A Dinner for Them to Meet
Italy, 2006, 108 min.
This Cannes Film Festival winner features a family of three, who were abandoned by the wife/mother of the family. When she returns unexpectedly, the son, Tommy, along with his sister Viola and their father, try to cope with unexpected changes and growing pains with determination and unspoken love fo... more

After the Wedding
Denmark, 2006, 120 min.
When Jacob, (played by Mads Mikkelsen, the arch villain in the recent Bond film Casino Royale) who runs a struggling orphanage in Bombay, returns to Denmark to secure new funds, he discovers that his new benefactor has a secret path that will forever alter his charitable present and... more

Agua
Argentina, 2006, 89 min.
Goyo, a former open water swimming champion wrongly accused of doping, is attempting to regain his honor while Chino, a stubborn and disciplined young pool swimmer tries hard to be selected for the national team. Chen is a brilliant child of the Argentinean New Wave.... more

Ahimsa: Stop to Run
Thailand, 2006, 96 min.
With goofy humor and originality, this over-the-top Buddhist karmic thriller takes genre bending to the next level. Ahimsa lives a life of clubs, sex, and drugs until a mysterious red haired man in a red tracksuit appears: his karma.... more

Ahlaam
Iraq, 2006, 110 min.
In Iraq’s first post-Saddam feature, three individuals from a mental hospital are forced to wander the streets of Baghdad after the U.S. invasion destroyed their home. They are stuck between the madness they once were treated for and the madness that now surrounds them. Their dreams, or hallucinatio... more

Allegro
Denmark, 2006, 88 min.
In this cinematic tour de force from Denmark, a concert pianist, Zetterstrøm (Ulrich Thomsen from The Celebration), returns home to Copenhagen and finds himself a lost in a dreamlike odyssey to rediscover the love that he lost many years ago.... more

American Visa
Bolivia, 2006, 90 min.
Simple, honest and earthy, American Visa is the story of a Bolivian English teacher trying to get a visa to the US, in post-9/11 Bolivia. Strong dialogue and contemporary visuals, plus refreshing performances by the Mexican actors Demián Bichir and Kate del Castillo make this a riveting Boliv... more

Antonia
Brazil, 2006, 90 min.
Dynamic, vibrant and life-affirming, Tata Amaral’s third feature, Antonia, describes the ups and downs of a group of female rappers living on the outskirts of São Paulo. Their love of performing and creating music together—despite the many obstacles presented by being poor, black and female... more

Antonio Vivaldi: A Prince in Venice
France, 2006, 95 min.
Infamous in his lifetime not just for his music, but also for his non-conformity, Vivaldi’s genius influenced the shape of musical development long after his death. Made in cooperation with Virgin Music, this sumptuous, unconventional portrait of the composer offers a feast of riches for the eye and... more

August Days
Spain, 2006, 93 min.
This biographical road trip features two brothers, Marc and David, as they embark on a trip in search of a dead friend’s past. This visually sublime film is a languorous stroll through idyllic nature, a strong experience of cinema, as well as a mysterious biographical portrait.... more

Avenue Montaigne
France, 2006, 106 min.
A series of interconnected stories serves as the basis for Danièle Thompson’s breezy, bittersweet and utterly charming Parisian comedy about the lives of the varied characters—rich and poor, famous and unknown—who populate a café on the chic Avenue Montaigne.... more

Aviva My Love
Israel, 2006, 107 min.
From the director of 2004 PSIFF favorite Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi comes a delightful, richly layered story about a woman on the brink of fulfilling her lifelong dream to become a published author, when she finds that her novelist mentor has other plans for her work.... more

Awards Buzz Documentary Shorts Program 1
127 min.
Director Ruby Yang’s The Blood of Yingzhou District (39 min.) is a year in the life of AIDS orphans from China’s Anhui Province. In Lori Benson’s Dear Talula (34 min.), a mother is diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after the birth of her daughter. The Diary of Immaculée (38 m... more

Awards Buzz Documentary Shorts Program 2
128 min.
Leslie Iwerks’ Recycled Life (38 min.) illuminates the lives of the families who inhabit the Guatemala City garbage dump. In Rehearsing a Dream (40 min.), director Karen Goodman follows a group of gifted teenage artists who spend a week with well-known mentors. A man struggles with add... more

Bamako
Mali, 2006, 112 min.
Leading African filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako offers this mock trial set in his hometown of Bamako, Mali. The influence of Western powers over the lives of Africans is called into question, and every argument and counterargument bristles with intense conviction.... more

The Banquet
Hong Kong, 2006, 131 min.
Chinese director Feng Xiaogang’s lavish, tenth century spectacle recalls recent martial arts epics, but its true heart lies in its stately chamber drama intrigue starring popular actors Daniel Wu and Ziyi Zhang, loosely based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet.... more

Beauty in Trouble
Czech Republic, 2006, 110 min.
Another smart comedy from the team responsible for Cosy Dens and Up and Down. Ana Geislerová plays the beauty of the title, whose solution to marital problems, financial crises and family troubles comes in the form of a rich older man. ... more

Before Flying Back to the Earth
Lithuania, 2006, 52 min.
A gracefully expressive journey into the lives of children living with leukemia at a pediatric hospital in Vilnius, Lithuania. Every detail is carefully chosen, composed and edited. A poetic, unsentimental, award-winning documentary about the resilience of the human spirit.... more

Belle Toujours
France, 2006, 70 min.
Thirty-eight years after Buñuel’s Belle de jour, Henri (Michel Piccoli) and Séverine (Bulle Ogier), meet again by chance in an elegant concert hall in Paris. The two have obviously changed, yet Henri seems content to dwell in their perverse past. Oliveira’s elegant style and cunning narrative... more

El Benny
Cuba, 2006, 120 min.
Cuba’s Oscar entry El Benny is based on the life of the famous Cuban musician, Benny Moré. The debut feature by writer/director Jorge Luis Sanchez features new versions of Morés songs performed by contemporary musicians including Chucho Valdes, Juan Formell, Haila and Orishas.... more

The Bet Collector
Philippines, 2006, 98 min.
Three days in the life of Ami (the magnificent Gina Pareño) as she criss-crosses her slum neighbourhood in Manila, taking bets on an underground lucky-numbers draw. This powerful film has already won two festival prizes, giving the surprise revival in Filipino movies another boost.... more

Beyond Hatred
France, 2006, 86 min.
After their gay son is murdered by a gang of skinheads, a close-knit French family tries to move toward understanding and even forgiveness in this devastating documentary. In classic vérité style, director Olivier Meyrou allows this immensely cathartic story to unfold at its own pace without unneces... more

Beyond the Call
USA, 2006, 82 min.
In an Indiana Jones-meets-Mother Teresa adventure, three middle-aged men, former soldiers and modern-day knights, travel the world delivering lifesaving humanitarian aid directly into the hands of civilians and doctors in some of the most dangerous yet beautiful places on Earth, the front lines of... more

Black Book
Netherlands, 2006, 145 min.
Director Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct, Total Recall) returns to Holland to direct this World War II thriller. Rachel, a celebrated Jewish singer—who joins the Dutch resistance to track down the Nazis who killed her family—is caught in a web of seduction, betrayal, and revenge. In this comp... more

Black Butterfly
Peru, 2006, 116 min.
A schoolteacher of privilege, Gabriela, and a cynical tabloid journalist, Ángela, join forces to avenge the politically motivated murder of the teacher’s jurist fiancé during Peru’s corrupt Fujimori regime in a taut character study-cum-political thriller. ... more

Black Irish
USA, 2006, 92 min.
This complex, moving coming-of-age story is about Cole McKay, a 16-year-old South Boston kid trying both to survive and to save his disintegrating Irish-Catholic family that is fueled by alcohol and anger. A brilliant ensemble cast illuminates this ultimately uplifting story.... more

Blindsight
United Kingdom, 2006, 104 min.
This insightful documentary follows a group of blind Tibetan teenagers—outcasts in their culture—as they attempt to hike up the 23,000-foot summit of Lhakpa Ri on the north side of Mount Everest with the aid of a dedicated, mountaineering dream team. Director Lucy Walker captures the monumental land... more

The Blood of Yingzhou District
China, 2006, 39 min.
The Blood of Yingzhou District follows a year in the life of AIDS orphans from China’s Anhui Province.... more

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros
Philippines, 2006, 100 min.
When Maximo, a 12-year-old effeminate Filipino youth, falls for a new cop on his street, all kinds of hell breaks loose for his criminal family and for his sense of who he is and what he wants to become. This independent project was awarded the International Jury Prizes at both the Berlin and Rotter... more

Blue Cha Cha
Taiwan, 2006, 108 min.
Just out of jail, Ah Yu is looking to find her way again in life and love. A former prison mate gives her a job in a girly bar, but the men she meets either think she’s a prostitute or take advantage of her—until one day at the pier she meets a seemingly aloof fisherman who draws an emotional respon... more

The Book of Revelation
Australia, 2006, 117 min.
Ana Kokkinos, whose striking earlier films Only the Brave and Head On gripped audiences at previous editions of PSIFF, here explores a provocative world of desire, sexual power and obsession, in which a charismatic young man is kidnapped by three enigmatic women and subjected to extrem... more

Border Café
Iran, 2006, 105 min.
A widow’s effort to run a truck stop diner near the Iran-Turkey border becomes a lesson in stifling patriarchy. Taking on gender and geography, the film deals with physical and metaphorical borders. A strong script, nuanced acting, and a sharply delineated sociopolitical sense make it as enjoyable a... more

Border Post
Croatia, 2006, 94 min.
This comedy about people on the verge of tragedy unfolds at an army base along the Yugoslav-Albanian border in the spring of 1987. The boring daily routine of the young soldiers suddenly changes when the commanding officer decides to hide a personal problem, namely syphilis, by declaring a state of ... more

The Boss of it All
Denmark, 2006, 100 min.
Danish provocateur Lars von Trier returns with an unexpectedly breezy comedy about a company director who blames his office policies on an imaginary superior, but later must hire an actor to impersonate “the boss of it all.” Von Trier deviously pulls the strings for the unwitting marionettes... more

Bosta
Lebanon, 2006, 112 min.
This rousing Lebanese musical tells the story of college troupe that tours the country in an old bosta (bus), performing a techno version of the national line dance that shocks conservatives, but paves the way for the future. The infectious soundtrack features compositions performed by British group... more

The Bothersome Man
Norway, 2006, 95 min.
Andreas arrives in a strange city with no memory of how he got there. He is presented with a job, an apartment, and soon finds a girlfriend. But before long, he notices that something is wrong. A strong shot of new Nordic humor, this surreal parable won Best Film at the Hamptons International Film F... more

Boy Culture
USA, 2006, 88 min.
In this sharply written gay comedy of manners, a successful male escort begins to rethink his chosen profession, spurred on by newly complex relationships with his younger gung-ho roommate and an older, unusually chivalrous client. Director Q. Allen Brocka’s sophomore directorial effort, following h... more

Buddha’s Lost Children
Netherlands, 2006, 97 min.
Mark Verkerk’s inspirational documentary follows the exploits of a Thai ex kick boxing champ and soldier turned Buddhist monk who for the last 15 years has created a safe haven and given a sense of hope to the children throughout the Golden Triangle.... more