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Distant Journey
Czechoslovakia, 1949, 99 min.
Over the years, the stature of this unaccountably neglected masterpiece has grown. It is one of the few films that succeed in making the horror and inexplicable reality of the concentration camp universe come alive by blending documentary with intentionally intensified, non-realist film techniques d... more
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Fateless
Hungary, 2005, 141 min.
Adapted by Nobel laureate Imré Kertesz from his 1975 autobiographical novel, Fateless dares to aestheticize the concentration camp experience in a more provocative manner than -- in many critics' opinions -- Schindler's List. Cinematographer Lajos Koltai's directorial debut follows young Gyor... more
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La Maison de Nina
France, 2005, 113 min.
Writer-director Richard Dembo (who died during the production) offers a moving tribute to Nina’s “house of hope,” one of many orphanages established outside Paris at the end World War II. The residents are largely secular French Jews, but later concentration camp refugees begin to arrive from Poland... more
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La Petite Jérusalem
France, 2005, 97 min.
A young Orthodox Jewish woman puts her faith in the Torah and the classic works of European philosophy until neither suffices in the face of sexual desire. This keenly acted film juggles big issues, frank contextual nudity, the matter-of-fact specter of anti-Semitism in contemporary France, and more... more
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The Last Moon
Chile, 2005, 106 min.
Miguel Littin, a descendant of Palestinian Christian immigrants to Chile, tells the dynamic story of two friends, the Jew Jacob and the Christian Palestinian Soliman, caught up in the beginnings of the Middle East conflict after the First World War.... more
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Marock
France, 2005, 101 min.
Seventeen-year-old Rita is smitten with the flashy Youri who she meets at a club in Morocco. But Youri is Jewish and Rita's brother, with his more devout approach to Islam, is watching her every move. This debut feature captures teenage passions set against the Casblanca playground of the rich where... more
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Melting Siberia
Israel, 2005, 76 min.
A poignant documentary in the mold of last year's audience favorite Watermarks, this explores familial wounds that may fade but never die. Director Ido Haar instigates a search for his mother's father, a Red Army hero who abandoned his grandmother when she was pregnant, never to be heard from... more
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Sophie Scholl - the Final Days
Germany, 2005, 118 min.
Winner of the German audience award for best film of 2005, Marc Rothemund's beautifully acted drama tells the true story of Sophie Scholl, the young student who became the most famous martyr of the anti-Nazi White Rose resistance movement in 1943 Munich. Julia Jentsch's brilliant lead performance an... more
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Thirst
Israel, 2005, 111 min.
In this expressively shot first feature, Thirst represents far more than a craving for water... it is a longing for education, for liberty, for love, for revenge. Made by an Palestinian/Israeli director with an Palestinian cast and an Israeli crew.... more
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Year Zero
Israel, 2005, 132 min.
This provocative adult drama, in some ways reminiscent of the American film Crash, offers multiple interconnected stories of modern Israel that show people at a turning point in their lives as they struggle to redeem themselves from various crimes and misdemeanors. Featuring a fine cast and u... more
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