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Foreign Films October 2019
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3 Faces (Persian)
Director Panahi begins with a smartphone video shot by a young woman who announces to the camera that her parents haveforbidden her from realizing her dream of acting and then, by all appearances, takes her own life. The recipient of the video, Behnaz Jafari, as herself, asks Panahi, as himself, to drive her to the woman's tiny home village near the Turkish border to investigate. Dialouge in Persian and Azerbaijani.
Director: Jafar Panahi
Starring: Behnaz Jafari, Jafar Panahi, Marziyeh Rezaei, Maedeh Erteghaei, Narges Del Aram
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Aniara (Swedish)
When a ship carrying settlers from Earth to Mars is knocked off course, passengers must wrestle with the reality that home may be a lot further away than they thought. Crew member MR operates a sentient computer that allows humans to experience idyllic memories of their lives on Earth. As the ship drifts further into space, MR must keep passengers calm amid a growing sense of disaster.
Director: Pella Kagerman, Hugo Lilja
Starring: Emelie Jonsson, Bianca Cruzeiro, Arvin Kananian
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Ash is Purest White (Mandarin)
Qiao is in love with Bin, a local mobster. During a fight between rival gangs, she fires a gun to protect him. Qiao gets five years in prison for this act of loyalty. Upon her release, she goes looking for Bin to pick up where they left off.
Director: Zhangke Jia
Starring: Tao Zhao, Fan Liao, Yi'Nan Diao, Xiaogang Feng, Casper Liang, Zheng Xu, Yibai Zhang
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Detective Montalbano Episodes 33-34 (Italian)
by Alberto Sironi
The Other End Of The Line - The Vigata police are working exhausting nights assisting immigrants arriving by boat to Sicily. Just as they get a break, a terrible local crime also comes to their attention. A Diary From 1943 - A long-hidden diary opens a window to tragic events from the Allies' occupation of Sicily during WWII. While Montalbano tries to decipher the diary's references, a 90-year-old businessman is murdered in his home.
Director: Alberto Sironi
Starring: Luca Zingaretti, Sonia Bergamasco, Cesare Bocci, Dominic Chianese, Peppino Mazzotta, Angelo Russo
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Dogman (Italian)
In a seaside village on the outskirts of an Italian city, Marcello is a slight, mild-mannered man who divides his days between working at his modest dog grooming salon, caring for his daughter Alida, and being coerced into the petty criminal schemes of the local bully Simoncino. When Simoncino's abuse finally brings Marcello to a breaking point, he decides to stand up for his own dignity through an act of vengeance, with unintended consequences.
Director: Matteo Garrone
Starring: Marcello Fonte, Edoardo Pesce, Nunzia Schiano
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Heiresses (Spanish)
Chela and Chiquita, both descended from wealthy families in Asuncion, Paraguay, have been together for over 30 years. But recently their financial situation has worsened, and they begin selling off their inherited possessions. But when their debts lead to Chiquita being imprisoned on fraud charges, Chela is forced to face a new reality.
Director: Marcelo Martinessi
Starring: Ana Brun, Margarita Irun, Ana Ivanova
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In the Last Days of the City (Arabic)
The debut feature of filmmaker Tamer El Said tells the fictional story of a filmmaker from downtown Cairo as he struggles to capture the soul of a city on edge while facing loss in his own life. Shot in Cairo, Beirut, Baghdad, and Berlin during the two years before the outbreak of revolution in Egypt, the film's multi-layered stories are a visually rich exploration of friendship, loneliness, loss, and life in cities shaped by shadows of war and adversity.
Director: Tamer El Said
Starring: Khalid Abdalla, Laila Samy, Hanan Youssef
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Master Z: The IP Man Legacy (Cantonese)
After giving up Wing Chun, Cheung Tin Chi (starring Max Zhang) ran into trouble with the local triad and had his home burnt to the ground. He took shelter on Bar Street and found solace from the neighbours. But when he discovered the triad was peddling drugs on Bar Street, Tin Chi took it upon himself to intervene. When the drug lord sought revenge and killed Tin Chi's friends, he decided to take on the drug lord in a final showdown.
Director: Woo-Ping Yuen
Starring: Jin Zhang, Dave Bautista, Michelle Yeoh
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Naples in Veils (Italian)
Suspended between magic and superstition, madness and rationality, a mystery envelops the existence of Adriana, overwhelmed by a sudden love and a violent crime.
Director: Ferzan Ozpetek
Starring: Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Alessandro Borghi, Anna Bonaiuto
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Never Look Away (German)
Inspired by real events and spanning three eras of German history, the film tells the story of a young art student, Kurt, who falls in love with his classmate, Ellie. Ellie's father and famous doctor, Professor Seeband, is dismayed at his daughter's choice of boyfriend and vows to destroy the relationship. What neither Kurt nor Ellie knows is that their lives are already connected through a terrible crime Seeband committed decades ago.
Director: Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck
Starring: Tom Schilling, Sebastian Koch, Paula Beer, Saskia Rosendahl, Oliver Masucci, Evgeniy Sidikhin, Ulrike C. Tscharre, Hanno Koffler
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Ramen Shop (Japanese)
The film tells the story of young ramen chef Masato, who leaves his home and family's shop in Japan after his father dies in search of his mother's family and the recipes she left behind in Singapore. There he traces a culinary path of delicious signature dishes to find his estranged family across the sea. With the help of food blogger Miki, he learns the recipes of his mother's homeland and the way to his grandmother's heart.
Director: Eric Khoo
Starring: Tsuyoshi Ihara, Takumi Saitoh, Seiko Matsuda, Jeanette Aw
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Shadow (Mandarin)
In Pei, a kingdom ruled by a young and unpredictable king, the military commander faces peril both inside and outside the palace walls. But he has a secret weapon: a look-alike who can fool both Pei's enemies and the King himself.
Director: Yimou Zhang
Starring: Chao Deng, Li Sun, Qianyuan Wang, Jingchun Wang, Jun Hu
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The Sower (French)
France's autocratic President Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte has ordered the arrest of all the men of a remote mountain farming village following a Republican uprising. The women take an oath: if a man comes, they will share him as a lover. When a mysterious and handsome stranger arrives, he ignites passions and jealousies that threaten to destroy the tight-knit community.
Director: Marine Franssen
Starring: Pauline Burlet, Geraldine Pailhas, Alban Lenoir
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Vai (Maori)
The film about female empowerment telling the story of one woman's life in eight separate moments from the perspective of eight different Pacific Island cultures.
Director: Becs Arahanga, Amberley Jo Aumua, Matasila Freshwater, Diana Fuemana, Miria George, Ofa Guttenbeil, Marina McCartney, Nicole Whippy, Sharon Whippy
Starring: Evotia-Rose Araiti, Ro Mereani Adi Tuimatanisiga, Hinetu Dell, Betsy Lania Luitolo, Agnes Pele
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The Wild Pear Tree (Turkish)
Sinan, an aspiring writer, returns home after university, hoping to scrape together enough money to publish his first novel. He wanders the town encountering old flames and obstinate gatekeepers and finds his youthful ambition increasingly at odds with the deferred dreams of his gambling addict father. As his own fantasies mingle with reality, Sinan grapples with the people and the place that has made him who he is.
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Starring: Dogu Demirkol, Murat Cemcir
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Woman at War (Icelandic)
Halla is a fifty-year-old independent woman. But behind the scenes of a quiet routine, she leads a double life as a passionate environmental activist. Known to others only by her alias, 'the Woman of the Mountain,' Halla secretly wages a one-woman-war on the local aluminum industry.
Director: Benedikt Erlingsson
Starring: David Thor Jonsson, Magnus Trygvason Eliasen, Juan Camillo Roman Estrada, Jorundur Ragnarsson
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Working Woman (Hebrew)
Orna is the mother of three children whose husband is struggling to open a restaurant. To help support her family, Orna lands a job with a former army superior who is now a successful real estate developer. While Orna tries to balance work and her home life, she experiences escalating sexual harassment from her boss. A pattern of predatory behavior ultimately brings her career and marital relationship to the brink.
Director: Michal Aviad
Starring: Liron Ben Shlush, Menashe Noy, Oshri Cohen
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Mercer County Library System 2751 Brunswick Pike Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 Phone: (609) 882-9246 E-mail: nrsupprt@mcl.org |
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