Comedies

On his deathbed, his royal highness Alfredo, King without a crown, is taken back to distant youth memories and the time he dreamt of becoming a fireman. The encounter with instructor Afonso from the fire brigade, opens a new chapter in the life of the two young men devoted to love and desire, and the will to change the status quo.

The result of the small handkerchiefs "Petits mouchoirs", 7 years later. The band, which erupted, is found on the occasion of the anniversary surprise organized for Max.

When Abel learns that his mother is about to marry a man in prison, he freaks out. With the help of his best friend, he will do whatever it takes to protect her. But meeting his new stepfather may well offer him a new perspective.

Selma, a psychoanalyst, deals with a cast of colorful new patients after returning home to Tunisia to open a practice.

The young, upbeat teacher Antoinette is looking forward to her summer vacation with her secret lover Vladimir, the attractive father of one of her students. But nothing comes of it: Vladimir spontaneously books a donkey trekking in the Cevennes with his family. Antoinette decides to follow him on the Stevenson Trail, taking her straw hat, a pink rolling suitcase and Patrick, the donkey who accompanies her. The stubborn animal demands all her patience, yet turns out to be a good listener and leads her to completely new, refreshing insights about life and love.

The Odd-Job Men tells the story of a week in the life of Moha, Valero and Pep – workers in a small plumbing and electricity company in the outskirts of Barcelona: they are the guys who enter your home and fix what's broken. Moha, the youngest, is on a one-week trial period with the company. He is shy but does surprisingly well with customers. Moha is set to replace Pep, who is about to retire. However, Valero is not at all comfortable with Pep retiring. He doubts Moha has what it takes, or that customers will accept a Moroccan worker. Maybe six days are not enough to make somebody change, to make him overcome his prejudices. Maybe it's not enough time to make a new friend. But it's possibly enough to discover that we have to live together: one small step for a plumber, but a giant leap for mankind. «Ultimately, «6 Días en Barcelona» is a film that addresses one of the most pressing challenges of our time: how we can understand each other.» - Neus Ballús, director of this profound comedy.

The Polish woman Wanda, 35, looks after Joseph, 70, in his family villa by the lake. She is there for him around the clock and also helps his wife Elsa, 75. The youngest son Gregi, 28, likes her very much. The work is poorly paid, but Wanda needs the money for her own family in Poland. Since everyone lives under one roof, Wanda gets an intimate view of their family life. So intimate that Wanda unexpectedly becomes pregnant.

Max is a battle-weary veteran of the wedding-planning racket. His latest — and last — gig is a hell of a fête, involving stuffy period costumes for the caterers, a vain, hyper- sensitive singer who thinks he's a Gallic James Brown, and a morose, micromanaging groom determined to make Max's night as miserable as possible. But what makes the affair too bitter to endure is that Max's colleague and ostensible girlfriend, Joisette, seems to have written him off, coolly going about her professional duties while openly flirting with a much younger server. It's going to be a very long night… especially once the groom's aerial serenade gets underway.

Alain is in his 40s and runs a famous publishing house which publishes novels by his friend Léonard, a bohemian writer. Alain's wife, Selena, is the star of a popular TV series and Léonard's companion, Valérie, is the devoted assistant of a political figure. Although they are longtime friends, Alain is about to turn down Léonard's new manuscript, complicating the relationship between the two couples.

A headstrong Chinese-American woman returns to China when her beloved grandmother is given a terminal diagnosis. Billi struggles with her family's decision to keep grandma in the dark about her own illness as they all stage an impromptu wedding to see grandma one last time.

Rosa is about to turn 45 and realises that she's always lived her life to serve everyone else. So she decides to leave it all behind, take charge of her life and fulfil her dream of starting her own business.

Down-on-his-luck, unemployed Alexandre has two months to prove to his wife he can take care of his two young kids and be financially independent. Now, the thing is, although The Box, a user-friendly startup, wants to hire him on pro- bation, the company’s slogan is “No kids!” and Séverine, his future boss, is a short-tempered “killer”. So if Alexandre wants to land the job, he’s bound to lie... Will his meeting with Arcimboldo, an “entrepreneur of himself” and the king of online odd jobs, help the brave, disoriented Alexandre overcome all those challenges?

Following the death of his wife, professional chef Cheng travels with his young son to a remote village in Finland to connect with an old Finnish friend he once met in Shanghai. Upon arrival, nobody in the village seems to know his friend but local café owner Sirkka offers him accommodation and in return Cheng helps her in the kitchen surprising the locals with the delights of Chinese cuisine. Gradually his cooking encourages these vastly different cultures to connect and Cheng is soon a celebrated member of the community. Unfortunately his tourist visa is soon to run out and it's up to the villagers to come up with a plan to help him stay.

In a secluded valley in Iceland, Gummi and Kiddi live side by side, tending to their sheep. Their ancestral sheep-stock is considered one of the country's best and the two brothers are repeatedly awarded for their prized rams who carry an ancient lineage. Although they share the land and a way of life, Gummi and Kiddi have not spoken to each other in four decades. When a lethal disease suddenly infects Kiddi's sheep, the entire valley comes under threat. The authorities decide to cull all the animals in the area to contain the outbreak. This is a near death sentence for the farmers, whose sheep are their main source of income, and many abandon their land. But Gummi and Kiddi don't give up so easily - and each brother tries to stave off the disaster in his own fashion: Kiddi by using his rifle and Gummi by using his wits. As the authorities close in the brothers will need to come together to save the special breed passed down for generations, and themselves, from extinction

Astronaut or beer taster, globetrotter or forester, but above of all, comic book artist. Rakel can imagine many things for her future. But there's one thing the young woman definitely doesn't want to be: a mother. Rakel's plans go out of the window when she learns that she has already been pregnant for over six months. It is too late for an abortion, and Rakel can no longer ignore the unborn baby. After six months of not noticing it at all, it now creeps into her already chaotic life in the form of a comic foetus. Mixing drawings with live-action film in an original and humorous way, the refreshing coming-of-age drama NINJABABY always manages to hit the right note.

Simin, an Iranian American woman, is on a journey to discover the core of what it means to be a free American. She works for the most important government agency of her time, the Census Bureau. In efforts to understand and control its populous, the government has begun a program to record the citizens' dreams. Simin, one of the Census Bureau's lead dream catchers, is unaware of this devious plot. She herself, being among the last immigrants allowed into the country, is torn between her appreciation for America's acceptance, compassion for those whose dreams she is recording and a truth she must find within. Playful and poignant, «Land of Dreams» acknowledges in a surreal and satirical way the greatness of the American experiment while offering a warning beacon for what could come.

A heavy-metal-loving teenager’s holiday plans fall through at the last minute, meaning he must spend the summer with the person who annoys him most: his mum. The comic actor Simon Bird makes a fine directorial debut with a tender portrait of the relationship between a prickly teenager and his mother over one summer. Beautifully played by Monica Dolan and Earl Cave (son of Nick), the two veer from loathing to love and back again as they both struggle to identify how their lives will move forward. Gentle, wry and affectionate, it marks Bird out as an idiosyncratic new UK voice.

Fifty years after her graduation, Senta von Meissen invites eight former school friends to a class reunion at her castle. The table is set for ten people. One place remains empty: Teddy, the hostess's once great school sweetheart, died in an accident on the Rhine Falls during the after-graduation trip. But was it really an accident? The evening turns into a murderous act of revenge.

In Ruben Östlund's wickedly funny Palme d'Or winner, social hierarchy is turned upside down, revealing the tawdry relationship between power and beauty. Celebrity model couple, Carl and Yaya, are invited on a luxury cruise for the uber-rich, helmed by an unhinged boat captain. What first appeared instagrammable ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island and fighting for survival.

Rabiye Kurnaz is someone you might generally call an ordinary woman, except that she is a real dynamo. Taking care of her children and much more, she is the one running the show in her terraced house in Bremen. Shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, her son Murat is accused of terrorism and is (one of the first) shipped off to Guantanamo prison camp. This marks the beginning of a journey into the heart of world politics for this resolute German-Turkish woman. Together with human rights lawyer Bernhard Docke, whom she soon has completely on her side (like almost everyone around her), she battles for the release of her son – using her very own brand of self-taught English – all the way to the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. Cologne-based comedienne, author, presenter and much more Meltem Kaptan is the perfect fit for Andreas Dresen’s special talent for combining explosive topics (in this case based on actual events) and the everyday concerns of the average citizen. Kaptan’s, or rather Rabiye’s, performance is overwhelming, and not just for the lawyer (played by Alexander Scheer) who quickly becomes a friend. A portrait of a passionate woman who holds the steering wheel of her beloved vehicle as firmly in her hand as she does the reins in this turbo-charged film.

Eugen is in his late thirties and has neither a family of his own nor a secure income. Instead, he has established an underground music club in Prague, the city his father originally came from. When the club burns down, he is forced to return to Switzerland to raise money for the renovation. His return confronts him with Karlchen the smuggled crocodile, his father's lifelong lie and the grotesque charm of the bourgeoisie.

A small theater troupe is stranded in Switzerland after World War II: the artists hope to get a visa to South America. But to get it, they first have to pay off debts to the Swiss government – and perform an operetta. Swiss cinema classic, based on one of the most successful Swiss stage plays of the time.

In 2006, a group of thieves performed what is considered one of the most famous and smart bank heists in the history of Argentina. How they robbed the Rio bank is as surprising as what happened afterwards. This is their story.

Twig, Cap and Rusty live however they can in the Bois de Vincennes, east of Paris. This may completely change the day they learn they are the national lottery winner – though it is less than expected! Yet, they still need to collect the money and share it in equal parts. The hardest part of all will be to resume a “normal” life, filled with surprises and contradictions.

When architect-turned-recluse Bernadette Fox goes missing prior to a family trip to Antarctica, her 15-year-old daughter Bee goes on a quest with Bernadette's husband to find her.

The mayor of Lyon, Paul Théraneau, is in a delicate position. After 30 years in politics, he is running out of ideas and is faced with a feeling of existential emptiness. To overcome this, Paul hires a young and brilliant philosopher, Alice Heimann. Then follows a dialogue between two diametrically opposed personalities who will turn their certainties upside down.

Abel and Marianne discover that their 13-year-old son Joseph has secretly sold their most precious possessions. They soon find out that Joseph is not the only one - all over the world, hundreds of children have joined forces to finance a mysterious project. Their mission is to save the planet.

When his right-hand man and only mate has to go away for a few weeks, Georges - an ageing film star - is given a substitute, Aïssa. The disillusioned actor and the young female security guard forge a special relationship. Starring Gérard Depardieu.

Lucien asks a friend, Léon, to carry to the woman he desires, Alice, a basket of provisions and to thank him for it offers him its cap. Léon seduces Alice, small brunette and admits later to his friend his "overflowings". Léon returns at Alice's home but it is not any more the same person; she is blonde and bears no resemblance to the woman the day before. One is sensual and welcoming, the other, mysterious and independent. Alice in Verbland. No drama, no action, a so "seventies" nonchalance... and the art of the conversation as the main subject of a delicious film, worn by remarkable actors (Marie Dubois, Jean-Luc Bideau and Jacques Denis). A wonderful, free and independant film.

A widowed farmer begins a new life on her own terms by fighting against corruption and injustice in her community.

In a desperate attempt to cure his midlife crisis, MARTIN has fled his family to live high up in the Norwegian mountains. Hunting and gathering like his ancestors did thousands of years ago.

Two friends – Paul Girard, the “people’s mayor” of Delémont who has his sights set on a national career and Liu, a Chinese watchmaker living in the Jura – decide to organise the semi-finals of the Miss China competition in Switzerland. Paul is hoping this original, media-hyped project will help him acquire the image his party has been refusing him: that of future deputy. Liu, meanwhile, hopes to open the Chinese market to luxury watches. Instead of the heroes’ welcome they were anticipating in bringing the women to the touristic Meccas of Switzerland, the two partners are met with resistance from the political milieu and indifference from their sponsors.

An aging Chinese immigrant is swept up in an insane adventure, where she alone can save what's important to her by connecting with the lives she could have led in other universes.

One of the highlights of Vera Chytilová’s filmography is the grotesque moral «Daisies» (1966). The surrealistic narrative about a pair of young women who decide to be as corrupt as the world around them does not arise from concrete socio-political realities. As a result, the biting account of conformity, petty-bourgeois narrow-mindedness, and the limits of light-heartedness has timeless qualities. Daisies marked the beginning of Chytilová’s collaboration with Ester Krumbachová, who contributed to the eccentric costumes and script. The collage-like visual component then gave a lot of space for experimentation to the cinematographer Jaroslav Kucera. It is still an original gem of Czech cinema of the 1960s, which infuriated the communist officials of the time.

Robbie, a young ne'er do well (Paul Brannigan), a broke new father with a good heart is in serious trouble with the law. When he holds his newborn son for the first time, roguish Robbie is determined that the boy will have a better life, one with more opportunities than he has been offered in this insular, blue collar world. But first Robbie must sort out a variety of pressing problems --his girlfriend's family wants to do him harm and run him out of town being first and foremost among them. He is given a lucky break by a judge who shows mercy, granting him community service instead of jail.

Shy and loveable Palestinian Salam is already in his thirties without, however, having quite found his way in life. That is why he eagerly takes on an internship with the successful TV soap «Tel Aviv on Fire». In order to reach the television studio, Salam has to pass through the check-point between his home in Jerusalem and Ramallah on a daily basis. This is where he meets Assi, chief of the Israeli border crossing, who is excited to meet one of the "makers" of his wife's favourite series. To impress his sweetheart, Assi puts increasing pressure on Salam to design the series according to his preferences. Meanwhile, Salam realises that Assi’s creative ideas are his big chance to become a screenwriter. When Assi’s demands are no longer compatible with those of the Arab creator’s, Salam is faced with a dilemma... Director Sameh Zoabi uses Tel Aviv on Fire to approach the conflict in the Middle East from a completely different, original and heartfelt comedic angle.

After the death of his mother, a middle-aged insurance salesman inherits her small cottage. Selling the cottage, which is attractively located near the center of a big city, makes him a rich man and he buys a large house in the countryside. The salesman then decides to throw a big garden party and invite all his colleagues from the office. Loosened by large amounts of alcohol, the guests gradually shed all their inhibitions and reveal their innermost frustrations.

«The Sandman» tells the bizarrely absurd story of the philatelist Benno. One day, he realizes that he is losing sand. Day by day those sand losses are increasing and he is threatened to completely disintegrate. In addition, his neighbour Sandra, whom he hates deeply, prevents him from sleeping by singing every night in his café below Benno's apartment. However, he finds himself forced to address his worst enemy when he realizes that only she can save him. Then begins a mad race against the clock....

Since the death of her husband, Martha, 80-year-old, has lost her zest for life. In her village in the Emmental, especially her friends Lisi, Hanni and Frieda are concerned about her. After discussion, they decide to help her realise a long-held dream: to open a lingerie boutique. The news causes consternation in the little town of Trub.

Abu Shadi is a divorced father and a school teacher in his mid-60s living in Nazareth. After his daughter's wedding in one month he will be living alone. Shadi, his architect son, arrives from Rome after years abroad to help his father in hand delivering the wedding invitations to each guest as per local Palestinian custom. As the estranged pair spend the day together, the tense details of their relationship come to a head challenging their fragile and very different lives.

In a town in the Northwest of the province of Buenos Aires, a group of neighbors is organized to recover the economy of the area, but when the Corralito is implemented in the country and they suffer a fraud, their hopes disappear. Now, they will unite to recover the lost money and give the blow of their lives to their greatest enemy.

Santa Claus tries to outrun a gang of knife-wielding youth. It's one of several vignettes of Palestinian life in Israel - in a neighborhood in Nazareth and at Al-Ram checkpoint in East Jerusalem. Most of the stories are droll, some absurd, one is mythic and fanciful; few words are spoken. A man who goes through his mail methodically each morning has a heart attack. His son visits him in hospital. The son regularly meets a woman at Al-Ram; they sit in a car, hands caressing. Once, she defies Israeli guards at the checkpoint; later, Ninja-like, she takes on soldiers at a target range. A red balloon floats free overhead. Neighbors toss garbage over walls. Life goes on until it doesn't.

Filmmaker Elia Suleiman leaves his native Palestine in search of a new homeland – only to find that Palestine is with him wherever he goes. The quest for a new life quickly becomes a comedy of errors: whether in Paris or in New York, something always reminds him of home. All the while, Suleiman keeps returning to the same nagging question: What kind of place could we ever truly call home?

Paulette and her husband have been running a housekeeping school. After the sudden death of her husband, Paulette discovers that the school is on the verge of bankruptcy and has to take her responsibilities.

Keti (36) and her son Nika (16) find themselves in a precarious situation when Nika hits an old man in a car accident. The victim’s family promises to refrain from pressing charges against Nika if he compensates their loss in cash. Within a single day Keti has to raise a large amount of money to prevent her son Nika from being imprisoned. An unexpected turn gives the drama a tragicomical air.

Resemblances can be unnerving. Such as the one between the viscount who went, puffing on his pipe, to the guillotine during the Terror, the army chaplain who has a brigand's tattoos on his chest and is a compulsive baptizer of soldiers, pillagers and rapists, the Parisian down-and-out left as flat as a pancake by an encounter with a steamroller, and, last but not least, the cultivated concierge—and occasional arms dealer—in an upscale building. Almost all the film's characters meet in that very building except, of course, the homeless, who are carted by the cops from pillar to post. Yet amid all this chaos, there are dream spaces, love stories and solid friendships that perhaps allow us to hope that tomorrow will be better than today.

Frances (Greta Gerwig) lives in New York, but she doesn’t really have an apartment. Frances is an apprentice for a dance company, but she¹s not really a dancer. Frances has a best friend named Sophie, but they aren’t really speaking anymore. Frances throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as their possible reality dwindles. Frances wants so much more than she has but lives her life with unaccountable joy and lightness. FRANCES HA is a modern comic fable that explores New York, friendship, class, ambition, failure, and redemption.

A comedy that chronicles a chance encounter between Robert and a Chinese named Jun who wanders lost through the city of Buenos Aires in search of his uncle after being assaulted by a taxi driver and his henchmen.

Broke, with nothing but her cat to her name and doors closing in her face, Paula is back in Paris after a long absence. As she meets different people along the way, there is one thing she knows for sure: she's determined to make a new start and she'll do it with style and panache.

After 20 years of marriage, Maria decides to leave her husband. She moves into room 212 at the hotel across the street, with a bird’s-eye view of her apartment, her husband and the life she shared with him. While she wonders if she made the right decision, many of the people in her life offer their opinions on the matter. They intend to let her know, whether she likes it or not, on what proves to be a life-changing evening.

Detective Yvonne is the widow of police chief Santi, a local hero in a town on the French Riviera. When she learns he was in fact a crooked cop, she tries to right his wrongs. Crossing paths with Antoine, a victim of Santi, sets off a series of wild events.

Sibyl, a jaded psychotherapist, returns to her first passion: writing. But her newest patient Margot, a troubled up-and-coming actress, proves to be a source of inspiration that is far too tempting. Fascinated almost to the point of obsession, Sibyl becomes more and more involved in Margot’s tumultuous life, reviving volatile memories that bring her face to face with her past.

A yellow cab is driving through the vibrant and colourful streets of Tehran. Very diverse passengers enter the taxi, each candidly expressing their views while being interviewed by the driver who is no one else but the director Jafar Panahi himself. His camera placed on the dashboard of his mobile film studio captures the spirit of Iranian society through this comedic and dramatic drive…

Upstanding community leader Nils has just won an award for "Citizen of the Year" when he learns the news that his son has died of a heroin overdose. Suspecting foul play, Nils begins to investigate, and soon finds himself at the center of an escalating underworld gang war between Serbian drug dealers and a sociopathic criminal mastermind known only as “The Count.”

Alma is a scientist at Berlin's famous Pergamon Museum. In order to obtain research funds for her studies, she accepts an offer to participate in an extraordinary experiment. For three weeks, she must live with a humanoid robot with artificial intelligence designed to allow it to morph into that of her ideal life partner. Enter Tom, a machine in human form, created to make her happy.

Kyle and Mike have been best friends forever and, through the years, have formed a unique bond – but then, Mike reveals that he slept with Kyle's fiancée, just before the planned wedding. In seven chapters, The Climb recounts the story of this long and turbulent friendship between two men through its ups and downs.

An african student in Paris needs to work by night to finance the rest of his studies. By coincidence he gets a lot of money and turns back home to Burkina Faso with his french friend - but life is not that easy anywhere. Still watching how it is to be a stranger here or there can be quite funny.

Claire is a single mother with a grown-up son. She’s a dedicated midwife who is completely wrapped up in her job. Although the maternity ward where she works is to be closed, she turns down a job offer from a larger clinic because she cannot reconcile their methods with her own ideas about midwifery. In the midst of all this upheaval she receives a phone call that rekindles memories of her youth. Béatrice, her late father’s former mistress, asks to meet her. Béatrice is a true bohemian – loud, colourful, egocentric and completely different to the focussed, helpful Claire. The younger woman asks herself why, after all these years of silence, Béatrice has suddenly decided to approach her for help, and is at first less than enthusiastic. Martin Provost has made a name for himself with powerful portraits of women (Séraphine, Violette). Sage Femme revolves around the encounter between two headstrong women, perfectly cast with two of French cinema’s grandes dames. A dramatic comedy about the need for change, and the question of whether steak, pommes frites and red wine is really what one would call a healthy lunch.

Julián receives an unexpected visit from his friend Tomás, who lives in Canada. The two men, accompanied by Julián's faithful dog, Truman, will share emotional and surprising moments prompted by Julián's complicated situation.

In the beginning of spring 1970, the small village of Monchoux in Valais is experiencing unusual agitation. Is it because of the vote on the women's right to vote? Or because of the upcoming referendum on the expulsion of foreigners? No, it's worse: the village brass band has imploded! Half of the village will say it is Aloys' fault, the other half will respond that it is Pierre's. The dissent will be political, musical and amorous.

During an excursion, a family from the big city discovers an old farmhouse. They spend their holidays there and would love to buy the house. The owner, an old farmer, seems to agree, only he wants to determine the time of the sales himself. In the meantime, the two children become friends with the old farmer. Tom Milne writes in Time Out: "After five years of political disgrace, Jiří Menzel was still cautious and skilfully avoided any dangerous engagements or interpretations in Seclusion Near a Forest. It is a feather-light comedy about the difficulties of living as a city family in the countryside (...). The excellent camera work casts a shimmering, summery haze over the fine mixture of tenderness and humour with which Menzel typically observes human weaknesses - making the film a magical conjuration of a lost, simpler and more relaxed world."

At the beginning of the 20th century, a film projectionist tours through Bohemian villages and dreams of opening a cinema in Prague. He allies himself with a young cameraman (played by Jiří Menzel), who in turn has a dream: He longs for true-to-life films that deal with the reality of people. Menzel's Those Wonderful Movie Cranks is one of the most beautiful tributes to the pioneers of the silent era, and the film is also a melancholic reflection on necessary concessions.

Hasan is full of rage. He's been blacklisted and hasn't been allowed to make a film in years. His star, a woman he adores, is impatient and wants to work with other directors. His wife seems to have fallen out of love with him, and his mother has become old and is slowly losing her mind. Worst of all, film directors across the city are being murdered one after the other, but the serial killer is inexplicably ignoring him. Hasan's feelings are hurt: isn't he the most accomplished filmmaker in town? So why is he being neglected? All these frustrations come to a head when, through a series of bizarre misunderstandings, he becomes the prime suspect in the serial murder case. Social media are abuzz, Hasan has to come up with an ingenious plan to restore his reputation.

A successful screen adaptation of a novel by renown Chinese writer, Xiaolu Guo, UFO in her Eyes is a hyper-vivid portrait of chaotic contemporary Chinese society. Has a flying saucer come to disrupt life in a village or is it simply the fantasy of an illiterate, attractive single lady? Starring Udo Kier.

As in Alice in Wonder Village, Díaz Torres creates a world of his own, where fantasy and reality intermingle. Alice was banned from Cuba three years ago after winning the Silver Bear in Berlin. It resembled reality too much. Despite this, Díaz Torres is one of the few directors who have been able to make a film in his country since the political crisis. In Love Me and You’ll See . . . , Juventino and two of his friends are robbing a bank when the Cuban revolution explodes. Thirty-five years later, Juventino picks up a bag from a beautiful woman who resembles his first love. The bag is filled with money, and Juventino begins a relentless search to find the woman. It is not an easy task, and he has to resort to a clarivoyant. With an excellent performance from veteran Reinaldo Miravalles as Juventino, Díaz Torres entertains us while constructing a unique universe that is both imaginative and moving. (Sundance Institute, Patricia Cardoso-Reneau)

In the capital of Burkina Faso, a band of young people tries to survive and thrive vis-a-vis the thousand and one temptations. Adventures of a band of youngsters, living in a stripped district of Ouagadougou, who seek hopes. The easy way and ingeniousness compensate for the money which often is lacking. Sadness is banished of a resolutely optimistic way of life. Plunders and odd jobs constitute the daily newspaper of this struggle for life. The ones will succeed modestly, the others will fail more or less, but a great solidarity of group remains...

During World War II, Antonio (Nino Manfredi), Gianni (Vittorio Gassman) and Nicola (Stefania Sandrelli) are activists fighting for Italy's liberation from Nazi occupation. When the war ends and their ideals must change, the three men take different life paths. Antonio and Nicola incorporate their beliefs into adulthood, whereas Gianni takes a more affluent job as a lawyer's assistant. When the group reunites after several decades, their discourse unearths hostility and unsettling realizations.

If you were to ask a group of film experts which country is currently the least appropriate setting for a hilarious, truly wacky romantic comedy, the chances are that Saudi Arabia would come out on top. But their guesses would be wrong, as Barakah yoqabil Barakah provides more than enough evidence to the contrary. He’s a municipal civil servant from Jeddah whose origins are humble to say the least, while she’s a wild beauty, the adopted daughter of a rich couple whose marriage has suffered due to their lack of biological children. He’s also an amateur actor in a theatre company rehearsing a production of "Hamlet", while she functions as a crowd-puller for her stylish adoptive mother’s boutique and runs her own boisterous, widely-seen vlog. Fate brings them together - in an environment hostile to dating of any kind. But the two of them show breathtaking ingenuity to circumvent the system of tradition, etiquette and religious police - with the crucial help of a quirky midwife and a pink push up bra. Barakah yoqabil Barakah is a film for anyone who’s always wanted to know just what else is going on in Saudi Arabia

Capricious Summer is a Czechoslovak comedy directed by Jiří Menzel. It is based on the novel Rozmarné léto (Summer of Caprice) by the Czech writer Vladislav Vančura. It was listed to compete at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival, but the festival was cancelled due to the events of May 1968 in France. The film depicts a humorous story of three men, a colonel, a priest and a bath-keeper, during rainy summer days.

Larks on a String is a Czech film directed by Jiří Menzel. The movie was banned by the Czechoslovak government. It saw release in 1990 after the fall of the Communist regime. Menzel tells the stories of various characters considered bourgeois by Czechoslovakia's communist government in the 1950s, who have been forced to work in a junkyard for the purposes of re-education.

The young Miloš Hrma, who speaks with misplaced pride of his family of misfits and malingerers, is engaged as a newly trained station guard in a small railway station during the Second World War and the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. He admires himself in his new uniform, and looks forward, like his prematurely-retired railwayman father, to avoiding real work. The sometimes pompous stationmaster is an enthusiastic pigeon-breeder with a kind wife, but is envious of the train dispatcher Hubička's success with women. Miloš holds an as-yet platonic love for the pretty, young conductor Máša. The experienced Hubička presses for details of their relationship and realizes that Miloš is still a virgin. The idyll of the railway station is periodically disturbed by the arrival of the councillor, Zednicek, a Nazi collaborator, who spouts propaganda at the staff without success. At her initiative, Máša spends the night with Miloš, but in his youthful excitability he ejaculates prematurely before achieving penetration and then is unable to perform sexually; and the next day, despairing, he attempts suicide. He is saved, and a young doctor explains to him that ejaculatio praecox is normal at Miloš's age. The doctor recommends Miloš to "think of something else" (at which point Miloš volunteers an interest in football), and to seek the assistance of an experienced woman. During the nightshift, Hubička flirts with the young telegraphist, Zdenička, and imprints her thighs and buttocks with the office's rubber stamps. Her mother sees the stamps and complains to Hubička's superiors, and the ensuing scandal helps to frustrate the stationmaster's ambition of being promoted to inspector. The Germans and their collaborators are on edge, since their trains are being attacked by the partisans. A glamorous Resistance agent (a circus artist in peacetime), code-named Viktoria Freie, delivers a time bomb to Hubička for use in blowing up a large ammunition train. At Hubička's request, the "experienced" Viktoria also helps Miloš to resolve his sexual problem. The next day, at the crucial moment when the ammunition train is approaching, Hubička is caught up in a farcical disciplinary hearing, overseen by Zednicek, over his rubber stamping of Zdenička's backside. In Hubička's place, Miloš, liberated by his experience with Viktoria from his former passivity, takes the time bomb and drops it from a semaphore gantry, that extends transversely above the tracks, onto the train. A machine-gunner on the train, spotting Miloš, sprays him with bullets, and his body falls onto the train. With the Nazi collaborator Zednicek, winding up the disciplinary hearing, dismissing the Czech people as "nothing but laughing hyenas" (a phrase actually employed by the senior Nazi official Reinhard Heydrich, the implicit retort to his jibe comes in the form of a huge series of explosions that destroys the train. Now Hubička and the other railwaymen are indeed laughing - to express their joy at the blow to the Nazi occupiers - and it is left to a wistful Máša to pick up Miloš's uniform cap, hurled across the station by the power of the blast. (wp)

Jacob Kaplan lives an ordinary life. Nothing differentiates him from his other Jewish friends who fled Europe to South America because of WWII. Turning 70 has had a strange effect on him: he refuses to accept he is getting old. Grumpy, fed up with the new rabbi, his community and his family’s lack of interest in its own heritage, he embarks on an unusual and quixotic project: to capture a restaurant owner, who he is convinced is a runaway Nazi. Ignoring his wife’s concerns about his health, Jacob secretly recruits the help of a more loyal than honest police officer named Contreras. Together, they will try to emulate the historic case of Adolf Eichmann’s capture, to unmask and kidnap a quiet and elderly German man and secretly take him to Israel. In this way, he hopes to recover his family’s pride, dignity and prestige in the community. His journey triggers a number of curious situations, characters and events that all lead to a surprising and unexpected conclusion.

Grebo and his very pregnant wife Liliane are taking a well-deserved vacation at a popular Adriatic seaside resort. All inclusive! All the sun, swimming and fun that their hearts desire. What could possibly go wrong on such an idyllic holiday? At open-mike night, Grebo seduces the resort crowd and reminds his loving French wife of the Sarajevo rocker she fell in love with. But the evening's big surpise is the young couple's meeting with mysterious Flora. The charismatic young woman will soon put their young marriage to the test. Past secrets cannot stay hidden for long on Love Island.

As far as their film school final project is concerned, these three students have only one goal in mind - international fame, including Oscars and festival prizes. They know what foreign audiences expect from Philippine cinema - prostitution, abuse, rubbish tips and slums - and apply this magic formula to develop the ultimate in misery porn. A mother, battered by life, sells her child to a sex tourist; a story as harsh and realistic as it is rousingly emotional. The only thing missing is a big-name star, but famous actresses can be such divas... ANG BABAE SA SEPTIC TANK is the most successful independent film in the history of Philippine cinema, and a rare example of an intelligent film-within-a-film plot that takes an illuminating behind-thescenes look at filmmaking. Highly entertaining and hugely self-deprecating, this comedy draws on ingrained clichés in order to shamelessly exploit them. In addition, the sophisticated dramatic structure allows leading lady Eugene Domingo, a Filipino movie star in real life, to deliver an exceptional performance, at once touching and wildly funny.

Brewery owner Francin lives in a happy marriage with the all too beautiful Maryška. His life is turned upside down by the unexpected visit of his eccentric brother Pepin. Maryška finds a kindred soul in Pepin and falls into the modernization pull of the 1920s, to which she can't help but give in. Shortcuts, the film adaptation of a story by Bohumil Hrabal, became very successful with the audience in Czechoslovakia.

The story begins with the death of a model worker, who is buried with his labor card as a badge of honor. However, his widow is told she needs that card to claim the benefits she is entitled. The story then takes several surreal turns, as the family of the dead man try to recover the precious card from the grave.

In his mid-30's, Pierre-Paul may have a doctorate in philosophy, but is still working as a courier - proof to him that he is too intelligent to be successful because in this world, only the dumb succeed. But then, he happens to witness a robbery gone thoroughly wrong in the course of which most of the participants end up dead. Pierre-Paul remains alone with the loot - and quickly grabs the two bags filled with cash. But before he can enjoy his newfound wealth, the mob, the tax office and two clever policemen are already on his heels.

Winfried is a charming music teacher with a social consciousness, and a penchant for silly jokes. His daughter Ines, on the other hand, is an ambitious career woman. When the father appears unannounced in the lobby of her company in Bucharest, Ines tries to grin and bear it. But because of his jokes and the subliminal criticism of her lifestyle, the two inevitably soon start to quarrel. A multi-layered and ingenious comedy about a father-daughter relationship and at the same time about modern capitalism, which is sometimes serious, sometimes bitter and sometimes really funny.

Beatrice is a blabbermouth and a so-called billionaire countess who likes to believe she’s in intimacy with world leaders. Donatella is a young quiet tattooed woman, locked in her own mystery. They are both patients of a mental institution and subject to custodial measures.

An aging, Argentine, Serge Gainsbourg wannabe struggles to deal with a career he can't seem to get on track, an affair he doesn't want, and a crime he didn't mean to commit.

Argentinian biology student Miro falls madly in love with young actress Mercedes, but is without a clue as to how to win her love. Then, a series of misunderstandings put him in the hot seat as a famous film director. Miro grabs his chance to shoot a film with Mercedes as his leading lady, hoping that she will fall for him. Whilst his plan is crazy, it is simple enough and Cupid is on his side. But Miro hasn't reckoned with film students Peter and Luigi who wish to shoot a “making-of” documentary of the great Argentinian “director”at work.

Vitus is a boy who almost seems to be from another planet: He has hearing like a bat, he plays piano like a virtuoso and studies encyclopaedias at the age of five. No wonder his parents begin to anticipate a brilliant future for him. They want Vitus to become a pianist. However, the little genius prefers to play in his eccentric grandfather’s workshop. He dreams of flying and of a normal childhood. Ultimately, with one dramatic leap, Vitus takes control of his own life…

Amine steals a big bag of money and escapes into the hills with the police hot on his trail. Before he is arrested, he digs a grave to bury the cash and disguises it as a modest tomb. Years later, Amine is released from prison and sets off to find his money. In the meantime, a religious shrine has been built directly over the place he buried his cash. The mausoleum honors an unknown saint from the region whose tomb was recently discovered. Down the hill from the resting place of the “The Unknown Saint”, a new village subsists on the pilgrims who travel from far and wide to visit the mausoleum. Amine settles into the village and begins plotting a way in. But with the loot now hidden in a holy place, retrieving it suddenly becomes much more complicated.

Leo's got a lot to do. A lot. He has a small sanitation company. And he is a single father of two teenage children. Diana is an artist, dreaming into the day. Her art doesn't sell at all. Now her landlord is also putting pressure on her, wanting his money. Diana senses her big chance when she has to paint a painting on the office wall of a lawyer. This is how she meets Leo - he needs legal assistance because erotic photographs of his daughter have appeared on the Internet. Silvio Soldini interweaves various stories, cleverly bringing them together. Besides Diana and Leo, there is Elia, who secretly raises a stork, the urban hermit Amanzio, Leo's late wife Teresa and a mysterious private detective...

In a private home, various individuals think they’re coming together for a party. A series of revelations results in a huge crisis that throws their belief systems, and their values into total disarray.

A French woman hits menopause, quits her job as waitress, and feels everything going downhill. But then she meets her old love from before she got married, had 2 daughters and got divorced. Is this a new beginning?This film is the story of the collective struggle to build this bridge. It is a celebration of human labour!

Kai, a brokenhearted young man from Taipei, yearns to be with his girlfriend, who's left for Paris. He spends his days working at his parents’ noodle restaurant and his nights trying to learn French at the local bookstore, where he meets Susie, a sweet but lonely girl who works there. Afraid of losing his girlfriend, and in need of money to get to Paris, he accepts a dubious offer from a local gangster - deliver a mysterious package to Paris. It’s the beginning of a wild night for Kai, at the end of which he realizes that leaving both Susie and Taipei will only take him further away from true love.

A small village in India is invigorated when one of their own travels to America (aka, UMRIKA) and details his adventures through letters home, sparking community debate and inspiring hope. But when the letters mysteriously stop coming, his younger brother Rama (Suraj Sharma) sets out on a journey to find him. With the help of his best friend Lalu (Tony Revolori), Rama retraces his brother's path to find himself charting one of his own. Set in the mid-1980s, UMRIKA is a funny and meaningful story of the lengths taken to realize one's dreams

When faced with a lack of job offers, the lovable Étienne, a passionate but frequently out-of-work actor, becomes the new director of a prison theatre workshop. Surprised by the talent he finds in the disparate troupe of inmates, he soon expands his thinking beyond the prison walls – and comes up with the idea of staging “Waiting for Godot” on a real theatre stage. When the amateur actors actually get the green light, a triumphant tour begins. The friendship between the prisoners and the kind-hearted director grows stronger with every rehearsal and performance. But while Étienne finally gets his chance to succeed in the theatre world, his actors have to return to prison at the end of every performance. Director Emmanuel Courcol tells this true-life story with plenty of heart and humour. Kad Merad excels in the leading role of this equally entertaining and touching comedy.

After leaving her daughter Jessica in a small town in Pernambuco to be raised by relatives, Val spends the next 13 years working as a nanny to Fabinho in São Paulo. She has financial stability but has to live with the guilt of having not raised Jessica herself. As Fabinho’s university entrance exams approach, Jessica reappears in her life and seems to want to give her mother a second chance. However, Jessica has not been raised to be a servant and her very existence will turn Val’s routine on its head. With precision and humour, the subtle and powerful forces that keep rigid class structures in place and how the youth may just be the ones to shake it all up.