Such A Girl Like Me(2012)

Sanctuary(en)

In 1920s rural Mississippi, Nancy Mannigoe, an African-American servant, is placed on death row for the murder of Temple Drake's infant child. Temple, the daughter of the governor, pleads with her father to exonerate Nancy of the charges, explaining that Nancy acted in haste to prevent her from resuming her affair with a roguish Cajun called Candy Man. Details of Temple's sordid past are uncovered as she begs mercy for her faithful servant.

A Chaos of Flowers(ja)

Set in the Taisho era, which might be regarded as Japan's Hippie Phase, Hana no ran is a story about fashionable people without impulse control. Much of the action centers on a popular woman writer, the real-life poet Akiko Yosano, and her experiences among the literati of early 20th century Japan. Because of her independent, anti-war and often erotic poetry, she was a lightning rod for revolutionaries and other extremists, many of whom were destined to glamorous, yet ultimately pointless, deaths. The closest parallels might be the Byron/Shelley group or the people drawn to the Beat Generation.

Fortress(it)

Filmed entirely inside Civitavecchia prison, with the inmates themselves as protagonists and co-authors, Fortezza is the reinterpretation of one of the most important novels of the 1900s: The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati. Three soldiers arrive at a solitary military garrison which no longer serves any defensive function. Here, time is at a standstill and is marked by strict regulations, power dynamics, engrained idleness and habit. Waiting in vain for an enemy that will not arrive, the military officers are consumed by the need to give their stay meaning, and resist the attraction that this place holds for them.

Oshidori kenkagasa(ja)

Unholy Love(en)

An adaptation of Madame Bovary transported to Rye, New York in the 1930's. All characters have been renamed.

Table for Two(en)

Julia, a waitress without much going on in her life, accepts a job offer from Milo, a writer in crisis who needs an assistant to talk to. From these conversations on, she begins to perceive that love is where we least expect for.

The Tormented Beauty(cn)

Guerrilla member Ting Siu-yuen works as a playwright and Lee, the leader of an opera troupe. They conceal their identities in the troupe in order to gather military intelligence. Yuen gradually falls in love with the lead actress Mui Law-heung. Ting is unsettled to learn that County Chief Fong covets Mui. He sneaks into Fong's residence and is astounded by the sight of his old lover Pak Kuen, now Fong's wife. Fong colludes with the military chief in conducting vicious schemes. With Kuen's help, Yuen is able to get the intelligence. But as Heung is not an insider, she reports to the Governor about the illicit relationship between Yuen and Kuen. Kuen backs Yuen to eliminate the conspirators and bring about the union of Yuen and Heung.

Daisy Miller(en)

Despite mixed emotions, Frederick Winterbourne tries to figure out the bright and bubbly Daisy Miller, only to be helped and hindered by false judgments from their fellow friends.

Sable Cicada(zh)

Diaochan (aka Diau Charn and Sable Cicada), one of the Four Beauties of China, is supposed to be so stunningly lovely that the moon was shamed to hide behind clouds. Despite being the only Beauty among the four who is not a real historical figure but one conjured by storytelling imagination and embellished by public fascination, her story was nonetheless incorporated by author Luo Guangzhong into his popular and influential novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Her tale is one of Machiavellian intrigue, in which she schemes with her godfather Wang Yun to restore moral order to the land, sowing discord between the corrupt Minister Dong Zhuo and his adopted son Lu Bu, a man of martial and military prowess.

Genesis(bm)

Inspired by the book of Genesis, this film tells the power struggle between two families: a clan of herders led by Jacob and another clan of hunters fronted by his brother Esau. Caught in the crossfire is their cousin, Hamor and his tribe of farmers.

A Lovely Girl's Lovely Dreams(cn)

Songstress Mui Yee-wah falls head over heels for painter Wai Tik-fung despite their age difference. Because Wai is a married man, Mui's mother is against the match. Mui falls ill from grief. Rich heir Siu Kar-wai seizes the chance to successfully propose to Mui. However, Siu is unable to let go of Mui's past. In a fit of anger, he fires a deadly shot at Wai.

For Love Alone(en)

Teresa is a spirited young girl chafing under the oppressive attitudes of 1930s society, and her father in particular. She fancies her poverty-stricken Latin tutor Johnathan Crow, without realising he merely considers her a pleasant diversion and nothing more, and eventually follows him from Sydney to London. En route she meets the gentle banker James Quick. Whilst navigating her relationships in London, including with a political poet bound for the Spanish Civil War, she experiences a transformation in her understanding of love. Based upon Christina Stead's best-selling Australian novel.

Oliver Twist(en)

When 9-year-old orphan Oliver Twist dares to ask his cruel taskmaster, Mr. Bumble, for a second serving of gruel, he's hired out as an apprentice. Escaping that dismal fate, young Oliver falls in with the street urchin known as the Artful Dodger and his criminal mentor, Fagin. When kindly Mr. Brownlow takes Oliver in, Fagin's evil henchman Bill Sikes plots to kidnap the boy.

Kangaroo(en)

A mild-mannered English conscientious objector moves to what he feels will be the relative calm of Australia after World War I, but gets caught in the middle of violent battles between the rising trade unions and fascist groups.

Lincoln in the Bardo(en)

In 1862, Abraham Lincoln's youngest son is laid to rest. That night, Lincoln visits his son's crypt, a chorus of ghosts narrating their brief reunion. Based on the bestselling novel by acclaimed author George Saunders.

A Mighty Nice Man(en)

Patricia Highsmith's haunting story of a day in a young girl's life when a kind stranger comes to town.

Autumn(cn)

Hak-ming heads the Ko Family, but he and his brothers, Hak-ting and Hak-on, and the second wife of the late Master Ko quarrel. Young Cousin Mui, who has tuberculosis, is forced by to marry an older woman. Kok-sun is guilty of being unable to stop the marriage. Sun and maid Chui-wan are wary of their feelings for each other due to class difference. Cousin Mui dies of illness. Hak-ting has his eyes on Wan. His wife, Wong, complains to their daughter, Shuk-ching, who cannot take it and commits suicide. Wong blames herself for her death. Undergone these tragedies, Cousin Kam's mother let Kam have a modern wedding with Kok-man. When Ming is ill, Ting and On want to sell the ancestral home. Hak-ming dies of angst. When the fifth uncle of Sun forces Wan to be his concubine, Wan tries to kill herself but is intercepted by Sun. Pressurised by people of the house over the issue of inheritance, Sun protests by declaring his love for Wan and leaves the family, with his mother, brother Man and Wan.

The Girl in the Bus(cn)

Bus Money dons various disguises on public buses to protect the defenceless from the bullies and receives heroic praise. Money meets Tai Ngau, a righteous journalist, when they bear witness to the callous response of Manager Mo to the death of his servant Ah-kwai. Tai writes to redress grievances of the deceased. When visiting the family of orphans, he chances on his kindred spirit giving the eldest daughter Ah-yin a gift of gold. Money exploits the weakness of Mo and her connection with his son Sze-fu to swindle a fortune out of the lewd man for the benefits of the fatherless children. Her rage grows learning that Mo's friend Fong Hak-sang has pulled off a lucrative fraud on returned overseas Chinese and forces Ah-yin to pledge herself in paying off her father's debts. Money, who has all kinds of tricks up her sleeve, teams up with Tai and gives Mo and Fong their comeuppance before setting off on her next mission.

The Witty Bus Girl(cn)

Industrialist Tam Kar-cheung knowingly puts the lives of his workers at risk so as to line his pocket with insurance payments. The chivalrous Bus Money gets into fisticuffs with Tam's chauffeur, Tam Biu, who bears a grudge against the assailant. When Money catches wind of Kar-cheung's vicious plot to set fire to a squatter area to clear the path for a property development project, she moves in and watches vigilantly for signs of arson. Soon, she saves Ah-hau, Biu's girlfriend and a young victim of drug rape, from her suicidal attempt by drowning. Money pursues fragments of clues which lead her to the victim's boss, Taipan Cheung who sucks up to his master Kar-cheung by drawing his prey to her trap. Money then organises squatter residences into fire brigade to guard against arson attacks and exposes Kar-cheung's evil. Realising he has been exploited for his blind loyalty, Biu teams up with Money to dispense justice.

Pilgrimage at Night(ja)

Adapted by Yasumi Toshio and directed by Toyoda Shiro, this is a literary work based on a full-length novel of the same name published by Shiga Naoya of the Shirakaba School.