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Raindance Film Festival · 2011

Raindance Film Festival 2011

All Films

Programme

96 films · 16 reviews

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Acts of Godfrey

When God (AKA Godfrey) decides to improve the flagging prospects of Vic, he pairs him up with the uprincipled and sexually predatory Mary. But even with Godfrey's divine powers, the path of true love is best with the twists and turns of fate.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Johnny Daukes; Writer: Johnny Daukes; Stars: Simon Callow, Harry Enfield, Iain Robertson) , Official site

After Fall, Winter

After Fall, Winter is a secretive, dangerous and sexy love story about a French dominatrix who falls in love with a New York writer in Paris.

(Country: USA; Year: 2011; Director: Eric Schaeffer; Writer: Eric Schaeffer; Stars: Eric Schaeffer, Lizzie Brochere)

All That Remains

Four people - bound by the common thread of personal loss - hit the road at pivotal moments in their lives. As they intersect, their understanding of love changes forever.

(Country: Switzerland; Year: 2010; Director: Pierre-Adrian Irl & Valentin Rotelli; Writer: Pierre-Adrian Irl & Valentin Rotelli; Stars: Isabelle Caillat, Toshi Toda, Travis Shakespeare)

Amnesty (Amnestia)

For the first time in Albania, a new law is passed that allows sexual intercourse for married couples inside Tirana prison. Elsa travels once a month, from distant Pogradec, to meet her huband at the prison. Spetim also visits the same prison to meet with his wife. A love story between the two visitors will start to grow from the prison walls, until the new Amnesty ruling for the prisoners makes it very difficult for them both.

(Country: Albania; Year: 2011; Director: Bujar Alimani; Writer: Bujar Alimani; Stars: Luli Bitri, Karafil Shena, Todi Llupi)

Angel Express

Angel Express - Director's Cut is a film about people restlessly seeking the ultimate experience. Set in late nineties Berlin, it shows images of radical change.

(Country: Germany; Year: 1998; Director: RP Kahl; Writer: RP Kahl; Stars: Ulrike Panse, Chris Hohenester,Wilfried Hochholdinger)

Another Earth

Review preview for Another Earth

A close, thoughtful and unexpectedly moving film.

Paul Griffiths · 4 out of 5
On the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, a tragedy irrevocably alters the lives of two strangers.

(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Mike Cahill; Writer: Mike Cahill, Brit Marling; Stars: William Mapother, Brit Marling, Jordan Baker, Ana Kayne, Meggan Lennon, Diane Ciesla, Matthew-Lee Erlbach, Niecy Cerise) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

The Ballad Of Des And Mo

Des and Mo are an Irish couple who arrive in Melbourne on their second honeymoon, but their luggage doesnt arrive with them.

(Country: UK/Ireland/ Australia; Year: 2010; Director: James Fair; Writer: James Fair; Stars: Michael F. Cahill, Kate OToole, Don Bridges, Aaron Jakubenko)

Bonsái: A Story Of Love, Books And Plants (Bonsái)

Review preview for Bonsái: A Story Of Love, Books And Plants

Cristián Jiménez likes quirkiness and his enthusiasm for it, evidenced in his first film Optical Illusions and again here, goes a good way to convincing you to take the ride.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Tragic-comic love story between two youngsters amid books, literary quotes, coming-togethers and fall-outs.

(Year: 2011; Director: Cristián Jiménez; Writer: Cristián Jiménez, Alejandro Zambra; Stars: Gabriela Arancibia, Cristóbal Briceño, Julio Carrasco, Nathalia Galgani, Trinidad González, Ingrid Isensee, Paola Lattus, Hugo Medina, Diego Noguera, Alicia Rodríguez, Andrés Waas)

Full review See: San Sebastian Film Festival: Intruders, Bonsai, No Rest For The Wicked, Miss Bala

Better Than Something: Jay Reatard

Better Than Something: Jay Reatard is a feature documentary about the controversial and prolific rock icon Jimmy Lee Lindsey, better known to the world as Jay Reatard. This intimate portrait, captured just months before his untimely passing, brings us incredibly close to Jay's complicated punk-rock world in Memphis, Tennessee.

(Country: USA; Year: 2010; Director: Alex Hammond, Ian Markiewicz; Writer: Ian Markiewicz; Stars: Jay Reatard, Alicja Trout, Eric Friedl, Jeffrey Novak)

Beyond The Road

Santiago, a twenty-something Argentinean, takes a boat to Montevideo to claim land willed to him by his parents. On his way out of the capitol, he notices Juliette, a young Belgian woman who was also on the boat. After discovering they are heading in the same direction, the two travelers hit the road together.

(Country: Brazil, Uruguay; Year: 2010; Director: Charly Braun; Writer: Charly Braun; Stars: Esteban Feune de Colombi,Jill Mulleady, Guilhermina Guinle)

The Black Belle

Belle Gunness is "The Man Eater". She has magical effects on men. If you meet her be careful. The next thing you know you are selling out your best friend or getting a divorce from your beautiful wife. But if you can swing it, you just might have the time of your life.

(Country: USA; Year: 2010; Director: Brian McGuire; Writer: Brian McGuire; Stars: Terry Wayne, James Duval,Natasha Alam)

Black Pond

Review preview for Black Pond

An intriguingly idiosyncratic debut.

Paul Griffiths · 3 out of 5
An ordinary family are accused of murder when a stranger dies at their dinner table.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Will Sharpe, Tom Kingsley; Writer: Will Sharpe; Stars: Chris Langham, Simon Amstell, Amanda Hadingue)

Full review

Blinding

Blinding is a film about the beauty and curse of vision.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2011; Director: Steve Sanguedolce; Writer: Steve Sanguedolce; Stars: Anna Myszkowski, Jamie Watson, Randall Smith)

Body Temperature

Review preview for Body Temperature

This is a low-budget two-hander indie that takes its time to create and dwell in its protagonist’s psychological space.

Paul Griffiths · 2.5 out of 5
A social loner finds himself torn between a bizarre old love and something new.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2011; Director: Takaomi Ogata; Writer: Takaomi Ogata; Stars: Chavetaro Ishizaki, Rin Sakuragi) , Official site

Full review

The Box

The year 1992. Yugoslavia is falling apart. Hundreds of embassies are closing and diplomats are leaving the country. Three guys from Belgrade are packing their things...

(Country: Serbia; Year: 2011; Director: Andrijana Stojkovic; Writer: Andrijana Stojkovic, Slavoljub Stankovic; Stars: Ivan Djordjevic, Marko Janketic, Slobodan Negic)

BumRush

BumRush is the story of a battle between a group of special doormen and one of the most violent street gangs in Montreal.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2011; Director: Michel Jette; Writer: Michel Jette; Stars: Emmanuel Auger, Bad News Brown, Pat Lemaire)

By Day And By Night (De Día Y De Noche)

Review preview for By Day And By Night

It's a powerful concept that isn't really done full justice.

David Graham · 2.5 out of 5
Gattaca meets THX1138 meets Blade Runner...

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2009; Director: Alejandro Molina; Writer: Alejandro Molina, Roberto Garza; Stars: Sandra Echeverría, Marius Biegai, Manuel Balbi, Richie Mestre)

Full review

The Cameramurderer (Der Kameramörder)

An anonymous yet popular snuff video is at the outset of the Easter weekend when Heinrich and Eva follow their old friend Thomas' and his new girlfriend's invitation to visit.

(Country: A/CH/H; Year: 2010; Director: Robert Adrian-Pejo; Writer: Thomas Glavinic, RobertAdrian-Pejo, Agnes Pluch, Gunter Pscheider; Stars: Dorka Gryllus, Merab Ninidze, Andreas Lust, Ursina Lardi)

Camp Casserole

DIY filmmaker's summer camp madness unfolds in Palm Springs CA. Take a joy ride behind the scenes of director, Steve Balderson's latest film "The Casserole Club".

(Country: USA; Year: 2011; Director: Anthony Pedone; Writer: Anthony Pedone; Stars: Steve Balderson, Kevin Richardson, Jane Wiedlin)

The Casserole Club

Former Backstreet Boys crooner Kevin Richardson makes his film acting debut in this melodrama set in 1969 about irresponsibility, selfishness and damaged people.

(Country: USA; Year: 2011; Director: Steve Balderson; Writer: Frankie Krainz; Stars: Kevin Richardson, Susan Traylor, Daniela Sea)

Children of the Green Dragon

A struggling real estate agent is selling a warehouse guarded by a Chinese immigrant, Wu. The two men form an unlikely friendship which gets complicated at the arrival of a pizza delivery woman...

(Country: Hungary; Year: 2010; Director: Bence Miklauzic; Writer: Bence Miklauzic; Stars: Zoltn Rtti, Debin Yu, Eszter Bnfalvi)

Color Me Obsessed

A documentary on the last good band, the greatest band you've never heard of, the greatest rock band of all time period: The Replacements. Love, hate, obsession, tears, vomit... it might not be the prettiest story ever told, but it certainly rocks.

(Country: USA; Year: 2011; Director: Gorman Bechard; Writer: Gorman Bechard; Stars: Tommy Ramone, Goo Goo Dolls, Robert Christgau)

The Color Wheel

The Color Wheel is the sad, strange story of JR, an increasingly transient aspiring news-anchor, who forces her disappointing younger brother Colin to embark on a road trip to move her belongings out of her professor-turned-lover's apartment.

(Country: USA; Year: 2011; Director: Alex Ross Perry; Writer: Carlen Altman, Alex Ross Perry; Stars: Carlen Altman, Bob Byington, Alex Ross Perry)

Control Tower

The story of youth. Kakeru, a 15 year old boy, and Mii (Little My), a female tranfer student. They are two lonely teens who cannot find their place in ife, but who gradually learn to relate to each other through the power of music.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2011; Director: Takahiro Miki; Writer: Yukiko Mochiji; Stars: Kento Yamasaki, Ai Hashimoto, Miyuki Matsuda)

Days Gone By

A mans quest to cure his dying lover in a town plagued by disease, plunges him into a hallucinatory journey that will change his life forever.

(Country: USA; Year: 2010; Director: John Zhao; Writer: John Zhao; Stars: Kyle Walters, Jennie Epland, Julia Max, Brian Kendel)

Dick Night

Rachel might be easy, but in the middle of the Arizona desert nothing's easy.

(Country: USA; Year: 2011; Director: Andy Viner; Writer: Andy Viner; Stars: Jennifer June Ross, Benjamin Huber, Boomie Aglietti)

The Echo Of Astro Boy's Footsteps (Atomu no ashioto ga kikoeru)

Review preview for The Echo Of Astro Boy's Footsteps

With Ohno off screen, the audience is left to piece together an initial reading of this enigma of a man from a variety of conflicting and contrasting recollections.

Owen Van Spall · 4 out of 5
A documentary looking into the secret behind the disappearace of the sound designer who helped make Astro Boy a cult cartoon star.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2010; Director: Masanori Tominaga; Stars: Matsuo Ohno)

Full review

The Enemy

Bosnia, 1995, the seventh day of peace: an engineering unit is removing mines from the border between the two sides who until recently, were at war.

(Country: Serbia; Year: 2011; Director: Dejan Zecevic; Writer: Dorde Milosavljevic; Stars: Aleksandar Stojkovic, Vuk Kostic, Tihomir Stanic)

Exteriors

The film follows two girls, PEARL and SKYE, both struggling foreign actresses in LA during pilot season. They're both up for the same part.

(Country: Norway; Year: 2011; Director: Marie Kristiansen, Patrik Syversen; Writer: Patrik Syversen; Stars: Gitte Witt, Ruta Gedmintas)

Face To Face

A group of Australians from diverse backgrounds gather to decide the fate of a violent young man. An Australian '12 Angry Men', only there's 10, including 4 women.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2011; Director: Michel Rymer; Writer: Michel Rymer; Stars: Sigrid Thornton, Vince Colosimo, Luke Ford)

Fambul Tok

Victims and perpetrators of Sierra Leone's brutal war come together for the first time in an unprecedented reconciliation program of tradition-based truth-telling and forgiveness ceremonies.

(Country: USA; Year: 2011; Director: Sara Terry; Writer: n/a; Stars: John Caulker)

Ferozz Wild Riding Hood

(Country: Cuba, Costa Rica; Year: 2010; Director: Jorge Molina; Writer: Jorge Molina, Edgar Soberon Torchia, Alain Jimenez; Stars: Dayana Legr, Roberto Perdomo, Pancho Garca)

Flutter

Review preview for Flutter

Borg's assured direction and the cinematography of Christopher Ross (of darker Eden Lake and London to Brighton fame) maintain a noir-like chiaroscuro style throughout.

Paul Griffiths · 2.5 out of 5
John is a professional gambler but when he meets a beautiful and mysterious new bookie his life starts to spiral out of control.

(Country: UK; Year: 2010; Director: Giles Borg; Writer: Stephen Leslie; Stars: Joe Anderson, Anna Anissimova, Laura Fraser, Luke Evans, Max Brown, Mark Williams, Billy Zane, Ricky Tomlinson)

Full review See: Giles Borg interview about 1234, Flutter and Albion

The Fifth Commandment (El Quinto Mandamiento)

Victor, a lonely schizophrenic young man, becomes a serial killer in Mexico City, after being sexually abused by a priest in his hometown when he was a child. While the police try to track him down, he struggles between proceeding with his crimes, justified by a bizarre interpretation of Catholicism, or to confront his past.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2010; Director: Rafa Lara; Writer: Rafa Lara; Stars: Guillermo Ivan, Luis Felipe Tovar, Anglica Aragon)

Forest Creatures

The boss of an agency takes his employees on a team-building weekend. Soon it becomes clear that after this game nothing will be the same.

(Country: Croatia (co-prod Slovenia); Year: 2010; Director: Ivan-Goran Vitez; Writer: Ivan-Goran Vitez; Stars: Vilim Matula, Hana Hegedusic, Jaksa Boric)

Forget Paris

A romantic new year's getaway to paris descends into a nightmare when the couple'srelationship implodes prior to their departure.

(Country: UK, France; Year: 2011; Director: Christopher Presswell; Writer: Christopher Presswell; Stars: Ed Coleman, Mai Cunningham)

Gabi On The Roof In July

A portrait of young New York and the misguided hopefuls who can't afford to live there but do anyway. Gabi on the Roof in July is an ensemble comedy about ex-girlfriends, sibling rivalry and whipped cream set in a city that's constantly in flux.

(Country: USA; Year: 2010; Director: Lawrence Michael Levine; Writer: Lawrence Michael Levine, Kate Kirtz; Stars: Sophia Takal, Lawrence Michael Levine, Amy Seimetz)

Green

Genevieve, a New York intellectual, moves to the country with her self-involved journalist boyfriend, Sebastian, while he works on his latest project about sustainable farming.

(Country: USA; Year: 2011; Director: Sophia Takal; Writer: Sophia Takal; Stars: Kate Lyn Sheil, Sophia Takal, Lawrence Michael Levine)

Heaven + Earth + Joe Davis

A portrait of a man who sends vaginal contractions into space to communicate with aliens to save the human race. This is not fiction.

(Country: USA; Year: 2010; Director: Peter Sasowsky; Writer: Peter Sasowsky; Stars: Joe Davis)

Hollow

Review preview for Hollow

Hollow unfolds more like a brutal psychodrama than a horror, but is perhaps none the worse for that.

Anton Bitel · 2.5 out of 5
A group of friends visiting an old house are increasingly disturbed by the tales associated with the sinister tree outside.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Michael Axelgaard; Writer: Matthew Holt; Stars: Emily Plumtree, Sam Stockman, Matt Stokoe, Jessica Ellerby)

Full review

How To Start A Revolution

Review preview for How To Start A Revolution

Offers a humanistic and optimistic flipside to the all-too frequent films detailing nothing but seemingly unending, bloody conflict.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The story of Nobel Peace Prize nominee Gene Sharp, the world's leading expert on non-violent revolution.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Ruaridh Arrow; Writer: Ruaridh Arrow; Stars: Gene Sharp, Jamila Raqib, (collaboration Bob Helvey)) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

Holy Rollers

Holy Rollers follows the rise of arguably the largest and most well-funded blackjack team in America-made up entirely of church-going Christians.

(Country: USA; Year: 2011; Director: Bryan Storkel; Writer: Bryan Storkel; Stars: Ben Crawford, Colin Jones, Mark Treas)

If The Seed Doesn't Die

Two fathers, a Romanian searching for his daughter who was forced into prostitution, and a Serbian seeking the body of his son killed in a car accident, meet on the river Danube. .

(Country: Romania, Serbia, Ausrtria; Year: 2010; Director: Sinisa Dragin; Writer: Sinisa Dragin; Stars: Mustafa Nadarevic, Dan Condurache, Franz Buchrieser)

In The Dark Half

Review preview for In The Dark Half

A hauntingly allegorical tale of grief and tragedy, the fiction feature debut of director Alastair Siddons is a chilling and poignant masterpiece.

Merlin Harries · 5 out of 5
The lives of a young girl and a grief-stricken father are brought together and haunted by a death.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Alastair Siddons; Writer: Lucy Catherine; Stars: Tony Curran, Jessica Barden, Lyndsey Marshal, Simon Armstrong)

Full review

I've Got This Idea For A Film

One ambitious director. One international film festival. 72 hours to shoot, cut and deliver a feature film. What could go wrong?

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: James Arneman, Katie Mitchell; Writer: -0; Stars: -0)

Julius Caesar

The world is Rome, the story is now, the brutality is soul destroyingly real and opinions are as divided as the loyalties.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Adam Lee Hamilton, John Montegrande; Writer: Julius Caesar; Stars: Jordan Daws, Saul Matlock, Debbie Brennan)

Just Between Us

Set in contemporary Zagreb, Just Between Us is a beautifully told tale of infidelity charting the convoluted love lives of two middle-aged brothers, their wives and their mistresses.

(Country: Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia; Year: 2010; Director: Rajko Grlic; Writer: Rajko Grlic, Ante Tomic; Stars: Miki Manojlovic, Bojan Navojec, Natasa Dorcic)

The Kingdom of Survival

Hit the outlaw highway with M.A Littler as he explores modern skepticism in America with the likes of Noam Chomsky, Will Taylor and Joe Bageant.

(Country: Germany, USA; Year: 2011; Director: M.A. Littler; Writer: M.A. Littler; Stars: Noam Chomsky, Joe Bageant, Will 'The Bull' Taylor)

Leaving Baghdad

Saddam Hussein's cameraman escapes Iraq, hunted by the regime, haunted by guilt and memories, writing letters to his lost son confessing what he witnessed.

(Country: Iraq, UK, UAE, Hungary; Year: 2010; Director: Koutaiba Al-Janabi; Writer: Koutaiba Al-Janabi; Stars: Sadik Al Attar, Rang Omar, Attila Solymosy)

Little Rock

When their car breaks down on a site-seeing tour of California, two Japanese siblings wind up stranded in a small desert town.

(Country: USA; Year: 2010; Director: Mike Ott; Writer: Mike Ott; Stars: Atsuko Okatsuka, Cory Zacharia, Roberto Sanchez)

Lost Bohemia

As a tenant in the historic artists colony atop Carnegie Hall, filmmaker Josef 'Birdman' Astor documents his neighbors in their battle to preserve the community and its rich heritage.

(Country: USA; Year: 2010; Director: Josef 'Birdman' Astor; Writer: n/a; Stars: Editta Sherman, Donald Shirley, Jeanne Beauvais)

Maya

A beautifully told tale of envy and gossip from director Pluton Vasi. A man who has been living in the west returns to his village in Albania to bury his father. Having met the beautiful Maya, he wants to stay on and make a life for himself there, but a vicious web of rumour and hearsay threatens his happiness.

(Country: Albania; Year: 2010; Director: Pluton Vasi; Writer: Luljeta Lleshanaku, Pluton Vasi; Stars: Genti Kame, Rovena Lule Kuka, Myzafer Zifla)

Melissa: Mom And Me

Melissa: Mom & Me witnesses the emotional reunion of two strong women and charts the dramatically divergent path their lives have taken.

(Country: Israel; Year: 2010; Director: Limor Pinhasov; Writer: Limor Pinhasov, Yael Shachar; Stars: Melissa, Yael)

Mesocafe

In February 2003, an underground blogger arrives in London to campaign against UN Sanctions on Iraq. Falling in love is not part of the plan.

(Country: UK/Iraq; Year: 2011; Director: Jafar Abd Al-Hamid; Writer: Jafar Abd Al-Hamid; Stars: Nasri Sayegh, Daphne Alexander, Houda Echouafni, Ahlam Arab, Andy Lucas)

Mokhtar

Review preview for Mokhtar

A stunning debut.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
A boy brings home an injured bird only to be rejected by his father, who is convinced that it is a demon.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2010; Director: Halima Ouardiri)

Full review

Monk3ys

Voluntarily locked in a cell for 48 hours with no restrictions and no outside help three emotional archetypes battle for psychological supremacy before they can be destroyed by their own weaknesses.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Drew Cullingham; Writer: Drew Cullingham; Stars: Jonnie Hurn, Rob Oldfield, Ian Virgo)

Montevideo - Taste of a Dream

Belgrade, 1930, a bunch of nobodies fight their way to the first FIFA World Cup. A story of friendship, enthusiasm, persistence and love for the game.

(Country: Serbia; Year: 2011; Director: Dragan Bjelogrlic; Writer: Srdjan Dragojevic, Ranko Bozic; Stars: Milos Bikovic, Petar Strugar, Danina Jeftic, Nina Jankovic)

The Most Important thing in Life is not Being Dead

Is life safe and secure, or is there a second reality lurking? A playful tragicomedy or betrayal and forgiveness, set against the Franco era.

(Country: Spain/Switzerland; Year: 2010; Director: OLPAMA (Olivier Pictet, Pablo Martin Torrado & Marc Recuenco); Writer: Pablo Martin Torrado, Marc Recuenco; Stars: Emilio Gutierrez Caba, Marian Aguilera, Merce Montala)

Mother of Rock - Lillian Roxton

Lillian Roxon shines a light into the decadent world of Maxs Kansas City, a tiny underground club in New York, and Lillian Roxons place in documenting the emerging rock revolution as it rolled over the US in the 1960s and early 1970s.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2010; Director: Paul Clarke; Writer: Paul Clarke; Stars: Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, Germaine Greer)

Music From The Big House

Music from the Big House chronicles stories of redemption in this musical journey into a maximum-security prison with recording artist Rita Chiareli and inmates serving life sentences.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2010; Director: Bruce McDonald; Writer: Tony Burgess, Erin Faith Young; Stars: Rita Chiarelli)

Noise and Resistance

Noise and Resistance is an authentic and complex contemporary documentary, that pictures a globally interconnected and political music scene, built on autonomy and solidarity, which has declared war on capitalism and the mainstream culture.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2011; Director: Francesca Araiza Andrade, Julia Ostersag; Writer: Francesca Araiza Andrade, Julia Ostersag; Stars: Penny Rimbaud, Gee Vaucher)

No Return (Sin retorno)

An innocent man is wrongly accused of a deadly hit and run accident. A story of guilt and responsibility in a spiral with no return.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2010; Director: Miguel Cohan; Writer: Ana Cohen, Miguel Cohen; Stars: Leonardo Sbaraglia, Martin Slipak, Bárbara Goenaga, Luis Machín, Ana Celentano, Arturo Goetz, Agustín Vázquez, Antonia Bengoechea, Claudia Cantero, Mariano Fabricante, Manuel Longueiras, Federico Luppi, Pedro Merlo, Rocío Muñoz, Germán Rodríguez) , Official site

On The Way Home

Alberto, to save his company, becomes a courier for a criminal organization. he hides the truth of his trips from his wife, until a rival gang breaks into his house...

(Country: Italy; Year: 2011; Director: Emiliano Corapi; Writer: Emiliano Corapi; Stars: Vinicio Marchioni, Daniele Liotti, Donatella Finocchiaro)

Orchids My Intersex Adventure

Documentary filmmaker, Phoebe Hart, comes clean on a journey of self-discovery around her hidden intersex condition.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2010; Director: Phoebe Hart; Writer: Phoebe Hart; Stars: Phoebe Hart, Bonnie Hart, James Davidson)

The Passage

A terminally ill woman, an ex convict, and a British artist are looking for something to give them hope, when hope is in short supply.

(Country: USA; Year: 2011; Director: Roberto Minervini; Writer: Roberto Minervini, Denise Lee; Stars: Soledad St. Hilaire, Mean Gene Kelton, Alan Lyddiard)

Press

Kumi, after hitting her father, can no longer go to school. She spends her days on a riverbank which is also the favorite place of her father's mistress.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2011; Director: Kazuyuki Akashi; Writer: Kazuyuki Akashi; Stars: Aiko Honda, Erisa Yanagi, Makiko Hirano)

Punks Not Dead

Protagonists of this black-comedy are punks who deliberately remained maginal in the muddy times of the Macedonian transition. The routine of the outsiders survival is disturbed by an offer to reunite their once-considered cult punk band and play at some bizarre "multi-cultural-happening", in order to prove that Macedonia is not a land of relaxed ethnic tensions.

(Country: Republic of Macedonia; Year: 2011; Director: Vladimir Blazevski; Writer: Vladimir Blazevski; Stars: Jordan Simonov, Kamka Tocinovski, Toni Mihajlovski)

Q

In the social context of a countrywide economic crisis, the lives of several people are turned upside down after meeting Cecile, a character who, in the footsteps of the Visitor in Teorema by Pasolini, symbolizes desire.

(Country: France; Year: 2011; Director: Laurent Bouhnik; Writer: Laurent Bouhnik; Stars: Dborah Rvy, Hlne Zimmer, Johnny Amaro)

Restive

An intensely bizarre tale of a mother who inhabits her husbands suffocating behavior before falling into her own flawed maternal instincts.

(Country: USA; Year: 2011; Director: Jeremiah Jones; Writer: Jeremiah Jones; Stars: Michael Mosley, Marianna Palka, Christopher Denham)

A Rubber Band is an Unlikely Instrument

An eccentric Brooklyn musician wrestles with the complexities of life, family and a stable future on the fringes of a new American landscape.

(Country: USA; Year: 2010; Director: Matt Boyd; Writer: Matt Boyd; Stars: Walter Baker, Andrea Baker, Sidney Baker)

Scenes Of A Crime

Police video reveals the disturbing possibility that legal interrogation tactics can lead to false confessions. Working from mistaken medical evidence, detectives in Troy, New York interrogate a young father for hours, uing lies, tricks and threats against his wife to turn him toward confession - one which he quickly recants.

(Country: USA; Year: 2011; Director: Blue Hadaegh, Grover Babcock; Writer: none; Stars: Adrian Thomas, Detective Adam Mason, Detective Ronald Fountain)

Seamonsters

A film about first love, last rights and second chances. Teenagers in a seaside town are sharing their last summer together before tragedy splits them forever.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Julian Kerridge; Writer: Martin Sadofski, Julian Kerridge; Stars: Jack McMullen, Reece Noi, Georgia Henshaw, Rita Tushingham)

Sevdah For Karim

Sarajevo, after September 11th 2001. A tale about a love triangle between Karim, his best friend Juka and Ivana, a girl from Belgrade.

(Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina; Year: 2010; Director: Jasmin Durakovic; Writer: Jasmin Durakovic, Asmir Kujovic; Stars: Amar Selimovic, Marija Karan, Adnan Haskovic)

Shelter (Podslon)

The son of a polo coach is a young punk... but his father can't understand why he wants to run away.

(Country: Bulgaria; Year: 2010; Director: Dragomir Sholev; Stars: Cvetan Daskalov, Yanina Kasheva, Kaloyan Siriiski, Irena Hristoskova, Silvia Gerina)

Skinning

Skinning is an exciting coming-of-age story that tackles the subjects of love, loyalty, manipuation, hooliganism and society itself, which pushes youth into the arms of extreme ideologies, showing the transformation of Belgrade's teen NOVICA from invisible math geek to an unscrupulous leader of a Nazi group.

(Country: Serbia; Year: 2010; Director: Stevan Filipovic; Writer: Dimitrije Vojnov, Stevan Filipovic; Stars: Nikola Rakocevic, Viktor Savic, Bojana Novakovic)

Soka Afrika

Soka Afrika follows two aspiring African footballers through trials, tournaments and trafficking as they pursue very different paths to their dreams a European football contract.

(Country: UK; Year: 2010; Director: Suridh Hassan; Writer: none; Stars: Ndomo Sabo, Kermit Erasmus, Jean Claude Mbvoumin)

Savage

Review preview for Savage

The unrelenting poverty trap of the underclasses that is exposed is no barrel of laughs, but this low-budget indie provides some compelling performances and insights.

Paul Griffiths · 3.5 out of 5
Kim grew up in a criminal family in the Swedish countryside. He now wants to make up for his crimes but can he escape his past?

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2011; Director: Martin Jern, Emil Larsson; Writer: Martin Jern, Emil Larsson; Stars: Magnus Skog, Emelie Sundelin, Stefan Sderberg)

Full review

Sleep (Nemuriyusurika)

Review preview for Sleep

Sakaguchi draws raw and unflinching performances from his actors.

Val Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A girl was raped at 15, and gave birth to her daughter. Seventeen years later, mother, daughter, and grandfather live a meagre life together in their van.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2011; Director: Katsumi Sakaguchi; Writer: Katsumi Sakaguchi; Stars: Mariko Hirano, Aimi Kobayashi, Miyuki Komagata)

Full review See: Q&A with Katsumi Sakaguchi about Sleep

State of Emergency

A small group of survivors are forced into hiding after a chemical facility explodes in their town and releases life altering toxins into the air. the group must now band together and defend themselves long enough, against those affected, in hopes of being rescued.

(Country: USA; Year: 2010; Director: Turner Clay; Writer: Turner Clay; Stars: Jay Hayden, Tori White, Scott Lilly)

Stranger Things

An unusual and touching bond develops when grieving Oona reaches out to a mysterious homeless man, offering him a place to stay in her shed.

(Country: UK/USA; Year: 2010; Director: Eleanor Burke, Ron Eyal; Writer: Eleanor Burke, Ron Eyal; Stars: Bridget Collins, Adeel Akhtar, Keith Parry)

Synchronicity

A story about a boy and a girl loafing around in Tokyo who come to be subjected to severe trials.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2011; Director: Joe Tanaka; Writer: Joe Tanaka; Stars: Katsuya Kobayashi, Issui Miyamoto, Ichiro Hashimoto)

Tilva Rosh

Toda and Stefan are skaters who shoot "Jackass-life" videos. In a strange relationship of friendship and rivality, they try to impress a girl they both like.

(Country: Serbia; Year: 2010; Director: Nikola Leai; Writer: Nikola Leai; Stars: Marko Todorovi, Stefan orevi, Dunja Kovaevi)

A Thousand Kisses Deep

Review preview for A Thousand Kisses Deep

The plotting is bold and deliberately structured yet, given the small cast and high drama of the set up, this is an oddly cold affair.

Paul Griffiths · 2 out of 5
Caught in a timeless world of passions and betrayals, Mia searches for the truth behind a mysterious woman's death.

(Country: UK, USA; Year: 2010; Director: Dana Lustig; Writer: Alex Kustanovich, Vadim Moldovan; Stars: Jodie Whittaker, Dougray Scott, David Warner, Emilia Fox, Allan Corduner, Charlotte Lucas, Jonathan Slinger)

Full review

Tilt

Review preview for Tilt

Has all the appeal you'd expect from a lesson on late 20th century Bulgarian history.

Jennie Kermode · 2 out of 5
Tilt is a love story set against the backdrop of the changing political and social environment in Europe in the late 80s and early 90s. Can this love survive the challenges of emigration, a violent homeland and an immoral social atmosphere?

(Country: Bulgaria; Year: 2011; Director: Viktor Chouchkov Jr; Writer: Viktor Chouchkov Jr, Borislav Chouchkov; Stars: Yavor Baharov, Radina Kardzhilova, Georgi Staikov)

Full review

Uspomene 677

Upsomene 677 is a story of our time. But the time to tell this story is short. Today, the new generation in Bosnia is fighting for an EU membership and is threatened by a possible return to war. In contrast to their parents, they are desperate to find a way to live together for a different, peaceful tomorrow. Will they succeed?

(Country: Bosnia Herzegovina/UK; Year: 2011; Director: Mirko Pincelli; Writer: Enrico Tessarin, Mirko Pincelli; Stars: n/a)

Victim

Victim is a vibrant and authentic picture of the consequences of crime, and how one young person will finally escape from this dangerous trap.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Alex Pillai; Writer: Ashley Chin, Michael Maris; Stars: Ashley Madekwe, Adam Deacon, Jason Maza)

Victims

A man is taken hostage and accused of a heinous crime from his distant past. Where are the kidnappers taking him and for what purpose?

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: David Bryant; Writer: David Bryant; Stars: John Bocelli, Sarah Coyle, Andy Cresswell)

War Games

A game of paintball turns deadly when three unhinged and deranged ex-soldiers play a twisted mind game of catch and release with their unsuspecting victims. This quickly leads to a bloody man hunt where everyone is a target, and no one is safe.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2010; Director: Cosimo Alem; Writer: Alem, Romana Meggiolaro, Daniele Persica; Stars: Stephanie Chapman-Baker, Sam Cohen, Valene Kane)

The Wedding Party

When Steve Thompson's secret marriage of convenience is discovered by his family, he finds himself at the centre of the world's most farcical wedding, the only problem is, he is in love with somebody else.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2010; Director: Amanda Jane; Writer: Amanda Jane, Christine Bartlett; Stars: Josh Lawson, Isabel Lucas, Steve Bisley)

The Weight Of Chains

The Weight of Chains is a documentary that takes a critical look at the role that Western powers played in the breakup of Yugoslavia.

(Country: Serbia; Year: 2010; Director: Boris Malagurski; Writer: Boris Malagurski; Stars: Boris Malagurski, Marko Jankovic, Anastasia Trofimova)

Werewolves Across America

A portrait of modern youth culture. Through the musical scene of a DIY, the film explores what it is like to live on the fringes of America.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Edward Lovelace, James Hall; Writer: Edward Lovelace, James Hall; Stars: Viking Moses, Drew Danbuns, Robby Owen Hale)

What's New About Love

Lisbon Six friends meet every evening in a basement to make music. During the daytime, however, there are no rehearsals for what life brings us. Each endeavour leaves its mark. They are twenty-somethings and do not want to be alone."

(Country: Portugal; Year: 2011; Director: Monica Santana Baptista, Hugo Martins, Tiago Nunes, Hugo Alves, Rui Santos, Patricia Raposo; Writer: Monica Santana Baptista, Hugo Martins, Tiago Nunes, Hugo Alves, Rui Santos, Patricia Raposo, Octvio Rosado; Stars: Joana Santos, Nuno Casanovas, Joao Cajuda)

Where My Heart Beats

Swedish journalist and former refugee, Khazar Fatemi, returns to her chilhood country of Afghanistan for the first time in 20 years.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2010; Director: Khazar Fatemi; Writer: n/a; Stars: Khazar Fatemi)

White Button

This documentary film delves into the effects Western popular culture had on a very particular communist country - this being the former Yugoslavia.

(Country: Serbia; Year: 2010; Director: Igor Stoimenov; Writer: Igor Stoimenov, Zoran Panjkovic; Stars: Goran Bregovic, Nikola Djuricko, Patar Popovic)

X: Night Of Vengeance

Review preview for X: Night Of Vengeance

Writers Jon Hewitt and Belinda McClory chalk out a fine line between seedy entertainment and social commentary - and then stomp all over it as their slick film embraces the urban sleaze as much as holding it up for judgement.

Paul Griffiths · 3 out of 5
Two women experience one ugly night that will change their lives together.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2011; Director: Jon Hewitt; Writer: Jon Hewitt, Belinda McClory; Stars: Viva Bianca, Hanna Mangan-Lawrence, Peter Docker, Eamon Farren, Wayne Blair)

Full review

Youth H2 Come as you are

Haruo Yasuoka is an actor, but works in a rental DVD shop to earn a living. When the beautiful Momose starts working there, Haruo is confronted by his attraction to her, although his strict eductation inables him to do anything about it. When Haruo asks his roommate Non to help him with his problem, her passion for him brings her to accept the proposition.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2011; Director: Kota Yoshida; Writer: Kota Yoshida; Stars: Taketo Serizawa, Nagisa Umeno, Saya Yasuda)