Owen Wingrave(2001)

Great Sertão(pt)

In the concrete jungles of lawless futuristic Brazil, enemies spout slam poetry in duels as their movements remind us of parkour. The adrenaline rush breaks into three timelines: the past introduces teenager Riobaldo and handsome Diadorim, the present depicts a bloody clash and reveals sexual identities, and the future exposes Riobaldo’s deal with the devil.

The Way of the Cross(cs)

In a small village in the Chodsko region, people live with daily worries about making a living. Many are dependent on work on the estate. Only the priest Jiří is able to stand up against the undignified conditions here, but he receives no gratitude, because the steward turns the villagers against him. Staněk, an engineer whose son Ondřej is studying at a grammar school, also works on the estate. The boy would like to continue studying law in Prague and is very surprised by his mother's wish for him to become a priest. His mother relies on the priest to talk Ondřej out of it. However, Jiří was once in the same situation, so he knows how difficult it is to perform well a mission that one has not chosen for oneself...

Lily Festival(ja)

Sachi Hamano's Yurisai (Lily Festival) is about a man (Mickey Curtis) in his seventies who comes to live in an apartment building that also houses seven elderly women. The film examines the ladies' sexual desires as the man proceeds to woo each of them. Kazuko Yoshiyuki portrays one of the female residents. The film was adapted from a novel by Houko Momotani and was screened at the Montreal World Film Festival.

It Comes(ja)

To protect his family from a mysterious being, a man joins forces with a journalist and an exorcist - but they come to learn what they are dealing with is beyond their imagination.

Storm Boy(en)

Storm Boy lives a lonely life with his reclusive father on a desolate coastline, but when he forms a close bond with a pelican, Mr. Percival, his life takes a new and unexpected turn.

Night Adventure(el)

The Bridge of San Luis Rey(en)

In 1714 Peru, a friar is tried by the Spanish Inquisition for questioning God's intentions when five die in the collapse of an Andean rope bridge.

The Assistant(sk)

A story of a family that after WWII moved to the south of Slovakia and acquired a prosperous butcher business left behind by a Hungarian emigrant. From the previous owner, the family also inherited a self-assured, greedy assistant who does not like to observe any firm moral principles. He assists the family in gaining wealth but in the long run, he causes the family's moral dissolution. In his most successful feature film, director Zoro Záhon combined a complex drama with excellent acting performances, especially that of Hungarian actor Gábor Koncz in the lead role.

Seemabaddha(bn)

Ambitious businessman Shyamalendu enjoys showing his visiting sister-in-law, Tutul, the extravagant life he leads with his wife. But Tutul is less than impressed with the trappings of wealth.

The Lost City of Z(en)

A true-life drama in the 1920s, centering on British explorer Col. Percy Fawcett, who discovered evidence of a previously unknown, advanced civilization in the Amazon and disappeared whilst searching for it.

Quo Vadis(en)

After fierce Roman commander Marcus Vinicius becomes infatuated with beautiful Christian hostage Lygia, he begins to question the tyrannical leadership of the despotic emperor Nero.

Tamerlano(en)

Handel's 1724 opera Tamerlano followed the success of his previous year's Giulio Cesare with another colourful historical costume drama. This time the setting is the court of "Timur the Tartar", who has just defeated the Turkish Sultan Bajazet at the battle of Angora. There are, naturally enough, romantic complications when both Tamerlano and his ally, the Greek Prince Andronico, fall in love with Bajazet's daughter Asteria. She, however, has plans to revenge her father's defeat. This production was directed by Jonathan Miller and staged in the intimate surroundings of the Goethe Theatre of Bad Lauchstadt as part of the 2001 Halle Handel Festival.

The Scent of Incense(ja)

After her mother runs away from home, Tomoko is raised to be a geisha. One day Tomoko meets her mother in a red-light district in Tokyo and her life deeply gets in trouble.

The Fight for Rome II - The Betrayal(de)

The devious general Cethegus plays the Byzantine and Gothic forces against each other for his own gain.

Thief(en)

Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specialized in high-profile diamond heists. He plans to use his ill-gotten income to retire from crime and build a nice life for himself complete with a home, wife and kids. To accelerate the process, he signs on with a top gangster for a big score.

The Broken Commandment(ja)

At the strong insistence of his father, Ushimatsu Segawa conceals his origins from a “buraku” area of low-class “untouchables,” leaving his hometown to serve as an elementary school teacher where he excels and is loved by his students. But he constantly struggles with the secret of his low-birth status and is disturbed by all of the discrimination levelled upon his class. It prevents him from pursuing a romance with Shiho, whom he meets at the temple where he resides, but who descends from a samurai family.

Dirty Sexy Saint(en)

Clay Kincaid hates the nickname 'Saint', he got for being too kind to stray animals and desperate people. Especially when it comes to women. With a rough and damaged past that has left him jaded, he doesn't do committed relationships. This is before he meets Samantha Jamieson, an heiress turned runaway in need of help. When she starts to work as a waitress at his bar, he discovers that she is someone truly special and amazing… someone that could warm his damaged heart.

Poupelle of Chimney Town(ja)

The story is about a young boy named Lubicchi and a trashman named Poupelle who meet on a Halloween night in a city that is full of tall chimneys. The chimneys pour out black smoke and the true sky cannot be seen.

Viva Vivaldi(it)

Viva Vivaldi! is a concert by the Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli interspersing arias from the 20 surviving operas of Vivaldi with two concertos. Given with the early music ensemble Il Giardino Armonico before a very appreciative audience in the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the performance is part of Bartoli's exploration of the Venetian composer's opera music which also includes The Vivaldi Album. There is a startling dynamic energy, which contrasts powerfully with the more restrained interpretations by singers such as Emma Kirkby. Bartoli's natural Italian and the live atmosphere of Maria Grazia d'Alessio's oboe gives her interpretation of the quietly haunting and melodically rich "Non ti Lusinghi la Crudeltade" from Tito Manlio a particular piquancy. The Flautino Concerto is a most attractive interlude, while the more famous Lute/Violin Concerto beguiles with its exquisite lyricism.

Cecilia & Bryn at Glyndebourne(en)

The celebrated mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli joins Bryn Terfel for a recital of arias and duets recorded at Glyndebourne Opera House in 1999. The programme features favourite pieces from Mozart, Rossini and Donizetti, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Myung-Whun Chung.