1981-1990

Synopsis:
In this Czech political allegory-cum-sci-fi adventure, ten teens from different schools find themselves chosen to take part in a special skiing workshop in the mountains. On the day of the seminar, 11 young people, each bearing an invitation, arrive. A massive avalanche occurs and the ski-lodge is cut off from outside contact. Unfortunately, food supplies are limited and the three instructors strongly advise that the youths work together to make do or choose someone to leave. Time passes and soon the kids learn that their “teachers” are not what they seem to be.Read More »

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Set on the mean streets of Hong Kong in the late eighties, “As Tears Go By” is the tale of two lowly gangsters, Ah Wah and his side-kick Fly trapped in a endless downward spiral of violence and vengeance. Overview: A low-level triad “big brother” (Andy Lau) has a hot-tempered “little brother” (Jacky Cheung) who can’t keep out of trouble, and consequently is in constant need of being bailed out by his protector. Andy is super cool, but lacks the ambition to rise in the ranks of the triad societies, and once he meets his cousin (Maggie Cheung), and falls in love with her, he decides he wants to leave “the life”. But it turns out that he has to bail out Jacky one more time. And this time, Jacky may have gone too far.Read More »

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Isao Takahata‘s Hotaru no Haka (The Grave of the Fireflies, 1988) is a brilliant piece of cinema. Set in Kobe, Japan, in 1945, the film focuses on a brother and sister who are left orphaned and homeless by the American firebombing of the city. It is unflinching in its portrayal of the realities of the war, a harrowing account of what such attacks meant for the ordinary people living in the target area. The children’s innocence and love for each other is no defence against the trials they face: their suffering is very real, their story a classic tragedy. That The Grave of the Fireflies is animated rather than live-action does not distract from its power to move, to provoke thought, to draw tears from the eyes. It is a masterpiece.Read More »

Plot:
A private aeroplane on a flight between Taipei and Seoul is damaged in a hijack, and forced to crash-land in mainland China near Beijing*. The Communist authorities cooperate discreetly with Taiwanese authorities to defuse a tense situation.Read More »

Storyline
A young, orthodox Jewish woman is alienated from her Jerusalem community and drawn into the world of spirit. Surrounded by dark sounds of the “Other Side,” she moves into remote and increasingly desolate regions of Arab lands. Her journey, like a mystical quest through her own inner landscapes, culminates in her return to Jerusalem. There, indelibly marked, she confronts her deeper loneliness and a devastating sense of exile.Read More »

Patrick Hale (Sean Connery) is a slick television journalist with impressive ratings. When Hale travels to the Middle East to interview a prominent member of Arab royalty, he gets entangled in an intricate plot that involves the American president (George Grizzard), a terrorist group, nuclear devices and possibly even global war. Before long, the CIA, a high-powered arms dealer and religious zealots are involved, giving this dark comedy plenty of satirical fodder.Read More »

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This is a sort of trash-video-art-horror flick produced by and starring musician ‘Annabel Lee’ (member of the neofolk group BLOOD AXIS). The film also features music by CRASH WORSHIP.Read More »

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At the age of 20 Michel was going out with Sonia and was the charismatic leader of their group of friends, and the one that everyone thought would “go far”. But Michel did not live up to their expectations. Ten years later, the friends meet up again…
In 1987, Patrice Chereau had been heading up the Theatre des Amandiers for two years. The previous year he staged a contemporary production of Chekov’s Platonov with his students from the Ecole des comediens de Nanterre-Amandiers. It was them, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, Vincent Perez, Marianne Denicourt, Agnes Jaoui, that he brought onto the film set to adapt his own theatrical adaptation for the cinema. It is a great pleasure to see the first steps in front of the camera of these as yet unknown actors in Hotel de France.Read More »

After years of black plague, Venice shines again. Angela and Valeria, two women from noble families, set their heart on a man in the Venetian crowd and decide to seduce him.Read More »