Once - not long ago - a small Egyptian police band arrived in Israel. Not many remember this... It wasn't that important. The Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra arrives in Israel from Egypt for a cultural event, only to find there is no delegation to meet them, nor any arrangements to get to their destination of Petah Tiqva. When they find their own ride, they arrive instead at the remote town of Beit Hatikva. Stuck there until the next morning's bus, the band, lead by the repressed Tawfiq Zacharya, gets help from the worldly Dina, who offers to put them up for the night. What follows is a special night of quiet happenings and confessions as the band makes its impact on the town, and the town on them.
Everything changes... except family. A decade ago, following his mother's tragic death, Elliot Christie (Daniel Frederiksen) ran away from home. In the ten years gone, his father, Ross (Geoff Morrell), has re-married and his younger brother Brett (Tom Budge) has fallen silent. This weekend 29-year-old Elliot is to be godfather to his new half-brother. Over the course of the weekend, emotions run high as the family secrets are exposed.
In Autumn 2006, after months of planning, Martin Scorsese captured the Rolling Stones on stage for the new film Shine a light. Cinemagoers will have the chance to experience a Stones concert as never before - as the fifth member of the band, from the front row and from behind the scenes. No stranger to rock concert films (The last waltz), Scorsese filmed the Stones over a two-day period at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. With performances from Jack White of the White Stripes, Christina Aguilera and Buddy Guyand integrated with rarely seen archival footage, Shine a light is a unique cinema experience
George Clooney plays Dodge Connolly, a swaggering, aging football hero who is determined to guide his team from bar brawls to packed stadiums. But after the players lose their sponsor and the entire league faces certain collapse, Dodge convinces a university football star to join his ragtag ranks. The captain hopes his latest move will help the struggling sport finally capture the country's attention. Welcome to the team Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski), America's prodigal son. A golden-boy war hero who single-handedly forced multiple German soldiers to surrender in WWI, Carter has dashing good looks and unparalleled speed on the field. But if Dodge thinks this new champ is too good to be true, then Lexie Littleton (Renée Zellweger) can prove that's the case. A cub journalist playing in the big leagues, Lexie is a spitfire newswoman who sniffs holes in Carter's war story. While she digs, however, the two team-mates become off-field rivals for her affections. As the love triangle grows, Dodge fights to get the girl while he tries to keep his guys together. And if Connolly is certain of one thing... it's that you always keep one final play from the defence
Poppy (Sally Hawkins) is an irrepressibly cheerful primary school teacher who won't let anyone or anything get her down. Even when her bicycle, which she so happily rides through the busy streets of London is stolen, her first thought is only: "I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye."
Living with her flatmate Zoe (Alexis Zegerman), Poppy has a gift for making the most of life. Determined to learn to drive, she finds herself matched with Scott (Eddie Marsan), an uptight driving instructor who is everything she is not.
When Tahmeena (Monic Hendrickx) stumbles onto John's (William McInnes) isolated farm, he has no choice but to take her in. An illegal refugee, she's been badly beaten and speaks no English. Still mourning the death of his wife, John doesn't welcome visitors but he waits for Tahmeena to heal so he can send her on her way. So begins a reluctant voyage of mutual discovery as these two strangers learn to communicate and connect. But eventually the men who think they own Tahmeena come looking for her… and they won't leave without her. Based on the Golden Globe-nominated Dutch film The Polish bride, Unfinished sky peels away layers of hurt and mistrust to reveal the beauty of freedom, hope and choice.
Set in a small Italian town in the 60s and 70s, the film tells the story of two brothers who want to change the world - but in completely different ways. The elder, Manrico, is a handsome, charismatic firebrand who becomes the prime mover in the local Communist party. Accio, the younger, more rebellious brother, finds his own contrary voice by joining the reactionary Fascists. What starts as a typical tale of sibling rivalry becomes the story of the polarizing and paralysing politics of those turbulent times and, the rift between the brothers is further intensified when Accio realizes that he loves his brother's girlfriend, Francesca who, like everyone else, is blind to Manrico's increasingly dangerous ideas.
Adapted from Elinor Lipman's novel of the same name, Helen Hunt makes her feature directing début with this touching story of schoolteacher April Epner (Helen Hunt) and her very unlikely path towards personal fulfilment. Following the separation from her husband (Matthew Broderick) and the death of her adopted mother, April is contacted by her apparent birth mother (Bette Midler), who turns out to be a local talk show host Bernice Graves. As Bernice tries to become the mother to April that she was never able to be, April seems to find solace in the arms of the parent of one of her students (Colin Firth), only to find that the mystery to life's questions cannot be solved by a simple revelation.
Written by Six Feet Under scribe Nancy Oliver, Lars and the Real Girl is a heartfelt comedy starring Ryan Gosling as Lars Lindstrom, an awkwardly shy young man in a small northern town who finally brings home the girl of his dreams to his brother and sister-in-law's home. The only problem is that she's not real - she's a doll Lars ordered off the internet. But Lars has a deep, meaningful relationship in mind. His sister-in-law is worried for him, his brother thinks he's nuts, but eventually the entire town goes along with his delusion in support of this sweet natured boy that they've always loved.
Juno is a witty teenage girl whose boredom doesn’t lead her to the mall. Instead, she makes a one-time trip into the arms of her friend Paulie Bleeker. When Juno discovers that she’s pregnant, she and her best friend Leah embark on a search to find the 'perfect couple' to take on the parenting responsibilities, only to find life isn't quite so simple.
South Africa - 1968. Twenty-five million blacks are ruled by a minority of four million whites under the brutal Apartheid regime of the Nationalist Party Government. Determined to retain power, whites ban all black opposition organisations, forcing their leaders into exile or imprisoning them for life on Robben Island. James Gregory, a typical white Afrikaner, regards blacks as sub-human. He becomes the warder in charge of Mandela and his comrades on Robben Island. After all, Gregory speaks their language and can spy on them. However, the plan backfires. Through Mandela's influence, Gregory's allegiance gradually shifts from the racist government to the struggle for a free South Africa. Goodbye Bafana tracks the unlikely but profound relationship between these two men.
Laura spent the happiest years of her childhood growing up in an orphanage by the seaside, cared for by the staff and fellow orphans whom she loved as brothers and sisters. Now, 30 years later, she returns with her husband Carlos and Simón, their 7-year-old son, with a dream of restoring and reopening the long-abandoned orphanage as a home for disabled children. The new home and mysterious surroundings awaken Simón's imagination and the boy starts to spin a web of fantastic tales and not-so-innocent games... A troubling web that begins to disturb Laura, drawing her into the child's strange universe which resonates with echoes of long-forgotten, deeply unsettling memories of her own childhood. As the opening day draws near, tension builds within the family. Carlos remains sceptical, believing that Simón is making everything up in a desperate bid for attention. But Laura slowly becomes convinced that something long-hidden and terrible is lurking in the old house, something waiting to emerge and inflict appalling damage on her family.
A luxury cruise boat motors up the Yangtze — navigating the mythic waterway known in China simply as "The River." The Yangtze is about to be transformed by the biggest hydroelectric dam in history. At the river’s edge — a young woman says goodbye to her family as the floodwaters rise towards their small homestead.
The Three Gorges Dam — contested symbol of the Chinese economic miracle — provides the epic backdrop for Up the Yangtze, a dramatic feature documentary on life inside the 21st century Chinese dream. Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Yung Chang crafts a moving depiction of peasant life, a powerful narrative of contemporary China, and a disquieting glimpse into a future that awaits us all.
Based on real events, Children of the Silk Road (The children of Huang Shi) is a sweeping but intimate story set against war-torn China in the 1930s. The film centres on a young English journalist (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), an American nurse (Radha Mitchell) and the leader of a Chinese partisan group (Chow Yun Fat) who meet in desperate and unexpected circumstances. Together they rescue 60-orphaned, children leading them on an extraordinary journey, across hundreds of miles of treacherous terrain, through snow-covered mountains and an unforgiving desert. Along the way they discover the true meaning of love, responsibility and courage.
A wry blend of dark humour, romantic deception, and stylish melodrama - with an invigorating dash of suspense - Married life is an unconventional fable for grown-ups about the irresistible power and utter madness of love. After decades of marital contentment, Harry concludes that he must kill his wife Pat because he loves her too much to let her suffer when he leaves her. Harry has fallen hard for the young and lovely Kay, but his best friend Richard wants to win Kay for himself. As Harry implements his maladroit plans for murdering his wife, the other characters are entangled with their own deceptions.
And when did you last see your father? is from Blake Morrison's moving and candid memoir of his father in the weeks leading up to his death.
When Arthur Morrison was diagnosed with terminal cancer he had only a few weeks left to live. Morrison travelled to Yorkshire to stay with his mother in the village where he grew up. He visited his father at the hospital where he had spent so much time with his own patients as a GP. As his father's condition worsened Morrison contemplated their shared experiences, the intimacies and the irritations of their relationship. After his father's death Morrison questions the nature of the bond between them, articulately expressing the contradictions, frustrations, love and loss bound into the complicated relationships which most of us have with our parents as we grow up.
