Skip to main content

Sundance Film Festival · 2008

Sundance Film Festival 2008

World Cinema Dramatic Competition

The World Cinema Dramatic Competition "reflects Sundance’s independent spirit in filmmakers everywhere. This year’s 16 selections from 983 submissions include Peru, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Lebanon, Mexico, Panama, Russia, and Sweden. From coming-of-age stories to life-altering events, these films introduce imagination, and spirit that transcend borders".

Programme

16 films · 9 reviews

Jump to a film

Absurdistan

This inventive and allegorical comedy centers on two childhood sweethearts who seem destined for one another until the women of their isolated village, angered by male indifference toward the water shortage, go on a sex strike that threatens the young couple's first night of love.

(Country: Germany; Director: Veit Helmer; Stars: Maximilian Mauff, Kristyna Mlérova)

Blue Eyelids (Párpados azules)

Review preview for Blue Eyelids

The will they/won't they nature of the romance - as different in essence to your average Hollywood hug-in as chalk from chihuahuas - is beguiling for those who can cope without the usual romcom signposts.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A pair of lonely people come together in offbeat romance.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2007; Director: Ernesto Contreras; Writer: Ernesto Contreras; Stars: Cecilia Suárez, Enrique Arreola, Ana Ofelia Murguía, Tiaré Scanda, Luisa Huertas) , Official site

Full review

Captain Abu Raed

Review preview for Captain Abu Raed

Sawalha excels as the mouse who at least contemplates a roar as he tries to make a difference in the lives of his young audience.

Tony Sullivan · 4 out of 5
Uplifting tale about an airport janitor who spins stories for street kids after being mistaken by them for a pilot.

(Country: Jordan; Year: 2007; Director: Amin Matalq; Writer: Amin Matalq; Stars: Nadim Sawalha, Hussein Al-Sous, Rana Sultan, Uday Al-Qiddissi, Ghandi Saber)

Full review See: Sundance Film Festival 2008: Day Eight

The Drummer (Jin. Gwu)

A young man transforms from a reckless youth and gangster into a mature adult through the inspiration of Zen drumming.

(Country: Hong Kong, Taiwan, Germany; Director: Kenneth Bi; Stars: Jaycee Chan, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Josie Ho, Roy Cheung, Lee Sinje, Kenneth Tsang)

I Always Wanted To Be A Gangster (J'ai Toujours Rêvé D'être Un Gangster)

Review preview for I Always Wanted To Be A Gangster

Benchetrit keeps a firm hand on the tiller, despite some of the film's more wild flights of fancy - including a perfectly pitched homage to silent film.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Existential comedy told in four vignettes linked by a roadside cafe.

(Country: France; Year: 2007; Director: Samuel Benchetrit; Writer: Samuel Benchetrit; Stars: Sergi López, Jean Rochefort, Alain Bashung, Anna Mouglalis) , Trailer

Full review See: French Film Festival preview

Just Another Love Story (Kærlighed På Film)

Review preview for Just Another Love Story

Beautifully shot and well acted.

Maryam Ghorbankarimi · 3.5 out of 5
A case of mistaken identity after a car accident turns violent and seedy.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2007; Director: Ole Borendal; Writer: Ole Bornedal; Stars: Anders W. Berthelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Charlotte Fich, Dejan Cukic, Ewa Fröling) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

The King Of Ping Pong (Ping-pongkingen, The King Of Ping-Pong)

Review preview for The King Of Ping Pong

What begins as an amusingly dysfunctional take on the coming-of-age drama... founders when the tone switches to something much darker.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
Coming-of-age drama sees trouble brew between two siblings.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2008; Director: Jens Jonsson; Writer: Jens Jonsson, Hans Gunnarson; Stars: Jerry Johansson, Hampus Johansson, Ann-Sofie Nurmi, Frederik Nilsson, Georgi Staykov, Alicia Stewen, Carolina Westman, William Blomfeldt) , Official site

Full review See: Sundance 2008: Day Three

Megane (Glasses)

Somewhere in Northern Russia in a small Russian Orthodox monastery lives an unusual man whose bizarre conduct confuses his fellow monks, while others who visit the island believe that the man has the power to heal, exorcise demons and foretell the future.

(Country: Japan; Director: Naoko Ogigami; Stars: Satomi Kobayashi, Mikako Ichikawa, Ryo Kase, Ken Mitsuishi, Masako Motai)

Mermaid (Rusalka)

The fanciful tale of an introverted little girl who grows up believing she has the power to make wishes come true. She must reconcile this belief with reality when, as a young woman, she journeys to Moscow and grapples with love, modernity and materialism.

(Country: Russia; Year: 2007; Director: Anna Melikyan; Stars: Masha Shalaeva, Evgeniy Ciganov, Maria Sokolova, Nastya Doncova)

Máncora

Review preview for Máncora

Problems that only seem like problems to folk under the age of 25 and the hint of forbidden sexual fruit are not enough to hold the interest.

Tony Sullivan · 2 out of 5
Grief and desire on a road trip.

(Country: Spain, Peru; Year: 2008; Director: Ricardo De Montreuil; Writer: Angel Ibarguren, Juan Luis Nugent, based on a story by Diego Ojeda and Ricardo De Montreuil; Stars: Jason Day, Elsa Pataky, Enrique Murciano, Phellipe Haagensen, Liz Gallardo)

Full review See: Sundance 2008: Day Four

Perro Come Perro (Dog Eat Dog)

In the crime world of Colombia, there is an unwritten code. When Víctor and Eusebio, two hoods who bungle a shake-down job, break that code, they unwittingly sign their own death sentence.

(Country: Colombia; Director: Carlos Moreno; Stars: Marlon Moreno, Oscar Borda, Alvaro Rodríguez, Blas Jaramillo, Paulina Rivas))

Riprendimi (Good Morning Heartache)

A modern young couple with a new baby are forced to deal with the almost comedic pain of breaking up while being the subject of a documentary that quickly crosses professional lines into their private lives.

(Country: Italy; Director: Anna Negri; Stars: Alba Rohrwacher, Marco Foschi, Valentina Lodovini, Stefano Fresi, Alessandro Averone)

Strangers (Zarim)

Review preview for Strangers

Energetic, immediate and defiantly hopeful.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Romance blossoms between an Israeli and a Palestinian - but will wider conflicts halt it in its tracks?

(Country: Israel; Year: 2007; Director: Erez Tadmor, Guy Nattiv; Writer: Erez Tadmor, Guy Nattiv; Stars: Liron Levo, Lubna Azabal, Abdaliah El Akal, Birol Ünel, Partick Albenque, Dominique Loilia) , Official site

Full review See: Tribeca 2008 Diary: Day 3 and 4

Under The Bombs (Sous Les Bombes)

Review preview for Under The Bombs

This film is not a hectoring polemic, rather a passionate plea for understanding and empathy.

Jeff Robson · 4 out of 5
As the Israeli army bombs Lebanon in 2006, a mother makes a desperate journey to try to save her son.

(Country: France; Year: 2007; Director: Philippe Aractingi; Writer: Michel Leviant; Stars: Nada Abou Farhat, Georges Khabbaz) , Official site

Full review

The Wave (Die Welle)

Review preview for The Wave

The message is clear and the message is strong: How To Build A Fascist Movement works.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
A high school teacher demonstrates with his class the true meaning of autocracy.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Dennis Gansel; Writer: Dennis Gansel, Peter Thorwarth, based on the novel by Todd Strasser; Stars: Juergen Vogel, Frederick Lau, Max Riemelt, Jennifer Ulrich, Christiane Paul, Elyas M'Barek, Christina do Rego, Jacob Matschenz, Amelie Kiefer) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

The Wind And The Water

A young indigenous teen seeking his fortune in Panama City struggles to acclimate to chaotic urban life, where he becomes enamored with a girl from a wealthy, assimilated family. Later, he encounters his crush once again - but this time the landscape and tradition define their interaction.

(Country: Panama; Year: 2007)