Sundown

The Twin Bracelets(zh)

Two teenage girls make a pledge to each other to be as "man and wife" in a small Chinese fishing town. The notions of women's rights or sexual freedom are absent in their oppressive minority culture, and when one becomes happily married to a stranger, the other is cruelly betrothed to the abusive son of a wealthy family. Seeking to free herself from a lifetime of abuse, Hui-hua desperately looks for a way out. ----by J L (New York City)

18 Days(ar)

10 filmmakers provide 10 separate stories focusing on the 18 days of the 2011 Egyptian revolution. Ten stories they have experienced, heard, or imagined.

La capture(fr)

Tell Me a Riddle(en)

Touching story of elderly couple David and Eva who go on one last journey across the USA when they discover Eva is dying, ending up with their granddaughter Jeannie in San Francisco. Restored in 2022 by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation. Restoration funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.

Reunion(en)

The undying bond between a mother and her beloved son nearly destroys the lives of an entire family. Jessie Yates (Marlo Thomas) is torn between the ghost of her son and the life she has created with her husband and family.

The Sheldon Kennedy Story(en)

Alberta (Canada) rural farm-boy Sheldon Kennedy feels abused by dad when punished for poor performances compared to big brother Troy. being recruited for professional ice-hockey at age 14 seems an ideal way out, straight to a party animal's good life. Yet after a Vegas marriage with Jana and hearing she's pregnant, Sheldon breaks down and tells her what's eating at him for years: coach Graham James, whoa arranged for him to be transferred each time James was, sexually abused Sheldon, who fears to be laughed away as a queer and loose his only career avenue if he goes public

The Near Future(en)

While at work, Robin, a French immigrant pilot, receives a phone call that sends shock waves through his soul. Unseen by others, turmoil seeps into his inner world and echoes in his daily life. He will have to let this pain in, but not now. An impressionistic depiction of an all-but-ordinary day, The near future takes us to the poetic boundary between droning engines and complete silence, aerial and terrestrial, pastoral and urban, man and machine, life and death.

When You Sleep(en)

Two unstable teens live together in a slum apartment. When, in a poetic move, rats start invading their home, they realize that they have to deal with an unspoken matter that is threatening to ruin their relationship.

Barefoot(en)

In a tightly-knit Cree community in northern Canada, 16-year-old Alyssa's plans to become a mom begin to unravel.

The Hunger Years: In a Land of Plenty(de)

Hungerjahre is a movie about adolescence in 1950s West Germany, in which director and scriptwriter Jutta Brückner comes to terms with her own memories.

Ghost Train(en)

A compelling and unsettling documentary, Ghost Train introduces us to an elderly man whose wife is hospitalised with dementia. Struggling to cope, he visits Dracula's theatre restaurant, where he forms a bond with one of the performers.

Farewell China(cn)

Li Hung is a desperate mother who tried for years to obtain an American visa to study to create a better life for her husband Nansan and her son. But after a short time, she loses contact with her family, and her husband, Nansan smuggles himself to New York to find her.

Sisters, or The Balance of Happiness(de)

Sisters Maria and Anna live together. Maria is a most proficient executive secretary, encouraging Anna to finish her studies and start a career. Anna broods, threatens to quit university, takes pills, and keeps a diary. When Maria's relationship with Maurice, the son of her boss, starts to lead to love, Anna takes a selfish and drastic step that plummets Maria into solitude. No longer able to connect with Maurice, Maria does establish a relationship with Miriam, a typist at her office who becomes a surrogate younger sister. But Maria is intrusive as well as helpful. Can this or any relationship work out for this talented woman whose past seems to choke her soul?

The Book of Mary(fr)

Anne-Marie Miéville, frequent collaborator of Jean-Luc Godard, made this partner piece to Godard's own 'Je vous salue, Marie'. Marie, eleven years old, is experiencing difficult times. Her parents will separate. The perception of her universe is profoundly disturbed. This exacting portrait of a child immersed in her books, music and dancing casts a dispassionate yet touching eye on the girl's reaction to the new upheaval in her life.

Eight Taels of Gold(cn)

An ex-pat travels from New York to his home village in rural China after a long absence. On his way, he meets a familiar girl.

Dans les villes(fr)

Four strangers are wandering through town. Fanny, a young woman who takes care of trees, will cross paths with three people along her way and offer them her help: Jean-Luc is blind, Joséphine has reached the end of her life, and Carole is suicidal.

Brother(en)

Ah Ming searches for his brother, who ran away seven years prior. The only clue is a single letter sent from the remote town of Qinghai. Once there, Ah Ming slowly wins the trust of the locals and talks to his brother's friends. Eventually he finds his brother's Super-8 film and a map of China marked with his travels. Recognising that he is unlikely to ever find his brother, Ah Ming fatefully follows in his sibling's footsteps. - Melbourne International Film Festival

Ek Pal(hi)

Based on a short story by Maitreyi Devi, Kalpana Lajmi’s directorial debut tells a story of extramarital affair in the tea gardens of Assam. Famous Assamese singer-composer Hazarika contributes some fine compositions, overcoming the mandatory emphasis on regional folk-music in films set in exotic locales.

Reunion(en)

Reunion is the story of that person you carry with you. It's the story of a first love, a time and place and lives not led.

Talking to the Trees(en)

Mia, a beautiful and successful Paris based photographer, bored by her bourgeois existence, flies to Cambodia to surprise her timber trader husband Xavier. But her hope for a romantic welcome are dashed when she spies her husband in a brothel having sex with an eleven year-old, Srey. Mia, her world turned upside down, resolves to rescue Srey and return her to the remote village from where she was abducted.