All Recommendations
L'immensità
Set in 1970s Rome, the fiction tracks the plight of a nuclear family, consisting of an unhappy married couple: Clara (a deeply dissatisfied expatriate Spaniard) and Felice (an abusive businessman cheating on Clara with his secretary) and their children Adriana, Gino, and Diana. Their eldest child, 12-year-old Adriana, experiences gender dysphoria; he rejects girlhood and instead goes by the name of Andrea (a primarily masculine name in Italian). Andrea develops a crush for Sara, a Roma girl who knows him as a boy. Upon a shared sense of being outsiders, Andrea and Clara grow closer.
Killing Zoe
Zed is an American vault-cracker who travels to Paris to meet up with his old friend Eric. Eric and his gang have planned to raid the only bank in the city which is open on Bastille day. After offering his services, Zed soon finds himself trapped in a situation beyond his control when heroin abuse, poor planning and a call-girl named Zoe all conspire to turn the robbery into a very bloody siege.
Incognito
Lucas is an up-and-coming singer ready to do anything to be on top of the French pop scene.
The Mystery of the Yellow Room
Joseph Rouletabille, a reporter for a local newspaper, investigates the attempted killing of Mathilde Stangerson, who uses the yellow room of the title as her bedroom. At the time of the revolver shots her room was locked and the windows were barred, but when her father enters after having forced the door, there is no-one there except for Mathilde. So who did it and how did he get away?
Golden Door
The story is set at the beginning of the 20th century in Sicily. Salvatore, a very poor farmer, and a widower, decides to emigrate to the US with all his family, including his old mother. Before they embark, they meet Lucy. She is supposed to be a British lady and wants to come back to the States. Lucy, or Luce as Salvatore calls her, for unknown reasons wants to marry someone before to arrive to Ellis Island in New York. Salvatore accepts the proposal. Once they arrive in Ellis Island they spend the quarantine period trying to pass the examinations to be admitted to the States. Tests are not so simple for poor farmers coming from Sicily. Their destiny is in the hands of the custom officers.
Fire at Sea
Capturing life on the Italian island of Lampedusa, a frontline in the European migrant crisis.
Reality+
Vincent, a young Parisian uncomfortable with his appearance, installs a brain chip named Reality+ which allows users to see themselves and fellow users with their dream body. However, Reality+ only works over 12-hour intervals, proving infuriating for Vincent as he falls for Stella, another user.
Mondo
Mondo, a young orphaned gypsy, finds himself in France, where he scouts out potential foster families, evades the police and meets an assortment of eccentric people. In his travels, Mondo first encounters a magician who takes on the boy as an assistant. Then he moves on again, eventually befriending Dadi, a street-smart vagrant, and Giordan, a wise fisherman. All the while, the boy keeps an eye out for would-be parents.
Conviction
The story of Carl Upchurch who experiences jail as a young adult. While in prison, a compassionate teacher helps turn his life around through education and religion. He in turn is inspired to help other troubled youths.
Hard Truths
Pansy is a woman so full of rage that every interaction she has devolves into lashing out, whether at her utterly cowed husband and son, or random strangers who have the temerity to address her. In contrast, her younger sister Chantelle lives with her two vivacious daughters and plies a successful trade as a hairdresser, putting clients at their ease all day long. Yet beneath Pansy’s abrasive exterior are hints of a more fragile psyche, one motivated by fear and damaged by repressed pain.
Butterfly on a Wheel
A sociopathic kidnapper methodically pushes a desperate pair of parents to their absolute breaking point.
The Illusion
1860. Giuseppe Garibaldi began from Quarto the adventure of the Thousand surrounded by the enthusiasm of the young idealists who had come from all regions of Italy, and with his loyal group of officers, among whom a new profile stands out, that of Palermo Colonel Vincenzo Giordano Orsini. Among the many militiamen recruited were two Sicilians, Domenico Tricò, a farmer who had emigrated to the North, and Rosario Spitale, an illusionist. Having landed in Sicily, at Marsala, the Thousand begin fighting with the Bourbon army, whose numerical preponderance is immediately evident. Under these conditions, it appears almost impossible for the general to breach the enemy defense and penetrate Palermo. But when he is almost forced to retreat, Garibaldi devises an ingenious plan.
Winter Sleep
Aydın is a hotel owner and a retired actor in rural Turkey. As winter emerges he begins navigating the conflicts within the relationships with his wife, sister and existence.
Delicacy
A French woman mourning over the death of her husband three years prior is courted by a Swedish co-worker.
Little Indian, Big City
Stephen, an international trader, tracks down his ex-wife Patricia in some Amazonian backwater. He needs her consent to a divorce so that he can marry Charlotte. Unfortunately, he discovers a son he didn’t know he had – Mimi-Siku. The young jungle boy yearns to see Paris so Stephen reluctantly agrees to take him back home with him for a few days. How will Mimi-Siku react to life in the great metropolis?
One Hundred Steps
Peppino Impastato is a quick-witted lad growing up in 1970s Sicily. Despite hailing from a family with Mafia ties and living just one hundred steps from the house of local boss Tano Badalamenti, Peppino decides to expose the Mafia by using a pirate radio station to broadcast his political pronouncements in the form of ironic humour.
The Thirteenth Floor
In Los Angeles, a wealthy man, known as Mr. Fuller, discovers a shocking secret about the world he lives in. Fearing for his life, he leaves a desperate message for a friend of his in the most unexpected place.
Talk to Her
Two men share an odd friendship while they care for two women who are both in deep comas.
Only Lovers Left Alive
A depressed musician reunites with his lover in the desolate streets of Detroit. Though their romance has endured several centuries, it is tested by the arrival of her capricious and unpredictable younger sister.
Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom
Four corrupted fascist libertines round up 9 teenage boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of sadistic physical, mental and sexual torture.