Beginning in extraordinary fashion with a hold up on a Tehran jewellery store that ends in tragedy, the film then backtracks to detail the events that drove an essentially ordinary, decent man to crime. Scripted by Abbas Kiarostami and based on a true story, the film guides us around Tehran, building into an engrossing and moving portrait of a man, Hussein (Hussein Emadeddin) feeling humiliated and essentially helpless in a world of social injustice, and a city split irrevocably between the privileged and the desperate.
They are both on the run: the man with the dog he is not allowed to own because the law deems it to be unclean, and the young woman who took part in an illicit party on the shores of the Caspian Sea. They barricade themselves in a secluded villa with curtained windows and eye each other suspiciously. Why has he shaved his head? How does she know he is being followed by the police? They are now prisoners in a house without a view in the midst of a hostile environment The voices of police can be heard in the distance, but so too can the calming sound of the sea. Are we looking at outlaws, or are the man and the young woman merely phantoms, figments of the imagination of a filmmaker who is no longer allowed to work?
Set over the course of a single day, Jafar Panahi's powerful film is an ensemble piece that tells the stark tales of several young Iranian women and the harsh society in which they live. Beginning with a childbirth, and the ensuing despair at the discovery that the baby is a girl, the film touches upon the myriad hardships endured by women living in Iran's male dominated world of bureaucracy, constant surveillance and age old inequalities. But even in the midst of this stifling environment, the spirit, strength and courage of the circle of women cannot be extinguished.
For a soccer-mad young girl, a crucial world cup qualifying match for Iran's national football team at the Azadi stadium in Tehran is the game of her dreams. But with women banned from the country's football grounds, she and several other equally dedicated and rebellious girls have only one way of infiltrating the crowd...by disguising themselves as boys. But with sharp-eyed soldiers policing the event and obstacles such as the lack of women's bathrooms to overcome, the street-smart girls find they have to use their wits and every trick in the book to see the match. A hilarious and engaging comedy, 'Offside' entertainingly illustrates the fight for women's rights in Iran.
This clandestine documentary, shot partially on an iPhone and smuggled into France in a cake for a last-minute submission to Cannes, depicts the day-to-day life of acclaimed director Jafar Panahi. While appealing his sentence - six years in prison and a 20 year ban from filmmaking - Panahi is seen talking to his family and lawyer on the phone, discussing his plight with Mirtahmasb and reflecting on the meaning of the art of filmmaking.
An epic musical on the pitfalls of love, fame and fortune from visionary filmmaker Leos Carax (Holy Motors), starring Adam Driver (Marriage Story) and Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose). The glamorous lives of a seemingly perfect celebrity couple - a provocative stand-up comedian and an internationally renowned opera singer - take an unexpected turn when their daughter Annette is born with a mysterious gift. An unabashedly unique and unforgettable spectacle, this Cannes Best Director prize winner co-stars Simon Helberg and features an original story and music by Sparks, one of pop's best-loved and most influential cult bands.
Professor Isak Borg (Victor Sjostrom) travels with his daughter-in-law Marianne (Ingrid Thulin) to receive an honorary doctorate for his lifelong contribution to medicine. Soon his journey becomes one of introspection, as the people he meets - from a hitch-hiking girl to a quarrelling married couple - remind him of past relationships and cause him to contemplate his own failings. Victor Sjostrom, a celebrated film director in his own right, best know for his silent work including the Hollywood masterpiece The Wind, gives a remarkably moving performance as the aged academic. Bergman's smiles and tears on a summer's day make for his most overtly symbolic work, shifting skillfully between the past and the present, dream and reality. Filled with richly observed characters and a real feeling for the joys of nature and youth, 'Wild Strawberries' is one of Bergman's warmest and finest films.
Dr. Luther Brooks (Sidney Poitier) is assigned to treat two prisoners, the Biddle brothers, who were shot during an attempted robbery. Ray Biddle (Richard Widmark) refuses to be treated by the black doctor, and when his brother John dies under Luther's care, Ray becomes consumed with vengeance. His anger and hatred ignites racial tensions within the community, and events quickly spiral out of control.
Crusading newspaper publisher Malt Drayton's (Spencer Tracy) liberal principles are put to the test when his daughter, Joey (Katharine Houghton), announces her engagement to John Prentice (Sidney Poitier), an internationally renowned African- American physician. While Matt's wife Christina (Katharine Hepburn) readily accepts Joey's decision, Matt intends to withhold his consent, forgetting that when it comes to matters of the heart, true love is colorblind.
'Do we get stupider as we grow up?' In his wildly popular Broadway show 'American Utopia', David Byrne reflects on human connections, life and how on earth we work through it. He joins the dots with his music and it all starts making sense. Spike Lee here transforms the production into immersive, dynamic cinema that radiates with astounding performances, inventive contemporary dance and political urgency. 'American Utopia' flows like an iridescent dream vision. Work by James Baldwin, Janelle Monáe and Kurt Schwitters is highlighted among exhilarating renditions of Byrne's solo work, as well as Talking Heads classics. According to the multi-hyphenate, we love looking at humans more than anything else. Anti-fascist and anti-racist, Byrne illuminates our responsibility to care for one another as he and his co-performers burn down the house.
Judy Garland plays Jean Hansen, a compassionate teacher newly employed within a small town school for disabled children. Instantly bonding with an autistic boy called Reuben, Jean believes that a reunion with his absent parents could be fundamental for his development. But the school's authority figures begin to disapprove of her modern methods and her friendship with the alienated, helpless Reuben. With a great cast and superb direction, 'A Child Is Waiting' is a deeply touching drama with a hard-hitting message.
Zhao is an economically challenged, ageing bachelor who hasn't had much luck in love and so he enlists the help of matchmaker to find a wife. Thinking he has finally met the woman of his dreams, he leads her to believe he is wealthy and agrees to a wedding far beyond his means. Desperate for funds, he turns to his friends and together they hatch the scheme to raise the money by refurbishing an abandoned bus they will rent out by the house - the 'Happy Times Hotel' to young couples starved for privacy. But this plan goes awry when the bus is hauled away to the dump. Believing he is a wealthy hotelier, his fiancee persuades Zhao to hire her blind stepdaughter, Wu Ying, as a masseuse at his hotel. Creating a tangled and hilarious mess of lies in order to employ her, Zhao must create a fake hotel environment in an abandoned factory, so she believes he has a legitimate job. Finally, he is forced to come clean, which turns out to be both a heartbreaking and hilarious life lesson for all involved.
Hutch (Bob Odenkirk) is a nobody. As an overlooked and underestimated father and husband, he takes life's indignities on the chin and never rocks the boat. But when his daughter (Connie Nielsen) loses her beloved kitty-cat bracelet in a robbery, Hutch hits a boiling point no one knew he had. What happens when a pushover finally pushes back? Hutch flips from regular dad to fearless fighter by taking his enemies on a wild ride of explosive revenge.
Based on a short story by Haruki Murakami, this critically acclaimed South Korean film tells the story of Jongsu (Ah-in Yoo), a part-time worker who bumps into old neighbour Haemi (Jong-seo Jun). She asks him to look after her cat while she's on a trip to Kenya, but when she returns, Haemi introduces Ben (Steven Yeun) to Jongsu. One day, Ben visits Jongsu with Haemi and confesses his own secret hobby.
When teacher Junpei Niki misses his last bus home after a day out collecting insects on a remote stretch of coast, he is invited by a local villager to take shelter in a young widow's ramshackle hut. Ignoring the fact that her home is at the bottom of a sandpit accessible only by rope ladder, he accepts this hospitality without realising he is the victim of a cruel trick. Trapped, he is forced into an uneasy life with this woman, sharing with her the Sisyphean task of shoveling the sand that threatens to engulf them.
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