Foreign
A Place Called Chiapas
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A Place Called Chiapas

1998
Featuring a rare on-camera interview with mysterious insurgent leader Subcomandante Marcos, filmmaker Nettie Wild's documentary investigates the rebel movement in Chiapas and the government's attempts to quash the activities of the Zapatistas. One of the poorest regions in Mexico, the southern province of Chiapas drew worldwide attention in 1994 when Marcos and his Zapatista National Liberation Army staged a major uprising.

Directed by:

  • Nettie Wild
  • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    La Sierra
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    La Sierra

    2005
    Colombia-based journalists Scott Dalton and Margarita Martinez introduce us to a nation at civil war by hitting the streets of Medellín, a dangerous city ruled by a fierce paramilitary gang. By focusing on three vastly different personalities -- Edison, a gang leader; Cielo, a widowed teenage mother; and Jesus, a drug-using thug -- the filmmakers draw us into their world and capture startling moments of truth and sorrow.

    Directed by:

  • Scott Dalton
  • Margarita Martinez
  • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Mukhsin
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    Mukhsin

    2006
    When young Mukhsin (Mohd Syafie Naswip) arrives in a new town, 10-year-old tomboy Orked (Sharifah Aryana) adopts him as her new best friend, and the two develop a touching friendship that begins to spill over into the inklings of first love. And with turmoil at home, the sometimes-troubled Mukhsin discovers a deeper kind of love in the form of Orked's open and progressive Malay family. Yasmin Ahmad directs this charming drama.

    Directed by:

  • Yasmin Ahmad
  • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Budrus
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    Budrus

    2010
    Documentarian Julia Bacha delves into the fraught world of Palestinian-Israeli relations in this amazing account of one family's leadership of a movement to prevent Israel's Separation Barrier from slicing the Palestinian village of Budrus in half.

    Directed by:

  • Julia Bacha
  • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Take My Eyes
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    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.

    Directed by:

  • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    A Simple Life
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    A Simple Life

    2011
    After working for the Leung family for decades, a servant still takes care of filmmaker Roger Leung -- but when she falls sick, the tables are turned as Roger looks after her in this heartwarming tale inspired by a true story.

    Directed by:

  • Ann Hui
  • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Inch' Allah Dimanche
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    Inch' Allah Dimanche

    2001
    French-Algerian director Yamina Benguigi brings us the passionate story of an immigrant struggling against old world traditions. Zouina (Fjeria Deliba) leaves her homeland with her three children to join her husband in France, where he's been living for the past 10 years. In a land and culture foreign to her, Zouina struggles against her mother-in-law's tyrannical hand and her husband's distrustful bitterness as she adjusts to her life in exile.

    Directed by:

  • Yamina Benguigui
  • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Native Dancer
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    Native Dancer

    2008
    When gangsters press a wealthy businessman (Farkhat Amankulov) to build a gas station and motel on his property, the construction evicts a spiritual healer (Nesipkul Omarbekova) who's lived on the land for decades. In her absence, chaos reigns -- and the businessman's son disappears. Gulshat Omarova directs this sweeping drama exploring the tension between tradition and progress in modern-day Kazakhstan.

    Directed by:

  • Gulshat Omarova
  • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Sequins
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    Sequins

    2004
    After learning she's five months pregnant, 17-year-old Claire (Lola Naymark) leaves her former life behind to give birth in anonymity. An excellent embroiderer, Claire finds work with a professional in the business, Madame Melikian (Ariane Ascaride). Both women bear a heavy burden -- the Madame can't cope with her son's death, and Claire doesn't want to have a child. As they pour themselves into the work they love, the two develop a strong bond.

    Directed by:

  • Eleonore Faucher
  • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Alone in Four Walls
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    Alone in Four Walls

    2008
    In rural Russia, children convicted of theft, murder and rape are sent to a home for delinquents. Without the outside world's pressures, they're finally allowed to act as children, but for some of them, this new life proves to be a challenge. This documentary tells the stories of several of these adolescents, who must endure separation from their families and who, upon release, are unlikely to be forgiven for their crimes.

    Directed by:

  • Alexandra Westmeier
  • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow
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    Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow

    2010
    Modern artist Anselm Kiefer and his monumental landscape creation at Barjac, France -- a vast complex including lakes, bridges, caves and galleries displaying Kiefer's other work -- are the focus of this documentary from Sophie Fiennes. The artist's ruminations on the creative process and his aims and ambitions are intercut with a careful study of the art itself, shining a spotlight on the processes at work in Kiefer's expanding mini-universe.

    Directed by:

  • Sophie Fiennes
  • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Silent Waters
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    Silent Waters

    2003
    Religious extremism takes its toll on a small Pakistani village in this drama set in 1979. Now living under martial law, the widow Ayesha (Kiron Kher) struggles to adapt to Muslim rule. Her teen son Saleem (Aamir Malik) resists pressure from his girlfriend (Shilpa Shukla) to get a job and takes up with a group of Muslim fundamentalists. When Sikh pilgrim Jaswant (Navtej Johar) comes to town, Ayesha remembers long-forgotten secrets from her past.

    Directed by:

  • Sabiha Sumar
  • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    The Desert of Forbidden Art
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    The Desert of Forbidden Art

    2010
    Trace the incredible story of defiant visionary Igor Savitsky, an artist and museum curator who cunningly acquired more than 40,000 banned Soviet Union paintings and hid the illegal collection from the KGB in Uzbekistan's Nukus Museum. In addition to rare archival footage and interviews with the artists' children, this absorbing documentary also features letters and diary entries read by Ben Kingsley, Sally Field and Edward Asner.

    Directed by:

  • Tchavdar Georgiev
  • Amanda Pope
  • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    In Darkness
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    In Darkness

    2011
    As Nazis overrun Warsaw, many of the city's Jews hide out in sewers, where they encounter Leopold, an anti-Semitic sanitation worker. His prejudice reflects the rift between Poland's Jews and Catholics in this film inspired by true events.

    Directed by:

  • Agnieszka Holland
  • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Sugar Cane Alley
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    Sugar Cane Alley

    1983
    Jose is a bright young boy who lives among the poor black families of a sugar cane plantation community. His grandmother, believing her grandson is capable of great things, sacrifices to save him from the hard life of working the fields. Euzhan Palcy's award-winning film is an honest, deeply moving human drama of a young boy who fights against the odds for his future.

    Directed by:

  • Euzhan Palcy
  • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Hitler's Hit Parade
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    Hitler's Hit Parade

    2003
    This disturbing collage of Third Reich musicals, newsreels, home movies, cartoons and commercials includes rare segments in color and shows how the Nazis relied on escapist entertainment to promote their murderous ideology and bolster the veneer of normalcy during Adolf Hitler's reign. The film plays out without commentary, using Nazi catchphrases to preface segments on idealized German society. Oliver Axer and Susanne Benze co-direct.

    Directed by:

  • Oliver Axer
  • Susanne Benze
  • rating:3.5.png 3.5 Average Rating


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    Now and Then
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    Now and Then

    1995
    Waxing nostalgic about the bittersweet passage from childhood to puberty in this tender coming-of-age tale, four childhood girlfriends -- Teeny, Chrissy, Samantha and Roberta -- recall the magical summer of 1970. During their walk down memory lane, they reconcile experiences with boys, secrets, bullies and more. Lesli Linka Glatter directs; Gaby Hoffmann, Ashleigh Aston Moore, Cloris Leachman, Thora Birch and Christina Ricci co-star.

    Directed by:

  • Lesli Linka Glatter
  • rating:3.8.png 3.8 Average Rating


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    Now and Then (1995)
    A heartwarming movie about four childhood girlfriends who, in adulthood reunion, relive their experience of the life-changing summer of 1970, including a mystery death, divorce, standing up to the boys, first kiss, and the meaning of true friendship. Each explores her unique identity amidst family and friends. Beautifully directed by Lesli Linka Glatter.
    - Frances   
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