Lili and the Baobab

2006

French photographer Lili (Romane Bohringer) takes a gig in the remote Senagalese village of Angam, where she forges an unlikely bond with local woman Aminata (Aminata Zaaria). When Lili returns to France, however, she can't quite leave Senegal behind. Soon a crisis in Angam causes Lili to weigh the consequences of going back to Africa. This quiet, probing drama screened at the San Francisco Film Festival.

2.5 Average Rating

Luminous Motion

1998

A tough-luck mother (Deborah Kara Unger) and her 10-year-old son (Eric Lloyd) are constantly on the move, riding from place to place in the family wheels. But when her ride breaks down, Mom's search for a simpler life means her boy will have to face some harsh realities. The young nomad takes a stab at making friends but finds he's more at home in a car than in a house. Adapted from Scott Bradfield's novel.

2.5 Average Rating

Dungeon of Desire

1999

When photographer Carrie Stevens and her two lovely models are transported back to a medieval castle by a magical chastity belt, they encounter a ruthless captain of the guard and more royal intrigue than they ever could have imagined.

2.5 Average Rating

A Man in Love

1987

While working abroad and filming a biopic of a famed Italian author, American actor Steve Elliott (Peter Coyote) falls for his sultry co-star (Greta Scacchi) and immerses himself in an erotic love affair ... which is all well and good, except that his wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) is waiting at home. Diane Kurys directs her English-language debut, which was France's official 1987 entry to the Cannes Film Festival.

2.5 Average Rating

Van Gogh

1990

Golden Globe nominee Linus Roache stars as troubled painter Vincent van Gogh in this drama from the BBC's "Omnibus" series. Struggling to make ends meet first as an art dealer, then as a missionary in a coal mine, van Gogh was tormented by elusive love and madness. After notoriously cutting off his ear and spending a year in an asylum, the artist committed suicide at 37, having sold only one painting in his lifetime.

2.5 Average Rating

Another 9 1/2 Weeks

1997

Several years after an intense love affair with a woman named Elizabeth (played by Kim Basinger in the original film, 9 1/2 Weeks), John (Mickey Rourke) goes to Paris to find her and attempt to recapture the passion. In Paris, John meets Lea (Angie Everhart), a good friend of his old love, who informs him that Elizabeth has remarried. Lea seduces John into an erotic affair, but he soon learns she's not what she seems.

2.5 Average Rating

Shem

2006

Disenchanted and disconnected with his Jewish heritage -- and everything else in his life -- Daniel (Ash Newman) is prompted by his grandmother to embark on a journey across Europe to locate his grandfather's final resting place. What begins as an indulgent trip abroad transforms into a quest of self-discovery. Jumping from city to city at a frenetic pace, Caroline Roboh's film explores the foundation of family in personal identity.

2.5 Average Rating

Girl Seeks Girl

2007

Culled from a Web-based series, this saucy Spanish soap follows the romantic entanglements of lesbian bartender Nines (Celia Freijeiro) and her circle of friends as they try to unravel the mysteries of same-sex love and lust. Torn between needy Monica (Cristina Pons) and Monica's supposedly straight roommate, Carmen (Sandra Collantes), Nines also contends with advances from high-spirited actress Ana (Almudena Gallego).

2.5 Average Rating

Vivere

2007

After her impulsive little sister Antonietta (Kim Schnitzer) runs off to Rotterdam with her musician boyfriend, dutiful daughter Francesca (Esther Zimmering) is dispatched to find her. But the journey becomes one of unexpected self-discovery when Francesca picks up depressed Gerlinde (Hannelore Elsner). Soon, the three women's fates become intertwined in surprising ways in this lyrical drama from Germany. Angelina Maccarone directs.

2.5 Average Rating

Beauty Remains

2005

Set in pre-Communist 1948 China, director Ann Hu's sumptuous family drama centers on half sisters Fei (Xun Zhou) and Ying (Vivian Wu), whose separate lives suddenly collide after the death of their father, a prominent entrepreneur. Their paths seemingly predetermined by the often-cruel whims of the men in their lives, the sisters must find a way to break the pattern and chart their own course.

2.5 Average Rating

Assunta Spina / The Last Diva: Double Feature

1915

Based on the novel and play by Salvatore Di Giacomo, Assunta Spina tells of a Neapolitan working-class girl (Francesca Bertini) whose livelihood and honor is constantly threatened by people more powerful than herself. The Last Diva is a tribute to Italian silent-film actress Francesca Bertini, including a special interview with the star herself and clips from her films, with a special focus on Assunta Spina (filmed in 1915).

2.5 Average Rating

Suspicious River

2000

Self-destructive, fatalistic, married receptionist Leila Murray (Molly Parker) plays prostitute to several willing guests in the hotel where she works, and she spirals into a heated romance with a sadistic lodger who allows her to be raped. It all started off as a means for her to make more money, but soon, it seems that her behavior might lead her to the same fate as her mother, who was brutally murdered.

2.5 Average Rating

Slitch

2003

Director Dianne Bellino helms this inventive short film about a teenage girl's summertime crush on a heartbreakingly scatterbrained surfer boy (Will Oldham), who just happens to be a member of the band that provides the soundtrack. A set list of original tracks by the Continental OP includes "Faster," "La La La," "Glock," "Heavy Minor," "Fantasy," "Acoustic Minor," "James Tired" and "Magnifico," plus Bellino's video for "Come In."

2.5 Average Rating

Djamilya

1969

Trapped in an arranged marriage, Djamilya falls in love with a wounded war veteran while her husband is away fighting the same war. When news of the husband's imminent return reaches the lovers, they're forced to make a tough choice in this film based on a story by Soviet writer Chinghiz Aitmatov. Set during the Great Patriotic War of the early 1940s, the story is told largely via flashback by a reminiscent young friend of the couple.

2.5 Average Rating

Girls Can't Swim

2000

Gwen, a young French girl who lives in the country, has a best friend, Lise, who lives in Paris but comes to visit Gwen every summer. This year, however, things are a little different. On the verge of full-blown teenhood, Gwen and Lise are beginning to explore their sexuality and must face the possibility that their platonic friendship may be changing to love.

2.5 Average Rating

The Diary of a Nobody

2007

Charles Pooter (Hugh Bonneville) isn't nearly as important as he thinks he is, and his detailed diary captures the daily trials of a lower-middle class civil servant in Victorian England who's happy to delude himself with visions of grandeur. The faithfully rendered -- and very funny -- BBC period drama presents a pompous man with a small life who carefully notes every perceived slight that might hinder the upward social trajectory he craves.

2.5 Average Rating