happy existence to an abrupt and sudden end.
Director: Stefan Krohmer
Year: 2006
Language: German
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Iraq in Fragments (Blu-Ray)
An opus in three parts, Iraq In Fragments offers a series of intimate, passionately-felt portraits: A fatherless 11-year-old is apprenticed to the domineering owner of a Baghdad garage; Sadr followers in two Shiite cities rally for regional elections while enforcing Islamic law at the point of a gun; a family of Kurdish farmers welcomes the US presence, which has allowed them a measure of freedom previously denied. American director James Longley spent more than two years filming in Iraq to create this stunningly photographed, poetically rendered documentary of the war-torn country as seen through the eyes of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. 2007 Academy
Director: James Longley
Year: 2006
Language: Arabic/Kurdish/English
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
Lust for Power (L'Ivresse du pouvoir)
The stunning and accomplished Isabelle Huppert (I Heart Huckabees) stars as Jeanne, a tenacious judge known as "the piranha" of the judiciary system, who puts her personal life on the back burner to pursue white-collar criminals with their private hands in public pockets. After gaining fame for locking up an embezzling CEO, Jeanne pushes the limits of her intoxicating power further than ever and winds up isolated in a dangerous game of threats and intimidation.
Director: Claude Chabrol
Year: 2006
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Eden
This foodie fable, which won the Audience Award at last year’s Rotterdam Film Festival, orbits around Gregor, a Bavarian chef famed for his ‘erotic cuisine’, and it’s a perverse romantic comedy in which food really can be better than sex.
Gregor, fat, fiftyish, surly and seriously set in his ways, is not looking for love, but when he concocts a to-die-for chocolate cake for a child’s birthday, love, in the form of the girl’s sensually deprived mother, comes looking for him.
Director: Michael Hofmann
Year: 2006
Language: German
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Esma's Secret (Grbavica)
A story about contemporary Sarajevo.
Esma, a single mother, wants to grant her twelve-year-old daughter's, Sara, wish to participate in a school trip. A certificate proving her father is a war martyr would allow her a discount. But Esma repeatedly avoids Sara's requests for the certificate. She would rather find a way to pay full price for the trip. Esma believes not telling the terrible truth about Sara's father is a way to protect both her and her daughter.
Director: Jasmila Zbanic
Year: 2006
Language: Bosnian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Stories of Lost Souls
Stories of Lost Souls compiles seven powerful, intriguing, sometimes unsettling vignettes of human will and courage. The star-studded cast includes Cate Blanchett, Hugh Jackman, Josh Hartnett, James Gandolfini, Keira Knightley, Paul Bettany, Jeff Goldblum, Daryl Hannah, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Illeana Douglas, Billy Boyd, Andy Serkis and Michael Gambon.
Director: Deborra Lee-Furness, William Garcia, Colin Spector, Toa Stappard, Andrew Upton
Year: 2006
Language: English
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Education of a Fairy, The
Toy inventor Nicolas meets widowed ornithologist Ingrid and her son Raul on a plane. Not long after his encounter, Nicolas and Ingrid are married and living an idyllic existence in a beautiful old house in the Catalan countryside. The imaginative Nicolas tells Raul stories about the enchanted world of fairies as they explore their neighbouring forest, blurring the line between reality and fiction. One day Raul chances upon a woman in the forest - could she be the fairy he's been seeking?
Director: José Luis Cuerda
Year: 2006
Language: Spanish/French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Petit lieutenant, Le
"Nathalie Baye, who received this year's César for best actress, leads an outstanding ensemble as a Parisian detective and recovering alcoholic who teams with a bright-eyed rookie. Two years sober, Inspector Caroline Vaudieu is an elegant 50ish supercop returning to the helm of a criminal unit after the relative safety of a desk job.
Newcomer Antoine inspires Caroline's maternal affection; he's about the same age as her son would be, had he not died in childhood. Antoine impulsively chooses a Paris assignment as a ticket out of Normandy (and eagerly) throws himself into the case at hand -- a series of murders of street people on the banks of the Seine."
-THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
Director: Xavier Beauvois
Year: 2005
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Don't Come Knocking
Howard Spence (Sam Shepard) has seen better days. Once a big Western movie star, he now drowns his disgust for his selfish and failed life with alcohol, drugs and young women. If he were to die now, nobody would shed a tear over him, that's the sad truth. Until one day Howard learns that he might have a child somewhere out there. The very idea seems like a ray of hope that his life wasn't all in vain. So he sets out to find that young man or woman. He discovers an entire life that he has missed...
Director: Wim Wenders
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Water
A widow should be long suffering until death, self-restrained and chaste.
A virtuous wife who remains chaste when her husband has died goes to heaven.
A woman who is unfaithful to her husband is reborn in the womb of a jackal.
- The Laws of Manu, Chapter 5 verse 156-161, Dharamshastras (Sacred Hind texts)
Set in 1938 Colonial India, against Mahatma Gandhi’s rise to power, the story begins when eight-year-old Chuyia is widowed and sent to a home where Hindu widows must live in penitence. Chuyia’s feisty presence affects the lives of the other residents, including a beautiful young widow, who falls for a Gandhian idealist.
Director: Deepa Mehta
Year: 2005
Language: Hindi
Genre: World Cinema, Canadian, Drama
Italian, The
Based on the true story of a small Russian boy abandoned in an orphanage who goes in search of his birth mother.
A childless, affluent couple from Italy comes to a provincial Russian children's home to find a child for adoption.
When the Italian couple singles out six-year-old ragamuffin Vanya Solntsev as their prospective choice, the other orphans give Vanya a new nickname: The Italian. They envy Vanya, imagining that he is destined for a life of ease in sunny Italy.
But plucky little Vanya has other plans. He decides to track down his birth mother, teaching himself to read in order to learn her address from his personal file locked in the home's office. After stealing his records, Vanya sneaks out of the orphanage and boards a commuter train headed for the city, with the orphanage staff and police in close pursuit. Fearing that Vanya will make them lose a very lucrative adoption deal, the orphanage attempt to find the runaway child by any means necessary.
Director: Andrei Kravchuk
Year: 2005
Language: Russian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Crossing the Bridge-The Sound of Istanbul
A European musician and composer roams the streets of Istanbul with his mobile recording studio and "magic mike" to assemble an inspired portrait of Turkish music, ranging from modern electronic, rock and hip-hop to classical Arabesque. As he wanders through this seductive world, he collects impressions and tracks from numerous artists, including Ceza (Turkey’s answer to Public Enemy), the Istanbul Style Breakers (breakdance performers) and Kurdish singer Aynur, "the Elvis of Arabesque."
Director: Fatih Akin
Year: 2005
Language: German/Turkish/English
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
End of Silence, The
Torn between the comforts of her native Russia and the dream of a new life in Canada, the beautiful and talented ballerina Darya (played by world renown Russian ballerina Ekaterina Chtchelkanova) finds herself alone, poor and sinking in uncertainty. But a ray of hope arrives when Darya tumbles into a love affair with Eddie, a young antiques dealer struggling to let go of his past. Beloved Canadian musician Sarah Harmer makes her acting debut as Nora, a mysterious woman in Eddie’s life. The End of Silence is an evocative love story that follows three people as they experience freedom, heartbreak, love and friendship.
Director: Anita Doron
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Good Boy, The
The story follows Angel (Gonz lez), twenty years old and barely employed, a man of few friends and a not too promising boxing career. Angel and his mother scrape out a living in Madrid. Enter Vidal, a professional bank robber and a real charmer, just back from Argentina. A former boxer with past ties to Angel's mother and his deceased father, he offers Angel a way out of his dead-end life. Along the way, Angel will have to decide who he truly wants to be and, more importantly, what he's willing to give up.
Director: Alberto Rodríguez
Year: 2005
Language: Spainish
Genre: Drama
Heights
"Heights" follows five characters over twenty-four hours on a fall day in New York City. Isabel (Elizabeth Banks), a photographer, is having second thoughts about her upcoming marriage to Jonathan (James Marsden), a lawyer. On the same day, Isabel's mother Diana (Glenn Close) learns that her husband has a new lover, and begins to re-think her life choices and her open marriage. Diana and Isabel’s paths cross with Alec (Jesse Bradford), a young actor, and with Peter (John Light), a journalist. As the interrelated stories proceed, the connections between the lives of the five characters begin to reveal themselves and
their stories unravel so that Isabel, Jonathan, Diana, Alec, and Peter must choose what kind of lives they will lead before the sun comes up on the next day.
Director: Chris Terrio
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Enfant, L' (The Child)
Dispossessed twenty-year old Bruno (Jérémie Renier) lives with his eighteen-year-old girlfriend Sonia (Déborah François) in Seraing, an eastern Belgian steel town. They live off Sonia’s unemployment benefits and the panhandling and petty theft committed by Bruno and his gang. Their lives change forever when Sonia gives birth to their child, Jimmy. She returns home after Jimmy’s birth to find that Bruno has sublet their apartment to total strangers. After an initial and promising change of heart about becoming a father and changing his ways, Jimmy becomes little more to Bruno than a new source of wealth. Desperate for money and unable to face his parental responsibilities, Bruno sells Jimmy to a black market connection, who promises to find the child an adoptive home. Realizing the error in his actions Bruno sets out to try and undo his callous deed, leading him to a powerful personal transformation.
Director: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Year: 2005
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
White Countess, The
Shanghai. 1936. Crossroads of the world and into this city of political intrigue comes Sofia, a Russian Countess who, with the remains of her family, has been left stateless by the Revolution. Forced by her reduced circumstances to support herself and her family as a bar-girl and taxi dancer, Sofia forms a relationship with Jackson, a blind former diplomat who opens an elegant bar; The White Countess. Their curious relationship matures but they are caught up in the fall of the city to the Japanese invaders.
Director: James Ivory
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Paper Moon Affair
A mysterious Japanese woman arrives in a small fishing village in a remote corner of the Pacific Northwest. Trapped in a troubled marriage, Keiko finds distraction in the delicate art of origami. When she wakes up one morning to find herself abandoned, Keiko takes control of her life and develops intense bonds with two locals. Her friendship with the much-younger Hart offers him an escape from his alcoholic father, whiles her encounters with Vern, the local authority, spark a mutual longing for change. A poetic tale of three people torn between familial obligation and the desire for something more.
Director: David Tamagi
Year: 2005
Language: English, Cantonese, Japanese
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Cabin Movie, The
THE CABIN MOVIE is a darkly comic look at the nature of desire, the value of monogamy, and the definition of sexuality when a group of friends travel to a secluded cabin in an attempt to revitalize their lives through bizarre games of sexual dysfunction.
Katherine, an unemployed housewife who hasn’t had sex in a year is intent on getting some with or without her repressed husband Mark’s involvement. Jason, a happy-go-lucky cool guy, has shown up without his long-term girlfriend, but with Ginny, a party girl he met the previous weekend. Ken and Maria, a stable common-law couple, are caught in the middle somewhere between discovery and sexual panic as they try to keep things on track while wrestling with issues of their own.
By the end of the night, all their relationships will be called into question and pushed to the breaking point.
Director: Dylan Akio Smith
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama, Comedy
Black Gold
Multinational coffee companies dominate an industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil. But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains low. Nowhere more evident is this paradox than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela is one man on a mission to save his 75,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price.
Against the backdrop of Tadesse’s journey to London and Seattle, the more powerful sides of the international trading system begin to unfold. New York coffee traders, auction houses and the double dealings of trade ministers at the World Trade Organisation reveal the enormity of Tadesse’s task to find a long term solution for his farmers.
Director: Marc and Nick Francis
Year: 2005
Language: English, Amharic and Oromiffa
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
Black Coffee
Black Coffee is a remarkable three part documentary that chronicles coffee’s origins in Ethiopia and its triumphant spread over five continents, sparking revolution, controversy, creativity, business and slavery all along the way.
Director: Irene Angelico
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Documentary
White Massai, The
At the end of her holidays in Kenya, Carola (Nina Hoss) meets the Samburu warrior Lemalian (Jacky Ido), who cuts a handsome figure with his weapons and traditional dress. Fascinated, Carola falls head over heels in love with him. The results are fateful: she impulsively cancels her return flight and sends her boyfriend (Janek Rieke) back home alone. She stays in Kenya and sets out in search of Lemalian. After a grueling journey through the African wilderness, Carola meets the German woman Elisabeth (Katja Flint) in Maralal, and the two become friends. There she also runs into Lemalian again and follows him to his village, Barsaloi. Carola decides to turn her back on her old life in Switzerland. With incredible energy, she braves all obstacles and builds a new life for herself in Africa. But what she felt was the biggest love of her life turns into an ordeal, an adventure between heaven and hell, a journey that takes her to her limits...
Director: Hermine Huntgeburth
Year: 2005
Language: German/Swahili/English
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Quiet, The
Popular cheerleader Nina Deer’s (Elisha Cuthbert) seemingly unblemished suburban world is turned upside down when her parents (Edie Falco and Martin Donovan) adopt their recently orphaned goddaughter Dot (Camilla Belle). Dot’s arrival delivers a blow to Nina’s idyllic social life and triggers the unraveling of the family’s darkest secrets. Both Nina’s family and friends, including the school hunk Connor (Shawn Ashmore, The X-MEN trilogy), develop an odd fascination with Dot and confide in her their troubling secrets. Dot quietly shoulders the burdens and secrets of those around her, while continuing to hold what is perhaps the biggest secret -- her own.
Directed by Jamie Babbit (BUT I’M A CHEERLEADER), THE QUIET is about family secrets, friendship, trust and betrayal. Through Nina’s eyes, Babbit takes us on an emotional rollercoaster ride— through the hilarious and often crude interactions of high schools students and a family where happy faces disguise ugly truths.
Director: Jamie Babbit
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Niagara Motel
The guests of this low-rent motel in the tourist Mecca of Niagara Falls are not your typical tourists. A waitress being recruited to star in low budget porn, a young couple with criminal pasts struggling to recover their child, and a middle class husband with a rapidly disintegrating marriage. Throw into the mix a woeful drunken motel manager, a prostitute, a small time hustler, an underachieving staple salesman, the owner of the motel, his physics studying daughter, and a social worker with a Christian bias. Watch as tragedy waltzes with unpredictable comedy in an intense dance of life.
Director: Gary Yates
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama, Comedy
Sabah
Sabah (Arsinée Khanjian) is a 40-year-old Arab woman living in Toronto. One day, when Sabah least expects it, she falls in love with the wrong man: she’s Muslim, he’s not. Keeping him secret from her family, she embarks on a whirlwind affair before both culture and love collide.
Director: Ruba Nadda
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Capote
In November, 1959, Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the author of Breakfast at Tiffany’s and favorite figure in what is soon to be known as the Jet Set, reads an article on a back page of the New York Times. It tells of the murders of four members of a well-known farm family - the Clutters - n Holcomb, Kansas. Similar stories appear in newspapers almost every day, but something about this one catches Capote’s eye. It presents an opportunity, he believes, to test his long-held theory that, in the hands of the right writer, non-fiction can be compelling as fiction. What impact have the murders had on that tiny town on the wind-swept plains? With that as his subject - for his purpose, it does not matter if the murderers are never caught - he convinces The New Yorker magazine to give him an assignment and he sets out for Kansas. Accompanying him is a friend from his Alabama childhood: Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), who within a few months will win a Pulitzer Prize.
Director: Bennett Miller
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Mon petit doigt m'a dit
Based on a mystery by Agatha Christie. An elderly woman disappears. The town seems to be hiding a dark secret. Tombs that are better left untouched, a mysterious doll that returns from the past, and who (or what?) is killing off a group of pensioners at the local retirement home? It may take some sorting out but Prudence and Bélisaire Beresford (Catherine Frot and André Dussollier) are on the case!
Director: Pascal Thomas
Year: 2005
Language: French, English
Genre: Comedy, Mystery
Thumbsucker
It’s not easy growing up, no matter what age you are...
Justin Cobb (LOU PUCCI) still sucks his thumb at 17. He wants to stop and knows that his thumbsucking is disrupting his family, his love life and his identity. The only thing that changes his behavior is hypnosis therapy administered by his "guru" orthodontist. But while Justin felt this would solve all his problems and he would finally be "normal," his troubles were really just beginning. Thumbsucking was only a symptom of a deep-seated fear: that he and his father aren’t good enough for his mother, and that she would leave them. Thumbsucking was the only way to soothe this fear. Once that is gone Justin spirals into manic behavior, is diagnosed with ADHD and put on Ritalin, which becomes a substitute for his thumb. When the high of the prescription drugs and a newfound success at school crash, Justin turns to pot and sex to replace his thumb.
Director: Mike Mills
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Mouth to Mouth
How Sherry loses her virginity, her illusions and her lip ring in one trippy road trip across Europe.
Sherry is searching for a place to belong where she can still be herself. She thinks she has found this in SPARK - Street People Armed with Radical Knowledge. Harry, the group's leader, begins harvesting ripe grapes and ready minds through his own methods of hard work and punishment. The stakes are high within this volatile group. Two deaths ensure the submission of most of the recruits but not Sherry, or the apparently craziest street person, Mad Ax. Into this Shangri-la comes Sherry's mother. Failing to persuade Sherry to leave, she decides that SPARK has more to offer than single parenthood in London. Disillusionment complete, Sherry stands up for what she knows is right, denounces SPARK, and escapes with Mad Ax into the unknown.
Director: Alison Murray
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Peindre ou faire l'amour (To Paint or Make Love)
Is there life thirty years after marriage?
The kids have gone abroad to study. The shadow of retirement is on the horizon
and a social life consists of seeing the same friends for drinks to organize the following Sunday’s game of golf...
Of course life goes on and it can be full of surprises.
Director: Arnaud et Jean-Marie Larrieu
Year: 2005
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
Puffy Chair, The
After failing as both a NYC indie rocker and a booking agent, Josh's life is pretty much in the toilet. When he tries to figure out where it all went wrong, he comes up with an idea that would be a small yet life changing victory. He decides to buy a 1985 Lazy Boy on EBay, just like the one from his childhood living room, and deliver it cross-country to his Dad as a surprise birthday gift. Things get complicated when both Josh’s long-term girlfriend and his eccentric brother ask to join him on the adventure. It quickly becomes three very different people and a giant purple puffy chair in a too-small van, and one of them has to go before the trip ends.
Director: Jay Duplass
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
I For India
In 1965, Yash Pal Suri left India with his wife and daughter. Over the next 40 years, he used his Super 8 camera to send his family back home images of his new life in the U.K. while his relatives in India responded with their own "cine-letters" full of tales about village life. The result is a bittersweet time capsule of alienation, discovery, racism and belonging, and a chronicle of immigration in 1960s Britain and beyond, seen through the eyes of one Asian family and their movie camera.
Director: Sandhya Suri
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
House of Sand, The
Aurea (Fernanda Torres) is brought to the northern Brazilian town of Maranhão by her insane husband Vasco, who suffers from delusions that the barren land may be profitably farmed. A calamitous turn of events leaves Aurea, now pregnant, and her mother Maria alone in the desert in a house full of sand. They eventually find friendship and food through Massu, who lives at a quilombo (a self-sustaining society originally formed by escaped slaves). Aurea wrestles with her unhappy fate but slowly grows accustomed to the new rhythm of life in the dunes.
Years pass and we find Aurea at peace in the desert, while her wild and sexually promiscuous daughter Maria lacks social propriety. Maria yearns to see the outside world and her dream is eventually fulfilled. However, the reality of the sand dunes - manifested through sweeping shots of the horizon, the sound of the wind skimming the sand and the soft, assured pacing of Waddington's direction - will never leave her psyche.
Director: Andrucha Waddington
Year: 2005
Language: Portuguese
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Sketches of Frank Gehry
"Sketches of Frank Gehry" about the acclaimed architect, Frank O. Gehry, is director Sydney Pollack's first feature length documentary.
The two men have been friends for many years, and Pollack completed the film over a period of five years, starting in 2000. Frank Gehry loves to sketch; it is the beginning of his architectural process. And
it is his love of the sketch that gave Pollack his first clues to the style of this documentary film. Beginning with Gehry’s own original sketches for each major project, the film explores Gehry’s process of turning these abstract drawings, first into tangible, three-dimensional models, often made simply of cardboard and scotch tape, then into finished buildings of titanium and glass, concrete and steel, wood and stone. The dialogue between Pollack and Gehry, as intimate as that of any two friends of long standing, courses like a continuous melodic line through the film.
Director: Sydney Pollack
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
One Dead Indian
"One Dead Indian" chronicles the controversial 1995 incident in which native activist Dudley George was shot dead by an OPP officer during a protest at Ontario’s Ipperwash Provincial Park. For the past 10 years, Dudley’s family has struggled to ensure that his death was not in vain.
Director: Tim Southam
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
7 Virgins
It is summertime in a blue-collar, marginal district of a city in the South of Spain. Tano, a teenager currently serving a sentence in a juvenile reform center, is given a 48-hour leave to attend his brother's wedding. Together with his best friend Richi, Tano plans to enjoy his 48-hour pass to the limit, doing all the things he is normally prohibited from doing. He gets drunk, takes drugs, steals, has sex and hangs out with his buddies. He feels free and exerts that freedom with all the force and audacity of a teenager. By the end of his 48-hour pass, Tano has also witnessed the collapse of all the things he takes for granted in his life: the neighborhood, his family, friends and loved-ones - everything is somehow different for him. More than just two days of freedom, Tano's leave turns out to be a journey into maturity.
Director: Alberto Rodríguez
Year: 2005
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama
Dying Gaul, The
Robert Sandrich (Peter Saarsgard) is a fledging screenwriter whose life changes when he is offered a million dollars for his latest and most personal work: The Dying Gaul, the raw, heartbreaking autobiographical story of the death of his gay lover. But there’s a catch, the studio thinks the project will only work if Robert changes his dead lover to a woman. Things get further complicated as Jeffrey (Campbell Scott), the smooth, ruthless studio executive chasing after the screenplay, lures Robert into an affair with his wife Elaine (Patricia Clarkson).
The Dying Gaul is a wholly original tale of lust, power, corruption, betrayal and revenge set in the seductive world of the Hollywood elite.
Director: Craig Lucas
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Romanzo Criminale (Crime Novel)
Rome, 1960’s. Three young criminals, Lebanese (Pierfrancesco Favino), Ice (Kim Rossi Stuart) and Dandy (Claudio Santamaria), with the help of a makeshift gang of thugs, including Black (Riccardo Scamarcio), an extremist who thinks he’s the last samurai, kidnap and brutally kill a rich proprietor. With the ransom money in hand, they decide to invest it, together, in the heroine business. It’s the birth of a smart and ruthless organization, which crushes all its rivals, assumes total control of the drug trade, and imposes its brutal criminal rule on Rome. Interspersed with incidents from Italy's turbulent social history 'Crime Novel' exposes links between career criminals, terrorists and corrupt politicians.
Director: Michele Placido
Year: 2005
Language: Italian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Why We Fight
"Why We Fight," the film by Eugene Jarecki which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, is an unflinching look at the anatomy of the American war machine, weaving unforgettable personal stories with commentary by a "who’s who" of military and beltway insiders. Featuring John McCain, Gore Vidal, William Kristol, Chalmers Johnson, Richard Perle and others, ‘Why We Fight’ launches a bipartisan inquiry into the workings of the military industrial complex and the rise of the American Empire.
Inspired by Dwight Eisenhower’s legendary farewell speech (in which he coined the phrase "military industrial complex"), filmmaker Jarecki ("The Trials of Henry Kissinger") surveys the scorched landscape of a half-century’s military adventures, asking how - and telling why - a nation of, by, and for the people has become the savings-and-loan of a system whose survival depends on a state of constant war.
Director: Eugene Jarecki
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Moustache, La
One day, thinking that it will make your wife and friends smile, you shave off the moustache you have had for the last ten years. The only thing is, no one notices-or worse still, they are pretending not to notice. In fact, everyone seems convinced that you have never had a moustache in the first place. Are you going mad? Are people trying to make you think you are? Or is this possibly part of a more menacing disturbance in the world's order?
Director: Emmanuele Carrère
Year: 2005
Language: French, English, Cantonese
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Breakfast on Pluto
Breakfast on Pluto tells the wild, rollicking story of Patrick "Kitten" Braden, a catty, beleaguered Irish transvestite who becomes involved with the Irish Republican Army while on a quest to reunite with his mother. Told in thirty-six short chapters, this delirious frenzy is the second collaboration between Neil Jordan and author and screenwriter Patrick McCabe, who gave us the equally inventive and scatalogical The Butcher Boy. Outrageous star Cillian Murphy shines as the "svelte gamine" Kitten, supported by the venerable Liam Neeson as a sympathetic local priest and Jordan regular Stephen Rea in an eccentric cameo appearance.
Director: Neil Jordan
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Drama
Lives of Others, The
East Berlin, November 1984. Five years before its downfall, the former East-German government ensured its claim to power with a ruthless system of control and surveillance. Party-loyalist Captain Gerd Wiesler hopes to boost his career when given the job of collecting evidence against the playwright Georg Dreyman and his girlfriend, the celebrated theater actress Christa-Maria Sieland. After all, the “operation” is backed by the highest political circles. What he didn’t anticipate, however, was that submerging oneself into the world of the target also changes the surveillance agent. The immersion in The Lives of Others – in love, literature, free thinking and speech – makes Wiesler acutely aware of the meagerness of his own existence and opens to him a completely new way of life which he has ever more trouble resisting. But the system, once started, cannot be stopped. A dangerous game has begun...
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Year: 2005
Language: German
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Next: a Primer in Urban Painting
A documentary exploration of a phenomenon that was born on the streets of American cities and has come to influence youth culture all over the world. Combining verite visual moments and interviews with painters, journalists, collectors, sociologists, DJ’s, art critics and other participants within the subculture, the film will convey the dynamism and creative brilliance of this important emerging artistic movement.
Director: Pablo Aravena
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Documentary
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
From three-time Academy Award nominated director Zhang Yimou comes a moving
story of one man¡¦s journey across China's heartland. RIDING ALONE FOR THOUSANDS OF MILES stars the legendary actor Ken TAKAKURA, and Japanese stars Shinobu TERAJIMA and Kiichi NAKAI.
After years of painful estrangement, Takata's ill son still refuses to see him. Crushed, the old man quietly slips out of the hospital,
but not before Rie gives him a videotape to watch. Rie hopes what Takata sees
on the tape will help him get to know his son again.
Takata plays the tape and learns that Ken-ichi is studying a form of Chinese
folk drama that dates back more than a thousand years. Hoping to bridge the gap between himself and his son, Takata decides to find legendary actor Li Jiamin and videotape his performance for his dying son, Ken-ichi.
Director: Zang Yimou
Year: 2005
Language: Mandarin/Japanese
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Eve & The Fire Horse
Eve is a precocious nine year-old girl with a wild imagination growing up in a traditional Chinese immigrant family in Vancouver where Confucian doctrines, superstitious obsessions and divine visions abound. When Buddhism and Catholicism are thrown into the mix, life for Eve and her 11-year-old prim and authoritative sister, Karena, escalates into a fantasia of catastrophe, sainthood and cultural confusion.
Director: Julia Kwan
Year: 2005
Language: English, Cantonese
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Dignity of the Nobodies, The
Once a thriving country with the agricultural capacity to feed hundreds of millions, Argentina has been devastated by an orgy of exploitation at the hands of multinational corporations and lending institutions. Stories and testimonials paint a harrowing picture of globalization, while examples of organized resistance inspire, as documentarian Fernando Solanas chronicles the struggle of the "nobodies": the workers, the small farmers and the indigenous people who are teaming up to fight for their dignity and for their future.
Director: Fernando E. Solanas
Year: 2005
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
Lucid
Joel Rothman, a thirty-two-year-old psychotherapist, has been having trouble sleeping ever since his wife left. The hours of insomnia are spent obsessively listening to her final angry message and drawing sheep on the wall. Meanwhile, his newest patients are suffering from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and, under his compromised care, are getting increasingly worse. Rapidly approaching rock bottom, Joel becomes increasingly unstable as the line between doctor and patient begins to blur...
Director: Sean Garrity
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama, Comedy
American Ruling Class, The
Is there an American ruling class, and if so, how do you join? Two hapless Yale grads embark on a star-studded journey of meetings with America’s establishment to unearth some uncomfortable answers and find out the truth about what the future really holds for them. Judge for yourself.
Director: John Kirby
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Friends With Money
Jennifer Aniston, Frances McDormand, Joan Cusack and Catherine Keener star as a quartet of west coast, life-long friends who have achieved a level of comfort in their lives and have now settled into a life of designer clothes, charity events, and caring for the men (and offspring) in their lives. But as they approach 'a certain age,' unsettling things are starting to throw their comfortable lives off balance.
Director: Nicole Holofcener
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Drama
U-Carmen
The most-performed opera in the world gets a new spin in U-Carmen eKhayelitsha, which sets the famous opera Carmen in modern-day South Africa. The music, translated and sung in Xhosa and mixed with traditional song, gives the film a thrilling synthesis of Xhosa culture and European opera, while still telling the age-old story of love and obsession, duty and desire, jealousy, revenge and madness.
Director: Mark Dornford-May
Year: 2005
Language: Xhosa
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Sophie Scholl - The Final Days
The true story of Germany’s most famous anti-Nazi heroine is brought to thrilling life in the multi-award winning drama SOPHIE SCHOLL-THE FINAL DAYS. Academy Award Nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, SOPHIE SCHOLL stars Julia Jentsch in a luminous performance as the young coed-turned-fearless activist. In 1943, as Hitler continues to wage war across Europe, a group of college students mount an underground resistance movement in Munich. Dedicated expressly to the downfall of the monolithic Third Reich war machine, they call themselves the White Rose. One of its few female members, Sophie Scholl is captured during a dangerous mission to distribute pamphlets on campus. Unwavering in her convictions and loyalty to the White Rose, her cross-examination by the Gestapo quickly escalates into a searing test of wills as Scholl delivers a passionate call to freedom and personal responsibility that is both haunting and timeless.
Director: Marc Rothemund
Year: 2005
Language: German
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Angel-A
A man meets a woman in Paris.
Down-on-his-luck petty criminal Andre (Jamel Debbouze) has reached the end of his rope. Irreversibly in debt to a local gangster, with no one to turn to, his only solution is to plunge himself into the Seine.
Just as he is perched to do so, a fellow bridge-jumper beats him to the water. Diving in, he saves Angela (Rie Rasmussen), a beautiful, statuesque and mysterious woman. As they pull themselves out the water, the two form a bond and venture into the streets of Paris determined to get Andre out of the hole he has found himself in.
As Andre will find out, not all debts are financial, and sometimes the solutions to life¹s problems are found in the unlikeliest of places. Is Angela simply repaying Andre for his kindness, or are there other forces at work beyond his comprehension?
Director: Luc Besson
Year: 2005
Language: French/Spanish
Genre: World Cinema
Gentille
Fontaine Leglou’s life is right on track. She’s beautiful, has a great career and is madly in love with her live-in boyfriend. So it defies all logic that his proposal should send her into such a tailspin of confusion... yet there she is. Whether her hesitation has to do with the charms of a long-time patient or is just symptomatic of a quarter-life crisis, Fontaine has to figure out just how "content" she actually is - because either way, she’s going to have to make that fateful decision - YES or NO...
Director: Sophie Fillières
Year: 2005
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Start Walking (Saint Jacques...La Mecque)
Director Coline Serreau's warmhearted comedy Stop Walking! (Saint Jacques. . .La Mecque) concerns a trio of estranged siblings who must complete a road trip together in order to collect an inheritance after their mother dies. The high-strung businessman Pierre, mousy teacher Clara, and drunken loser Claude, must travel together in order to each earn the millions their mother left them or else it all goes to charity. - Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Director: Coline Serreau
Year: 2005
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
In My Country
A Washington Post journalist (Jackson) is sent to South Africa to cover the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, in which the perpetrators of murder and torture on both sides during Apartheid are invited to come forward and confront their victims ñ and are thus granted amnesty. He meets an Afrikaans poet (Binoche) who is covering the hearings for radio ñ and is shattered by the accounts of the cruelty and depravity committed by her fellow countrymen. They both must question their sense of identity as their story unfolds.
Director: John Boorman
Year: 2005
Language: English/Afrikaans
Genre: Drama
Little Man
Sometimes the greatest love story is about your very own family.
Little man is the story of how a micro-preemie brought a family to its knees. When Nicholas is born 100 days early, he weighs only one pound and faces impossible odds for survival. As he struggles for life, so struggle filmmaker Nicole Conn and political activist Gwen Baba to keep their family from disintegrating under the unrelenting stress and chaos of hospitals, emergency medical crises and a crushing blow to trust. Little man explores the core of the human spirit as a family realizes that they are capable of enduring what they never thought possible.
Director: Nicole Conn
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Devil & Daniel Johnston, The
"The Devil and Daniel Johnston" is a stunning portrait of a musical and artistic genius who nearly slipped away. Director Jeff Feuerzeig exquisitely depicts a perfect example of brilliance and madness going hand in hand with subject Daniel Johnston. As an artist suffering from manic depression with delusions of grandeur, Daniel Johnston’s wild fluctuations, numerous downward spirals and periodic respites are exposed in this deeply moving documentary.
Director: Jeff Feuerzeig
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Black Sun
When assailants fling paint thinner into Hugues de Montalembert’s eyes during a brutal home invasion, the French artist’s world is suddenly plunged into darkness. In this haunting, first-person documentary, de Montalembert narrates his long journey back from that abyss: the painful months of rehab, the strange, erotic visions, his attempts to reassert his independence and eventually attain a different kind of vision, reclaiming his identity as an artist.
Director: Gary Tarn
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
Art School Confidential
Based on a comic story in Dan Clowes's Eightball, Art School Confidential tracks an art student (Max Minghella) who dreams of becoming the greatest artist in the world. Arriving as a freshman at a prestigious east coast art school, he quickly discovers that talent alone does not get him very far. When he sees that a clueless jock is attracting the glory rightfully due him, he hatches an all-or-nothing plan to hit it big in the art world and win the heart of the most beautiful girl in school.
Art School Confidential reteams Ghost World helmer Terry Zwigoff and cartoonist/screenwriter Dan Clowes.
Director: Terry Zwigoff
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
FC Venus
When Anna discovers that her boyfriend Pete intends to waste an entire month attending the World Cup in Germany with his soccer-obsessed friends, she decides that she’s had enough. Putting together a team comprised of soccer-widowed wives and girlfriends, Anna challenges Pete and his friends to the highest stakes game yet: if the men win, the women must never again give them a hard time over their obsession, but if the women win, the men must give up playing and watching soccer - forever!
Director: Joona Tena
Year: 2005
Language: Finnish with English subtitles
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
In Bed (En la Cama)
In Bed... the place where you love, where you dream - and where you betray. Two strangers loving each other, clinging to each other, betraying the other - becoming intimates, finding love and losing it in only one night. In a cheap motel room Daniela and Bruna spend the night together. They hardly know the other one, having only met in a cafe a few hours earlier. Two strangers, who make love to each other, tell there life stories to one another, who get to know each other in only one night. Memories and dreams, truths and lies, tears and desires, betrayal and honesty, love and hate are all closely entwined in that night. Behind the veil of words two strangers become intimates but with the light of the sunrise this intimacy will already belong to the past.
Director: Matias Bize
Year: 2005
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Junebug
When Madeleine, a British-born dealer in regional, "outsider" art, travels from Chicago to North Carolina to pursue a local painter for her gallery, she and her brand-new, younger husband George extend the trip to include an introduction to his family: his prickly mother Peg; his taciturn father Eugene; his angry younger brother Johnny, who has always suffered in the shadow of his over-achieving brother; and Johnny’s very pregnant and innocently garrulous wife Ashley.
Although Ashley immediately takes to the sophisticated Madeleine and embraces her as a sister, the other members of George’s family are less than receptive. With George falling into his old routine of spending time alone, Madeleine relies almost entirely on Ashley to help her navigate the family dinners, Church meetings and Ashley’s baby shower, all while desperately trying to close the deal on the artist. Tensions mount when Ashley goes into labor. Each family member’s priorities, Madeleine’s included, are confronted.
Director: Phil Morrison
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, The
A man is shot and quickly buried in the high desert of west Texas. The body is found and reburied in Van Horn's town cemetery. Pete Perkins, a local ranch foreman (TOMMY LEE JONES) kidnaps a Border Patrolman and forces him to disinter the body. With his captive in tow and the body tied to a mule Pete undertakes a dangerous and quixotic journey into Mexico.
Guillermo Arriaga's dramatic and poetic script weaves past and present as it gradually reveals a great friendship, the lonely subterfuge of an illegal migrant's life, the cost of a promise made and kept, and culminates in the redemption of a callous if accidental killer.
Director: Tommy Lee Jones
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Witnesses
Set amid the atrocities of war in the Balkans, "Witnesses" is retold, Roshoman-style, from various characters' viewpoints, adding new information about the complexity of war and humanity. Beginning inside a rustic house with a woman in black (Mirjana Karanovic) standing beside her husband's coffin, "Witnesses" interweaves the stories of a small town confronting ethnic hatred and deep moral ambiguities.
Director: Vinko Bresan
Year: 2005
Language: Serbo-Croatian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Into Great Silence
Into Great Silence is the first film ever made chronicling life inside the Grande Chartreuse, nestled deep in the stunning French Alps. Founded in 1084, it is considered one of the world’s most ascetic monasteries and home to the Catholic Church’s strictest order. Here the monks dedicate themselves entirely to the service of God and to spiritual life, in permanent silence. One of the most mesmerizing and poetic chronicles of spirituality ever created, this film is a rare, transformative experience for all.
Director: Philip Groning
Year: 2005
Language: French/Latin with English subtitles
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
Scenes of a Sexual Nature
Sex and love. Some seek it, some need it, some spurn it and some pay for it, but we¿e all involved in it. However, the only thing that truly connects us is our attempt to connect. Whether it is emotional, physical, subliminal or sexual, as human beings we need to make contact with others. But what are the rules? How do we really know whether someone likes us let alone is in love with us? How do we decide whether to connect with another person for a moment indeed a lifetime? The word that gets used most when discussing these issues is love. According to many great thinkers love is an unattainable notion that is driven more by need than reality, according to others it is the only thing that makes the otherwise intolerable idea of life remotely worth attempting. Scenes Of A Sexual Nature is a film that looks at some of our attempts to find it and how we behave in love, in lust and in trouble.
Director: Ed Blum
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Secret Life of Words, The
A solitary, mysterious woman (Sarah Polley) who is trying to forget her past is brought to an oil rig to look after a man (Tim Robbins) who has been temporarily blinded. A strange intimacy develops between them, breaking down the walls of silence and cynicism with shared secrets, truths, lies, humour and pain.
Director: Isabel Coixet
Year: 2005
Language: English
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Two Sides of the Bed
Javier and Pedro live happily with their new girlfriends, Marta and Raquel. Javier is about to marry Marta, but he and Pedro are unaware that Marta and Raquel are secretly in love. When the boys find out, they are all sent into a rollercoaster of hilarious situations and sexual confusion that puts their lives and options into question in this follow-up to the hit film The Other Side of the Bed.
Director: Emilio Martinez Lazaro
Year: 2005
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
Our Daily Bread
Welcome to the world of industrial food production and high-tech farming! To the rhythm of conveyor belts and immense machines, the film looks without commenting into the places where food is produced in Europe: monumental spaces, surreal landscapes and bizarre sounds - a cool, industrial environment which leaves little space for individualism. People, animals, crops and machines play a supporting role in the logistic of this system which provides our society's standard of living. OUR DAILY BREAD is a wide-screen tableau of a feast which isn't always easy to digest - and in which we all take part.
Director: Nikolaus Geyrhalter
Year: 2005
Language: German, Polish
Genre: Documentary
Almost Heaven
When Helen's life takes a dramatic turn, she leaves her husband and jumps on a plane to pursue her dream of singing at Nashville's Bluebird Café. Instead, she lands in Jamaica-wrong plane, wrong place, wrong music. With no luck singing for her supper and no money left to leave the island, Helen needs to improvise and find a new plan-and quickly.
Director: Ed Herzog
Year: 2005
Language: German
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Caché / Hidden
Georges (Auteuil), a television talk showhost, and his wife Anne (Binoche) are living the perfect life of comfort and security. One day, their idyll is disrupted in the form of a mysterious videotape that appears on their doorstep. On it they are being filmed by a hidden camera from across the street with no clues as to who shot it, or why.
As more tapes arrive containing images that are disturbingly intimate and increasingly personal, George launches into an investigation of his own as to who is behind this. As he does so, secrets from his past are revealed, and the walls of security he an Anne have built around themselves begin to crumble.
Director: Michael Haneke
Year: 2005
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Wedding Party, The
A wedding set at a beautiful country inn turns bloody when the overbearing father of the groom starts a feud with the chef. The father tries to stiff the inn for the bill, but the crafty chef locks the door on the bride and her mother-in-law, now held as collateral. What started as a happy day turns into an over the top battle of wits involving shotguns, hand grenades and twist-laden mayhem.
Director: Dominique Deruddere
Year: 2005
Language: German
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
Layer Cake
Sleek, well dressed and polite, our unnamed hero (Daniel Craig) is a consummate professional. Treating cocaine and ecstasy like any other commodity, he has made a fortune for himself by keeping his hands clean and staying under the radar. Having made the decision to retire, his aim is
to break free from the world of crime, drugs and violence and live a simple, quiet life with the money he has amassed.
But before this can happen, crime boss Jimmy Price wants two last favors from
him. First, he must track down the missing, drug addict daughter of powerful criminal Eddie Temple. Second, he must negotiate the sale of a huge shipment of ecstasy with
The Duke, a loose cannon petty crook playing well out of his league.
What should be a routine transaction is anything but and nothing goes according to plan. Instead, duplicity and hidden alliances become the order of the day, in a struggle for power that reaches from the crack dens London to the highest ranks of British society.
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Year: 2004
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Social Genocide
Having survived a political assassination attempt in 1991, Director Fernando Solenas attacks his subject relentlessly and isn't afraid to name names and point fingers. Of the country's current $170-billion debt, Solenas estimates $10 billion ended up in the pockets of crooked politicians. This is 2005's The Take with sleeves rolled up, ready to fight.
Director: Fernando Solanas
Year: 2004
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
Silent Love, A
Norman, a shy teacher from Montreal meets Gladys, a beautiful, impulsive Mexican woman through the services of an Internet agency.
Full of hope, Norman flies to Mexico to ask Gladys to marry him and move to Montreal. Gladys agrees on one condition, that her widowed mother, Fernanda, come along. Norman readily agrees, unaware of the romantic sparks that are about to fly...
Director: Federico Hidalgo
Year: 2004
Language: English & Spanish
Genre: Canadian, Drama, Comedy
Red Lights
It’s a summer holiday weekend in Paris. Antoine (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) and Hélène (Carole Bouquet) are on their way to pick up their children at summer camp, thus joining thousands of other vacationers on the highways to the south of France.
Frustrated by the freeway, Antoine takes a byway detour, much to Helene's displeasure, and then leaves her in the car as he stops for a drink. Once they're back on the road, their bickering escalates. Antoine then stops again to continue drinking at another tavern, although this time, Helene warns that she won't be there when he gets back. Still he defies her and goes into the bar, taking the car keys with him.
He panics when he leaves the bar and discovers she has left. Believing that she has taken the train, he drives like a madman to the next station, but the last train is just pulling out. Driving away in a state of dread, he picks up a strange hitchhiker- not knowing he might have already crossed the path of his soon-to-be-missing wife...
Director: Cédric Kahn
Year: 2004
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Ma mère
Upon discovering her husband has died in a car crash, Hélène (Isabelle Huppert) launches into a wild series of parties, gradually involving her son Pierre (Louis Garrel) in her drugging, drinking and sex-fuelled nights out. When she mysteriously flees, her son is left in the care of her mistress Réa (Joana Preiss) and Hansi (Emma de Caunes), an icy blonde sadist with whom he falls in love. As the film evolves, we realize that this is a period of initiation for the young man until his mother can return and fully bring him to sexual maturity and adulthood.
Director: Christophe Honore
Year: 2004
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
In the Realms of the Unreal
Henry Darger was an elderly recluse who spent his childhood in an Illinois asylum for feeble-minded children and his adulthood working as a janitor. To the outside world he lived a quiet, nearly solitary existence, but in his mind he'd created a haunting, fantasy dreamscape.
When Henry Darger died alone at the age of 81, his landlords discovered hundreds of brilliant and disturbing paintings, some over 10 feet long, and a 15,000 page illustrated novel (The Realms of the Unreal), which told the epic story of the virtuous Vivian Girls, seven angelic sisters who lead a rebellion against, goddless, child-enslaving men.
Featuring the voices of Dakota Fanning (I AM SAM, CAT IN THE HAT) and Larry Pine (THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS, THE ICE STORM), the music of Emmy-winning composer Jeff Beal and the work of a team of animators, this wholly original film tells the story of a hidden universe.
Director: Jessica Yu
Year: 2004
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Clara et Moi
Antoine is a budding actor who's just turning 33. He is an idealist, perpetually dissatisfied and searching for true love. One day, while riding the metro, he meets Clara, a waitress who's studying literature. She's beautiful, smart and funny, with a charm that immediately works its spell on Antoine. They seem made for each other and neither have ever experienced anything like this before. Everything seems perfect, until Antoine discovers Clara's heartbreaking secret.
Director: Arnaud Viard
Year: 2004
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Yes
YES is the story of a passionate love affair between an American woman (Joan Allen) and a Middle-Eastern man (Simon Abkarian) in which they confront some of the greatest conflicts of our generation - religious, political and sexual. Sam Neill plays the betrayed and betraying politician husband and Shirley Henderson a philosophical cleaner who witnesses the trail of dirt and heartbreak the lovers leave behind them, as they embark on a journey that takes them from London and Belfast to Beirut and Havana.
Director: Sally Potter
Year: 2004
Language: English
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
November
After a dinner out, photographer Sophie Jacobs (Cox) and her boyfriend Hugh (Le Gros) stop at a corner store for a late night snack. While Sophie waits unaware in the car, Hugh is murdered in a violent robbery.
Haunted by guilt, Sophie goes on with her life as best she can: teaching photography at a local art college, meeting her mother (Archer) for lunch, and visiting her therapist (Dunn). But one day at school, a slide mysteriously appears in the projector’s carousel: an image of what looks like her car in front of the corner store the night of the shooting. Are these paranoid visions stemming from her grief and guilt, or does someone know
something about the murder?
As her investigation deepens, more strange events start to occur, drawing into question exactly what happened the night of Hugh’s death. As Sophie struggles with her memory of that night, her life becomes like a photograph itself, an image refracted through a lens, with as much outside the frame as
in.
Director: Greg Harrison
Year: 2004
Language: English
Genre: Drama
I, Claudia
"I, Claudia" is an adaptation of the hit one-woman play starring Kristen Thomson.
Claudia is an "official" pre-teen, still reeling from her parents' divorce. Her father is getting re-married, she has a science fair project coming due, and she is in the physical and emotional throes of puberty. Claudia speaks to us from inside the boiler room of her school where she stores all the things that are secret and dear to her. Incensed and incredulous at the adult world around her, she is irrepressibly funny about it at the same time. Some important adults in Claudia's life - her grandfather Douglas, her father's new girlfriend Leslie and the school custodian Drachman - shed light on her situation.
Director: Chris Abraham
Year: 2004
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Beautiful Country, The
Bui Doi - "less than dust" - is a slur aimed at Vietnamese children with American fathers. The Beautiful Country, set in 1990, relates the odyssey of a young Bui Doi as he who embarks on a personal journey with a young beautiful woman, Ling, aboard a refugee ship to America in search of a better life and Binh's estranged American father . Binh escapes Vietnam, endures refugee camp, and survives a brutal ocean crossing and indentured servitude with a human-trafficking ring. Nevertheless, he manages to keep hope, humanity, and a generous spirit alive as he searches for a connection with his long lost family. His quest leads him from Saigon to Malaysia to New York City and, finally to a remote Texas ranch and a redemptive reunion.
Director: Hans Petter Moland
Year: 2004
Language: English/Cantonese/Mandarin/Vietnamese
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Watermarks
Watermarks is the story of the champion women swimmers of the legendary Jewish sports club, Hakoah Vienna. Hakoah ("The Strength" in Hebrew) was founded in 1909 in response to the notorious Aryan Paragraph, which forbade Austrian sports clubs from accepting Jewish athletes. After the political unification of Nazi Germany and Austria in 1938 the Nazis shut down the club, but the swimmers managed to flee the country before the war broke out, thanks to an escape operation organized by Hakoah’s functionaries.
Sixty-five years later, director Yaron Zilberman meets the members of the women’s swim team in their homes around the world, and arranges a reunion in their old swimming pool in Vienna, a journey that evokes memories of youth, struggle and triumph.
Director: Yaron Zilberman
Year: 2004
Language: English, German and Hebrew
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
She Hate Me
Wharton-educated biotech executive John Henry "Jack" Armstrong (Anthony Mackie) gets fired when he informs on his bosses launching an investigation into their business dealings by the Securities & Exchange Commission. Branded a whistle-blower and therefore unemployable, Jack desperately needs to make a living. When his former girlfriend Fatima (Kerry Washington), a high powered businesswoman and now a lesbian, offers him cash to impregnate her and her new girlfriend Alex (Dania Ramirez), Jack is persuaded by the chance to make "easy" money. Word spreads and soon Jack is in the baby-making business at $10,000 a try. Lesbians with a desire for motherhood and the cash to spare are lining up to seek his services. But, between the attempts by his former employers to frame him for security fraud and his dubious fathering activities, Jack finds his life, all at once, becoming very complicated.
Director: Spike Lee
Year: 2004
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Drama, Comedy
Antares
A devastating car accident forces a nurse (Petra Morz?), a supermarket checkout girl (Susanne Wuest), and a high-strung real-estate agent (Andreas Kiendl) to come to terms with their true longings and needs while searching for love and human contact in Austrian filmmaker G?tz Spielmann's stark and sexual drama. Though their lives couldn't be more different, it only takes one act of sudden and unexpected tragedy to bring three lost souls into contact and forever alter the course of their lives.
Director: Götz Spielmann
Year: 2004
Language: German
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Bad Education
Celebrated Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar's latest is a classic film noir set in Madrid, 1960 - 1980. Two kids, Ignacio and Enrique, discover love, cinema and fear in a religious school. Father Manolo, the school principal and their literature teacher, is witness to and part of these discoveries. The three characters meet twice again, at the end of the 70s and in the 80s. The re-encounter will mark the life and death of some of them.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Year: 2004
Language: Spanish(Castilian)/Latin
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Gunner Palace
GUNNER PALACE reveals the complex realities of the situation in Iraq not seen on the nightly news. Told first-hand by our troops, 'Gunner Palace' presents a thought provoking portrait of a dangerous and chaotic war that is personal, highly emotional, sometimes disturbing, surprisingly amusing ... and thoroughly fascinating. Filmmaker Michael Tucker, who lived with 2/3 Field Artillery, a.k.a. "The Gunners" for two months, captures the lives and humanity of these soldiers whose barracks are the bombed-out pleasure palace of Uday Hussein (nicknamed Gunner Palace), situated in the heart of the most volatile section of Baghdad. With total access to all operations and activities, Tucker's insider footage provides a rare look at the day-to-day lives of these soldiers on the ground -- whether swimming in Uday's pool and playing golf on his putting green or executing raids on suspected terrorists, enduring roadside bombs, mortar attacks, RPGs and snipers.
Director: Michael Tucker & Petra Epperlein
Year: 2004
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Baadasssss!
In Baadasssss! Mario Van Peebles sharply observes his father Melvin’s (played by Mario) struggles to raise money to fund Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971) under the guise of creating a black porno film. Melvin ducked creditors, the unions and had to bail out his camera crew after they were arrested because a white cop decided a bunch of Negroes and hippies couldn’t have come by that camera equipment honestly. Despite death threats and temporarily losing sight in one eye, Melvin managed to whip into shape a rag-tag, multi-racial crew and finish the film. The film had a winning formula - a hip, empowered black lead and a driving, energetic soundtrack with music from the then up-and-coming band Earth Wind and Fire. Maurice White of Earth Wind and Fire also contributes new music to the new film.
Before the Wright Brothers, there was no manned flight. Before Melvin Van Peebles, there were no films that would dare depict a brother standing up to the "man" and living to tell about.
Director: Mario Van Peebles
Year: 2004
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Grand Voyage, Le
A few weeks before his college entrance exams, Réda finds himself obligated to drive his traditionalist Muslim father from their French suburban home to Mecca, on a pilgrimage that is one of the pillars of Islam - the hajj. Within these tight confines, father and son discover that the wide cultural and generational gap between them is a catalyst for confrontation. Yet each time a seemingly irreparable split arises, its resolution brings another level of understanding to their relationship. With several unexpected passengers attaching themselves to the pair along the way, humour intertwines with this heartwarming "road movie with a difference" (June Givanni, Toronto International Film Festival).
Director: Ismaël Ferroukhi
Year: 2004
Language: French (Bulgarian, Arabic, Italian, Turkish)
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
2046
Picking up where after In The Mood For Love left off, 2046 is a visually seductive reverie of memory and regret, refracted through a serial womanizer's experiences with six women.
Chow Mo Wan - played by Tony Leung Chiu-wai with the charm of a young Clark Gable - moves from being a gambler to a pulp fiction writer, and 2046 follows him through various liaisons with several beautiful women, played by Ziyi Zhang, Gong Li, Faye Wong, Carina Lau, Dong Jie and Maggie Cheung. Playfully merging past, present, and future, 2046 is at once the number of the hotel room in which the couple of after In The Mood For Love conducted their extra marital encounters, and the date of Hong Kong's final integration into China.
Director: Wong Kar Wai
Year: 2004
Language: Cantonese/Mandarin/Japanese
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Riding Giants
Riding Giants takes us along surfing’s timeline from it’s early Polynesian roots, to its rebirth in the early 20th Century, to the development of a fledgling surf culture along the coast of Southern California in the 1940s highlighting the group of extraordinary adventurers that emerged: surfers who, not satisfied with the mere recreational and social aspects of the sport, began searching for bigger and bigger waves, pushing the boundaries of performance to explore the “unridden realm.”
Riding Giants is the story of these big wave riders, of where and how their quest began, of the classic characters who throughout the eras chased their dreams out into the blue water, and who still do today, riding 50, 60 and even 70 foot waves in a manner once considered the realm of fantasy.
Director: Stacy Peralta
Year: 2004
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
House of Flying Daggers
The Tang Dynasty, one of the most enlightened empires in Chinese history at its height, is in decline. Unrest is raging throughout the land, and the corrupt government is locked in battle with rebel armies that are forming in protest. The largest, and most prestigious of these rebel groups is the House of Flying Daggers, which is growing ever more powerful under a mysterious new leader. Two local captains, Leo and Jin are ordered to capture the new leader and the two hatch an elaborate plan. Captain Jin will pretend to be a lone warrior called Wind and rescue the beautiful, blind revolutionary Mei (Zhang Ziyi) from prison, earning her trust and escorting her to the secret headquarters of the House of Flying Daggers. The plan works, but to their surprise, Jin and Mei fall deeply in love on their long journey to the House. Danger lurks in the forest surrounding them, and the wind is still, as if sensing the tension in the air. What lies ahead for Jin and Mei, these star-crossed lovers?
Director: Yimou Zhang
Year: 2004
Language: Chinese (Mandarin)
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Viva Laldjerie
Algiers, the winter of 2003: Three women have been living in a hotel in the centre of town since the violence started. The daughter has chosen a modern, emancipated life for herself by working for a photographer, taking a generous married lover and spending steamy weekends in nightclubs. Her faithful friend, prostitutes herself under the thumb of a powerful and "kind" protector. Meanwhile the mother bides time, torn between fear and nostalgia.
Director Nadir Moknèche weaves a richly drawn portrait of women exiled in their own country.
Director: Nadir Moknèche
Year: 2004
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Bombon El Perro
Patagonia is a rough land, and for 52-year-old Juan Villegas, it's even rougher. A mechanic who's just lost his job, Juan tries to make ends meet by selling hand-made knives. One day, after repairing a young woman's car, he is given a most unusual gift: a beautiful Dogo Argentino, a game hound of noble pedigree called 'Bombón'. After initially eyeing each other carefully, Juan welcomes Bombón into his life and with their budding friendship things start taking a remarkable turn for the better.
Director: Carlos Sorín
Year: 2004
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Anatomy of Hell
Over four nights in a house in the middle of nowhere, a woman on the verge pays a handsome stranger to watch her “where she’s unwatchable.” Flouting all conventions and breaking all boundaries, the two enter into a stunning and daring exploration of sexuality at its most fundamental. Confronting the unspeakable, discovering the unshowable, and sharing the unsharable, they learn the real secrets of how men truly see women, and how women truly see themselves.
Director: CATHERINE BREILLAT
Year: 2004
Language: In French with English subtitles
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Imaginary Heroes
IMAGINARY HEROES is a look at one long year in the lives of an ostensibly typical, upper-middle-class suburban family. It tells a tale of a family in crisis with wit, warmth and a very contemporary sardonic spin.
Following a sobering family tragedy, the Travises go to pieces. Teenaged son Tim (Emile Hirsch), the black sheep of the family, walks through his life like it’s a bad dream. His father Ben (Jeff Daniels) begins treating his wife and children like strangers and completely disengages from the world around him, while his mother Sandy (Sigourney Weaver) takes to smoking pot and letting loose with all the considerable sarcasm she can muster. Meanwhile, she wages a bitter feud with the next-door neighbor over carefully concealed secrets that threaten to tear the family apart.
With elements of pathos, salty humor and self-discovery, Imaginary Heroes is ultimately about what it means to be part of a family -- the good, the bad, and everything in between.
Director: Dan Harris
Year: 2004
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Outing Riley
Bobby is a gay man in the closet in 2003, afraid to come out to his three older brothers, even though he's at least 30 and is being pressed by his sister, his boyfriend, and his lesbian beard to tell the lads. The death of his father and a fishing trip with his brothers provide occasions when he could tell them, but he fails. When he screws his courage to the sticking point, how will they react, and how will he deal with their reactions? He imagines a movie of his rather boring life - surrounded by possibilities - but can anything overcome the insular narrow-mindedness of a big Irish Catholic family in Chicago?
Director: Pete Jones
Year: 2004
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Lightning in a Bottle
On February 7th, 2003, renowned artists across multiple music genres and generations commandeered the stage at New York City's Radio City Music Hall to pay tribute to their common heritage and passion - the blues. Shared with thousands of fans in attendance, legendary performers from roots, rock, jazz and rap joined forces for a once-in-a-lifetime "Salute To The Blues" benefit concert whose proceeds went to musical education. Executive produced by Martin Scorsese, produced by Alex Gibney and directed by Antoine Fuqua, LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE captures the night's magic and weaves a history of the blues through the juxtaposition of performances, backstage interviews, rehearsals and archival clips of some of the greatest names in American music, from blues royalty like Buddy Guy, and B.B. King, to their musical heirs ranging from John Fogerty and Bonnie Raitt to Mos Def and India.Arie.
LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE follows the story of the week leading up to the concert - including rehearsals.
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Year: 2004
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Lost Embrace
Ariel is a recent college dropout with hopes of escaping a career behind the counter of his mother's lingerie store in a Buenos Aires shopping mall. He leads an alternately bittersweet and comedic daily life with the host of eccentric shopkeepers who have become a strange family of sorts. It could grow into a comfortable routine, but with a Polish passport through his long-lost father and new adventures at his fingertips, Ariel dreams of starting an exciting new life in Europe.
Before moving on, Ariel's Father returns and the family is reunited for the first time since he left for war in a shroud of mystery shortly after Ariel was born. He brings with him new truths, a new story and, ultimately, a long-overdue embrace - one that had been lost for so long.
Director: Daniel Burman
Year: 2004
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Une vie à t'attendre
About to settle into a life of marital bliss with his girlfriend, Claire, Alex is thrown when his first love, Jeanne, reappears in his life after twelve years. Married with a family of her own, Jeanne gives into her lingering passion and renews the affair with her former lover. Alex suddenly finds himself at a crossroads of rationality and recklessness, discretion and desire...
Director: Thierry Klifa
Year: 2004
Language: French, Italian
Genre: Drama, Romance
Up & Down
In the dead of the night, near the Czech-Slovak border, two smugglers discover theirtruckload of illegal Indian immigrants have left a baby behind. In a small Prague apartment, Franta (Jiri Machacek) and Mila (Natasa Burger) dream of having a child, but Franta - on probation because of his soccer hooliganism past - is not
allowed to adopt, and Mila is unable to conceive. After cashing in on her savings, Mila decides to buy a baby from a pawnshop that fronts a den of thieves and pickpockets.
Meanwhile, an unusual family reunion is taking place: Academy professor Otto (Jan Triska) collapses while teaching, prompting his estranged son Martin (Petr Forman, son of director Milos) to return to Prague from Australia to see his father and his mother, Vera (Emilia Vasaryova), long separated from Otto whom she still pines for. Otto is now living with the beautiful and much younger Hana (Ingrid Timkova), who works in a refugee aid center helping immigrants to adjust to their new lives...
Director: Jan Hrebejk
Year: 2004
Language: Czech/English/German/Russian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Kung Fu Hustle
Set amid the chaos of pre-revolutionary China, small time thief, Sing, aspires to be one of the sophisticated and ruthless Axe Gang whose underworld activities overshadow the city. Stumbling across a crowded apartment complex aptly known as “Pig Sty Alley,” Sing attempts to extort money from one of the ordinary locals, but the neighbors are not what they appear. Sing’s comical attempts at intimidation inadvertently attract the Axe Gang into the fray, setting off a chain of events that brings the two disparate worlds face-to-face. As the inhabitants of the Pig Sty fight for their lives, the ensuing clash of kung fu titans unearths some legendary martial arts Masters. Sing, despite his futile attempts, lacks the soul of
a killer, and must face his own mortality in order to discover the true nature of the kung fu master.
Director: Stephen Chow
Year: 2004
Language: Cantonese/Mandarin
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Hawaii, Oslo
Five stories about love are interweaved in Oslo, during the hottest day if the year. A man lies dying in the street, surrounded by people who, on the contrary are more alive than ever.
For eleven years, Leon has been dreaming about turning 25. At the age of fourteen he and Aasa made a pact to meet again on this day to be together forever. Now he is frightened that she will not come, but maybe even more frightened that she actually will. The nurse Vidar tries to prevent his premonitions by keeping himself awake from his dreams. He is a night watch at the institution where Leon lives and has dreamt that Leon and Aasa will never meet. The people in Hawaii, Oslo cross each others paths and meet one another - like the streets in a city. Everyone is running from something, searching for something or dreaming of something else on this destined day.
Everyone is looking for love and finding companionship.
Director: Erik Poppe
Year: 2004
Language: Norwegian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Wilby Wonderful
Today in the small East Coast island town of Wilby, Carol French, the local realtor, is trying to sell the Mayor a house that belonged to her recently deceased mother-in-law. Her police officer husband Buddy is in the middle of an investigation into the town’s deviant underbelly. It seems that Buddy is also about to begin a love affair with the wrong-side-of-the-tracks just-back-in-town Sandra Anderson. Meanwhile, Sandra’s daughter Emily isn’t very happy that her mother has given her a handful of condoms to use with her new one-track-mind boyfriend. Add to the mix the apparently dyslexic sign painter Duck MacDonald, and MacKenzie Fisher, the Mayor’s algebra-challenged young daughter, and it’s just another Thursday in Wilby. But then why is Dan Jarvis trying to kill himself in all the wrong places? Where are all the drugs suddenly coming from? And, what’s Carol French going to do about that body in the closet?
Director: Daniel MacIvor
Year: 2004
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Comedy
Exils
Two young lovers embark on a daunting pilgrimage from Paris across Spain to Algeria, by train, bus and foot, in the hope of discovering the land their parents fled decades ago. Fueled by passion and intoxicated with freedom, they defiantly take to the road with music as their only belonging, en route to a country that everyone else is trying to escape... backwards on the path to exile and spiritual awakening.
Director: Tony Gatlif
Year: 2004
Language: French, Arabic, Romany and Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Touch of Pink
Alim (Jimi Mistry) is so caught up in the romance, style and dreams of old Hollywood that he thinks he's living with the spirit of Cary Grant (Kyle MacLachlan).
A young, Ismaili Canadian based in London, Alim lives with a handsome, charming intelligent English boyfriend, Giles (Kristen Holden-Ried), who is completely unaware of his lover's fantasy life.
Alim and Giles are happy together, despite Cary's presence, until Alim's mother Nuru (Suleka Mathew) shows up for a visit. Totally unaware that her son is gay, let alone that he is living with Giles, Nuru has come to London to find Alim a proper Ismaili-Muslim girlfriend and to convince him to come home to Canada.
With his mother in the picture, Alim's different worlds quickly begin to collide, and he has to choose between his fantasy life with Cary and the earthlier pleasures of real life. Touch of Pink combines a contemporary clash of cultures, values and sexuality, with the pleasures of an old fashioned romantic comedy.
Director: Ian Iqbal Rashid
Year: 2004
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama, Comedy
Syrian Bride
Mona’s wedding day is the saddest day of her life. She knows that once she crosses the border between Israel and Syria to marry Syrian TV star Tallel, she will never be allowed back to her beloved family in Majdal Shams, the largest Druze village in the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since 1967.
The Syrian Bride is a story about physical, mental and emotional borders and the will to cross them. A story about a family trying to cope with its ability to define boundaries and deal with them - focusing on Mona’s sister Amal, a modern woman trapped in a tradition and culture she wants to break out of.
Director: Eran Riklis
Year: 2004
Language: Arabic, English, Hebrew, Russian, French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Merchant of Venice
Set in 16th century Venice, Shakespeare’s timeless comedy/drama follows the fates and fortunes of a group of Christian noblemen and their interactions with the Jewish moneylender Shylock.
Antonio (Jeremy Irons) borrows money from Shylock (Al Pacino) to help his young penniless friend Bassanio (Joseph Fiennes) in his quest to win the hand of the fair Portia (Lynn Collins). Bitter at Antonio’s insults, Shylock stipulates very specific terms if he defaults on the loan.
As Antonio’s shipping business is devastated by storms, Shylock is further angered by his daughter’s elopement with the nobleman Lorenzo (Charlie Cox). The loan falls due and Shylock claims his forfeit in the form of a pound of Antonio’s flesh. As Bassanio desperately tries to save Antonio from this fate, miraculous help comes from an unexpected quarter.
Director: Michael Radford
Year: 2004
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Human Cargo
Human Cargo is a critically acclaimed, dramatic 6 part mini-series set in the world of the Canadian refugee system, international terrorism and the anarchy of one of Africa’s most vicious civil wars.
Director: Brad Turner
Year: 2004
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Scared Sacred
In a world teetering on the edge of self-destruction, award-winning filmmaker Velcrow Ripper sets out on a unique pilgrimage. Visiting the ‘Ground Zeros’ of the planet, he asks if it’s possible to find hope in the darkest moments of human history.
Ripper travels to the minefields of Cambodia; war-torn Afghanistan; the toxic wasteland of Bhopal; post-9/11 New York; Bosnia; Hiroshima; Israel and Palestine. This powerful documentary captures his five- year odyssey to discover if humanity can transform the ‘scared’ into the ‘sacred’. In each place, he unearths unforgettable stories of survival, ritual, resilience and recovery.
Director: Velcrow Ripper
Year: 2004
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Documentary
Citizen Black
A filmmaker follows controversial media baron Conrad Black during the most tumultuous period of his life. It's Conrad's fall from grace but the encounters with him are both poignant and humourous as the filmmaker slowly reveals a side of Conrad Black rarely seen in public.
Director: Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine
Year: 2004
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Documentary
Agata and the Storm
When Agata, popular bookshop proprietor and dispenser of sunny wisdom in the form of books, is suddenly wooed by a man almost half her age, her electricity hits high-voltage. It even sends light bulbs, computers and other electrical appliances bursting in her wake.Agata's brother Gustavo - a rather self-satisfied, pampered successful architect - is not sheltered from the brewing storm of life either. The shock when he discovers he is in fact an adopted son, "bought" by his parents as an infant, shakes the very foundations of his certitudes. The winds of change soon rage at gale force as he is forced to admit his true feelings about his joyless marriage and mediocre life.
An incorrigible skirt-chaser and traveling salesman appropriately named Romeo, as garish as his clothing lines, turns out to be Gustavo's unlikely real brother. The chorus of this ensemble comedy reaches impossible heights of laughter and tenderness in the adventures of the bizarre triangle.
Director: Silvio Soldini
Year: 2004
Language: Italian
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
Saving Face
Saving Face is a romantic comedy about a daughter struggling to understand her mother's heart, which ultimately allows her to understand her own. It is the story of unspoken loves, contemporary and cultural taboos, and the journey of two women towards living their lives honestly.
Director: Alice Wu
Year: 2004
Language: English/Chinese (Mandarin)
Genre: GLBT, Drama, Comedy
Warriors of Heaven & Earth
After decades of service to the Chinese Emperor, Lai Xi longs to return to Japan. Finally, his request seems to be granted, and as battles against the invading Turkish armies intensify, Lai Xi promises to bring Wen Zhu back to the capital city of Changan. Instead, he is sent to the West to chase wanted criminals. His only passport back to Japan is to capture and execute Lieutenant Li, a renegade soldier wanted for leading a violent mutiny when he refused orders to kill female and child prisoners.
Li and Lai Xi battle, but finally agree to delay their final personal fight until the caravan carrying Wen Zhu and a Buddhist monk is brought to safety. The monk, however, is carrying a sacred and powerful pagoda that attracts the attention of the region's ruthless overlord, Master An (Wang Xueqi). Lai Xi and Lt. Li, accompanied by Li's former posse of soldiers, who have forsaken their peaceful new lives to return to his side, must face the cruelty of the desert.
Director: Ping He
Year: 2004
Language: Chinese (Mandarin)
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Somersault
After making a misjudged advance towards her mother’s boyfriend, 16-year-old Heidi flees her home for the small Australian ski town of Jindabyne and starts a new life for herself. But when she falls for the son of a wealthy local farmer, her self-destructive tendencies resurface and her fragile new world threatens to come tumbling down. An erotic, lyrical depiction of a young woman’s sexual awakening.
Director: Cate Shortland
Year: 2004
Language: English
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Love That Boy
Phoebe (Nadia Litz of The Five Senses) is a socially inept overachiever, unrecognized in a world run by C students. With a month until college ends, she's given herself a "To Accomplish Before Graduation" list, which includes everything from picking wild mushrooms to learning how to kayak.
When her roommate points out that what Phoebe really needs is a boyfriend, she simply adds that to her list. After the demise of her first relationship - her "boyfriend" didn't even know they were going out - Phoebe inadvertently falls in love. The only problem is, he's 14.
Director: Andrea Dorfman
Year: 2003
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama, Comedy
Green Butchers
Sick of being pushed around by their tyrannical boss, two old friends decide to start their own organic butcher shop. Unfortunately they get off to a rough start and business is less than spectacular. But after accidentally locking a visiting electrician in the freezer overnight, Svend is left with a frozen body on his hands...and a gruesome opportunity. Soon business takes off and locals are lining the street for their new mystery dish, but the two friends are left wondering how they’ll continue to meet demand...
The Green Butchers is a pitch-dark comedy that teeters between horror and hilarity. Twisted with both the morbid and amusing it has a distinct taste and is well worth digging into... if you've got the stomach.
Director: Anders Thomas Jensen
Year: 2003
Language: Danish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Zelary
It is the 1940's and the Czech lands have been occupied by the Nazis. Eliska is a young woman who was unable to complete medical school because the Germans closed the universities and now works as a nurse in a city hospital. She is also involved in the resistance movement.
One night, a man from a rural mountain area is brought to the hospital with serious injuries and desperately needs a transfusion. Eliska is the only one with the same blood type. Her blood saves his life and a connection is formed between the two that in the course of the story becomes an extraordinarily strong relationship between the modern, cosmopolitan, and educated Eliska and the barbaric, salt of the earth man with the soul of a child, Joza.
The resistance group that the doctors are involved in is discovered and hunted by the Gestapo and suddenly their lives are threatened. Joza is asked to Eliska in his remote mountain cabin. Eliska is forced become a new woman: Hana, the wife of a mountain man.
Director: Ondrej Trojan
Year: 2003
Language: Czech/Russian/German
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Return, The (Vozvrashcheniye)
In contemporary Russia young brothers Vanya and Andrey have grown a deep attachment to each other to make up for their fatherless childhood. Running home after a fight with neighborhood kids the boys are shocked to discover their father has returned after a twelve-year absence. Vanya and Andrey find themselves alternately tested, scolded, scrutinized and ignored by their father through a changing series of encounters and hardships.
Vanya and his father's test of wills escalates into bitter hostility and sudden violence as the trio arrives at their mysterious island destination. The dubious sanctuary of a rickety light tower, the desperate reassurance of a stolen knife, the cryptic allure of a rusting strong box and the fleeting safety of a hastily patched boat give evidence to the ultimately tragic conclusion of Vanya and Andrey's harrowing father and son journey and the heartbreakingly transitory nature of their reunion.
Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev
Year: 2003
Language: Russian with English subtitles
Saraband
In Saraband, Marianne and Johan meet again after thirty years without contact, when Marianne suddenly feels a need to see her ex-husband again. She decides to visit Johan at his old summer house in the western province of Dalarna. And so, one beautiful autumn day, there she is, beside his reclining chair, waking him with a light kiss.
Also living at the summer house are Johan's son Henrik and Henrik's daughter Karin. Henrik is giving his daughter cello lessons and already sees her future as staked out. Relations between father and son are very strained, but both are protective of Karin. They are all still mourning Anna, Henrik's much-loved wife, who died two years ago, yet who, in many ways, remains present among them. Marianne soon realizes that things are not all as they should be, and she finds herself unwillingly drawn into a complicated and upsetting power struggle...
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Year: 2003
Language: Swedish/English/German
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Bon Voyage
At the start of World War II, the fate of the free world hangs in the balance at the posh Hotel Splendide in Bordeaux. Cabinet members, journalists, physicists, and spies of all persuasions gather in order to escape the Nazi occupation of Paris. High society socialites hobnob with jailbirds. Murderous intrigues, scientific secrets and love affairs flourish.
In Jean-Paul Rappeneau's BON VOYAGE, elaborate personal schemes and political plots escalate, intersect and fly off in all directions, as a young man (Grégori Derangère) must choose between a beautiful diva (Isabelle Adjani) and an impassioned student (Virginie Ledoyen), between politicians and hoodlums, between carefree youth and adulthood.
Director: Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Year: 2003
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...And Spring
The exquisitely beautiful and very human drama Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring is entirely set on and around a tree-lined lake where a tiny Buddhist monastery floats on a raft amidst a breath-taking landscape. The film is divided into five segments; each season representing a stage in a man’s life. Under the vigilant eyes of Old Monk, Child Monk learns a hard lesson about the nature of sorrow when some of his childish games turn cruel. In the intensity and lushness of summer, the monk, now a young man, experiences the power of lust, a desire that will ultimately lead him, as an adult, to dark deeds. With winter, strikingly set on the ice and snow-covered lake, the man atones for his past actions, and spring starts the cycle anew… With an extraordinary attention to visual details, such as using a different animal (dog, rooster, cat, snake) as a motif for each section, writer/director/editor KIM Ki-duk has crafted a totally original yet universal story about the human spirit.
Director: Ki-duk Kim
Year: 2003
Language: Korean
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Little Brother of War
Confronted with the death of his parents, eight-year-old Jay Williams (Brett Sherwood) is reluctantly taken in by his mother's estranged sister and her down and out boyfriend. Confused and disoriented, Jay finds no comfort in his aunt's dysfunctional lifestyle. With great determination, he departs on a cross-country journey to the World Lacrosse Championships in Chicago, believing his mother and father to be in attendance. Finding himself in circumstances far beyond his years, Jay seeks solace within his imagination and brings to life a mystic story of centuries past.
Years of working the streets, and a failed marriage, have left Detective Anthony Rosetti (Frank Cassini) jaded, and numb. Not until he crosses paths with a lost, yet persistent young Jay, does he begin to question his choices of the past and the direction his life is taking.
Fantasy is interwoven with reality and, in a triumph of spirit; a jaded cop and an orphaned boy find friendship and liberation from their fears.
Director: Damon Vignale
Year: 2003
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Since Otar Left
Three Georgian women - strong-willed matriarch Eka (90-year-old former dental assistant and fledgling star Esther Gorintin), her long-suffering daughter Marina (Nino Khomassouridze) and rebellious granddaughter Ada (Freeze, Die, Come To Life's Dinara Droukarova) - all live together in their stately yet crumbling apartment in contemporary Tbilisi, the capital of the former Soviet republic. Eka pines for her beloved son Otar, a physician who is now a construction worker in Paris. Marina is deeply resentful of her mother's obsession with her absent brother, while Ada endures their bickering and yearns for a more adventurous existence. When a friend of Otar's calls with tragic news, Marina and Ada must make a seemingly impossible choice: Do they keep Eka from learning the truth?
Director: Julie Bertuccelli
Year: 2003
Language: French/Georgian/Russian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
3-Iron
Tae-suk (JAE Hee) drifts around on his motorcycle looking for empty houses to
stay in. Tae-suk lives in the empty house until the owners return, but never steals or
ruins anything. He simply guards the houses for a few days, fixing broken items,
and even does the owners' laundry. Before leaving, he puts everything back as it
used be. One day, sneaking into a wealthy home, Tae-suk meets his destiny - a married
woman named Sun-hwa (LEE Seung-yeon) who has been tormented by her
abusive husband. That same night, Tae-suk wakes up suddenly to find Sun-hwa staring at him. He
runs out, but the phone rings suddenly. It's Sun-hwa's husband. Tae-suk
overhears their conversation and realizes that Sun-hwa has an unhappy
marriage and life. Sun-hwa looks silently at him as if she is begging for him to
save her.
Director: Kim Ki-Duk
Year: 2003
Language: Korean
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Ginger and Cinnamon
When Stefania breaks up with her boyfriend Andrea, little does she realize what the summer has in store for her. She winds up on vacation at a Greek resort 'Isle of love' with her 14 year old niece. Unfortunately, her teenage niece has something more than sun and surf on her mind; she decides that this Mediterranean paradise is where she will finally lose her virginity. However, in an ironic twist, the cute guy she has her eye out on turns out to be none other than Andrea, her aunt's ex-boyfriend. This light-hearted "comedy-of-errors" is a valuable lesson in what being a woman means at any age.
Director: Daniele Luchetti
Year: 2003
Language: Italian/English
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, The
The true story of a Bohemian St. Francis and his remarkable relationship with a flock of wild red-and-green parrots. Mark Bittner, former street musician in San Francisco, falls in with the flock as he searches for meaning in his life, unaware that the wild parrots will bring him everything he needs.
Director: Judy Irving
Year: 2003
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Raja
Raja is a nineteen year old orphan literally and figuratively scarred by life. Fred is an emotionally bankrupt westerner living amid his plush gardens and palm trees. Set against the backdrop of contemporary Marrakech, Raja is a cross-cultural drama about a wealthy middle-aged Frenchman's complex relationship with local youth. Fred's attempts to seduce Raja, and their mutual attempt at manipulation, are fractured by their gross disparity of income, age and cultural sophistication.
Director: Jacques Doillon
Year: 2003
Language: French/Moroccan
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
All the Real Girls
All The Real Girls is set in a small North Carolina mill town where 22-year-old Paul has spent his entire life. He lives with his mom, works for his uncle and has a small group of lifelong friends (Tip, Bo and Bust Ass) who are rowdy, funny and loyal. Paul's girlfriends, however, are neither lifelong nor loyal; his charm has led to a string of broken hearts for which he feels little if any remorse. But Paul's easy going life and his attitudes about love and women change dramatically when he meets Noel, Tip's 18-year-old sister. Unlike Paul, Noel has spent most of her life away at boarding school but she has just graduated and returned home with no plans for the future. As the summer progresses, things go right, and then wrong, as both Paul and Noel discover that real love comes at a cost that sometimes is too high. But they also realize that their experience was a turning point for both of them and it will bind them together forever.
Director: David Gordon Green
Year: 2003
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Housekeeper, The
Jacques is a sound engineer and has lived in this quiet section of Paris for years. A few months ago, his wife left him. His new life as a bachelor has slipped into a monotonous grind, as he divides his time between work, the corner bistro and his messy apartment.
Then one day he sees a notice on a bulletin board: "Young woman will do housework." Now he finds himself with Laura, a young woman from the outskirts of town. As the days go by, Jacques discovers the charm of this simple girl overflowing with energy. Almost in spite of himself, he once again awakens to a life of the heart.
With Laura staying in his apartment for the time being, Jacques is torn at one moment between past and present. He decides to make something happen and runs away to Brittany to be with his old friend Ralph. He gives in to Laura's request to go along, but Jacques may lack the candor and generosity it takes for diving head-first into a sea of adolescent feeling and letting himself drift away.
Director: Claude Berri
Year: 2003
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Mother, The
May is an ordinary grandmother from a London suburb. When her husband dies on a family visit to London, she recedes into the background of her busy, metropolitan children's lives. Stuck in an unfamiliar city far from home, May fears that she has become another invisible old lady whose life is more or less over. Until, that is, she falls for Darren, a man half her age who is renovating her son's house and sleeping with her daughter.
Director: Roger Michell
Year: 2003
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Silent Waters
Ayesha is a Muslim widow with a secret past, living peacefully with her beloved son Saleem in a small town in Pakistan, close to the Indian border. When the fires of Islamic nationalism invade their tranquil lives, Saleem is gripped by a religious fervor and takes up with a group of fundamentalists bent on bringing radical Islamic law to their friends and neighbors. After a group of Sikh pilgrims arrive in town dangerous passions increase, and soon Ayesha’s haunted past turns her present life upside down.
Director: Sabiha Sumar
Year: 2003
Language: Urdu and Punjabi
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
My Architect: A Son's Journey
In My Architect, the filmmaker reveals the haunting beauty of his father's monumental creations and takes us deep within his own divided family, uncovering a world of prejudice, intrigue and the myths that haunt parents and children. In a documentary with the emotional impact of a dramatic feature film (including an original orchestral score), Nathaniel's personal journey becomes a universal investigation of identity, a celebration of art and ultimately, of life itself.
Director: Nathaniel Kahn
Year: 2003
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Buddy
Kristoffer’s love life is on the rocks. But what can you expect from a guy who likes to videotape himself and his friends pulling outrageous stunts? When Kristoffer’s video diary winds up at a popular TV show, it’s not just his love life that turns upside down. A vibrant young cast explores the true meaning of friendship and love in a heart-warming story about high jinks, crazy roommates and reality television.
Director: Morten Tyldum
Year: 2003
Language: Norwegian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Corporation, The
Explore the nature and spectacular rise of the dominant institution of our time. Footage from pop culture, advertising, TV news, and corporate propaganda illuminates the corporation's grip on our lives. Taking its legal status as a "person" to its logical conclusion, the film puts the corporation on the psychiatrist's couch to ask "What kind of person is it?"
Provoking, witty, sweepingly informative, THE CORPORATION includes 40 interviews with corporate insiders and critics - including Milton Friedman, Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, and Michael Moore - plus true confessions, case studies and strategies for change.
Director: Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott
Year: 2003
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Documentary
Moving Malcolm
Vancouver's Ben Ratner pulls triple-duty for Moving Malcolm, his directorial debut, which he also wrote and stars in opposite Elizabeth Berkley (Roger Dodger) and John Neville (Spider). The film won a special jury award at the 2003 Montreal World Film Festival for its incisive and compassionate comedy.
Gene (Ratner) is a struggling writer who's dumped at the altar by flighty B-movie actress Liz (Berkley). At odds with his family, friends, and himself, Gene spends the next year toiling away on a voluminous novel that he hopes will win back his former fiancee. Then suddenly Liz shows up at his door, asking Gene to help her father, Malcolm (Neville), move while she's off making a low-budget flick in Prague. Is this Gene's chance to recapture Liz's love?
Director: Benjamin Ratner
Year: 2003
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama, Comedy
Go Further
Go Further, the new film by award-winning documentary filmmaker Ron Mann, explores the idea that the single individual is the key to large-scale transformational change.
The film follows actor Woody Harrelson as he takes a small group of friends on a bio-fuelled bus-ride down the Pacific Coast Highway. Their goal? To show the people they encounter that there are viable alternatives to our habitual, environmentally-destructive behaviors.
Throughout, we see Harrelson test his belief that the transformation of our planet begins with the small personal transformations that are within the grasp of each and every one of us, after which... we'll go further.
Director: Ron Mann
Year: 2003
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Documentary
Masked and Anonymous
In a fictional America caught up in a civil war that is tearing the nation apart, a benefit concert is being organized. A traveling troubadour named Jack Fate (Bob Dylan) is sprung from jail by his scheming former manager, Uncle Sweetheart (John Goodman), to headline a concert with the expectations to bring peace to a country that is entrenched by chaos, lawlessness and pandemonium.
Director: Larry Charles
Year: 2003
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Roads to Koktebel
After the death of his wife, a man takes to drink and loses his apartment. With nothing left for him in Moscow, he sets off with his eleven-year-old son to his sister’s home at Koktebel in the Crimea. They travel by train and on foot, earning their keep along the way with casual labour. The father is content to travel slowly and at the mercy of chance, however slow their movement may be, but his son longs to reach Koktebel, which he feels holds the key to a new life and emancipation. Frustrated by countless delays, the boy breaks away and continues the journey on his own in search of the sea he has longed to visit.
Director: Boris Khlebnikov & Alexei Popogrebsky
Year: 2003
Language: Russian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Spare Parts (2003)
Ludvik is a former speedway champ who has drifted into the lucrative business of people-trafficking, pocketing fistfuls of euros from desperate souls as they are shoved into his van, waiting to be taken across the border into Italy. Young and inexperienced Rudi is his new assistant. In a story straight from the headlines, Ludvik inducts Rudi into the blood-chilling illegal immigrant trade, a squalid world where the refugees are considered disposable, sexual exploitation is par for the course, and the paying customers are just as likely to be drugged and used as "spare parts" (unwilling organ donors), once they are safely over the border.
Director: Damjan Kozole
Year: 2003
Language: Slovenian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Forest for the Trees
Melanie leaves home to become a teacher, armed with alternative methods and bright-eyed optimism. Soon enough, though, storm clouds begin to form: she’s tortured by her students and rejected by her colleagues. There’s no comfort in her personal life either, as loneliness begins to take its toll. Eager for some kind of companionship aside from the creepy Thorsten, the only co-worker her age, Melanie orchestrates a "chance meeting" with her attractive neighbour and begins to insinuate herself into her neighbours’ life.
Director: Maren Ade
Year: 2003
Language: German
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Carandiru
In his ninth full-length feature, Hector Babenco creates a loyal adaptation of the book Carandiru Station by Drauzio Varella. The film follows the point of view of a doctor who makes regular visits to the Sao Paulo Penitentiary and hears hundreds of prisoners' stories, about love and passion, crime and friendship. He is also the witness of the survivors of the 1992 massacre that left 111 people dead.
Director: Hector Babenco
Year: 2003
Language: Portuguese (Brazil)
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Monsieur Ibrahim
During the early 1960's, Paris was an explosion of life. As the old gave way to the new, everything was in flux and the city was filled with an energy that promised cultural shifts and social change.
Against this background, in a working class neighborhood, two unlikely characters - a young Jew and an elderly Muslim - begin a friendship. When we meet Moise, also known as Momo (Pierre Boulanger), he is in effect an orphan even though he lives with his father, a man slowly retreating into a crippling depression. His only friends are the street prostitutes who treat him with genuine affection. Momo buys his groceries at the neighborhood shop, a crowded dark space owned and run by Ibrahim (Omar Sharif), a silent exotic looking man who sees and knows more than he lets on.
After Momo is abandoned by his father, Ibrahim becomes the one grownup in Momo's life. Together they begin a journey that will change their lives forever.
Director: François Dupeyron
Year: 2003
Language: French/Arabic
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Dopamine
Rand is a computer animator, who has created an artificial intelligence creature designed to interact with children and teach them responsibility. When his prototype is forced into practice at a school, Rand encounters Sarah--a teacher he was inexplicably drawn to--at his favorite bar one fateful evening. Sparks fly between them, but fundamental differences in their approaches to love and relationships slow them down to a halt. Will their differences keep them apart, or will love--and maybe a little dopamine--conquer all?
Director: Mark Decena
Year: 2003
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Saved By The Belles
You are who you are and that's the way it is...
Saved by the Belles follows gender illusionist Sheena Hershey and neon cyberpunk VJ Scarlet after yet another night of debauchery, as they discover a hot young amnesiac. The Belles baptize the boy Chris and vow to help him recover his lost memory by embarking on a whirlwind tour of Montreal's underground club scene. Through their journey, Sheena and Scarlet soon realize that Chris is not alone in experiencing an identity crisis.
This urban fairy tale is a genre-busting sensory odyssey that combines gorgeously vibrant visuals, a propulsive pacing and a pumped-up soundtrack to explore identity, tolerance and freedom.
Director: Ziad Touma
Year: 2003
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama, Comedy
Middle of the World, The
Romão, illiterate and unemployed, feels destiny drawing him on an odyssey to Rio de Janeiro in pursuit of a job and a decent life. Based on a true story, The Middle of the World follows a family of seven on a journey 2,000 miles across the hinterlands of Brazil on bicycles. Along the way, director Vicente Amorim beautifully explores the inner dynamics of a family facing a great challenge. The Middle of the World is an unimaginable road movie, both graceful and tender, about having the courage to pursue your dreams.
Director: Vicente Amorim
Year: 2003
Language: Portuguese
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Alila
Amos Gitai's ALILA intertwines the stories of over a dozen distinct characters who inhabit an apartment complex located in a rundown neighborhood of Tel Aviv.
Director: Amos Gitai
Year: 2003
Language: Hebrew
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Drifters
Adrift between two cultures, Er Di is back in China after being expelled from the United States for working illegally. Once a hopeful stowaway on a quest for the American Dream, he now drifts aimlessly from one day to the next, even as he shares a tender romance with a member of a touring opera troupe. His life lacks meaning until he learns that his American-born son has been brought to China for a visit. Determined to see him, Er Di must overcome the boy’s family, who is determined to prevent a reunion. Soon Er Di realizes there are other measures of success than making it to America.
Director: Xiaoshuai Wang
Year: 2003
Language: Mandarin
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Tibet: Cry of Snow Lion
Ten years in the making, this provocative documentary was filmed during a remarkable nine journeys throughout Tibet, India and Nepal. Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion brings audiences to the long-forbidden "rooftop of the world" with an unprecedented richness of imagery... from rarely-seen rituals in remote monasteries, to horse races with Khamba warriors; from brothels and slums in the holy city of Lhasa, to magnificent Himalayan peaks still traveled by nomadic yak caravans.
The dark secrets of Tibet's recent past are powerfully chronicled through riveting personal stories and interviews, and a collection of undercover and archival images never before assembled in one film.
A definitive exploration of a legendary subject, Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion is an epic story of courage and compassion.
Director: Tom Peosay
Year: 2003
Language: English
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
Fog of War, The
The Fog of War is a 20th century fable, a story of an American dreamer who rose from humble origins to the heights of political power. Robert S. McNamara was both witness to and participant in many of the crucial events of the 20th century: the crippling Depression of the 1930s; the industrialization of the war years; the development of a different kind of warfare based on air power and the creation of a new American meritocracy. He was also an idealist who saw his dreams and ideals challenged by the role he played in history.
Although strictly speaking, neither a work of biography nor a work of history, The Fog of War has produced important, new biographical and historical material.
- Errol Morris
Director: Errol Morris
Year: 2003
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Facing Windows
Giovanna, though still very young, has been married to her devoted husband Filippo for 9 years. She divides her time between her job at the poultry factory, looking after her 2 children, and baking cakes for the local cafe, bearing the weight of responsibility on her shoulders.
The strain on Giovanna is increased when Filippo, in his kindness, brings home a refined elderly gentleman who has lost his memory. In trying to help this man Giovanna reluctantly spends more and more time with him, slowly uncovering clues to the mystery of his buried past: a number tatooed onto his forearm, his expertise in the art of the patisserie and the name, Simon... Increasingly irritated by her husband's softness, her fantasies of the ideal are projected onto the handsome mysterious neighbor whom she watches in the hope of adding a little excitement to her life.
Director: Ferzan Ozpetek
Year: 2003
Language: Italian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Young Adam
Featuring a strong cast headed by Ewan McGregor, Tilda Swinton, Peter Mullan and Emily Mortimer, YOUNG ADAM is a moody, sensual thriller that takes place on the canals between Glasgow and Edinburgh during the 1950s.
The film focuses on the crisis of Joe (McGregor); a young drifter who finds work on a barge owned by the down-to-earth Les (Mullan) and his enigmatic wife Ella (Swinton). One afternoon Joe and Les happen upon the corpse of a young woman floating in the water and the questions begin. Accident? Suicide? Murder?
As the police investigate the case and a suspect is arrested, it becomes evident that Joe knows more about the drowned woman Cathie (Mortimer) than he will admit. Meanwhile, against the backdrop of the investigation, Joe and Ella embark on a passionate affair.
Written and directed by the award-winning filmmaker David Mackenzie, YOUNG ADAM is adapted from novel by the Scottish Beat writer Alexander Trocchi.
Director: David Mackenzie
Year: 2003
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Madame Satã
Madame Satã is inspired by the legends and myths built around the real life character João Francisco dos Santos (1900-1976), also known as Madame Satã. The film is set in the 1930s, in the bohemian neighborhood of Lapa in Rio de Janeiro, as João Francisco is about to achieve his dream: becoming a stage star.
A tall black man - a Brazilian version of Genet - a proud rascal, female impersonator, gangster, convicted prisoner and adoptive father, João Francisco spent most of his life in the streets of Rio de Janeiro.
Aïnouz's first feature is as feverish as its protagonist. Throughout the film we get to know the cast of characters who surround João Francisco in the sordid yet lively world of Lapa, a cast of pimps, prostitutes, samba composers and bohemians.
The film takes us on an intimate journey into the day-to-day life of João Francisco and his close friends, focusing on the crucial period immediately before the Madame Satã myth was created.
Director: Karim Aïnouz
Year: 2002
Language: Portuguese
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
In This World
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Year: 2002
Language: Persian/English
Genre: Drama
Once Upon a Time in the Midlands
Dek and Shirley live together with 12-year-old Marlene, her daughter by the sexy, delinquent Jimmy who disappeared years ago and hasn’t been heard from since. Decent-but-dull Dek loves Shirley, so much so that he humiliates her by proposing without warning on national television. Like every other person Shirley has ever met, Jimmy witnesses Dek's TV proposal and he returns to town, convinced that his nerdy rival doesn't stand a chance against a renewed romantic assault from the great love of her life. While Shirley seems destined to succumb to Jimmy’s charms, he hasn’t reckoned on the formidable resistance from their daughter Marlene, his sister Carol, her estranged husband Charlie, their sons Emerson and Lake, Carol’s daughter Donna, her boyfriend Donut... Nor could he anticipate a heroic, last-minute challenge from the mild-mannered, love-sick Dek...
Director: Shane Meadows
Year: 2002
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Talk to Her
Two men are sitting together by chance. They don't know each other. They are Benigno (a young nurse) and Marco (a writer in his early forties). On the stage, filled with wooden chairs and tables, two women, their eyes closed and their arms extended, are moving to the music of "The Fairy Queen", by Henry Purcell. The piece is so moving that Marco starts to cry. Benigno can see the gleam of his chance companion's tears, in the darkness of the stalls. He'd like to tell him that he too is moved by the spectacle but he doesn't dare.
Months later, the two men meet again at "El Bosque", a private clinic where Benigno works. Lydia, Marco's girlfriend and a bullfighter by profession, has been gored and is in a coma. It so happens that Benigno is looking after another woman in a coma, Alicia, a young ballet student.
When Marco walks by the door of Alicia's room, Benigno doesn't think twice before speaking to him. It's the start of an intense friendship... as linear as a roller coaster.
Director: Pedro Almodovar
Year: 2002
Language: Spanish (Castilian)
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Mad Love
Laredo, August 22, 1496. A fleet sets sail for Flanders. Its mission, to carry Princess Joan to the Brussels court where she is to be wed to the monarch later to be known as Philip the Handsome.
Sparks fly at their first meeting. One look is enough to create mutual attraction and uncontrollable desire. Joan and Philip forget their political obligations and abandon themselves to their emotions. However, destiny has other plans for them.
The death of her elder brother, sister and mother, Isabella the Catholic, leave Princess Joan the Queen of Castile and heir to the crown of Aragon. Two battles ensue: the political one, between the Flemish and Castilian nobility, and the tumultuous one that Joan will wage in her marriage bed.
Director: Vincente Aranda
Year: 2002
Language: Spanish (Castilian)
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Manito
In the 1990’s Washington Heights transformed from the crack-cocaine capital to one of the most vibrant Spanish-speaking communities in the U.S. As the drug dealers disappeared, their violent legacy continued to cast a shadow over the neighbourhood and its residents. Junior Moreno (Frankie G.), an ex-convict struggling to get his life back, is a product of that legacy. His brother Manny, (Leo Minaya) the Salutorian of his high school class, embodies the hope for the future of the neighbourhood. On the night of his graduation party, Manny faces an ill-fated decision that could change his life forever. Junior tries to prevent his little brother from becoming another casualty of the neighbourhood’s violent past.
Director: Eric Eason
Year: 2002
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Broken Wings
It's been nine months since their patriarch died, and the Ullmans are unraveling. Having spent the last three months in bed, mother Dafna has just returned to work as night-shift hospital midwife. The older son, Yair, has dropped out of school, abandoned a potential basketball career and now hides inside a mouse costume, distributing flyers on the subway. Younger son Ido deals with his building aggression by trying to break the world free jump record (and practices into an empty swimming pool), while six year-old Bahr begins a lonely first day of school. So it is left to 17 year-old Maya, a budding singer-songwriter, to forgo her own dreams and try to hold this crumbling family together. Immersed in his or her own world, each member of the family is coping with the recent loss, and the attendant guilt, in their own way. No one has any time for anyone else--until a traumatic incident leaves the Ullmans once again on the brink of disaster.
Director: Nir Bergman
Year: 2002
Language: Hebrew
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Zhou Yu's Train
A dreamlike love story set against the vast landscape of modern China, Zhou Yu’s Train features internationally acclaimed actress Gong Li as Zhou Yu, a young woman torn between her feelings for a shy poet and the persistent affections of a well-meaning young veterinarian.
As she rides the train twice a week to cover the great distance between her two lives, we see Zhou Yu make the emotional journey between a fading passion that once inspired great beauty and a trusted friendship that seems destined to be her next great love. Co-starring Tony Leung Ka Fai and newcomer Sun Hong Lei, Zhou Yu’s Train was directed and co-written by Sun Zhou.
Director: Zhou Sun
Year: 2002
Language: Chinese (Mandarin)
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
My Mother Likes Women
MY MOTHER LIKES WOMEN is a staccato-paced comedy about three sisters whose lives are thrown off-kilter by their mother's sudden sexual awakening.
Sofia, (Rosa Maria Sarda from All About My Mother), a renowned pianist, is long separated from the daughters' father. It is on the occasion of her birthday that she delivers a stunning announcement: she has fallen in love again.
Clearly smitten, she begins to describe her new lover: somewhat younger... also a pianist. The daughters, thrilled and eager to hear more, are interrupted by the doorbell. A woman walks in...
The daring feature debut of Spanish directors Ines Paris and Daniela Fejerman, MY MOTHER LIKES WOMEN traces the emotional landscape of a "modern" family that nevertheless registers seismic shock at this unexpected news. Sofia's daughters are the children of left-wing intellectuals. Yet, even their progressive background hasn't prepared them for the emotions they are about to experience.
Director: Daniela Feijerman
Year: 2002
Language: Spanish / Czech
Genre: World Cinema, GLBT, Drama, Comedy
Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary
In Blind Spot - Hitler's Secretary, Traudl Junge describes on camera for the first time her experience working as one of Adolf Hitler's private secretaries from 1942 until his suicide in 1945. After keeping quiet for nearly 60 years, Frau Junge tells the riveting story of working alongside Hitler until the final collapse of the Nazi regime. Frau Junge is one of only a handful of witnesses to Hitler's last days in his fortified bunker as the Third Reich was collapsing above them. In his final hours, he dictated his final will and testament to her. Frau Junge also worked with Hitler at Wolf's Lair (his field headquarters in East Prussia), at his Bavarian residence at Berchtesgaden and on the Führer's special train.
In Spring 2001, André Heller met Traudl Junge and was able to persuade her that it would be fascinating as well as historically important to make a record of her unique experiences... and of her present attitudes to that time, after years of contemplation and self-analysis.
Director: Andre Heller
Year: 2002
Language: German
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
Peck on the Cheek, A
A little girl's search for her biological mother who had abandoned her as a newborn baby is brought out poignantly in 'Kannathil Muthamittal'. With films like 'Mouna Ragam', 'Alaipayuthe' and now 'Kannathil Muthamittal', Maniratnam yet again proves that he is at his best when tackling human emotions and relationships. Amudha, adopted by Thiru and Indira and growing up with the couple’s two sons, is blissfully unaware of her parentage, until the couple decides to inform her of it on her ninth birthday. At first shocked into disbelief, Amudha then expresses her determination to seek out for her biological mother. The search takes the family to strife-torn Sri Lanka, where Amudha comes face-to-face with reality, and reconciles herself to it.
Director: Mani Ratnam
Year: 2002
Language: Tamil/Sinhala
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Small Voices
Dreams are what Melinda brought with her the day she left for the far-flung provincial town of Malawig. The young teacher arrives to find a land of coconut and rice fields, and a people barren of hope. Poverty has made the townsfolk passive, resigned to a bitter fate, while others fight in the mountains, staking their lives for some kind of change.
"Only the rich can afford to dream. We can't." The words of a child urge Melinda to strive to make the town listen: Poverty does not make victims of people. Hopes are essential, and dreams can be made real. Against the skepticism of the town, Melinda and the children of Malawig join a humble singing contest. Their small voices ring out against darkness, against poverty, death, and despair.
Their song awakens in everyone a small flame of hope, a daring to dream, and a willingness to fight for it. Melinda leaves the town believing that it is within one's power to make a difference, that within one's self is a voice waiting to be heard.
Director: Gil M. Portes
Year: 2002
Language: Tagalog
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Satin Rouge
A widowed Tunisian seamstress takes an unlikely journey of self-discovery in writer- director Raja Amari's sumptuous and sensual Satin Rouge. While investigating a suspected liaison between her headstrong teenaged daughter and a cabaret musician, young widow Lilia becomes drawn to an exotic nightclub netherworld of Rubénesque belly dancers and nocturnal pleasure- seekers. She strikes up a friendship with one of the dancers, then eventually takes the stage herself-quickly becoming the favorite of both cabaret patrons and the club's hot-blooded drummer. As she gradually sheds her shapeless, matronly housedresses for the flamboyantly sequined bar-girl garb, she also begins to emerge from her cocoon of melancholy and loneliness.
Variety critic David Stratton compares Amari's tale to Douglas Sirk's American suburban melodramas of the 1950s (particularly All That Heaven Allows) calling the film a "handsomely produced and exhilarating romantic drama."
Director: Raja Amari
Year: 2002
Language: Arabic
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
HOP
All Justin and his father want to do is sit down and enjoy a soccer game together. This simple act sparks a chain of events leading to Justin running from the law. He must embark on a thrilling adventure to re-unite with his father. But in order to fight the system, he must enlist the help of a former anarchist and together they will need to apply the secret of the HOP.
Director: Dominique Standaert
Year: 2002
Language: Dutch & French
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
Quitting
In the late 80’s a new film star, Jia Hongsheng, emerged in China. Labeled "the thug idol," he gained fame playing gangsters and heroes in a series of Chinese B-movies. He had his first experience with drugs on the set of "The Kiss of the Spiderwoman."
Jia’s naturally fragile mental/psychological state coupled with his experimentation with drugs gradually led him into a state of despair. He stopped acting and cut himself off entirely from all his friends, locking himself in an apartment listening to tapes of his favorite music over and over again.
Jia’s parents were members of a small theater troupe in a small town in Northeast China. Overjoyed by their son’s success and distraught at his addiction, they left the troupe that they had been members of their whole lives, packed up all their belongings (bed, TV, furniture and everything they owned) and traveled to Beijing to be with their son.
Every character in "Quitting" is played by a real person who was part of Hongsheng’s life.
Director: Yang Zhang
Year: 2002
Language: Chinese (Mandarin)
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Marion Bridge
Marion Bridge is the moving story of three sisters torn apart by family secrets. In the midst of struggling to overcome her self-destructive behaviour, the youngest sister, Agnes, returns home determined to confront the past in a community built on avoiding it. Her quest sets in motion a chain of events that allows the sisters each in their own way to re-connect with the world and one another. Set in post-industrial Cape Breton, Marion Bridge is a story of poignant humor and drama.
Director: Wiebke von Carolsfeld
Year: 2002
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Crush
Welcome to the deliciously sinful world of the ladies of Crush. Kate (Andie MacDowell), Janine (Imelda Staunton) and Molly (Anna Chancellor) happily engage in weekly rituals of gin guzzling, cigarette puffing, chocolate chugging and men trashing. They are practically successful women who share one common lament - their love lives - or lack thereof. But when Kate embarks on a passionate and capricious romance with a former student (Kenny Doughty), the strength of this female bond is interrupted, resulting in a devious conterattack by the other two members of the "Sad F**kers's Club."
Writer-director John McKay's first feature-length film is a sharply observed ode to the triumphs and tragedies of women and the men that accessorize them. Witty, wry, provocative and touching, with breathtaking cinematography of an enchanting England, Crush is a captivating story revolving around the mysteries of love and the power of female friendship.
Director: John McKay
Year: 2002
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Ayurveda: Art of Being
Ayurveda is probably the world's oldest continually practiced holistic healthcare system, a means to a more balanced state of mental and physical wellbeing. The film follows various Indian practitioners of this revitalized discipline as they apply the ancient doctrines.
Originating in India and then spreading to Egypt, Greece, Rome, Tibet, China, Russia and Japan, Ayurveda is estimated to be between 2500 and 5000 years old. It is the Science of Life, specifically referring to harmonious integration of the body, mind, senses and spirit, an art of living, an art of being.
Some Ayurveda and Ayurvedic formulas did make it to the West and Far East, including one for haircare using fruit roducts from which the word "shampoo" originated. European surgeons started to practice Indian techniques to repair damage to the face from battle, thus fostering the discipline we call plastic surgery. Ayurveda has for centuries affected our existence regardless of where we live.
Director: Pan Nalin
Year: 2002
Language: Hindi, English & various other Indian languages
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
Wild Dogs, The
Set in the hauntingly beautiful city of Bucharest during a cull of stray dogs, The Wild Dogs weaves together a week in the lives of several of the city's residents and visitors. Geordie (Thom Fitzgerald), a visiting Canadian pornographer, Bogdan (Mihai Calota), a reluctant city dog-catcher, and Nathalie (Alberta Watson), the lonely wife of a diplomat, each risks losing everything as they become embroiled in the struggles of Bucharest's abandoned children, gypsies, dogs and beggars.
Director: Thom Fitzgerald
Year: 2002
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
El Bola ("Pellet")
Pablo (El Bola) is a 12-year old boy raised in a violent and unforgiving environment. Embarrassed by his family life, he retreats from his classmates, engaging them only through a dangerous game. The arrival of a new boy at school, from whom he learns a new definition of friendship, leads to the discovery of a family where communication and love prevail over domination and violence.
Director: Achero Mañas
Year: 2002
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Sunshine State
In Delrona Beach, Marly (Edie Falco) runs the motel her now ailing father (Ralph Waite) founded decades ago. When Marly begins a romance with a landscape architect (Timothy Hutton) who's working for the developers, could he be her ticket out of here? Meanwhile, Desiree (Angela Bassett) has come home to Lincoln Beach, 25 years after she left. She's returned to show off her trophy husband (James McDaniel). Community activist (Bill Cobbs) wants Desiree to help him fight the developers, but she needs to resolve the past before she tackles the future.
These are just some of the dozen characters whose stories are interwoven with the community's fate. There's also Marly's environmentalist mom (Jane Alexander), the Chamber of Commerce stalwart (Mary Steenburgen) and the oily developer (Alan King) who stands for "gated communities"
and "golf courses."
Real people. Real places. Welcome to Florida.
Director: John Sayles
Year: 2002
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Auto Focus
From Paul Schrader, the acclaimed director of Affliction, The Comfort of Strangers, American Gigolo, Blue Collar and Cat People, and the screenwriter of Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and The Last Temptation of Christ, comes Auto Focus, an absorbing glimpse into the colourful life, and mysterious death, of actor Bob Crane. Handsome and charming, Crane became well known as the star of television's hit comedy Hogan's Heroes (1965-1971). Capitalizing on his fame, Crane dove into the freewheeling spirit of the times with relish, having affairs with numerous women. (Auto Focus is a fascinating chronicle of American male sexual identity in the sixties and seventies.) Eventually, Crane teamed up with video technician John Carpenter to document his exploits, an association that may very well have led to his murder in a Scottsdale, Arizona motel room in 1978.
Director: Paul Schrader
Year: 2002
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Levity
Ed Solomon's Levity -- the opening night film at 2002's Sundance Film Festival -- stars a stellar cast that includes Billy Bob Thornton, Holly Hunter, Morgan Freeman and Kirsten Dunst. When Manual (Thornton) is released from prison after 22 years, he seeks redemption by befriending Adele (Hunter), the sister of the 16-year-old boy he killed. But things get complicated when Manual can't bring himself to tell Adele his true identity. The film marks the directorial debut of Ed Solomon, the screenwriter responsible for such films as Men in Black and the two Ted and Bill films. Solomon, who also wrote the script for Levity, came up with the idea, while tutoring at a maximum-security prison during his college years at UCLA.
Director: Ed Solomon
Year: 2002
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Respiro
Grazia is the affectionate, young mother of three children: a teenaged girl, Marinella, and two boys, Pasquale and Filippo. Vibrant and full of life, Grazia often sings along to the latest hit by Italian pop star Patti Pravo and enjoys finding ways to amuse herself and her children. But Grazia, much like the sea surrounding her island, can also be unpredictable and stormy. Her free-spirited attitude causes talk in the entire village. Grazia's husband, Pietro, lovingly stands by her in the face of small town gossip. But as Grazia's behaviour becomes more reckless, even the powerful shield of her family's love can't protect her. Her husband's relatives become convinced that she is seriously unstable and decide that she needs medical treatment in Milan. But Grazia will have no part of this and her son Pasquale finds a way to protect her and the bond that she shares with her family.
Director: Emanuele Crialese
Year: 2002
Language: Italian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Cuckoo, The
Set in 1944 during World War II, The Cuckoo relates the story of two soldiers -- one Russian, the other Finnish -- from different sides of the war. Both men escape from captors and take refuge with Annie, a Lapp woman who lives, much as her ancestors have for centuries, tending reindeer, catching fish and concocting age-old recipes (like the blood-and-milk soup she uses to nurse the Russian soldier back to life).
No one speaks the other's language, leading to some strange misunderstandings. The men remain enemies, unaware that their countries are no longer fighting each another, since Finland has just withdrawn from the war. On the other hand, Anni can't believe her good fortune. She's been four years without a man -- and now she has two!
Director: Aleksandr Rogozhkin
Year: 2002
Language: Russian, Finnish Saami
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Dogtown & Z-Boys
The high-flying "vert" (i.e. vertical) style of skateboarding is now such a defining element of international youth culture that it's hard to believe it wasn't invented by a skateboard manufacturer. In fact, it was invented in the street, in a place called Dogtown, "where the debris meets the sea."
Dogtown was the name of a section of Santa Monica and Venice that lay almost in ruins by the early 1970s, a rundown urban beach neighborhood with a legacy of outlaw surfing. It bred aggressive, territorial competitors with a street-smart sense of style. It was a center for customized cars, graffiti, street gangs and surfboard design.
Director: Stacy Peralta
Year: 2002
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Past Perfect
Past Perfect takes place over two days, two years apart. On an overnight flight from Halifax to Vancouver, Charlotte (Rebecca Jenkins), an unemployed sales clerk on the verge of giving up on her dream of marriage and children, finds herself sitting next to the nervous and seemingly stuffy Cecil (Daniel MacIvor), a linguistics professor who is in the process of ending a long-term relationship with a woman (Marie Brassard) who does not share his desire for a family. Over the course of the flight Charlotte and Cecil find themselves falling into one another's lives and in love
Intercut with their meeting is a Saturday two years later. Charlotte and Cecil now live together in Halifax and are in the midst of a crisis in their relationship. What starts off seeming like a case of a couple's general malaise, reveals itself to be the fallout from a very specific tragedy, one which forces Charlotte and Cecil to decide whether the the end of a dream means the end of the relationship.
Director: Daniel MacIvor
Year: 2002
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Man of the Year
Maiquel (Murilo Benicio) has lost a bet and dyed his hair blond. This little event triggers a head-on collision with destiny in which Maiquel goes from nobody to hero to outlaw…all in 24 hours. Based on the award-winning novel by Patricia Melo “O Matador", this vibrant and brazen crime saga follows in the vein of recent Brazilian Cinema such as Vincente Amorim’s Middle of the World, Walter Salles’ Central Station and Fernando Meirelles’ City of God.
Director: José Henrique Fonseca
Year: 2002
Language: Portuguese
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Swing
Max, an only child, is 10 years old. He loves Manouche jazz, a music he discovered the first time he heard the guitar virtuoso Miraldo play. This music becomes his passion and brings him to the town's Manouche neighbourhood, where he buys an old guitar.
Max will learn about Manouche music and culture through the lessons Miraldo agrees to give him. He quickly makes friends with Swing, a young gypsy girl who is the same age as he is and whose charisma, self-confidence and freedom fascinate him.
Director: Tony Gatlif
Year: 2002
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Other Side of the Bed, The
Racy romantic farce meets pop musical in Spain's box-office smash The Other Side of the Bed (El otro lado de la cama), an effervescent comedy set in modern Madrid. The film follows the intertwining and increasingly complicated love lives of two couples, who give voice to their roiling emotions in spontaneous bursts of song and dance. Award-winning filmmaker Emilio Martínez-Lázaro (What Max Said, His Master's Voice) directs a delicious cast of acclaimed young performers, including Paz Vega (Talk To Her, Sex and Lucia), Natalia Verbeke (Jump Tomorrow, dot the i), Ernesto Alterio (Deseo aka Beyond Desire) and Guillermo Toledo (Intacto), Alberto San Juan (Insomnio) and María Esteve (Nada en la nevera aka Nothing in the Fridge).
Director: Emilio Martinez Lazaro
Year: 2002
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Circuit
From director Dirk Shafer, whose Man of the Year pulled women's magazine pin-ups out of the closet, comes this sultry hyper-kinetic derama set in the sex-and-pecs, music-and-steroids world of the circuit party scene - where drugs flow and inhibitions fall on the sweaty dance floor. The hunky John is a closeted small-town cop who moves to L.A., where he is quickly seduced into the gay life of workouts and dusk-to-dawn parties. With actual circuit footage and mounds of glistening and chiselled flesh, the pulsating Circuit is bound to get your juices flowing.
Director: Dirk Shafer
Year: 2002
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Drama
Looking for Leonard
A petty crime heroine's life-long daydream is interrupted by the arrival of a romantic Czech computer programmer. Then tragedy strikes, and our sweethearts are left looking for guidance, redemption, and maybe a glimpse of Leonard Cohen in this funny, existential tale of despair and joy for the young and old.
Director: Matt Bissonnette
Year: 2002
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama, Comedy
Love Liza
Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting award at the 2002 Sundance film festival, Love Liza features a tour de force performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of this country's most original actors. Set somewhere in Middle America, Wilson Joel (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a successful website designer, suddenly sees his world stop with the untimely death of his young wife Liza. Trying to make sense of everything that has just happened, Wilson turns to his mother-in-law (Kathy Bates) for support. Their relationship intensifies when Wilson refuses to open a letter Liza left behind for fear it will shatter his ideal of the perfect life they shared. As Wilson attempts to rebuild his life, with unopened letter in tow, eccentric behaviour begins to surface taking him on an odyssey of self-pity, self-realization and a curious fascination with remote-control model enthusiasts. Through this temporary comfort, he begins dealing with his grief.
Director: Todd Louiso
Year: 2002
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Son Frere
Thomas and Luc are brothers. Thomas is straight; Luc is gay. Unable to accept his brother’s homosexuality, Thomas distances himself. When Thomas contracts a terminal illness, he intrudes into Luc’s contented life and asks him to be his caretaker. Luc begrudgingly sacrifices his lover, his job and his comfortable life to care for his dying brother. Through the rounds of doctors and the demanding challenges of catastrophic illness, the brothers are forced to examine the meaning of their existence, and their powerlessness in the face of impending doom. They return to their childhood home on the beach, reconnect with their past, and ultimately forge a new and vital relationship.
Director: Patrice Chéreau
Year: 2002
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Naked (F: Le Defi)
Naked is more than just taking your clothes off...
The good old days seem gone, and six old friends are breaking up. Emilia and Felix have recently broken up and are still going through the pangs of separation. Felix is financially strapped whereas Dylan’s overnight success on the stock market has made him and his beautiful wife, Charlotte, fabulously rich though definitely not any happier. Annette and Boris seem happy enough at first glance - but are they really? And what is happiness anyway? What is love?
One night, a high stakes, spur-of-the-moment wager is placed - whether two of the couples, blindfolded, can pick out their respective naked partners using only their hands...
Director: Doris Dörrie
Year: 2002
Language: German
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Carol's Journey
Carol, a twelve-year-old Spanish-American girl from New York, travels with her mother to Spain in the spring of 1938, at the height of the Civil War. Separated from her beloved father, Carol arrives in her mother's home village and transforms the secretive family environment. Her innocence and rebellious nature drive her at first to reject a world that is at once new and foreign. But she soon journeys into adulthood through a friendship with Maruja, the village teacher, and a young local boy, Tomiche.
Director: Imanol Uribe
Year: 2002
Language: Spanish & English
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Eye, The
The Eye is a supernatural thriller which has redefined fear for Western audiences by offering a glimpse into Eastern rituals and attitudes surrounding death.
At the age of two, Wong Kar Mun (Lee Sin-Je) went blind. It's eighteen years later and a new and risky corneal transplant operation restores her vision, but a series of inexplicable events leads her to believe there is more than meets the eye to her newfound gift of sight. Mysterious black-clad figures seem to foreshadow sudden deaths, and horribly disfigured denizens of another side haunt her everyday existence. Unable to define her own identity, she comes to understand that whenever she looks into a mirror she doesn't see herself but instead sees another woman: Ling, the original owner of the corneas. It seems that Mun has inherited Ling's fate and the misery that comes with the ability to see more than she wants to.
Director: The Pang Brothers (Oxide Pang Chun, Danny Pang)
Year: 2002
Language: Cantonese w/some Thai, Mandarin & English
Genre: World Cinema
Walking on Water
Walking on Water is a refreshingly unsentimental film about how people deal with loss and grief. Some of these responses are small - people raid the fridge, bicker over possessions, bitch about friends. Others are big - relationships begin and end, life long friendships are destroyed.
Charlie (Vince Colosimo) and Anna (Maria Theodorakis) are Gavin's two best friends. They made a pact to assist terminally ill Gavin to die when the time came. However, despite a massive overdose of morphine, Gavin stays alive. Charlie ends up slipping a plastic bag over Gavin's head and suffocating him. This is hardly the dignified death that they had all planned - but the beginning of an emotional rollercoaster ride, which takes Charlie and Anna through the highs and lows of the grief experience - from illicit affairs and left over morphine to devastating accusations and unwitting betrayals. At the end of the day, Charlie and Anna are forced to face the true meaning of friendship, loyalty and love.
Director: Tony Ayres
Year: 2002
Language: English
Genre: World Cinema, GLBT, Drama, Comedy
Khaled
Acclaimed as a powerful and groundbreaking portrait of inner city life, Khaled is the story of a feisty 10-year-old boy (a breakthrough performance by Michael D’Ascenzo) who lives with his chronically ill, single mother in a Toronto housing project. When she suddenly dies, Khaled keeps her death a secret and attempts to carry on with school and his daily life as if everything were normal. But soon the building manager comes looking for the rent, the social worker starts asking questions, and the neighbours begin to notice a strange smell coming from the apartment...
Director: Asghar Massombagi
Year: 2002
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Chinese Odyssey 2002
Chinese Odyssey 2002 follows royal heirs Princess Wushuangand future Emperor Zheng De as they escape the Forbidden City to taste life among Ming Dynasty China’s have-nots. But in a gender-bending twist, the princess disguises herself as a fierce male warrior who proves equally beguiling to both martial arts master King Bully and his sister Phoenix. When King Bully plays family match-maker, the foppish young emperor is forced to compete with his own sister for the beautiful commoner’s hand. It may be the mother of all mo lei tau films – the crazy-quilt Hong Kong super-farces recently popularized in the West by Stephen Chow.
Director: Jeffery Lau
Year: 2002
Language: Cantonese
Genre: World Cinema
Affaire Privée, Une (A Private Affair)
Six months ago Rachel Spirien went missing and the case has gone cold; there’s no word from Rachel, no motive, no body, and no one has a clue. When the young woman’s mother brings the case to private investigator François Manéri, he agrees to take it on, but not for the money… Over the course of his investigation this mysterious man questions many of the people closest to Rachel, each stranger than the next. There’s her sexy best friend, her cold boyfriend, her sedate father-in-law, and her odd neighbors… But François makes no progress; at every turn answers become increasingly elusive. Finally François is left with one essential unanswered question: who is the real Rachel?
Director: Guillaume Nicloux
Year: 2002
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Laurel Canyon
The canyon is notable for its varied residents through the years and has served, and continues to serve, as the home to many rock stars, musicians, performers, producers, and the like. Among its current residents are Jane (Frances McDormand), a legendary record producer, currently producing an album for a British band whose lead singer Ian (Allesandro Nivola) is her much younger lover. Jane and the band are creating the album in her Laurel Canyon house where she has a recording studio.
Jane's son Sam (Christian Bale) and his fiancé Alex (Kate Beckinsale) are both recent graduates of Harvard medical school. Conservative, solid and serious, the couple find it necessary to move to Los Angeles to complete their studies.
Jane has offered her Laurel Canyon home for them to stay in, promising that it will be vacant. But when Sam and Alex arrive Jane and the band are still working in Jane's home recording studio to complete the album.
Once in the house, however, things begin to unravel.
Director: Lisa Cholodenko
Year: 2002
Language: English
Genre: Drama
OT: Our Town
Against all odds, the students at Dominguez High School set out to put on the school's first theatrical production in more than 20 years. But what does Thornton Wilder's famous play about life in rural Grover's Corners have to do with Compton, California? OT: Our Town follows the students on their discovery of the power of art and the human spirit.
Director: Scott Hamilton Kennedy
Year: 2002
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Bollywood/Hollywood
Rahul Seth (Rahul Khanna) is a dashing young millionaire who believes he is "western" enough to rebel against his mother (Moushumi Chatterjee) and grandmother (Dina Pathak). They are not too keen about his Caucasian girlfriend Kimberly (Jessica Paré) who, to make matters worse, is a pop star. Before you can say "karmic intervention," Kimberly dies in a freak accident and Rahul is devastated. Instead of allowing him to mourn in peace, Rahul's mother sees the opportunity she's been waiting for. She threatens to call off his sister's (Rishma Malik) wedding unless he finds himself a "nice Indian girl." Rahul enlists the services of Sue (Lisa Ray), a fiercely independent escort whom he believes to be Hispanic, and therefore not "married" to the conventions taught to young Indian women. With a wink in her eye, Sue accepts the deal to pose as his Indian bride-to-be. She needs the money and having never been a fan of the typical Indian male, she feels her heart is safe. The charade begins....
Director: Deepa Mehta
Year: 2002
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Comedy
Spun
For a speed freak, time is an elastic concept. College dropout Ross (Jason Schwartzman) learns this first-hand as he surrenders to a three-day odyssey through a circus-like, crystal-meth hell in the North Los Angeles Valley. It starts when Ross shows up at Spider Mike's (John Leguizamo) dive bungalow, looking to score and desperate enough to risk Spider Mike's paranoid and mercurial temper. Spider Mike's companions at the bungalow that day include his greasy-haired, red-eyed girlfriend Cookie (Mena Suvari), the pimply, video game-addicted Frisbee (Patrick Fugit) and Nikki (Brittany Murphy), a giggly Vegas stripper, whose boyfriend The Cook (Mickey Rourke) concocts the local speed supply in his airless, combustible motel room laboratory.
With its humor, electric visual style and intensely experiential point of view, Spun explores the razor-fine line between the edge, and over the edge.
Director: Jonas Akerlund
Year: 2002
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Big Shot's Funeral
A comedic fable about culture clash and finding your way amidst the dizzying change of the modern world. Big Shot's Funeral spins the story of two men who find that their friendship and spiritual connection transcends the language barrier -- most of the time.
Don Tyler (Donald Sutherland) is a world-renowned film director whose work has brought him a lifetime of accolades. Now he's in Beijing shooting an epic about the last emperor of China's Qing dynasty. In the midst of shooting an intense scene portraying one of the emperor's concubines giving birth, he suddenly realizes he can't go on with the film. His self-confidence has deserted him and he hasn't the slightest idea what his picture is about. His assistant (Kwan) hires down-and-out camerman YoYo (Ge) to take the reins.
Director: Xiaogang Feng
Year: 2001
Language: Mandarin/English
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
Winged Migration
"For eighty million years, birds have ruled the skies, seas and earth. Each spring, they fly vast distances. Each fall, they fly back on the same route. This film is the result of four years following their amazing odysseys, in the northern hemisphere and then the south, species by species, flying over seas and continents."
- Jacques Perrin (from Winged Migration)
Five crews of more than 450 people, including 17 pilots and 14 cinematographers, were necessary to follow a variety of bird migrations through 40 countries and all seven continents. The film covers landscapes that range from the Eiffel Tower and Monument Valley to the remote reaches of the Arctic and the Amazon.
Director: Jaques Perrin
Year: 2001
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Environment, Documentary
Hey, Happy!
DJ Sabu’s overactive libido leads him to an unexpected teenage pregnancy. His mythic quest for two thousand boys ends with Happy, a paranoid “UFO-ologist” to whom aliens promise to appear (as his love child). Spanky is an evil hairdresser trying to foil Sabu’s mission. He is the self-proclaimed “biggest bitch in the world”. The action unfolds at a series of raves on old Garbage Hill in a strange place called Winnipeg.
Hey, Happy! depicts an optimistic vision of the apocalypse. Director Noam Gonick says that tens of millions of religious fundamentalists can't be wrong, "There must be a connection between biblical 'end-times' and fags." The sexual libertine as progenitor and the creative potential of boy-boy sex are ideas Noam Gonick likes.
Noam Gonick has been named "a Hebrew pornographer of the most dangerous kind". Hey, Happy! is his first feature film.
Director: Noam Gonick
Year: 2001
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Dark Blue World
Dark Blue World begins at the height of the Cold War in Communist-ruled Czechoslovakia with Franta Slama (Ondrej Vetchy) - a man in his early forties -confined to a labour camp as an "enemy of the people". The film then flashes back to March 1939, just before world peace is irredeemably shattered.
After three months of training, Franta and Karel are among the scrambled pilots sent up to fight. In one particular mission Karel takes a direct hit and his plane crashes into a field. Unbeknown to Franta, Karel has bailed out and as night falls arrives at a remote cottage on the countryside where he is taken in and nursed by Susan (Tara Fitzgerald), a beautiful woman whose husband is missing in action.
A story about love, comradeship and sacrifice, Dark Blue World is told with the nostalgic sentiment of classical Hollywood movies against the romantic and historical backdrop of World War II.
Director: Jan Sverak
Year: 2001
Language: Czech/English
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Va Savoir (Who Knows?)
Va savoir is a romantic comedy that follows three men and three women as they become entangled in each other's lives during the brief run of a production of Pirandello's "As You Desire Me" in Paris.
As these six characters are drawn into an ever-increasing series of interlocking love triangles, the city of Paris serves as a sumptuous backdrop for their romantic misadventures. Sexy and wise, Va savoir explores the vagaries of love without ever losing its sense of fun.
Director: Jaques Rivette
Year: 2001
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Secret Ballot
An unsuspecting soldier awakens to discover that he can forget about another uneventful day at his lonely seaside post. It's Election Day!
A ballot box is parachuted down as a young woman pulls up to the shore of the remote island. To the soldier's surprise, she's actually the government bureaucrat in charge of local voting. The couple gets off to a rocky start since the soldier expects election agents to be men.
Whether he wants to or not, the soldier is thrown into an elections adventure that just may put him out of a job. Orders from above force him to accompany the female agent in an army jeep across the island's dusty desert. The agent literally leaves no stone unturned in her search for ballots. Many a surprise lies along their route, as they find themselves in one absurd situation after another.
So much can happen in a single day, especially when opposites attract. Views can change, hearts can melt.
Director: Babak Payami
Year: 2001
Language: Farsi (Persian)
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
My Wife Is An Actress
My Wife Is An Actress is a screwball romantic comedy about Yvan (Yvan Attal), a successful sports writer married to Charlotte (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a popular movie star with whom he’s madly in love. The problem is that everyone else in Paris seems to be in love with her too.
Her latest film role, opposite John (Terence Stamp), a suave, international star, is enough to send Yvan over the edge, devising all kinds of schemes to test his wife’s fidelity.
My Wife Is An Actress makes the directorial debut of actor Yvan Attal who co-stars with his real-life wife Charlotte Gainsbourg in this funny, perceptive look at a peculiarly male form of hysteria.
Written and directed by Attal, the film was shot by director of photography Remy Chevrin and produced by Claude Berri with Pierre Grunstein serving as Executive Producer.
Director: Yvan Attal
Year: 2001
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Gasoline (Benzina)
Benzina is the tenderly dramatic story of two young girls not much over twenty. The story evolves around Stella and Eleonora (nicknamed Lenni), a petrol pump, a snobby, super-bourgeois mother hovering threateningly over Lenni’s life, the two girls’ love affair and their desire to escape. Then, night time and an accident, or maybe a crime… the desperate escape, like an odyssey, with the cumbersome corpse of the mother to get rid of without being seen.
Two opposing lives to escape from: Lenni, blonde hair, a conventional bourgeois life; Stella, black hair, a chaotic life and no family.
Director: Monica Stambrini
Year: 2001
Language: Italian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Shake It All About
Jacob (Mads Mikkelsen) and Jørgen (Troels Lyby) are living together as a happy couple and planning on a summer wedding. Everything is as happy as can be! Until…
One night when the light has that special glow... Jacob, the spoiled kid, who has always gotten everything he ever wanted, surprisingly falls in love with the couple's mutual friend Caroline. To make matters worse, Caroline is also the girlfriend of Jørgen's brother, the pilot Tom. While denying and suppressing his new and very confusing feelings, Jacob and Caroline are getting more involved in their secret affair. Slowly though Jørgen and their friends are getting more suspicious about the relationship.
Caroline and Jacob continue their secret meetings and before long, by a stroke of faith, the fruit of their love is more obvious. Caroline is pregnant. Overwhelmed with confusing happiness, Jacob sets out on a rather peculiar and emotional roller coaster ride, where he must confront himself and his feelings.
Director: Hella Joof
Year: 2001
Language: Danish
Genre: World Cinema, GLBT, Drama, Comedy
Fidel
Fidel Castro is one of the most influential and controversial figures of our time. Rarely are Americans given a chance to see inside the world of this socialist leader. The new documentary film by Estela Bravo, FIDEL, offers a unique opportunity to view the man through exclusive interviews with Castro himself, historians, public figures and close friends, with footage from the Cuban State archives.
Director: Estela Bravo
Year: 2001
Language: English
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy
Ron Jeremy isn't really what you'd call easy on the eyes. Some would even go so far as to say he's unattractive. Yet he's one of the most popular stars in the history of adult film. His fans call him the "Hedgehog." He's short, fat, and hairy. And he's paid very well to have sex with thousands of beautiful women. Some people would call him the luckiest man in the world.
Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy is a fascinating look at America's unlikeliest sex star: -the young boy with the sweet smile and striking eyes, and the dissatisfied porn actor with a voracious appetite and wicked grin. The film is dense with revealing details of his life. He's rich and famous, but he's notoriously cheap. Some of his female "costars" consider him a sweetheart, while others find him repulsive and refuse to work with him. And he scribbles little notes and phone numbers in a ratty old book, literally like a madman.
Director: Scott J. Gill
Year: 2001
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Nine Queens
Two small-time swindlers, Juan and Marcos, who team up after meeting in a convenience store and become involved in a half million -dollar deal. Early one morning, Marcos observes Juan successfully pulling off a bill-changing scam on a cashier, and then getting caught as he attempts to pull the same trick on the next shift.
Marcos steps in, claiming to be a policeman, and drags Juan out of the store. Once they are back on the street, Marcos reveals himself to be a fellow swindler with a much higher stakes game in mind, and invites Juan to be his partner in crime. Juan is skeptical at first, but agrees to work with Marcos after he impresses him with a few sophisticated cons. A once-in-a-lifetime scheme then seemingly falls in their laps -- an old time con-man enlists Juan and Marcos to sell a forged set of extremely valuable rare stamps, The Nine Queens.
The tricky negotiations that ensue with a cast of suspicious characters and we begin to ask ourselves, "Who isn't a thief?"
Director: Fabian Bielinsky
Year: 2001
Language: Spanish (Argentina)
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Son of the Bride
At age 42, Rafael Belvedere (Ricardo Darin) is having a crisis. He's overwhelmed by his numerous responsibilities and just isn't having any fun. He has spent most of his life frantically trying to run the restaurant his father, Nino (Hector Alterio) founded. He has achieved success, but nevertheless, continues to live in the old man's shadow.
Just when Rafael feels the most alone and unable to reach out to anyone, unexpected events lead him to reevaluate his life. A minor heart attack forces him to slow down, and a reunion with Juan Carlos (Eduardo Blanco), a childhood friend who tries to keep a positive attitude in the wake of personal tragedy in his own life, helps Rafael to reconstruct his past and look at the present in new ways.
Most importantly, when his father makes the decision to fulfill his mother's dream of getting married in a church, it gives Rafael a task to focus on, stirring him to action and bringing the family together to create a new memory they can share.
Director: Juan Jose Campanella
Year: 2001
Language: Spanish (Argentina)
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Last Orders
It's a long life - you need lifelong friends. Last Orders is a funny and moving tale of four old friends (Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone, David Hemmings and Tom Courtenay) and the last orders of Jack Dodds (Michael Caine) that send them on a journey.
Last Orders is an epic story about a remarkable generation that survived a terrible war, a film about ordinary people that shows us that there are no ordinary people. The stories of the early hopes, the children, the affairs, the good times and the bad demonstrate, both to the characters themselves and to the audience, that it's your friends who will break your heart... and your friends who will mend it.
Director: Fred Schepisi
Year: 2001
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Morlang
Julius Morlang (Paul Freeman) is a successful artist. For fifteen years, he has been married to Ellen, his muse and personal manager. When Ellen (Diana Kent) confesses to a brief affair with a rival up-and-coming artist, Morlang retreats into the arms of a young admirer (Susan Burroughs). An unexpected and devastating development strains Julius and Ellen's relationship even more. Based loosely on a true story, Morlang is a chilling, psychological drama about jealousy, betrayal and revenge.
Director: Tjebbo Penning
Year: 2001
Language: English
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Nowhere In Africa
The Jewish family Redlich emigrates to Kenya in 1938, where Walter Redlich (Merab Ninidze), a lawyer, works on a farm as a caretaker. While his wife Jettel (Juliane Köhler), a daughter from a bourgeois home, finds it difficult to adjust to their new life, their shy daughter Regina (Lea Kurka/Karoline Eckertz) blossoms. She learns the local language and customs and finds a good friend in the cook Owuor (Sidede Onyulo). The loss of their home and relatives, as well as their inability to talk about this, endangers the marriage of Jettel and Walter. Only slowly do they find their way back to each other. When the war is finally over, Walter is offered a position as a judge in Frankfurt. But after all those years where they learned to cherish their life in Kenya, it is doubtful whether Jettel and Regina will accompany him back to Germany.
Director: Caroline Link
Year: 2001
Language: English / Swahili / German
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Sex & Lucia
Lucía is a young waitress in Madrid. After the loss of her long-time boyfriend, a writer, she seeks refuge on a quiet, secluded Mediterranean island. There, bathed in an atmosphere of fresh air, dazzling sun, and glistening deep blue water, Lucía begins to discover the dark corners of her past relationship. It is as if she is reading forbidden passages of a novel, which the author only now, from afar, allows her to read.
Director: Julio Medem
Year: 2001
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
He Died With A Felafel In His Hand
"He Died With A Felafel In His Hand" is a darkly humorous search for love, meaning and bathroom solitude. Faithful to the cult novel by John Birmingham upon which it is based, the film follows Danny (Noah Taylor) through a series of hilarious shared housing experiences in a succession of cities on the east coast of Australia.
Director: Richard Lowenstein
Year: 2001
Language: English
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
Legend of Suriyothai, The
A story of intrigue, romance and war set in a dramatic period of Thailand’s history, The Legend of Suriyothai is based on actual events in the 16th century.
At a time of calm, the neighbouring kingdom of Burma threatens to unsettle the peace. Filmed in an epic style with lavish and spectacular locations, an actual cast of thousands drama, intrigue, a colossal battle and the ascension of a beautiful princess (Suriyiothai) to Queen, and from mortal to legend, this splendid chronicle is a veritable feat of a movie.
Director: Chatrichalerm Yukol
Year: 2001
Language: Thai
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Happy Men
Angel is a regular guy, living a regular life and dreaming of blowjobs. He fears his formidable mother and cheats on his wife, Ana. Suspicious, she persuades her best friend to tail him. Unable to resist, Angel sleeps with the girl. Ana finds out and leaves him, moving in with his gun salesman brother.
Angel is humiliated, desperate, and it's killing him. Then a stranger offers him a miracle: A little blue flower to bring Ana back. All he has to do is believe. And as if by magic, Ana returns, more in love than ever. Endless little displays of devotion, constant attention to his every desire, incessant phone calls to the office... Angel can't stand it. He dumps her.
For a while, life is sweet for Angel. Now it's Ana who has nothing. Except a friend who owes her a favour. And a stolen gun...
Roberto Santiago's debut feature is a relentless absurd comedy: a surreal story of sex, lies and dreams that come horribly true.
Director: Roberto Garcia Santiago
Year: 2001
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
13 Conversations About One Thing
A man approaching middle age decides to change his life. A rising young attorney's plans are thrown into disarray as the result of a single act. A woman faces her husband's infidelity. An envious businessman seeks revenge on a cheerful coworker and an optimistic young cleaning woman awaits a miracle. Just the ebb and flow of daily New York life: chaotic, isolated, diffuse.
Or is it? How can we know what effect we have on a passing stranger? What if the smallest gesture can change the course of someone's life? Perhaps fate is in fact a product of the choices we make -how we choose to accept seemingly random events, whether or not we opt to see the interconnectedness of things. Perhaps, too, there really is a light at the end of the tunnel, even if we can't see it yet.
Director: Jill Sprecher
Year: 2001
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Fluffer, The
Self-effacing, boyish Sean moves to LA to pursue a career in movies but finds it tougher than he imagined. He stumbles onto porn star Johnny Rebel--a handsome, muscled dream of men and women alike--who awakens Sean's deep obsession. But Johnny's straight, or so it seems. Although he works in gay porn, Johnny lives with a stripper girlfriend named Babylon who's willful, charismatic and hard as nails. Sean finds a way to get closer to his idol than even he dreamed possible. But Sean and Babylon's one-sided, "fluffing" relationships with Johnny are precariously balanced, and can only go so far.
Director: Richard Glatzer
Year: 2001
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Drama, Comedy
Her Eyes
After fifteen years in prison, Mansour and Mohamad are suddenly pardoned while waiting on death row. They return to their lives in Tehran, to the smog and inflation and disorientation of a world so changed and yet so much the same. Mohamad returns to his wife and his daughter Marjan, now twenty years old. Mansour returns to his sister and her family.
After their initial elation wears off, the two friends begin to feel confined by the world around them and the judgements that it passes on them - it is as though only their physical bodies have been released from prison, leaving their minds trapped and preventing them from moving on. This mysterious film explores the depths of friendship, the unpredictable nature of love and the blurring of lines between right and wrong, good and evil.
Director: Faramarz Qaribian
Year: 2001
Language: Persian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Inch'Allah Dimanche
French/Algerian director Yamina Benguigi brings us a passionate immigrant story of a woman struggling against old world traditions. Zouina leaves her homeland with her three children to join her husband in France, where he's been living for the past ten years. In a land and culture foreign to her, Zouina struggles against her mother-in-law's tyrannical hand and her husband's distrustful bitterness in an attempt to adjust to her life in exile.
Director: Yamina Benguigui
Year: 2001
Language: French/Arabic
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Pauline & Paulette
A delightfully bittersweet story of four elderly sisters and their relationship with each other. For Pauline (Belgium's national treasure, Dora van der Groen), life is simple. She lives with Martha, the eldest, in a small town between Brussels and the seacoast. Martha loves Pauline, and cares for her day in and day out. Pauline has a love for flowers and enjoys running errands in town for her sister Paulette - her idol. Paulette owns a fabric store in town, but her passion is performing at the opera house. When Martha suddenly dies, everyone's world is turned upside down. Neither Paulette or their youngest sister Cecile, who lives in Brussels with her French boyfriend, feel their lives can include the responsibility of caring for their simple minded sister. Both are in agreement to commit Pauline to a nursing home, Martha ultimately dictates the final word, stipulating in her will all her possessions would go to the three sisters on the condition that one of them care for Pauline.
Director: Lieven Debrauwer
Year: 2001
Language: Flemish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Lady & the Duke, The
The tale of a beautiful royalist English gentlewoman, Grace Elliott, living perilously in France during the Revolution, and her sometimes affectionate, sometimes tempestuous relationship with Philippe, Duke of Orleans, a cousin of King Louis XVI but nonetheless a supporter of revolutionary ideas. The Lady manages to persuade the Duke to rescue an outlaw, but fails to keep him from voting for the King’s execution.
Grace Elliott was born into an old Scottish family in about 1760 and studied in France. She became the mistress of the Prince of Wales, later George IV, to whom she bore a daughter. Then Prince Phillipe, Duke of Orleans, noticed her and brought her back to France in 1786. Their romance was over by the time the Revolution began, but despite their political differences, they remained close friends. The film was inspired by Grace Elliott’s memoirs, Journal of My Life During the French Revolution.
Director: Eric Rohmer
Year: 2001
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Inertia
In INERTIA, the lives of four characters are sidetracked by desire into deception, adultery, and incest.
Joseph cannot accept that Laura doesn't want him anymore. He believes that all she needs is a little "space" to realize what they have together. Joseph believes that, with his friend Bruce's help, he can get Laura back. Laura is currently infatuated with Bruce. Joseph is unaware that Laura and Bruce slept together when Joseph and Laura first started seeing each other. Bruce, who recently married Yumi in an effort to leave his pleasure-seeking lifestyle behind, now finds himself attracted to Joseph's nineteen-year-old cousin, Alex. Alex, on the other hand, is obsessed with Joseph. Joseph innocently believes she moved to the city to attend university but it doesn't take long for him to realize she has other things on her mind.
Director: Sean Garrity
Year: 2001
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Canadian, Drama
Light of My Eyes
Antonio is a fallen angel, a rootless chauffeur in Rome, who relates only to the lonely heroes in the pulp science fiction novels he grew up with. Only through a chance encounter with Maria, a woman struggling to hold onto her daughter and her business, does he discover a hope that's been lacking in his detached existence. Antonio is drawn into the suffering of Maria's world, where she draws her inner strength from her fragile solitude. A haunting score, poetic atmosphere and award-winning lyrical performances by the two leads evoke the beauty of a precarious existence.
Director: Giuseppe Piccioni
Year: 2001
Language: Italian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Solo Mia
It was love at first sight. In the beginning, Angela did everything she could for the sake of her undying love for Joaquin. When she became pregnant, they were both over the moon. Then, one day, things changed. At first he shouted at her and then he hit her. Things went from bad to worse after that. A rough day at the office was enough for him to give her his first severe beating - brutally so.
Angela filed for divorce. Joaquin defied the law and subjected her to the most ruthless harassment in his attempt to get her back.
Angela soon realized that her liberation had to come from within. So she confronted Joaquin, deciding to fight fire with fire.
Sóló Mia is a tale of love, betrayal and justice.
Director: Javier Balaguer
Year: 2001
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Lan Yu
Beijing, 1988. On the cusp of middle-age, Chen Handong has known little but success all his life. The eldest son of a senior bureaucrat, he heads a fast-growing trading company and plays as hard as he works. Few know that Handong's tastes run more to boys than girls.
Lan Yu is a country boy, newly arrived in Beijing to study architecture. More than most students, he is short of money and willing to try anything to earn some. He meets Hangdong in a pool hall, and has what turns out to be a life-changing sexual initiation.
Handong and Lan Yu meet often, and the boy is soon secure in his love for the man. But Handong insists that he wants a play-mate, not a companion, and warns Lan Yu that they will eventually break up. Lan Yu is undeterred, until the night he catches Handong with another boy.
Handong gives him lavish gifts - a newly built villa and a car - and they begin living together. But again, Handong shies away from his feelings for the boy.
But fate can play cruel tricks...
Director: Stanley Kwan
Year: 2001
Language: Mandarin
Genre: World Cinema, GLBT, Drama
Trembling Before G-d
Trembling Before G-d is an unprecedented feature documentary that shatters assumptions about faith, sexuality, and religious fundamentalism. Built around intimately-told personal stories of Hasidic and Orthodox Jews who are gay or lesbian, the film portrays a group of people who face a profound dilemma - how to reconcile their passionate love of Judaism and the Divine with the drastic Biblical prohibitions that forbid homosexuality.
For the first time, this issue has become a live, public debate in Orthodox circles, and the film is both witness and catalyst to this historic moment. What emerges is a loving and fearless testament to faith and survival and the universal struggle to belong.
Director: Sandi Simcha DuBowski
Year: 2001
Language: Hebrew, Yiddish and English
Genre: World Cinema, GLBT, Documentary
Hush!
This funny, poignant comedy, in the gentle tradition of Shall We Dance? and The Wedding Banquet, traces the lives of two handsome boyfriends who become entangled with a young woman who proposes the idea of conceiving a child with them and creating a family. A hit at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival where it played in the Directors' Fortnight, the story gets more complicated as conservative family members try to break up the gay couple's relationship. Ultimately, the guys and the woman carrrying their child come to the realization that they will have to decide for themselves the true meaning of family.
Featuring original music by jazz musician Bobby McFerrin, this warm and engaging comedy has won the hearts of filmgoers across the country.
Director: Ryosuke Hashiguchi
Year: 2001
Language: Japanese
Genre: World Cinema, GLBT, Drama, Comedy
Anita Takes a Chance
Fifty-year-old Anita is forced into early retirement when the cinema she works for is torn down to make room for a multiplex state-of-the-art cinema. Out of habit, she continues to go back to the cinema each day and unexpectedly falls in love with the ruggedly handsome bulldozer operator.
A tender and bittersweet affair ensues. Anita and her new lover meet each day at the construction site where they share their new lease on life. Set against the habitual landscape of the director's beloved Barcelona, Anita takes a Chance is a witty examination of the highs and lows of middle-aged romance.
A tender, entertaining and encouraging story of survival.
With fourteen feature films, eleven produced by his own company, Ventura Pons has become one of the best-known Spanish Film directors. His most recent feature, Food of Love (2002) puts him in the ranks as one of Spain's most prolific film directors.
Director: Ventura Pons
Year: 2001
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Amelie
Year: 2001
Language: French
Girl, The
A beautiful painter who frequents a Paris nightclub has an affair with a singer. The Painter tells the story of her increasing obsession with the singer. She calls her The Girl. The Painter and The Girl continue to see each other but carry on relationships with other people. One night, a suspicious looking man, who seems to know The Girl, appears in the club. At first The Painter observes him from a distance, but gradually she begins following him. She begins to understand that The Man is threatening The Girl. Suddenly, The Girl disappears. The Painter looks everywhere and eventually learns that The Girl and The Man have left Paris together. Then, all at once, The Girl is back, more elegant than ever. When The Painter finds The Girl in the arms of The Man, she is crushed. She attempts to lose herself in her work but she knows that she must return to The Girl's hotel room where she will find The Man and The Girl together. She also knows that it will be for the last time...
Director: Sande Zeig
Year: 2000
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Nico & Dani
In the tradition of "Beautiful Thing" and "Wild Reeds", Nico and Dani is a portrait of adolescent experience set against the blazing sun and azure sea of a small seaside town near Barcelona. Dani and Nico are left on their own at Dani's beach house for a few days; late-night dates and in-house parties promise to be the order of the day. During those ten days of freedom, the two best friends discover love, sex, jealousy and disenchantment and thus cross that vague border separating adolescence from manhood. Nico and Dani explores the sexual and emotional confusion of two boys who have always shared everything and are now about to be pulled apart because of their diverging sexual identities. Nico and Dani successfully captures that moment between the stifling safety of childhood and the invigorating terror of adulthood. Deftly directed by Cesc Gay, Nico and Dani is arguably the finest and the most honest coming-of-age drama in recent memory.
Director: Cesc Gay
Year: 2000
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Signs & Wonders
Alec Fenton (Stellan Skarsgård), an American by adoption and his wife, Marjorie (Charlotte Rampling), an American of Greek origin, live with their two children in Athens. Both Alec's business life and his tender relationship with his daughter are guided by a playful but deeply felt need to interpret the smallest details of the world as significant.
Under the influence of powerful signs and premonitions, Alec allows himself to veer in and out of a love affair with a colleague, Katherine (Deborah Kara Unger), eventually leaving his family and returning to America with his lover. Once there, however, the same belief system urges him back home for one final attempt to win back his family.
But his new quest is endangered by the presence of a political activist, Andreas (Dimitris Katalifos), in his family's life. Andreas becomes the victim of a series of incidents, each one more threatening than the last. Could it be an unleashing of signs...
Director: Jonathan Nossiter
Year: 2000
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Chill Out
Johann is a gay thief, hustling older men for money and moving from city to city when the law takes notice. Max is a lonely young security guard, instantly attracted to Anna, a thirty-something insurance clerk. They all live in Berlin and move to the rhythms of New Germany - a society redefining itself after the Cold War era. Johann, Anna and Max become intertwined in a triangular relationship sharing their love, affections, bodies and anxieties in Anna's apartment. The three friends spend most of their time in clubs dancing and making themselves open to whatever opportunities cross their paths. Like the style of the club music - trance - the characters flow in and around each other in a way that makes them rethink themselves socially, culturally and sexually.
A dynamic view of a triangular relationship and the myth of metropolitan life.
Director: Andreas Struck
Year: 2000
Language: German
Genre: World Cinema, GLBT, Drama
Love Me
The story of a doomed love between a young woman in search of romance and a singer who no longer believes in it. She meets him in Memphis. She chases after him. He flees, she pursues. Finally she manages to touch him. But this is also the story of a young woman who takes refuge in dreams to escape from reality and from her past. Where does reality end and imagination begin?
Director: Laetitia Masson
Year: 2000
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Durian Durian
Durian Durian is an extension of the life of Fan, the illegal immigrant girl in Little Cheung. Fan strikes up a friendship with fellow immigrant Yan, the hardest working prostitute in town who must endure the harsh conditions of her job on one side of the border (HK) while she tries to turn her profits into a success on the other side of the border (China). One day, the pimp accompanying her gets his head smashed from behind in a random act of violence. The weapon is a strange, spiky fruit known as the "durian".
The idealistic and naive views of Hong Kong that the girls share are destroyed by differences in culture, isolated existences, and limited choices.
Fruit Chan was born in Canton, China in 1959. A graduate of the Hong Kong Film Centre, Fruit Chan's filmography includes: Finale in Blood (1991), Made in Hong Kong (1996), The Longest Summer (1998), Little Cheung (1999) and Durian Durian (2000).
Director: Fruit Chan
Year: 2000
Language: Mandarin
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Happy Times
Zhao is a poor, aging bachelor who hasn’t had luck in love. Thinking he has finally met the woman of his dreams, he leads her to believe he is wealthy and agrees to a wedding far beyond his means.
While dining with his intended spouse, Zhao is introduced to her spoiled son and blind stepdaughter Wu Ying. The stepmother sees Wu as nothing but a burden to her and her son since she and her father divorced. Sad and lonely, Wu is interested in only one thing: the prospect of her father coming to take her to Shenzhen so she can have an operation to fix her eyes.
As the film reaches its poignant conclusion, both Zhao and Wu’s actions demonstrate the strong bond that has developed between them.
Director: Yimou Zhang
Year: 2000
Language: Chinese (Mandarin)
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Fugitivas ("Fugitives")
Twenty-five year old Tony, streetwise and hard-edged, is a small time crook. Together with her boyfriend Juanjo, and a couple of other thugs, she plans to rob a government office in Madrid. Juanjo spins a deceitful tale that involves he and Tony taking his prostitute sister's daughter, Laura, along for the ride as the perfect cover-up - an escape with the money and an escape from the authorities and the other two thugs! The robbery goes off without a hitch but the scheming Juanjo abandons Tony and Laura with the entire stash of cash.
Tony and Laura are now fugitives both from justice and the other two thugs. Alone in a strange world, the two girls flee for their lives reaching the most southern point of Spain where the road runs out.
Director: Miguel Hermosa
Year: 2000
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Parsley Days
Here are the ingredients for the perfect love: equal parts of both KatenOllie. According to the bevy of East Coast twenty-somethings in Parsley Days, Kate and Ollie have a romance made-in-heaven. Their union is coveted by all of their peers, respected by their elders, and destined for eternal bliss. There's only one problem: on the eve of their 5-year anniversary, Kate realizes that she no longer loves Ollie.
Ollie, Kate's birth-control outreach worker boyfriend, often referred to as a "male lesbian", loves Kate. All of Kate's girlfriends have a huge crush on Ollie. Why he's the "King of Contraception", don't ya know! If only all men could be so enlightened. In the throes of trying to break up with her be-all-end-all boyfriend, Kate receives a piece of news that could change the rest of her life... Kate seeks guidance from her herbalist friend who recommends a parsley "diet". As if breaking up isn't hard enough...
Director: Andrea Dorfman
Year: 2000
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Blackboards
A group of male teachers crosses the mountainous paths of the remote Iranian Kurdistan region. Carrying large blackboards on their backs, they wander from village to village in search of students. Said meets a group of 100 or so old men accompanied by a sole young woman and child. They are closed and uninterested in learning. One of the old men feels he can only find peace if his young widowed daughter, Halaleh, marries before his death. Said has only his blackboard to offer in exchange for her hand in marriage...
Director: Samira Makhmalbaf
Year: 2000
Language: Kurdish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Enchanted Interlude, The
It's the summer of 1969 on the Mediterranean Coast. Sun, sex and the onset of the swingin' 70's.
Childhood buddies, Paul and Vincent, spend most of their days hanging out on the beach. One particular day, they meet up with Alice and her friend, Eve. As their lives intertwine, couples fall into place but not quite in the right order. Alice drifts away, Paul marries Eve, and Vincent weds Marie.
Against a backdrop of a decade marked by sexual liberation, The Enchanted Interlude brings us three girls and two boys who cross each other's paths, love one another, split up and reunite.
Born in Marseilles in 1963, Michel Spinosa has scripted and directed all of his films starting with several shorts and moving onto the feature, Take Me Away (1994). The Enchanted Interlude is his most recent film feature.
Director: Michel Spinosa
Year: 2000
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
Time of Favor
Army officer Menachem studies in an Orthodox military yeshiva on the West Bank led by the revered Rabbi Meltzer. Their yeshiva is looked upon warily by the military officers, as led by a fanatic that could lead the company to dangerous ground. Meltzer wants Pini, the prized pupil in his class and Menachem's best friend, to marry his daughter Michal. But as Pini courts Michal, Menachem, strong-willed and passionate, falls in love with her.
As the Rabbi's agenda, the Army's control and Pini's desperation all build to a boil, Menachem and Michal's secret passion threatens to destroy more than just their reputations. A violent scheme to blow up the Temple Mount soon puts all their allegiances to the test.
From a peaceful desert sunrise on the Wailing Wall to a frantic chase through an 1800 year-old network of tunnels, Time of Favor raises issues of religious faith and duty to one's nation that are inextricably relevant to our lives today.
Director: Joseph Cedar
Year: 2000
Language: Hebrew
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Barking Dogs Never Bite
The debut that marked the arrival of a modern master, Barking Dogs Never Bite is critically acclaimed director Bong Joon-ho's (The Host) snappy black comedy about a downtrodden young man who's being assailed by both man and beast. His pregnant wife treats him like dirt, and his dreams of becoming a professor have just been squashed by a crooked dean. To top it all off, one of the pesky dogs in his apartment building won't stop its incessant barking! Something's got to give, so he decides to get rid of the furry nuisance once and for all -- or so he thinks.
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Year: 2000
Language: Korean
Genre: Comedy
Ivansxtc
In this modern adaptation of Tolstoy's THE DEATH OF IVAN ILICH, Ivan Beckman (Danny Huston), Hollywood's most sought after talent agent, is found dead. How and why did it happen? Was it drugs, murder, foul play, or perhaps something altogether more mundane? The story begins with Ivan's death, rewinds back to the apex of Ivan's brilliant career as he bags international megastar Don West(Peter Weller) onto his company's books, and then witnesses the highs, lows and extreme excesses of his final days.
Director: Bernard Rose
Year: 2000
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Funny Felix
This charming tale revolves around a carefree and innocuous Felix in the little town of Dieppe in Northern France. Felix is content living with his boyfriend, Daniel amongst the regular routines of their daily lives. Felix is addicted to a trashy morning soap opera and lightheartedly chugs bottles of water with his daily dose of protease inhibitors. When Felix is laid off from his job he decides to take a road trip to Marseilles to track down the father he's never met. Arranging to meet Daniel in a week's time, Felix sets off, backpack in tow, walking, hitchhiking and borrowing cars to Southern France. Felix eventually meets his father but not before creating an ideal family along the way, complete with a little brother, a grandmother, and a sister.
With a beautiful and natural performance by Sami Bouajila as Felix, this engaging and humorous film manages to tackle a myriad of difficult issues - xenophobia, AIDS, racism and homophobia in an innovative and light manner.
Director: Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau
Year: 2000
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, GLBT, Drama, Comedy
Boys Life 3
The third collection, following Boys Life 1 and 2, Boys Life 3 is strong and lively, these films chronicle the many particular experiences of being gay and different.
Jason Gould's (son of Barbara Streisand and Elliot Gould) "Inside Out" is about a young man (played by himself) dealing with being a celebrity's son and gay.
Lane Janger's "Just One Time", set in New York's City's East Village, is a smart gem of a film that focuses on Anthony's request for his girlfriend to participate in "a three way".
"$30" is a sweet and endearing short directed by first time filmmaker, Gregory Cooke. "$30" is told through the eyes of 16-year-old who finds his virginity on trial when his father arranges a sexual liason with a prostitute.
"hITCH" by Bradley Rust Gray is a documentary-styled road movie about a young gay man and a straight man.
David Fourier's "Majorettes in Space" is a French film that connects gays, straights and the Pope in a novel way.
Director: Jason Gould/Gregory Cooke/Lane Janger/Brad Rust Gray/Dave Fourier
Year: 2000
Language: English & Various
Genre: GLBT, Drama
Boy's Choir
After the death of his father, 15-year-old Michio is sent to an orphanage for boys. There he meets Yasuo, a boy with a beautiful soprano voice and a dream to sing in the Vienna Boys' Choir. Michio, plagued with a stutter, takes a stab at singing and uncovers his angelic soprano voice with no stutter. Soon the boys become fast friends.
The boys revere their choirmaster and catholic bible teacher, Mr. Seino. One day, Satomi, a former schoolmate of Mr. Seino's pays a visit while on the run from the police. Soon enough, the winds from the outside world, from which Seino has struggled to escape, erupt into a violent swirl. With Satomi as the catalyst, Michio and Yasuo embrace their own brand of revolution, nothing much to do with Marx and Mao but more to do with youth idealism and love.
Director: Akira Ogata
Year: 2000
Language: Japanese
Genre: World Cinema
Dad On the Run
August 1997. As the Pope arrives in Paris for World Youth Day, 23-year old Jonas, a young Jewish father, is grappling with the ancestral obligation of burying his newly circumcised son's foreskin. To make a tough task tougher, Jonas is unknowingly pursued by a bunch of heavies hired by a jealous husband. To make things harder still, he bumps into a young Romanian girl who is an ardent fan of Pope John-Paul II and a "collector of auras" to boot. Will Jonas let himself be swayed from his age-old duty, or will he find a way to live with his roots and find himself as a father?
Dante Desarthe has been directing and producing films since 1986. The three short films he made between 1987 and 1990 all won awards. "Fast" (1994), his debut feature with Karin Viard and Frederic Gelard, was awarded the Grand Prize at the SRF's "Rencontres des Premiers Films" Festival in 1995, as well as the Hachette Foundation Prize.
Director: Dante Desarthe
Year: 2000
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
Sans Plomb
Marie, a young girl, falls for Ulysse, who works at the petrol station across the road to support his meteorology studies. But Ulysse is lost in his own world and his shyness keeps him away from love.
"Sans Plomb" belongs to the category of films that one either likes or one hates. Poetic cinema such as this is always an exercise of perilous style, walking the tightrope between the beautiful and the ridiculous. "Sans Plomb" is a lucid second reading of Homer's Odyssey. Through the play of the actors and the magical music of Elvis Costello, the film manages to create a particular atmosphere, a daydream with screaming colors. The film shifts gracefully between the tender and the comic.
Director: Muriel Téodori
Year: 2000
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
27 Missing Kisses
In a sleepy little town in Russia, a mop-haired teenaged nymphet named Sybille arrives to spend her vacation with her Aunt. Sybille is struck with the overwhelming sense that both her aunt and the town of Krasnyje Utki have nothing to offer her and are down right dull. Sybille soon changes this reality. She falls in love with a man twenty-six years her senior and infuses the little town with her love potion. But Sybille must pay a price - the son of the man she loves is in love with her and will stop at nothing to get her...
Before the season is through, Sybille owes a young man 100 kisses. By the time she leaves, the town will be wide-awake.
Oscar nominee Nana Djordjadze directs this laconic comedy by Iraklij Kvirikadze. Set against a backdrop of absurd and funny sexual complications as can only happen in a slightly bungling Russia, the film paints an intense, tongue-in-cheek picture of a post-soviet reality.
Director: Nana Djordjadze
Year: 2000
Language: Georgian/Russian/French/English
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Divided We Fall
Divided We Fall is set in a small Czech town occupied by German forces during the last years of the Second World War.
Josef and Marie C'Zek are a childless couple trying to lead a normal life in the face of Josef's sterility and the chaos of war that surrounds them. One night, Josef has a chance encounter with David Weiner, the Jewish son of his former employer whose family has long since been deported from their town. David is the only surviving member of his family and has recently escaped from a concentration camp. After brief deliberation, Josef decides to give David refuge in his home.
To distract the attention of the German authorities and to protect their neighbours from possible reprisals, Josef takes a job with Horst Prohazka, a Nazi collaborator and former colleague and becomes more and more entangled with the representatives of arbitrary rule. To make matters worse, Horst has a romantic interest in Marie and often visits the couple unannounced.
Director: Jan Hrebejk
Year: 2000
Language: Czech, German
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Named "Best Picture of the Year" by over 100 critics nationwide! Two master warriors (Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh) are faced with their greatest challenge when the treasured Green Destiny sword is stolen. A young aristocrat (Zhang Ziyi) prepares for an arranged marriage, but soon reveals her superior fighting talents and her deeply romantic past. As each warrior battles for justice, they come face to face with their worst enemy - and the inescapable, enduring power of love. Set against 19th-century China's breathtaking landscape, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON is the action-packed, box office smash from acclaimed director Ang Lee (Sense and Sensibility, The Ice Storm) featuring stunning martial arts choreography by Yuen Wo Ping (The Matrix).
Year: 2000
Language: Chinese (Mandarin)
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Action, Romance
Big Eden
Upon returning to his childhood home, Henry Hart finds he must come to terms with his feelings for Dean Stewart, his best friend from high school, and the object of his unrequited love. Henry's passion for Dean caused him to flee Big Eden nearly twenty years ago and his emotions seem only to have grown stronger in the intervening years.
At the same time, Henry's reappearance sparks a transformation in Pike Dexter, the shy, unassuming Native American owner of the town's general store. Pike is as surprised as anyone, and completely unprepared, when he finds himself falling in love with Henry. As this unspoken triangle unfolds under the scrutiny of Big Eden's community, nearly everyone in town develops a stake in its outcome...
Director: Thomas Bezucha
Year: 2000
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Km.0
It’s the hottest day of the year in Spain and nobody at Madrid's Plaza del Sol wants to keep their clothes on! Kilometer Zero is the centre point from which distances are measured outward from the capital. But in this fast-paced and witty ensemble comedy, it becomes the meeting point for a host of colourful characters of various sexual orientations. Four sets of strangers independently arrange to meet at Km. 0 at the same time, which leads to most of them accidentally pairing off with the wrong person. This simple premise leads to a variety of entertaining situations, including the proverbial internet-inspired hook up between two horny guys and the male virgin who wants to connect with a hooker before his wedding but takes off with a man instead. Gay and straight intersect for the most sexy mixed-up Spanish comedy on the hottest day of the year.
Director: Yolanda García Serrano and Juan Luis Iborra
Year: 2000
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Chunhyang
An official selection at this year's Telluride, Toronto and New York Film Festivals, Im Kwon Taek's Chunhyang, Korea's largest cinematic production ever - a four month shoot employing over 8,000 extras and some 12,000 costumes - made its world premiere in the main competition of the Cannes Film Festival 2000
Drawing heavily on his country's rich and vibrant cultural heritage, veteran Korean director Im Kwon Taek's Chunhyang retells a classic tale of lovers torn apart by their two different worlds. In order to retell the timeless story of Chunhyang Im Kwon Taek has innovatively incorporated the ancient operatic tradition of pansori - a stylized narrative art form incorporating dance, music and song, which dates back to the days of the Chosun Dynasty - to breathtaking effect.
Director: South Korea
Year: 2000
Language: Korean
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Smell of Camphor, Scent of Jasmine
Bahman Farjami, a fifty-five year old film director, has not made a film for the past twenty years. The death of other film directors of his generation like Sohrab Shahid Salles and Ali Hatami, and his own heart condition makes him feel that the Angel of Death must be around the corner. Out of desperation, he decides to make a film about his own funeral. His research into Iranian funeral rites and his life in modern Iranian society get tangled together and the process takes him through an emotional roller coaster that leads to his death. Maybe.
Director: Bahman Farmanara
Year: 2000
Language: Persian
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Orfeu
Orfeu retells the tale of the Greek mythical love affair between Orfeu and Euridice. In the film, Orfeu, a legendary musician and lyricist, is loved by all. His music is powerful enough to make the sun rise and compels everyone to listen. Orfeu leads a mystical existence and holds a position of high esteem in the shantytown community known as Morro da Carioca.
The story of Orfeu and Euridice begins on a Saturday of Carnaval. Its action takes place among the least privileged people in Rio de Janeiro - the inhabitants of the favelas. Favelas are shantytowns, within the city of Rio evolving from small communities of workers and unemployed people into bustling, sometimes self-sufficient cities, ruled by violence and drugs amid an ever-increasing population and dismal poverty. On the evening of the Carnaval parade at the Sambadrome, Orfeu shines as the leader of Unidos da Carioca, while Euridice falls victim to a stray bullet. Wild with despair, Orfeu sets off in search of Euridice.
Director: Carlos Diegues
Year: 2000
Language: Portuguese
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Kippur
Nearly thirty years ago, Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack against Israel. The brief, intense war that followed called the Yom Kippur War, after the Jewish holiday on which the fighting started, is the subject of Amos Gitai's film. The battlefield action in the film is bloody and relentless; Gitai is working in the close- to-the-ground, hyper-realist mode of Sam Fuller's Big Red One and the opening battle sequences of Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. War, according to this style of filmmaking, is an existential, rather than political, event. The causes and even, in this case, the outcome of the conflict matter less than the experiences of the men who fight.
Kippur has been described as an anti-war movie. Not because it takes a stand against the Yom Kippur War, or war in general - the soldiers in the film accept the necessity of fighting, and the film never questions their commitment. Rather, it is because Gitai does his utmost to resist the conventions of the genre.
Director: Amos Gitai
Year: 2000
Language: Hebrew
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Kisses for Everyone (Besos Para Todos)
1965. Cádiz, Spain. Miles from home, Ramón, Alfonso and Nicolás share both their apartment and their commitment to graduate from medical school. All discipline flies out the window, however, when Alfonso and Nicolás turn up with Vicky and Marian, two nightclub dancers. Their arrival blows a refreshing gust of freedom and fun into the atmosphere, but Ramán (Eloy Azorin from All About My Mother), bewildered by the girls' presence, seeks refuge with Father Esparza, who introduces him to a respectable girl from a good family. Unfortunately, Ramán's budding obsession with Vicky only grows and Vicky wastes no time in seducing him. Quarrels over the girls disrupt the guys' relationship. By the end of their academic year, their world has turned topsy-turvy: graduation hangs in the balance and the girls aren't sure how they'll earn a living, but together they all learn how to defend themselves against the world.
Director: Jaime Chávarri
Year: 2000
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Code Unknown
Paris. A very busy street. Someone throws a crumpled piece of paper into the outstretched hands of a beggar-woman. This is the bond which, for an instant, links the trajectories of several very different characters.
Anne, a young actress, is on the threshold of making it in the cinema. Her boyfriend Georges, is a war photographer. He is rarely in France. His father is a farmer. Georges younger brother, Jean, has no interest in taking over the farm.
Amadou is a music teacher in an institute for deaf-mute children. His father, a taxi driver, is originally from Africa. Amadou's little sister is deaf, she is the inspiration behind his profession.
Maria comes from Romania and sends home the money she gets from begging. Having been deported, she goes back home to spend some time with her family before embarking on another humiliating journey to France.
A single violent moment unites them and makes a splash that sends ripples throughout the rest of the film.
Director: Michael Haneke
Year: 2000
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Tuvalu
Tuvalu is the name of an island to which the film's young heroes dream of escaping - a dream that seems to be unlikely, given that they are marooned in a dilapidated and largely deserted bathhouse. Anton is the eccentric, downtrodden younger son of the pool's proprietor, the blind Karl. Anton takes great pains to preserve the illusion that this astonishing wreck of a building is still a prospering enterprise. In fact, there are almost no swimmers, and those who do come pay in buttons, literally. Their daily routine is disrupted when the beautiful, young Eva appears one rainy day. Meanwhile Anton's unscrupulous older brother is trying to bring ruin to the family business so that the building can be demolished and the site developed. But the young lovers, Eva and Anton, will prevail in this allegory of totalitarianism versus the little people. Comedy, emotion and romance abound and, above all, a genuinely distinctive visual style is employed to brilliant effect.
Director: Veit Helmer
Year: 1999
Language: No dialogue
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Aimee & Jaguar
International art-house box office sensation, Aimée & Jaguar is based on a true love story set in the midst of the Second World War in Berlin. In 1943, while the Allies are bombing Berlin and the Gestapo is purging the capital of Jews, a dangerous love affair blossoms between two women. One of them, Lilly Wust (Juliane Köhler), married and the mother of four sons, enjoys the privileges of her stature as an exemplar of Nazi motherhood. For her, this affair will be the most decisive experience of her life. For the other woman, Felice Schragenheim (Maria Schrader), a Jewess and member of the underground, their love fuels her with the hope that she will survive.
A half-century later, Lilly Wust told her incredible story to writer Erica Fischer, and the book, Aimée & Jaguar, first published in 1994 immediately became a bestseller and has since been translated into eleven languages. Max Färberböck's debut film, based on Fischer's book, is the true story of this extraordinary relationship.
Director: Max Färberböck
Year: 1999
Language: German
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Einstein of Sex, The
Shocking scenes. Revolutionary strides in a field never previously explored. World-famous sexologist and Jewish gay socialist, Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, was better known as 'The Einstein of Sex' for his revolutionary work in Sexual Science.
In 1897 Hirschfeld founded the first gay political group in history. In 1920 he opened his Institute of Sexual Science in Berlin. The film reveals Hirschfeld through the major figures in his life: from the unfulfilled love affair with Baron von Teschenberg to the happy years with young Karl Giese; from his struggle with his major gay opponet, right-wing writer Adolf Brand, to the presence of his guardian angel, the transvestite Dörchen. Dr. Hirschfeld died in 1935 only 2 years after the Nazis destroyed his Institute. Since this time, all attempts to organize an equivalent institute for sexual science have failed.
Up to this day no one has surpassed his accomplishments. The Einstien of Sex tells Dr. Hirschfeld true story.
Director: Rosa von Praunheim
Year: 1999
Language: German
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Voyages
Emmanuel Finkiel's debut film "Voyages" elegantly and wistfully courses through three countries, over two continents, and in several languages, exploring the emotional landscape of the last generation of Holocaust survivors as they struggle to make peace with their uprooted pasts before it's too late. Divided into discrete portions, "Voyages" serves up a trilogy of seemingly unrelated female characters whose destinies don't so much collide (for that would be too easy) as they do casually intermingle -- as if they were somehow cosmically joined by fate.
Director: Emmanuel Finkiel
Year: 1999
Language: French and Yiddish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
After Life
If you had to choose your single happiest memory, what would it be? In After Life the recently deceased are asked this question. Aided by guides who help them sift through their past, they are given three days to come up with an answer. Once a decision is reached, the guides recreate this happiest of memories and capture it on film, giving the deceased a very personal heaven they will enter for eternity.
With exquisite beauty, After Life shows us that while the memories people choose may seem simple, be it a first kiss or a last cigarette, their meaning lies in the sense they give of living in the moment and feeling truly and fully alive. And while these memories may seem simple, deciding upon them is no easy task. Using humor and compassion the 'guides' lead, urge and cajole their 'clients' to discover meaning and value in their past, for without a decision the dead will be stuck in limbo, forever recreating and filming the happiness of others.
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Year: 1999
Language: Japanese
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Kadosh
Set in Mea Shearim, the ultra-orthodox Jewish quarter of Jerusalem, Kadosh is a stirring, intimate and sensual portrait of two sisters torn between their love and the ultra-orthodox faith that sustains them. Rivka is a pious and devoted wife who has been passionately married for ten years to Meir, the man she adores. Unfortunately, the couple has not produced any children. Presumed to be barren by her rabbi, Rivka's husband is pressured to leave her for a new wife chosen by the rabbi.
Meanwhile, Rivka's younger sister, Malka, is in love with a man who has left the community to live in Israel's modern secular society. Not wishing to leave the only world she has ever known, Malka agrees to marry the man the rabbi has chosen for her. Unfortunately, he turns out to be a brute who treats her terribly. Soon, both sisters are forced to weigh their deep faith and belief in the customs and authority that governs their lives against their emotional needs and sexual desires.
Director: Amos Gitai
Year: 1999
Language: Hebrew
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Jealousy (Celos)
All is well in Carmen and Antonio's world. They are a happy couple planning their wedding, building their dream home and enjoying success in their respective careers. All of this is about to change. Antonio stumbles upon an old photograph of Carmen with another man and soon uneasy feelings become torturous thoughts spiraling into obsession. Torn between his love for Carmen and his need to know about her past, Antonio starts a frantic search for information about Carmen's former life.
Beautifully shot, Jealousy explores the world of obsession and sensuality within the framework of a thriller. Vincente Aranda has over 20 films to his name including Libertarias. He is one of Spain's most prestigious directors whose work has been shown at international festivals since the early 60's.
Director: Vicente Aranda
Year: 1999
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Wind Will Carry Us, The
An engineer (Behzad Dourani) and his crew travel from Tehran in a jeep looking for the remote mountain village of Siah Dareh, in Iranian Kurdistan. There they meet Farzad, a young boy from the village, who becomes their guide.
The Engineer and his crew (who are never shown on-screen) are there to record a special ritual ceremony that will be determined by the fate of a certain Mrs. Malek. However, the locals believe that they are archeologists looking for buried treasure in an old cemetery.
The crew only plans on staying in Siah Dareh for a few days but their trip is extended as Mrs. Malek's health begins to improve. The crafty Engineer befriends Farzad in order to get reports on Mrs. Malek's condition.
Director: Abbas Kiarostami
Year: 1999
Language: Farsi
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Chutney Popcorn
As a struggling artist, Honda-riding out-lesbian living with her white girlfriend, Reena feels she has nothing on her older married do-perfect sister Sarita - except her ovaries, that is. When Sarita and her husband discover that they cannot have children, Reena offers to serve as a surrogate mother. Trying to convince her girlfriend, Lisa (Jill Hennessey), that they can do this together is just the start of Reena's problems. Soon enough, Reena's family and friends pull away convinced that Reena's decision is a bad one.
Director: Nisha Ganatra
Year: 1999
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Drama, Comedy
Girl Is A Girl
Trevor is a guy in his mid-twenties who has no problems meeting women and getting them into bed but he's searching for his ideal girlfriend in all the wrong places.
Trevor charms three women in rapid succession: Clarissa, a sorority girl; Karen, an ex-girlfriend of his friend; and Lisa, the woman who comes closest to Trevor's ideal. But, as Trevor shares his love of sushi, fashion and vintage clothes with Lisa, he fails to notice her fading away to anorexia. Lisa pulls away from Trevor and he immediately moves to Laura, a member of a Grrrl band, who entices Trevor with ecstasy and bliss. Everything's great until he sees Lisa again. Unable to stop idolizing Lisa, Trevor faces the reality of losing the only relationship he has. A Girl is a Girl, with its indie soundtrack and incestuous twenty-something hipsters, does a compelling job of making the viewer wonder if love really exists.
Director: Reg Harkema
Year: 1999
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Little Cheung
Meet little Cheung - a rambunctious, charming nine-year-old who delivers take-out orders for his father's restaurant. From brothels to barber shops Little Cheung becomes familiar with his wild Hong Kong neighbourhood and earns big tips at the same time. One day, Little Cheung befriends Fan, a mainland girl living illegally in the city. They spend all of their time together, enjoying one another's company until they fall into the midst of a gangland fight. Miraculously saved by a stranger, Cheung makes it home only to be brutally punished by his father. Little Cheung runs away from home just when Fan is about to be deported.
Fruit Chan was born in Canton, China in 1959. A graduate of the Hong Kong Film Centre, Fruit Chan's filmography includes: Finale in Blood (1991), Made in Hong Kong (1996), The Longest Summer (1998), Little Cheung (1999) and Durian Durian (2000).
Director: Fruit Chan
Year: 1999
Language: Cantonese
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Journey to the Sun
"Journey to the Sun" is a beautiful story of friendship, courage and personal awareness. It chronicles a young man's painful journey through the social realities in contemporary Turkey.
Mehmet is young man from Western Turkey who has come to Istanbul dreaming of a better life. There he meets Berzan, a Kurdish man from the East. The two become friends, bonded together in their fears for their future and their struggle to survive the present. But as their lives in the city take a turn for the worse, Mehmet decides to take a deeply moving journey across Turkey to the land of Berzan's dreams... the fabled Kurdistan.
Director: Yesim Ustaoglu
Year: 1999
Language: Turkish & Kurdish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
No More Monkeys Jumpin' On The Bed
Six twenty-something Vancouverites cope with sex, obsession, friendship and loneliness. Peter, who is perhaps a little too kind and unassuming, learns that his prospective girlfriend Fiona prefers to maintain a dangerous sexual liason with a bisexual man. As a result, he begins to gravitate toward his ex Claire, who is unhappily enmeshed with her live-in boyfriend Lyle. In the meantime, Claire struggles to land a full-time job as a children's librarian. Unable to hold on to either a job or a boyfriend, Susan begins to slide down a slippery alcoholic slope, while Rick has no problem finding women. Their lives converge in a series of vignettes in which each has an idea of what his/her problem is, but no one feels able to do anything about it.
Director: Ross Weber
Year: 1999
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Lisbon (Lisboa)
On a countryside highway in Spain, a tragic accident kills a driver, his wife and child. On the same highway a porn video salesman meets a stranded rich housewife who is desperately fleeing her family and trying to get to Lisbon. Ignorant to the complete picture, João agrees to give Berta a lift to Lisbon. What seems like a casual drive turns into a neck-to-neck car chase with Berta's family. Berta reveals to João that her husband is party to a conspiracy involving her father's company and the driver from the accident at the beginning of the film. Berta was entrusted with evidence - kept safely in a box in Lisbon- that would incriminate her husband. The chase continues as Berta races to Lisbon to expose the crime while her husband tries to force her to go back with him. But Berta is not planning to go that easily.
A powerful and gripping film, Lisbon takes the viewer in a world of mystery and confusion that turns into a travelling nightmare.
Director: Antonio Hernández
Year: 1999
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Himalaya
Miles from nowhere in the middle of the Himalayas, a village nestles amidst its fields of barley. Its resilient peasant population eeks out a living from the salt of the Tibetan highlands. Each year they mine and trade the salt for grain, transporting it far beyond the huge mountains, down to the lush, rich valleys of Nepal. The annual trek is fraught with danger, testing the bravery of one and all, transforming these simple mountain folk into heroic trailblazers.
Director: Eric Valli
Year: 1999
Language: Tibetan
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Solomon & Gaenor
Wales in 1911 is a beautiful world, but fraught with racial and economic unrest. Set against the backdrop of the little-known 1911 Tredegar riots, when Jewish businesses in the Welsh valley were attacked and looted, Solomon and Gaenor chronicles a passionate and illicit love affair between Gaenor, a Welsh girl and Solomon, a Jewish boy. Solomon conceals his Jewish identity and courts Gaenor but eventually his identity is revealed and the prejudice and mistrust of their respective families and communities threatens to drive the young lovers apart.
An Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Film, Solomon and Gaenor is a moving love story that has been widely praised for the terrific performances of its two young leads, its outstanding cinematography and its use of English, Welsh and Yiddish dialogue that enhance the film's authenticity.
Director: Paul Morrison
Year: 1999
Language: English/Welsh/Yiddish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Karnaval
Dunkirk, northern France, February 1998. It's carnival season - a month and a half of festivities, parades and songs that turns the city upside down. After a violent argument with his father, Larbi has decided to flee the family gas station to start a new life in the southern city of Marseille. Forced to spend one last night in Dunkirk, he shelters in a doorway where he is disturbed by Bea and Christian, a tipsy carnival couple returning from a ball. Larbi is charmed by Bea and decides to stick around for a few days to try his luck at convincing her to come with him.
By placing his story in the heart of this popular festival, a tradition inherited from the festivals that fishermen held before their departures, Thomas Vincent's film is characterized by its authenticity. He depicts, with poetry and tenderness, a carnival often shown with condescension and scorn.
Director: Thomas Vincent
Year: 1999
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Run Lola Run
Lola (Franka Potente) answers a call from her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtru), a small-time courier for a big-time gangster. He has a problem: His boss is coming to pick up 100,000 Deutsche Marks in twenty minutes, and he doesn’t have the money. With Manni’s life on the line, Lola runs through the streets of Berlin to reach him and somehow pick up 100,000 marks along the way, making split-second decisions and encountering acquaintances, family, and strangers. As the clock ticks down, the tiniest choices become life-altering (or life-ending), and the fine line between fate and fortune begins to blur.
Year: 1998
Language: German
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Action
Let it Come Down
The quintessential iconoclast, novelist Paul Bowles (The Sheltering Sky) has lived in Morocco for over fifty years having left the U.S. and an illustrious career as a composer in the 1940s. He was an intimate of Aaron Copland and Gertrude Stein, a peer of Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams and Gore Vidal, and literary godfather to Beat writers William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. His marriage to writer Jane Bowles - both were gay and had significant relationships with others throughout their marriage - is legendary. Together they formed a magnet which drew an extraordinary group of writers and artists to Morocco. In this definitive film biography, Bowles finally speaks out on the subjects he has remained silent about over the years - his work, sexuality, love, and his friends.
Director: Jennifer Baichwal
Year: 1998
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Adopted Son, The
There is a tradition in ancient Kyrgyzstan whereby parents of a large family offer their baby to a childless couple. In a time-honored ritual, five elderly women pass the baby over their bent knees and pronounce it "Beshkempir". Azate is one such baby.
Now an adolescent, Azate shares a close and loving relationship with his family. He spends his free time joining the other village boys in their high spirited antics - wrestling in mud and spying on women in various states of undress. Becoming aware of his budding sexuality, Azate catches the eye of a girl he meets at the local outdoor film screening. Soon the two are hanging out together, taking long walks and discussing their hopes for the future.
Life runs more or less smoothly for Azate until the day he finds out that he is adopted - a revelation that turns his world upside down.
A breathtaking film, Adopted Son is a celebration of local and regional idiosyncrasies, and a look at the universal experiences of adolescence.
Director: Aktan Abdykalykov
Year: 1998
Language: Kirghiz
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Fishing Trip, The
The Fishing Trip tells a story of lost childhood and possible redemption through the eyes and experiences of three young women. Kirsti has come home from college to confront her stepfather, Harold, about a dark family secret. When she arrives, she discovers that Harold has gone north to his remote fishing cabin - the very place where he first sexually assaulted Kirsti and her younger sister Jessie. Kirsti bribes the hostile Jessie and Jessie's best friend, Murdoch, to overcome their fears and go with her to face their past. Buoyed by humour and the resiliency of youth, The Fishing Trip is a deeply affirming testament to the power of love and friendship.
Director/producer Amnon Buchbinder, an accomplished short filmmaker, makes his feature film debut with The Fishing Trip. Currently he teaches screenwriting at York University's Department of Film and Video.
Director: Amnon Buchbinder
Year: 1998
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Edge of 17
In the summer of 1984, Eric Hunter (Chris Stafford) is heading towards his senior year in high school working in the fast food restaurant at the local amusement park. He and his best friend Maggie (Tina Holmes) bus tables in their ugly brown polyester uniforms along with handsome Ohio State hotel-management student Rod (Andersen Gabrych). As Rod casts his baby-blue eyes at Eric, Eric finds it increasingly difficult not to flirt back. Bit by bit, Eric begins using the clothes, attitude and even the hair products of the era to express the new person he is becoming. His family and friends don't understand, but his new friends, including bar owner Angie (Lea DeLaria), help him through his life-changing summer with honest advice and a lot of laughs.
Director: David Moreton
Year: 1998
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Drama, Comedy
Earth
A young girl with polio, Lenny (Maia Sethna), narrates the story through the voice of her adult self (Shabana Azmi). She is from a wealthy Parsi family who hopes to remain neutral to the rising tensions between Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims in the area. She is adored and protected by her parents, Bunty (Kitu Gidwani) and Rustom (Arif Zakaria) and is cared for by her Ayah, the beautiful Hindu woman, Shanta (Nandita Das). Both Dil, the Ice-Candy Man (Aamir Khan) and Hassan, the Masseur (Rahul Khanna) are Muslim and in love with Shanta.
Director: Deepa Mehta
Year: 1998
Language: Hindi, English, Gujarati, Panjabi, Urdu
Genre: War, Drama, Romance
Black Tears (Legrimas Negras)
Andres is a young man with a steady girlfriend, a budding career and a promising future. But his well-ordered life is thrown into complete turmoil when he is robbed and sexually assaulted by two women. His search for an explanation to this seemingly random act of violence leads him to Isabel, one of his assailants. To his surprise, Andres is fascinated by the enigmatic Isabel and the two begin a passionate and obsessive affair. Believing that she is a misunderstood victim of her chaotic past, and convinced that his love can redeem her, Andres gives himself over to Isabel. Having made the decision to turn his back on his former life, Andres must now follow his new path to the bitter end.
Black Tears is a dark, passionate and wonderful film that has garnered standing ovations for its incredible performances and its fresh look at a dramatic and dangerous love affair.
Director: Ricardo Franco, Fernando Bauluz
Year: 1998
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
L'ennui
A Parisian Philosophy teacher separates from his wife and becomes alienated from the pleasures of his upper middle class life. He has an affair with a 17-year-old girl who is suspected of driving an artist to his death. He finds the simple Cecilia irritating but develops a sexual rapport with her. Slowly the man loses control of his life and becomes increasingly violent in a quest he can't name - a quest that slowly begins to undermine his certainties.
Cédric Kahn is one of the most talented directors of his generation. His 1994 film, Trop de Bonheur, won both the Jean Vigo Prize and the Cannes Festival's Youth Prize. L'Ennui is his third feature film and was selected for the Venice Festival and won the Louis Delluc prize.
Director: Cedric Kahn
Year: 1998
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Love of man (Amore de Hombre)
It's Esperanza's 40th birthday party and she can't help noticing the irony of her life. Here she is without a boyfriend, yet all the guests at her party are intelligent, witty and handsome men. Of course, these guys are gay, and Esperanza loves them all. Her favorite of the bunch is Ramon, a sexy lawyer who is also searching in vain for Mr. Right. Together they commiserate and laugh at the foibles of their love lives and try (unsuccessfully) to fix each other up.
When Ramon is temporarily confined to bed after an accident, Esperanza makes the mistake of introducing him to Robert, an attractive masseur whom she hopes can help Ramon's rehabilitation. Ramon quickly becomes obsessed and will do anything to satisfy the very sexy Robert, including sacrificing his close friendship with Esperanza.
Director: Yolanda Garcia Serrano, Juan Luis Iborra
Year: 1998
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Eel, The
A man, acting on an anonymous tip, finds his wife in bed with another man and in a fit of rage stabs her to death. Eight years later after being released from prison, he moves to a small, lakeside town and opens a barbershop. In the corner of the shop is an aquarium housing his companion from his prison stay, his pet eel - the only living thing he will talk to. Eventually the town's eccentric characters accept the man and happily make his barbershop their meeting place, while he, desperate to forget his past, guards against any attraction he may feel for women. One day he happens upon a young woman unconscious after a suicide attempt. Once recovered, she comes to work for him in the shop. She would like to know him more intimately, but he remains reluctant. He soon learns, however, that she has a past every bit as painful as his own.
Director: Shohei Imamura
Year: 1997
Language: Japanese
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Under the Skin (1997)
Carine Adler's feature debut has been critically hailed as one of the most promising and daring British films of 1997. Described by many critics as a feminist answer to Mike Leigh's Naked and Lars Von Trier's Breaking the Waves. Starring Samantha Morton as Iris (Academy award nominee for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Sweet and Lowdown, 1999), Under the Skin is an exploration of the complex world of female emotions and sibling rivalry.
Iris is stuck in an emotional void after the sudden death of her mother. Her frustration is exacerbated by her combative relationship with her older sister, Rose, of whom she has always been jealous. In her confusion, Iris desperately seeks emotional fulfillment through her risky and self-destructive sexual exploration. She nearly loses everything in her life, but eventually comes to terms with her mother's death and begins her life afresh.
Director: Carine Adler
Year: 1997
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Didier
It really is not the time for Jean-Pierre, a sports agent, to dog-sit a friend's golden retriever for a week while he is entangled in murky dealings. Yet, this chore will result in the most unbelievable adventures, where his worst nightmare may well be the opportunity of a lifetime.
Director: Alain Chabat
Year: 1997
Language: French
Genre: Sports, Fantasy, Comedy
Chambermaid & the Titanic, The
Horty, a French foundry worker, once again wins the annual grueling triathalon organized by his company's boss. This year the prize is extraordinary: a round-trip ticket to Southampton, England to watch the Titanic leave on its maiden voyage. In his Southampton hotel room Horty is approached by Marie (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón), a stunning chambermaid due to board the Titanic the next day. Believing in Marie's hard luck story of having no place to spend the night, Horty apprehensively agrees to share his room with the beautiful stranger. In the morning, Horty wakes up alone.
Returning home to his wife (Romane Bohringer), Horty's recount of the night he met Marie morphs into stories of wild sex and steamy entanglings before an ever-growing audience of barroom cronies. Zoe feels the very real threat of Horty's naked emotions and joins in on the storytelling in hopes of saving the marriage.
Director: Bigas Luna
Year: 1997
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Season Five
In a remote Iranian village, an arranged marriage is about to take place between two archrival families. Meet the Jamalvandis and the Kamalvandis. Surprisingly, the story starts with an indication of a hopeful resolution. Soon enough however, the feud between the families resumes. Karamat, a boy from the Kamalvandis family, decides to break the engagement to Mehrbanou, a girl from the Jamalvandis clan. The familial tension causes the girl's grandfather to have a stroke. Everyone from the village attends the funeral. Soon after, the boy returns to the village with a brand new mini bus and uses it to transport his people to and from the village. In her desperate attempt to compete with Karamat, Mehrbanou sells her land to purchase her own vehicle. The rivalry between the two families intensifies. One day, when only one vehicle returns to the village, Mehrbanou suddenly realizes her feelings for Karamat and organizes a search party.
Director: Rafi Pitts
Year: 1997
Language: Farsi
Genre: World Cinema, Drama, Comedy
Life of Jesus, The
A social movie about life nowadays in the north of France. Freddy and his friends are all unemployed. They try to pass away the time by wandering around on their motorcycles and by directing their aggressive feelings towards Arabic immigrants. Freddy is in love with Marie, a cashier at a local supermarket. When she is proposed by Kader, an young Arab man, Freddy and his friends have an idea: they decide to punish Kader for what they call "a provocation." After they have raped another girl, Marie finally commits to Kader, which seals his fate.
Director: Bruno Dumont
Year: 1997
Language: French/Arabic
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Le Pari
In this French comedy, sisters Murielle (Isabella Ferron) and Victoria (Isabel Otero) are married to men who hate each other -- high-school teacher Bernard (Bernard Campan) and well-to-do Didier (Didier Bourdon), pharmacist in a posh Paris neighborhood. Both chain-smoke, and this leads to a cigarette challenge as they attempt to stop smoking for two weeks in order to prove who is the better man. Quitting brings on manic mood swings, massive food consumption, insomnia, and a host of habits that alter their lives and threaten their marriages
Director: Didier Bourdon, Bernard Campan
Year: 1997
Language: French
Genre: Comedy
Loose Women
Loose Women explores the lives and misadventures of three sexy, single women in New York City. Aspiring actress Rachel and her roommate, Gail, welcome the arrival of their friend Tracy, also a wannabe actress. Together the trio navigates the notorious East Village, the tumultuous working world and the New York dating scene. But the party soon comes to a halt when they discover Gail's dark secret.
Director: Paul F. Bernard
Year: 1997
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Sorry Dear, Lucas Loves Me
This Spanish outing is largely set in the spacious apartment living room of three gay roommates: the pudgy, glasses-wearing Carlos, pothead/quasi-philosopher Toni and the ever smooth but diminutive Dani. The trouble begins when Toni decides that the trio needs another roommate.
Director: Dunia Ayaso and Félix Sabroso
Year: 1997
Language: Spanish
Genre: Comedy
All The Rage
Gorgeous, intelligent, with a great career and a hot gym sculpted body, Christopher is clearly a member of the gay urban "A-list". He is also an expert at one-night stands, and a master at brushing men off, once he's had them. But lately, Christopher is looking for a more meaningful relationship.
Then he meets Stuart, an attractive, slightly chubby and down-to earth guy who spends as little time at the gym as he does selecting his wardrobe. Christopher is thrilled to finally be with a man who loves him for more than his looks, and the two begin a serious relationship…until temptation emerges in the form of Stuart's hunky and horny roommate.
With smart dialogue and sharp performances, All The Rage takes a satirical and poignant look at one gay man's obsessive pursuit of physical, sexual and romantic perfection.
Roland Tec is a teacher, director and writer who has written extensively for the theatre, including both plays and operas.
Director: Roland Tec
Year: 1997
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Drama, Comedy
Nettoyage à sec
This French-Spanish drama depicts a flat marriage that picks up a few new wrinkles. Nicole (Miou-Miou) and Jean-Marie Kunstler (Charles Berling) have run their small-town dry-cleaning shop for 15 years. When they visit a local night club, they see the brother-sister act of Loic (Stanislas Merhar) and Marilyn (Mathilde Seigner), who perform under the name Queens of the Night, and the four soon become friends. Later, the Kuntslers visit Basel, Switzerland, where the siblings are appearing. They learn the team is splitting up and invite the bisexual Loic to help at their shop. He accepts, and his presence alters their outlook on life.
Director: Anne Fontaine
Year: 1997
Language: French, English
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Love Can Seriously Damage Your Health
Two soon-to-be lovers meet for the first time in a Paris hotel where the legendary Beatles are staying. Diana, an obsessive fan, cajoles Santi, a hotel office clerk, into hiding with her under John Lennon's bed in order to catch a glimpse of the famous rock star.
Following this chance encounter, Diana and Santi spend the next several years going between tumultuous meetings and painful separations, ill-matched nuptials to other partners and troublesome offspring en route to discovering that love, true love, can seriously damage your health.
Director: Manuel Gomez Pereira
Year: 1997
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
Winter Sleepers
Laura, Marco, Rebecca and Rene are four young people from the city spending the winter in a remote alpine town. Laura amuses herself by practicing acting, Rene by taking photographs, and Marco and Rebecca by having a hot affair. One afternoon when rushing to get into bed with Rebecca, Marco leaves the keys in his car and Rene seizes the opportunity to take a spin through the mountains. But the visibility of the winter roads is deceptive. Without ever realizing what he has done, Rene causes a car, driven by a local farmer, to crash, leaving the farmer's young daughter seriously injured.
Soon after this strange accident, mysterious, almost hallucinatory events begin to unfold. As these events engulf the characters, intertwining their lives in unexpected ways, the shimmering expanses of snow provide the perfect backdrop for their increasingly unpredictable emotions.
Director: Tom Tykwer
Year: 1997
Language: German
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Saltmen of Tibet
Since time immemorial, nomadic herdsmen have lived in an extremely harsh environment on the plateau of the Himalayas, pasturing their yaks in the highest meadows of the world. Every spring, the men of the tribe set off with their robust pack animals on an arduous three-month journey to the salt lakes of northern Tibet. The film follows this traditional nomadic caravan, steeped in religious ritual but doomed by technological progress, as it sets off to the salt lakes to haul the "white gold" back to their native valleys. Shot under the most difficult of conditions, The Saltmen of Tibet brings the viewer as close as possible to the mysterious and religious experience of another world.
Born in Germany, Ulrike Koch studied Sinology, Japanology and Ethnology at Zurich and Beijing Universities. She served as a casting director for Bernardo Bertolucci's films, "The Last Emperor" and "Little Buddha".
Director: Ulrike Koch
Year: 1997
Language: Tibetan
Genre: World Cinema, Documentary
Libertarias
July 19, 1936. The revolution has just started in a town near Barcelona. Maria, a young innocent nun escaping from her convent, which is being ransacked by revolutionaries, finds refuge in a brothel, where she runs into a group of "Libertarias" intent on freeing the prostitutes. Befriended by the group, she joins up with its leader, Pilar, a spiritualist named Floren and a prostitute called Charo, on their way to the front. Within the brutal realities of war, Maria experiences love with a reformed priest and companionship through those she is fighting with, and soon she begins to doubt almost everything she once held to be true. Libertarias is an epic, emotional film that tells the story of six women's fight for freedom, their struggle for justice and their passionate cry for a better world.
One of Spain's best known directors, Vicente Aranda has made 17 previous films including "Tiempo de Silencio", "La Pasion Turca", and the internationally acclaimed "Amantes".
Director: Vincent Aranda
Year: 1996
Language: Spanish
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Microcosmos
MICROCOSMOS captures the fun and adventure of a spectacular hidden universe revealed in a breathtaking, close-up view unlike anything you've ever seen! Your family will marvel at a pair of stag beetles dueling like titans. The kids will stare bug-eyed as a magnificent army of worker ants race to stock their larder ... while tyring to avoid becoming a feisty pheasant's dinner. And you'll have a front-row seat to witness an amazing transformation from caterpillar to butterfly, the remarkable birth of a mosquito, and several other minute miracles of life.
Director: Claude Nuridsany, Marie Pérennou
Year: 1996
Language: French
Genre: Documentary
Time Regained
Marcel Proust (1871-1922) is on his deathbed. Looking at photographs brings memories of his childhood, his youth, his lovers, and the way the Great War put an end to a stratum of society. His memories are in no particular order, they move back and forth in time. Marcel at various ages interacts with Odette, with the beautiful Gilberte and her doomed husband, with the pleasure-seeking Baron de Charlus, with Marcel's lover Albertine, and with others; present also in memory are Marcel's beloved mother and grandmother. It seems as if to live is to remember and to capture memories is to create a work of great art. The memories parallel the final volume of Proust's novel.
Director: Raoul Ruiz
Year: 1996
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Gabbeh
Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Year: 1996
Language: Persian
Genre: Drama, Romance
Fire
Radha (the stunning Shabana Azmi) is unwavering in her devotion to her husband, Ashok (Kulbushan Kharbanda), despite their barren and sexless arranged marriage. For 15 years, Radha has been the consummate Indian wife, while Ashok, under the guidance of a spiritual leader, is attempting to rid himself completely of any form of desire. Meanwhile, Ashok’s brother Jatin (Jaaved Jaaferi) has brought home his new wife, Sita (Nandita Das), but is unwilling to give up his relationship with his Chinese girlfriend. Added to the mix are Biji (Kushal Rekhi), Ashok and Jatin's infirm mother, who keeps a watchful eye over the family, and Mundu (Ranjit Chowdhry), who works in the family's restaurant and video store under their small apartment. Slowly, Sita's presence causes the threads that held the family together to unravel. Each member tries to hang on to a semblance of allegiance to the deeply rooted traditions of Indian family life…
Director: Deepa Mehta
Year: 1996
Language: Hindi, English
Genre: Canadian, Drama
Family Resemblances
Every Friday night a very ordinary French family get together for dinner. Here we find a mother who knows how to criticize with a simple glance, her two grown sons, one successful, the other not-so-successful, an unmarried daughter with a penchant for making trouble, and two daughters-in-law who are polar opposites. Together, they have been coexisting in feigned politeness, unvoiced opinions and endless concessions, all in the hope of maintaining a typical, close-knit family. But tonight is special!
On this particular Friday the group is celebrating a birthday. But before the celebration is in full swing, family politics and petty squabbling erupts into a tour-de-force of comic verbal jousting and dramatic confrontations. While no one emerges unscathed from this settling of old scores, each member of the family leaves with a new appreciation for each other. Family Resemblances is one outstanding and outrageous dinner party that you won't forget.
Director: Cedric Klapisch
Year: 1996
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Comedy
Huitième Jour, Le
One night an aggressive salesmen is drives recklessly down a country road and hits a dog. The dog belongs to a man with Down’s syndrome who has escaped his institution. Despite their differences, the two men forge an extraordinary friendship.
Director: Jaco van Dormael
Year: 1996
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Trois Frères
Three half-brothers are reunited at their mother's funeral. After being told of their inheritance they quickly spend the money, only to find out that they will not receive it after all. The men grow closer while deciding how to proceed.
Director: Didier Bourdon, Bernard Campan
Year: 1995
Language: French
Genre: Comedy
Fallen Angels
Commonly regarded as one of the most influential directors of contemporary cinema, Wong Kar-Wai (Happy Together, In the Mood for Love) has developed a signature style that employs bold, experimental uses of photography, music, and editing to capture the tension of the new millennium. Originally intended to be a third story in his now classic Chungking Express, FALLEN ANGELS has emerged as what some critics have come to consider his “quintessential work.” Set in the neon-washed underworld of present day Hong Kong, FALLEN ANGELS intertwines exhilarating tales of love and isolation, primarily the unconsummated love affair between a contract Killer (Leon Lai Ming) and the ravishing female Agent (Michele Reis) who books his assignments and cleans up after his jobs.
Director: Wong Kar-wai
Year: 1995
Language: Cantonese
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Par-delà les nuages
Told from the dreamlike perspective of a wandering film director, the movie weaves four stories of love and lust, inspired by Antonioni's writings about enigmatic, unrequited or unresolved relationships. Set in several beautiful European locales such as Portofino and Paris, the film uses striking compositions, sensuous shots of lovely nudes and a moving musical score (featuring Van Morrison, U2 and Brian Eno) to create a radiant meditation on love and desire.
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni, Wim Wenders
Year: 1995
Language: French, English, Italian
Genre: Drama, Romance
Double Happiness
Twenty-two year old Chinese-Canadian Jade Li comes from a traditional Chinese family, who try to put on the perfect public persona at all cost so as to "save face". One primary part of this persona is prosperity. Jade's father hopes that true financial prosperity will become reality through penny stocks. Because of its instability, Jade's parents don't understand or widely publicize Jade's aspirations to be an actress. Their main want for Jade is to date and marry a nice Chinese boy, a goal for which Jade's extended family also strives as they are always trying to introduce her to Chinese boys. They believe that *the* boy is Andrew, with whom Jade even agrees to go out. But Jade, beyond wanting to be an actress, wishes her family had more western sensibilities. She is attracted to a slightly awkward but persistent Caucasian English graduate student named Mark. Jade has to figure out how to both please her family, who would not approve of her dating a Caucasian, and be true to herself.
Year: 1994
Language: English, Cantonese
Genre: Drama, Romance
I Can't Sleep
France is afraid! A "granny killer" is loose in Paris, inciting fear and havoc amongst its residents. Based on the true story of Thierry Paulin who, with his male lover, murdered over twenty elderly women in the eighties, I Can't Sleep is an eerily atmospheric noir of contemporary urban alienation. A series of characters haunt the nights of Paris. Daiga, an aspiring Lithuanian actress unaware of the newspaper headlines due to a language barrier; Theo, a moody musician and carpenter from Martinique who longs to return to the safety of his homeland with his wife and son; his brother Camille, a beautiful drag queen who seductively performs at local nightclubs.
Director Claire Denis (Chocolat) navigates through a dozen characters who have little in common except location. Their lives briefly intersect and just as quickly separate. A disturbing portrait of dislocation and arbitrary violence, it "will make you look differently at people on the street." (Amy Taubin, Village Voice)
Director: Claire Denis
Year: 1994
Language: French
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Vive L'Amour
There are three central characters in Vive L'Amour: a woman entering middle age who lives alone and is desperate to be loved; a young gay man, desperate to love someone; and a footloose young man who loves no one and feels no need for the love of another. The woman sells real estate. The young gay man sells burial plots. The other man sells women's clothing on the street. An empty apartment soon becomes a crossroads for these seemingly disparate lives. Eventually, unlikely liaisons develop and an extended game of musical rooms evolves...
Tsai Ming-liang was born in Malaysia ad went to college in Taiwan, majoring in drama and cinema. He won acclaim for his theatre performances, as well as television awards for writing and directing. His first feature film was Rebels of the Neon God which won several international prizes. Vive L'Amour is his second feature film, which was followed by his critically hailed masterpiece The River.
Director: Tsai Ming-Liang
Year: 1994
Language: Mandarin
Genre: World Cinema, GLBT, Drama, Comedy
Reine Margot, La
1572-The war of religion between Catholics and Protestants was raging. To reconcile the French, Catherine de Medici decided to marry his daughter, the Catholic Marguerite de Valois, the "Queen Margot" with the Protestant Henri de Navarre, later King Henry IV. During the night of St. Bartholomew while the blood is flowing in the streets of Paris, the "Queen Margot" saves the massacre lord of the Mole. Between the Catholic Margot and the Protestant Mole was born a passion that will switch their fates. More than a great historical drama, the cruel and violent "Queen Margot" is a powerful, majestic film with an impressive distribution.
Director: Patrice Chéreau
Year: 1994
Language: French, Italian
Genre: History, Drama, Romance, Biography
Scent of Green Papaya, The
A young girl, Mui, becomes a servant for a rich family. Mui is notably peaceful and curious about the world. The family consists of a frequently absent husband, a wife, an older son, two younger sons, and the husband's mother. When the husband leaves for his fourth and final time, he takes all the household's money. He returns ill and passes away shortly after.
Director: Anh Hung Tran
Year: 1993
Language: Vietnamese
Genre: Drama
Tango
Vincent, a stunt pilot, is acquitted of murdering his wife and her lover. However, a few years later, L'Elegant, the Judge in the case, comes to blackmail him. The Judge's nephew, Paul, is having trouble with his wife and they demand that Vincent kill her. The Judge, a confirmed bachelor, takes Paul and Vincent on the road to search for Paul's wife Marie. The three men get on well together, and spend their time discussing their relationship with women.
Director: Patrice Leconte
Year: 1993
Language: French
Genre: Comedy
No Smoking
In a village in Yorkshire, Celia Teasdale, the wife of a school headmaster, takes a rest from her spring cleaning. Seated in her garden, she considers whether she should light a cigarette or not. Little does she know that her decision will result in two totally different outcomes. When she decides to smoke a cigarette, she is visited by Lionel Hepplewick, the school caretaker who has agreed to help out in her garden. Celia confesses that her husband no longer loves her, that he has taken to drink and risks losing his job. When Celia returns to the house, Sylvie, her maid, appears and tries to engage Lionel’s interest... Now, if Celia has abstained from that cigarette a different set of circumstances would have arisen. Miles Coombes, her husband’s best friend, arrives and starts commiserating with her over her husband’s drunkenness and professional lapses. In fact, this is just a pretext, for Miles is secretly in love with Celia...
Director: Alain Resnais
Year: 1993
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Smoking
In a village in Yorkshire, Celia Teasdale, the wife of a school headmaster, takes a rest from her spring cleaning. Seated in her garden, she considers whether she should light a cigarette or not. Little does she know that her decision will result in two totally different outcomes. When she decides to smoke a cigarette, she is visited by Lionel Hepplewick, the school caretaker who has agreed to help out in her garden. Celia confesses that her husband no longer loves her, that he has taken to drink and risks losing his job. When Celia returns to the house, Sylvie, her maid, appears and tries to engage Lionel’s interest... Now, if Celia has abstained from that cigarette a different set of circumstances would have arisen. Miles Coombes, her husband’s best friend, arrives and starts commiserating with her over her husband’s drunkenness and professional lapses. In fact, this is just a pretext, for Miles is secretly in love with Celia...
Director: Alain Resnais
Year: 1993
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Rebels of the Neon God
Set amidst the urban jungle of Taipei, Rebels of the Neon God is a stylish tale of teen angst and despair. Centering on four disaffected, disillusioned youth, the story shuttles between the deadpan, petty con games of two Taipei hoods, a young woman who works at a roller rink, and the sullen, lost Hsiao-Kang - a cab driver's son who's being rigorously pressured to study by his parents.
Tsai Ming-liang "captures the strange radiance of cheap hotels, video parlours and neon-lit streets" of Taipei (David Overbey, Toronto International Film Festival). Rebels of the Neon God is a keenly observed look at despondent youth whose lives are confined by a relentless, alienating city.
Director: Tsai Ming-Liang
Year: 1992
Language: Cantonese
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Manufacturing Consent
Funny, provocative and surprisingly accessible, MANUFACTURING CONSENT explores the political life and ideas of Noam Chomsky, world-renowned linguist, intellectual and political activist. In a dynamic collage of new and original footage, biography, archival gems, imaginative graphics and outrageous illustrations, the film highlights Chomsky's probing analysis of mass media. A mammoth two-part project, MANUFACTURING CONSENT is nonetheless light on its feet, favoring a style that encourages viewers to question its own workings, as Chomsky himself encourages his listeners to extricate themselves from the "web of deceit" by undertaking a course of "intellectual self-defense." The two-disc 15th anniversary edition of this revolutionary film is accompanied by a rich selection of special features.
Director: Mark Achbar & Peter Wintonick
Year: 1992
Language: English
Genre: Canadian, Documentary
Close Up
A brilliant exploration of the power of movies, "Close-Up" reconstructs a cinephile's attempt to literally become a filmmaker he admires. "The film so subtly transmutes our normal sense of what movies can do," Godfrey Cheshire writes in The New York Press, "that we are ultimately left denfenseless against the extraordinary power of its final scenes, which are as transcendent - and as shrewd - as anything in cinema."
Abbas Kiarostami is one of the most revered filmmakers in the world. The other films he has directed include "Taste of Cherry" (winner of Golden Palm for best film, Cannes Film Festival) and "The Wind Will Carry Us."
Director: Abbas Kiarostami
Year: 1990
Language: Farsi
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
Uranus
After World War II, a small French village struggles to put the war behind them as the controlling Communist Party tries to flush out Petain loyalists. The local bar owner, a simple man who likes to write poetry and only wants to be left alone to do his job, becomes a target for Communist harassment as they try and locate a particular loyalist.
Director: Claude Berri
Year: 1990
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Reflecting Skin, The
A young boy tries to cope with rural life circa 1950s and his fantasies become a way to interpret events. After his father tells him stories of vampires, he becomes convinced that the widow up the road is a vampire, and tries to find ways of discouraging his brother from seeing her. He must deal with an abusive mother, a father with a charge of molestation, a band of youths creating havoc, and an unforgiving environment in general.
Year: 1990
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
Bye Bye Blues
When Daisy Cooper discovers that her husband has been captured in Singapore's fall to the Japanese during World War II, she takes a job as a piano player with a local dance band in order to make a living for herself and her children. It is while on tour with this ragtag outfit, amid the smoke, the booze and the brawling, that Daisy’s self-discovery really begins. For Daisy, the war offers a bitterly ironic blessing: while it has separated her from her husband, it has introduced her to a side of life, not to mention herself, she might otherwise never have known. When word reaches her that peace has been declared and her husband is on his way home, Daisy faces her own conflicting loyalties and desires.
Director: Anne Wheeler
Year: 1989
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Romance
Peuple Singe, le
This comprehensive documentary explores the lives and behavior in the wild of over a hundred different simians species. Footage from such diverse places as Ethiopia, Japan, Sri Lanka and Brazil brings macaques, baboons, monkeys, orangutans and many other relatives of humankind to the screen. Because of its length and extensive coverage of its subject, it is of particular interest to those who are already keenly interested in its subject matter.
Director: Gérard Vienne
Year: 1989
Language: French
Genre: Documentary, Family
Tandem
Michel Mortez is going to and from France to compare a radio game he created 25 years ago. He is famous among the average Frenchmen. But he is also a poker player. Rivetot, his assistant and technician, always goes with him. He is the only one to know what really lies under Mortez's appearance of a playful don Juan. When the programme is condemned by the managers, Rivetot delays as long as possible the moment he will have to announce it to Mortez... Both malicious and tender, this bitter comedy also shows nostalgia.
Director: Patrice Leonte
Year: 1987
Language: French
Genre: Drama, Comedy
The Sacrifice: Remastered 2-Disc Edition (Blu-ray)
lexander, a journalist and former actor and philosopher, tells his little son how worried he is about the lack of spirituality of modern mankind. In the night of his birthday, the third world war breaks out. In his despair Alexander turns himself in a prayer to God, offering him everything to have the war not happen at all.
Director: Andrey Tarkovskiy
Year: 1986
Language: Swedish/French/English
Genre: Drama
The Sacrifice: Remastered 2-Disc Edition (DVD)
lexander, a journalist and former actor and philosopher, tells his little son how worried he is about the lack of spirituality of modern mankind. In the night of his birthday, the third world war breaks out. In his despair Alexander turns himself in a prayer to God, offering him everything to have the war not happen at all.
Director: Andrey Tarkovskiy
Year: 1986
Language: Swedish/French/English
Genre: Drama
Desert Hearts
Desert Hearts ranks as the all-time classic lesbian favorite romantic film - and also stands as the top-grossing lesbian-made lesbian feature of all time (drawing $2.4 million at the box office).
Based on Jane Rule's novel "Desert of the Heart," the movie tells the story of Vivian Bell (Helen Shaver), a repressed English professor who goes to Reno for a quickie divorce in 1959. She spends the weeks waiting for her final divorce papers at a dude ranch where she meets Cay Rivvers (Patricia Charbonneau), a beautiful young casino worker.
Cay is a free spirit - an artist by day and casino worker by night, as well as a lesbian.
To everyone's surprise, Vivian and Cay hit it off immediately as Cay introduces the shy academic to the wild-west casino scene as well as the breathless beauty of the desert. It's not long before Vivian finds her friendship moving into unexpected passion. And for Cay, it's the first time she has met someone who stirs her deepest emotions.
Director: Donna Deitch
Year: 1985
Language: English
Genre: GLBT, Drama
Vengeance du Serpent à Plumes, La
After the death of his grandmother, odd-job man Loulou Dupin is delighted to learn that he has inherited a large Parisian apartment. He hastens to Paris to view the apartment, hoping to sell it as soon as he can. He is surprised to find that the apartment is occupied by two attractive young women, Laura and Valérie. Unbeknown to Loulou, the latter belong to a terrorist cell which is using the apartment as a headquarters for their operations. Laura flirts with Loulou to distract him, whilst her murderous friends try – without success – to put him out of the way. By the time Loulou learns the truth, Laura and her friends have disappeared. Accompanied by his best friend Alvaro, a vindictive Loulou pursues Laura to Mexico. There, he discovers that the terrorists are preparing for the most spectacular coup of their career...
Director: Gérard Oury
Year: 1984
Language: French
Genre: Adventure, Crime, Comedy
Banzai
Michel Bernardin works for Planète Assistance, an insurance company which instantly sends help to travellers no matter where in the world they may be. Michel is office bound, which suits him because he is terrified of flying. Ironically, his fiancée, Isabelle is an air hostess, although she has promised Michel she will give up her job since they are soon to be married. After upsetting his employer Michel finds himself in the front line, travelling all over the world to help distressed customers. Meanwhile, Isabelle is forced to continue flying until she works out her contract. The couple resort to an increasingly elaborate charade to conceal from one another what is happening.
Director: Claude Zidi
Year: 1983
Language: French
Genre: Adventure, Comedy
Unfinished Piece for a Player Piano, An
Early in the 20th century, family and friends gather at the country estate of a general's widow, Anna Petrovna. Sofia, the new wife of Anna's step-son, recognizes Misha, the brother-in-law of one of the widow's admirers: a few years before, they had been idealistic lovers and now she can't believe he has settled for a dim wife and a job as a teacher. Amidst parlor games and idle talk of women's rights and peasants' capabilities, Sofia and Misha rekindle their love. Will they flaunt convention, abandon families, and run away to pursue lost dreams? Rescue comes from an unexpected place.
Director: Nikita Mikhalkov
Year: 1978
Language: Russian
Genre: Drama
Killer of Sheep
Killer of Sheep examines the black Los Angeles ghetto of Watts in the mid-1970s through the eyes of Stan, a sensitive dreamer who is growing detached and numb from the psychic toll of working at a slaughterhouse.
Frustrated by money problems, he finds respite in moments of simple beauty: the warmth of a coffee cup against his cheek, slow dancing with his wife in the living room, holding his daughter. The film offers no solutions; it merely presents life... sometimes hauntingly bleak, sometimes filled with transcendent joy and gentle humor.
Killer of Sheep was shot on location in Watts in a series of weekends on a budget of less than $10,000, most of which was grant money. Finished in 1977 and shown sporadically, its reputation grew and grew until it won a prize at the 1981 Berlin International Film Festival.
Since then, the Library of Congress has declared it a national treasure as one of the first fifty on the National Film Registry.
Director: Charles Burnett
Year: 1977
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Films of Nikita Mikalkov, The: Vol. 1
Academy Award winning director Nikita Mikhalkov is often referred to as "the Russian Spielberg". For the first time in the United States, Kino proudly presents a collection of some of his best films spanning almost twenty years including A Slave of Love (1976), Without Witnesss (1983), Five Evenings (1979), the classic Oblomov (1980) and the Academy Award Winner Burnt By the Sun (1994)
Director: Nikita Mikhalkov
Year: 1976
Language: Various
Genre: World Cinema
Section Spéciale
1941- Following the assassination of a German officer by a young Communist militant, Pierre Pucheu, the interior minister, whose full powers have just been awarded, is trying to pass a special law to judge six other activists ...
Director: Costa-Gavras
Year: 1975
Language: French, English
Genre: History, Thriller, Drama
Passenger, The
Originally released in 1975, Sony Pictures Classics re-releases Antonioni's suspenseful and haunting portrait of a drained journalist whose deliverance is an identity exchange with a dead man. He embarks on a treacherous journey through Africa, Spain, Germany and England.
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Year: 1975
Language: English
Genre: World Cinema, Drama
3 Films by Michael Ondaatje
For the first time ever, Michael Ondaatje's films are being released on DVD. A special collector's disc containing three seminal pieces of work created and shot in the 70's by Canada's award-winning and internationally recognized author.
THE CLINTON SPECIAL: A Film About The Farm Show (1974, 71 mins.) chronicles a group of actors who in 1972 went into an Ontario farming community to build a play of what they saw and learned. This famous experimental collaborative 'grassroots' play by Paul Thompson and Theatre Passe Muraille brought to that community a sense of awe, delight and reflection of their own language and culture.
In SONS OF CAPTAIN POETRY (1970, 29 mins.) Ondaatje documents the work and spirit of bpNichol (1944-88), "Canada's convention-shattering voice of poetry" (Globe and Mail).
CARRY ON CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (1970, 5 mins.) Ondaatje's whimsical slapstick 'docu-drama' follows a couple of crooked Canadian Poets who try to kidnap a dog.
Director: Michael Ondaatje
Year: 1974
Language: English
Twisted Path of Love
On the run after killing a member of a notorious Tokyo yakuza, Katsu finds himself returning to his hometown, a small fishing village he hasn’t seen in over five years. While he tries to keep his identity a secret, even from his own mother, he finds himself obsessed with Yuko, a surprisingly liberated woman and the owner of a local cinema. Unfortunately, Yuko is still involved with one of Katsu’s former classmates. A favorite of director Tatsumi Kumashiro, Twisted Path of Love contains stunning scenes of sexual liberation, including a masterful long take where the characters meet on sand dunes at dawn. It is one of the most famous examples of 70’s pinku cinema.
Director: Tatsumi Kumashiro
Year: 1973
Language: Japanese
Genre: Drama
Yakuza Justice: Erotic Code of Honor
Monk Seigen grew up as a lonely child. Chaste and frustrated, he boldly steps out of his shell when he rescues Misako, the daughter of an area yakuza boss who was being abused by some local thugs. The two soon find themselves in a desperate race for their lives. In a shocking twist, Seigen learns that he might be related to Misako, plunging him into the dark abyss of criminality and sin. With a screenplay by famed Zigeunerweisen writer Youzou Tanaka, Yakuza Justice: Erotic Code of Honor is one of director Kumashiro’s most satisfying and visually unique works, ripe with strange yakuza and Buddhist customs, beautiful locations, and featuring a sordid and doomed love-hate relationship at its heart.
Director: Tatsumi Kumashiro
Year: 1973
Language: Japanese
Genre: Drama
Sayuri Ichijo: Following Desire
An All About Eve take on the glamorous world of striptease dancers striving for professional perfection, Sayuri Ichijo: Following Desire is the first of director Tatsumi Kumashiro’s films for Nikkatsu’s so-called Roman Porn series. Set in a variety theater in the center of Osaka, a young strip-tease artist, Harumi (Hiroko Isayama), has had enough of the lesbian act she performs with Mari, and is eager to start up her own joint. Unfortunately, her yakuza pimp, Isamu, will do anything to stop her. Later, the police charge her for “obscene exhibitionism” in a show she performs with famed real life Japanese strip queen Sayuri Ichijo. Considered a masterpiece of Pink Cinema, Sayuri Ichijo: Following Desire is the film for which Isayama won the Best Actress of the year award from the prestigious Japanese film journal Kinema Jumpo.
Director: Tatsumi Kumashiro
Year: 1972
Language: Japanese
Genre: Drama
Sunflower
Mere days after marrying Giovanna (Sophia Loren), Antonio (Marcello Mastroianni) is called to the Russian front to fight for the Italian forces. Years after Antonio is reported missing in action, Giovanna travels to Russia to learn what happened to him, only to discover he's alive. Their reunion is bittersweet, however, as Antonio has married another woman.
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Year: 1970
Language: Italian/French/Russian
Genre: Drama
David Holzman's Diary
David Holzman's Diary is one of the most influential films of the 1960s, an "ingenious puzzle movie" (Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader) that charts the self-destruction of a media-saturated youth.
As news from the Vietnam War and social unrest blares over the radio, David Holzman (L.M. Kit Carson) unloads comic-neurotic monologues to his 16mm camera. When his relationship with Penny (Eileen Dietz) goes south, he retreats further into moving images, secretly recording his pretty neighbor and even turning his lens to the TV shows he watches. No longer able to deal with life outside celluloid, all of his ties to the real world begin to erode.
The "totally delightful satire" (NY Times) of a narcissistic artist is also a well-crafted fiction about the deceptions of cinematic illusionism. Early on, Holzman quotes Jean-Luc Godard's famous dictum that "the cinema is truth 24 frames-per-second." As director Jim McBride teaches and Holzman soon learns, it lies just as often.
Director: Jim McBride
Year: 1967
Don't Look Back
Portrait of the artist as a young man. In spring, 1965, Bob Dylan, 23, a pixyish troubador, spends three weeks in England. Pennebaker's camera follows him from airport to hall, from hotel room to public house, from conversation to concert. Joan Baez and Donovan, among others, are on hand. It's the period when Dylan is shifting from acoustic to electric, a transition that not all fans, including Baez, applaud. From the opening sequence of Dylan holding up words to the soundtrack's "Subterranean Homesick Blues," Dylan is playful and enigmatic.
Director: D.A. Pennebaker
Year: 1967
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Marriage Italian Style
n Naples, in the Second World War, the wolf businessman Domenico Soriano meets the seventeen years old whore Filumena Marturano in a brothel during an allied bombing. Two years later, in the post-war, they meet each other by chance and begin a long affair. For twenty-two years, Filumena is his mistress and administrates his shops in Naples while Domenico is traveling. When Domenico decides to marry the young cashier of his bakery, Filumena lures him as if she were near to death and he marries her. Later he annuls their matrimony, and she tells him that she has three sons that she raised secretly, one of them is his legitimate son but she does not disclose his identity. The middle-age Domenico uses the most different subterfuges trying to find which teenager might be his son.
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Year: 1964
Language: Italian
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow is a 1963 comedy anthology film by Italian director Vittorio de Sica. It stars Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. The film consists of three short stories about couples in different parts of Italy.
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Year: 1963
Language: Italian
Genre: Comedy
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman: Deluxe Edition
In this timeless romantic fantasy from director Albert Lewin, Ava Gardner stars as a nightclub singer vacationing in Spain, with whom all men fall hopelessly in love. But Pandora, never having known true love, is indifferent to her suitors affections. Until, one evening, she swims out to a mysterious yacht and meets its captain (James Mason). Mastered in HD from the 35mm negative of the 2009 restoration, this Kino edition preserves Jack Cardiff's ( The Red Shoes) vivid Technicolor cinematography with breathtaking clarity.
Director: Albert Lewin
Year: 1951
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Portes de la Nuit, Les
February 1945. In the Paris underground, a manual worker, Jean Diego, meets a tramp who introduces himself as Fate. The tramp foretells that the worker will fall in love with a beautiful woman and that his next few hours will be very dramatic. To Jean’s incredulity the prophecy begins to come true when he meets Malou, a young woman fleeing from an unhappy marriage. Malou’s brother Guy is also warned by the same mysterious tramp that he is destined for an unhappy and imminent death. Ignoring the warning, Guy accosts Malou’s husband Georges and reveals that Malou has fallen in love with Jean. Suspecting that Jean may be armed, Georges reluctantly accepts the gun that Guy offers him...
Director: Marcel Carné
Year: 1946
Language: French
Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Romance, Mystery
Enfants du Paradis, les
Poetic realism reaches sublime heights with Children of Paradise (Les enfants du paradis), the ineffably witty tale of a woman loved by four different men. Deftly entwining theater, literature, music, and design, director Marcel Carné and screenwriter Jacques Prévert resurrect the tumultuous world of 19th-century Paris, teeming with hucksters and aristocrats, thieves and courtesans, pimps and seers. The Criterion Collection is proud to present this milestone of cinema in a new high-definition film transfer made from the restored negative.
Director: Marcel Carné
Year: 1945
Language: Français
Genre: Drama, Romance
Visiteurs du soir, Les
Brilliant cinematography, an imaginative screenplay, haunting ballads, and splendid acting combine in this enchanting fantasy based on French legend. The Devil sends two envoys to Earth in the form of a minstrel couple to wreak anarchy on hapless mortals. Much to the Devil's dismay, instead of corrupting the human race, he finds he has no lasting power over affairs of the heart.
Director: Marcel Carné
Year: 1942
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Lost Keaton: Sixteen Comedy Shorts 1934-37
For Buster Keaton, the era of the talkies was a tumultuous time. After signing with MGM, the quality of his ambitious, eclectic comedies began to decline, leading to a period of personal setbacks. In 1934, he signed a contract with Earle W. Hammons's Educational Pictures which, despite its name, specialized in comedy short subjects ("The Spice of the Program"). Keaton's move to Educational was a return to his roots, crafting a stream of two-reel comedies in rapid succession, as he had done in the early 1920s, when he first refined his cinematic craft. The films Keaton made at Educational (all sixteen of which are collected here) pay homage to his earlier work (such as Love Nest on Wheels, which revives a number of gags from his very first film, The Butcher Boy), while exploring new possibilities for his recurring comic persona "Elmer".
Director: Charles Lamont, Mack Sennett
Year: 1934
Language: Silent
Genre: Comedy
Steamboat Bill, Jr.: Ultimate Edition
Flavored with Americana and loaded with cinematic inventiveness, Steamboat Bill Jr. was Buster Keaton's final independent production before joining MGM (where his work suffered a steady decline in quality), a comic masterpiece that represents the full breadth of its maker's remarkable talents.
Director: Charles Reiser
Year: 1928
Language: English intertitles
Genre: Comedy
Metropolis
Incorporating more than 25 minutes of newly discovered footage, this 2010 restoration of METROPOLIS is the definitive edition of Fritz Lang’s science fiction masterpiece. Backed by a new recording of Gottfried Huppertz’s 1927 score (in 5.1 Stereo Surround) and a modern score by the celebrated Alloy Orchestra, the film’s dazzling visual design and special effects are more striking than ever. And the integration of scenes and subplots long considered lost endows METROPOLIS with even greater tension and emotional resonance, as it dramatizes the conflict between wealthy über-capitalists and rebellious subterranean laborers—orchestrated by a diabolical scientist capable of destroying them both.
Director: Fritz Lang
Year: 1927
Language: German
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Sci-Fi
The General
Consistently ranked among the greatest films ever made, Buster Keaton’s THE GENERAL is so brilliantly conceived and executed that it continues to inspire awe and laughter with every viewing. This Kino Ultimate 2 Disc Edition was mastered in HD from a 35mm archive print struck from the original camera negative. Rejected by the Confederate army as unfit, and taken for a coward by his beloved Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack), young Johnny Gray (Keaton) is given a chance to redeem himself when Yankee spies steal his cherished locomotive. Johnny wages a one-man war against hijackers, an errant cannon and the unpredictable hand of fate while roaring along the iron rails. Every shot has the authenticity and the unassuming correct composition of a Mathew Brady Civil War photograph, wrote film historian David Robinson, No one not even Griffith or Huston and certainly not Fleming (Gone With the Wind) caught the visual aspect of the Civil War as Keaton did.
Director: Buster Keaton
Year: 1926
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Black Pirate: Deluxe Edition, The
In the first grand-scale epic shot entirely in Technicolor, the sole survivor of a ship pillaged by buccaneers poses as the mysterious Black Pirate and infiltrates the nest of bandits. Michel (silver screen legend Douglas Fairbanks) mounts an elaborate ploy to recover the brigands' treasure, reclaim the ship and rescue the divine Princess (Billie Dove) held captive there. This beautiful edition available exclusively on Blu-ray has been remastered in High Definition from the 35mm restoration negative.
Director: Albert Parker
Year: 1926
Language: Silent
Genre: Drama
Battleship Potemkin
Odessa, 1905. Enraged with the deplorable conditions on board the armored cruiser Potemkin, the ship's loyal crew contemplates the unthinkable mutiny. Seizing control of the Potemkin and raising the red flag of revolution, the sailor's revolt becomes the rallying point for a Russian populace ground under the boot heels of the Czar's Cossacks. When ruthless White Russian cavalry arrives to crush the rebellion on the sandstone Odessa Steps, the most famous and most quoted film sequence in cinema history is born.
Director: Sergei M. Eisenstein
Year: 1925
Language: Russian
Genre: Drama
Our Hospitality: Ultimate Edition
The Canfields and McKays are locked in a bitter feud, which Willie McKay has avoided while living in the city. During a trip to his old family home he meets Virginia and falls in love. However, after coming into her house he realizes she is a Canfield. Virginia's family wants to kill Willie, but their rigid social code prevents them from doing it while he's a guest in their home. Once he steps outside, however, it's a different story!
Director: John Blystone, Buster Keaton
Year: 1923
Language: Silent
Genre: Comedy
Sherlock Jr./Three Ages
A movie projectionist and janitor (Buster Keaton) who is studying to become a detective is in love with a beautiful girl (Kathryn McGuire). On a date he presents her with chocolates and an engagement ring. However, there is another man who's also interested in his girl (Ward Crane). One day he is accused of stealing his girlfriend's father's watch. He falls asleep on the job and dreams that he is a Sherlock Holmes-type detective, solving the case of who stole a valuable pearl necklace.
THREE AGES SYNOPSIS: Three plots in three different historical periods—prehistoric times, ancient Rome, and modern times (the Roaring Twenties)—are intercut to prove the point that men's love for woman have not significantly changed throughout history. In all three plots, characters played by Buster Keaton and Wallace Beery compete for the attention of the same woman, played by Margaret Leahy.
Director: Buster Keaton, Edward F. Cline
Year: 1923
Language: Silent
Genre: Comedy
Fantomas
Based on the phenomenally popular French pulp novellas, Louis Feuillade's outrageous, ambitious FANTÔMAS series became the gold standard of espionage serials in pre-WWI Europe, and laid the foundation for such immortal works as Feuillade's own Les Vampires and Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse films. René Navarre stars as the criminal lord of Paris, the master of disguise, the creeping assassin in black: Fantômas. Over the course of five feature films (which combined to form a 5 1/2-hour epic), Fantômas, along with his accomplices and mistresses, are pursued by the equally resourceful Inspector Juve (Edmund Bréon) and his friend, journalist Jerôme Fandor (Georges Melchior). 3-Disc set Includes Collectible O-Card packaging.
Director:
Louis Feuillade
Year: 1913
Language: Silent
Genre: Drama
Brave Men's Blood
Language: Icelandic, English, Serbian, Russian
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Action
Based On A True Story
A writer goes through a tough period after the release of her latest book, as she gets involved with an obsessive admirer.
Language: French
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Maniac Cop
A killer dressed in a police uniform begins murdering innocent people on the streets of New York City.
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Crime, Action
Maria by Callas: In Her Own Words
Told through performances, TV interviews, home movies, family photographs, private letters and unpublished memoirs—nearly all of which have never been shown to the public—the film reveals the essence of an extraordinary woman who rose from humble beginnings in New York City to become a glamorous international superstar and one of the greatest artists of all time. MARIA BY CALLAS is the first film to tell the life story of the legendary Greek/American opera singer completely in her own words.
Language: English, French
Genre: Documentary
Spiral: From the Book of Saw
A sadistic mastermind unleashes a twisted form of justice in SPIRAL, the terrifying new chapter from the book of SAW. Working in the shadow of an esteemed police veteran (Samuel L. Jackson), brash Detective Ezekiel “Zeke” Banks (Chris Rock) and his rookie partner (Max Minghella) take charge of a grisly investigation into murders that are eerily reminiscent of the city’s gruesome past. Unwittingly entrapped in a deepening mystery, Zeke finds himself at the center of the killer’s morbid game.
SPIRAL stars Chris Rock, Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols, and Samuel L. Jackson, and is produced by the original SAW team of Mark Burg and Oren Koules. The film is directed by Darren Lynn Bousman and written by Josh Stolberg & Pete Goldfinger.
I Am Vengeance: Retaliation
Special-forces operative John Gold is tasked with transporting traitor Sean Teague to a military prison, but a sniper and an extraction team stand in the way.
Language: English
Genre: Action
Oldboy
After being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must find his captor in five days.
Language: Korean
Genre: Drama, Action, Mystery
East, The
During the post-WW2 Indonesian War of Independence, a young Dutch soldier joins an elite unit led by a mysterious captain known only as “The Turk.” When the fighting intensifies, the young soldier finds himself questioning - and ultimately challenging - his commander’s brutal strategy to stop the resistance.
Language: Dutch, Indonesian
Genre: War, Thriller, Drama, Action
Rescue, The
From Academy Award-winning filmmakers E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, THE RESCUE chronicles the enthralling, against-all-odds story that transfixed the world in 2018: the daring rescue of twelve boys and their coach from deep inside a flooded cave in Northern Thailand.
Language: English
Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol, The
It follows the life of Pagnol, a playwright, novelist, and filmmaker who grew up in a middle-class household in Marseille and became one of the world's most inventive and prolific artists from the 1930's to the 1950's.
Language: French
Genre: Animation, Biography
Renegades
When a retired Green Beret soldier is murdered by an international drug gang in London, four of his veteran SAS comrades set out to avenge him, dispensing their own brand of justice on the streets of London.
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Action
Between the Temples
A cantor (Jason Schwartzman) in a crisis of faith finds his world turned upside down when his grade school music teacher (Carol Kane) re-enters his life as his new adult Bat Mitzvah student.
Language: English
4:30 Movie, The
Writer-director Kevin Smith presents his most personal film to date with this coming-of-age story - set in the summer of 1986 - that follows three sixteen-year-old friends who spend their Saturdays sneaking into movies at the local Cineplex. When one of the guys invites the girl of his dreams to see an R-rated film, all hilarity breaks loose, as a self-important theater manager (Ken Jeong) and teen rivalries interfere with his best-laid plans. Justin Long, Rosario Dawson, Jason Biggs, and more contribute outrageous characters to this poignant comic valentine to movie-going and the youth of the '80s.
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Kids Return
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Language: Japanese
Leading Ladies
The Camparis are a family of women in which everyone knows her place. Sheri is the larger-than-life, overbearing stage mom. Once a young and beautiful ballroom champion, Sheri now lives vicariously through her youngest daughter Tasi, the darling of the local amateur ballroom circuit. Sheri’s oldest daughter, Toni, is Tasi’s practice partner, the wallflower who must quietly support them all. The only consistent man in the life of the Campari women is Cedric, Tasi’s dance partner and Toni’s best friend. Find out what happens to each as they reexamine their roles in modern life and on the dance floor and learn to "Let Love Lead."
Director: Daniel Beahm, Erika Randall Beahm
Big Man Japan
A middle-aged slacker living in a rundown, graffiti-ridden slum, Daisato’s job involves being shocked by bolts of electricity that transform him into a stocky, stick-wielding giant several stories high who is entrusted with defending Japan from a host of bizarre monsters. But while his predecessors were national heroes, he is a pariah among the citizens he protects, who bitterly complain about the noise and destruction of property he causes. And Daisato has his own problems - an agent insistent on branding him with sponsor advertisements, an Alzheimer-afflicted grandfather who transforms into a giant in dirty underwear, and a family who is embarrassed by his often cowardly exploits. A wickedly deadpan spin on the giant Japanese superhero, BIG MAN JAPAN is an outrageous portrait of a pathetic but truly unique hero.
Director: Hitoshi Matsumoto
Hitoshi Matsumoto
Language: Japanese
Genre: Comedy
How to Be a Woman
As the daughters of the baby boom reached adolescence, the American school system struggled to educate them on matters of sexual and social development - lessons that were not always being taught at home. To the teacher uncomfortable with such topics, classroom films were a godsend. Often corny, sometimes frightening, these cinematic life lessons provide a fascinating window to the hopes and fears of parents and educators in mid-century America. Thirteen short films are included and feature The Wonders of Reproduction, Attack, How To Make a Sandwich, and Improve Your Personality.
Director: Multiple
Language: English
Radiance
Director: Rachel Perkins
Language: English
How to Be a Man
For centuries, parents have struggled to usher their children through the magical, often treacherous, journey to adulthood. But in mid-century America, a new form of tutelage was engineered: the classroom film. Suddenly, the prickly issues of sexual development and juvenile delinquency could be addressed in tidy, ten-minute sermons disguised as dramas. There are eleven films in this collection and include Am I Trustworthy?, Act Your Age, The Decision is Yours, and Your Body During Adolescence.
Director: Multiple
Language: English
Walking to Paris
The 27-year-old sculptor Constantin Brâncusi walked from Bucharest to Paris in 1903 and 1904 as a preparation and prelude to becoming the most important sculptor of the twentieth century.
Language: English
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Biography
Big Lesbian Love Collector's Set
This quartet of top lesbian romances includes a gorgeous pair of Big Apple love stories, The Four-Faced Liar and My Normal plus two equally fresh West Coast American indies — the smart and sexy And Then Came Lola and the legendary Jamie Babbitt hit, Itty Bitty Titty Committee. Enjoy some Big Lesbian Love!
Director: Jamie Babbit
Boyfriends
Director: Neil Hunter, Tom Hunsinger
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Fils de l'épicier, Le
It is summer, and thirty-year-old Antoine is forced to leave the city to return to his family in Provence. His father is sick, so he must assume the lifestyle he thought he had shed - driving the family grocery cart from hamlet to hamlet, delivering supplies to the few remaining inhabitants. Accompanied by Claire, a friend from Paris whom he has a secret crush on, Antoine gradually warms up to his experience in the country and his encounters with the villagers, who initially seem stubborn and gruff, but eventually prove to be funny and endearing. Ultimately, this surprise French box-office hit is about the coming-of-age of a man rediscovering life and love in the countryside.
Director: Eric Guirado
Language: French
Genre: Drama
Rosie
Director: Patrice Toye
Language: Flemish
Urban Feel
Director: Jonathan Sagall
Language: Hebrew
Hyenas
Director: Djibril Diop Mambety
Language: Wolof
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Gaumont Treasures Vol. 2
During its second decade of existence, the Gaumont Film Company continued to prove itself an indomitable force in cultivating and advancing the fledgling art of cinema. It was also a place of great technical innovation. Included in this collection are some of Gaumont's revolutionary experiments in color (the Trichromie process) and synchronized sound (the Phonoscenes). DVD 1 showcases the work of animator Emile Cohl, DVD 2 focuses on Jean Durand (who specialized in slapstick and innovated the "French Western"), and DVD 3 highlights the romantic comedies of Jacques Feyder, while paying tribute to some of French cinema's lesser-known pioneers.
Director: Emile Cohl, Jacques Feyder, Jean Durand
Big Gay Love Collector's Set
Everybody loves a good gay romance and these are four of the all-time best. From the hit teen musical charmer Were The World Mine to the unexpected Los Angeles love tales East Side Story and Hollywood je t’aime and across the pond in search of Mr. Right — if you’re looking for Big Gay Love, you’ve definitely found it.
Director: Tom Gustafson, Carlos Portugal
Gaumont Treasures
The invention of cinema — and its growth into a sophisticated art form — are vividly brought to life in this massive collection of films from the early years of the influential Gaumont Film Company. Each disc is devoted to one of Gaumont’s artistic directors, who oversaw all film production at the studio, and profoundly influenced not only the identity of the studio but also the evolution of the cinema itself.
Director: Alice Guy, Louis Feuillade, Leonce Perret
Angry Monk
A road-movie and a time-travel in the footsteps of the rebellious Tibetan monk Gendun Choephel - revealing a face of old & present-day Tibet that goes against popular clichés.
Director: Luc Schaedler
Genre: Documentary
Tickle in the Heart, A
Contemporary klezmer music is a fusion of Eastern European folk tunes with jazz and other influences. The Epstein Brothers, who began their career some 70 years ago, are one of the oldest klezmer bands still playing. The history of the Epstein Brothers is in fact very much the history of klezmer. With klezmer music enjoying an upswing in popularity, the Epstein Brothers enjoy a very active retirement as they take concert halls of Europe and the USA by storm… Featuring unforgettable musical performances.
Director: Stefan Schwietert
Language: English
Autumn Moon
Director: Clara Law
Language: Cantonese/Japanese/English
In Viaggio: The Travels of Pope Francis
In the first nine years of his pontificate, Pope Francis made 37 trips visiting 53 countries, focusing on his most important issues: poverty, migration, the environment, solidarity and war. Intrigued by the fact that two of Francis's trips - the first to the refugees landing in Lampedusa; the second in 2021 to the Middle East - so closely mirrored the itineraries of his films Fuocoammare (Fire At Sea, 2016) and Notturno (2020), Rosi follows the Pope's Stations of the Cross. He sees what he sees, hears what he says and creates a dialogue between archival footage of Francis' travels, images taken by Rosi himself, recent history and the state of the world today.
Language: Italian
Genre: Documentary, Biography
Buster Keaton: The Short Films Collection 1920-1923 (DVD)
Buster Keaton’s 19 classic short silent comedies are coming to Blu-ray, available in a single package (for the first time in the US), as Kino International releases Buster Keaton: The Shorts Collection (1920-1923), a three-disc ultimate edition of the short comedies that helped earn Keaton a place among the pantheon of great clowns from comedy’s golden age.
Director: Buster Keaton
Passages
A gay couple’s marriage is thrown into crisis when one of them begins a passionate affair with a younger woman. By director Ira Sachs (Love is Strange), PASSAGES is a fresh, honest and brutally funny take on messy, modern relationships and stars Franz Rogowski (Great Freedom), Ben Whishaw (Women Talking) and Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue Is the Warmest Colour).
Language: English, French
Flamenco
Director: Carlos Saura
Language: Spanish
Mee Pok Man
A painfully shy noodle-shop owner and a prostitute have a chance encounter when destiny arrives in the form of a car accident.
Director: Eric Khoo
Asoka
Director: Santosh Sivan
Language: Hindi, Tamil, English
I am Cuba
Director: Mikhail Kalatozov
Language: Spanish, English
Genre: Drama
Relax…It’s Just Sex
A mixed group of individuals - lesbian, gays, and heterosexuals who all frequent a local bar struggle to accept each others lifestyles. However when the two gays (Mitchell Anderson, Eddie Garcia) are attacked and fight back and ultimately rape one of their attackers, the group becomes strongly divided on their actions. Jennifer Tilly is the mother hen of the group who tries to hold everyone together. The lesbian lovers (Serena Scott Thomas, Cynda Williams) break up when one admits to having an affair with a man (Billy Wirth).
Director: P.J. Castellaneta
Language: English
Avant-Garde 3
From the little theaters of the 1920s to the ad hoc film societies of the ’50s, avant-garde cinema knew no established form and held no predictable position. The boundaries of its history are still hotly debated, but its
rough sensibilities informed and permeated the city symphonies of Alberto Cavalcanti, the visual music of Mary Ellen Bute and John Whitney, the classroom films of Sidney Peterson, the confessional film poems of Willard Maas and John E. Schmitz, the Lettrist cinema of Marc’O, and even marginal exploitation films and home movies. Drawn from the rich collections of Raymond Rohauer and the George Eastman House, Kino’s third volume of experimental films continues to illuminate the degree to which cinema’s evolution has been influenced by those filmmakers who occupy its periphery.
Director: Multiple
Language: English
Daddio
After landing at JFK Airport, a young woman (Dakota Johnson) takes a cab back to her apartment in Manhattan. During the ride, she and the cab driver (Sean Penn), have unexpectedly honest conversations about numerous topics, including their past and present relationships, sex and power dynamics, loss, and vulnerability.
Language: English
