Deeply moving account of dutch war veterans from recent conflicts (the Congo, Bosnia/Herzogovina etc.) who are struggling to come to terms with their post-war lives. The crutch many of them use is music, specifically a single song, which either kept them going while they were on active duty or is a rooting experience for them as they recall the horrors of their war experiences. Read More »
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This poetic feature film is based on a Doris Lessing story, “Diary of the Good Neighbor”. With great clarity, the filmmaker presents a difficult, but not unusual situation: the sad and lonely life of a frail old woman with very limited means, living in a shabby apartment. Yet when a successful and attractive forty–something businesswoman encounters the old woman, at first appalled by her situation, and then enters her world, the result is a poignant relationship between two very different people. An important film that deals with the very timely issues of caregiving, responsibility, and aloneness.Read More »
Synopsis (allmovie.com)
An emotionally devastated war veteran sets out to spread happiness across Bosnia after his friends spark a melee that leaves all but him dead in first-time Sarajevan director Antonio Nuic’s deliberately-paced comedy drama. Every day Goran (Rakan Rushaidat) pass the time by drinking their worries away in the local watering hole. When a bitter dispute arises and Goran proves the sole survivor of the deadly fight that follows, he sells his parent’s home, purchases a refreshment truck, and sets out to provide free soft drinks and grappa to anyone who asks. Goran’s pledge never to spend two nights in the same town is soon challenged, however, when the grieving veteran falls for a pretty woman (Natasa Janjic) who has also been scarred by a tragic loss.Read More »
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Amos Kollek directs this quiet, understated comedy about lonely hearts and empty pockets in New York. Pushing 40, Bella (Anna Thomson) works as a waitress at small downtown diner in Manhattan. Her elderly regulars include Paul (Robert Modica), a lovelorn retiree who scours the personal ads and his ill-tempered buddies Seymour (Victor Argo) and Graham (Mark Margolis), who are more than a little disparaging toward Paul’s attempts at finding love. Involved in a 12-year relationship with married Broadway theater director George (Austin Pendleton), Bella craves marriage and children. On a blind date set up by her mother, Bella meets Bruno, a divorced cabbie and fledgling novelist with two young children. Meanwhile, Paul meets ready-and-willing widow Emily (Louise Lasser), while Seymour shacks up with Wanda (Valerie Geffner), a stripper with a master’s degree.Read More »
Synopsis
Interviews with workers who took part in the 1979/1980 strikes in the metallurgic region called ABC, in the State of São Paulo, led by the man who was to become President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, but, unlike their leader, have remained anonymous along the way. They talk about their origins, the movement, and their lives.Read More »
Two girlfriends on a summer holiday in Spain become enamored with the same painter, unaware that his ex-wife, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to re-enter the picture.Read More »
Directed by multi-award winning filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, ‘Beautiful City’ is a cinematic gem not to be missed. Akbar has just turned eighteen. He has been held in a rehabilitation centre for committing murder at the age of sixteen when he was condemned to death. Legally speaking, he had to reach the age of eighteen so that the conviction could be carried out. Now, Akbar is transferred to prison to await the day of his execution. A’la, a friend of Akbar, who himself has undergone imprisonment for burglary, soon after his release tries desperately to gain the consent of Akbar’s plaintiff so as to stop the execution. ‘Beautiful City’ is a simple film about the power of forgiveness.Read More »
In the American corporate media, Castro is always played up as some kind of monster. The corporate media (and a host of draconian laws help) prevent us from hearing what he has to say. This documentary is excellent if anything but to give us a chance to hear what Castro has to say.Read More »
Former left-wing terrorists Clara and Hans have been on the run for 20 years, and have raised a 15-year-old daughter, Jeanne, in hiding. The couple are planning to leave Europe permanently for Brazil, but when their money is stolen, decide to risk returning to Germany in the hope of raising funds from past associates. Instead, they discover their old friends are now respectable members of society who are eager to disavow their past activities. With the family’s security coming under threat, Jeanne begins to crave a more normal life of shopping, hanging out with friends, and a boyfriend…Read More »