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Abu, Son of Adam
India, 2011, 101 min.
In this gentle tale of irrepressible hope, an aging South Indian Muslim couple decides to sacrifice everything to make a once in a lifetime religious pilgrimage to Mecca. Winner: Gold Lotus (Best Film), Indian National Film Awards.... more
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All Your Dead Ones
Colombia, 2011, 88 min.
A suspenseful social thriller in which a Colombian farmer finds a pile of dead bodies in his cornfield. When no one wants to go to the trouble of conducting a serious investigation, his predicament becomes increasingly absurd.... more
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Almanya, Welcome to Germany
Germany, 2011, 97 min.
Neatly structured into two interwoven time frames, this charming, colorfully styled comedy centers on multiple generations of a German-Turkish clan, and derives its touching, laugh-out-loud humor from cultural misunderstandings and the question of what constitutes national identity. Winner: Best Fil... more
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Asma’a
Egypt, 2011, 96 min.
Devout, careworn widow Asma’a has a secret. She is HIV-positive in a world where the disease is still stigmatized. Ultimately, the host of a daring TV show inspires Asma’a to speak out and fight back – both against her illness and social ignorance.... more
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Attenberg
Greece, 2010, 95 min.
Influenced by everything from Monty Python to Bresson to contemporary performance art, Tsangari’s minimalist chronicle of a sexually naïve young woman, her dying father, and her uninhibited female friend is strange, funny, moving, and altogether unique.... more
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August
USA, 2011, 100 min.
Two years after a painful break up, Troy returns to LA and invites his ex lover Jonathan for coffee. Jonathan is in a new relationship now, but he finds Troy hard to resist – and very persistent. A probing, sensual tug of war ensues….... more
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Baikonur
Kazakhstan, 2011, 95 min.
“Whatever falls from heaven, you may keep,” says the Kazakh proverb. Living downwind from the Baikonur space center means collecting space debris—including an amnesiac female French astronaut—for young Kazakh Iskander. A charming and funny modern fairytale.... more
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Beast
Denmark, 2011, 83 min.
An obsessive, destructive love transforms a caring husband into a bloodthirsty beast in this perversely fascinating psychodrama. Beast boasts sharp dialogue, strong performances, plenty of tense and troubling moments and atmosphere in spades.Contains scenes of disturbing violence. ... more
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Bert Stern, Original Madman
USA, 2011, 93 min.
Bert Stern, the original “mad man” photographer, sheds light on a fascinating, topsy-turvy life and career that took him from the mailroom to the heights of success as one of the most celebrated photographers of the 1950s and beyond.... more
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Beyond
Finland, 2010, 94 min.
Acclaimed actress Pernilla August makes her writing/directing debut with this compassionate look at a woman forced to confront her dark childhood as the daughter of bitter, hard-drinking Finnish immigrants. Winner, Audience Award, Critic’s Week Venice Film Festival.... more
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Black Bread
Spain, 2010, 108 min.
A return visit for this 2010 festival favorite, Spain’s 2011 Oscar® entry. Andreu, a ten-year-old boy, has to confront a world of adults nourished by lies, myths, wicked crimes and painful revelations. Note: contains a scene that may offend animal-lovers, though no animals were harmed in the shootin... more
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Blood of My Blood
Portugal, 2011, 140 min.
Two sisters living in a working class neighborhood of Lisbon fight heroically for the future of their family when their children threaten to go off the rails in this striking drama, at once fiercely naturalistic and highly stylized.... more
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Bol
Pakistan, 2011, 165 min.
The gripping story of a large, predominantly female family controlled by a domineering Muslim father, while an enlightened doctor played by local “King of Pop” Atif Aslam shows a different, more positive side of life in Pakistan.... more
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Breathing
Austria, 2011, 90 min.
A juvenile prisoner toils at day-release work that could help win him parole. That this employment happens to be in Vienna's morgue gives the film its highly individual flavor, while the morbid setting neatly coaxes catharsis from the impassive protagonist. ... more
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Brightness
Burkina Faso, 1987, 105 min.
LISTED IN ARCHIVAL SECTION. (no copy for Desert Sun)... more
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The British Guide to Showing Off
United Kingdom, 2011, 97 min.
A colorful, exuberant salute to Andrew Logan, the founder of the "Alternative Miss World Contest", a flamboyant, gender-bending beauty pageant which has run in Britain since 1972. A joyful celebration of creativity and difference.... more
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Bullhead
Belgium, 2011, 124 min.
As astoundingly muscular in style as it is in subject, this assured debut drama is anchored by a mesmerizing performance from Matthias Schoenaerts as a steroid-addicted Belgian cattle farmer tangled up in the illegal trade in growth-hormone-laced beef.... more
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By the Fire
Chile, 2011, 95 min.
A Chilean couple, Daniel and Alejandra, decide to buy a piece of land and move out to the country. But they must fight all manner of adversities to make their dream of a new life together come true.... more
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Cafe de Flore
Canada, 2011, 120 min.
Returning to the flamboyant, pop-driven style of his debut hit C.R.A.Z.Y., Jean-Marc Vallée fashions twin love stories-one in Paris in the 60s, one in present-day Montreal-that bounce off each other in unexpected and sometimes devastating ways.... more
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Cairo 678
Egypt, 2010, 100 min.
Tackling the issue of sexual harassment, which continues to plague Egyptian society, this social issues drama focuses on three women from different backgrounds. Cairo 678 forces viewers to question assumptions and prejudices while refusing to offer up easy answers.... more
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Cairo Station/ the Iron Gate
Egypt, 1958, 77 min.
LISTED IN ARCHIVAL SECTION... more
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California State of Mind: The Legacy of Pat Brown
USA, 2010, 90 min.
An illuminating and personal portrait of Gov. Edmund G “Pat” Brown, the patriarch of the so-called “West Coast Kennedys” and one of California’s most important governors, by his granddaughter Sascha Rice.... more
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Carol Channing: Larger Than Life
USA, 2011, 88 min.
A glittering celebration of the irrepressible Queen of Broadway, a human dynamo who still lives life large even as she approaches 90. An all-star cast share fond memories while copious clips revive Channing’s greatest hits.... more
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Chronicle of My Mother
Japan, 2011, 119 min.
Masato’s moving, impeccably acted period drama about the relationship between a self-centered writer and his aging mother draws from an autobiographical novel by Inoue Yasushi.... more
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Cloudburst
Canada, 2011, 93 min.
Oscar-winning actresses Brenda Fricker and Olympia Dukakis play aging lovers forced to go on the run in order to stay together in this uproarious dramedy which has much to say about the true nature of love and commitment.... more
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Cold Steel
China, 2011, 101 min.
John Woo protege David Wu weaves a touching love story against the intense conflict of the second Sino-Japanese War in this compelling adaptation of the bestselling novel by Xio Min Lee.... more
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The Conformist
Italy, 1970, 107 min.
LISTED IN ARCHIVAL SECTION.... more
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Cousinhood
Spain, 2011, 98 min.
A raucous romantic comedy in which Diego, a handsome but immature Spaniard, gets dumped by his fiancée a few days before his wedding. His best friends take him on an alternately sweet and hilarious road trip to reconnect with Martina, his first love.... more
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David
USA, 2011, 80 min.
A charming coming of age tale promoting tolerance and cross-cultural understanding, David bridges one of the world's defining sociopolitical rifts when a young Muslim Brooklynite semi-accidentally passes as Jewish.... more
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Declaration of War
France, 2011, 100 min.
Taking a serious story about a couple whose baby is diagnosed with cancer, Donzelli turns expectations upside-down by using the jump cuts, musical numbers, bright color palette, and low-budget enthusiasm of the New Wave to fashion a delightful and moving gem.... more
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Diana Vreeland: The Eye has to Travel
USA, 2011, 86 min.
Both the inventor and embodiment of the term "pizzazz", Diana Vreeland ruled over the editorial content of Harper's Bazaar and Vogue for decades. This tribute to one of our greatest style icons blends archival material and interviews with fashion luminaries with a chic, assured hand.... more
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Dolphin Boy
Israel, 2011, 72 min.
From the director of Palm Springs favorite 39 Pounds of Love comes a true story of a father’s tender love and the healing power of nature. An Arab teenager who suffers a brutal attack is helped to heal through dolphin-assisted therapy.... more
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Edwin Boyd
Canada, 2011, 105 min.
Canada’s very own “public enemy number one”, Boyd was a WWII vet who turned to bank robbery when all else failed. Morlando’s debut film is a spry, energetic entertainment and not unsympathetic to its antihero’s plight. Winner: Best Canadian First Feature, Toronto.... more
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Elena
Russia, 2011, 109 min.
An engrossing yarn about a coveted inheritance, cruel class differences and quietly monstrous misdeeds, Elena paints a chilling portrait of Russia’s post-Communist consumer society as culture entirely lacking in morality. Winner: Special Jury Prize, A Certain Regard, Cannes Film Festival.... more
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Eliminate: Archie Cookson
United Kingdom, 2011, 91 min.
This dry-as-Melba Toast, droll British meta-thriller is a wry delight, boasting a fabulously spot-on performance from British character actor Rhys as a washed up spy who comes into possession of a life-threatening secret, and is granted 48 hours to put his house in order.... more
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Elite Squad: The Enemy Within
Brazil, 2010, 115 min.
A top cop’s spectacular war on Rio drug gangs uncovers a web of corruption. The highest-grossing Brazilian film ever, this sequel to Padilha’s 2007 hit offers the heart-pounding adrenalin rush of the best action films without sacrificing complexity and realism.... more
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Escort in Love
Italy, 2011, 95 min.
A spoiled rich bitch left in straitened circumstances by her husband's death turns to the world's oldest profession to earn some necessary dough in this cheerfully non-PC sex comedy brimming with witty dialogue, funny sight-gags and savvy comic performances. ... more
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First Position
USA, 2011, 90 min.
Filled with drama, tension and suspense, this enormously satisfying documentary follows six gifted ballet students from disparate social, regional, economic and ethnic backgrounds as they prepare for the Youth America Grand Prix, a prestigious competition where the world’s top dance companies and sc... more
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Foreverland
Canada, 2011, 95 min.
Twenty-one-year-old Will is doing his best to cope with his Cystic Fibrosis, but it’s only when he’s tasked with transporting a friend’s ashes 2000 miles down the West Coast to a shrine in Baja that he learns to really live.... more
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The Forgiveness of Blood
Albania, 2011, 109 min.
Tradition and modernity collide in this inexorable drama filmed in Albania from the director of Maria Full of Grace. A blood feud forces teenager Nik to remain hidden in the family home—something a young man experiencing first love finds impossible to do.... more
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The Front Line
Korea, South, 2011, 133 min.
A superbly realized Korean War drama that subverts traditional “war is hell” expectations, Jang’s surprising work focuses on a young commander sent to the front to investigate an officer’s suspicious death. What he finds both disturbs and fascinates him….... more
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Generation P
Russia, 2011, 116 min.
A poet manqué rises to the top of the corporate heap in 1990s Russia in this delirious satire of post-Soviet culture, a drug-fueled rollercoaster ride through the era of Wild West capitalism, gangsters, oligarchs, and political puppets. Kaleidoscopic and demented, by turns.... more
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The Goddess
India, 1960, 93 min.
LISTED IN ARCHIVAL SECTION.... more
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Goodbye First Love
France, 2011, 110 min.
Exploring themes of loss, the passage of time, and emotional unrest, Goodbye First Love begins with a passionate romance between 15-year-old Camille and Sullivan, a free-spirited older boy. But eight years after he left her for Argentina, what remains of their love? ... more
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The Good Son
Finland, 2011, 88 min.
The destructive relationship between a profoundly narcissistic film star mother and her teenage son is at the center of Zaisa Bergroth’s striking combination of blackly comic showbiz satire and serious psychological drama.... more
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Guilty
France, 2011, 101 min.
In 2001 Alain Marecaux (Philippe Torreton) and his wife are arrested as part of a child sex ring. His protestations of innocence count for nothing. This gripping true story show how his life is torn apart in a scandalous miscarriage of justice. ... more
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Gypsy
Slovak Republic, 2011, 107 min.
The bruising life of a Roma teen takes on shades of Hamlet in this poignant and beautifully rendered humanist drama, spliced with moments of magical realism. Winner: Special Jury Prize, Karlovy Vary Film Festival.... more
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Habibi
Palestine, 2011, 78 min.
The first fiction feature set in Gaza in over 15 years offers a story of forbidden love. Can Qays, a poet from the refugee camp, build a future with Layla, the daughter of a traditional, religious family?... more
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Happy New Year, Grandma!
Spain, 2011, 107 min.
In this hilarious Spanish black comedy, a family conspires to put an increasingly demanding grandma in a nursing home against her daughter’s wishes– but the old lady uses her ruthless skills of manipulation to unimaginable extremes. ... more
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Headhunters
Norway, 2011, 100 min.
A stylish, pacy and sometimes blackly funny adaptation of Jo Nesbo's bestselling Norwegian thriller. When a successful headhunter with a duplicitous life as a con artist seizes on agreat opportunity, nothing goes quite according to plan. ... more
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