Premieres and previews.
Four Lions and Whip It
1 (One)
(Country: Hungary; Year: 2009; Director: Pater Sparrow; Writer: Judit Góczán, Béla Hamvas, Pater Sparrow, Pál Závada, based on the essay by Stanislaw Lem; Stars: Zoltán Mucsi, László Sinkó, Pál Mácsai, Vica Kerekes, Balázs Czukor, Zoltán Balázs, Máté Haumann, Krzysztof Rogacewicz, Zoltán Berzsenyi, Krisztina Bíró, Péter Kalmár, István Maszlay, András Dömötör, András Már, Bence Máté)
Adaptation of Stanislaw Lem's One Human Minute, sees bookshop staff incarcerated because copies of a book describing everything that happens to everyone on the planet in the space of a minute are found on their shelves.
And Then Came Lola
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Ellen Seidler, Megan Siler; Writer: Ellen Seidler, Megan Siler; Stars: Ashleigh Sumner, Jill Bennett, Cathy DeBuono, Jessica Graham, Angelyna Martinez, Candy Tolentino, Linda Ignazi, Jenoa Harlow, Lisa Dewey, Sarahdia Bailey, Erika Cruz, Kathy Domenici, Julianne Gabert, Grant Halsing, Jasmin Hill),
Official Site
Inspired by Run Lola Run, this triptych of tales examines three possible outcomes for a photographer who is runninglate.
Animal Heart (Coeur animal)
(Country: Switzerland; Year: 2009; Director: Séverine Cornamusaz; Writer: Marcel Beaulieu, Séverine Cornamusaz, Noëlle Revaz; Stars: Antonio Buíl, Pierre-Isaie Duc, Camille Japy, Franziska Kahl, Alexandra Karamisaris, Magdalena Meier, Pierre-Louis Normand, Olivier Rabourdin),
Official Site
A misanthropic farmer finds his life thrown into disarray when his wife becomes ill.
Around A Small Mountain (36 vues du Pic Saint-Loup)
(Country: France, Italy; Year: 2009; Director: Jacques Rivette; Writer: Pascal Bonitzer, Christine Laurent, Jacques Rivette; Stars: Jane Birkin, Sergio Castellitto, André Marcon, Jacques Bonnaffé, Julie-Marie Parmentier, Hélène de Vallombreuse, Tintin Orsoni, Vimala Pons, Mikaël Gaspar, Stéphane Laisné, Dominique D'Angelo, Hélène De Bissy, Pierre Barayre, Marie-Paule André, Julie-Anne Roth)
The last days of a travelling circus.
Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Werner Herzog; Writer: William M Finkelstein, Victor Argo, Paul Calderon, Abel Ferrara, Zoë Lund; Stars: Nicolas Cage, Val Kilmer, Eva Mendes, Fairuza Balk, Jennifer Coolidge, Brad Dourif, Michael Shannon, Shawn Hatosy, Shea Whigham, Xzibit, Denzel Whitaker, Irma P. Hall, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Tom Bower, Lance E. Nichols)
Re-imagining of Abel Ferrara's film, starring Nic Cage as a cop in post-Katrina New Orleans, whose moral compass slips after he is put in charge of a murder investigation.
Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans and The Blacks
The Blacks (Crnci)
(Country: Croatia; Year: 2009; Director: Goran Devic, Zvonimir Juric; Writer: Goran Devic, Zvonimir Juric; Stars: Ivo Gregurevic, Kresimir Mikic, Franjo Dijak, Rakan Rushaidat, Niksa Butijer, Emir Hadzihafizbegovic, Stjepan Pete, Sasa Anocic)
A Balkans war era army unit disintegrates in the woods.
Bluebeard (La Barbe bleue)
(Country: France; Year: 2009; Director: Catherine Breillat; Writer: Charles Perrault, Catherine Breillat; Stars: Daphné Baiwir, Lola Creton, Dominique Thomas)
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.
The Calling
(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Jan Dunn; Writer: Jan Dunn; Stars: Brenda Blethyn, Emily Beecham, Susannah York, Rita Tushingham, Amanda Donohoe, Chloe Sirene, David Bark-Jones, Nick Bartlett, Susannah Harker, Pauline McLynn, Corin Redgrave, Justin Salinger, Joanna Scanlan, Nicola Stewart, Tom Stuart)
A woman enters a convent to escape her trials and tribulations but finds life is no more tranquil on the inside.
Chip on My Shoulder: The Cautionary Tale Of Slapshot
(Year: 2009; Director: Ian McFarland, Anthony Moreschi)
Documentary about the four-piece punk band.
Constantin And Elena (Constantin si Elena)
(Country: Romania, Spain; Year: 2008; Director: Andrei Dascalescu; Writer: Andrei Dascalescu; Stars: Constantin Vinca, Elena Vinca),
Official Site
Study of the filmmaker's grandparents.
Modern Love Is Automatic and Greenberg
Crying With Laughter
(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Justin Molotnikov; Writer: Justin Molotnikov; Stars: Stephen McCole, Malcolm Shields, Andrew Neil, Jo Hartley, Niall Greig Fulton),
Official Site
Black comedy about a comedian whose past is unearthed.
Dogtooth (Kynodontas)
(Country: Greece; Year: 2009; Director: Yorgos Lanthimos; Writer: Efthymis Filippou, Yorgos Lanthimos; Stars: Christos Stergioglou, Michelle Valley, Aggeliki Papoulia, Mary Tsoni, Hristos Passalis, Anna Kalaitzidou)
Three siblings cut off from society spend their lives trapped in their family’s home.
Deep In The Valley (Yanaka boshoku)
(Country: Japan; Year: 2009; Director: Funahashi Atsushi; Stars: Nomura Yuki, Sato Mayu, Kato Katsuhiro, Ogawa Miyoko)
Funahashi Atsushi’s moving third film, is a semi-documentary portrait of his Tokyo neighborhood.
Donkey (Kenjac)
(Country: Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, UK, Serbia; Year: 2009; Director: Antonio Nuic; Writer: Antonio Nuic; Stars: Nebojsa Glogovac, Natasa Janjic, Ljubo Kapor, Asja Jovanovic, Tonko Lonza, Emir Hadzihafizbegovic, Roko Roglic, Trpimir Jurkic, Gordana Boban),
Official Site
Family fable set in the summer of 1995, when the Balkan War's Operation Storm was about to take place.
Eccentricities Of A Blond Hair Girl (Singularidades de uma Rapariga Loira)
(Country: Portugal, Spain, France; Year: 2009; Director: Manoel de Oliveira; Writer: Eça de Queirós, Manoel de Oliveira, Manoel de Oliveira; Stars: Leonor Silveira, Ricardo Trêpa, Catarina Wallenstein, Fernanda Borsatti, Carlos Santos, Diogo Dória, Filipe Vargas, Júlia Buisel)
A man recounts his tragic love story to a stranger.
1 and Farewell
Elkland
(Country: Sweden; Year: 2009; Director: Per Hanefjord; Writer: Per Hanefjord; Stars: Sara Arnia, Anna Azcárate, Örjan Landström, Jimmy Lindström)
The prodigal son returns to bury his dead father in a black
as night tragi-comedy featuring a friendly elk.
Farewell (L'Affaire Farewell)
(Country: France; Year: 2009; Director: Christian Carion; Stars: Guillaume Canet, Emir Kurstica, Willem Dafoe)
A spy finds himself in danger when he decides to leak documents that could lead to the downfall of the Soviet Union.
Four Lions
(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Christopher Morris; Writer: Christopher Morris; Stars: Riz Ahmed, Kayvan Novak, Preeya Kalidas, Nigel Lindsay, Arshal Ali, Adeel Akhtar)
Four bungling would-be suicider bombers try to go out with a bang.
Fish Eyes (Yu Yan)
(Country: China; Year: 2008; Director: Zheng Wei; Writer: Zheng Wei)
Set during the 2008 Olympics on the outskirts of Beijing, first-time filmmaker Zheng Wei’s beautiful and poetic portrait of modern China tells a simple but poignant story about a father, son, and a mysterious young woman.
Fluke (Mázli)
(Country: Hungary, Germany, France; Year: 2008; Director: Tamás Keményffy; Writer: Bálint Hegedûs; Stars: Andor Lukáts, István Gyuricza, Miklós Kapácsy, Károly Tóth, Kati Lázár, Vica Kerekes, Lorànt Deutsch, Jenõ Kiss, Lili Monori, Felix Theissen, Tilo Werner, Szilárd Zádori, Béláné Babiák, Péter Behan, Béla Bercsényi),
Official Site
Comedy focusing on a group of villagers who unexpectedly find an oil pipeline.
Dogtooth and Elkland
Greenberg
(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Noah Baumbach; Writer: Noah Baumbach, Jennifer Jason Leigh; Stars: Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Rhys Ifans, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Juno Temple),
Official Site,
Trailer
A carpenter recently released from an asylum struggles over a possible relationship whilst staying in his brother's house in Los Angeles.
Green Waters (Aguas Verdes)
(Country: Argentina; Year: 2009; Director: Mariano De Rosa; Writer: Mariano De Rosa; Stars: Alejandro Fiore, Milagros Gallo, Diego Cremonesi, Julieta Mora, Efrat Wolns)
A man becomes paranoid about the sexual appetite of his daughter while on holiday.
Highly Strung (Je te mangerais)
(Country: France; Year: 2009; Director: Sophie Laloy; Writer: Sophie Laloy, Jean-Luc Gaget, Eric Veniard; Stars: Judith Davis, Marc Chapiteau, Fabienne Babe, Cécile Laloy, Ondine Desfosses, Lucie Bourdeu, Julien Pabion, Isild Le Besco, Edith Scob, Christian Bouillette, Johan Libéreau, Elodie Soulier, Erwan Larcher, Damien Sabatier, Matthias Van Khache),
Official Site
Trouble brews for an aspiring musician when she moves in with an old pal whose intentions are less than platonic and laced with jealousy.
Home From Home (Endstation der Sehnsüchte)
(Country: Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Sung-Hyung Cho)
Three women in search of a home return to South Korea - after a 30-year absence.
The Last Action (Ostatnia akcja)
(Country: Poland; Year: 2009; Director: Michal Rogalski; Writer: Michal Rogalski; Stars: Krzysztof Boczkowski, Stefan Burczyk, Janusz Chabior, Kinga Ciesielska, Pawel Domagala, Artur Dziurman, Piotr Fronczewski, Karolina Gorczyca, Mateusz Hebda, Alina Janowska, Wojciech Kalarus, Marek Kalita, Maria Klejdysz, Marian Kociniak, Zbigniew Konopka)
A group of Warsaw Uprising veterans tackle gangsters after one of their grandsons is beaten up.
Valhalla Rising and Crying With Laughter
Life During Wartime
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Todd Solondz; Writer: Todd Solondz; Stars: Ally Sheedy, Allison Janney, Ciarán Hinds, Paul Reubens, Shirley Henderson, Chris Marquette, Gaby Hoffmann, Charlotte Rampling, Michael K. Williams, Renée Taylor, Michael Lerner, Brian Tester, Rich Pecci, Dylan Riley Snyder, Emma Hinz)
A man finds himself dealing with a host of family issues in the run up to his bar-mitzvah.
The Man Who Would Be Polka King
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Joshua Brown, John Mikulak; Writer: Joshua Brown, John Mikulak; Stars: Greg Korin)
Documentary about polka-music superstar Jan Lewan.
Modern Love Is Automatic
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Zach Clark; Writer: Zach Clark; Stars: Melodie Sisk, Maggie Ross, Hannah Bennett, David Berkenbilt, Monte Brown, Carlos Bustamante, Diana Cherkas, Ray Converse, Joel Esslinger, Leo Goodman, Matthew Hartman, Rebecca A. Herron, Christina Holleran, Lydia Hyslop, Lenny Levy)
Risk-taking black comedy about a nurse who dishes out S&M to help cure her sense of alienation.
The Mosque In Morgantown
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Brittany Huckabee; Stars: Asra Q Nomani, Ihtishaam Qazi, Christine Ajra),
Official Site
Documentary about journalist Asra Nomani who campaigned against extremism in her West Virginian hometown.
New Muslim Cool
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Jennifer Maytorena Taylor),
Official Site
Documentary about a former drug-dealing rapper turned Muslim who moves to Pittsburgh to found a new religious community.
When You're Strange and Vincere
New York, I Love You
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Fatih Akin, Shekhar Kapur, Natalie Portman; Stars: Shia LaBeouf, John Hurt, Orlando Bloom)
Eleven short films about the Big Apple and the lives of those who live there.
One Fast Move Or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur
(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Curt Worden; Stars: David Amram, Erik Bauersfeld, Carolyn Cassady, Jami Cassady, John Allen Cassady, Jay Farrar, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Sage Francis, Benjamin Gibbard, Dana Godbe, Herbert Gold, S.E. Hinton, Jack Hirschman, Robert Hunter, Joyce Johnson),
Official Site
Documentary examines the Beat icon and his legacy.
Paradise
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Michael Almereyda)
Documentary compiled from home video footage.
Park Shanghai
(Country: China; Year: 2008; Director: Kai Kevin Huang; Writer: Kai Kevin Huang, Hui Zhu; Stars: Yun Wei, William Feng, Wen-Ting Hou, Michael Ohlsson, Ji Roger Wu, Jun Yang, Cheng Chen, Cheng Charlie Chen, Ying-Ying Chu, Wen-Jun Dong, Xiao-Shu Du, Ding-Qiong He, Yu-Rou Huang, Zhen-Yu Tom Huang, Hang Lin)
A reunion party for a group of former college friends sparks reminiscence and regret.
No One Knows About Persian Cats and Green Waters
Perpetuum Mobile
(Country: Canada, Mexico; Year: 2009; Director: Nicolás Pereda; Writer: Nicolás Pereda; Stars: Gabino Rodríguez, Teresa Sanchez, Francisco Barreiro)
A youngster's relationship with his mum changes after her own mother dies and the pair decide to keep it a secret.
Presumed Guilty
(Country: Mexico; Year: 2009; Director: Roberto Hernández, Geoffrey Smith; Stars: Tonio Zuniga)
A documentary following a man accused of murder who must fight for his life against a corrupt justice system, effectively guilty until proven innocent.
Prima Primavera
(Country: Bulgaria, Hungary, UK, Netherlands; Year: 2009; Director: Janos Edelenyi; Writer: Janos Edelenyi, Endre Hules, Paul Salamon; Stars: Andor Lukáts, Vesela Kazakova, Antonie Kamerling, Enikö Börcsök, Erzsi Máthé, Djoko Rosic, Éva Schubert, Zoltán Bezerédy, Vera Pap, Krassimir Dokov, Gabriella Hadjikostova, Malin Krastev, Koyna Ruseva, Alexander Doynov, Zoltán Gera),
Official Site
A simple-minded soul finds his life thrown into chaos when his mother - and carer - is killed, prompting him to form an unlikely alliance with a gypsy girl.
Red Poet
(Country: US, Italy; Year: 2009; Director: Matthew Furey),
Official Site
An examination of the life of Jack Hirschman - a communist poet in America.
Repo Chick
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Alex Cox; Writer: Alex Cox; Stars: Jaclyn Jonet, Miguel Sandoval, Del Zamora, Alex Feldman, Chloe Webb, Xander Berkeley, Rosanna Arquette, Robert Beltran, Karen Black, Zahn McClarnon, Jenna Zablocki, Danny Arroyo, Jennifer Balgobin, Zander Schloss, Angela Sarafyan),
Official Site
A fast-living heiress is stripped of her wealth by her family and ordered to earn a living, and gets co-opted by a group of anti-golf terrorists.
The Search
(Country: China; Year: 2009; Director: Pema Tseden; Writer: Pema Tseden)
A filmmaker searches the Himalayas for an actor and actress to play the lead roles in his Tibetan opera.
Shed Your Tears and Walk Away
(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Jez Lewis)
Documentarian lifts the lid on life in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, the idyllic setting of which belies the underlying substance abuse issues of many of its residents.
Splinters (Drzazgi)
(Country: Poland; Year: 2008; Director: Maciej Pieprzyca; Writer: Bartosz Kurowski, Maciej Pieprzyca; Stars: Marcin Hycnar, Antoni Pawlicki, Karolina Piechota, Jacek Braciak, Krzysztof Globisz, Tomasz Karolak, Agnieszka Judycka, Magdalena Stuzynska, Tomasz Kot, Krzysztof Ogloza, Marcin Luczak, Michal Pieczatowski, Robert Talarczyk, Grazyna Bulka, Tadeusz Madeja)
Tensions run high in a coal mining community as three disparate people's stories become interlinked.
Terrorism Considered As One Of The Fine Arts
(Country: UK; Director: Peter Whitehead)
Described by BIFF organisers as "a mesmerising psychogeographical exploration of modern-day Vienna".
Three Hams In A Can
(Country: Australia, Japan; Year: 2009; Director: Kenta McGrath),
Official Site
Documentary about three Aussie experimental musicians who go on tour to Japan.
Totò
(Country: Austria; Year: 2009; Director: Peter Schreiner; Stars: Antonio Cotroneo, Melo De Benedetto, Gaetano Dimarzo, Angela Simonelli)
Documentary tracks a man from Vienna as he travels to his birthplace in Italy.
The Unworthy (Die Unwertigen)
(Country: Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Renate Günther-Greene; Writer: Renate Günther-Greene; Stars: Reinhard Becker, Alex Grube)
The story of Nazi Germany's 'unworthy' children, featuring accounts from survivors of the brutal - and often deadly - correctional facilities.
Valhalla Rising
(Country: UK, Denmark; Year: 2009; Director: Nicolas Winding Refn; Writer: Roy Jacobsen, Nicolas Winding Refn; Stars: Mads Mikkelsen, Gary Lewis, Jamie Sives, Maarten Steven, Ewan Stewart, Alexander Morton, Callum Mitchell, Andrew Flannagan, Gary McCormack, Douglas Russell, Stewart Porter, Gordon Brown, Matthew Zajac, Robert Harrison, Rony Bridges, James Ramsey),
Official Site,
Trailer
Early medieval epic about a mute warrior who escapes his captors with the slave who tends him.
Vincere
(Country: Italy, France; Year: 2009; Director: Marco Bellocchio; Writer: Marco Bellocchio, Daniela Ceselli; Stars: Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Filippo Timi, Corrado Invernizzi, Fausto Russo Alesi, Michela Cescon, Pier Giorgio Bellocchio, Paolo Pierobon, Bruno Cariello, Francesca Picozza, Simona Nobili, Giovanna Mori, Silvia Ferretti, Corinne Castelli, Patrizia Bettini, Fabrizio Costella)
The story of Musslolini's secret love child.
Vortex (Duburys, Waterhole)
(Country: Lithuania; Year: 2009; Director: Gytis Luksas; Writer: Romualdas Granauskas, Gytis Luksas; Stars: Giedrius Kiela, Egle Mikulionyte, Oksana Borbat, Yevgeniya Varenitsa, Jurate Onaitite, Mindaugas Ancevicius, Daumantas Ciunis, Sarunas Datenis, Darius Gumauskas, Vladimiras Jefremovas, Valentinas Masalskis, Darius Meskauskas, Neringa Nekrasiute, Toma Vaskeviciute, Jurate Vilunaite)
Study of Lithuanian history under Russian rule, seen through the eyes of one man.
White On Rice
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Dave Boyle; Writer: Dave Boyle, Joel Clark; Stars: Hiroshi Watanabe, Nae, Mio Takada, Lynn Chen, James Kyson-Lee, Justin Kwong, Pepe Serna, Joy Osmanski, Cathy Shim, David Christenson, Ron Eliot, Kayako Takatsuna, Jimmy Chunga, Jennifer Klekas, Bruce Campbell),
Official Site
A 40-year-old finds himself bunking up with his 10-year-old nephew and endures a comedy of errors as he tries to find a wife.
The Woman With Five Elephants (Die Frau mit den 5 Elefanten, The Woman with 5 Elephants)
(Country: Switzerland, Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Vadim Jendreyko; Writer: Vadim Jendreyko; Stars: Svetlana Geier, Anna Götte, Hannelore Hagen, Jürgen Klodt, Johannes Geier, Sofiya Nikolaevna Mikhaylova, Fyodor Ivanovich Mikhaylov)
Documentary about an eightysomething Ukranian dedicated to translating Dostoyevsky's work into German.
When You're Strange (The Doors: When You're Strange)
(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)
Documentary tracking the rise of The Doors, featuring rare footage of the band and Jim Morrison.
Whip It
(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Drew Barrymore; Writer: Shauna Cross, based on her novel; Stars: Elliot Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Juliette Lewis),
Official Site,
Trailer
A bored suburban girl discovers a new way to live when she attends a roller derby and meets a tough team of competitive skaters.