BELLE directed by Amma Asante

The 25th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) unveiled its complete line-up including Galas, Premieres and New Voices/New Visions. The Festival will open on Friday, January 3 with the U.S. Premiere of opening night film BELLE directed by Amma Asante, and will wrap on Sunday, January 12 with LE WEEK-END directed by Roger Michell. 187 films from 60 countries, including 77 premieres (8 world, 22 North American and 47 U.S.), will unspool at the Festival, running from January 3-13, 2014 in Palm Springs, California.

GALAS

The Festival will open with the US premiere screening of Belle (UK), followed by a reception at the Palm Springs Art Museum. Directed by Amma Asante, Belle is a period drama inspired by the life of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate daughter of a Captain in the Royal Navy, stationed in the Caribbean. The film stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sarah Gadon, Tom Wilkinson, Emily Watson, Sam Reid, Tom Felton, Matthew Goode, Penelope Wilton and Miranda Richardson. Director Asante is expected to attend the film screening.

Closing the Festival is Le Week-End (UK), directed by Roger Michell. The film stars Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan as an old married couple looking to rekindle their love affair with Paris and with one another in this spiky, self-lacerating comedy.

NEW VOICES/NEW VISIONS
The New Voices/New Visions Award will honor one of 12 films from top emerging international directors marking their feature film debut at the Festival, with the additional criteria that the films selected are currently without US distribution. The winner is selected by a jury of US distributors and will receive a glass sculpture designed for the Festival by renowned artist Dale Chihuly. Films selected for this year include:

Above Dark Waters (Finland) – Told through the eyes of a sensitive young boy, this tragicomedy tells a touching story about growing up in southwestern Lapland in the 1970s with authenticity and hilarity. Director: Peter Franzén. Cast: Olavi Angervo, Samuli Edelmann, Matleena Kuusniemi, Ismo Kallio, Marja Packalén. Peter Franzen. US Premiere.

Bristel Goodman (USA) – This uniquely stylish thriller traces the story of a traumatized Iraq War veteran who meets his dream girl in an internet chat room, only to have his dream turn into a nightmare when he witnesses what appears to be her murder live online. Director: Dan Harnden. Cast: John Golaszewski, Natalia Volkodaeva, Kate Gorney, Ezra Saint James, Lucas Van Engen, Jessica Myhr, Joe Varca. World Premiere.

Class Enemy (Slovenia) – In this compelling Slovenian drama, a group of teens blame their demanding new German teacher and his demeaning methods when one of their classmates commits suicide, and a colossal battle of wills ensues. Director: Rok Bicek. Cast: Igor Samobor, Nataša Barbara Gracner, Tjaša Železnik, Maša Derganc, Robert Prebil, Voranc Boh, Jan Zupancic, Daša Cupevski. North American Premiere.

Everything We Loved (New Zealand) – Charlie once made a living as a traveling magician. His picture-perfect marriage and family, though, has been torn asunder by a crippling loss. What will Charlie do to save the family he loves? Behold, a grand illusion…Director: Max Currie. Cast: Brett Stewart, Sia Trokenheim, Ben Clarkson. World Premiere.

Han Gong-ju (South Korea) – A teenager is abruptly transferred to a new school and placed in a stranger’s care – for reasons too terrible to guess. An amazing first feature, it won two awards at the Busan International Film Festival. Director: Lee Su-jin. Cast: Chun Woo-hee, Jeong In-sun, Lee Young-ran, Kim So-young. North America Premiere.

Left Foot Right Foot (Switzerland) – A pair of young hard-partying lovers are forced to grow up fast in photographer Germinal Roux’s first feature, a beautiful elegy on the loss of innocence elevated by stunning black-and-white cinematography and mesmerizing music. Director: Germinal Roaux. Cast: Nahuel Perez Biscayart, Agathe Schlencker, Mathilde Bisson, Dimitri Stapfer, Stanislas Merhar. US Premiere.

Medeas (USA) – An archetypal tale of adultery is rendered with exquisite strokes in this slow burning rural psychodrama, the first feature from an Italian-born filmmaker working in the US. “A rare piece of pure cinema.” Twitch Director: Andrea Pallaoro. Cast: Catalina Sandino Moreno, Brian F. O’Byrne, Kevin Alejandro, Ian Nelson, Mary Mouser. North America Premiere.

The Magnetic Tree (Spain) – A young man returns to Chile from Germany after many years. In a series of probing, freeform conversations, his colorful, multigenerational family explores the safety and connectedness and the feelings of confinement that come from family relationships. Director: Isabel de Ayguavives. Cast: Andrés Gertrúdix, Catalina Saavedra, Manuela Martelli, Gonzalo Robles, Juan Pablo Larenas, Daniel Alcaíno, Edgardo Bruna. North America Premiere.

Of Horses and Men (Iceland) – This very dry, very Icelandic comedy is a north country romance about the human streak in the horse and the horse in the human. Director: Benedikt Erlingsson. Cast: Ingvar E. Sigurdsson, Steinn Armann Magnusson, Helgi Björnsson, Charlotte Bøving, Atli Rafn Sigurdarson, Halldora Geirhardsdottir, Kjartan Ragnarsson. US Premiere.

Paris or Perish (France) -Brightly colored and vivacious, actress Reem Kherici’s fast-paced, fish-out-of-water comedy sees Parisian fashion designer Maya deported back to her Moroccan home, stiletto heels in hand. Cultures clash and the jokes, many at Maya’s expense, alternate with moments of genuine feeling. Director: Reem Kherici. Cast: Reem Kherici, Cécile Cassel, Shirley Bousquet, Tarek Boudali, Phillipe Lacheau, Salim Kechiouche, Stéphane Rousseau. US Premiere.

Patch Town (Canada) – Inspired by his award-winning short film (ShortFest ’12), Craig Goodwill’s wildly creative feature debut is a wacky, satirical musical fantasy about a grown-up toy who must battle a villainous corporation to reunite with his long-lost mother, protect his newfound family, and finally find freedom. Director: Craig Goodwill. Cast: Rob Ramsay, Zoie Palmer, Julian Richings, Suresh John, Scott Thompson, Ken Hall. US Premiere.

Root (Chile) – A Chilean woman defies her domineering mother and drives the nine-year-old son of the deceased family maid into the country to find his long-lost father. An assured debut which applies a naturalist style to create a powerful dramatic impact. Director: Matías Rojas Valencia. Cast: Mercedes Mujica, Elsa Poblete, Cristóbal Ruiz, Celia Uribe, Eugenio Morales. North America Premiere.

PREMIERES
The Festival will offer a selection of 77 premieres of highly anticipated films, showcasing the diversity of international cinema:

World premieres include: 3 Nights in the Desert (USA) starring Amber Tamblyn, Wes Bentley and Vincent Piazza, Bristel Goodman (USA), Burkholder (USA), Days and Nights (USA) starring Katie Holmes, William Hurt, Jean Reno, Allison Janney, Ben Wishaw, Everything We Loved (New Zealand), Hidden Hills (USA), Lakshmi (India) and Party Central (USA) starring John Goodman, Charlie Day, Bill Crystal, Sean Hayes and David Foley.

North American premieres include: Catch the Dream (Denmark), Class Enemy(Slovenia), Grazing the Sky (Spain), Han Gong-ju (South Korea), Horses of God(Morocco), King Ordinary (Germany), Living is Easy with Eyes Closed (Spain), Magic Men (Israel), The Magnetic Tree (Spain), Medeas (USA), The Mercury Factor (Italy),Monk with a Camera (USA), Montage (South Korea), The Old Man (Kazakhstan),Open Up to Me (Finland), Rabbit Woman (Argentina), Root (Chile), The Searches(Mexico), Stalngrad (Russia), Tattoo (Brazil), Traffic Department (Poland) andTransit (Philippines).

U.S. premieres include: 15 Years and One Day (Spain), Above Dark Waters (Finland),Another House (Canada), The Auction (Canada), Bastardo (Tunisia), Belle (UK), Blind Dates (Georgia), The Butterfly’s Dream (Turkey), Cupcakes (Israel), Empire of Dirt(Canada), Enemy (Canada) directed by Denis Villeneuve and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Isabella Rossellini, Faith Connections (India), For No Good Reason(UK) featuring Johnny Depp, Terry Gilliam, Richard E. Grant, Gaming Instinct(Germany), Gerontophilia (Canada) directed by Bruce LaBruce, The Grand Seduction(Canada) starring Brendan Gleeson and Taylor Kitsch, Heart of a Lion (Finland), Hotell(Sweden), Hunting Elephants (Israel), I Am Yours (Norway), Ignasi M. (Spain), In Secret (USA) starring Elizabeth Olsen, Oscar Isaac, Jessica Lange, The Italian Character (Germany), Left Foot Right Foot (Switzerland), Longwave (France), Love and Lemons (Sweden), Lovers (France), Marina (Belgium), The Mute (Peru),Nightingale (France), Of Horses and Men (Iceland), One of a Kind (France), Paris or Perish (France), Patch Town (Canada), A Place in Heaven (Israel), Roa (Colombia),Salvation Army (France), Standing Aside, Watching (Greece), Stay (Canada) starring Taylor Schilling, Aidan Quinn and Brian Gleeson, The Summer of Flying Fish (Chile),Tangerines (Estonia), Those Happy Years (Italy), The Venice Syndrome (Germany),White Lies (New Zealand), Words and Pictures (USA) directed by Fred Schepisi starring Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche, Young & Beautiful (France) directed by François Ozon and Yozgat Blues (Turkey).

DÉJA VIEW: PAST PSIFF FAVORITES
A 25th Anniversary tribute which features a selection of films that have won the Audience Award at Palm Springs and gone on to win the Foreign Language Oscar® combined with first films featured at PSIFF whose directors have gone on to enjoy Award Winning careers.

Cinema Paradiso (Italy) – The Festival’s first Audience Award and Foreign Oscar® winner traces the tale of a man looking back at his lifelong romance with the cinema, working as an apprentice to a projectionist in his small town’s cherished movie palace. Free 25th Anniversary outdoor screening at Forever Marilyn. Director: Giuseppe Tornatore.

Departures (Japan) – This gentle comedy, which took PSIFF audiences by storm as it won the Audience Award at the 2009 Festival (and went on to win that year’s Oscar for Foreign Language Film), concerns a man who, desperate to support his family when he loses his job as an orchestra cellist, takes a new job preparing bodies for funerals, learning much about life… and death… in the process. Director: Yôjirô Takita

Life is Beautiful (Italy) – Winner of the Festival’s 1998 Audience Award (and seven subsequent Oscar nominations, winning for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Actor and Best Score) this acclaimed tragicomedy tells the tale of an endlessly inventive man who uses humor to spare his son the horrors of a concentration camp in the late stages of WWII. Director: Roberto Benigni

No Man’s Land (Bosnia and Herzegovina) – Featured in the Festival’s 2002 New Director’s Showcase and winning that year’s Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, this brilliant black comedy about the futility of war, a first film by writer/director Danis Tanovic remains one of the most stunning directorial debuts of the last half century. Director: Danis Tanovic

Strictly Ballroom (Australia) – This deliriously enjoyable musical comedy, set in the world of ballroom dancing competitions, introduced Palm Springs filmgoers – and the world – to an audaciously talented director in the form of Baz Luhrman when it was featured in our New Directors’ Showcase at the 1993 PSIFF. Director: Baz Luhrmann

The Lives of Others (Germany) – Winner of the Festival’s 2007 Audience Award, and the subsequent Academy and Golden Globe Awards for Best Foreign Film, this is a riveting, flawless German thriller about an East German Stasi captain drawn into the lives of his downstairs neighbors when assigned to spy on them, and his own dawning realization of the immorality of his actions. Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

The Sea Inside (Spain) – Winner of the Festival’s 2005 Audience Award and that year’s Oscar for best Foreign Language Film, this gorgeously evocative tale of a man who fought a 30-year battle for his right to end his own life brought equal acclaim for its magnificent central performance by Javier Bardem. Director: Alejandro Amenábar

Other titles to be announced prior to the festival.

Other Festival films with notable talent and directors include: Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas (France) starring Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (UK) starring Steve Coogan and Colm Meaney, Le Chef (France) starring Jean Reno, Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me (USA) featuring Elaine Stritch, Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Nathan Lane, The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden (USA) featuring the voices of Cate Blanchett, Diana Kruger and Josh Radnor, The Invisible Woman (UK) directed by and starring Ralph Fiennes, Mystery Road (Australia) starring Aaron Pedersen, Hugo Weaving and Ryan Kwanten, Reaching for the Moon (Brazil) starring Miranda Otto,Tim’s Vermeer (USA) directed by Teller and featuring Penn Jilette, Two Lives(Germany) starring Liv Ullman, Unforgiven  (Japan) starring Ken Watanabe, Walking with the Enemy (USA) starring Ben Kingsley.

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THE AUCTION directed by SÉBASTIEN PILOTE

The 25th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF), scheduled January 3-13, 2014, announced a new program focusing on Canadian Cinema, as well as films selected to compete for the FIPRESCI Award in the Awards Buzz section, and Modern Masters.  The Festival will screen 45 of the 76 official submissions to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Best Foreign Language Film. 

 AWARDS BUZZ
The Awards Buzz section is selected by Festival programmers as the strongest entries in this year’s Academy Awards® race.  A special jury of international film critics will review these films to award the FIPRESCI Award for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, Best Actor and Best Actress.  The following 45 films are selected to screen (in alphabetical order by country):

The German Doctor (Argentina), Director Lucía Puenzo
The Rocket (Australia), Director Kim Mordaunt
The Wall (Austria), Director Julian Pölsler
The Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium/Netherlands), Director Felix van Groeningen
An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker (Bosnia), Director Danis Tanovic
The Missing Picture (Cambodia/France), Director Rithy Panh
Gabrielle (Canada), Director Louise Archambault
Gloria (Chile/Spain), Director Sebastián Lelio
Back to 1942 (China), Director Feng Xiaogang
Halima’s Path (Croatia/Slovenia/Bosnia-Herzegovina), Director Arsen Anton Ostojic
The Hunt (Denmark), Director Thomas Vinterberg
Winter of Discontent (Egypt), Director Ibrahim El Batout
Disciple (Finland), Director Ulrika Bengts
Renoir (France), Director Gilles Bourdos
In Bloom (Georgia/Germany/France), Directors Nana Ekvtimishvili, Simon Gross
Two Lives (Germany/Norway), Director Georg Maas
Le Grand Cahier (Hungary/Germany/Austria/France), Director János Szász
Of Horses and Men (Iceland), Director Benedikt Erlingsson
The Good Road (India), Director Gyan Correa
The Past (Iran/Italy/France), Director Asghar Farhadi
Bethlehem (Israel), Director Yuval Adler
The Great Beauty (Italy/France), Director Paolo Sorrentino
The Great Passage (Japan), Director Yûya Ishii
The Old Man (Shal) (Kazakhstan), Director Yermek Tursunov
Mother, I Love You (Latvia), Director Janis Nords
Heli (Mexico/Germany/Netherlands/France), Director Amat Escalante
Horses of God (Morocco/France/Belgium), Director Nabil Ayouch
Borgman (Netherlands), Director Alex van Warmerdam
White Lies (New Zealand), Director Dana Rotberg
I Am Yours (Norway), Director Iram Haq
Omar (Palestinian Territory), Director Hany Abu-Assad
Transit (Philippines), Director Hannah Espia
Walesa. Man of Hope (Poland), Director Andrzej Wajda
Child’s Pose (Romania), Director Calin Peter Netzer
Stalingrad (Russia), Director Fedor Bondarchuk
Wadjda (Saudi Arabia/Germany), Director Haifaa Al Mansour
Circles (Serbia/Germany/France/Croatia/Slovenia), Director Srdan Golubovic
Ilo Ilo (Singapore), Director Anthony Chen
Class Enemy (Slovenia), Director Rok Bicek
Juvenile Offender (South Korea), Director Kang Yi-kwan
15 Years and One Day (Spain), Director Gracia Querejeta
More Than Honey (Switzerland), Director Markus Imhoof
The Butterfly’s Dream (Turkey), Director Yilmaz Erdogan
Metro Manila (United Kingdom/Philippines), Director Sean Ellis
Anina (Uruguay/Colombia), Director Alfredo Soderguit

SPOTLIGHT ON CANADIAN CINEMA
Canada receives the spotlight for this year’s special focus on a country or region of the world making extraordinary strides in cinema. Included in the showcase will be an opening weekend reception and ‘Canadian Film Day’ highlighting Canadian filmmaking guests, sponsored by Telefilm Canada.  Films in this program feature actors Brendan Gleeson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Taylor Kitsch, Mélanie Laurent, Aidan Quinn, Isabella Rossellini and Taylor Schilling.  The 12 films selected in the program include:

The Auction(Canada) – In this honest portrait of a family in the midst of change, Sébastien Pilote gives us a pastoral tale of love and quiet sacrifice in rural Quebec, featuring a powerful performance by Gabriel Arcand.  Director: Sébastien Pilote.  Cast: Gabriel Arcand, Gilles Renaud, Lucie Laurier, Sophie Desmarais, Johanne-Marie Tremblay, Gabriel Tremblay.

Empire of Dirt(Canada) – An affecting portrait of three generations of Cree women caught up in a cycle of teenage pregnancy and mistrust finally beginning to put their past behind them and figure out a way forward together.  Director: Peter Stebbings.  Cast: Cara Gee, Shay Eyre, Jennifer Podemski, Luke Kirby, Jordan Prentice, Lawrence Bayne, Michael Cram.

Enemy(Canada) – In a dual role, Jake Gyllenhaal stars as a professor who frantically seeks out his doppelganger, a struggling actor he spots in a film. The Oscar®-nominated director of Incendies andPrisoners puts a masterful spin on this mind-bending Kafkaesque mystery.  Director: Denis Villeneuve.  Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon, Isabella Rossellini.

Gabrielle(Canada) – Gabrielle Marion-Rivard gives an extraordinarily expressive, moving performance as a developmentally challenged young woman who falls in love with a boy she sings with in the choir – to the dismay of the young man’s overly protective mother.  Director: Louise Archambault.  Cast: Gabrielle Marion-Rivard, Alexandre Landry, Melissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Vincent-Guillaume Otis, Benoit Gouin, Sébastien Ricard, Isabelle Vincent, Marie Gignac.

Gerontophilia(Canada) – An 18-year-old lad with a penchant for pensioners takes a job in a care home and falls for an 81-year-old man.  Shocking?  The big shock here is that director LaBruce eschews his usual hardcore style for a film that is positively gentle and pleasing.  Director: Bruce LaBruce.  Cast: Pier-Gabriel Lajoie, Walter Border, Katie Boland, Marie-Hélène Thibault.

The Grand Seduction(Canada) – Rollicking humor and quiet moments of whimsy anchor this droll comedy about some Newfoundland villagers, led by the great Brendan Gleeson’s wily fisherman, who use any means necessary to convince a big-city doctor (Taylor Kitsch) to save their community by settling in it.  Director: Don McKellar.  Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Taylor Kitsch, Liane Balaban, Gordon Pinsent, Mark Critch, Mary Walsh.

The Manor(Canada) – A documentary about your typical Jewish suburban family: mom, dad, two kids and the family business – a strip club in a place called Guelph.  Director: Shawney Cohen.

Patch Town(Canada) – Inspired by his award-winning short film that screened at Palm Springs ShortFest in 2012.  Craig Goodwill’s wildly creative feature debut is a wacky, satirical musical fantasy about a grown-up toy who must battle a villainous corporation to reunite with his long-lost mother, protect his newfound family, and finally find freedom.  Director: Craig Goodwill.  Cast: Rob Ramsay, Zoie Palmer, Julian Richings, Suresh John, Scott Thompson, Ken Hall.

Sarah Prefers to Run(Canada) – Chloé Robichaud’s debut feature is a highly assured, subtle, observational film about a young middle-distance runner making the leap to a big city university team, but stumbling in the adult world of relationships and responsibilities.  Director: Chloé Robichaud.  Cast: Sophie Desmarais, Jean-Sébastien Courchesne, Geneviève Boivin-Roussy, Helene Florent, Eve Duranceau, Micheline Lanctot, Pierre-Luc Lafontaine, Benoit Gouin. 

Siddharth(Canada) – A street merchant regrets sending away his 12-year-old son to work in a factory when the boy fails to return home for Diwali. Thus begins a desperate search, hindered by the man’s poverty, illiteracy, and the challenge of locating anyone in a country of a billion souls.  Director: Richie Mehta.  Cast: Mahendra Saini, Suman Saini, Ranjit Gahlot, Meena Gahlot, Roshni.

Stay(Canada) – An appealing romantic drama, about a young woman ¬– living in Ireland with an ex-professor – whose unplanned pregnancy causes her to question her future.  Director: Wiebke von Carolsfeld.  Cast: Taylor Schilling, Aidan Quinn, Barry Keoghan, Nika McGuigan, Chris McHallem, Brian Gleeson, Michael Ironside.

Vic + Flo Saw a Bear (Canada) – Victoria, an ex-convict in her sixties, wants to start a new life in a remote sugar shack.  Under the supervision of Guillaume, a young, sympathetic parole officer, she tries to get her life back on track along with Florence, her former cellmate with whom she shared years of intimacy in prison.  Stalked by ghosts of the past, their new life together is unexpectedly jeopardized.  Director: Denis Côté.  Cast: Pierrette Robitaille, Romane Bohringer, Marc-André Grondin.

 MODERN MASTERS
The Modern Masters section features 10 films from some of the true auteurs of contemporary cinema including from the Canadian Cinema program Denis Villeneuve’s Enemy along with films from directors Vinko Bresan, François Dupeyron, Agnieszka Holland, Hirokazu  Kore-eda, Claude Lanzmann, Hayao Miyazaki, Errol Morris, Avi Nesher, and  François Ozon.

Burning Bush (Czech Republic) – An epic docudrama examining the emotional, political and societal fallout from Czech student Jan Palach’s 1969 self-immolation.  Director: Agnieszka Holland.  Cast: Tatiana Pauhofovå, Jaroslava Pokomå, Petr Stach, Jan Budar, Martin Huba, Ivan Trojan.

The Last of the Unjust (France) – Claude Lanzmann, whose epic, landmark film Shoah is certainly the definitive film about the Holocaust – returns to one of the interview subjects from that film to unravel the tale of the ‘model’ concentration camp, Theresienstadt, and the ambiguous leader of its Jewish Council, Benjamin Murmelstein, a former rabbi who spent the war years negotiating on a day-to-day basis with Adolf Eichmann. Director: Claude Lanzmann. Cast: Benjamin Murmelstein and Claude Lanzmann.

Like Father, Like Son (Japan) – Two couples are devastated to learn that their children were swapped at birth six years ago.  This masterly, very moving drama won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda. Cast: Masaharu Fukuyama, Machiko Ono, Yoko Maki, Lily Franky, Keita Ninomiya, Hwang Sho-gen.

One of a Kind (France) – This soul-stirring tale – about a depressed middle-aged man who hesitatingly embraces his gift for healing – features a riveting turn from Grégory Gadebois (so effective in the cult TV fave The Returned) in the lead. A deeply satisfying chronicle of personal redemption. Director: François Dupeyron. Cast: Grégory Gadebois, Céline Sallette, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Marie Payen, Philippe Rebbot.

The Priest’s Children (Croatia) – In this acerbic satire, a naïve Catholic clergyman tries to boost the birth rate among his Dalmatian island flock, but his plan sparks a host of unintended consequences.  Director: Vinko Bresan.  Cast: Kresimir Mikic, Niksa Butijer, Marija Skaricic, Drazen Kuhn, Jadranka Dokic, Lazar Ristovski.

The Unknown Known (USA) – In his new documentary, Errol Morris takes on the enigma that is Donald Rumsfeld.  Or is it Rumsfeld taking on the enigma that is Errol Morris?  Either way, it is a fascinating pas de deux not to be missed.  Director: Errol Morris.  Cast: Donald Rumfeld and Errol Morris.

The Wind Rises (Japan) Anime sensei Hayao Miyazaki has always been fascinated by flight. In what he says will be his swansong, he has conjured an extraordinarily lyrical biopic of sorts, inspired by the experiences of Jiro Horikoshi, the man who designed the famous Japanese Zero fighter plane. Director: Hayao Miyazaki. Cast: Hideaki Anno, Miori Takimoto, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Masahiko Nishimura, Jun Kunimura, Mirai Shida.

The Wonders (Israel) – A genial slacker, a private investigator and a femme fatale join forces to rescue a kidnapped holy man in this unusual dramedy. Director: Avi Nesher.  Cast: Ori Hizkiah, Efrat Gosh, Adir Miller, Yehuda Levi, Yuval Scharf.

Young & Beautiful (France) – Model-turned-actor Marine Vacth is uncanny as a well-bred 17-year-old Parisienne who chooses to work as an expensive call girl.  A controversial provocation from Ozon, with a visual finesse and a nonjudgmental tone that makes it genuinely disturbing.  Director: François Ozon.  Cast: Martine Vacth, Géraldine Pailhas, Frédéric Pierrot, Johan Leysen, Charlotte Rampling.

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