September 9-11
THE GREAT BEAUTY/LA GRANDE BELLEZZA*. Italy, 2013 (comedy/drama, 142 min.) Dir: Paolo Sorrentino. With: Toni Servillo, Carlo Verdone, Sabrina Ferilli. Jep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty. Best Foreign Language Film Oscar 2014.
LE WEEK-END. UK, 2013 (comedy/drama, 93 min.) Dir: Roger Michel.
With: Lindsay Duncan, Jim Broadbent, Jeff Goldblum. A British couple
return to Paris many years after their honeymoon there in an attempt to
rejuvenate their marriage.
October 7-9
WADJDA*. Saudi Arabia, 2012 (drama, 98 min.) Dir: Haifaa
Al Mansour. With: Waad Mohammed, Reem Abdullah, Abdullrahman
Al Gohani. An enterprising Saudi girl signs on for her school's Koran
recitation competition as a way to raise the remaining funds she needs
in order to buy the green bicycle that has captured her interest.
LOUIS CYR: THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD/
LOUIS CYR: L'HOMME LE PLUS FORT DU MONDE*. Canada, 2013
(biography, 130 min.) Dir: Daniel Roby. With: Antoine Bertrand, Gilbert
Sicotte, Rose-Maïté Erkoreka. A biopic on the French-Canadian
strongman who was considered the strongest man in the world at the
end of the 19th century. 9 Jutra and 2 Genie awards 2014.
November 4-6
LIVING IMAGES/ELAVAD PILDID*. Estonia, 2013 (melodrama,
134 min.) Dir: Hardi Volmer. With: Sultan Aka, Ita Ever, Hendrik
Toompere Jr. Jr. Historical melodrama looking at Estonia's social
and economic development during the 20th century by telling the
stories of two Estonians, Helmi and Julius.
Film courtesy of the Embassy of Estonia.
TWENTY FEET FROM STARDOM. US, 2013 (music documentary,
91 min.) Dir: Morgan Neville. With: Darlene Love, Merry Clayton,
Lisa Fischer. Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the
spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular
music, but we've had no idea who these singers are or what lives they
lead, until now. Best Documentary Feature Oscar 2014.
December 2-4
LIKE FATHER LIKE SON/SOSHITE CHICHI NI NARU*. Japan 2013
(drama, 121 min.) Dir: Hirokazu Koreeda. With: Masaharu Fukuyama,
Machiko Ono, Yôko Maki. Ryota Nonomiya is a successful businessman
driven by money. When he learns that his biological son was switched
with another child after birth, he must make a life-changing decision
and choose his true son or the boy he raised as his own. Jury and
Ecumenical Prize, Cannes 2013.
GABRIELLE*. Canada, 2013 (musical drama, 104 min.) Dir: Louise
Archambault. With: Gabrielle Marion-Rivard, Alexandre Landry,
Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin. The musically gifted but developmentally challenged Gabrielle lives in a group home. She falls in love with a
similarly challenged young man in her choir. Best Motion Picture and
Best Acresss, Genie Awards 2014.
January 13–15
THE PAST/LE PASSE*. France/Italy/Iran 2013 (drama/mystery,
130 min.) Dir: Asghar Farhadi. With: Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim,
Ali Mosaffa. An Iranian man deserts his French wife and her two
children to return to his homeland. Meanwhile, his wife starts up a new
relationship, a reality her husband confronts upon his wife's request for
a divorce.
7 BOXES/7 CAJAS*. Paraguay, 2012 (action/thriller, 100 min.)
Dir: Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schembori. With: Celso Franco,
Víctor Sosa, Lali Gonzalez. Víctor receives an unusual proposal, to
carry 7 boxes of unknown content through the Market Number 4
but things get complicated along the way.
February 10–12
MARINA*. Belgium, 2013 (biography, 118 min.) Dir: Stijn Coninx.
With: Matteo Simoni, Cristiaan Campagna, Luigi Lo Cascio. Early years
of Italian singer Rocco Grenata whose family moved from Italy to
Belgium so that father could get work as an immigrant coal miner.
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN. UK, 2013 (biography/drama/romance,
111 min.) Dir: Ralph Fiennes. With: Ralph Fiennes, Felicity Jones,
Kristin Scott Thomas. At the height of his career, Charles Dickens
meets a younger woman who becomes his secret lover until his death.
March 10–12
LIFE FEELS GOOD/CHCE SIE ZYC*. Poland, 2013 (drama, 112 min.)
Dir: Maciej Pieprzyca. With: Dawid Ogrodnik, Dorota Kolak, Arkadiusz
Jakubik. Twenty-five years after Mateusz is diagnosed with cerebral palsy
and judged mentally disabled, it turns out he is quite intelligent and
convinces a board of state examiners of this fact. Grand Prix des
Amériques, Most Popular Film and Ecumenical Prize, Montreal, 2013.
Film courtesy of the Embassy of Poland.
OMAR*. Palestine, 2013 (dramatic thriller, 96 min.) Dir: Hany Abu-Assad.
With: Adam Bakri, Leem Lubany, Iyad Hoorani. A young Palestinian
freedom fighter agrees to work as an informant after he's tricked into
an admission of guilt by association in the wake of an Israeli soldier's
killing. Nominee Best Foreign Language Film Oscar 2014.
April 7-9
SHIFTING THE BLAME/SCHULD SIND IMMER DIE ANDEREN*.
Germany, 2012 (drama, 93 min.) Dir: Lars-Gunnar Lotz. With: Edin
Hasanovic, Julia Brendler, Marc Ben Buch, Pit Bukowski, Natalia
Rudziewicz. In a project with the concept of open-prison, a violent
young offender has a chance at a new beginning by coming face to
face with his victim in a rehabilitation session.
Film courtesy of the Embassy of Germany.
GLORIA*. Chile, 2013 (comedy/drama, 110 min.) Dir: Sebastián Lelio.
With: Paulina García, Sergio Hernández, Diego Fontecilla. A story set in
Santiago and centered on Gloria, a free-spirited older woman, and the
realities of her whirlwind relationship with a former naval officer whom
she meets out in the clubs.-
May 5-7
THE LUNCHBOX/DABBA*. India/France/Germany/US, 2013
(drama, 104 min.) Dir: Ritesh Batra. With: Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur,
Nawazuddin Siddiqui. A mistaken delivery in Mumbai's famously
efficient lunchbox delivery system connects a young housewife to an
older man in the dusk of his life as they build a fantasy world together
through notes in the lunchbox.
THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN*. Belgium, 2012
(drama, 111 min.) Dir: Felix van Groeningen. With: Veerle Baetens,
Johan Heldenbergh, Nell Cattrysse. Elise and Didier fall in love at first
sight, in spite of their differences. He's a romantic atheist, she's a
religious realist. When their daughter becomes seriously ill, their love is
put on trial. Nominee Best Foreign Language Film Oscar 2014.