Japan 2005 / directed by Takeshi Kitano / 108 mins / rated MA15+

Takeshis' finds Takeshi Kitano playing two roles: one is a version of his real-life actor persona, Beat Takeshi; the other is a mild-mannered convenience store clerk/amateur actor named Kitano and blends the real lives and dreams of both personas together.  The film is moves between reality and fantasy, from one character to another, rooted in the present but with flashes into the future. A complex, but thoroughly absorbing award-winning film from one of Japan’s most interesting directors.

France 2007 / directed by Abdel Kechiche / 148 mins / rated M

An engrossing and heartbreaking film about North African immigrants living in the South of France who never feel they belong.  Fish couscous is their traditional Tunisian dish and it looms large in their lives and in the film, together with other gastronomic delights.  In particular, the film focuses on the problems facing a man in his 60s and also those of an adolescent girl.  It won four Cesars in France for Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Most Promising Young Actress and was also the winner of the 2007 FIPRESCI and the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.

South Korea 2005 / directed by  Park Chan-Wook / 112 mins / rated MA15+

After a 13-year imprisonment for the kidnap and murder of a 6 year old boy, beautiful Lee Guem-ja starts seeking revenge on the man who was really responsible for the boy's death. With the help of fellow inmates and reunited with her daughter, she gets closer and closer to her goal. But will her actions lead to the relief she seeks?

Czech Republic 2006/ directed by Jan Hřebejk / 110 mins /rated M

A beautiful young mother lost everything in the floods that swept through Prague in 2002.  Her husband turns to crime so they can survive, but when he's imprisoned, she begins another relationship.  The film is about choices people can make in difficult times.  The performances are strong and the twists and turns are all believeable.  The title of the film comes from a poem by Robert Graves.

France 2006 / directed by Alain Resnais / 125 mins / rated M

 Alain Resnais is still making films at age 84!  This one is an adaptation of an Alan Ayckbourne play, but transposed from England to France.  It depicts six lonely characters in search of love whose lives are interconnected to a greater or lesser extent.

Japan 2006  / directed by Sang-il Lee/ 108 mins / rated M

When a coal mine in northern Japan faces massive layoffs, a plan is developed to create a "Hawaiian Paradise" in this cold, northern region. The featured attraction is to be a hula show and Ms. Madoka (Yasuko Matsuyuki), a dance instructor is brought in from Tokyo to create the show. Once a leading performer, she at first looks down on the coal miners and their amateurish daughters, but the girls' sincere dedication gradually rekindles a passion in her. Each dealing with their own harsh lives, the local girls find a new perspective on life.

Brazil 2005 / directed by Sergio Machado / 95 mins / rated MA15+

Selected for the 2005 Cannes Film Festival and created by the team responsible for City of God and The Motorcycles Diaries, this intense and erotic film follows the course of a stormy love triangle set in the underworld (or lower city) of the seaside port of Salvador de Bahia. Deco and Naldinho have been best friends since childhood. Now they own a motorboat which they use to smuggle illicit goods. One day they meet Karina, a beautiful prostitute, and a passionate obsession is unleashed in all three which threatens to tear them all apart.

France 2006 / directed by Eric Lartigau / 83 mins / rated M

A delightful romantic comedy starring the ever-lovely Charlotte Gainsbourg, who agrees to pose as a successful perfume designer's fiancee and then jilt him on their wedding day so that he can avoid pressure from his family to be married.  Needless to say, things don't exactly go according to plan ...