11/4/08 (2009, United States)

11/4/08 is a user-generated documentary that consists of footage shot all over the world on the day Barack Obama was elected President. From Alaska to New Orleans to Chicago to Paris to Dubai, what emerges is a portrait of how people choose to live through history: the celebration of a potential new future remaining entangled with the universally visible tensions of the past.

Dir: Jeff Deutchman

THE MAN FROM NOWHERE (2010, South Korea)

Cha Tae-Sik, known only as “ajusshi” in his neighborhood, runs a dilapidated pawnshop in a seedy part of town. He associates little with those around him except a young girl named So-Mi. One day, Hyo-Jeong comes into the shop and hocks a bag with a camera, which Tae-sik (unaware that stolen drugs are in the bag) will hold until she pays him back. When drug dealing gangsters kidnap So-Mi, Tae-Sik must go after the kidnappers, and in the process, face off against the police and his own mysterious past.

Dir: Jeong-beom Lee

**Also Available on DVD

ALIEN VS. NINJA (2010, Japan)

ALIEN VERSUS NINJA is the story of Yamata (Masanori Mimoto), a young ninja whose team is massacred by an alien life form. He and a few survivors vow to destroy the alien but there’s just one problem: ninja weapons have no effect on the monster. One thing’s for sure. If anyone can defeat a bloodthirsty alien, it’s a feudal-era ninja! ALIEN VERSUS NINJA is directed by Seiji Chiba, and co-stars Mika Hijii, Shuji Kashiwabara and Donpei Tsuchihira.

Dir: Seiji Chiba

**Also Available on DVD

MARWENCOL (2010, United States)

MARWENCOL is a documentary about the fantasy world of Mark Hogancamp. After being beaten into a brain-damaging coma by five men outside a bar, Mark builds a 1/6th scale World War II-era town in his backyard. When Mark and his photographs are discovered, a New York gallery sets up an art show. Suddenly Mark’s homemade therapy is deemed “art”, forcing him to choose between the safety of his fantasy life and the real world that he’s avoided since the attack.

Dir: Jeff Malmberg

**Also Available on DVD

CLIMATE OF CHANGE (2010, United States)

“We are the renters of this world, not its masters,” reminds Pooshkar, a precocious 13-year-old member of a youth environmental defense group in India. He and his fellow voraciously energetic students actively rally against the use of plastics. In Africa, a renaissance man teaches citizens to harness solar power to cook food. . In this rich and inspiring documentary, director Brian Hill takes us around the world to find the ordinary people taking action in the fight to save our environment.

Dir: Brian Hill

NICE GUY JOHNNY (2010, United States)

Johnny Rizzo promises his fiance Claire that by the time he turns 25, he’ll give up his dream of becoming a sportscaster and settle for a job that pays bigger bucks.  Now, he’s flying to New York for a job interview that Claire’s father helped set up.  Upon arriving in New York, he catches up with Uncle Terry, a womanizing bartender who is bent on turning a harmless day in the Hamptons into a farewell party for Johnny’s bachelorhood.  Johnny wants no part in his uncle’s plans until he meets the enchanting Brooke.

Dir: Edward Burns

**Also Available on DVD

FOUR LIONS (2010, United Kingdom)

Living with his wife and young son in an unspecified British city, Omar (Riz Ahmed) is determined to mobilize his band of Muslim brothers: clueless Waj (Kayvan Novak) relies on Omar to think and act for him; Faisal (Adeel Akhtar) is a sad sack who says little and spends his time training crows to fly bombs; and white convert Barry (Nigel Lindsay) is a belligerent renegade as stupid as he is strident. This is what Omar has to deal with. They must strike a decisive blow on their own turf but can any of them strike a match without punching himself in the face?

Dir: Christopher Morris

**Also Available on DVD

PEEPLI LIVE (2010, India)

Two poor farmers, Natha and Budhia, face losing their land over an unpaid government loan. Desperate, they seek help from an apathetic local politician, who suggests they commit suicide to benefit from a government program that aids the families of indebted deceased farmers. When a journalist overhears Budhia urge Natha to “do what needs to be done” for the sake of their families, a media frenzy ignites around whether or not Natha will commit suicide.

Dirs: Mahmood Farooqui & Anusha Rizvi

**Also Available on DVD

THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST (2010, Sweden)

The final installment of the “Millenium Trilogy” – Lisbeth Salander, played by the incomparable Swedish actress Noomi Rapace in a career-defining role, is fighting for her life in more ways than one. The film picks up immediately where THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE ended.  In intensive care and charged with three murders, Salander will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life.

Dir: Daniel Alfredson

**Also Available on DVD

ROOM IN ROME (2010, Spain)

One early summer’s evening, Alba meets Natasha on the streets of Rome, as they spend their last day in the Eternal City. Alba invites Natasha to her hotel room where they embark on a 12-hour intimate, passionate, and physical journey that will mark their bodies and souls forever.

Dir: Julio Medem

**Also Available on DVD

HOT SUMMER DAYS (2010, Hong Kong)

It is the hottest summer on record and temperatures are not the only thing that is heating up! HOT SUMMER DAYS shares six entwined stories in which people strive to discover the true meaning of love while heat ignites emotions and changes lives forever.

Dirs: Tony Chan & Wing Shya

A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN (2010, Norway)

Ulrik is a somewhat gentle man. He has no special wishes and makes no demands.  He does not give too much thought to what he does either.  If he’s given some food and a place to sleep, he will give people what they want in return.  Whether this be a little affection or a killing.  Ulrik has killed some people and crippled a few.  Ulrik has killed some people and crippled a few.  It’s all part of the job when you’re a gangster.  Just like doing time.  Now Ulrik is out again.  Reluctantly…  And Jensen is waiting on the outside.  He’s a boss with professional pride, and it is important for Jensen that Ulrik kills the snitch that ratted him out.

Dir: Hans Petter Moland

**Also Available on DVD

HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER (2010, Russia)

One place. One day. Two men.
The place is a polar station on a remote island in the Arctic Ocean. This used to be an important research station but, Sergei, an experienced meteorologist and Pavel, a high school graduate, are now the only inhabitants. Soon a ship will arrive to pick up the two men. But then one day when Sergei is out angling, Pavel picks up a radio message that he daren’t communicate to Sergei.

Dir: Aleksei Popogrebsky

**Also Available on DVD

TO THE SEA (ALAMAR) (2010, Mexico)

Set in the beautiful Banco Chinchorro, ALAMAR, is a cinematic portrait of a father and son relationship and the sharing of knowledge and paternal love from generation to generation.  A 5-year-old boy, Natan, spends a few weeks with his father, Jorge, and gains an immeasurable amount of awareness and understanding about his heritage.

Dir: Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio

**Also Available on DVD

IP MAN 2 (2010, Hong Kong)

Donnie Yen returns as the Wing Chun master in the rousing, action packed sequel, IP MAN 2.  Master Ip’s attempt to establish a Wing Chun school in Hong Kong is resisted by the local martial arts instructors.  In addition, western boxing champion Taylor “The Twister” Milos has arrived, looking to prove his superiority over the Chinese martial arts masters. Undaunted by these challenges, Master Ip prepares for the battle of his life.

Dir: Wilson Yip

**Also Available on DVD

UDAAN (2010, India)

After being abandoned for eight straight years in boarding school, Rohan returns to the small industrial town of Jamshedpur and finds himself closeted with an authoritarian father and a younger half brother who he didn’t even know existed. Forced to work in his father’s steel factory and study engineering against his wishes, he tries to forge his own life out of his given circumstances and pursue his dream of being a writer.

Dir: Vikramaditya Motwane

**Also Available on DVD

JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: THE RADIANT CHILD (2010, United States)

In 1986, director Tamra Davis (CROSSROADS) filmed an interview with her friend Jean-Michel Basquiat. In 2010, this lost footage becomes the backbone of this definitive documentary on the prince of the 1980s art scene. Using archival footage and insider interviews, Davis paints a vibrant portrait of the artist as a young man; a look at the densely articulate paintings which redefined a genre then and Basquiat’s enduring mystique which made him the iconoclast he never knew he’d become today.

Dir: Tamra Davis

**Also Available on DVD

WASTE LAND (2010, Brazil/United Kingdom)

Artist Vik Muniz journeys from his home in Brooklyn to his native Brazil to create artwork from materials collected at Jardim Gramacho, the world’s largest landfill. What he finds is the catadores – the self-designated pickers of recyclable materials – who put a human face to society’s forgotten waste. Filmed over three years, WASTE LAND by director Lucy Walker (COUNTDOWN TO ZERO) is an education on the realities of an ecosystem disposed entirely from our conscience and an illustration of the power of the creative process.

Dirs: Joao Jardim, Karen Harley & Lucy Walker

**Also Available on DVD

KINGS OF PASTRY (2010, United States)

A film that will truly tantalize your taste buds! In this new documentary by D.A. Pennebaker (DON’T LOOK BACK) and Chris Hegedus (THE WAR ROOM) 16 men fight to become a member of French pastry royalty. The film follows chef Jacquy Pfeiffer as he returns to France to compete for the title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France, presenting delicacies ranging from creme puffs to six-foot sugar sculptures. This is an unbelievable tale of passion and sacrifice for the sake of culinary genius.

Dirs: D.A. Pennebaker & Chris Hegedus

**Also Available on DVD

WE ARE FAMILY (2010, India)

Maya is the perfect mother who has three children that adore her.  Despite being divorced from her husband Aman, they remain a happy family unit. When Aman introduces his girlfriend, Shreya (Kareena Kapoor) a career oriented woman, the situation immediately takes an unexpected turn.  But an unexepected incident changes their lives drastically, bringing the two women under the same roof. Put to test on an unusual situation, the women find themselves asking, can two mothers make a home?

Dir: Siddarth Malholtra

**Also Available on DVD