
A small, poor village leaning over high rocky mountains, facing the immense sea, flanked by olive yards. Villagers are simple and diligent people who struggle to cope with a harsh nature. They earn their living, on a daily survival basis, out of the earth and of a few animals they feed. Just like the animals and trees around them, they have the knowledge of their temporary existence, hence a sober resignation prevails. They live according to the rhythm of the earth, air and water, day and night and seasons. The daily time is divided into five parts by the sound of the call to prayer. Every day, all human events are lived through within these five time slices. In child raising, grownups go on with the practice they have experienced by their parents. They expose their love awkwardly and consider beating a favorable method. Fathers always prefer one of their sons. Mothers command their daughters ruthlessly. Ömer, Yakup and Yildiz, three children of about 12,13 years old, just between …
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Drama
Sennosc / Drowsiness (2008) Magdalena Piekorz, Malgorzata Kozuchowska, Michal Zebrowski, Rafal Mackowiak

The film focuses on the fate of three characters whose emotions are numb because of the blows of life and beings around them. None of them has the courage to change their lives, but their mutual encounter give them the chance to get out of this emotional drowsiness.
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Transe / Trance (2006) Teresa Villaverde, Ana Moreira, Viktor Rakov, Robinson Stévenin

Sonia, a girl from St Petersburg, decides to seek a better life in western Europe. She first gets a job at a car dealer in Germany. But she is suddenly kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery. She will be dragged from country to country and resistance will only bring her misery and humiliation.
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The Great Lie (1941) Edmund Goulding, Bette Davis, George Brent, Mary Astor

Sandra and Pete elope but their marriage is invalid since she’s not yet divorced. Sandra is, however, pregnant by Pete. Pete marries his former fiancée Maggie, then flies to South America where his plane crashes. Maggie pays Sandra to let her adopt Pete’s baby. Pete returns “from the dead”. Sandra and Maggie contend for Pete and the baby.
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Glue (2006) Alexis Dos Santos, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Nahuel Viale, Inés Efron

A teenage summer in a small town in the desert, a dysfunctional family, a rock band, a can full of glue, two boys, one girl, loads of tongue kisses, dry heat, wind in Patagonia, existential angst… A teenage story in the middle of nowhere.
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Tadjrebeh / The Experience (1973) Abbas Kiarostami, Parviz Naderi, Hossein Yarmohammadi

Earning his keep at a photography studio where he also sleeps, an orphan aspires to be closer to the object of his affection, an older girl from a higher social class.
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L’assedio / Besieged (1998) Thandie Newton, David Thewlis, Claudio Santamaria, Bernardo Bertolucci

When an African dictator jails her husband, Shandurai goes into exile in Italy, studying medicine and keeping house for Mr. Kinsky, an eccentric English pianist and composer. She lives in one room of his Roman palazzo. He besieges her with flowers, gifts, and music, declaring passionately that he loves her, would go to Africa with her, would do anything for her. “What do you know of Africa?,” she asks, then, in anguish, shouts, “Get my husband out of jail!” The rest of the film plays out the implications of this scene and leaves Shandurai with a choice.
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Árido Movie (2005) Lírio Ferreira, Guilherme Weber, Giulia Gam, José Dumont

Weatherman from a TV network goes back to his hometown, Vale da Rocha, a place in Northeast Brazil, devastated by the drought. He is forced to face the geographic elements and his own memories.
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Une femme à sa fenêtre (1976) Granier-Deferre, Romy Schneider, Philippe Noiret, Victor Lanoux

On August 4, 1936, General Metaxas declared martial law in Greece. A union leader using the name Boutros is sought in Athens by Primoukis, a ruthless police leader. Boutros narrowly escapes and, early the next morning, jumps through the window of Marchese Margot Santorini, the wealthy Austrian-born wife of Rico, a penniless Italian diplomat and playboy. Margot is bored and without purpose: aiding Boutros’s escape invigorates her, and soon she is in love. The film briefly jumps to 1945 when Rico and Raoul (who assisted her out of love) meet in France to talk about her fate, and then jumps 30 years to Margot’s daughter’s visit to Greece to find out about her father.
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Abrir puertas y ventanas / Open Doors, Open Windows (2011) Milagros Mumenthaler, María Canale, Martina Juncadella, Ailín Salas

Buenos Aires at the end of summer. Marina, Sofia and Violeta are alone in the family home after their grandmother, who had brought them up, has died. They have to come to terms with her death, each in her own way. Marina concentrates on her studies while looking after the household, whereas Sofia becomes obsessed by her appearance and goes out with friends. As for Violeta, she wanders around between bedroom and sitting room where, from time to time, she receives an older man. Discord, laughter, meanness, gestures of affection determine the rhythm of this period of uncertainty, until one day in autumn Violeta disappears without warning…
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