Gala screenings and a chance to take a first look at up and coming films.
Let The Right One In and The Agent
Awaydays
(Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Pat Holden; Writer: Kevin Sampson; Stars: Stephen Graham, Nicky Bell, Liam Boyle, Oliver Lee, Lee Battle, Sean Ward, Michael Ryan, Ian Puleston-Davies, Holly Grainger, Sacha Parkinson, Samantha McCarthy),
Official Site,
Trailer
Tragic romance, based on Kevin Sampson's book about Tranmere Rovers hooligans in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The Adventurers (Kalandorok)
(Country: Hungary; Year: 2008; Director: Béla Paczolay; Writer: Béla Paczolay, Gergely Péterfy; Stars: Péter Haumann, Péter Rudolf, Milán Schruff, Ágnes Bánfalvy, Béla Barabás, Péter Bergendy, Dezso Csiki, Mari Csomós, Áron Dimény, Zoltán Durkó)
Three generations make a comical trip across the Romanian border.
The Agent
(Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Lesley Manning; Writer: Martin Wagner; Stars: William Beck, Stephen Kennedy, Marueen Lipman)
A disillusioned writer confronts his slippery agent.
The Debt
(Country: Israel; Year: 2007; Director: Assaf Bernstein; Writer: Assaf Bernstein, Ido Rosenblum; Stars: Gila Almagor, Neta Garty, Yehezkel Lazarov, Alexander Peleg, Edgar Selge, Oded Teomi, Itay Tiran)
Drama focussing on a Mossad agent.
Down To The Dirt
(Country: Canada; Year: 2008; Director: Justin Simms; Writer: Joel Hynes, Justin Simms, Sherry White; Stars: Hugh Dillon, Joel Hynes, Robert Joy, Mary Lewis, Jane Maggs, Paula Morgan, Jody Richardson, Mylene Savoie, Sherry White)
Comical story of one man’s improbable salvation.
Genova and Il Divo
Everlasting Moments (Maria Larssons Eviga ögonblick, Maria Larsson's Everlasting Moment)
(Country: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Jan Troell; Writer: Niklas Rådström, Jan Troell; Stars: Maria Heiskanen, Mikael Persbrandt, Jesper Christensen, Emil Jensen, Ghita Nørby, Hans Henrik Clemensen, Amanda Ooms)
Discovering photography provides an abused woman with a new way of experiencing life.
Genova
(Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Michael Winterbottom; Writer: Laurence Coriat, Michael Winterbottom; Stars: Colin Firth, Catherine Keener, Perla Haney-Jardine, Willa Holland, Hope Davis, Demetri Goritsas)
In a foreign city, a young girl begins to catch glimpses of the mother she lost in a car crash.
Good Cats (Hao Mao)
(Country: China; Year: 2008; Director: Ying Liang; Writer: Ying Liang, Peng Shan; Stars: Luo Liang, Peng Deming)
A young man working for a dubious property developer finds his life and marriage falling apart as China becomes a moral vacuum.
Heart Of Fire (Feuerherz)
(Country: Germany, Italy, Austria, France; Year: 2008; Director: Luigi Falorni; Writer: Luigi Falorni, Gabriele Kister, Senait Mehari; Stars: Letekidan Micael, Solomie Micael, Seble Tilahun, Daniel Seyoum, Mekdes Wegene, Samuel Semere)
The story of a young girl who is passed to the Eritrean Liberation Front.
Hour Glass (Fövenyóra)
(Country: Serbia, Hungary; Year: 2007; Director: Szabolcs Tolnai; Writer: Danilo Kis; Stars: Nebojsa Dugalic, Slobodan Custic, Jasna Zalica, David Vojnic, Lars Rudolph, Alisa Terek, János Derzsi, Kati Lázár, Mari Nagy, Ádám Rajhona)
Dreamlike narrative traces the story of a son who is trying to find out about his train inspector father's life.
Religulous and Katyn
Il Divo
(Country: Italy, France; Year: 2008; Director: Paolo Sorrentino; Writer: Paolo Sorrentino; Stars: Toni Servillo, Anna Bonaiuto, Piera Degli Esposti, Paolo Graziosi, Giulio Bosetti, Flavio Bucci, Carlo Buccirosso, Giorgio Colangeli, Alberto Cracco, Lorenzo Gioielli, Gianfelice Imparato),
Official Site,
Trailer
The life and times of notorious Italian politician Guilio Andreotti.
The Investigator (A Nyomozó)
(Country: Hungary, Sweden, Ireland; Year: 2008; Director: Attila Galambos; Writer: Attila Galambos; Stars: Zsolt Anger, András Márton Baló, Péter Blaskó, Csaba Czene, Katalin Farkas, Tamás Fodor, Zsuzsa Járó, István Juhász, Ilona Kassai, Éva Kerekes)
Black comedy crime drama, centring on a mortuary assistant.
Is Anybody There?
(Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: John Crowley; Writer: Peter Harness; Stars: Michael Caine, Bill Milner, David Morrisey, Anne-Marie Duff, Linzey Cocker, Garrick Hagon, Rosemary Harris, Thelma Barlow)
An elderly magician reluctantly entering a retirement home bonds with an inquisitive young boy and persuades him life is for living.
Katyn
(Country: Poland; Year: 2007; Director: Andrzej Wajda; Writer: Andrzej Mularczyk, Przemyslaw Nowakowski, Wladyslaw Pasikowski, Andrzej Wajda; Stars: Artur Zmijewski, Maja Ostaszewska, Andrzej Chyra, Danuta Stenka, Jan Englert, Magdalena Cielecka, Agnieszka Glinska, Pawel Malaszynski, Maja Komorowska, Wladyslaw Kowalski, Oleg Drach),
Official Site
In the early days of World War Two, thousands of captured Polish officers are handed over to the Soviet authorities – and vanish.
Let The Right One In (Låt Den Rätte Komma In)
(Country: Sweden; Year: 2008; Director: Tomas Alfredson; Writer: John Ajvide Lindqvist, based on his novel of the same name.; Stars: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, Henrik Dahl, Karin Bergquist, Peter Carlberg, Ika Nord, Mikael Rahm, Karl-Robert Lindgren, Anders T. Peedu, Pale Olofsson)
A touching story of first romance... with a side-serving of horror.
Everlasting Moments and Vogelfrei
Mark Of An Angel (L'Empreinte De L'Ange)
(Country: France; Year: 2008; Director: Safy Nebbou; Writer: Cyril Gomez-Mathieu, Safy Nebbou; Stars: Catherine Frot, Sandrine Bonnaire, Wladimir Yordanoff, Antoine Chappey, Michel Aumont, Michèle Moretti)
A mother caught up in a custody battle becomes obsessed with another woman's child.
Mime-Mime
(Country: Japan; Year: 2008; Director: Yukiko Sode; Writer: Yukiko Sode; Stars: Ayaco Niijima Masahisa Yamazoe, Kanji Tsuda)
Story about an eccentric who is the black sheep of her family.
März
(Country: Austria; Year: 2008; Director: Klaus Händl; Stars: Benno Eberhard, Florian Eisner, Isolde Ferlesch, Julia Gschnitzer, Siggi Haider, Thomas Hiessl, Alfred Kleinheinz, Josef Kuderna, Ilse Kuen, David Schrottner)
A shopkeeper struggles to cope with her son's suicide.
Naked Of Defenses (Mubobi)
(Country: Japan; Year: 2008; Director: Ichii Masahide; Stars: Moriya Ayako, Konno Sanae, Nishimoto Ryuki, Nakamura Kuniaki, Kakinuma Naoko, Kumanomido Aya, Asama Yuki, Ichii Hayata)
A woman who suffered a miscarriage finds her world changed by an encounter with a pregnant woman.
Ordinary Boys (Chicos normales)
(Country: Spain; Year: 2008; Director: Daniel Hernandez; Writer: Daniel Hernández, Gabi Martínez ; Stars: Rabia Bouchfira, El-Khader Aoulasse, Youseff Belefki )
Distinctive and timely study of a trio of young people in the region of Morocco where five of the terrorists responsible for Spain's 11th March 2004 bombings were born and bred.
Mime-Mime and Mark Of An Angel
Religulous
(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Larry Charles; Writer: Bill Maher; Stars: Bill Maher, David Rosen, Kamal Farah, David L Parsons, Shmuel Strauss, Levi Halperin, Aki Nawaz, Jimmy Turkmani, Ferre van Beveren, Fatimah Elatik, Geert Wilders, Reginald Foster, John Westcott, Francis Collins, Dean Hamer, Jeremiah Cummings, George V Coyne, Andrew Newberg, Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, Brian Weiss, Ray Suarez, Yisroel Dovid Weiss, Kathy Maher, Julie Maher, Mark Pryor, Joe Copland, Ken Ham, Steve Burg, Ted Bachman, Bill Gardiner),
Trailer
Comedian Bill Maher champions scepticism in an age of rising religious fundamentalism.
The Shaft (Dixia de tiankong)
(Country: China; Year: 2008; Director: Zhang Chi ; Writer: Chi Zhang; Stars: Luo Deyuan, Huang Xuan, Zheng Luoqian, Li Chen, Gong Qiya, Guan Siting, Zhou Xiang )
Tryptich of tales exploring the plight of manaul labourers in China in the face of the economic boom.
Slingshot (Tirador, Sling Shot)
(Country: Philippines; Year: 2007; Director: Brillante Mendoza; Writer: Ralston Jover; Stars: Coco Martin, Nathan Lopez, Kristoffer King, Jiro Manio, Jacklyn Jose, Jean Andrews, Julio Diaz, Harold Montano, Angela Ruiz)
Close-up and personal view of the slums using hidden cameras and brilliant editing.
Shifty
(Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Eran Creevy; Writer: Eran Creevy; Stars: Riz Ahmed, Daniel Mays, Jason Flemyng, Nitin Caanatra, Francesca Annis, Kate Groombridge, Rory Jennings, Jason Maza, Enoch Frost, Tim Plester, Danielle Brent, Nathaniel Gleed, Simon Paul Sutton, Heronimo Sehmi, Gracie Fitch),
Official Site,
Trailer
Twenty-four hours in the life of a Muslim crack dealer and a friend from his past.
This Beautiful City
(Country: Canada; Year: 2007; Director: Ed Gass-Donnelly; Writer: Ed Gass-Donnelly; Stars: Aaron Poole, Kristin Booth, Caroline Cave, Noam Jenkins, Stuart Hughes, Kat Germain, Tony Nappo, Jefferson Mappin, Philip Akin, Christopher Cordell)
Lives collide after a woman falls from a balcony.
Traitor and Slingshot
Three Seasons (3 saisons)
(Country: Canada; Year: 2009; Director: Jim Donovan; Writer: Jim Donovan, Carinne Leduc; Stars: Caroline Néron, Romano Orzari, Frank Schorpion, Carinne Leduc, Shawn Baichoo, Dan Bigras, Dino Tavarone, Amélie Dallaire, Claudia Ferri, Karim Bourara)
Five destinies collide in not only blood and anguish but also hope and love.
Ting che
(Country: Taiwan; Year: 2008; Director: Mong-Hong Chung; Writer: Mong-Hong Chung; Stars: Chen Chang, Lunmei Kwai, Leon Dai, Chapman To, Jack Kao, Peggy Tseng, Kai-jung Lin, Mei-Yao Chang, Chin Shih-chieh, Chung Hua Tou)
A night with strangers on the fringes of a city.
The Tour (Turneja)
(Country: Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Year: 2008; Director: Goran Markovic; Writer: Goran Markovic; Stars: Tihomir Stanic, Jelena Djokic, Dragan Nikolic, Mira Furlan, Josif Tatic, Gordan Kicic, Slavko Stimac, Vojislav Brajovic, Sergej Trifunovic, Emir Hadzihafizbegovic, Svetozar Cvetkovic),
Official Site
A group of touring actors find themselves caught up in war.
Traitor
(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Jeffrey Nachmanoff; Writer: Jeffrey Nachmanoff, Steve Martin; Stars: Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Saïd Taghmaoui, Neal McDonough, Alyy Khan, Archie Panjabi, Raad Rawi, Hassam Ghancy, Mozhan Marnò, Adeel Akhtar),
Official Site,
Trailer
A terrorist inveigles himself into a conspiracy to commit a large-scale attack on America, but whose side is he really on?
Vogelfrei
(Country: Latvia; Year: 2007; Director: Janis Kalejs, Janis Putnins, Gatis Smits, Anna Viduleja; Writer: Janis Kalejs, Gatis Smits, Janis Putnins, Anna Viduleja, Jurgis Liepnieks, Kaspars Rolsteins; Stars: Igors Suhoverhovs, Karlis Spravniks, Ints Teterovskis, Liubomiras Lauciavicius, Tatjana Jansone-Nazarova, Girts Krumins, Emilija Leiskalne, Jurgis Liepnieks, Armands Reinfelds, Kaspars Rolsteins, Irena Tjunina)
An experimental directorial quartet taking on the four ages of a single character's life.
Awaydays and Is Anybody There?
When Life Was Good
(Country: Canada; Year: 2008; Director: Terry Miles; Writer: Terry Miles; Stars: Rob Carpenter, Kristine Cofsky, Shauna Eve, Ryan Haneman, Brody Harms, Keri Horton, Kristen Hovet, Rob Leickner, Duncan MacLellan, Casey Manderson)
Study of improvisational cinema which effectively intrudes into the lives of young urbanites and their romantic angst in contemporary Canada.
Who Is KK Downey?
(Country: Canada; Year: 2008; Director: Darren Curtis, Pat Kiely; Writer: Darren Curtis, Pat Kiely, Matt Silver; Stars: Darren Curtis, Kristin Adams, Matt Silver, Pat Kiely, Dan Haber, Abdul Ayoola, Dan Beirne, Claire Brosseau, Pilar Cazares, Jared Curtis, John Elliott),
Official Site
Dark comedy about a loser who offers to pretend he is a trans-gender whore who has written a memoir in order to find fame for he and his friend.