The Return

Vozvrashcheniye 8 Feb 2006 Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev Russia 2003 110 min In contemporary Russia, two teenage boys confront new and conflicting emotions as their father returns after a twelve year absence. The man they know only through a single photograph suddenly takes them on holiday to a remote island on a lake, supposedly to go… Continue reading The Return

The Station Agent

5 Apr 2006 Director: Thomas McCarthy USA 2003 88 min Finbar McBride has a learnt that isolation is best. With his only a friend dead, he takes up work in a rural town’s train depot. There he hopes to be left alone. However, he reluctantly finds himself enmeshed in the lives of his neighbours. He… Continue reading The Station Agent

The Story of the Weeping Camel

Die Geschichte vom weinenden Kamel 16 Nov 2005 Directors: Byambasuren Davaa & Luigi Falorni Germany, Mongolia 2003 90 min This is a magical blend of drama and documentary set in the Gobi Desert of Southern Mongolia. A family of nomadic camel herders are faced with a dilemma when a mother rejects a newborn white camel,… Continue reading The Story of the Weeping Camel

Les Égarés

Strayed 8 Nov 2006 Director: André Téchiné France, UK 2003 95 min In June 1940 the German forces are advancing on Paris. There is widespread panic in the city; Odile, a recently widowed mother, succumbs to this and joins the exodus south with her two children. When a German plane attacks the refugees, Odile and… Continue reading Les Égarés

Belleville Rendezvous

Les Triplettes de Belleville 15 Dec 2004 Director: Sylvain Chomet France, Belgium, Canada, UK 2003 77 min A unique, stylish and exquisitely executed animation from France. Champion, under the care of his grand mother Madame Souza, enters a rigorous training regime in order to one day enter the Tour de France. But Champion is kidnapped… Continue reading Belleville Rendezvous

Osama

20 Oct 2004 Director: Siddiq Barmak Afghanistan 2003 82 min In Afganistan, the Taliban close the factory where a 12 year old girl and her mother work. They forbid women to leave their houses without a male ‘legal companion’. The males in their family are dead. The mother has nowhere to turn, so she disguises… Continue reading Osama

Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter…and Spring

2 Feb 2005 South Korea, Germany 2003 103 min Director: Ki-duk Kim Captivating fable concerning the seasonal nature of life. A young boy lives in the idyllic environment of the floating monastery on a tranquil lake. There his master teaches him the ways of Buddhism. Time goes by and a girl is brought to the… Continue reading Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter…and Spring

Barbarian Invasions

Les Invasions Barbares 30 Mar 2005 Director: Denys Arcand Canada, France 2003 99 min Winner of two major awards at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, the film merges Arcand’s alternately witty and tender storytelling style with his most deeply emotional tale to date: that of a father and son who think they have nothing left… Continue reading Barbarian Invasions