2001-2010

The first short film by Pedro Almodóvar in 30 years. It’s a spin-off of his upcoming film, “Los Abrazos Rotos”. The short film was broadcast on Spanish television Feb 13 2009.

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This short film is part of the film-within-the-film Girls and Suitcases. Chicas y maletas is the film being shot in Los abrazos rotos aka Broken Embraces.
La concejala antropófaga basically consists of a humorous monologue by Carmen Machi. She snorts a generous amount of coke throughout and continues her lewd observations about men begun in Chicas y maletas.Read More »

Documentary filmmaker Ulrich Seidl offers a provocative look at both Christianity and its followers by examining a handful of true believers through their prayers in this film. Jesus, Du Weisst observes six people — mostly Catholics — as they kneel in church and pray for guidance. Rather than offer a detailed look at their personal lives, Seidl allows us to learn about these people as they share their needs and concerns with the Lord through prayer, and we watch some of the subjects as their faith manifests itself in their daily lives. In Jesus, Du Weisst (Jesus, I Know), Seidl also touches upon how the manner in which people worship is often reflected in the design and decor of the churches to which they belong. — Mark DemingRead More »

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A woman sees her own traumatic past reflected in the actions of her teenage daughter in this drama from first-time writer and director Jasmila Zbanic. Esma (Mirjana Karanovic) is a single mother trying to raise her teenage daughter, Sara (Luna Mijovic), in Sarajevo in the wake of war. While Esma works as a barmaid at a nightclub run by Saran (Bogdan Diklic), a man on the wrong side of the law, she has trouble making ends meet, and receives occasional benefits payments from a support group for women who have been affected by the war. Esma has little interest in talking about the loss of her husband, whom she claims was a hero fighting for Bosnia, and can become hyper-emotional with little provocation. As Pelda (Leon Lucev), one of Esma’s co-workers at the club, attempts to interest her in romance, Esma notices that Sara has caught the eye of Samir (Kenan Catic), a rebellious young man who is one of her classmates. As Esma tries to discourage Sara from becoming involved with Samir, she finds fate has forced her to tell her daughter the truth about her father. Grbavica received its world premiere at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie GuideRead More »

Spanning 18 years in an Iranian women’s prison, this follows two women: the new prison warden, a tough as nails devout Muslim who has served in the army on the Iraqi front, and a young midwife, Mitra, who is serving her sentence for killing her mother’s abusive husband. In the early years, Mitra is repeatedly punished as the warden tries to break her. This includes punishment for delivering a baby in the prison cell while all of the prison staff has taken shelter during an Iraqi bombing. The warden’s attitude starts to change after 8 years, when Mitra tries to protect a new inmate from rape at the hands of her older cellmates. When the baby comes back in 1991 as a 17 year old delinquent, Sepideh, the warden respects Mitra enough to protect the girl.Read More »

The Chelsea Hotel has long been consider the creative epicenter of New York City, a sort of unofficial gathering point for the most renowned artists and entertainers that the city has to offer. But while the Chelsea Hotel was once considered an impenetrable, untouchable monument to the creative spirit, an early 21st Century renovation led many to believe that the new management company had little appreciation for it’s unique history. Dennis Hopper, Milos Forman, R. Crumb, Ethan Hawke, Grace Jones, and a whole host of Chelsea Hotel regulars all chime in with their fondest memories about the New York landmark, and their thoughts about what may be in store for the iconic building in the future. —allmovie guideRead More »

Zetterstrøm is an accomplished pianist who lives and breathes music. When he plays he shuts out his surroundings, isolates himself entirely in a universe where only he and his piano exist in perfect symbiosis, forgetting all that matters, even those who love him. When his girlfriend finally abandons him he is heartbroken, and his already reclusive nature is strengthened. He travels to New York and takes up residence, now playing concerts physically isolated from the audience. Ten years pass and he feels compelled to return to Copenhagen, but in his absence something very strange has happened to his old neighbourhood…Read More »

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A rich woman hires an elite prostitute in order to verify her husband’s faithfulness. Before long the experiment gets out of control.Read More »

After years of living abroad with her American missionary father, Lana (Michelle Williams) returns to the United States to begin her studies. But instead of focusing on her education, Lana sets out to find her only other living relative – her uncle Paul, her deceased mother’s brother. A Vietnam veteran, Paul is a reclusive vagabond with deep emotional war wounds. A tragic event witnessed by the two unites them in a common goal to rectify a wrong, and takes them on a journey of healing, discovery, and kinship.Read More »

Wim Wenders muses on love, death and his perennial bugbear, the ‘Crisis of the Image’ in The Palermo Shooting, a metaphysical thriller cum philosophical essay that marks another step on the downwards slope for this once-vital film-maker. Unwisely cast, leadenly written and ultimately farcical in its earnestness, The Palermo Shooting is a glossy travelogue-thriller with metaphysical pretentions, and one of the low points of this year’s Cannes Competition. Unlikely to fare well in the market, the film may also find festivals preferring to tactfully take a rain check.Read More »