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Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry
A drolly amusing Georgian comedy-drama that tackles the way life can take a sharp turn in middle-age. As the taciturn shopkeeper who rebels against her lot after a near-death experience, Eka Chavleishvili is both sympathetic and constantly surprising.
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Summer with Monika
A young couple flee Stockholm in a boat to spend an idyllic summer on an island. A key work by writer and director Ingmar Bergman, the film was initially notorious for a nude scene that helped establish Sweden’s reputation as sexually liberal.
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Perfect Days
Hirayama, played by Koji Yakusho, a middle-aged toilet cleaner in Tokyo, enjoys a rich interior life through reading, photography and classic rock cassette tapes. Wim Wenders’ film artfully mixes the simple enjoyment of the world with the tribulations of human engagement.
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Rye Lane
Two twenty-somethings connect over the course of an eventful day in South London. Raine Allen-Miller’s refreshing take on the meet-cute rom com received 2 BAFTA nominations.
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The Teachers’ Lounge
A petty theft in a secondary school leads to a chain-reaction of events in this nail-biting thriller. Writer-director Ilker Catak’s drama won four German Film Awards and was nominated for the Best International Feature Film Oscar.
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A Real Pain
In honour of their late grandmother, two mismatched cousins embark on a tour of Poland in this funny, intelligent road trip comedy. Writer-director-star Jesse Eisenberg won the Best Original Screenplay BAFTA; while a scene-stealing Kieran Culkin swept the awards season board, winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
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Bright Star
London 1818: Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish) is increasingly drawn to the handsome but aloof poet John Keats (a young Ben Whishaw). Writer-director Jane Campion (The Piano) received a Palme d’Or nomination for her understated yet deeply romantic literary drama, inspired by Andrew Motion’s 1997 biography of the poet.
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The Man Without a Past
A man travelling to Helsinki is assaulted, taken to hospital and pronounced dead. This marks the start of a tale with biblical echoes – of Lazarus, Job and the Good Samaritan – but which is shot through with Kaurismaki’s wry humour and eye for the everyday absurd. Winner of 4 prizes at Cannes, including the…








