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The Circus
USA, 1928, 72 min.
A rarely seen masterpiece featuring two of the greatest comic sequences ever filmed. The lovable Tramp finds work as a circus janitor, only to be drafted in to replace the wayward headliners. With a score composed by Chaplin at age 79, this is one of the must-see events of the festival.... more
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Cowboy Del Amor
USA, 2005, 88 min.
This exquisite documentary follows self-proclaimed "cowboy cupid" Ivan Thompson as he plays matchmaker to American bachelors looking for Mexican brides. Academy Award nominated director Michèle Ohayon (Colors Straight Up) deftly turns what could have been a kitschy portrayal into a complex, m... more
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The Devil and Daniel Johnston
USA, 2005, 110 min.
Winner of the Best Director of a Documentary award at Sundance, this remarkable film looks at the life of indie music icon Daniel Johnston, an exquisite talent who continues to struggle with mental illness. Compelling, sad and uplifting at the same time, this is a serious look at one of America's mu... more
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Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
USA, 2005, 111 min.
Alex Gibney's soberly entertaining documentary is an excellent example of how reality so often trumps fiction. The film exposes the voracious culture of greed, the web of corporate collusion, and the blatant loopholes of government's corporate policy that enabled the America's largest bankruptcy.... more
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Expiration Date
USA, 2006, 95 min.
This beguiling comedy revolves around the impending fate of Charles Silvercloud III, a stoic young man whose father and grandfather were both killed in bizarre accidents on their 25th birthdays. As Charlie's own ill-fated birthday approaches, he prepares to meet his maker. But things take an unexpec... more
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Favela Rising
USA, 2005, 79 min.
This lively musical documentary charts the transformational effects of AfroReggae music in one favela shantytown in Rio de Janeiro, offering a portrait of the power of music to remake a troubled community into a place of celebration and hope.... more
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Hard Candy
USA, 2005, 104 min.
The spine-chilling exploration of sexual politics, vengeance and justice in Hard Candy is bound to inspire controversy. Yet Ellen Page's performance as 14-year-old Hayley Stark is so compelling that one cannot bear to turn away as she becomes involved with a 32-year-old fashion photographer w... more
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Inlaws & Outlaws
USA, 2005, 106 min.
Unconventional couples, both gay and straight, from the Pacific Northwest share their views on marriage and the possibility for long-term relationships. The result is a revelatory illustration of how individuality and independence can be the most important ingredients in any romantic match.... more
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The Long Weekend
USA, 2005, 92 min.
Jackass meets American Pie in this irreverent comedy about two very different brothers. Overworked and undersexed advertising exec Ed Waxman must come up with a brilliant advertising campaign in 48 hours or risk being fired. His playboy brother is determined to get Ed laid, thus settin... more
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Mad Hot Ballroom
USA, 2005, 111 min.
Follow New York City's 5th graders as they learn to rumba, tango, foxtrot and swing dance. Emphasizing that special age between childhood and adolescence, and the cultural diversity of NYC, this documentary grips us with tension, triumph and heartbreak as the kids compete in a citywide competition.... more
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Moonrise
USA, 1948, 91 min.
An angst-ridden Southern boy kills his lifelong persecutor and buries the body. A persistent sheriff and his own tortured conscience hound him. Director Borzage brings a poetic visual style to this rural noir drama, one of the most brilliant -- and under-appreciated -- films of the 1940s. Noir autho... more
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Mrs. Harris
USA, 2005, 96 min.
The tragic true-life story of Jean Harris, the brittle girls school headmistress, who murdered her lover, Scarsdale Diet guru Dr. Herbert Tarnower in the 1980s, receives a multi-toned treatment by playwright Phyllis Nagy in her first feature. The film brims with memorable star cameos.... more
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Murderball
USA, 2005, 86 min.
Quad rugby, aka "murderball," is played by quadriplegics in customized wheelchairs that resemble something out of Mad Max. It's a full-contact sport, played with manic intensity by super-competitive jocks. Murderball looks on-court and off at the indomitable spirit of true athletes. ... more
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My Bollywood Bride
USA, 2006, 90 min.
Alex fell in love with the girl next door. Trouble is, 'next door' is India and 'the girl' is Bollywood's biggest film star.
"My Bollywood Bride" tells the story of Alex, a Venice Beach copy writer that dreams of being a novelist who meets and romances Indian beauty, Reena, while she is on a vacat... more
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The New World
USA, 2005, 151 min.
This sweeping adventure, focusing on the first encounter of European and Native American cultures during the founding of the Jamestown, Virginia settlement in 1607, brings to life the classic tale of Indian princess Pocahontas and her relationship with adventurer John Smith, a story which forms the ... more
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The Notorious Bettie Page
USA, 2005, 101 min.
Gretchen Mol turns in a dazzling performance -- exuberant, innocent and sexy, all at the same time -- as 1950s pin-up icon Bettie Page, the dark-haired beauty who ended up posing in the nude with a whip, in Mary Harron's (I Shot Andy Warhol) gorgeously rendered black-and-white biopic. Intelli... more
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Occupation: Dreamland
USA, 2005, 79 min.
This melancholy portrait of a squad of American soldiers deployed in the doomed Iraqi city of Falluja during the winter of 2004 offers a revealing look at Army life, operations and the complexity of American war in the 21st century.... more
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Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea - Revisited
USA, 2005, 72 min.
Squatters, nudists, retirees, and barflies all speak their piece about the resort/mistake/ecological nightmare that is the man-made lake in the Southern California desert that they call home.... more
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Pursuit of Equality
USA, 2005, 82 min.
Geoff Callan and Mike Shaw's documentary looks behind the scenes at San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom's 2004 decision to allow gay couples to marry. The elation, the controversy, the court's decision to shut things down, Bush, Schwarzenegger, Rosie O'Donnell -- they're all here in this thoroughly eng... more
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Shakespeare Behind Bars
USA, 2005, 93 min.
Take Shakespeare's final play, The Tempest, cast it with a group of inmates who are part of an innovative rehabilitation program at Kentucky's Luther Lucket prison, and watch the sparks fly. This revelatory film about a group of hard-timers coming to grips with their past actions in the course of pr... more
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Street Fight
USA, 2005, 84 min.
A political documentary of the first order, Marshall Curry's feature debut chronicles the down-and-dirty 2002 race for mayor of Newark, New Jersey, fought between incumbent Sharpe James and rising-star city councilman Cory Booker. Audience members will shake their heads in disbelief at the tactics o... more
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That Man: Peter Berlin
USA, 2005, 81 min.
An engrossing look at photographer/exhibitionist/Tom of Finland subject/San Francisco fixture Peter Berlin, who is described as a living cartoon and "The Garbo of male porn stars." Interviews with Armistead Maupin and a flabbergasted John Waters round out this tragicomic glimpse of a true original.... more
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The Virgin of Juarez
USA, 2006, 91 min.
The murders of nearly 400 women in the Mexican city of Juarez over the last decade form the basis for this taut tale of a Los Angeles investigative reporter (Minnie Driver) who travels to the border town intent on uncovering the truth behind the brutal crimes. ... more
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Zizek!
USA, 2005, 82 min.
This exuberant documentary features the “wild man of theory,” eminent Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek, whose critique of pop culture has gained him rock-star status. The film trails this brilliant eccentric as he traverses the globe, expounding on ideology, belief, revolution, and love, filling a... more
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