All Recommendations
Beanpole
1945, Leningrad. World War II has devastated the city, demolishing its buildings and leaving its citizens in tatters, physically and mentally. Two young women, Iya and Masha, search for meaning and hope in the struggle to rebuild their lives amongst the ruins.
The Major
On a cold winter’s day Sergey Sobolev, a major at the local police office, is driving to the hospital where his wife is about to give birth to their child. High from happiness, he’s driving too fast and runs down a boy on a passage walk, who dies. Now the major has only two options: go to prison or conceal the crime. Sobolev decides to compromise with his conscience and calls on a colleague to help him out. But the case turns out to be messy and when Sobolev finally changes his mind and tries to make up for his deed, it’s already too late…
The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea
Elizabeth, a sexually yielding policewoman, is miserable in the narrow-minded town in which she's living. While Rita, a lonely eel-hatchery worker, is trying to escape from the sticky situations of her life.
Good Bye, Till Tomorrow
Jacek is a handsome, charming young Pole who belongs to a drama company. One day, in the streets of Gdansk, he meets Marguerite, a beautiful, charming French girl. He falls for her but the young lady is whimsical...
How Viktor "The Garlic" Took Alexey "The Stud" to the Nursing Home
Viktor spends his free time trawling bars with ladies of questionable repute, from where he is picked up by a wife he doesn’t love, the mother of a child they never planned. Viktor himself was abandoned by his own father, his mother then committed suicide, and he was left to grow up in an orphanage. Years later, his errant dad returns, now a disabled felon, and Viktor discovers a timely legacy is in the offing – his father’s apartment. The documentation for securing dad’s move into an old people’s home is signed in a flash. Nevertheless, the only one that can take him is miles away and, what’s more, the invalid starts to recuperate during the journey, which is when their real problems begin.
The Love of Three Oranges
The Prince, suffering from melancholy, embarks on a dangerous and fascinating journey in search of three oranges. In one of the oranges, he finds his beloved Adelita and is cured of the blues forever.
Lost Time
Paul Wager played the drums professionally for over 40 years, performing countless gigs and sharing the stage with the likes of BB King and Isaac Scott. However, after suffering a minor stroke he discovered that he could no longer keep the beat and with that painful realisation, his professional career was over. In filmmaker Leo Pfeifer’s documentary short Lost Time, Wager reflects on a life of music which was lost and whether the term drummer still applies to him. Premiering on Directors Notes today, we spoke to Leo about bringing this intimate exploration of what happens when a drummer loses his time to screen.
Suburban Swingers Club
A young married couple makes a huge mistake by agreeing to participate in a secret swingers' party in their suburban neighborhood, and soon both of them are being targeted by a jealous and homicidal neighbor.
The Fool
The Fool is a movie about a simple plumber. An honest man, he is up against an entire system of corrupted bureaucrats. At stake are the lives of 800 inhabitants of an old dorm that is at risk of collapsing within the span of the night.
The Dancer
A young woman from the American Midwest, Loïe Fuller became the toast of the Folies Bergère at the turn of the 20th century and an icon of the Belle Epoque. Inventor of the breathtaking Serpentine Dance, she was a pioneer of modern dance and lighting techniques. It was her complicated relationship to her protégé - Isadora Duncan – that precipitated the downfall of this early 20th century icon.
Birds of Passage
During the marijuana bonanza, a violent decade that saw the origins of drug trafficking in Colombia, Rapayet and his indigenous family get involved in a war to control the business that ends up destroying their lives and their culture.
Violent Cop
A detective breaks all rules of ethical conduct while investigating a colleague’s involvement in drug pushing and Yakuza activities.
Tangerines
War in Abkhazia, 1992. An Estonian man Ivo has stayed behind to harvest his crops of tangerines. In a bloody conflict at his door, a wounded man is left behind, and Ivo is forced to take him in.
The Vast of Night
At the dawn of the space-race, two radio-obsessed teens discover a strange frequency over the airwaves in what becomes the most important night of their lives and in the history of their small town.
Sideways
Two middle-aged men embark on a spiritual journey through Californian wine country. One is an unpublished novelist suffering from depression, and the other is only days away from walking down the aisle.
Judy
Thirty years after starring in "The Wizard of Oz," beloved actress and singer Judy Garland arrives in London to perform sold-out shows at the Talk of the Town nightclub. While there, she reminisces with friends and fans and begins a whirlwind romance with musician Mickey Deans, her soon-to-be fifth husband.
The Lost Daughter
A woman's seaside vacation takes a dark turn when her obsession with a young mother forces her to confront secrets from her past.
Nebraska
An aging, booze-addled father takes a trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son in order to claim what he believes to be a million-dollar sweepstakes prize.
Mank
1930s Hollywood is reevaluated through the eyes of scathing social critic and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he races to finish the screenplay of Citizen Kane.
Chicago
Murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago.