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About Elly
Iran, 2009, 119 min.
In his fourth feature, talented writer/director Asghar Farhadi casts a revealing light on the elaborate culture of deceit that's part and parcel of modern Iranian society with a gripping drama about upper-middle-class Tehranis on a catastrophic seaside holiday.... more
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Altiplano
Belgium, 2009, 109 min.
A ravishingly shot environmental drama set in the High Andes of Peru. When a mysterious sickness afflicts a remote village, the superstitious inhabitants' fears turn to anger, which they direct against a team of European medics until one young woman learns the sinister truth about the source.... more
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Artois the Goat
USA, 2009, 110 min.
Lab technician Virgil embarks on an epic quest to create the greatest goat cheese the world has ever known and reclaim the heart of his beloved Angie. A felonious German baker, a grave-digging hermit and a tiny white goat color this journey of love, destiny and dairy products.... more
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Best of Times
Thailand, 2009, 118 min.
From the director of Iron Ladies (PSIFF 2002), this bittersweet romantic comedy uses the stories of two couples to show two kinds of love: the kind one wants to forget but will always remember, and the kind one always wants to remember but will ultimately forget.... more
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The Big Gay Musical
USA, 2009, 90 min.
Tackling themes of love vs. sex, and featuring a real Broadway musical cast and a cameo by Michael Musto, excellent musical numbers and quality performances distinguish The Big Gay Musical as an icon of the genre. You'll leave the theater smiling and humming the tunes.... more
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A Brand New Life
South Korea, 2009, 92 min.
It's 1975. Jinhee is nine years old, and the life she knows is about to be shattered. Inexplicably abandoned by her father in a Catholic orphanage outside Seoul, Jinhee begins an extraordinary emotional journey marked by rage and hope, death and rebirth.... more
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Bride Flight
Netherlands, 2008, 130 min.
Fifty years after they met on a flight to New Zealand, where they were headed to join their already-settled fiancés, three women meet at the funeral of a fellow passenger and discover just how intertwined their lives have been over the past half century.... more
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Broken Promise
Slovakia, 2009, 129 min.
Sheer luck and special skills help a Jewish Slovak adolescent survive the WWII years in this gripping Holocaust drama. Like Agnieszka Holland's Europa Europa and Lajos Koltai's Fateless, it traces an Eastern European youth's painful fight for survival.... more
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Chamaco (The Kid)
Mexico, 2009, 97 min.
Abner is trapped in the rough life of Mexico City. His escape? Boxing. Dr. Frank Irwin (Martin Sheen) and his son Jimmy, a pro boxer, come together to teach Abner that the heart fuels the punches we throw in life.... more
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Dawson, Island 10
Chile, 2009, 117 min.
After the 1973 coup that deposed Allende and brought Pinochet to power in Chile, the former members of his cabinet are imprisoned on Dawson Island, the world's southernmost concentration camp. Veteran filmmaker Miguel Littin follows the ordeal of these men who are determined to survive.... more
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Draft Dodgers
Luxembourg, 2009, 97 min.
When the Nazis annex Luxembourg, François must make a choice: either be conscripted and fight the Allies on the Russian front, or become a draft dodger living underground. This gritty psychological drama depicts a world in which his fascist father and shackled nation are weapons in a war.... more
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Dumbstruck
USA, 2010, 85 min.
At the annual Vent Haven Convention in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky, ventriloquism capital of the world, director Mark Goffman discovers five extraordinary characters straight out of a Christopher Guest mockumentary. But in this delightful, it's-all-true documentary, the characters are real.... more
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Dzi Croquettes
Brazil, 2009, 95 min.
Dzi Croquettes is a revealing documentary about a Brazilian dance and theater group resembling an all-male, 1970s version of the Ziegfeld Follies. Banned by the ruling military dictatorship, they used their empowering sexuality to revolutionize the gay movement worldwide.... more
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The Eclipse
Ireland, 2009, 88 min.
Caught in an unlikely love triangle, a widower with two young kids (Ciarán Hinds, Munich), a beautiful author of supernatural fiction (Iben Hjejle, High Fidelity), and a pompous pop novelist (Aidan Quinn) are forced to deal with their own ghosts.... more
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Eyes Wide Open
Israel, 2009, 90 min.
A taboo-breaking drama about a married butcher who falls in love with a seductive younger man in Jerusalem's insular ultra-orthodox community. It's shocking to see the extremes community leaders take to insure conformity in their compact, rigidly ordered world.... more
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Father and Guns
Canada, 2009, 106 min.
Jacques and Mark are cops who just don't get along. Unfortunately they are also father and son. When they are assigned as an undercover team to infiltrate an outdoor adventure group-therapy camp for fathers and sons, hilarity ensues. An American remake is already in the works.... more
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Fish Tank
United Kingdom, 2009, 124 min.
First-time actress Katie Jarvis gives an electrifying performance as a troubled teen with a passion for dance who develops a crush on her mother's new boyfriend in this bleak yet poetic tale of life and lust on an English housing estate. Winner, Jury Prize, Cannes Film Festival.... more
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Fortapasc
Italy, 2009, 110 min.
A striking recreation of the life of Giancarlo Siani, a young journalist whacked in 1985 by the Neapolitan mob for digging too deeply into their affairs.... more
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The Front Line
Italy, 2009, 100 min.
The fictionalized story of Sergio Segio and Susanna Ronconi, a modern-day Marxist Bonnie and Clyde who terrorized Italy in the 1970s through their extreme left-wing terrorist organization Primea Linea. An insightful examination of the terrorist mind.... more
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Garbage Dreams
USA, 2009, 79 min.
With no organized sanitation in Cairo, the Zabbaleen, a minority group in Egypt, have for generations collected and recycled the city's garbage. Now, suddenly, foreign companies move in, recycling ceases, and the three Zabbaleen boys have to fight for their families' survival.... more
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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Sweden, 2009, 152 min.
From the best-selling novel, this gripping thriller brings to mind both The Silence of the Lambs and Se7en in its tale of an investigative journalist trying to crack a 40-year-old murder that may have been the work of a still-at-large serial killer.... more
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The Great Contemporary Art Bubble
United Kingdom, 2009, 96 min.
The beginning of the 21st century saw an unprecedented boom in the contemporary art market -- then an unprecedented collapse. Documentarian/art critic Ben Lewis bounces around the globe, interviewing the art world's biggest stars and uncovering an extraordinary world.... more
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Handsome Harry
USA, 2009, 95 min.
An all-male study in gay denial, featuring a roster of gifted character actors, Handsome Harry is a psychological mystery about lost love, forgiveness and the stifling effect the "code of silence" has over men and their relationships.... more
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The Happiness of Kati
Thailand, 2009, 105 min.
With the impending death of her mother, a young girl living with her adoring grandparents completes the puzzle of her past and discovers the reason that her mother gave her up as a baby. A delicate and touching adaptation of one of Thailand's most beloved novels.... more
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Harry Brown
United Kingdom, 2009, 97 min.
When the escalating gang violence of his public-housing neighborhood leads to the death of his best friend, aging Royal Marines veteran Harry Brown's (Michael Caine) contempt for the ineffectual forces of the local law sees him turn vigilante with devastating results.... more
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Heliopolis
Egypt, 2009, 96 min.
An honest and important expression of a generation's fight for their dreams in the face of harsh realities, Ahmad Abdalla's ensemble drama focuses a sharp critique of Egyptian society matched by a nostalgia-drenched longing for life before the 1952 Revolution.... more
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Hipsters
Russia, 2009, 125 min.
Moscow, 1955. Incurring the wrath of all the grim-faced Soviets in Russia isn't enough to stop a group of splashy young swingers from showing their true colors. Hipsters is a tender love story wrapped in an infectiously fun musical.... more
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Home
Switzerland, 2008, 97 min.
Marthe and Michel live with their kids on the edge of a near-completed freeway. When the road is suddenly opened up to traffic, the noise and pollution threatens to destroy the family unit. Ursula Meier's absurd comedy -- a "road movie in reverse" -- brilliantly redefines the meaning of home.... more
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I Love You Phillip Morris
USA, 2009, 100 min.
Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor are madly in love in this deliriously daring and hilariously entertaining story of a con man (Carrey) continually breaking out of jail to be with his man (McGregor). Unlike anything else you will see this year. From the writers of the deliciously subversive Bad Santa... more
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In My Father's Country
Australia, 2008, 80 min.
In one of the most remote corners of indigenous Australia a boy will soon become a man. Following preparations for the ritual, the film shows the life lessons he receives from his father and grandfather.... more
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Involuntary
Sweden, 2008, 98 min.
A quirky comedy about the nature of group dynamics. Two teenage girls take risqué pictures and get drunk; a group of young men experiment with sex; a righteous teacher tries to set things right; and a bus driver holds a group of passengers prisoner.... more
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Jaffa
Israel, 2009, 105 min.
This absorbing melodrama plays like a Middle Eastern Romeo and Juliet. When tragedy strikes mere hours before Mali, a teenage Jewish girl and Taufik, her Arab sweetheart (and employee in her father's garage) are to elope, years of trust between employer and employees is shattered.... more
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Junior
USA, 2009, 77 min.
Eddie "Junior" Belasco, 75, and Josey, his 99-year-old mother, might make the most co-dependent and heartwarming pair since Big Edie and Little Edie of Grey Gardens fame. Jenna Rosher's touching, laugh-out-loud documentary perfectly captures their endearing relationship for the ages.... more
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Kelin (The Daughter-in-Law)
Kazakhstan, 2009, 84 min.
This remarkably visual tale of love and desire is set in the rugged steppe of ancient Kazakhstan and involves a beautiful bride, two competing suitors and a formidable shaman as a mother-in-law. Completely without dialogue, but not without sound, the film substitutes texture for language.... more
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Kimjongilia
France, 2009, 75 min.
N.C. Heikin's documentary gives long overdue voice to those who've suffered under Kim Jong-il's reign. The film maintains a furious tone as it playfully mixes interviews, dance performances, propaganda films and animation. The result is a devastating indictment of one of the world's worst dictators.... more
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Landscape No. 2
Slovenia, 2009, 90 min.
A killer representing an ugly, unresolved and nearly forgotten chapter of post-WWII history confronts a cynical, amoral Everyman in Landscape No. 2. Played realistically yet with a wink to Grand Guignol theatrics, this audacious, superbly crafted, contemporary horror film spiced with humor.... more
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The Last Days of Emma Blank
Netherlands, 2009, 90 min.
Emma Blank is waiting for her death. So are her servants. The staff of Blank's isolated country home has long submitted to her venomous attitude and irrational whims with an eye on an inheritance, but the truth about this way-offbeat household will slowly be revealed in this pitch-black comedy.... more
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Letters to Father Jacob
Finland, 2009, 74 min.
In the latest from the talent behind the PSIFF 2006 Audience Award Winner, a simple but transcendent story about faith and human frailty achieves a state of grace. A tough ex-con temporarily serving as an amanuensis for a blind pastor in rural Finland.... more
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The Long Night
Syria, 2009, 93 min.
Three long-term political prisoners are suddenly released -- but why, and what awaits them? Elegant and cinematic, this intelligent political drama offers a searing indictment of contemporary Syrian life and politics, yet is universal in its intellectual, political and moral fury.... more
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Looking for Eric
United Kingdom, 2009, 116 min.
Lauded director Ken Loach's (The Wind That Shakes the Barley) whimsical dramedy centers on miserable postman Eric Bishop, whose only joy is the Manchester United football team. The team's former star Eric Cantona magically materializes in his bedroom to offer advice.... more
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Lucky Country
Australia, 2009, 96 min.
A gripping thriller set in 1902 in the wild Australian outback, where a desperate family on the brink of ruin find themselves turning on each other after three strangers arrive at their farm with rumors of gold.... more
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The Man Beyond the Bridge
India, 2009, 96 min.
A lonely forest guard comes across a filthy, mentally challenged woman outside his house. After his initial disgust, he slowly gets used to her visits and starts to care for her. However, when she becomes pregnant the villagers question his right to do so.... more
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A Matter of Principles
Argentina, 2009, 110 min.
A man with seemingly unwavering ethics is challenged by his new boss, who believes everyone has a price and is willing to prove it. In this Capra-esque tale no one leaves unscathed when principles and pragmatism collide.... more
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Max Manus
Norway, 2009, 118 min.
This rousing widescreen historical epic celebrates the deeds of one of Norway's most daring WWII-era resistance fighters: Max Manus, a man with no formal education, who led a life of derring-do that seems tailor-made for the movies.... more
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Mediterranean Food
Spain, 2009, 102 min.
Mediterranean Food is a delightful romantic comedy prepared with the finest ingredients: a pure heart, a sexy cast and a lot of delectable haute cuisine. This cordial love triangle falls between an impulsive woman, her undemanding husband and her seductive mentor.... more
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Mother
South Korea, 2009, 128 min.
Korean master Bong Joon-Ho's follow-up to The Host is an equally exhilarating and blackly humorous work, this one a jaw-dropping melodrama about an obsessive mother fighting to prove that her emotionally stunted son is innocent of the brutal murder of a local girl.... more
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My Neighbor, My Killer
USA, 2009, 80 min.
Since 2001, the Gacaca Tribunals in Rwanda have tried to reconcile the victims and the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide; Anne Aghion has been there documenting things from the beginning. Here she shows predominantly female survivors confronting the men who murdered their families.... more
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My Queen Karo
Belgium, 2009, 103 min.
Moved from Belgium to the chaos of a 1974 Amsterdam artists' commune, a precocious 10-year-old witnesses the disintegration of her parents' marriage in this compelling coming-of-age story.... more
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North
Norway, 2009, 78 min.
Aptly billed as "an antidepressive off-road movie," this wry comic drama follows an anxious ex-skiing ace as he reluctantly journeys through spectacular arctic landscapes and reconnects with life. Magnificently visual, with deadpan acting and a quirky economy of style.... more
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Only When I Dance
Brazil, 2009, 78 min.
Two teenage ballet dancers from the favelas of Rio are determined to dance their way to a better life, but to do so they must overcome prejudice, doubt and better-trained performers. This inspiring documentary follows their path to beat the odds and attain their dream of making it.... more
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