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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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Beautiful Kate
Australia, 2009, 101 min.
Actor Rachel Ward makes a stunningly assured feature writing and directing debut with this emotional drama about a self-hating writer Ned (Ben Mendelsohn) who returns to his childhood home in the Australian Outback in search of answers about his family's dysfunctional past.... more
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Blessed
Australia, 2009, 115 min.
Focusing on the often-fraught bond between mothers and their children, Blessed unfolds in a blue-collar suburb of Melbourne over the course of 24 hours. The intersecting stories are divided into two parts, told from the viewpoint of the troubled offspring and the struggling moms.... 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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Chameleon
Hungary, 2008, 104 min.
A suspenseful psychological thriller, Chameleon centers on a clever con man who targets lonely, disillusioned women, playing on their romantic fantasies. But can the con man be conned if love gets in the way?... more
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City of Borders
USA, 2009, 66 min.
Set during the construction of the separation wall between Israel and the Palestinian territories, City of Borders documents Jerusalem's gay community's struggles to hold a gay pride celebration in the Holy City while the characters, and the country, contend with internal conflicts.... 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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Eamon
Ireland, 2009, 85 min.
A family holiday at the Irish seaside brings the tensions between a little boy with behavioral problems, his selfish mother and sexually frustrated father to a blackly comic peak. An entertainingly horrific, confidently stylized vision of the Oedipus complex in action.... 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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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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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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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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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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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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La Pivellina
Austria, 2009, 100 min.
In an impoverished trailer park on the outskirts of Rome, a small band of social outcasts eke out an existence in the dreary Italian winter. Circus performers Patty and Walter wait patiently for the summer to come, until one day Patty finds a small two-year-old girl standing alone in the rain.... more
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The Making of Plus One with Kate, Cate and George the Story of a Hollywood Nobody
United Kingdom, 2009, 93 min.
A fictional documentary set among the wheelers and dealers behind the scenes at the Cannes Film Festival, this satirical comedy packs a punch and pokes more than a little fun at the celebrity obsession fuelling the modern-day film industry.... more
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The Milk of Sorrow
Peru, 2009, 100 min.
Winner of the Golden Bear for best film at the Berlin festival, this striking and supremely stylish drama deals with the aftermath of the war on terrorism through the story of simple maid Fausta and her attempts to come to grips with her illness of fear.... more
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The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
USA, 2009, 94 min.
On October 1, 1969, Daniel Ellsberg began smuggling a top-secret report about the history of the Vietnam War out of a safe in his office and, ultimately, into the pages of The New York Times. This gripping documentary explores the profound political and legal consequences that followed.... more
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Mugabe and the White African
Namibia, 2009, 94 min.
The tribulations of white farmer Mike Campbell and his family in Mugabe's Zimbabwe are brought to chilling life in this riveting Academy Award-shortlisted documentary. After Mugabe's "land reform" announcement led to farmers being assaulted and chased from their land, the Campbell clan fight.... more
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My Dog Tulip
USA, 2009, 83 min.
This delightful animated adaptation of J.R. Ackerley's quirky 1947 memoir looks at the loving relationship between the author and his muse -- an Alsatian with a huge desire for doggie sex. The film's mordant wit and warmth make a winning combination.... 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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My Year without Sex
Australia, 2009, 96 min.
A middle-class Melbourne mom recovering from a near-fatal illness wrestles with the titular problem and a whole lot more in this endearing comic drama from the writer/director of the prize-winning Look Both Ways (PSIFF 2006).... more
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Nothing Personal
Netherlands, 2009, 85 min.
A lone woman on the road in Ireland meets an equally reticent man who offers her food for work on the grounds of his grand house. Urszula Antoniak's wonderfully understated and surprising debut features standout performances from Lotte Verbeek and Stephen Rea in the leads.... more
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On These Shoulders We Stand
USA, 2009, 75 min.
Not everything began with Stonewall. On These Shoulders We Stand is a historical account of early gay life and activism in Los Angeles told by the people who lived it.... 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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Queen to Play
France, 2009, 101 min.
Sandrine Bonnaire and Kevin Kline (in his first French-speaking role) shine in this sophisticated feel-good comedy set in idyllic Corsica. Middle-aged chambermaid Hélène's newfound obsession with the game of chess leads her to seek the tutelage of a reclusive American expat.... more
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Sagan
France, 2009, 116 min.
With perfect attention to period detail and a decidedly sympathetic point of view, director Diane Kurys and actor Sylvie Testud (in a César-nominated performance) bring the controversial life of French author Françoise Sagan to the big screen.... more
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Sweet Crude
Nigeria, 2009, 93 min.
Ten percent of our oil supply comes from Nigeria, but few of us know the social and environmental devastation that the oil business wreaks there. This film exposes the corruption and the growing militant reaction to the politically irresponsible oil companies.... more
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The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls
New Zealand, 2009, 84 min.
On paper, says comedy writer Paul Horan, yodeling lesbian twins don't really work. But for the last 30 years New Zealanders Jools and Lynda Topp have brought their kooky Kiwi sense of humor, political potency and snazzy country music stylings to dazzled audiences.... more
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