A group of men from the city of Tehran traverse the rural Iranian countryside on a jeep, guided by a set of descriptive, yet unavoidably imprecise directions, seemingly lost. The driver (Behzad Dourani), respectfully called “Engineer” by the villagers, eventually encounters his appointed contact along the side of the road: a gentle, courteous boy named Farzad (Farzed Sohrabi), whom the Engineer proceeds to instruct with disseminating false information about their search for treasure in order to conceal the true and undisclosed nature of their visit to the Kurdish province. On an introductory tour through town, the Engineer shows interest in the declining health of Farzad’s grandmother, Malek, an invalid centenarian whose family has been keeping a vigil at the house as she approaches death.Read More »

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Keepers of the Magic celebrates the breathtaking cinematic images that have transfixed audiences around the world. This ground-breaking documentary explores our fascination with moving images and provides insight into how cinema’s most iconic moments came to be. Most of all, it honours the great masters of cinematography, unsung heroes whose vision and talent was always right before our eyes.Read More »

A subtle comedy about masculinity and barely hidden social anxieties, Neus Ballús’s latest delivers a tender look at Barcelona through the eyes of a recent émigré.

Barcelona appears to be a sleepy summertime city in Neus Ballús’s latest feature, a place stranded in a recent past where things move slowly, where most people seem ready for a nap. That is not the case for Mohamed (Mohamed Mellali), a shy but determined Moroccan immigrant starting his week-long trial at a small plumbing and electrical repair company. He’s expected to take over for Pep (Pep Sarrà), who is looking forward to retirement after decades on the job.Read More »

When the village of Boom, in Flanders, learns a Spanish Duke and his troops plan to pass the night, the 4-man army deserts and the Mayor plays dead; so the Mayor’s wife organizes the townswomen to greet the invaders and preserve the peace with womanly wiles.Read More »

A traveling performance squad with 4 orphan boys, Xigua Pi, Xiao Hu, Bao Ya, Xiao Hei and their master Sha get into trouble during their journey with jiangshi. Later on the boys manage to cause more jiangshi trouble and set the course for something they might not have wished for. The squad is unaware of the strict child abuse laws in the city they arrive in and during their martial arts performance their master gets into trouble with the law. Luckily the town is the home of a Taoist Priest Grandpa Jin and his granddaughter Tian Tian who run the local funeral parlor and are there to help out the boys and to fight the jiangshi. But Tian Tian and the boys manage to cause even more trouble…Read More »

From an authentic Viking saga, Outlaw tells the story of a family blood feud, set in 10th century Iceland.

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After decades of phony Hollywood Vikings, you can finally see the real thing if this film ever makes it to video or DVD. It is made in Iceland, with Icelandic dialog, and captures the authentic speech and flavor of the sagas: the understatement, occasional grim humor, and slow nursing of grudges over the long winters until they flower into blood feuds. The film also shows the strong bonds of loyalty and affection that held families and clans together, and the painfully developed methods of negotiating settlements that prevented the medieval Icelanders from wiping each other out completely. Indispensable for those who love the Icelandic sagas.Read More »

Because he can pass as a Russian, A.J. Fothergill is recruited to spy on the revolutionary movement in Russia in 1913. He becomes imprisoned in Siberia, as a revolutionary, until the 1917 uprisings. Amid the turmoil of the civil war between the red and white armies, he tries to flee Russia along with the beautiful Countess Alexandra.Read More »

Leonor, a widow in a small South American town, gives birth to Charlotte, a dwarf. The mother not only provides a rich childhood for her daughter, she erases any clues her daughter might see that would lead her to think she is different (mother burns books such as “Snow White” and destroys lawn statues of gnomes). In short, she doesn’t want to talk about it. The mother succeeds in creating a modern-day Rapunzel: Charlotte becomes an accomplished young woman who captures the heart of Ludovico. But then, the circus comes to town.Read More »

This is a film by Doris Wishman.

This means you are in for less of a film, and more of a surreal experience marked by wooden dialogue, unappetizing sex scenes, shots of random pieces of furniture, gentle lounge music, impossibly unattractive men, nude girls checking themselves out in a mirror (and liking what they see), and many close-ups of eyes and open-mouthed kisses.Read More »