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The 12 Labors
Brazil, 2006, 90 min.
Heracles, a disadvantaged black youth, undertakes 12 tasks to qualify him for a job as a motorcycle delivery boy. Throughout his mission, he faces intolerance, unfairness, desire and temptation in typical situations of a city like São Paulo. An original film transposition... more
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4:30
Singapore, 2006, 93 min.
The melancholy story of Xiao Wu, a young boy desperately seeking human kindness and friendship from his indifferent uncle, confirms director Royston Tan as a major new talent. Tan's willingness to push the limits of cinematographic art has made him a indie hero.... more
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Black Irish
USA, 2006, 92 min.
This complex, moving coming-of-age story is about Cole McKay, a 16-year-old South Boston kid trying both to survive and to save his disintegrating Irish-Catholic family that is fueled by alcohol and anger. A brilliant ensemble cast illuminates this ultimately uplifting story.... 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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Close to Home
Israel, 2006, 90 min.
Two very different young Israeli women are partnered together to patrol Jerusalem streets as part of their obligatory Israeli military service. In the process, they find that, despite the uniforms, they are just young people trying to find their place in the world. ... more
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The Curiosity of Chance
USA, 2006, 98 min.
When new high school sophomore Chance Marquis is bullied for being openly gay, he turns to a drag queen and a high school jock to help him fight adversity in Russell P. Marleau’s John Hughes-styled ’80s comedy. Winner of the Jury Award for Best New Director at Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival.... more
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DarkBlueAlmostBlack
Spain, 2006, 105 min.
Sporting visual flair to burn and a plot that unfurls in unexpected ways, Daniel Sánchez Arévalo’s tragicomic debut chronicles twenty-somethings Jorge and Israel’s attempts to form their identities, both personal and sexual, while posing questions about love and morality in these complex times. Arév... more
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Dear Mr. Waldman
Israel, 2006, 90 min.
In the early 1960s, Hilik, a Tel Aviv ten-year-old, shares his brother's goal in life: to make their parents happy and compensate for the grief they suffered in the Holocaust. Meanwhile Moishe, Hilik’s father, chooses to believe that his son from his first marriage didn't die in Auschwitz and someh... more
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Dreamland
USA, 2006, 89 min.
Beautifully shot and passionately acted, Dreamland is the striking feature film debut of Jason Matzner. This woozily romantic trailer park love triangle features a stunning central performance by Agnes Bruckner that, alongside rising stars Kelli Garner and Justin Long, seems to unspool... more
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Falkenberg, Farewell
Sweden, 2006, 88 min.
The struggle of five 20-something male friends to find their place in the world provides the focus for Falkenberg, Farewell, which captures the energy of youth, and with it, a strong undercurrent of melancholy. Winner for Best Film at the Athens Film Festival.... more
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Fat Girls
USA, 2006, 82 min.
This offbeat teen comedy asks the questions: can snappy 300-pound plus fat girl and nebbish musical gay boy find happiness and love in a back-water Texas high school? First-time director Ash has concocted a comedy about discrimination that finds a way to laugh at pretty much everything and everyone.... more
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Fresh Air
Hungary, 2006, 109 min.
Viola works as a bathroom attendant in the subway. Angela, her daughter, is ashamed of Viola and dreams of becoming a fashion designer. Communication between them has become almost impossible. This first contemplative feature by a young director reveals a mature craft for composition and creating at... more
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I Remember
Brazil, 2006, 110 min.
Edgard Navarro’s magical portrait of boy growing up in Brazil from the ’50s to ’70s captures his changing times, from Catholic repression and teen lust, to civil rights and the hippie movement, through the eyes of its mischievous anti-hero.... more
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The Italian
Russia, 2006, 99 min.
Six-year-old Vanya waits in a hell house of a Russian orphanage to be adopted. But when an Italian couple shows up to save him, he realizes that what he really wants is to find his own mother. His ensuing quest takes him into the heart of modern Russia, populated with emerging Capitalists, petty cri... more
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Lady Zee
Bulgaria, 2006, 96 min.
Wild-at-heart Zlatina, a crack shot, leaves the institution for abandoned children where she grew up, to take a job at a Sofia shooting gallery where she falls for the handsome owner. Best Film, Sarajevo Festival, Audience Award, New Montreal Festival, Best Bulgarian Film of the Year.... more
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The Line of Beauty
United Kingdom, 2006, 180 min.
Adapted from Alan Hollinghurst’s Booker Prize-winning novel, this richly textured gay coming-of-age story penetrates deep under the skin of ’80s Britain. Amidst the euphoria of first love, sex and high society parties, a young graduate witnesses scandal, deception and hypocrisy when he moves in with... more
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Little Miss Sunshine
USA, 2006, 101 min.
The Little Miss Sunshine Pageant is the impetus for this dysfunctional family road trip in which seven-year-old Olive, is vying for the title. Her family—including a suicidal uncle, her failing motivational speaker father, her mother at her wit’s end, her silent angst-ridden brother and... more
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Maroa
Venezuela, 2006, 102 min.
Great performances from the young cast highlight this hard-hitting melodrama. 11-year-old Maroa struggles with the lure of the Caracas streets and a fractious life at home with her violent granny. When arrested and sent to reform school, the youth orchestra teacher brings her out of her shell.... more
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My Quick Way Out
Spain, 2006, 115 min.
Spanish director Miguel Albaladejo (Bear Cub) entertainingly recounts the strange tale of one of Spain’s most prolific juvenile delinquents, a young rogue who’d managed to be arrested over 150 times by the age of ten.... more
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One to Another
France, 2006, 105 min.
Jean-Marc Barr and Pascal Arnold’s quintessentially French drama, based on a true story, focuses on a quintet of sexually experimental friends led by a hunky, charming bisexual—who will try anything (and anyone)—and his sister, who is perhaps unnaturally close to him.... more
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The Passenger: Adult Secrets
Brazil, 2006, 105 min.
In his second feature as director, Tambellini reveals himself as a fine chronicler of urban life in today’s Rio de Janeiro. The film tells the story of a dreamy and inexperienced teenager, Antonio, who is brutally confronted with his father’s murder. Disastrously in love, the shy young man has to de... more
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Pingpong
Germany, 2006, 89 min.
The repressed emotions of the German middle-class provide the focus for this chamber piece, with four characters simmering with unspoken needs. Winner of the Screenwriting Award and the Young Critics’ Award during Cannes Critics’ Week and Best Script at the Munich Film Festival.... more
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The Spot
Russia, 2006, 92 min.
Three prostitutes eke out a desperate living in this harrowingly convincing portrait of Moscow’s brutal backstreets. Each has her own story and fitting reasons for abandoning her family. The film reflects the dog-eat-dog nature of the new Russian capitalism.... more
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Summer ’04
Germany, 2006, 97 min.
In this sophisticated drama about maturity, a seemingly stable 40-year-old woman becomes unhinged when her son brings home a sexually charged 12-year-old girl and she suddenly finds herself competing with her for male attention. The film cunningly examines the fragile assumptions we hold about being... more
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Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Denmark, 2006, 59 min.
The mother of 14-year-old Liv and 16-year-old Danny isn't feeling very cheery this holiday season because of her impending bitter divorce. When she confounds family tradition by bringing home a younger male co-worker, she allows herself to become entangled in a dangerous erotic power game with her d... more
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Velocity Begets Oblivion
Argentina, 2006, 110 min.
This unusual political and dream-like road movie features Olmo, a young Argentinian looking for his mother while nagged by the ghost of his father. Olmo, a disturbed soul, learned a lot on how to resist a now defunct dictatorship, but missed out the joys of real life.... more
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A Very Serious Person
USA, 2006, 100 min.
A warm, intelligent drama that draws both laughter and tears, this sweet-natured coming-of-age tale focuses on the relationship between a young boy—coming into his homosexual identity—and his grandmother’s caregiver, a male nurse from Denmark (Charles Busch). The result is a beautiful story of frien... more
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Vitus
Switzerland, 2006, 120 min.
Vitus is a child cursed with early genius: he can play the piano and consume entire sets of encyclopedias, but all he wants is a normal life, puttering about with his eccentric grandfather (Bruno Ganz). Parental pressure eventually forces this precocious child to take a leap into the unknown.... more
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The Way I Spent the End of the World
Romania, 2006, 100 min.
A tragic-comedy with shades of the absurd and the sublime, carrying an intense historical and emotional charge, World unfolds in Bucharest in 1989, during the last year of the Ceaucescu dictatorship, and revolves around gorgeous 17-year-old Eva, who lives with her parents and seven-year-old brother.... more
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White Palms
Hungary, 2006, 101 min.
An uncommonly resonant sports drama in which a talented, yet troubled gymnast comes to terms with a turbulent past, this highly personal film draws on the memories and experiences of the director and his brother—who plays the leading role. International Critic’s Prize, Hungarian Film Week.... more
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Wild Tigers I Have Known
USA, 2006, 93 min.
Logan is a soft-spoken, lonely thirteen-year-old boy with a crush on Rodeo Walker, the coolest kid in school. Unconventional and fresh, this beautifully photographed and well-crafted story is an ethereal exploration of the moody world of teenage isolation, perfectly capturing the confusion and pain ... more
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