UK Director: Lone Scherfig
In the post-war, pre-Beatles London suburbs, a bright schoolgirl (Carey Mulligan) is torn between studying for a place at Oxford and the more exciting alternative offered to her by a charismatic older man (Peter Sarsgaard). Directed by award-winning Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig (Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself, Italian for Beginners) from a screenplay by Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About a Boy), An Education was adapted from a memoir by journalist Lynn Barber. Alfred Molina, Dominic Cooper, Olivia Williams, Sally Hawkins, and Emma Thompson also star.
95 minutes
USA Directors: Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio
The directors, who both grew up on Staten Island, connect the urban myth of a child-snatching escaped mental patient that haunted their youth with the true stories of the kids who actually went missing in their community. This chilling horror documentary follows the filmmakers as they investigate the seedy underbelly of their borough, searching for answers only to unearth more mysteries.
84 minutes
Japan Director: Miwa Nishikawa
Lies told in the name of love and compassion are the focus of this beautiful psychological drama about a country doctor whose good intentions outstrip his honesty. Universally beloved by his community for his kindness and diligence, he abruptly leaves town one day, throwing it into turmoil. Astonishing secrets about his background soon surface, and the villagers must come to terms with this new knowledge of the man they so admire.
Japanese with subtitles, 127 minutes
Germany Director: Hermine Huntgeburth
In 19th-century Germany, 17-year-old Effi Briest sees her carefree life disappear when her parents marry her off to a man 20 years her senior. To find respite from her dull domestic existence, she begins an affair with a handsome young officer, but their dalliance carries a high cost…. This adaptation of the famous novel approaches the classic story through a post-women's-lib lens, allowing it to transcend costume-drama conventions.
German with subtitles, 118 minutes
UK Director: Andrea Arnold
Oscar® winner Andrea Arnold asserts her place at the pinnacle of contemporary British cinema with Fish Tank, her keenly observed and unflinchingly realistic portrait of life in a rough Essex housing project. Mia (Katie Jarvis, a revelation in her first screen role) is an alienated, emotionally volatile teenager whose life is turned upside down by the arrival of her mother's charming new boyfriend Connor (Michael Fassbender, named best actor at last year's Festival for Hunger).
124 minutes
USA Director: Heather Ross
In this affecting documentary, the girls of the Warrenville, Illinois prison are given a chance to tell their stories in a musical based on their lives. To do this, they must reach within themselves and reflect on the life choices they have made. With unprecedented access to the juvenile prison, director Heather Ross skillfully traces these young women's attempts to reclaim their humanity and ultimately their freedom.
61 minutes
France Directors: Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea Annonier
In 1964, director Henri-Georges Clouzot and his gorgeous ingÉnue, actress Romy Schneider, began filming an ambitious project to revolutionize the art of cinema. Today, it languishes in film cans, unfinished and unseen. How Clouzot set about realizing his vision—and what went wrong along the way—is the subject of this fascinating doc.
French with subtitles, 102 minutes
France Director: Julie Lopes-Curval
While visiting her parents in France, Audrey discovers her grandmother's diary, the only memento of a woman who abandoned her family. Audrey's search for understanding uncovers a family secret buried under 50 years of silence, and ultimately illuminates her relationship with her own mother (Catherine Deneuve) and the deep, complex bonds between three generations of women.
English, French with subtitles, 105 minutes
USA Director: Elaine Madsen
The world is full of women who sidestepped retirement to pursue their passion. In this inspiring doc, Emmy® winner Elaine Madsen (alongside her actress daughter Virginia Madsen, who produced) sits down with more than a dozen of them—including Rita Moreno, Eartha Kitt, and Evanston mayor Lorraine Morton—to reflect on their extraordinary accomplishments. NOTE: There will be an addition screening of I Know a Woman Like That on Oct 13th at 5:00pm at Film Row Cinema at Columbia College in conjunction with our Reel Women panel.
103 minutes
USA Director: Judi Krant
A wide-eyed Texas hayseed travels to China to find a manufacturer for the novelty product he hopes will put him right up there with the guy who invented the whoopee cushion. But when he gets sucked into a world of scammers and schemers, this eternal optimist will have to figure out just how far he's willing to pursue the American Dream. Wes Anderson's whimsy meets David Mamet's love of duplicity in this peppy comic debut.
87 minutes
USA Director: Tina Mabry
They weren't the first to dream of escaping their small Mississippi town, but-raised among their family's vicious cycle of abuse, addiction, and lies—three young black children learn the hard way that their dreams will never be enough. Based on a true story, Mississippi Damned is the brutally honest tale of what happens when a family's haven is also its prison.
120 minutes
France / USA Director: Anne Aghion
"When you bear a child, you make its flesh, but not its heart." These are the words of a peasant woman reflecting on why neighbor turned on neighbor in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Ten years in the making, this documentary by award-winning filmmaker Anne Aghion follows the victims—and perpetrators—as they learn to live side by side in the aftermath of the genocide.
Kinyarwanda with subtitles, 80 minutes
Bahamas Director: Maria Govan
When her grandma dies, 14-year-old Rain is sent to live with her drug-addicted mother in the poverty-stricken ghettos of Nassau. The irony of disease, drug addictions, prostitution, and poverty—set against the tourist-filled island backdrop—is difficult to ignore as these women struggle to find an inner strength to overcome their seemingly inescapable destiny.
93 minutes
UK Director: Eva Weber
A poetic exploration of memory and loss, this poignant documentary takes viewers inside the world of a self-storage warehouse, uncovering the hidden treasure and secrets behind the locked doors. Steel Homes will be presented as part of the short film program, Shorts 3: Rediscovery: Information & Show Times
10 minutes
Cuba Director: Susana Barriga
Director Susana Barriga embarks on a journey from Cuba to London to visit her exiled father. Faced with the challenge of not letting him know that she is filming, Barriga inventively blends hidden video and audio recordings to tell her story. The Illusion will be presented as part of the short film program, Shorts 4: Escape and Rebellion: Information & Show Times
Spanish with English Subtitles, 24 minutes
USA Director: Jodie Markell
How often do you hear about "the new Tennessee Williams film"? That's just what you get in this long-unproduced Southern Gothic tale Williams penned for director Elia Kazan in the '50s. Bryce Dallas Howard stars alongside Ellen Burstyn and Ann-Margret as a free-spirited young heiress who falls for a handsome but humble guy in this 1920s-set story of jealousy, status, and good old-fashioned backstabbery.
102 minutes
Slovakia / Spain Director: Diana Fabiánová
Entertaining and surprisingly inviting, The Moon Inside You takes viewers on an international trek exploring the myths, phobias, quackery, and physiology of menstruation. Combining personal experience with the social stigmas associated with basic female functions, this insightful documentary uses humor, spontaneous interviews, and even Claymation to allay the fears of many viewers and offer welcome information and insight to many more.
75 minutes
Czech Republic Director: Maria Procházková
In this fantastical fairy tale for all ages, the adults in young Terezka's life have suddenly begun to act oddly. Hushed conversations, a strange new character, and an unwanted revelation convince her that her mother is not who she seems. Terezka's imagination runs wild as she tries to understand the family crisis and wake up from what she hopes is a bad dream.
Czech with subtitles, 90 minutes
