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Beirut, Lebanon. An impossible love story between an Ethiopian housemaid and a Syrian refugee whose body is witnessing mysterious changes.Read More »

In April 1895, the talented young Rentaro Taki comes to Tokyo from his home in Kyushu to enrol in the prestigious National Academy of Music. Hoping to become a pianist, he meets another student there, Yuki Nakano, who shares the same aspirations. With his elder classmate Suzuki’s encouragement, Rentaro practices furiously to perfect his technique, but loses his health in the process. Over the years, his health, as well as his devotion to and achievement level in music, fluctuates, as two friends adjust to the varying roles they can each potentially play in his life. Yuki receives the Japanese government’s first music scholarship to study in Berlin. At the same time, Rentaro composes wonderful music and songs like Bloom in the Moonlight which are still very popular in today’s Japan, while Suzuki quits the music school and becomes a hard labourer due to family crisis.Read More »

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An unsettling portrayal of provincial Russia, laced with humour and lyricism
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Egor Matveev, played by Ivan Dobronravov, is a young driver journeying to a small town in the middle of nowhere, reencountering old friends and looking for love. In director Svetlana Proskurina’s words, ‘The main theme of the movie is the search for one’s inner self. Some find it when they are 70 and some when they are 20. The main character is a naïve sincere boy, who is in process of finding his inner self but it’s a dramatic process.’ A shocking and profound film, but not without its light moments. Also starring the outragous Russian rock musician Sergei Shnurov.Read More »

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Memed is a fugitive with a sole purpose to find and execute bandits in the mountains. When a rich landowner wants to avenge the death of his father, he hires Memed as a bounty hunter.Read More »

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During the night of Dec. 22-23, 1989, mere hours after the fall of Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, a squad of confused militia men navigates the chaotic streets of Bucharest rife with warring factions in “The Paper Will Be Blue.” Third feature by helmer Radu Muntean (“The Fury”) adeptly blends docudrama realism and wryly observed humor in a manner comparable to fellow Romanian Cristi Puiu’s recent “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu” and other local films, while offering yet another intimate-scaled, off-center examination of the impact of 1989. Adventurous distribs may care to sign on “Paper” for niche release and possible TV sales.Read More »

Brazil, 2018. Driven by the impact of coming across a 16mm film whose uncanny images seemed familiar but came from far away, and were made long ago, I decided to investigate the origins of this footage. At first, it seemed just an innocent home movie, but after careful research, the film has proven to be a revealing document from South Africa’s apartheid past. Among sinister discoveries and unavoidable gaps, I now reveal the results of my endeavor, based on contemporary online search tools.Read More »

Lawyer suffering from a condition preventing him from lying takes a cross-country road trip in France. Musical fantasy blending trumpet and piano. Original Ibrahim Maalouf soundtrack.Read More »

Radu works occasionally as a fixer for European media, dreaming of becoming a journalist. Given the opportunity to work for French television on a story about juvenile prostitution, he tries to prove his abilities by pushing things to the limit of professional ethics. When meeting Anca, an underage prostitute, he becomes aware of his abusive attitude.Read More »

When Yuki’s classmate suddenly dies, rumors begin to spread about her death and other classmates’ personalities are relieved amid grief and forced normalcy.When Yuki’s classmate suddenly dies, rumors begin to spread about her death and other classmates’ personalities are relieved amid grief and forced normalcy.Read More »