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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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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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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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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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Come As You Are
Belgium, 2011, 115 min.
Three guys in their early twenties embark on a journey to Spain hoping to have their first sexual experiences. Nothing will stop them. Not even their disabilities…. A must-see comic drama from the director of The Over The Hill Band.... more
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Corpo celeste
France, 2011, 100 min.
Having returned to tradition-bound Reggio di Calabria after a decade in Switzerland, withdrawn 13-year-old Marta (Yle Vianello, perfect) finds her adolescent feelings of isolation enhanced by her strange surroundings. Rohrwacher’s naturalistic feature debut is emotionally honest and bracingly immedi... 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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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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Footnote
Israel, 2011, 103 min.
A brilliant, acerbic suspense film with an unusual subject:academic standing. When Professor Shkolnik is finally accorded the Israel Prize that has eluded him so long, he still can’t quite bring himself to forgive his son for being too popular. Winner of 9 Israeli Academy Awards, including Best Pict... more
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Habemus Papam
Italy, 2011, 104 min.
Habemus papam! is the phrase that announces the election of the new pontiff – but what happens if the chosen man does not want the job? Nanni Moretti imagines with comedy and pathos a crisis in the Vatican when Cardinal Melville refuses to address the Catholic faithful as their new spiritual leader.... 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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Holidays By the Sea
France, 2011, 77 min.
A tribute to Jacques Tati’s classic Mr. Hulot’s Holiday, this laugh-out-loud comedy offers a mix of skillful physical playing, judicious comic timing and absurd situations as it follows a cross-section of French types as their paths intersect during a weekend at the coast.... more
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Hotel Lux
Germany, 2011, 110 min.
A charming womanizer who makes a living impersonating Stalin flees Nazi Germany and lands at the famous Hotel Lux in Moscow, where he is mistaken for Hitler’s astrologist. The real Stalin is very keen to hear what may lie ahead… ... more
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If I Were You
Canada, 2011, 115 min.
When Madelyn discovers her husband is having an affair, her attempts to stalk his young mistress take a surprising turn and the two wind up forming a rather unconventional pact. A charming, very funny look at the unexpected places life can take us.... more
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Le Havre
Finland, 2011, 93 min.
Aki Kaurismaki strikes the perfect balance between deadpan and charm in this political fairytale tale of underdog solidarity. Shoe shiner Marcel Max takes on the government as he hides an African refugee from the police dragnet pursuing him. ... more
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Let My People Go!
France, 2011, 86 min.
In Finland, a few days before Passover, a series of misunderstandings result in the breakup of a Frenchman and his hunky Finnish lover, sending the former reeling back to Paris and his dysfunctional family just in time for the Jewish holiday. An inspired marriage of camp and farce.... more
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Man Without a Cell Phone
Palestinian Territories, 2010, 80 min.
An Arab-Israeli village's new cell-phone tower quickly goes from minor annoyance to symbol of oppression. In turn, charming slacker Jawdat abandons youthful aimlessness for activism. Tempering its pointed politics with gentle humour, Sameh Zoabi's dramedy is an old-fashioned crowd-pleaser. ... more
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Monsieur Lazhar
Canada, 2011, 94 min.
Algerian illegal immigrant jumps at the opportunity to take over the class of an elementary school teacher who tragically died. This is a luminous and tender tale about the lessons we learn from one another, regardless of age... more
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My Best Enemy
Austria, 2011, 109 min.
When the Nazis confiscate his family’s Michelangelo sketch, Victor Kaufmann (Mauritz Bleibtreu) is set on a twist-filled World War II odyssey. An audaciously entertaining picaresque from the producers of The Counterfeiters.... more
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My Father Baryshnikov
Russia, 2011, 88 min.
Set circa 1986, this charming end-of-Soviet-era tale– a sort of Russian Billy Elliot meets Goodbye Lenin! –follows an irrepressible youth enrolled at a strict dance academy who pretends that his father is the famous dissident dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov. ... more
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Old Goats
USA, 2011, 93 min.
Shot in and around Seattle, writer/director Taylor Guterson’s film is an often hilarious and always heartfelt story of three older men (actors Bob Burkholder, David VanderWal, and Britt Crosley, playing themselves) who refuse to go quietly into the night of retirement and old age.... more
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The Salt of Life
Italy, 2011, 90 min.
A warm and witty follow-up to PSIFF favorite Mid-August Lunch, this sparkling comedy follows a middle-aged Roman retiree who tries his polite, utterly gracious best to generate some kind of extracurricular love life—with both hilarious and poignant results.... more
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Sons of Norway
Norway, 2011, 80 min.
Is it possible to rebel when your free spirit father supports you unconditionally? This bittersweet coming-of-age tale, well directed by Jens Lien (The Bothersome Man), is the funniest, most poignant Scandinavian dramedy since My Life As A Dog.... more
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Starbuck
Canada, 2011, 109 min.
The past comes back with a vengeance in this Canadian comedy about a class action suit against prolific sperm donor David Wozniak, aka Starbuck. Twenty years after his successful moneymaking scheme, all David’s 142 children want to know is, “Who’s my Daddy?”... more
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SuperClasico
Denmark, 2011, 99 min.
An unsuccessful Danish businessman pursues his estranged wife to Argentina in this sparky tale of marital discord. Part wry romantic comedy and part love letter to Buenos Aires, it offers cheerfully non-PC entertainment for those who appreciate fine wine, fanatical soccer fans, steamy Latin lovers... more
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Three Quarter Moon
Germany, 2010, 94 min.
A precocious Turkish girl helps a grumpy German taxi driver see that change is possible in this endearing dramedy. A heartwarming tale about the things that make life worth living.... more
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Time to Spare
Netherlands, 2011, 93 min.
True love seems awfully complicated in this droll Dutch tragi-comedy about a gay middle-aged music teacher who finds a boyfriend when the kid sister he’s looked after since childhood finally flies the nest. Neither of their new partners entirely passes muster, then fate takes a hand…... more
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Turn Me On, Dammit!
Norway, 2011, 76 min.
This debut feature tells a story that is rarely if ever explored in films: the unbridled sexual appetite of a teenage girl.Certainly this subject has never been approached in such a candid and wryly comic way. Winner of the Best Screenplay award at the Tribeca Film Festival and Best Debut Film at th... more
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Wrinkles
Spain, 2011, 89 min.
Increasingly lost in his own memories, Emilio finds himself set adrift in the new world of a facilitated care unit. There his fast-talking roommate introduces him to a fantastical, surrealistic world in this bold, moving animated feature. ... more
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