griggs's - Juniversal 2025: (Ranked) List

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Karamakate, a warrior shaman and last of his tribe, transcends the worlds of men and seeks truth through their dreams. He alone knows how to find the mysterious and psychedelic Yakruna plant; for some it has life-saving properties, for others it is a commodity waiting to be exploited.

Two scientists, in two different times enlist Karamakate on their individual quests in an epic adventure into the heart of the Colombian Amazon to find this mythical plant. This Oscar nominated film is seen through Karamakates eyes and bears witness to the effects of colonialism, religion and the exploitation of rubber on indigenous traditions and the environment to which they arc inextricably linked.

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The film is based upon the true story of the discovery, in 1881, of 40 Royal Mummies.

When some archaeologists from the Antiquities Department in Cairo notice that several artefacts bearing royal names from the 21st dynasty keep appearing on the antique black market, an expedition is sent to Thebes, the capital of the Pharaonic Empire. They discovered that the Pharaoh's tomb has been plundered for millennia, its treasures regarded as a natural heritage and a private source of income for the Horabat mountain tribe and its secret kept for generations by the chief's descendants. When the archaeologists find the tombs, the two sons of the dead tribal chieftain are faced with a moral issue.

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Small-town Slovakia 1942. Nazi concentration camp deportations have begun. Tono, a poor carpenter, is appointed 'Aryan controller' of the elderly and frail Jewish widow Rozalia's shop.

Believing Tono is her new assistant, the two develop a friendship in which he maintains that illusion to try and protect her from the encroaching Nazi terror. Wonderfully written and performed, and with an extraordinary Zdenek Liska score, the film becomes a devastating examination of how minor compromises can finally lead to complicity in the horrors of tyranny.

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The Taliban have just seized power and a widow reluctantly decides to disguise her 12-year-old daughter as a boy - the Osama (Marina Golbahari) of the title - so that at least one family member can earn a living.

But the 'boy' is soon dragged off for religious instruction and military training and resultantly the disguise is uncovered, triggering a sharp slide into tragedy.

Mukhsin (Mohd Syafie Naswip), a 12-year-old boy, develops a friendship with Orked (Sharifah Aryana), a 10-year-old girl, and quickly develops a crush on her. He becomes tormented by his love for her but their relationship remains a platonic one.

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"Memories of Underdevelopment" follows Sergio (Sergio Corrieri), through his life following the departure of his wife, parents and friends in the wake of the Bay of Pigs incident.

Alone in a brave new world, Sergio observes the constant threat of foreign invasion while chasing young women all over Havana before finally meeting Elena (Daisy Granados), a young virgin girl he seeks to mould into the image of his ex-wife, but at what cost to himself? Even though director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea was a staunch and devoted supporter of the revolution, 'Memories of Underdevelopment' makes a raw and uncompromising analysis of the newly formed system of government. Through a moving blend of narrative fiction, still photography and rare documentary footage, Alea catalogues the intricacies of the early days of the Castro regime; producing a stirring and enigmatic work that feeds from the culture of the very subject it is studying; Cuba.

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Young Liina (Rea Lest) and Hans (Jörgen Liik) are preparing to marry in their village in the woods, when Hans becomes entranced by the arrival of a visiting Baroness (Jette Loona Hermanis). Love spells are conjured so that each receives their intended mate, but there are more sinister things afoot.

Death can visit in the form of a farm animal...but it's fine because one can hide by wearing trousers on the head. And, besides, the dead can come back to the village and chat anyway...although when the devil arrives, don't try to cheat him. And then there are the "kratts" - supernatural servants made from discarded bones, tree branches, and trash...just make sure to give them work to do, or else.

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Multidisciplinary artists Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman bring their unique dynamism to the Afrofuturist vision of 'Neptune Frost'.

It is a sci-fi-punk-musical that's a visually wondrous amalgamation of themes, ideas, and songs that they have been exploring in their work, including on Williams' 2016 album MartyrLoserKing. 'Neptune Frost' takes place in the hilltops of Burundi, where a group of escaped coltan miners form an anti-colonialist computer hacker collective. From their camp in an otherworldly e-waste dump, they attempt a takeover of the authoritarian regime exploiting the region's natural resources - and its people. When an intersex runaway and an escaped miner find each other through cosmic forces, their connection sparks glitches within the greater divine circuitry. Set between states of being - past and present, dream and waking life, colonized and free, male and female, memory and prescience - 'Neptune Frost' is an invigorating and empowering direct download to the cerebral cortex and a call to reclaim technology for progressive political ends.

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Set in bustling Lahore, the Ranases are, on the surface, a functional, patriarchal family.

The household is made up of Abbas (Salmaan Peerzada), the elderly father, the older brother, Saleem (Sameer Sohail) and his wife Nucchi (Sarwat Gilani), and younger brother Haider (Ali Junejo) and his wife Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq). Much to the embarrassment of his traditional father, Haider is the one in his relationship who stays at home, whilst Mumtaz goes to work at the salon every day, which she loves. When Haider gets a job in an erotic theatre as a backup dancer for trans starlet, Biba (Alina Khan), everything changes, and the cracks that have always been there, start to tear the family apart. Mumtaz, dutifully, has to become the stay-at-home wife she never wanted to be, whilst her husband enjoys his new found freedom. Haider starts to secretly date Biba, and is away from home more and more. Meanwhile, Mumtaz feels more and more alienated. Both Haider and Mumtaz suffer from the same social frustrations of having to adhere to the traditional norms of the society they live in, whilst both yearning for social and sexual freedom. This tension will ultimately result in Mumtaz taking her own life- the only thing she feels she has control over- and taking with it, the life of the so-wanted Ranas unborn baby boy.

Manila in the Claws of Light

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Nianankoro's father Soma (Niamanto Sanogo) is a part of the order of Komo (Koke Sangare), who practice magic, but he uses his powers for self-gain. He becomes determined to kill his son after receiving a vision that his son will cause his death.

Aided by his mother, Nianankoro (Issiaka Kane) leaves his village to seek out his uncle for help. Soma pursues him with the aid of an enchanted pylon that tracks his son's location and breaks all barriers that deter it. As he travels, Nianankoro encounters a hyena who tells him his destiny is to be great. Passing through the territory of the Peul, he is thought to be a thief and captured. Their king Rouma Boli (Balla Moussa Keita) orders him killed, but Nianankoro creates magic that freezes his guards and declares they cannot kill him. Impressed, King Rouma offers Nianankoro his freedom in exchange for aid against a rival tribe. When the tribe attacks, Nianankoro summons a swarm of bees and a fire that drives their attackers away. The king thanks Nianankoro and asks him to cure his wife Attou's infertility. Nianankoro creates an enchantment, but he and Attou (Aoua Sangare) are overcome by lust and sleep together. That night they return to Rouma to confess their crime, and the king reluctantly orders them married and to leave...

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In the Liberian countryside, Cisco's quiet life as a rubber plantation worker is disrupted by a workers' strike. Risking everything to embark on a new life, he accepts a chance invitation to New York, where he immerses himself in its small Liberian community.

But when Cisco (Bishop Blay) meets Jacob (Zenobia Taylor), a former Liberian child soldier, he is forced to confront his difficult past. The film is a modern twist on a classic immigrant story, shot on locations in Liberia and New York. "Out of My Hand" is only the second foreign-production narrative feature film ever shot in Liberia and the first to be made in association with Liberia Movie Union, an affiliate of Liberian government.

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While the soccer World Cup is being played in France, two young Tibetan refugees arrive at a monastery/boarding school in exile in India. Its atmosphere of serene contemplation is somewhat disrupted by soccer fever, the chief instigator being a young student, the soccer enthusiast Orgyen.

Prevented by various circumstances from seeing the Cup finals on television in a nearby village, Orgyen sets out to organise the rental of a TV set for the monastery. The enterprise becomes a test of solidarity, resourcefulness and friendship for the students, while the Lama, head of the monastery, contemplates the challenges of teaching the word of Buddha in a rapidly changing world.

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Passionate about dance, young Merab (Levan Gelbakhiani) has trained at the National Georgian Dance Ensemble since childhood. His sole aim in life; to join the Main Dance Ensemble, break free from the confines of Georgian society and travel the world.

When a dancer in the main ensemble is disgraced and his place becomes available, Merab's ambitions finally feel within reach. When Irakli (Bachi Valishvili), a virile, talented male dancer unexpectedly joins his group, Merab fears the newcomer is the only thing standing between him and his dreams. Charismatic and carefree, Irakli, has an effect on Merab that he can't quite explain. As they compete, Irakli becomes both Merab's fiercest rival and strongest desire, a desire that, in conservative Georgian society, threatens to throw his dance career, livelihood and family into turmoil. With a breath-taking central performance from breakout star Levan Gelbakhiani, Levan Akin's luminous 'And Then We Danced' explores forbidden desire, ambition and liberation set against the backdrop of traditionalist Tblisi.

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Following Peru's war on terrorism, Fausta's relatives believe she suffers from 'The Milk of Sorrow', a condition transmitted by her Mother, who was violated and mistreated during the country's upheaval.

The war has ended but Fausta (Magaly Solier) lives to be constantly reminded of her condition of fear. The sudden death of her mother forces Fausta to confront these fears and question the peculiar measures her mother took to protect her daughter from a similar fate. 'The Milk of Sorrow' is the story of a search for re-awakening and a journey from fear to freedom.