Best New Starlets 2017[2017]

The UnRedacted(en)

America has been fighting the war on terrorism for two decades, and there are more terrorists today, not fewer. The day after 9/11, experts estimated there were around 400 members of al-Qaida. Today, those same experts put that number at over 100,000, including affiliate groups. The question we must now ask ourselves is not only how to prevent more men from joining these groups, but can we deradicalize those who already have?

Peter Martins: A Dancer(en)

A late 1970s look at Danish ballet star Peter Martins's art and an assessment of what makes him unique and highly lauded on the international stage of ballet.

Champions(en)

Set in 1930s China, the film details the trials of a group of athletes who desire to compete in the Olympic Games. There’s a snag, however. The full amount required to send them abroad for the games is 600,000 dollars, and the government is only sponsoring half. It falls to the athletes to raise the rest themselves, and they start by saving every last penny they earn. They also attempt to raise the money through a variety of fund-raising activities, including street performances, networking for donations, and probably a bake sale, too. After deciding to fund their own way to the games, the athletes take to the streets to perform all manner of athletic demonstrations and martial arts moves in an energetic and impromptu street fair.

Shelter in Place(en)

Shot entirely from an apartment window during the first month of New York City’s “Shelter in Place” directive, this film is a winding conversation about the fears, anxieties, and hopes of the residents of Claremont Avenue, in Manhattan.

The Meeting(en)

A young woman's encounter with a mysterious lover. This short film is an extra on the BFI Flipside DVD The Pleasure Girls.

Allers Simples(fr)

Mo' is a professional killer, one of the best. He refused to do a contract. For this reason his only friend will come to kill him. He's waiting for him.

Bezdětná(cs)

Tombstone Rashomon(en)

The Gunfight at the OK Corral only happened once, but has been tirelessly recreated in films, television shows and western towns ever since. No one has a monopoly on truth, and in Tombstone Rashomon, the truth is shared by six conflicting, yet historical perspectives. In doing so, the film’s narrative becomes prismatic and the result is perhaps the most comprehensive telling of the most important gunfight in American history. This is the Tombstone story told in the style of the Japanese classic Rashomon where we see history from several perspectives including that of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Kate, Ike Clanton, Colonel Hafford and Johnny Behan.

Madam White Snake(zh)

This Classic Seductive tale of two snakes who assume human forms will send chills of pleasure down viewers' backs. The Lovely Linda Lin Dai (Les Belles, The Kingdom And The Beauty) and margaret Tu Chuan (The Dream of The Red Chamber) play the two sister serpents, Pak Su-cheng and Ching Ching. Su-cheng meets Hsu Hsien (Chao Lei) one day and recognizes him as her savior in another life 1,000 years ago. She marries him to reward him but the snake-human union brings about problems beyond imagination.

Pat's Birthday(en)

Breer was influenced by the new performance art and "happenings" making waves in the avant-garde of Europe and New York. He worked briefly with Claes Oldenburg and his performance pieces resulting in a 13 minute film, Pat's Birthday (1962). - AWN

O Mistério do Samba(pt)

A film that depicts the everyday life and the beauty of Portela’s Old Folk – a group of veteran samba musicians who belong to one of Rio’s most revered samba schools, the one with the most first places and accolades in Rio’s Carnaval pageant. These old gentelmen’s and ladies’ musicality and poetry are unveiled through their simple, but rich and meaningful, every day life in Oswaldo Cruz, a quaint neighborhood in Rio’s North Zone, that serves both as set and as a main character in this story.

Rolling(en)

Dreams, travels, places, people.

A-Lad-In Bagdad(en)

Hayseed Egghead arrives in the big city of Bagdad and quickly wins a magic lamp in a carnival coin-operated crane game. The shady character who was playing the game before him covets the lamp, and tries to steal it. Egghead sees a poster: The sultan is having a contest for his daughter's hand in marriage. With his lamp, Egghead thinks he's a sure bet; he conjures up a magic carpet, and he's off. After a couple bad vaudeville acts, it's Egghead's turn, but in the meantime, the bad guy swapped the lamp for a coffeepot. Egghead is thrown out, then sees the bad guy using the lamp; Egghead breaks in, steals the lamp and the girl, and flies off. But she uses the lamp herself to conjure up a real hunk to replace the nerdy Egghead.

The Great Role(fr)

When a famous American film director, Rudolph Grichenberg, comes to Paris to cast a Yiddish version of 'The Merchant of Venice,' Maurice Kurtz and his friends try out for the role of Shylock. Thinking he has finally been cast in an important film role after years of obscurity, Maurice rushes home to tell his beloved wife, Perla. Later, Maurice discovers the part has gone to a famous American star, but he must play the role of his life to be sure Perla, who has become very ill with cancer, doesn't find out.

They Will Return(pt)

Cris, aged 12, and her brother are left at the side of the road by their parents. The punishment quickly turns into an even greater challenge. Marcelo Lordello's first feature film Eles voltam, which follows Cris in her attempts to find her way back home, is a modern-day fable through different realities guided by the people that inhabit them.

Saint-Ex(en)

Poetic biography of author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Emmanuelle 7(fr)

Through the wonders of virtual reality, Emmanuelle tries to help a former schoolmate to overcome a traumatic sexual past.

All About Anna(en)

Anna is a young costume designer, focused on her job and wary of getting caught in romantic relationships. She has just found a new apartment, and is tempted to let her latest boyfriend, Frank, move in with her. Instead, she finds a tenant: The flamboyant, fun-loving Camilla, who shares Anna’s views on love and commitment. For both of them, it’s all about fun.

Forbidden(en)

At his bachelor party, Jason has a one-night fling with Nikki, a radiant beauty with whom he forms an immediate bond. They agree to keep their secret locked away forever. Two years later, Jason, his wife, Andy and his fiancee plan a reunion weekend. Jason is shocked to discover that Andy's fiancee is Nikki. Now, secret and passionate affairs are played out.

Haami 2(bn)

In the world of Haami, there's no anger, rivalry, talking bad, feeling low; there's only joy uninterrupted. The sequel focuses on reality television shows which often create undue pressure on children.

Better Than Chocolate(en)

Not long after moving into her own place, Maggie finds herself with two unsolicited roommates: her recently divorced mother, Lila, and her young brother. The timing is especially bad, considering Maggie has fallen hard for an attractive woman, Kim, only hours before they move in. What could be a nonissue becomes increasingly complicated -- since Maggie's family is unaware of her sexual orientation, and Maggie is not open to sharing that information.

Chained Heat(en)

Linda Blair plays Carol, a young woman who must serve 18 months in prison after driving drunk and killing a man. The prison turns out to be brimming with decadence, corruption and sleaze, where the other female inmates are sadistic crack-selling lesbian rapists and the guards and warden are no better.

The Scary of Sixty-First(en)

Two roommates’ lives are upended after finding out that their new Manhattan apartment harbors a dark secret.

Butterflista(ja)

The directorial debut of Kano Kyoko, the "older sister" of celebrity duo The Kano Sisters. Kano Kyoko and co-star and sister Mika show off their dazzling bodies with an air of luxuriance, as they present six short films on various expressions of love. While it covers various stimulating topics in its exploration of "free love" unbound by worldly morals such as homosexual love, discipline, S&M, sex-toy play, threesomes, and voyeurism, the images are nevertheless romantic and refined.

41 Seconds(de)

What do you do when your girlfriend tells you that your best friend kisses better than you? A young man decides to settle the matter once and for all.

Loving Annabelle(en)

Annabelle is the wise-beyond-her-years newcomer to an exclusive Catholic girls school. Having been expelled from her first two schools she's bound to stir some trouble. Sparks fly though when sexual chemistry appears between her and the Head of her dorm and English teacher, Simone Bradley. Annabelle pursues her relentlessly and until the end the older woman manages to avoid the law.

Good Kisser(en)

Jenna agrees to a sexy weekend fling with her materialistic girlfriend Kate and the worldly Mia, but as the night unfolds, Jenna notices strange details about each of them, as the love triangle starts to crack.

Polygraph(en)

Yasmine, an openly lesbian Arab nurse, finds out that her lover, Or, an intelligence officer in the Israeli army has been reporting on their relationship. Yasmine's sister arrives for a visit from the West Bank, not knowing that she is going to meet the occupying enemy at her own sister's house.

Seven Years of Marriage(fr)

After seven years of marriage, a couple of professional workers (he, a doctor and she, a banker) try to refresh their sex life.

La Soirée(fr)

Unfinished film by Jean Eustache . A couple kisses. A group of friends talk inside a room. One of them reads from a paper.

Monstrous(en)

A young woman goes searching for answers after her friend mysteriously vanishes in Whitehall, NY, an Adirondack town known for its Bigfoot sightings. She quickly learns that hiding in the woods is an evil more sinister than she could ever imagine.

College Dormitory(fr)

Story about a girl who, tired of her step-mother and her step-mothers gigolo, goes to a boarding-school and falls in love with the woman who runs it. Fanette, the woman who runs the boarding school is strict and Juliette finds she loves the strictness. She loves to be spanked..

Blue Beach(es)

Golden(xx)

A tale of being different and growing up.

Rivals in Love(el)

A maid at a seaside hotel nurses to health a man she found on the beach who has lost his memory.

The Unnaturals(de)

During a thunderstorm, a group of members of London's high society seek refuge in a remote mansion in the countryside. They are received by Uriat and his mother, who appears to be able to communicate with the dead. The guests engage in a séance, but it will reveal each and everyone's darkest secrets.