With over 400 films to watch at the Bangalore Film Festival, we're pretty sure you're scratching your head, and watching trailer after trailer, like us, to help you prioritise. So being the good Samaritans that we are, we've curated a list of ten films ( with English subtitles) which we think must be on your world cinema viewing list even if others are not. From Academy Award winners and critics' favourites, here's the LBB Top Ten.
Sworn Virgin
Hada Doda escapes from her life as a wife and servant in the isolated Albanian mountains, and appeals to the Old Laws, swearing her eternal virginity. She then becomes Mark Doda - a man with a rifle.
Country: Italy/Switzerland/Albania
Language: Albanian/Italian
When: Monday, February 1, 8.15pm (Screen 1)
My Skinny Sister
Stella discovers that her older sister Katja is hiding an eating disorder, and the disease slowly tears the family apart. The film has won accolades at the Berlin International Film Festival 2015.
Country: Sweden/Germany
Language: Swedish/English
When: Monday, Fenruary 1, 8.20pm (Screen 2)
3000 Nights
A young Palestinian school teacher gives birth to her son in an Israeli prison where she fights to protect him, survive and maintain hope. This film is directed by Mai Masri, and is one of the top films we’re looking to watch.
Country: Palestine
Language: Arabic/Hebrew
When: Tuesday February 2, 8.15pm (Screen 4)
Tangerine
The 2015 American comedy-drama delves into the life of a transgender sex worker who discovers that her boyfriend and pimp has been cheating on her. Described as a “singularly delightful girlfriend movie with an attitude”, the movie was shot with three iPhone 5s smartphones.
Country: USA
Language: English
When: Tuesday, February 2, 8.20pm (Screen 5)
A Monster with a Thousand Heads
When her insurance company refuses to approve the care her husband needs to survive, Sonia Bonet (Jan Raluy) takes things into her own hands. Up against an unyielding bureaucracy and disinterested workers, she is pushed to breaking point; with her son in tow, she attempts to fight the system.
Country: Mexico
Language: Spanish
When: Tuesday, February 2, 8.30pm (Screen 6)
I am Nojoom, Age 10, and Divorced
A ten-year-old Jemenite girl asks a judge in Sana’a to grant her a divorce from a horrible marriage, after she was wedded away to prevent a public scandal after the rape of her sister. Directed by Khadija - Al-Salami, this film was nominated for best fiction film at the Dubai International Film Festival, and screened at The Vienna International Children’s Film Festival 2015.
Country: Yemen
Language: Arabic
When: Wednesday, February 3, 9.50 am (Screen 8)
Good Night, and Good Luck
This is a 2005 film that portrays the conflict between veteran radio and television journalist Edward R Murrow and US Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin, especially relating to the anti-Communist Senator’s actions with the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Best part? It’s directed by George Clooney and was nominated for the Academy Awards, BAFTA and The Golden Globes.
Country: USA
Language: English
When: Wednesday, February 3, 2.50pm (Screen 3)
The Violin Teacher
Based on the true story of the formation of the Symphonic Orchestra of Heliópolis, the film tells the moving story of a musician and his students, who had their lives transformed by art.
Country: USA/UK
Language: English
When: Wednesday, February 3, 6.15pm (Screen 3)
Taxi Tehran
An Iranian docufiction by internationally acclaimed director, Jafar Panahi, Taxi Tehran was shot in a cab (with the director himself at the wheel), rigged with three hidden cameras.
Country: Iran
Language: Persian
When: Wednesday, February 3, 8.20pm (Screen 5)
Mina Walking
Twelve-year-old Mina cooks, sews, washes and works selling knick-knacks on the war-torn streets of Kabul to feed her neglectful father and senile grandfather. She spends her life walking without looking back or stopping.
Country: Canada/Afghanistan
Language: Dari
When: Thursday, February 4, 6.10pm (Screen 5)
Where: PVR Cinemas, Orion Mall, 3rd Floor, Brigade Gateway, Malleswaram East
When: Screenings on till February 4
Contact: +91 9945699304
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Featured image via: Mina Walking (Youtube)