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In this intriguing experiment, four Austrian filmmakers (Barbara Albert, Michael Glawogger, Ulrich Seidl, Michael Sturminger) take their cameras to the streets to find out what’s going on in their country, most notably why in the last election the country elected a far-right candidate (Jörg Haider) to the presidency. The film is divided into six documentary segments of varying lengths, capturing the rhythms of life around the country.Read More »
Synopsis:
In the village of Omoye in Gabon’s Haut-Ogooué province, Petit Papa is a young man known for his laziness and desire for easy living. One morning, as he complains about having to work, a mysterious and beautiful woman appears before him — unknowingly, he has been possessed by a demon that travels the world seeking those consumed by envy and idleness. Suddenly blessed with cars, money and women, Petit Papa becomes the envy of his community. But the price his new mistress El Diablo demands will mark the beginning of his descent into hell.Read More »
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Les Contes Secrets ou les Rohmériens features interviews with 16 actors who have appeared in Rohmer’s films, and they talk on camera about his unusual working methods, his personality, and his spare but evocative signature style. Among the thespians who share their memories are Jean-Louis Trinitignant, Marie-Christine Barrault, Zouzou, Jean-Claude Brialy, Béatrice Romand, Françoise Fabian, and Andre Dussolier; the film also includes rare footage of Rohmer himself at work on the set of his 1978 effort Perceval.Read More »
A mother’s courage, hardship, and love, in times of war. In 1988, during the Iran-Iraq war, Gilane escorts her pregnant daughter, Maygol, from the relative calm of their village, Espili, into war-torn Tehran to search for Maygol’s husband, Rahman. The journey is arduous and what they find when they reach the capital is dismaying and frightening. Fifteen years later, as another war begins in Iraq, Gillane is at home caring for her son Ismael, who suffers from epilepsy, a byproduct of war. As she cares for him, she hopes for a visit from the doctor and from another daughter, Atefah. “Better be a dog than a mother,” she says.Read More »
Hae Gook (Park Hae Il) travels to a reclusive village to attend his father’s funeral. He wants to find out the reason behind his father’s strange death, but the villagers, in particular village chief Cheon (Jung Jae Young), seem to be watching his every move and eager to see him leave. Determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, Hae Gook enlists the help of prosecutor Park (Yoo Jun Sang) to slowly unravel the village’s sinister secrets.Read More »
In 1959, in Romania, six former members of the nomenklatura and the secret police organize a hold up of the National Bank. After their arrest, the state forces them to play themselves in a film which reconstitutes the crime and the investigation. At the end of their trial, filmed live, they are sentenced to death and executed. A month later, the film Reconstitution was released and became a sensation throughout the country.Read More »
Handsome young general Armand de Montriveau has searched across the seas for the woman he fell madly in love with five years ago. He finally finds Antoinette, the Duchess of Langeais, living chastely in a Majorcan convent… It was love at first sight for Montriveau upon meeting Antoinette, a married coquette who frequents the most extravagant balls of 1820s Restoration Paris, where hypocrisy and vanity reign. Flattered by his attentions, the alluring Antoinette orchestrates a calculating game of seduction, but she repeatedly refuses Montriveau. Despite his sincere romantic declarations, Montriveau’s passion remains unfulfilled. When the humiliated Montriveau eventually seeks his revenge, Antoinette’s love awakens. But it may well be too late for the star-crossed lovers.Read More »
“composed with the precision of paintings”
Synopsis
“A surreal depiction of life in a village out of a strikingly beautiful Syrian landscape. Oussama Mohammad’s immensely visual representation of love, hate, violence and family relationships is no less than a masterpiece… and I am using this word here without any reservations! While I usually feel more at home with popular cinema, this particular film is among the very few films, and maybe even the only film within the surrealist tradition that made me feel as enthralled as I did when I first saw Bunuel’s 1933 masterpiece ‘Land without Bread’.Read More »
Tantric Yogi documents the migration of a yogi, his disciples, and some of his villagers to a celebration that occurs just once every sixty years, the One Hundred Thousand Gathering in Eastern Tibet. This celebration commemorates the arrival of Buddhism in Tibet and the man who brought it there in the 8th century, Guru Rinpoche. The film features an exciting culture and the natural beauty surrounding TibetRead More »