France
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Director Chris Vander Stappen (co-screenwriter for Ma Vie en Rose) debuts as a feature director with a funny, intelligent and uplifting film that includes a dramatic and playful performance by internationally acclaimed French actress Marie Bunel (Ma Vie en Rose). Sacha's mom wants her daughter to become a successful doctor. Sacha, however, just quit medical school. Okay, maybe Sacha can simply marry a doctor, or a lawyer or even a notary man. That would make her mother's dreams come true?a tall, handsome man in her daughter's life. Well, Sacha did meet someone, and she's very happy.
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"East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet." But in Hanuman, they do meet in the form of a friendship between a small wild monkey, Hanou, and a young Scottish archeologist who is in India to investigate the smuggling of sacred works of art. In the tradition of Kipling, action and adventure blend in this story of wild monkeys, lovers, and a shady villain. This Indian-French production used hundreds of wild monkeys on location in the ancient Indian city of Hampi. Although the action is placed in the present, the background is the legend of the Hindu god, Hanuman.
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Berlin-Cinema is an intricate yet surprisingly lucid film that looks at two of the world's most peerless filmmakers'Wim Wenders and Jean-Luc Godard--as they explore the history, the splendor, and awesome force of the cinema. Director Samira Gloor-Fadel's non-traditional style of filmmaking interweaves the highly illuminating words of each master as he talks about the beauty of "the story" in an art-form that has more or less succumbed to formula rather than telling stories.
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The Mutants is an evocative kaleidoscope of surreal images and converging storylines. Young, psychologically disturbed characters create a world of surprising poignancy and make a fantastical journey through the landscape of the spectacular. Teresa Villaverde's film explores the realities and anxieties of adolescence, depression, pregnancy, alcohol, and violent death. Startlingly intense, this film offers a window into the bleak world of isolated and estranged people. Unusual filmmaking techniques and a skewed view of reality also lend The Mutants a sense of urgency and depth.
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On his way to dusk prayers at a Parisian mosque, Monsieur Slimani, a devout Muslim, is witness to a brutal murder. Barely escaping with his life, he is chased into the prayer room, where he hides among worshippers clad in the same traditional robes. When another witness is murdered, Slimani must decide whether to come forward and risk death or remain silent and live with his conscience. Soon Slimani's son, Alilou, an aspiring journalist, begins to suspect his father's role in the case and takes a dangerous step.
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"Cholera Street has taken Turkey by storm, becoming one of the most popular films in Turkish motion picture history." - Turkish Daily News. Cholera Street is by far the most feverishly paced film in our 1999 program. The film sweeps us away to a somewhat unsound world to dwell among the inhabitants of Cholera Street, a promenade cluttered with different ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds. Amidst this rundown district is the most unlikely of heroes.
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As Pearl sleeps, she journeys to Hypnopompia. Well, you'll understand when you watch it....we hope.
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A young Spaniard student, Rafael, is abruptly summoned home from his French boarding school and rudely thrust into the lethal chaos of the Spanish Civil War. Before he has even a chance to catch his breath, he finds himself in Pamplona, a lieutenant in Franco's fascist army, under the command of the chillingly bizarre Colonel Masagual (Jean-Louis Trintignant of Krysztof Kieslowski's Red). In "basic training," the young officer is pressed into a horrific service as a member of the Colonel's firing squad.
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For these officers, facing their feelings is more dangerous than dodging bullets.
Jamil is a young French-Algerian rookie whose hotheaded approach to criminals makes him the odd man out at the Parisian police department, where he?s been assigned to. Emilie is his superior, a forty-something narcotics captain with the death of one of her men on her conscience. Brought together over shootouts, drug busts, and stakeouts, the two struggle to infiltrate a complex underworld connection but keep getting sidetracked by Jamil?s family, not to mention their growing desire for each other.
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It?s witchcraft against the mob in this compelling adventure to save one man?s kidnapped son.
All hell breaks loose when Aidai, an old Kazakh healer living off the land of rich businessman Batyr, is kicked out of her sacred home by local gangsters to make room for the construction of a gas station. Soon following the disappearance of the mystical shaman, the gas station is burned down, and, consequently, Batyr?s young son is kidnapped as ransom for the unexplained damage. Now, Batyr must find Aidai, as she may be the only one to help locate and save his son.