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The Motorcycle Diaries
The film recounts the 1952 expedition, partly by motorcycle, across South America by Ernesto Guevara, later known as the revolutionary leader Ché, and his friend Alberto Granado. The screenplay is based primarily on Guevara’s trip diary of the same name, with additional context supplied by Traveling with Che Guevara: The Making of a Revolutionary by…
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The Story of the Weeping Camel
Deep in the Gobi desert, a family of nomadic Mongolian camel herders faces a serious problem. A mother camel has rejected her newborn colt. Death is near. There is only one thing to do, rekindle the mothers love through a ritual of music. Two young boys set out to find a traditional musician to save…
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Shooting Dogs
Released in the US as Beyond the Gates, Shooting Dogs is based on the factual story of a Catholic priest and a young English teacher who are caught in the middle of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Unlike Hotel Rwanda, which was filmed in South Africa using South African actors, the film was shot in the…
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Cave of the Yellow Dog
This docu-drama from Byambasuren Davaa follows on from the resounding success of her Oscar-nominated Story of the Weeping Camel (2003). If you loved that you’ll love this. The film tells of a Mongolian nomadic herding family, the Batchuluuns, living a traditional life as modernity encroaches. Nansel the eldest daughter brings home a stray dog. The…
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The Lives of Others
Von Donnersmarck’s powerful, beautifully crafted film captures life in East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall, when secret police or Stasi agents scrutinised the population for signs of dissent or divergence from toeing the line of the totalitarian regime. The story tells of three main characters a successful writer (Koch) suspected of subversion,…
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Souzhou River
Suzhou River mixes love story and crime genres in a modern film noir. Set in the urban decay of post-industrial Shanghai the film is peopled with gangsters, street hustlers and nightclub denizens. In a plot that twists and turns the narrator keeps us guessing whether the central story is about his love for Meimei (Xun…
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Waltz With Bashir
This animated film depicts director Ari Folman’s search for lost memories of his experience as an Israeli soldier during the 1982 Lebanon War. Framed as an exercise in therapy, it consists of a series of interviews with his former comrades. As more memories come to the surface, Ari realises that his unit played a role…
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The White Ribbon
Unsettling incidents take place in a small village in north Germany before World War I. The events are characterised by increasing violence and the community wonders about the identity of the perpetrators and their motivation. The village is no different from other communities in the rigid society of the period, nor is its puritanical approach…
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35 Shots of Rum
Widowed father Lionel (Descas) lives with his adult daughter Josephine (Diop). He knows that their tranquil, mutually supportive life cannot last, she must find her own way in the world. The stability and comfort of their relationship in a drear Paris suburb is a magnet for family friend Gabrielle (Dogue) and neighbour Noe (Colin). Will…
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Holy Motors
Surrealist comedy delivering a visual feast populated with gripping performances. A day-in-the-life tale of a shadowy character called M. Oscar results in a concoction tailor-made for cinephiles. Makes other films look staid. The spark for the film came from Carax’s observation that stretch limousines were being increasingly used for weddings. He was interested in their…