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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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The Cats of Mirikitani
USA, 2006, 74 min.
When filmmaker Linda Hattendorf turned her lens on Jimmy Mirikitani, a homeless octogenarian Japanese-American artist, she got far more than she anticipated: the collapse of the World Trade Center, a family reunion more than 50 years in the making, and a series of small miracles. Audience Award Winn... more
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Curse of the Golden Flower
China, 2007, 118 min.
Zhang Yimou’s third martial arts and CGI extravaganza after Hero (2002) and House of Flying Daggers (2004) juxtaposes a tenth-century Forbidden City of courtly intrigue with superstars Chow Yun Fat, Gong Li, and epic action. Zhang’s trademark sense of primary colors gives the film an i... more
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The Go Master
China, 2006, 104 min.
Renowned filmmaker Tian Zhuangzhuang offers this poetic examination of spiritual resilience in turbulent times, based on the autobiography of international gaming champion Wu Qingyuan, today’s 90-something Go master who experienced much of the 20th century.... more
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The Host
South Korea, 2006, 119 min.
Described by the New York Film Festival as “the decade’s best monster movie,” this slick and effective thriller about a creature rampaging Seoul and the dysfunctional family in pursuit of it has become a worldwide hit. Beneath the film’s scare-fest is a sharp and ironic critique of misdirected emerg... more
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Hula Girls
Japan, 2006, 108 min.
When a recession hits, the women of a coalmining town in 1960s Japan come up with an unlikely solution for economic salvation after a plan to build a leisure spa flounders. They form a smash hit hula dancing team that becomes the desired tourist magnet, in this charming ensemble comedy.... more
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Invisible Waves
Thailand, 2006, 115 min.
Thai filmmaker Pen-ek Ratanaruang (Last Life in the Universe) re-teams with cinematographer Christopher Doyle to produce an eccentric twist on the Japanese yakuza gangster genre in this eccentric meditation on the enigmatic, karmic patterns rippling through life.... more
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King and the Clown
South Korea, 2006, 119 min.
Second on the list of all-time box office champs in South Korea, Jun-Ik Lee’s vibrant period drama follows two street performers whose satirical sketch about the king’s court first lands them in hot water and then leads them to perform for the king himself.... more
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Love for Share
Indonesia, 2006, 120 min.
Three women from different backgrounds deal with polygamy in Indonesia and the predicament of having to share their domestic life and the love of one man with several women and often with humorous consequences.... more
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Migration
Nepal, 2006, 122 min.
Based on the Nepalese magnum opus Basain, Migration paints a vivid picture of a beautiful rural community in Nepal, focusing on one family’s heartrending struggle for survival, before their poverty forces them to leave their home in search of a better life.... more
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The Old Garden
South Korea, 2006, 112 min.
A genuinely moving melodrama, based on the best-selling novel by Hwang Sok-yong, is set against the violent backdrop of the ’80s protest movements in South Korea. After The President's Last Bang’s provocative exploration of the links between sex and power, The Old Garden brilliantly intertwin... more
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Starfish Hotel
Japan, 2006, 98 min.
Starfish Hotel blends American detective fiction and Japanese ghost stories to create an original gothic mystery where an ordinary salesman falls under the spell of the darkland while tracing his wife to an underground brothel.... more
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The Summer Palace
China, 2006, 140 min.
Two students at Beijing University in 1989 fall passionately in love. In the throes of their passionate romance, they barely notice that their country and fellow students are in the midst of an equally passion political upheaval, culminating in the events of Tiananmen Square.... more
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Sway
Japan, 2006, 120 min.
When a successful Tokyo photographer returns to his small town home for his mother’s funeral, a tragic accident puts his brother on trial for murder and forces him to reconsider his current fast-paced life and the slow, tradition-bound world he came from.... more
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Triad Election
Hong Kong, 2006, 92 min.
Acclaimed Hong Kong action director Johnnie To’s sequel to Election (2005) provides a dramatic examination of the triad crime gangs in contemporary Hong Kong, echoing The Godfather Trilogy with its dark, complex tone and sudden shifts into violence.... more
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Twilight Dancers
Philippines, 2006, 112 min.
When Dwight comes to Manila to become a “macho dancer,” stripping down for gay audiences and ogling straight women, he finds that the nightclubs’ bright lights can’t cover up the cruelty of the business. Filled with arch melodramatic plot lines and twists, the film boils over with big emotions and s... more
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Woman on the Beach
South Korea, 2006, 127 min.
Part French New Wave, part Korean, master filmmaker Hong Sang-soo's unexpected and delightful romantic comedy places two women and two men in a fleeting romance that lasts one night. Featuring a luminous performance by superstar TV actress Go Hyun-jung, the film is his most enjoyable and satisfying ... more
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