The Piano

1993

Holly Hunter stars as Ada McGrath, a mute but strong-willed 19th-century Scottish expatriate who arrives in New Zealand with her daughter (Anna Paquin) and her beloved piano in tow. Although betrothed to a landowner (Sam Neill), she's pulled into an affair with a laborer (Harvey Keitel). Hunter and Paquin both won Oscars for their performances in this haunting drama from writer-director Jane Campion.

3.6 Average Rating

The Cave of the Yellow Dog

2005

Academy Award nominee Byambasuren Davaa (The Story of the Weeping Camel) wrote and directed this docudrama about the disappearing ways of nomadic life in her home country of Mongolia. Young Nansal, the oldest daughter of an actual nomad family, finds a stray dog that quickly becomes her close companion, despite her parents' disapproval. The film depicts the herdspeople's everyday tasks for livelihood and survival, while the city beckons from afar.

3.6 Average Rating

The Adventures of Ociee Nash

2002

In this charming tale set in 1898, after her mother dies, 9-year-old Ociee Nash (Skyler Day) must leave her rough-and-tumble farm life to live with her Aunt Mamie (Mare Winningham) in Ashville, N.C. Away from the farm for the first time, the spirited child relishes many thrilling adventures such as meeting President McKinley and the Wright Brothers and bravely earning hero status in her new hometown. Keith Carradine co-stars.

3.6 Average Rating

Songcatcher

2000

During a visit to her sister in Appalachia, a gifted musicologist stumbles upon a musical treasure trove of dozens of Scots-Irish ballads that have been preserved for generations by the local populace and are unknown to the outside world.

3.6 Average Rating

Boys Don't Cry

1999

Based on actual events, director Kimberly Peirce's powerful, often harrowing drama stars Hilary Swank (in an Oscar-winning performance) as Brandon Teena, a transgender young man searching for love and acceptance in a small Midwestern town. But even as he forges a deep connection with local beauty Lana (Chloë Sevigny), the prejudices of the community threaten to doom the fledgling romance.

3.6 Average Rating

Ballet Shoes

2007

An unusual explorer named Gum (Richard Griffiths) and his kindly niece (Emilia Fox) adopt three orphans -- Pauline (Emma Watson), Petrova (Yasmin Paige) and Posy (Lucy Boynton) -- and raise them as sisters in 1930s London. But the girls must fend for themselves when Gum doesn't return from one of his adventures. Together, they nurture their passions for acting, aviation and ballet in this charming TV adaptation of Noel Streatfield's novel.

3.6 Average Rating

The High Cost of Living

2010

Well-to-do housewife Nathalie eagerly awaits the birth of her first child, while elsewhere in Montreal, small-time drug dealer Henry plans his next score. One night, their contrasting lives become intertwined when Henry hits Nathalie with his car.

3.6 Average Rating

The Secret Life of Words

2005

After surviving the war in Yugoslavia, taciturn nurse Hanna heads to Ireland for some relaxation. But when she hears about an oil-rig accident off the coast, she agrees to tend to a heroic burn victim, who changes her life.

3.6 Average Rating

A Little Bit of Heaven

2011

Marley Corbett (Kate Hudson) has always preferred to keep her romances relaxed and fun with no risk of commitment. After she discovers that she has terminal cancer, she thinks that she is done with love forever, but her wayward heart has other ideas. Dr. Julian Goldstein (Gael García Bernal) keeps people at a distance to avoid emotional distress, but when the spirited Marley becomes his patient, he also discovers that love can change everything.

3.5 Average Rating

Homeless

1989

After their apartment burns down, Mike and Zan Cooper (Jeff Daniels and Christine Lahti) move with their two children into the home of Mike's brother, but tension between the families forces them to move on again, and a downward spiral of bad luck soon finds them homeless. While Mike desperately seeks work as an electrician, Zan takes a low-paying job as a waitress, and their son's entanglement with a drug dealer adds to their heavy burdens.

3.5 Average Rating

Can't Hardly Wait

1998

At a wild party, newly minted high school graduates celebrate and ponder the future -- including love-struck dork Preston Meyers, who tries to work up the courage to act on his feelings for beautiful prom queen Amanda Beckett.

3.5 Average Rating

Children of a Lesser God

1986

Speech teacher James Leeds (William Hurt) uses unconventional methods to reach his hearing-impaired students but can't make headway with the school's deaf custodian, Sarah Norman (Marlee Matlin, who captured the Best Actress Oscar). The brainy but cynical Sarah thinks it's better to stay in the safe confines of her voiceless milieu than to contend with a callous world. Can James get through to Sarah and release her from her cocoon of silence?

3.5 Average Rating

Amreeka

2009

Eager to provide a better future for her son, Fadi (Melkar Muallem), divorcée Muna Farah (Nisreen Faour) leaves her Palestinian homeland and takes up residence in rural Illinois -- just in time to encounter the domestic repercussions of America's disastrous war in Iraq. Now, the duo must reinvent their lives with some help from Muna's sister, Raghda (Hiam Abbass), and brother-in-law, Nabeel (Yussuf Abu-Warda). Cherien Dabis writes and directs.

3.5 Average Rating

Run Away Home

2004

After her family moves to a conservative town, teenager Tamara finds friendship with Brenda and starts dating Rusty. But when her mother contracts tuberculosis and is sent away, Tamara becomes responsible for keeping her family together.

3.5 Average Rating

Take My Eyes

2005

Winner of seven Goya Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Lead Actor and Actress, Iciar Bollain's raw drama exposes the hard truths about domestic abuse. With her son in tow, battered wife Pilar (Laia Marull) finally flees her violent husband, Antonio (Luis Tosar), taking asylum at her sister Ana's (Candela Peña) home. Free from the clutches of her abusive husband, Pilar struggles to start a new life; problem is, she still loves Antonio.

3.5 Average Rating

Priest

1994

Director Antonia Bird's film centers on Father Greg Pilkington (Linus Roache), a devout Catholic priest who struggles with a love for his church and congregation -- and his secret life as a homosexual with a gay lover (Robert Carlyle). After hearing the confession of a young girl in his parish, who tells him her father is sexually abusing her, the priest is torn between the laws of the church and his need to choose one life over the other.

3.5 Average Rating