The great Alexander Sokurov (Russian Ark, Mother and Son) has made an eloquent anti-war film in which not a shot is fired. "Dream-like... a timely and humane film." — Sight and Sound
Films — by Country
- Aotearoa New Zealand
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Brazil
- Canada
- Chile
- China
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Haiti
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Kazakhstan
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Malaysia
- Mexico
- Mongolia
- Norway
- Pakistan
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Slovakia
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- The Netherlands
- Turkey
- UK
- USA
- Ukraine
France
Animation Now! 2008
Cut-outs, paint-on-glass, puppetry, watercolour on tile, scratch films and hand-drawn work all feature in this year's selection of the best animated shorts from around the world.
The Band's Visit
Bikur Ha-Tizmoret
A lost Egyptian band spends the night in a small Israeli town in this charming comedy. "Marries goofy deadpan comedy with a conciliatory spirit... you'll weep with laughter." — LA Weekly
Caramel
Sukkar banat
This bittersweet comedy drama is filled with insight into women's lives in contemporary Lebanon. "Utterly entrancing and completely brilliant." — Film Comment
Christopher Columbus - The Enigma
Cristóvão Colombo – O Enigma
Director Manoel de Oliveira (born 1908) recreates the real-life search of Manuel Luciano da Silva and his wife Sílvia to prove that Christopher Columbus was actually Portuguese.
Digital Panorama
A stunning collection of recent international short digital animations from the dark edge of the creative spectrum.
The Duchess of Langeais
Ne touchez pas la hache
Jeanne Balibar and Guillaume Depardieu are superb in this adaptation of Balzac's tale of drawing room passion. "A nearly impeccable work of art – beautiful, true, profound." — NY Times
Eat, for This Is My Body
Mange, ceci est mon corps
This evocation of Haiti is cinema poetry of intoxicating lyricism, a powerful allegory of the racial and sexual politics of colonial heritage.
Fear(s) of the Dark
Peur(s) du noir
This French collection of animated shorts enlist the fevered imaginations of six gifted artists to create an inventive take on our primordial phobias of all things dark.
Flight of the Red Balloon
Le Voyage du ballon rouge
Taiwanese master Hou Hsiao-hsien delivers a richly layered picture of life in Paris starring Juliette Binoche. "A movie of genius." — Village Voice
Frontier(s)
Frontière(s)
A gang of criminals take refuge in a hotel run by a family of degenerate Nazis. French cinema gets dragged kicking and screaming into the grindhouse in this gore-drenched debut.
Funny Games
Michael Haneke (The Piano Teacher) channels his anger with mainstream media depiction of violence into a horrific and highly entertaining piece of cinema. Starring Naomi Watts, Tim Roth.
In the City of Sylvia
En la ciudad de Sylvia
Awash with the sights and sounds of the French city of Strasbourg, this lyrical tale of a young man's search for his lost love is a purely cinematic, virtually wordless treat for romantics and people watchers.
In Your Wake
Nos retrouvailles
This taut, brooding crime drama plumbs the relationship between a dangerously immature, adrift father and his introverted son.
L'Invité
It's business as usual in the polished world of French farce, where it's open season on the tasteless and the clueless; and heartless cads have the best lines. Starring Daniel Auteuil.
La France
Winner of France's Jean Vigo Award for the year's most remarkable debut, La France mixes genres – period romance, war movie and pop album – to confoundingly pleasurable effect.
Let's Say...
On dirait que...
What do kids think their parents do at work? French filmmaker Françoise Marie gets fascinating, often funny answers by having kids act out their parents' work days. "A real charmer." — Variety
Lorna's Silence
Le Silence de Lorna
Actress Arta Dobroshi is a revelation as a young Albanian woman inveigled into a treacherous scam in acclaimed Dardennes Brothers' new film. Best Screenplay, Cannes Film Festival 2008.
The Man from London
A Londoni férfi
Cult director Béla Tarr's bizarre, ominous adaptation of a Simenon detective novel unfolds in amazingly choreographed mobile camera sequences. "Mesmeric." — The Guardian
Max & Co
This extravagantly mounted, endlessly inventive stop-motion puppet animation should appeal to admirers of films like The Nightmare Before Christmas or Wallace & Gromit's Were-Rabbit adventure.
Mutum
A shy, uncannily philosophical country boy's view of a confused grown-up world is rendered with great charm and sensitivity in this beautiful film from Brazil.
O'Horten
A Norwegian bachelor faces retirement in this charming comedy, easily the best-loved film to debut at Cannes this year. "A small wonder... luminous and deliciously funny." — LA Times
Paris
From the director of The Spanish Apartment, a mult-character cavalcade of life and death and love and the lack of it in the City of Lights. "A rich and satisfying indulgence." — UrbanCinefile.com.au
Persepolis
Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis is one of the wonders of the year, an animated feature that's more richly populated, vigorous, succinct and shrewdly funny than many a flesh-and-blood drama.
The Red Balloon/White Mane
The classic romance of a Parisian boy and his huge red balloon returns with the same director's equally honoured White Mane, the tale of a country boy's passion for a beautiful wild horse.
The Romance of Astrea and Céladon
Les amours d’Astrée et de Céladon
At 87, Eric Rohmer, lifelong connoisseur and satirist of the romantic misadventures of the young and self-absorbed, finds inspiration in a classic Arcadian romance.
Silent Light
Stellet licht
This tale of adultery in a Mennonite community in rural Mexico has the power of a story from the Old Testament. "This is a film of grace and greatness." — Financial Times
The Sky, the Earth and the Rain
El cielo, la tierra y la lluvia
A poetic meditation on solitude, this masterful debut frames its characters within the imposing, rugged setting of a rural coastal area in Chile.
Stranded: I've Come from a Plane that Crashed on the Mountains
This riveting documentary strips away the sensationalism that has accrued around the survivors of the 1972 Andean air crash to reinstate their experience as one of the great instances of heroic human endurance.
Terror's Advocate
L'Avocat de la terreur
Fascinating portrait of the enigmatic lawyer who has defended the indefensible: Klaus Barbie, Carlos the Jackal, Slobodan Milosevic and Saddam Hussain.
Three Monkeys
Üç maymun
To Each His Own Cinema
Chacun son cinéma
A fascinating, entertaining compilation of short films about movie-going by some of the world's greatest directors: Cronenberg, Lynch, Campion, Kitano, Salles, Kiarostami, Polanski etc etc...
The Universe of Keith Haring
Lively, affectionate portrait of graffiti-influenced 80s artist Keith Haring, who painted on every surface he could find, including cars, walls, T-shirts and the subway.
Waltz with Bashir
This extraordinary animated film captures director Air Folman's struggle to recover his lost memories of what he saw and what he did during Israel's ill-fated 1980s war in Lebanon.
Water Lilies
Naissance des pieuvres
Crisply observed drama of schoolgirl crushes, jealousies and sexual exploration on a synchronised swimming team. "Very provocative and stylish." — The Guardian
Welcome to the Sticks
Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis
This affectionate satire of an urban trendy transferred to a provincial town is now the most successful French film of all time.