No matter if you’re a punk, a pensioner, a family man, a nudist, or an umbrella salesman! No matter how you get there – a thumb ride, rev up your convertible so that the breeze riffles your hair, or slam your foot on the gas in a bubble car – it’s time to head for the Atlantic Ocean! A colourful and delightfully humouresque film, a sort of homage to Jacques Tati’s Mr. Hulot’s Holiday and also inspired by Blake Edwards, Aki Kaurismäki, and Jacques Demy, Holidays by the Sea aims for an almost dialogue-less burlesque comedy.
Cast: Jacques Gamblin, Maria de Medeiros, François Damiens, François Morel, Dominique Pinon
Directed by: Pascal Rabate
Tyrannosaur follows the story of two lonely, damaged people brought together by circumstance. Joseph is an unemployed widower, drinker, and a man crippled by his own volatile temperament and furious anger. Hannah is a Christian worker at a charity shop, a respectable woman who appears wholesome and happy. When the pair are brought together, Hannah appears as Joseph’s potential saviour, someone who can temper his fury and offer him warmth, kindness, and acceptance. As their story develops, Hannah’s own secrets are revealed — her relationship with husband James is violent and abusive…
Cast: Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman, Eddie Marsan
Directed by Paddy Considine
Scriptwriter: Paddy Considine
Perhaps the most inspiring movement of stylistic and ideological invention ever encountered in the history of the world cinema, the French New Wave crashed onto international shores when François Truffaut’s debut feature, The 400 Blows, premiered at Cannes in 1959, followed quickly by Jean-Luc Godard’s equally thrilling Breathless, based on a Truffaut story. Two in the Wave is a story of a friendship, an alliance of two of the foremost New Wave figures. As critics, they wrote for the the legendary Cahiers du Cinéma, and through the 1960s loyally supported each other in their filmmaking. The documentary poignantly melds revealing period footage of both men with scenes from some of their greatest films. History and politics separated them in 1968, but their friendship and their break-up embody the story of French cinema.
Cast: Etienne de Grammont, Nick de Pencier
Directed by: Emmanuel Laurent
A mother is informed that her only son, who is serving in a military combat zone, has gone missing in action. After a short while, the mother takes in a homeless immigrant boy, not realizing that she has already decided the fate of her returning son. Set in a bleak industrial zone of a weary provincial Russian town and tackling the themes of motherhood, war, grief, and sibling rivalry, the film is a powerful emotional portrait of a shocked consciousness and the uselessness of individually and politically orchestrated violence.
Cast: Vladislav Abashin, Olga Demidova, Nikita Emshanov, Aleksandr Plaksin, Darya Gracheva
Directed by: Andrei Stempkovsky
A couple has to make a decision to leave Iran to better the life of their child or to stay and take care of a parent suffering from Alzheimers; however, the couple's marriage may end in divorce. Ostensibly simple on a narrative level yet morally, psychologically and socially complex, it succeeds in bringing Iranian society into focus in a way few other films have done. The film was a triumph at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival, receiving Golden Bear for Best Film.
Cast: Peyman Moaadi, Leila Hatami, Sareh Bayat
Directed by: Asghar Farhadi
1970s, Amsterdam. Karo, a ten-year-old girl with a jet-black hair, lives in a hippie commune with her parents. Her father is a charismatic idealist who believes in life with no boundaries and restrictions, whereas her mother would much rather prefer faithfulness and private space for her own work. The moment a young woman enters the family life, Karo is a witness to changes in her parents’ relationships, as well as experiences the aggressive attitude of the authorities directed at the commune. However, the girl’s life is not short of lightness and joy as everyday life in the squat is cheerful and beautiful.
Cast: Anna Franziska Jaeger, Déborah François, Matthias Schoenaerts, Maria Kraakman
Directed by: Dorothee van den Bergh
Every morning, François, a bailiff, bids goodbye to his wife and begins the unpleasant task of evictions. However this morning, September 11th, the usual course of events is upset when, having arrived at one of the apartments, he coincidentally falls hostage to its tenants. In a wink of an eye the neighbourhood is surrounded by the usual crowd – François wife, a committed negotiator, police, snipers, and reporters. Little by little the local residents become annoyed by the irritating presence of the mob, and the captors realize there is a rather strange but possibly one chance to escape.
Cast: Hippolyte Girardot, Mohamed Fellag, Aymen Saïdi, Michel Vuillermoz
Directed by: Angelo Cianci
A young Dutch woman wanders through the rainy Irish landscape, as if forming a conspirational partnership with the austere nature. However, the duo is interrupted by the third – a man in his prime, leading a lonely existence on a beautiful island, ostensibly driven by his stubbornness. They make a deal: she will work for him only for a share of food, he will not ask any questions. Only work, nothing personal. However, as time goes by, both are stirred by natural curiosity, shattering the monotony of the everyday routine. Who will be the first to break the promise to keep the relationship free of anything personal?
Cast: Lote Verbeek, Stephen Rea
Directed by: Urszula Antoniak
Oliver works as an air traffic controller at Bratislava airport. He is of Czech origin, and while he has worked in Slovakia for many years, he has never managed to assimilate. He leads a lone existence in a large housing community where he has a view into the windows of other tenants. Oliver's attention is mainly focused on a young family who live opposite him. The family embodies the happiness which has always eluded him. Soon, however, his feelings of admiration turn to envy and desire as Oliver becomes intent on procuring a contented life for himself, even if it means breaking the law.
Cast: Ivan Trojan, Jana Hlavacova, Kristína Turhanová, Dagmar Bruckmeyer
Directed by: Peter Kristúfek
Werner Herzog’s 3D masterpiece, exclusively shot inside the Chauvet caves of Southern France, vividly captures the oldest known pictorial creations of humankind in their astonishing natural setting. Always keen to explore the everlasting struggle between the forces of nature and humankind, Herzog’s appetite for controversy and pushing the boundaries here is as large as ever.
Cast: Werner Herzog, Dominique Baffier, Jean Clottes
Directed by: Werner Herzog
Azam returns to his native village to visit his friend Ali and his wife. At night, the three of them depart on a boat trip to an uninhabited island. Slowly adjusting to the rhythm of the waves, Azam yields to a flashback of memories, hoping they would help to explain the lonesome void he has been unable to fill with the career of a successful singer in the city. Between the voyage and visions of past the spectator is also entertained by mythical and humoresque stories that bear an indirect link to the main character’s life.
Cast: Nam Ron, Azman Hassan, Mislina Mustaffa
Directed by: Tan Chui Mui
Blood Into Wine is a documentary focusing on multi-platinum musician Maynard James Keenan and his winemaking mentor Eric Glomski as they toil against the naysayers and elements in their quest to make exquisite varieties of wine in the hostile deserts of Arizona. The ostensibly unlikely farmer Keenan, the lead singer of famous rock bands, moved to Arizona in 1995 and has since produced high quality wines through his labels Caduceus, Merkin, and AZ Stronghold. Also featuring appearances form supermodel and actress Mila Jovovich, the film is an inspiring and humorous look at a truly enthusiastic spirit of winemaking.
Cast: Maynard James Keenan, Eric Glomski, Milla Jovovich, Tim Heidecker
Directed by: Ryan Page, Christopher Pomerenke