Arranged

2007

When Rochel (Zoe Lister Jones) and Nasira (Francis Benhamou) -- an Orthodox Jew and a Muslim, respectively -- meet as new teachers at a Brooklyn school, co-workers and students expect friction. But the women discover they have a shared expectation of entering into arranged marriages. As they experience tension between their traditional cultures and life in contemporary America, Rochel and Nasira form a special bond.

4.0 Average Rating

The Tango Lesson

1997

Writer-director Sally Potter also stars in this semiautobiographical drama. Frustrated with her latest movie script, a screenwriter flees to Paris, where she meets Pablo (Pablo Verón), a gifted tango dancer who changes her life. In exchange for dance lessons, she promises to cast Pablo in her film. Romance blossoms, but constant fighting threatens to undermine their partnership on the dance floor.

3.9 Average Rating

Iron Jawed Angels

2004

From 1912 to 1920, a group of fiery young suffragettes led by Alice Paul (Hilary Swank) and Lucy Burns (Frances O'Connor) band together to wheedle the United States into adapting a Constitutional amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote. Along the way, they incur the wrath of President Woodrow Wilson (Bob Gunton) and anger other suffragette leaders (Anjelica Huston and Lois Smith). Directed by Katja von Garnier.

3.9 Average Rating

Green Street Hooligans

2005

Drawn into a bogus drug scandal by his wealthy roommate, a high-achieving Harvard newspaper editor is kicked out of school just a few months shy of getting his degree and flies to London to live with his sister and her family.

3.9 Average Rating

Suburbia

1984

Escaping their hard-boozing mother, Evan (Bill Coyne) and his brother, Ethan (Andrew Pece), take refuge with punks who live as squatters in an abandoned home next to a highway in this Penelope Spheeris-helmed film, which examines Los Angeles' punk rock scene in the 1980s. But the boys' newfound clan is tested when a group of discontented suburbanites comes down on them. T.S.O.L., The Vandals and D.I. deliver live performances.

3.8 Average Rating

Paris Is Burning

1990

Penetrating the tight-knit community of minority drag queens living in New York City, Jennie Livingston's acclaimed documentary offers an early glimpse at the art of "voguing," the underground dance style later popularized by Madonna in her hit song. The film also explores issues such as racism, homophobia and AIDS, while offering a detailed examination of the intricate Ball culture, in which queens are judged for their style and expression.

3.8 Average Rating

Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl

1999

At the height of China's Cultural Revolution, a girl is sent to a remote area as part of a government initiative and finds her exile a thrilling adventure -- and a nightmarish trap. This rich tale examines the individual cost of collective decisions.

3.8 Average Rating

Whale Rider

2003

A Maori tribe must contend with the distinctly nontraditional concept of having a female leader when the intended heir to the throne dies during childbirth, leaving his twin sister, Paikea, to prove herself in this inspiring coming-of-age tale.

3.8 Average Rating

Veronika Decides to Die

2009

Though she has it all, Veronika (Sarah Michelle Gellar) feels she's experienced everything life has to offer and wants to die. But when her suicide attempt fails and she wakes in a mental hospital with a weakened heart and only days to live, she discovers a new world. Meeting people who live life on their own terms, Veronika finally feels connected and learns what it means to really live in this drama based on Paulo Coehlo's novel.

3.8 Average Rating

Whip It

2009

Escaping her smothering mother's beauty pageant plans for her, small-town teen Bliss joins an all-girl roller derby team in Austin and begins living a thrilling double life as Babe Ruthless, a life that might eventually catch up with her.

3.7 Average Rating

Down in the Delta

1998

Unemployed single mother Loretta Sinclair (Alfre Woodard) lives with her mother, Rosa Lynn (Mary Alice), in a Chicago apartment until drug abuse causes Loretta to neglect her children in this familly drama directed by renowned poet Maya Angelou. To get Loretta back on her feet, Rosa Lynn ships her and the kids to their Mississippi Delta hometown, where Uncle Earl (Al Freeman Jr.) takes them in and teaches them about their rich heritage.

3.7 Average Rating

Little Miss Sunshine

2006

Convinced their little Olive (Abigail Breslin) is beauty queen material, parents Richard (Greg Kinnear) and Sheryl (Toni Collette) load the rest of the family into a van and embark on a life-altering road trip to a California pageant. Richard pushes Olive to win while her silent brother (Paul Dano), depressed uncle (Steve Carell) and nursing-home reject grandpa (Alan Arkin, in an Oscar-winning role) add their own quirks to the mix.

3.7 Average Rating

The Namesake

2006

Gogol Ganguli (Kal Penn) is torn between his parents' (Irrfan Khan and Tabu) Indian traditions and his decidedly modern lifestyle, and frankly prefers for his friends to call him "Nick." But the true meaning of his name is a story that spans two continents -- and two generations. Based on Jhumpa Lahiri's best-selling novel, Mira Nair's coming-of-age drama explores first-generation Americans' delicate dance between culture and identity.

3.7 Average Rating

Monsoon Wedding

2001

As the monsoon rains loom in director Mira Nair's romantic drama, Lalit Verma (Naseeruddin Shah) and his extended family reunite for the last-minute arranged marriage of his daughter Aiditi (Vasundhara Das) in New Delhi. But long-guarded secrets threaten to tear the family apart. As wedding preparations proceed, five stories intersect, highlighting different aspects of love and crossing boundaries of class and continent.

3.7 Average Rating

Speak

2004

A violent crime against Melinda (Kristen Stewart) has left her shunned by her friends and completely traumatized as she enters the ninth grade a selective mute, isolating herself from everyone at school until a sympathetic teacher (Steve Zahn) encourages her to express herself. Elizabeth Perkins and D.B. Sweeney co-star in this powerful teen drama from writer-director Jessica Sharzer, which debuted at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.

3.7 Average Rating

Dirt

2003

Salvadoran housemaid Dolores (Julietta Ortiz) struggles to support her family in this realistic portrait of illegal workers. Dolores works her fingers to the bone cleaning the abodes of New York City's wealthiest, worrying about deportation and dreaming of the house she'll build in El Salvador when she's saved enough money. Despite losing her job and suffering a series of setbacks, she maintains her dignity and refuses to give up on her dreams.

3.7 Average Rating