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Berlin International Film Festival · 2009

Berlin International Film Festival 2009

Panorama

Berlin writes: "Headed by Manfred Salzgeber (under the name “Info-Schau”), this section was launched in 1980. Soon we’ll be announcing a number of cinematic highlights that we’ll screen to celebrate this anniversary."

Programme

67 films · 21 reviews

Jump to a film

575 Castro St

Review preview for 575 Castro St

There's a mood of eerie melancholy as Milk lays out the reasons why he might become a target for someone who is "insecure, terrified, afraid" - a concept that has lost none of its resonance with campaigners in many fields of equal rights in the years that have passed since.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A light and motion study accompanying a tape recording by Harvey Milk to be played "in the event of my death by assassination".

(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Jenni Olson)

Full review

Panorama Supporting Film

Absolute Evil

Review preview for Absolute Evil

The script left me with the distinct impression it had been written by someone who’d been drafted in for work experience and was taking revenge for having been forced to clean the toilets.

Adam Micklethwaite · 1 out of 5
A damaged woman heads to Texas in the hunt for closure over her dad's death.

(Country: Germany, US; Year: 2009; Director: Ulli Lommel; Writer: Ulli Lommel; Stars: David Carradine, Carolyn Neff, Ulli Lommel, Rusty Joiner, Christopher Kriesa, Elissa Dowling, Mark Irvingsen, Gloria Hendry, Kylee Russell, Jeff Dylan Graham, Jaquelyn Aurora)

Full review

Panorama Special

Addicted To Acting (Die Spielwütigen)

Documentary about four wannabe actors attending a Berlin academy.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2004; Director: Andres Veiel; Writer: Andres Veiel; Stars: Karina Plachetka, Constanze Becker, Prodromos Antoniadis, Stephanie Stremler, Jochen Becker, Jutta von Zitzewitz, Ilse Plachetka, Helmut Plachetka, Krystyna Plachetka, Vasilios Antoniadis)

10 Years of Panorama Audience Award

All Around Us (Gururi no koto)

Review preview for All Around Us

While the pace may seem slow at times, the deliberate and considered consumption of all the little details that make up the couple’s life results in a more than satisfying pay-off towards the end.

Robert Munro · 4 out of 5
Witty drama about eight years in a marriage.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2008; Director: Ryosuke Hashiguchi; Writer: Ryosuke Hashiguchi, Ryosuke Hashiguchi; Stars: Lily Franky, Tae Kimura, Tamae Ando, Hirofumi Arai, Mitsuko Baisho, Akira Emoto, Ryo Kase, Reiko Kataoka, Yuichi Kimura, Rie Minemura)

Full review

Panorama Special

Ander

Review preview for Ander

Simple messages, simply but warmly told.

Paul Griffiths · 3.5 out of 5
When a rural farmer injures himself he develops an unlikely friendship with the farmhand he hires to help.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2009; Director: Roberto Castón; Writer: Roberto Castón; Stars: Joxean Bengoetxa, Christian Esquivel, Mamen Rivera, Pako Revueltas, Pilar Rodriguez, Eriz Alberdi, Pedro Otaegi, Unax Martín, Leire Ucha)

Full review

Panorama Special

An Englishman In New York

John Hurt reprises his role as Quentin Crisp in a dramatisation of the second part of his memoirs.

(Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Richard Laxton; Writer: Brian Fillis; Stars: John Hurt, Denis O'Hare, Jonathan Tucker, Swoozie Kurtz, Cynthia Nixon)

Panorama Special

At Stake

(Country: Indonesia; Year: 2009; Director: Iwan Setiawan, Muhammad Ichsan, Lucky Kuswandi, Ucu Agustin, Ani Ema Susanti)

Panorama Document

Berlin Is In Germany

An ex-con facest the consequences of German reunification.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2001; Director: Hannes Stöhr; Writer: Hannes Stöhr; Stars: Jörg Schüttauf, Julia Jäger, Robin Becker, Tom Jahn)

10 Years of Panorama Audience Award

Blindsight

Six blind Tibetan teenagers climb the Lhakpa-Ri peak of Mount Everest.

(Country: UK; Year: 2006; Director: Lucy Walker; Stars: Gavin Attwood, Sally Berg, Sonam Bhumtso, Michael Brown, Dachung, Jeff Evans, Gyenshen, Stefani Jackenthal, Paul Kronenberg, Kyila)

10 Years of Panorama Audience Award

Bluebeard (La Barbe bleue)

Re-imagining of the fairytale 'monster' merging the myth with the facts of the real life of Gilles de Rais, a comrade-in-arms of Joan of Arc and infamous child murderer.

(Country: France; Year: 2009; Director: Catherine Breillat; Writer: Charles Perrault, Catherine Breillat; Stars: Daphné Baiwir, Lola Creton, Dominique Thomas)

The Bone Man (Der Knochenmann)

(Country: Austria; Year: 2009; Director: Wolfgang Murnberger; Stars: Josef Hader, Josef Bierbichler, Birgit Minichmayr, Simon Schwarz, Christoph Luser, Stipe Erceg)

Panorama Special

Broken Wings ( Knafayim Shvurot)

An Israeli family comes to terms with grief and loss.

(Country: Israel; Year: 2002; Director: Nir Bergman; Writer: Nir Bergman; Stars: Orly Silbersatz Banai, Maya Maron, Nitai Gaviratz, Vladimir Friedman, Dana Ivgi, Danny Niv, Daniel Magon, Eliana Magon)

Full review

10 Years of Panorama Audience Award

The Casuarina Cove (Tanjong rhu)

Fiction based on events at a gay beach in Singapore.

(Country: Singapore; Year: 2009; Director: Boo Junfeng; Stars: Scott Lei, Nick Shen, Yann Yann Yeo)

Panorama Supporting Film

City Of Borders

Documentary about the lives of regulars at a gay bar in Jerusalem.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Yun Suh)

Panorama Document

Claustrophobia (Chan mat)

An office worker treads on dangerous ground when she starts to fall for her married boss.

(Country: Hong Kong; Year: 2008; Director: Ivy Ho; Writer: Ivy Ho, Ivy Ho; Stars: Ekin Cheng, Kar Yan Lam, Kwok Cheung Tsang, Chucky Woo, Andy Hui Chi-On, Ying Kwan Lok, Eric Tsang)

Panorama Special

Comrade Couture (Ein Traum in Erdbeerfolie)

A journey into the world of East German fashion design, before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Marco Wilms; Stars: Frank Schäfer, Sabine von Oettingen, Klaus Ehrlich, Marco Wilms, Jürgen Hohmuth)

Panorama Document

The Countess

(Country: France, Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Julie Delpy; Writer: Julie Delpy; Stars: Julie Delpy, William Hurt, Daniel Brühl, Anamaria Marinca, Andy Gatjen, Jeanette Hain, Nikolai Kinski, André Hennicke, Rolf Kanies, Maria Simon)

Panorama Special

Coyote

Review preview for Coyote

An impressive documentary, which spotlights human trafficking without passing judgement on the participants.

Adam Micklethwaite · 4 out of 5
A documentary look at human trafficking from Central America to the US.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2009; Director: Chema Rodriguez)

Full review See: Berlin Film Festival Daily Diary Day Four

Panorama Document

End of Love

A gay man finds himself acting as a rent boy but runs into trouble when he falls for an older man.

(Country: China; Year: 2009; Director: Simon Chung; Stars: Chi Kin Lee, Guthrie Yip, Ben Yeung, Joman Chiang, Clifton Kwan)

Panorama Special

The End Of The Pig Is The Beginning Of The Sausage (Das Ende des Schweins ist der Anfang der Wurst)

Portrait of author Napoleon Seyfarth.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2009; Director: John Edward Heys)

Panorama Supporting Film

Fig Trees

(Country: Canada; Year: 2009; Director: John Greyson; Stars: Van Abrahams, David Wall, Alexander Chapman)

The Fish Child (El Niño Pez)

Review preview for The Fish Child

It is the central love story - beautifully realised both in terms of camerawork and acting - that underpins all the rest of the directorial flourishes.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A middle-class teen and her lesbian maid find plans to forge a life together thwarted by a death.

(Country: Argentina, France, Spain; Year: 2009; Director: Lucía Puenzo; Writer: Lucía Puenzo; Stars: Inés Efron, Mariela Vitale, Carlos Bardem, Pep Munné, Arnaldo André, Diego Velázquez, Julián Doregger, Sandra Guida)

Full review See: Tribeca Film Festival Diary and Film/Movie reviews: Departures, The Eclipse, Timer, Fish Child

Panorama Special

Fucking Different Tel Aviv

(Country: Germany, Israel; Year: 2009; Director: Yair Hochner, Avital Barak, Stephanie Abramovic, Elad Zakai, Eran Koblik Kedar, Ricardo Rojstaczer, Nir Ne'Eman, Hila Ben Baruch, Yossi Brauman, Sivan Levy, Eyal Bromberg, Anat Salomon, Sie Gal, November Wanderin, Yasmin Max)

Garapa

Review preview for Garapa

A powerful and moving documentary, which appears to give a thorough and frank portrait of its subjects and the impact of poverty and malnutrition upon their lives.

Adam Micklethwaite · 3.5 out of 5
Hard-hitting look at families suffering malnutrition in Brazil.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2008; Director: José Padilha)

Full review See: Tribeca Film Festival film/movie reviews and diary: Outrage, Garapa, Newsmakers , Berlin Film Festival Diary Day Seven

Panorama Document

Gevald

A queer musical set in Jerusalem's only gay bar.

(Country: Israel; Year: 2009; Director: Netalie Braun; Stars: Gil Naveh, Noga Meltzer, Adili Liberman, Samira Saraya)

Panorama Supporting Film

Ghosted

(Country: Germany, Taiwan; Year: 2009; Director: Monika Treut; Writer: Astrid Ströher, Monika Treut; Stars: Inga Busch, Yi-Ching Lu, Ting Ting Hu, Jack Kao, Marek Harloff, Nick Dong-Sik)

The Good American

Documentary about Tom Weise, one of the initiators of HustlaBall – an event originally created in order to encourage the acceptance of male prostitutes, but also to launch a rent boy website.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Jochen Hick; Stars: Tom Weise, Keith Richmond, Freddie Spells, Vin Nolan; Alex Baresi)

Panorama Document

High Life

Review preview for High Life

Olyphant has a great seductive charm and impeccable comic timing.

Darren Amner · 4 out of 5
Drug-addicted petty criminals try to pull off a major heist.

(Country: USA, Canada; Year: 2008; Director: Gary Yates; Writer: Lee MacDougall, Gary Yates; Stars: Timothy Olyphant, Stephen Eric McIntyre, Rossif Sutherland, Joe Anderson, Mike Bell, Sarah Constible, Leigh Enns, Aaron Hughes, Susan Kelso, Tracy McMahon)

Full review

Home From Home (Endstation der Sehnsüchte)

Three women in search of a home return to South Korea - after a 30-year absence.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Sung-Hyung Cho)

Panorama Document

Human Zoo

Depicts the grim post-traumatic life of a young woman in Paris after she has escaped the horrors of the Balkan crisis.

(Country: France; Year: 2009; Director: Rie Rasmussen; Writer: Rie Rasmussen; Stars: Hiam Abbass, Rie Rasmussen, Vojin Cetkovic, Nikola Djuricko, Branislav Lecic, Branislav Tomasevic)

Just Walking (Sólo quiero caminar)

Review preview for Just Walking

A stylish femme-thriller with good twists and turns.

Darren Amner · 3.5 out of 5
An ex-con plans to get her own back on her thug of a husband by ripping him off.

(Country: Spain, Mexico; Year: 2008; Director: Agustín Díaz Yanes; Writer: Agustín Díaz Yanes; Stars: Diego Luna, Victoria Abril, Ariadna Gil, Pilar López de Ayala, Elena Anaya, José María Yazpik, Antoñete, Carlos Bardem, Octavio Castro, Tiley Chao)

Full review

Panorama Special

Kashmir: Journey To Freedom

Documentary giving voice to the people of Kashmir, who suffer horrendous human rights abuses and violence.

(Country: USA, Israel; Year: 2009; Director: Udi Aloni)

Panorama Document

Kill Daddy Good Night (Das Vaterspiel)

A man who has invented a computer game which offers the chance to kill his dad finds a voice from the past leads him on a journey of discovery.

(Country: Austria, Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Michael Glawogger; Writer: Michael Glawogger, Josef Haslinger; Stars: Helmut Köpping, Ulrich Tukur, Sabine Timoteo, Christian Tramitz)

Panorama Special

Kiss The Moon (Chan di chummi)

Documentary about “Khusras,” a closely-knit sub-culture of transsexuals in Pakistan.

(Country: Germany, Pakistan; Year: 2009)

Panorama Document

Lemon Tree (Etz Limon)

Review preview for Lemon Tree

Riklis has made a wise choice in turning real life political drama into a simple human interest story.

Chris · 3 out of 5
Allegorical story about a lemon tree under threat when an Israeli government minister moves in next door.

(Country: Israel, Germany, France; Year: 2008; Director: Eran Riklis; Writer: Eran Riklis; Stars: Hiam Abbass, Doron Tavory, Ali Suliman, Rona Lipaz-Michael, Tarik Kopty, Amos Lavi, Amnon Wolf, Smadar Jaaron, Danny Leshman, Hili Yalon, Linon Banares)

Full review

10 Years of Panorama Audience Award

Light Gradient (Rückenwind)

A post-emancipatory love story set in Berlin’s outskirts.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Jan Krüger; Stars: Sebastian Schlecht, Eric Golub, Iris Minich, Denis Alevi)

Little Joe

A look back at the career of male sex symbol Joe Dallesandro.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Nicole Haeusser; Stars: Joe Dallesandro)

Panorama Document

Live And Become (Va, vis et deviens)

Story of Ethiopian Jews, or Falasha, who were evacuated to Israel as seen through the eyes of a youngster who finds it hard to adjust to his new life.

(Country: France, Belgium, Israel, Italy; Year: 2005; Director: Radu Mihaileanu; Writer: Alain-Michel Blanc, Radu Mihaileanu; Stars: Yaël Abecassis, Roschdy Zem, Moshe Agazai, Moshe Abebe, Sirak M. Sabahat, Roni Hadar, Yitzhak Edgar, Rami Danon, Meskie Shibru Sivan, Mimi Abonesh Kebede)

10 Years of Panorama Audience Award

Milk

Review preview for Milk

In one of the finest performances of his career, Sean Penn is understated to convey finer feeling, yet passionate on the soap box to an inspirational degree.

Chris · 4.5 out of 5
The story of groundbreaking gay politician Harvey Milk and his assassination.

(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Gus Van Sant; Writer: Dustin Lance Black; Stars: Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna, James Franco, Alison Pill, Victor Garber, Denis O'Hare, Joseph Cross, Stephen Spinella, Lucas Grabeel, Brandon Boyce) , Official site , Trailer

Full review See: Interview with Steven Paul Davies about Out At The Movies

30 Years Of Programming

The Naked Civil Servant

Review preview for The Naked Civil Servant

What it lacks in complexity or emotional intensity, it makes up for in entertainment.

Themroc · 3.5 out of 5
The story of Quentin Crisp's attempts to lead an openly gay life in pre-War Britain.

(Country: UK; Year: 1975; Director: Jack Gold; Writer: Philip Mackie, based on the memoir by Quentin Crisp; Stars: John Hurt, Liz Gebhardt, Patricia Hodge, Stanley Lebor, Katherine Schofield, Colin Higgins, John Rhys-Davies)

Full review

30 Years of Programming

Nocturnal Uproar (Tapage nocturne)

A filmmaker with a fierce sexual appetite attempts to recreate the 'first night' with her lover night after night.

(Country: France; Year: 1979; Director: Catherine Breillat; Writer: Catherine Breillat; Stars: Dominique Laffin, Marie-Hélène Breillat, Bertrand Bonvoisin, Joe Dallesandro)

30 Years Of Programming

North (Nord)

A former ski ace finds himself working as a piste patroller - but will a blast from his past give him a new lease of life.

(Country: Norway; Year: 2009; Director: Rune Denstad Langlo; Writer: Erlend Loe; Stars: Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Marte Aunemo, Lars Olsen, Mads Sjogard Pettersen, Astrid Solhaug, Kyrre Hellum)

Panorama Special

A North Chinese Girl (Dongbei, dongbei)

A sales assistant who spends her evenings as a hostess finds her life changes immeasurably after she falls pregnant.

(Country: China; Year: 2009; Director: Zou Peng; Stars: Tian Yi-Wen, Wu Rui-Peng, Liu Xing-Ping)

Off Ways (Von Wegen)

Story of a West German band's journey to play a gig in the East of the country in 1989.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Uli M. Schüppel; Stars: Einstürzende Neubauten, Ronald Galenza, Heiner Müller, Alexander Pehlemann, Claus Löser)

Panorama Document

Paper Dolls (Bubot Niyar)

Documentary about a group of transvestite emigres to Israel.

(Country: US, Israel, Switzerland; Year: 2006; Director: Tomer Heymann; Writer: Tomer Heymann)

10 Years of Panorama Audience Award

Pedro

(Country: USA; Year: 2008; Director: Nick Oceano; Writer: Dustin Lance Black, Paris Barclay; Stars: Hale Appleman, Matt Barr, Alex Castillo, DaJuan Johnson, Jenn Liu, Anibal O. Lleras, Alex Loynaz, Karolin Luna, Justina Machado, Brady Smith)

Panorama Special

Queer Sarajevo Festival 2008

Documentary about the first Sarajevo Queer Festival.

(Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina; Year: 2009; Director: Masa Hilcisin, Cazim Dervisevic)

Panorama Supporting Film

Raging Sun, Raging Sky (Rabioso Sol, Rabioso Cielo)

The devotion of two men is disrupted when one is abducted.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2008; Director: Julián Hernández; Writer: Julián Hernández; Stars: Jorge Becerra, Javier Oliván, Guillermo Villegas, Giovanna Zacarías, Joaquín Rodríguez, Juan Carlos Torres, Fabian Storniolo, Harold Torres, Clarissa Rendón, Baltimore Beltran)

The Rainbow Troops (Laskar pelangi)

(Country: Indonesia; Year: 2008; Director: Riri Riza; Writer: Salman Aristo, Andrea Hirata, Mira Lesmana, Riri Riza; Stars: Cut Mini Theo, Ikranagara, Tora Sudiro, Slamet Rahardjo, Mathias Muchus, Rieke Dyah Pitaloka, Ario Bayu, Febriansyah, Ferdian, Alex Komang)

Resident Alien

Documentary tracking the footsteps of Quentin Crisp.

(Country: US; Year: 1990; Director: Jonathan Nossiter; Stars: Quentin Crisp, Peter Walker, Gilbert Stafford, Gus Rogerson, Michaela Murphy, Felicity Mason, Fran Lebowitz, Guy Kettelhack, John Hurt, Richard Seiburth)

30 Years of Programming

Retribution (Vingança)

A man looking for the perpetrator of a rape embarks on a strange relationship with a young woman.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2008; Director: Paulo Pons; Writer: Paulo Pons; Stars: Bárbara Borges, Erom Cordeiro, Branca Messina, Guta Stresser, Marcio Kieling)

Russia 88 (Rossiya 88)

Docudrama about Russian neo-Nazis.

(Country: Russia; Year: 2009; Director: Pavel Bardin; Stars: Petr Fedorov, Vera Strokova, Kazbek Kibizov, Mikhail Polyakov, Nikolai Machulsky)

The Shock Doctrine

Examination of the rise of "disaster capitalism" - a doctrine which enables governments and firms to exploit the economies of countries affected by wars, terrorist attacks or natural catastrophes.

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Mat Whitecross, Michael Winterbottom; Writer: Naomi Klein; Stars: Naomi Klein)

Panorama Document

Short Cut To Hollywood

Review preview for Short Cut To Hollywood

An extremely black comedy with a painfully alienating central premise.

Adam Micklethwaite · 1.5 out of 5
An ageing boy band try to make it big in the States.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Marcus Mittermeier, Jan Henrik Stahlberg; Writer: Jan Henrik Stahlberg; Stars: Jan Henrik Stahlberg, Marcus Mittermeier, Christoph Kottenkamp, Marta Mcgonagle, Alison Findlater-Gallinsky, Asli Bayram)

Full review

Panorama Special

Skirt Day (La Journée de la Jupe)

Review preview for Skirt Day

A stark political satire, exposing all the divisions and frictions – social, sexual, racial, cultural and religious – of a modern multi-cultural France.

Anton Bitel · 3.5 out of 5
A teacher accidentally takes her class hostage.

(Country: France; Year: 2008; Director: Jean-Paul Lilienfeld; Writer: Jean-Paul Lilienfeld; Stars: Isabelle Adjani, Denis Podalydès, Yann Collette, Jackie Berroyer, Nathalie Besançon, Marc Citti, Khalid Berkouz, Yann Ebonge, Sonia Amori, Kevin Azaïs, Sarah Douali, Hassan Mezhoud, Karim Zakraoui, Fily Doumbie)

Full review

Sleeping Songs (Schläft Ein Lied In Allen Dingen)

A disillusioned musician finds solace in an old woman's poetry.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Andreas Struck; Writer: Dagmar Gabler; Stars: Stefan Rudolf, Chulpan Khamatova, Traute Hoess, Paula Kalenberg, Barnaby Metschurat)

Solas (Alone)

Review preview for Solas

The film has an inner beauty that defies Maria's lifestyle and is enhanced by exceptional acting.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5
A peasant woman, with saintly qualities, stays with embittered daughter in the city.

(Country: Spain; Year: 1999; Director: Benito Zambrano; Writer: Benito Zambrano; Stars: Ana Fernandez, Maria Galiana, Carlos Alvarez-Novoa, Antonio Perez Dechent)

Full review

10 Years of Panorama Audience Award

The Times Of Harvey Milk

Review preview for The Times Of Harvey Milk

The interviewees are great value, telling rambling anecdotes, and laughing and weeping as they recall the friend they so admired.

Richard Mellor · 4 out of 5
Documentary about the gay rights activist gets a timely DVD release.

(Country: US; Year: 1984; Director: Rob Epstein; Writer: Judith Coburn, Rob Epstein, Carter Wilson; Stars: Harvey Milk, Harvey Fierstein, Anne Kronenberg, Tory Hartmann, Tom Ammiano, Jim Elliot, Henry Der, Jeannine Yeomans, Bill Kraus, Sally M. Gearhart)

Full review

30 Years Of Programming

Uneasy Riders (Nationale 7)

A terminally ill, disabled militant is desperate for a last sexual hurrah - what price is his nurse prepared to pay to help him achieve his goal?

(Country: France; Year: 2000; Director: Jean-Pierre Sinapi; Writer: Anne-Marie Catois, Jean-Pierre Sinapi; Stars: Nadia Kaci, Olivier Gourmet, Lionel Abelanski, Chantal Neuwirth, Gérald Thomassin, Saïd Taghmaoui, Nadine Marcovici, Julien Boisselier, Isabelle Mazin, Jean-Claude Frissung)

10 Years of Panorama Audience Award

Unmistaken Child (Gilgul, Ha)

Story of a Tibetan monk's attempts to track down the reincarnation of a Tibetan Master.

(Country: Israel; Year: 2008; Director: Nati Baratz; Writer: Nati Baratz; Stars: Tenzin Zopa)

Panorama Document

War And Love In Kabul (Mein Herz sieht die Welt schwarz - Eine Liebe in Kabul)

Documentary about the reunion of childhood whose lives and relationship were torn apart by war.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Helga Reidemeister)

Panorama Document

A Woman's Way (Strella)

An ex-con falls for a transsexual prostitute, but will his past catch up with both of them?

(Country: Greece; Year: 2008; Director: Panos H Koutras; Stars: Mina Orfanou, Yiannis Kokkiasmenos, Minos Theoharis, Betty Vakalidou)

When You're Strange (The Doors: When You're Strange)

Review preview for When You're Strange

Seamlessly balances the scenes that made the band infamous, with the intimate moments and the atmosphere of an era.

Daniel Hooper · 4 out of 5
Documentary tracking the rise of The Doors, featuring rare footage of the band and Jim Morrison.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Tom DiCillo; Writer: Tom DiCillo; Stars: Johnny Depp, John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, Jim Morrison, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Ladd, Adolf Hitler, Janis Joplin, John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Richard Nixon, Elvis Presley)

Full review See: Sundance Diary: Cold Souls, When You're Strange, Victoria Day, 500 Days Of Summer

Panorama Document

White Lightnin'

Review preview for White Lightnin'

Screenwriters Eddy Moretti and Shane Smith play rather too fast and loose with the facts at times.

Keith Hennessey Brown · 3.5 out of 5
The outrageous cult story of Jesco White, the dancing outlaw.

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Dominic Murphy; Writer: Eddy Moretti, Shane Smith; Stars: Edward Hogg, Carrie Fisher, Muse Watson, Kirk Bovill, Clay Steakley, Raymond Waring, Wallace Merck, Allison Varnes, Damian Samuels, Stephanie Astalos-Jones)

Full review

Yang Yang

A girl's struggle to cope with her Eurasian identity.

(Country: Taiwan; Year: 2009; Director: Cheng Yu-Chieh; Stars: Sandrine Pinna, Chang Ruei-Jia, Huang Chien-Wei)

The Yes Men Fix The World

Review preview for The Yes Men Fix The World

There's no denying that they make some good points, well substantiated with damning words straight from the horse's mouth.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A documentary about two friends who put on suits and pretend to be senior corporate figures in order to try and set the world to rights.

(Country: France, USA; Year: 2009; Director: Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno, Kurt Engfehr; Writer: Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno; Stars: Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno) , Official site

Full review See: Inteview with Mike Bonanno about The Yes Men Fix The World

Panorama Document