foreign films

The feature film debut from Israeli director Ofir Raul Graizer should come with a warning. “Do not enter this theater when hungry.

Million Loves in Me, directed by Sampson Yuen Yun Hong, is inspired by a headline case in Hong Kong: a 45-year-old woman, Katy, was charged with animal cruelty when the police discovered she was hoarding more than a hundred dogs and cats in her apartment. In the film, a Malaysian production in Cantonese and Mandarin shot in Hong Kong, Katy's mother (played by Hong Kong actress Lo Koon-Lan) is suffering from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, an illness she developed after being abandoned by her husband and son, who spends her time splurging on fancy restaurants, jewelry, and puppies.

Lazzaro Felice (Happy as Lazzaro), written and directed by Alice Rohrwacher, was presented in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won for best screenplay. It tells the story, or modern parable, of Lazzaro, (Lazarus) who, like his biblical counterpart, is a kind young man who is miraculously reawakened by a wolf, decades after falling off a cliff.

Burning is a 2018 South Korean mystery-suspense drama directed by Lee Chan-Dong who is also a screenwriter and novelist. It is the first film directed by Lee in eight years.

The Golden Globe-nominated directors in the Foreign Language category once again gathered on the eve of the 75th Golden Globe Awards for our traditional Foreign Film Symposium. Joined moderator Mike Goodrich, former HFPA member and now director of the International Film Festival in Macao, at the American Cinematheque’s Egytpian Theatre, were Fatih Akin (In the Fade), Angelina Jolie (First They Killed My Father), Sebastian Lelio (A Fantastic Woman), Ruben Östlund (The Square) and Andrey Zvyagintsev (Loveless).

After getting nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Live Action Short Film category in 2013 for Henry, Montreal film maker Yan England does not disappoint with his feature film debut, 1:54. The film made a splash in French-speaking Canada, generating a wide debate in society about its main theme, bullying in schools and how to prevent it.

The Brazilian foreign film entry, Bingo: King of Mornings, is a biographical drama written by award-winning writer Luis Bolognesi and Fábio Meira, with a remarkable directorial debut from coveted film editor Daniel Rezende. Bingo is based closely on Arlindo Barreto’s life as Bozo the Clown in the 1980s (changed to Bingo for legal reasons) but is truly a film about the trials and tribulations of fame and success.

Jupiter’s Moon is a Hungarian drama directed by Kornel Mondruczo who also co-wrote the film with Kata Weber.  The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival and competed for the Palme d’Or in the main section.

Breath is a fantastical drama written and directed by native Iranian Narges Abyar. Set in Yazd, Iran, spanning between the 1970s and the end of the 1980s, Breath (Nafas) is a harrowing story about war and childhood as seen through the creative eyes of 9-year-old Bahar (played by Sareh Nour Mousavi), who uses her imagination to dream her way out of her violent reality.

Of his film, Birdshot, writer-director Mikhail Red says: “I was inspired by a news article about a Bukidnon (Philippines) farmer who shot, killed, cooked and ate a critically endangered Philippine Eagle in the wild. ” An engaging coming-of-age drama and thriller, it follows the story of a young girl who accidentally shoots an endangered Philippine Eagle.