Il Ladro di Bambini begins in Milan, where Sicilian siblings Rosetta, 11, and Luciano, 9, live with their destitute mother. The woman regularly prostitutes Rosetta and is arrested; her children are immediately made wards of the court. Carabiniere Antonio Criaco is assigned to escort them to a foster home in a mission that appears to be simple. Yet, years of abuse forbid the siblings to trust, obey, or even like Antonio. Rosetta is hostile and demanding; Luciano is sullen and remote. When the Catholic foster home will not accept the children on the grounds of Rosetta’s past, Antonio independently decides to bring them south to a home in Sicily.
Tag: 1990s
A newspaper sends a young reporter into the Russian countryside to make a nice, sensationalist yarn out of some strange stories going around. Once in the countryside, Igor is accommodated by a peasant family living in the middle of nowhere close to a ruined church. The family is convinced that their dead patriarch will return from the dead as a blood-drinking fiend exactly nine and a half days after his demise.
In post-Soviet Russia, detective Andrey is sent to investigate the bizarre suicide of a young mother. As he delves into the case, he becomes entwined with the woman’s sister Marina and the dark legacy of her family’s past. What begins as a routine investigation evolves into an encounter with unseen forces that prey on grief and guilt. The atmosphere grows oppressive, and Andrey finds himself drawn into a realm where the boundary between the living and the dead is dangerously thin.
A film of Eric Serra’s audio recording session of Doudou N’Diaye Rose and his drumming ensemble outdoors on the island of Gorée, off the coast of Dakar, Senegal. The film concentrates on two performances — one shot in daytime, and one at night. Two performances are filmed, punctuated by images of the island.
A train from Paris to Moscow arrives at Brest-Litovsk, a border crossing between Poland and the former Soviet Union. Since Soviet rails are 89 mm wider than European ones, Belarusian railway workers must lift the cars and change the wheels so the train can continue eastward. Nominated for an Oscar in 1995 and winner of numerous awards worldwide, 89 mm od Europy shows the gap that still exists between the countries of the East and the West.
With a combination of Hollywood, European and Israeli film, documentary, news coverage and excerpts of ‘live’ footage shot in the West Bank and Gaza strip, Introduction to the end of an argument critiques representation of the Middle East, Arab culture, and the Palestinian people produced by the West.
A heartfelt coming of age film for a displaced generation. Following Kurt Cobain’s suicide in 1994, a group of twentysomethings leave Lethbridge, Alberta on a journey to join the vigil for him in Seattle, learning about life, love and death along the way.
Matilde Landeta entered the flourishing Mexican film industry in the 1930s, working her way up from script girl to direct 110 shorts and, in the late 40s, to produce and direct three features, including LA NEGRA ANGUSTIAS. In this engrossing documentary filmed in Mexico City, a vibrant Landeta, now in her 70s, recalls those years. Interviews with Mexican directors Marcela Fernandez-Violante and Maria Novaro enrich this illuminating tribute.