Hipsters

2008

In this hit Russian musical, a group of friends flaunts Soviet authority in 1950s Moscow by embracing jazz. When Communist Mels (Anton Shagin) falls for Polly (Oksana Akinshina), a free-spirited jazz fan, he risks losing his party membership by associating with her rebellious crew. Equally smitten, Polly introduces her new beau to jazz and other forbidden Western delights. Writer-director Valery Todorovsky helms this colorful take on the Cold War.

4.3 Average Rating

Enlightenment Guaranteed

2001

When his wife and children unexpectedly walk out on him, Uwe (Uwe Ochsenknecht) decides to join his brother Gustav (Gustav-Peter Wohler), a struggling feng shui consultant, on a pilgrimage from Munich to Japan, where Gustav hopes to find enlightenment as a guest in a Buddhist monastery. The plot thickens when, after a night of hard drinking, they get lost in the streets of Tokyo, temporarily derailing their search for serenity.

4.1 Average Rating

Tomboy

2011

Uncomfortable living as a girl, 10-year-old Laure decides to spend her childhood as Michael. When Michael's family moves to rural France, the child wins friends and comes to understand the complexities of gender.

4.1 Average Rating

Under the Same Moon

2007

In this tale illuminating the plight of illegal aliens, Kate del Castillo plays Rosario, a woman working illegally in the United States to provide a better life for her son Carlitos (Adrian Alonso), who remains at home in Mexico. Longing for his mother, Carlitos stows away on a van that's headed for the border. But an already treacherous journey becomes even more so when Carlitos is separated from his smugglers (Jesse Garcia and America Ferrera).

4.0 Average Rating

Even the Rain

2010

In this provocative film-within-a-film, a director heads to Cochabamba, Bolivia, to shoot a movie about the trespasses of Christopher Columbus in the New World, only to find the locals protesting present-day exploitation of the poor.

4.0 Average Rating

Waste Land

2010

Renowned artist Vik Muniz embarks on one of the most inspired collaborations of his career, joining creative forces with Brazilian garbage pickers who mine treasure from the trash heaps of Rio de Janeiro's Jardim Gramacho landfill.

4.0 Average Rating

My Tehran For Sale

2009

At a rave, Marzieh (Marzieh Vafamehr), an actress whose work is banned by the Iranian government, meets Saman (Amir Chegini), an artist who escaped such oppression by emigrating to Australia. When Saman proposes, Marzieh dreams of the freedom she'll find in his adopted home country. But fate seems to work against the couple, forcing Marzieh to decide how far she'll go for artistic liberty. Asha Mehrabi and Mobina Karimi co-star.

4.0 Average Rating

City of God

2002

Buscapé (Alexandre Rodrigues) is frightened he'll end up like the countless others around him -- troubled, violent or dead. But his saving grace is his photographer's eye, through which the stories of several people who live in his forsaken Cidade de Deus unfold. Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund direct this sobering look at life inside a Rio de Janeiro housing project, reputed to be one of the most dangerous parts of an otherwise magical city.

4.0 Average Rating

Where Do We Go Now?

2011

While their men fight a remote sectarian war, the women of a Lebanese village -- one hemmed in by minefields -- band together to denounce the clash of Islamic and Christian beliefs that sustains the war and threatens to poison their own community.

4.0 Average Rating

City of Men

2003

Based on Fernando Meirelles' s acclaimed drama City of God, this Brazilian TV series navigates the slums of Rio de Janeiro, following the exploits of two teens coming of age in one of the city's infamous shantytowns. Blending scenes of uncompromising realism with humor, these episodes introduce 13-year-old best friends Laranjinha (Darlan Cunha) and Acerola (Douglas Silva), whose pluck and spirit prevail in the face of soul-crushing poverty.

3.9 Average Rating

Persepolis

2007

Marjane (voiced by Chiara Mastroianni) just wants to be an ordinary kid, but that isn't easy in 1978 Iran. This profound animated film follows Marjane's childhood in a repressive society, her adolescence in France and her return to Tehran as an adult. Based on Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical graphic novel, this Oscar nominee for Best Animated Feature Film also features the vocal talents of Catherine Deneuve and Simon Abkarian.

3.9 Average Rating

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

2011

Three best friends set off on an adventurous road trip/bachelor party in Spain after one of them becomes engaged. Along the way, they learn some lessons about themselves and each other that will change them forever.

3.9 Average Rating

Lobo

2008

This Filipino TV series stars Angel Locsin as Lyka, an assistant to a powerful fashion-industry magnate, and Piolo Pascual as Noah, an undercover agent working in the same company to investigate organized crime. But as the two fall for each other, they discover a deeper truth complicating their love: Lyka is a Waya, a protector of the mysterious part-human, part-wolf "lobo" race, and Noah belongs to the Luna, a clan sworn to destroy the lobo.

3.9 Average Rating

In a Better World

2010

Danish director Susanne Bier delves into the realm of fathers, sons and their perceived burden of male responsibility with this Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning drama about the interplay between two dysfunctional families. With his father working abroad, bullied Elias (Markus Rygaard) finds solace in a budding friendship with a volatile new student (William Jøhnk Nielsen). But the boys' shared revenge only seems to invite more violence.

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

Mr. and Mrs. Iyer

2002

Mrs. Iyer is traveling by bus to Calcutta to be with her husband. But a flare-up between Hindus and Muslim extremists closes the roads, and a curfew descends. While the riders are trapped on the bus, a gang of Hindus boards to ferret out any Muslims. Mrs. Iyer was brought up to believe that Muslims were inferior, but during the journey, she comes to realize that it's who a person is, not their religions, that's the defining factor.

3.8 Average Rating