Golden Globes

This Tamil language film from India is a work of courage. It is truly daring to tackle a an unpopular subject – the threat of HIV/AIDS – with a film about a small group of people almost exclusively confined to one room in which they are sitting and waiting.

They Call Me Jeeg (Lo Chiamavano Jeeg Robot in the original Italian), the first feature length film by Gabriele Mainetti (known for animation shorts), is a singular object, a blend of superhero fantsy and gritty Neorealism in the mold of De Sica or Rossellini. You could venture to call it Bicycle Thieves with superpowers.

Stefan Zweig was an Austrian author, best know for his novellas  “Letter from an Unknown Woman”, "Burning Secret“, "Beware of Pity“ and “The Royal Game”, and biographies like "Erasmus of Rotterdam“ and "Marie Antoinette“, which was bought by MGM in 1938 and made into a film starring Norma Shearer. "Letter from an Unknown Woman“ was also adapted into a film with Joan Fontaine and directed by Max Ophüls.

A little girl's search for her father is the premise of the Finnish drama Little Wing.   The coming-of-age story follows 12-year-old Varpu (Linnea Skog) who one night steals a car and drives to the other side of the country because she wants to find the father she has never met.

Paul Verhoeven’s new film, Elle, came was a hit at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival and certainly one of the most talked-about films of the year, sparking debate over its treatment of rape. Adapted from the novel, “Oh…” by French writer Philippe Djian, David Birke’s screenplay is a mix of drama, comedy and thriller.

Francisco de Assis Chateaubriand Bandeira de Mello was a Brazilian lawyer, journalist and businessman. For decades he was also the power behind the throne of dictators and legally elected presidents alike – a true kingmaker in early to mid 20th century - thanks to the powerful media empire he created, starting with newspapers, branching out into radio and, finally, bringing television to Brazil.

You could call Come What May a semi-epic war story. It does not have big battle scenes focusing instead on how the epic battles affect ordinary citizens.

Jonás Cuarón started to dream about Desierto about a decade ago, when Donald Trump was just a billionaire only involved in choosing the most beautiful women for his Miss Universe contest. When Jonás finally sat down to write it, the script was so tempting that it inspired his director father, Golden Globe winner Alfonso Cuarón.

There was an an eruption of joy and a sense of unity among Palestinians worldwide when 23-year-old singer from Gaza, Mohammad Assaf, won the Arab Idol competition in 2013. Among the jubilant celebrators was Golden Globe-winning Palestinian director, Hany Abu Assad, who saw Assaf as more than just a singer but a national icon and a source of pride and hope for his people.

On Tanna, a South Pacific island nation in the Vanuatu archipelago, Wawa, a young girl from one of the last remaining traditional tribes, falls in love with her chief’s grandson, Dain. When an intertribal war escalates, Wawa, unbeknownst to her, is  betrothed as part of a peace deal.