mwdw's - Rented List
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Farewell (2009)L'affaire Farewell
In 1981, disenchanted with what the communist ideal has become, KGB Colonel Grigoriev decides to change the world by passing on secret documents to Pierre, a French engineer working in Moscow. With Pierre acting as a go-between, the valuable documents find their way into the hands of France's President Mitterrand and the French Secret Service, who give the Moscow source the codename 'Farewell'. Based on a true story, Farewell reveals one of the most astounding espionage cases to come out of the Cold War. - Director:
- Christian Carion
- Cast:
- Guillaume Canet, Emir Kusturica, Alexandra Maria Lara
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Everybody Knows (2018)Todos lo saben
Laura (Penelope Cruz) and her children travel from Buenos Aires to the small Spanish village where she was born to attend her sister's wedding. Unexpected events soon lead to a crisis that exposes the family's hidden past. Suspicions mount, loved ones begin to turn on one another, and dark secrets long hidden threaten to come to light, revealing shocking truths. - Director:
- Asghar Farhadi
- Cast:
- Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Ricardo Darín
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In the late 19th century in rural Vietnam, fourteen-year-old May (Nguyen Phuong Tra My) is given away in an arranged marriage and becomes the third wife to her older husband. May learns that she can gain status and security if she gives birth to a male child. This becomes a real possibility when she gets pregnant. However, her path is fraught with danger when May starts to develop an attraction for Xuan (Mai Thu Huong Maya), the second wife. As May observes the unfolding tragedy of forbidden love and its devastating consequences, she must make a choice, to either carry on in silence and safety, or forge a way towards personal freedom. - Director:
- Ash Mayfair
- Cast:
- Long Le Vu, Mai Thu Huong Maya, Nguyen Phuong Tra My
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Under the direction of new editor Marty Baron the team of tenacious investigative journalists at 'The Boston Globe' known as 'Spotlight' begin to delve into allegations of abuse within the Catholic Church and the wilful ignorance of those in power who have done nothing to stop it. Facing political opposition and resistance from the far-reaching influences of the Church and government, the reporters put together an explosive expose revealing that the truth is much darker than they could have ever imagined. - Director:
- Tom Mccarthy
- Cast:
- Mark Ruffalo, Edward Brickley, Richard Jenkins
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Capernaum (2018)Capharnaüm / Chaos
Forced to live by his wits in order to survive, Zain's life in Beirut reaches a turning point when his parents make an unforgiveable deal that will see his younger sister (Haita 'Cedra' Izzam) married off. Left distraught by this terrible turn of event he takes to the road and whilst looking for work at a fairground, befriends a young woman who is working as a cleaner and helps to look after her adorable baby Jonas (Boluwatife Treasure Bankole). Zain (Zain Al Rafeea) and Jonas form a touching bond but things are about to get much more complicated when a set of circumstances force Zain to make choices that will have huge ramifications. 'Capernaum' is a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit - a battle cry for the forgotten, the unwanted and the lost that offers hope in the most unexpected of places. - Director:
- Nadine Labaki
- Cast:
- Zain Al Rafeea, Yordanos Shiferaw, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole
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Vienna, winter. Johann, a guard at the grand Kunsthistorisches Art Museum encounters Anne, a foreign visitor called to Austria because of the poor health of a friend. Never having been to Austria and with little money, she wanders the city in limbo, taking the museum as her refuge. Johann, initially wary, offers help, and they're drawn into each other's worlds. Their meetings spark an unexpected series of explorations - of their own lives and the life of the city, and of the way artworks can reflect and shape daily experience. - Director:
- Jem Cohen
- Cast:
- Steve Crilley, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Bobby Sommer
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Happy as Lazzaro (2018)Lazzaro Felice
Lazzaro (talented newcomer Adriano Tardiolo) is a beautiful peasant whose sweet nature makes people mistake him for simple-minded. He happily does the bidding of anyone in his local village, which is ruled over by the evil Marchesa (Nicoletta Braschi). He finds an unlikely friend in the Marchesa's petulant son Tancredi (Tommaso Ragno / Luca Chikovani), who convinces his hapless ally to help him stage a dramatic incident to secure a ransom. 'Happy as Lazzaro' follows the adventures of this young man living on the margins of his society, who can seemingly travel through time, arriving in the big city and appearing as a fragment of the past lost in the modern world. - Director:
- Alice Rohrwacher
- Cast:
- Adriano Tardiolo, Agnese Graziani, Alba Rohrwacher
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When Pigs Have Wings (2011)Das Schwein Von Gaza / Le Cochon De Gaza
Jafaar, a Palestinian fisherman, seems to be the unluckiest man in Gaza. Swallowed up by debt and watching his neighbours reel in huge catches of fish whilst his net always turns up empty, he is desperate for a change of fortune. One day his prayers are finally answered, but Jafaar ends up with more than he bargained for when he looks into his net to find not fish, but a giant pot-bellied pig! With possession of the animal banned by both government and religion, Jafaar embarks on a hilarious quest to try and rid himself of the animal whilst keeping its existence hidden from the authorities, but not without trying to make some money first... - Director:
- Sylvain Estibal
- Cast:
- Sasson Gabai, Baya Belal, Myriam Tekaïa
- Formats:
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Shoplifters (2018)Manbiki Kazoku
After a successful shoplifting spree, Osamu (Lily Franky) and his son rescue a little girl in the freezing cold and invite her home with them. Osamu's wife Nobuyo (Sakura Ando) reluctantly agrees to shelter her. Although the family is poor, they live happily together until an unforeseen incident upsets the delicate balance they have created, revealing long-buried secrets... - Director:
- Hirokazu Koreeda
- Cast:
- Rirî Furankî, Sakura Andô, Mayu Matsuoka
- Formats:
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Maggie Gyllenhaal stars as Lisa Spinelli, a kindergarten teacher and poet fed up with her career, her oblivious husband and teenage kids who largely ignore her. When she discovers that a five-year-old in her class may be a poetic prodigy, Lisa becomes fascinated and tries to protect him from neglectful parents. She soon finds herself risking her career and family to nurture his talent. - Director:
- Sara Colangelo
- Cast:
- Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gael García Bernal, Ato Blankson-Wood
- Formats:
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Burning (2018)Beoning
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. - Director:
- Chang-dong Lee
- Cast:
- Ah In Yoo, Steven Yeun, Jong-seo Jeon
- Formats:
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Based on Peter Rock's novel 'My Abandonment', 'Leave No Trace' revolves around a teenage girl (Thomasin McKenzie) and her father (Ben Foster) who have lived undetected for years in Forest Park, a vast wood on the edge of Portland, Oregon. A chance encounter leads to their discovery and removal from the park and into the charge of a social service agency. They try to adapt to their new surroundings until a sudden decision sets them on a perilous journey into the wilderness seeking complete independence and forcing them to confront their conflicting desire to be part of a community or a fierce need to live apart. - Director:
- Debra Granik
- Cast:
- Thomasin McKenzie-Harcourt, Ben Foster, Jeffery Rifflard
- Formats:
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El Bonaerense (2002)Unapređenje
From time to time Zapa (Jorge Roman), a thirty-something locksmith in a small Argentinean town, is pressured by his shifty boss to employ his safecracking skills on the wrong side of the law. Arrested during one such job, he's bailed out by his uncle, who also conveniently happens to be the former police chief of the town. Strings are summarily pulled, and Zapa is swiftly despatched to Buenos Aires where he joins the city's police force, the notorious bonaerense. After striking up a frenzied sexual relationship with one of his female instructors (Mimi Ardu), Zapa finds himself slowly but surely sucked into a hellish and unforgiving environment governed only by violence and corruption. - Director:
- Pablo Trapero
- Cast:
- Jorge Román, Mimí Ardú, Darío Levy
- Formats:
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The Golden Door (2006)Nuovomondo
In a desolate corner of the Sicilian countryside, a family's apparently changeless life of hardship and toil is interrupted by tales of the New World and its inhabitants, of the riches of this paradise. Salvatore makes the momentous decision to sell all he has - his land, his home, his livestock - and to take his children and aged mother to a better life across the ocean. As Salvatore embarks on his epic journey, he meets a mysterious English woman, Lucy (Charlotte Gainsbourgh), and their destinies begin to entwine as, amid a harrow crossing, a love story begins to unfold. To become citizens of the New World, they must die a little and be reborn. They must leave behind the antiquated customs and superstitions of their homeland - they must be strong in body and healthy in mind, learn to obey and swear loyalty - if they wish to pass through the Golden Door. - Director:
- Emanuele Crialese
- Cast:
- Charlotte Gainsbourg, Robert Allyn, Adriana Angrisano
- Formats:
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Lemon Tree (2008)Etz Limon
Salma, a Palestinian widow, has to stand up against her new neighbour, the Israeli Defence Minister, when he moves into his new house opposite her lemon grove, on the green line border between Israel and the West Bank. The Israeli security forces are quick to declare that Salma‘s trees pose a threat to the Minister’s safety and issue orders to uproot them. Together with Ziad Daud, her young Palestinian lawyer, Salma goes all the way to the Israeli Supreme Court to try and save her trees. Her struggle raises the interest of Mira Navon, the Defense minister’s wife, who is trapped in her new home and in an unhappy life. Despite their differences and the borders between them the two women develop an invisible bond, while forbidden ties grow stronger between Salma and Ziad. Salma’s legal and personal journey lead her deep into the complex, dark and sometimes funny chaos of the ongoing struggle in the Middle East, in which all players find themselves alone in their struggle to survive. - Director:
- Eran Riklis
- Cast:
- Hiam Abbass, Rona Lipaz-Michael, Ali Suliman
- Formats:
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