heart-breaking beautiful
Films that opened my eyes to suffering and cruelty, yet also resilience and beauty. From around the world.
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- DirectorDenis VilleneuveStarsLubna AzabalMélissa Désormeaux-PoulinMaxim GaudetteTwins journey to the Middle East to discover their family history and fulfill their mother's last wishes.
- DirectorMax FärberböckStarsNina HossEvgeniy SidikhinIrm HermannA woman tries to survive the invasion of Berlin by the Soviet troops during the last days of World War II.
- DirectorMartti HeldeStarsLaura Peterson-AardamTarmo SongMirt Preegel"Risttuules" is a very emotional, tragic movie about mass deportation to Siberia based on the memories of Erna. It all started on June 14, 1941, when trucks came for the innocent families with their children where they headed to the train station and later by animal wagons to Siberia. "How to survive hunger, cold, humiliation, losing friends and freedom, but still keep living on, when almost all hope is lost?"
- DirectorPatricio GuzmánStarsMartín CalderónCristinaPatricio GuzmánDelving into the nearly-religious significance of water, this profound rumination on memory and loss bridges the gap between its mystical origins, Pinochet's coup d'état, and the secret of a mother-of-pearl button at the bottom of the sea.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsHideaki AnnoHidetoshi NishijimaMiori TakimotoJiro Horikoshi studies assiduously to fulfill his aim of becoming an aeronautical engineer. As WWII begins, fighter aircraft designed by him end up getting used by the Japanese Empire against its foes.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiTang WeiJoan ChenDuring World War II era, a young woman, Wang Jiazhi, gets swept up in a dangerous game of emotional intrigue with a powerful political figure, Mr. Yee.
- DirectorPatricio GuzmánStarsGaspar GalazLautaro NúñezLuís HenríquezA documentary about two different searches conducted in the Chilean Atacama Desert: one by astronomers looking for answers about the history of the cosmos, and one by women looking for the remains of loved ones killed by Pinochet's regime.
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsKirsten DunstCharlotte GainsbourgKiefer SutherlandTwo sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.
- DirectorJayro BustamanteStarsMaría Mercedes CoroySabrina De La HozMargarita KenéficAn aging paranoid war criminal, protected by his faithful wife, faces death while being haunted by the ghosts of his past.
- DirectorAbderrahmane SissakoStarsIbrahim AhmedAbel JafriToulou KikiA cattle herder and his family who reside in the dunes of Timbuktu find their quiet lives -- which are typically free of the Jihadists determined to control their faith -- abruptly disturbed.
- DirectorNicolas Winding RefnStarsRyan GoslingKristin Scott ThomasVithaya PansringarmJulian, a drug-smuggler thriving in Bangkok's criminal underworld, sees his life get even more complicated when his mother compels him to find and kill whoever is responsible for his brother's recent death.
- DirectorSergey LoznitsaStarsVladimir SvirskiyVladislav AbashinSergey KolesovWestern frontiers of the USSR, 1942. The region is under German occupation. A man is wrongly accused of collaboration. Desperate to save his dignity, he faces impossible moral choice.
- DirectorWojciech SmarzowskiStarsMarcin DorocinskiAgata KuleszaMalwina BussRose, a German widow, hides from Russian soldiers who like to rape women and fights off Polish refugees who will steal everything she has. She gets help when Tadeusz, a former Polish officer, arrives looking to hide from his past.
- DirectorDenis VilleneuveStarsEmily BluntJosh BrolinBenicio Del ToroAn idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.
- DirectorAngelina NikonovaStarsOlga DykhovichnayaRoman MerinovSergey GolyudovMarina, an upper-class social worker with a doting husband and an enviable downtown apartment, is suddenly transformed into a bizarre twilight version of herself after having been raped by three policemen.
- DirectorIsao TakahataStarsTsutomu TatsumiAyano ShiraishiAkemi YamaguchiA young boy and his little sister struggle to survive in Japan during World War II.
- DirectorAnh Hung TranStarsKen'ichi MatsuyamaRinko KikuchiKiko MizuharaToru recalls his life in the 1960s, when his friend Kizuki killed himself and he grew close to Naoko, Kizuki's girlfriend, and another woman, the outgoing, lively Midori.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsHolly HunterHarvey KeitelSam NeillIn the mid-19th century a mute woman is sent to New Zealand along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a farmer, but is soon lusted after by a farm worker.
- DirectorNora TwomeyStarsSaara ChaudrySoma ChhayaNoorin GulamgausIn 2001, Afghanistan is under the control of the Taliban. When her father is captured, a determined young girl disguises herself as a boy in order to provide for her family.
- DirectorJuliano Ribeiro SalgadoWim WendersStarsSebastião SalgadoWim WendersLélia Wanick SalgadoThe life and work of photographer Sebastião Salgado, who has spent forty years documenting societies in hidden corners of the world.
- DirectorChristian PetzoldStarsNina HossRonald ZehrfeldNina KunzendorfAfter surviving Auschwitz, a former cabaret singer has her disfigured face reconstructed and returns to her war-ravaged hometown to seek out her gentile husband, who may or may not have betrayed her to the Nazis.
- DirectorCraig GillespieStarsRyan GoslingEmily MortimerPaul SchneiderA delusional young man strikes up an unconventional relationship with a doll he finds on the Internet.
- DirectorJuan José CampanellaStarsRicardo DarínSoledad VillamilPablo RagoA retired legal counselor writes a novel hoping to find closure for one of his past unresolved homicide cases and for his unreciprocated love with his superior - both of which still haunt him decades later.
- DirectorCristian MungiuStarsAnamaria MarincaLaura VasiliuVlad IvanovA woman assists her friend in arranging an illegal abortion in 1980s Romania.
- DirectorSunao KatabuchiStarsNonAva PickardKenna PickardA spirited 18-year-old woman is married off to a man she barely knows as she combats the daily struggles of living in Hiroshima during World War II.
- DirectorRithy PanhStarsRandal DoucJean-Baptiste PhouRithy Panh uses clay figures, archival footage, and his narration to recreate the atrocities Cambodia's Khmer Rouge committed between 1975 and 1979.
- DirectorYesim UstaogluStarsFunda EryigitEcem UzunMehmet KurtulusTwo Turkish women, one oppressed by sexist traditions and one liberated by modern mores, have more in common than it would seem.
- DirectorAtom EgoyanStarsRyan ReynoldsScott SpeedmanRosario DawsonEight years after the disappearance of Cassandra, some disturbing incidents seem to indicate that she's still alive. Police, parents and Cassandra herself, will try to unravel the mystery of her disappearance.
- DirectorJoshua OppenheimerAnonymousChristine CynnStarsAnwar CongoHerman KotoSyamsul ArifinA documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.
- DirectorOliver HermanusStarsNicolas DuvauchelleCrystal-Donna RobertsClayton EvertsonGilles and Tiny are both mourning recent deaths. Their grief unites them but hiding beneath the grief are darker shadows that connect their losses.
- DirectorLászló NemesStarsGéza RöhrigLevente MolnárUrs RechnA Jewish-Hungarian concentration camp prisoner sets out to give a child he mistook for his son a proper burial.
- DirectorEmin AlperStarsMehmet ÖzgürBerkay AtesTülin ÖzenAmid the intense political violence of Istanbul, Kadir is released on parole two years early on the condition that he become an informant for the police gathering terrorist informations, activities, and searching for bombs on trash cans.
- DirectorJason ReitmanStarsCharlize TheronMackenzie DavisRon LivingstonA struggling mother of three forms an unexpected bond with the night nanny hired to help with her newborn baby.
- DirectorMichaël R. RoskamStarsMatthias SchoenaertsJeroen PercevalJeanne DandoySint-Truiden, Belgium. Jacky, a young cattle farmer who is constantly pumped on steroids and hormones, is approached by a veterinarian to make a deal with a notorious beef trader.
- DirectorIram HaqStarsMaria MozhdahAdil HussainEkavali KhannaThe story of Nisha, daughter of a Pakistani-Norwegian family, who is kidnapped to Pakistan by her parents when her father finds her in bed with a man.
- CreatorJohannes W. BetzTony SaintStarsFranz DindaTom WlaschihaRick OkonAn inexperienced U-boat crew has to survive a secret mission and a young German woman is torn between loyalty for her home country and the French resistance in this WWII drama.
- DirectorMidi ZStarsKai KoKe-Xi WuShin-Hong WangTwo Burmese immigrants fleeing their country's civil war in search of a new life in Thailand.
- DirectorJacques AudiardStarsJesuthasan AntonythasanKalieaswari SrinivasanClaudine VinasithambyDheepan is a Sri Lankan Tamil warrior who flees to France and ends up working as a caretaker outside Paris.
- DirectorEva HussonStarsGolshifteh FarahaniEmmanuelle BercotZübeyde BulutA Kurdish female battalion prepares to take back their town from extremists.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsLiam NeesonRalph FiennesBen KingsleyIn German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
- DirectorTom HooperStarsHugh JackmanRussell CroweAnne HathawayIn 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole, agrees to care for a factory worker's daughter. The decision changes their lives forever.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsGabriel ByrneAlbert FinneyJohn TurturroTom Reagan, an advisor to a Prohibition-era crime boss, tries to keep the peace between warring mobs but gets caught in divided loyalties.
- DirectorKieran Darcy-SmithStarsJoel EdgertonTeresa PalmerFelicity PriceTwo Australian couples, two sisters, are on vacation in Southern Cambodia. Jeremy goes missing. What happened? Were drugs involved? Secrets are slowly revealed after the 3 return to Sydney.
- DirectorChristopher MenaulStarsKelsey GrammerVernon DobtcheffEoin MackenA TV Movie chronicling the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsTobey MaguireSkeet UlrichJewelDuring the American Civil War, two friends join the Bushwhackers, a militant group loyal to the Confederacy.
- DirectorCatherine HardwickeStarsGina RodriguezThomas DekkerVivian ChanGloria finds a power she never knew she had when she is drawn into a dangerous world of cross-border crime. Surviving will require all of her cunning, inventiveness, and strength.
- DirectorAnne ÉmondStarsMaxim GaudetteKarelle TremblayValerie CadieuxAfter the death of his father, an artisan does his best to raise and nurture his dynamic daughter.
- DirectorCary Joji FukunagaStarsPaulina GaitanMarco Antonio AguirreLeonardo AlonsoA young Honduran girl and a Mexican gangster are united in a journey across the U.S. border.
- DirectorPablo LarraínStarsMariana Di GirólamoGael García BernalSantiago CabreraA couple deals with the aftermath of an adoption that goes awry as their household falls apart.
- DirectorNiels Arden OplevStarsMichael NyqvistNoomi RapaceEwa FrölingA journalist is aided by a young female hacker in his search for the killer of a woman who has been dead for forty years.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsDaniel CraigRooney MaraChristopher PlummerJournalist Mikael Blomkvist is aided in his search for a woman who has been missing for 40 years by young computer hacker Lisbeth Salander.
- DirectorFlorian Henckel von DonnersmarckStarsUlrich MüheMartina GedeckSebastian KochIn 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.
- DirectorSalvador del SolarStarsDamián AlcázarTatiana AstengoJairo CamargoMagallanes, a former army soldier (Damian Alcazar) drives a taxi and eventually a driver of a retired colonel (Federico Luppi), who was in command of his troops in times of struggle against subversion in Ayacucho. But something more involving both. A secret that begin to reveal when, in the midst of his pilgrimage as a taxi driver in the city of Lima, Magallanes believes see in Celina, a humble woman (Magaly Solier), which now runs, barely a hair salon on the outskirts of the capital, one of the protagonists of a dark episode in the past.
- DirectorVictor FlemingGeorge CukorSam WoodStarsClark GableVivien LeighThomas MitchellA sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.
- DirectorSteve McQueenStarsChiwetel EjioforMichael Kenneth WilliamsMichael FassbenderIn the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free Black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsVincent LindonChiara MastroianniJulie BatailleMarco returns to Paris after his brother-in-law's suicide, where he targets the man his sister believes caused the tragedy - though he is ill-prepared for her secrets as they quickly muddy the waters.
- DirectorAtom EgoyanStarsColin FirthReese WitherspoonAlessandro NivolaThe savage murders of three young children sparks a controversial trial of three teenagers accused of killing the kids as part of a Satanic ritual.
- DirectorAri FolmanStarsAri FolmanRon Ben-YishaiRonny DayagAn Israeli film director interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict.
- DirectorAmat EscalanteStarsArmando EspitiaAndrea VergaraLinda GonzálezHeli must try and protect his young family when his 12-year-old sister inadvertently involves them in the brutal drug world. He must battle against the drug cartel that have been angered as well as the corrupt police force.
- DirectorSimon StoneStarsGeoffrey RushNicholas HopeSam NeillThe story follows a man who returns home to discover a long-buried family secret, and whose attempts to put things right threaten the lives of those he left home years before.
- DirectorVivian QuStarsVicky ChenMeijun ZhouKe ShiIn a small seaside town, two schoolgirls are sexually assaulted by a middle-aged man in a motel. Mia, a teenager who was working on reception that night, is the only witness. For fear of losing her job, she chooses to keep silence.
- DirectorJuan Pablo RichterStarsSantiago RozoValentina VillalpandoFernando Arze EchalarAn introvert city teenager is sent to his father's timber ranch. While trying to figure out his place as the son of the boss he finds himself in a world packed with naturalized violence.