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Ajami
Israel, 2009, 120 min.
A powerful crime drama set on the mean streets of Jaffa's Ajami neighborhood, a melting pot of cultures and conflicting views among Jews, Muslims, and Christians.... more
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Alive!
Albania, 2009, 90 min.
A carefree Albanian student gets drawn into an ancient gjakmarrja, or blood feud, when he returns to his native village for his father's funeral. This fascinating drama considers how deeply the traditions of one's forebears can affect one's life.... more
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Backyard
Mexico, 2009, 122 min.
This chilling thriller, from the director of The Crime of Father Amaro, dramatizes the tragic true story of border town Juárez, Mexico, where since the mid-'90s thousands of women have gone missing or turned up as sun-burnt corpses in the desert.... more
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Breathless
South Korea, 2009, 130 min.
Song-hoon is a violent, foul-mouthed enforcer for local gangster Man-shik. But things change when an unlikely bond develops between him and wayward schoolgirl, Han Yeon-hee. This semi-autobiographical, often brutal look at cyclical violence shows how love might just redeem a lost soul.... more
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CasaNegra
Morocco, 2008, 131 min.
Two twenty-something friends agree to pull a job for a local gangster in the hopes of upping their lot in life. A dark and stylish noir set on the mean streets of Casablanca, CasaNegra is Morocco's answer to Scorsese's classic crime dramas.... 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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Daniel & Ana
Mexico, 2009, 90 min.
Daniel and Ana Torres enjoy a careless, affluent existence. But when the siblings are kidnapped on the streets of Mexico and forced to perform the unthinkable in front of a camera, their relationship is violently shattered and their lives thrown into an utterly uncharted route. ... 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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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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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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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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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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Polytechnique
Canada, 2009, 82 min.
A mesmerizing dramatization of the 1989 massacre by Montreal engineering student Marc Lepine of 14 female students, fuelled by rage at feminist "viragos." The film faithfully recreates the violence in gleaming black and white, but refuses to wallow in it.... more
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Red Riding: 1974
United Kingdom, 2009, 102 min.
The haunting first film of a trilogy (inspired by the true events of the Yorkshire Ripper) that winds its way through a sordid labyrinth of police corruption and mysterious murders, 1974 immerses us in a crime reporter’s investigation into the disappearance of a young girl. ... more
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Red Riding: 1980
United Kingdom, 2009, 93 min.
Yorkshire is being plagued by a serial killer who preys on young women. When a detective is dispatched to investigate local police for their failure to apprehend the killer, he uncovers deeper, far more sinister horrors.... more
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Red Riding: 1983
United Kingdom, 2009, 100 min.
The ongoing struggles between the depraved and the just reach a hair-raising climax in the final film of the Red Riding trilogy. This time, the tables are turned: 1983 explores the toll that institutional corruption takes on a cop who is privy to its perpetration.... more
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Reykjavik-Rotterdam
Iceland, 2008, 88 min.
The principals of Jar City (PSIFF 2008) reunite in this tight thriller about an ex-con lured into one last job smuggling booze. This film is being remade as a vehicle for Mark Walhberg under the direction of current star Kormákur.... more
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The Sicilian Girl
Italy, 2009, 113 min.
The true story of 17-year-old Sicilian Rita Atria (Veronica D'Agostino) -- who confessed all she knew about the inner workings of the Palermo Mafia after her father and brother were murdered -- is brought to vivid life in Marco Amenta's hard-hitting and wonderfully acted drama.... more
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Slovenian Girl
Slovenia, 2009, 90 min.
An amoral coed gets more than she bargains for when she tries prostitution as a shortcut to the good life. Centering on secrets, lies and a single-minded quest for money, this smoothly made drama starts as a thriller but later switches tracks.... more
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