mr-chianski's - Favourites List

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'Wadjda' is the story of a young Saudi girl whose burning desire for a bicycle leads her into bold defiance of her society's restrictive codes of gender and religion.

After a fight with her friend Abdullah, a neighborhood boy she shouldn't be playing with, Wadjda sees a beautiful green bicycle for sale. She wants the bicycle desperately so that she can beat Abdullah in a race. But Wadjda's mother won't allow it, fearing repercussions from a society that sees bicycles as dangerous to a girl's virtue. Wadjda decides to try and raise the money herself. Although her cunning plans are continuously thwarted, she is determined to continue fighting for her dreams...

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On the eve of World War I, the quiet order of a small protestant village in Northern Germany is disturbed by a series of mysterious and inexplicable accidents.

To the mounting concern of the villagers, the events persist, becoming increasingly sinister and taking on the character of a perverse punishment ritual. But who is responsible.

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Examining the close bond shared by an elderly couple when one of them begins to suffer from an illness, Amour tells a heart-rending story of sacrifice, devotion and the limits that love can drive us to.

Amour is one of the most honest, intimate and deeply affecting portraits of love ever committed to film.

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On December 8, 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby, editor in chief of fashion magazine French Elle suffered a massive stroke, leaving him prisoner inside his own body, only able to communicate with the blinking of his left eye.

Inside the Diving Bell, as he referred to his body, his memory and imagination, the Butterfly, remained untouched by the tragedy. Using a special alphabet, Bauby went on to defy the odds and fulfil his dream of writing a book, showing the amazing resilience of the human spirit.

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In the acclaimed new film by Abderrahmane Sissako (Bamako) the people of the Malian city, Timbuktu, struggle against an oppressive regime of terror inflicted upon them by invading Jihadists who prohibit every enjoyable indulgence of life.

Meanwhile, Kidane lives a peaceful life in the nearby dunes, but when he has an altercation with a neighbour the extremists take it upon themselves to deliver their brand of draconian justice.

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I've Loved You So Long is the outstanding, critically celebrated breakthrough film of the year.

Kristin Scott Thomas (Four Weddings and a Funeral, The English Patient) offers a truly sensational performance in this utterly engrossing and deeply moving tale of two sisters who rebuild their relationship after fifteen years apart. The two women gradually rediscover common ground and learn how to relate to one another through the memories of their shared childhood, all the while the spectre of their time apart looming overhead... This intelligent and compassionate film is a testament to the power of family, love and forgiveness.

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Visionary director Guillermo del Toro creates a unique, richly imagined epic with Pan's Labyrinth, a gothic fairy tale set against the postwar era of Fanco's Spain.

Pan's Labyrinth unfolds throught the eyes of Ofelia, a young girl uprooted to a remote military outpost commanded by her new stepfather. Powerless and lonely in a place of great danger, Ofelia lives out her own dark fable as she confronts monsters both otherworldly and human after she discovers a neglected labyrith behind the family home. There she meets Pan, a fantastical creature who challenges her with three tasts which he claims will reveal her true identity.

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Twelve year old Oskar is an outsider; struggling to fit in at school and left alone to fend for himself at home while his mother works nights. One evening he meets the mysterious Eli.

As a sweet romance blossoms between them, Oskar learns to overcome his tormentors and discovers Eli's dark secret and the connections to gruesome events occurring across town. Together they must help Eli be gone and live, or stay and die.

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This utterly compelling psychological thriller from Michael Haneke - one of cinema's most daring original and controversial directors - stars Daniel Auteuil as Georges, a television presenter who begins to receive mysterious and alarming packages containing covertly filmed videos of himself and his

family. To the mounting consternation of Georges and his wife (Juliette Binoche) the footage on the tapes - which arrive wrapped in drawings of disturbingly violent images - becomes increasingly personal, and sinister anonymous phone calls are made. Convinced he knows the identity of the person responsible, Georges embarks on a rash and impulsive course of action that throws up some unpleasant facts about his past and leads to shockingly unexpected consequences.

The stand-out film of the 2011 Berlin Film Festival and winner of the Golden Bear is a suspenseful and intelligent drama that details the manipulations and confrontations brought into play when a couple's marriage painfully breaks down.

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"The Hunt" unfolds in a small provincial town in the days leading up to Christmas. Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen), a forty year old divorcee, is finally getting his life under control.

He's got himself a new girlfriend, a new job and is in the process of re-building his relationship with his teenage son, Marcus. But things soon start to unravel. Nothing significant, just a slight comment here, a random lie there. And as the snow falls and the Christmas lights are lit, the lie spreads like an invisible virus. The shock and mistrust gets out of hand, and the small community suddenly finds itself in a collective state of hysteria, while Lucas fights a lonely fight for his life and dignity. "The Hunt" is a disturbing depiction of how a lie can quickly become truth - a modern tale of a witch-hunt, injustice, guilt and, ultimately, forgiveness. A fable on how fragile a community can become when gossip, doubt and malice are allowed to flourish. It is a stirring portrait of a man struggling to exonerate himself, and a father and a son reaching out for one another as their world crumbles.

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Dheepan is a Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger, forced to flee to France to escape civil war by posing as a family with a woman and young girl he has never previously met.

Finding work as a caretaker of a housing block in the Parisian suburbs, Dheepan works to build a new life and home for his 'wife' and 'daughter', but the daily violence he confronts quickly reopens the violence from his past, and he is left fighting for their livelihood, and eventually their lives. From acclaimed director Jacques Audiard, and winner of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or, 'Dheepan' is a powerful tale of family, love, social integration, and the overwhelming effects of warfare.

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Karamakate, a warrior shaman and last of his tribe, transcends the worlds of men and seeks truth through their dreams. He alone knows how to find the mysterious and psychedelic Yakruna plant; for some it has life-saving properties, for others it is a commodity waiting to be exploited.

Two scientists, in two different times enlist Karamakate on their individual quests in an epic adventure into the heart of the Colombian Amazon to find this mythical plant. This Oscar nominated film is seen through Karamakates eyes and bears witness to the effects of colonialism, religion and the exploitation of rubber on indigenous traditions and the environment to which they arc inextricably linked.

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Jiro (voiced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) dreams of flying and designing beautiful airplanes, inspired by the famous Italian aeronautical designer Caproni (voiced by Stanley Tucci).

Nearsighted from a young age and thus unable to become a pilot, Jiro joins a major Japanese engineering company in 1927 and becomes one of the world's most innovative and accomplished airplane designers. The film chronicles much of his life, depicting key historical events including The Great Kanto earthquake of 1923, the Great Depression, the tuberculosis epidemic, and Japan's plunge into war. Jiro meets and falls in love with Nahoko (voiced by Emily Blunt) and grows and cherishes his friendship with his colleague Honjo (voiced by John Krasinski).

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It's the beginning of summer in a small village in northern Turkey. Lale and her four sisters are on their way home from school, innocently playing with local boys but prying village eyes view their games with suspicion and word soon reaches their family.

Their home consequently becomes a prison at the hand of their uncompromising uncle and all the girls have to now live for is a future of arranged marriage. But these girls' rebellious streak will not be tamed so easily. Drawing vocal support from critics, festivals and audiences across the globe, this beautiful debut from director Deniz Gamze Erguven is a touching portrayal of innocent strength and resilience against modern misogyny.