sog's - Rented List
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Touch of Spice (2003)Politiki kouzina
Fanis is a man torn between his Greek ethnicity and his emotional roots in Turkey, the country of his birth. Using the device of cuisine as a metaphor for national identity and personal feelings, we see Fanis grow from a boy whose grandfather imparts culinary and philosophical expertise from the Aladdin's cave of his spice shop, to a young man with a true passion for food. Deported to Greece with his family as a young boy, Fanis returns home after 35 years for an emotional reunion with his grandfather... and his first love. A bitter sweet journey of the senses, set against the historical backdrop of the deportation of thousands of Greeks from Istanbul, this is one of the biggest Greek films of all time. - Director:
- Tassos Boulmetis
- Cast:
- Georges Corraface, Ieroklis Michaelidis, Renia Louizidou
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Le Samouraï (1967)The Godson / The Samurai
In a career-defining performance, Alain Delon plays Jef Costello, a contract killer with samurai instincts. After carrying out a flawlessly planned hit, Jef finds himself caught between a persistent police investigator and a ruthless employer, and not even his armor of fedora and trench coat can protect him. An elegantly stylized masterpiece of cool by maverick director Jean-Pierre Melville, 'Le Samourai' is a razor-sharp cocktail of 1940's American gangster cinema and 1960's French pop culture - with a liberal dose of Japanese lone-warrior mythology. - Director:
- Jean-Pierre Melville
- Cast:
- Alain Delon, François Périer, Nathalie Delon
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Blackboards (2000)Takhté siah
In the brutal mountains of the Iran/Iraq border, two nomadic teachers, Reeboir and Said, roam the landscape in search of pupils. They carry their blackboards on their backs, sometimes using them as shelter, camouflage, and as shields from gunfire. Reeboir encounters a group of young border smugglers for whom education has little meaning, whilst Said becomes involved with some old men seeking a safe route across the border to Iraq. - Director:
- Samira Makhmalbaf
- Cast:
- Said Mohamadi, Behnaz Jafari, Bahman Ghobadi
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My Favourite Cake (2024)Keyke mahboobe man
A beautifully delicate and nuanced concoction of a film, 'My Favourite Cake', co-written and directed by Iranian filmmakers Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, explores themes of love, regret and second chances with nuance and grace. It's set against the backdrop of a country with strict rules and restrictions, especially when it comes to the rights and freedoms of women. - Director:
- Maryam Moqadam
- Cast:
- Lili Farhadpour, Esmaeel Mehrabi, Mansoore Ilkhani
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The Taste of Things (2023)La passion de Dodin Bouffant / The Pot au Feu / The Way to the Heart
Peerless cook Eugenie (Juliette Binoche) has worked for the famous gourmet Dodin (Benoît Magimel) for the last 20 years. Bonding over a passion for gastronomy and mutual admiration, their relationship develops into romance and gives rise to delicious dishes that impress even the world's most illustrious chefs. But Eugenie is fond of her freedom and has never wanted to marry Dodin. So, he decides to do something he has never done before: cook for her. 'The Taste of Things' is a delectable feast for the senses and a stunningly beautiful romance that simmers with emotion. - Director:
- Tran Anh Hung
- Cast:
- Juliette Binoche, Benoît Magimel, Emmanuel Salinger
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The Taliban have just seized power and a widow reluctantly decides to disguise her 12-year-old daughter as a boy - the Osama of the title - so that at least one family member can earn a living. But the 'boy' is soon dragged off for religious instruction and military training and resultantly the disguise is uncovered, triggering a sharp slide into tragedy. - Director:
- Siddiq Barmak
- Cast:
- Marina Golbahari, Zubaida Sahar, Mohammad Arif Herati
- Formats:
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At Five in the Afternoon (2003)Panj e Asr
The latest film by internationally acclaimed young Iranian director Samira Makhmalbaf is the first to be made in Afghanistan following the fall of the Taliban regime. Set in the ruined city of Kabul, it tells the story of Noqreh, a young woman eager to take advantage of the new freedoms and opportunities afforded to women. Despite her father's wishes that she receive only a traditional religious education, Noqreh also attends a secular school for girls, where she is inspired by the idea of becoming Afghanistan's first woman President. But the harsh reality of survival in a country devastated by war threaten her dreams and aspirations. A touching and resonant analysis of the struggle faced by Afghan women. 'At Five In The Afternoon' is a poetic and compelling combination of realist drama and striking imagery and Makhmalbaf's most ambitious film to date. - Director:
- Samira Makhmalbaf
- Cast:
- Agheleh Rezaie, Abdolgani Yousefrazi, Razi Mohebi
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Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011)Bir zamanlar Anadolu'da
This is an epic and rigorous tale of a night and a day in a murder investigation. Police, prosecutors, a doctor and the murderers themselves try to locate a buried body through one long night in the Anatolian steppes. Many long-buried thoughts and fears are also disinterred in the minds of the investigators as they go about their thankless task. - Director:
- Nuri Bilge Ceylan
- Cast:
- Muhammet Uzuner, Yilmaz Erdogan, Taner Birsel
- Formats:
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Beanpole (2019)Dylda
1945, Leningrad. World War II has devastated the city, demolishing its buildings and leaving its citizens in tatters, physically and mentally. Although the siege - one of the worst in history - is finally over, life and death continue their battle in the wreckage that remains. Two young women, lya (Viktoria Miroshnichenko) and Masha (Vasilisa Perelygina), search for meaning and hope in the struggle to rebuild their lives amongst the ruins. - Director:
- Kantemir Balagov
- Cast:
- Viktoria Miroshnichenko, Vasilisa Perelygina, Andrey Bykov
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Stefan (Stefan Gota), a Romanian construction worker living in Brussels, is on the verge of moving back home. He cooks up a big pot of soup with leftovers in his fridge, to hand out as a goodbye gift to friends and family. As he is ready to go, he meets a Belgian-Chinese young woman (Liyo Gong) who works in a little restaurant while preparing a doctorate on mosses. Her attention for the near-invisible stops him in his tracks. It's a film about connections in nature and in those of the people observing it, that has entranced anyone who has allowed the film to slowly take them over. - Director:
- Bas Devos
- Cast:
- Stefan Gota, Liyo Gong, Cédric Luvuezo
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Crossing (2024)Passage
Lia (Mzia Arabuli), a retired school teacher living in Georgia, hears from a young neighbour Achi (Lucas Kankava) that her long lost niece Tekla (Tako Kurdovanidze), a transgender woman, has crossed the border into Turkey. Hoping to bring Tekla home after a period of estrangement, Lia travels to Istanbul with the unpredictable Achi to find her. Exploring the hidden depths of the city, they cross paths with a transgender lawyer called Evrim (Deniz Dumanli), who helps them in their search. - Director:
- Levan Akin
- Cast:
- Mzia Arabuli, Lucas Kankava, Deniz Dumanli
- Formats:
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Myrnyi-21: On the Front Line (2023)Myrnyi-21
Trust is one of the most important things in human life, but also an invincible weapon during the war...2014. During the preparation for a full-scale war, Russian special services are starting a "hybrid" war. The goal is to show the world that Ukrainians want to join Russia. The only ones who do not want to stand with the enemy are the border guards. Their commander, Alexander Avdeev (Andrey Saminin), is preparing for the worst. Between spies, blackmail, and worse, Avdeev and his squad decide to fight. - Director:
- Akhtem Seitablaev
- Cast:
- Andrey Saminin, Maksym Devizorov, Evhenii Lamakh
- Formats:
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The Holdovers follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker (Dominic Sessa) — and with the school's head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam (Da'Vine Joy Randolph). - Director:
- Alexander Payne
- Cast:
- Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa
- Formats:
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The acclaimed latest from writer-director Wim Wenders (Paris, Texas, Wings of Desire), 'Perfect Days' is a luminous reflection on the beauty found in everyday life. Koji Yakusho (13 Assassins) stars as Hirayama, a contemplative middle-aged man who lives a life of modesty and serenity, spending his days balancing his job as a dutiful caretaker of Tokyo's numerous public toilets with his passion for music, literature and photography. As we join him on his structured daily routine, a series of unexpected encounters gradually begin to reveal a hidden past that lies behind his otherwise content and harmonious life. Featuring an unforgettable soundtrack of classic rock and pop, this is a tender, shimmering and ultimately life-affirming marvel. - Director:
- Wim Wenders
- Cast:
- Kôji Yakusho, Tokio Emoto, Arisa Nakano
- Formats:
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Anselm (2023)Anselm - Das Rauschen der Zeit
Following one of contemporary art's most renowned artists, Anselm Kiefer, this documentary is an expressive portrait of an artist at work. Anselm allows audiences to experience a multi-dimensional voyage of discovery, mining cultural texts and Kiefer's personal history to contextualise his life's work, which explores human existence and the cyclical nature of history. - Director:
- Wim Wenders
- Cast:
- Anselm Kiefer, Daniel Kiefer, Anton Wenders
- Formats:
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