When Jesse Was Born

Beyond Silence

December 1996 •German

Beyond Silence is about a family and a young girl’s coming of age story. This German film looks into the lives of the deaf and at a story about the love for music. A girl who has always had to translate speech into sign language for her deaf parents yet when her love for playing music grows strong she must decide to continue doing something she cannot share with her parents.

Bollywood/Hollywood

October 2002 •English

Rahul Seth is a dashing young millionaire who believes he is "western" enough to rebel against his mother and grandmother. They are not too keen about his Caucasian girlfriend Kimberly who, to make matters worse, is a pop star. Before you can say "karmic intervention," Kimberly dies in a freak accident and Rahul is devastated. Instead of allowing him to mourn in peace, Rahul's mother sees the opportunity she's been waiting for. She threatens to call off his sister's wedding unless he finds himself a "nice Indian girl." Rahul enlists the services of Sue, a fiercely independent escort whom he believes to be Hispanic, and therefore not "married" to the conventions taught to young Indian women. With a wink in her eye, Sue accepts the deal to pose as his Indian bride-to-be. She needs the money and having never been a fan of the typical Indian male, she feels her heart is safe. The charade begins....

Head-On

March 2004 •German

With the intention to break free from the strict familial restrictions, a suicidal young woman sets up a marriage of convenience with a forty-year-old addict, an act that will lead to an outburst of envious love.

Cherry Cola

March 2021 •English

When Sherri gets arrested for shoplifting from work, she needs to find money for legal fees. Opportunity strikes, and his name is Tom.

Face in the Crowd

November 2013 •English

A woman on a journey through a crowd grapples with private and public revelation, repulsion, fear, personal safety, and the desire for basic human interaction.

La Ceremonie

August 1995 •French

Sophie, a quiet and shy maid working for an upper-class French family, finds a friend in the energetic and uncompromising postmaster Jeanne, who encourages her to stand up against her bourgeois employers.

Rubber Band Pistol

October 1962 •Japanese

Jūzō Itami's debut short film, concerning a group of unique young people in the high economic growth period who are into games with rubber band pistols.

Come Swim

January 2017 •English

COME SWIM is a diptych of one man's day; half impressionist and half realist portraits.

The Great Artist

December 2020 •English

A gifted artist finds himself in a broken balance between creating world class art and the all too silent struggle of self care as his life begins to unravel because of his Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Tonbi

April 2022 •Japanese

Yasuo (Hiroshi Abe) grew up as an orphan. He married a woman he loved and they had a son Akira (later played by Takumi Kitamura). Yasuo's life seemed great at the time, but his life totally changed after his wife died in accident. Since that time, Yasuo, who never experienced parents' love himself, has to raise his son Akira alone.

Bare-assed Japan

May 2008 •Japanese

Taro, who recently graduated from high school, doesn't know what he wants to do. He rents a house and plot of land in the country-side determined to make a living in agriculture. His expectation is great as the girl he likes, Yoko, will also go with him, but his father, recently laid off by his company's down-sizing, is also tagging along and so begins the the trio's strange life in the country. Set at a solitary house in the middle of the desolate, country-side, the relaxed tempo and off-hand humor are impressive despite the themes of parent-progeny conflict and reconciliation that unfold in the film.

To the Last Day

July 1960 •Korean

Captain Kim is grievously wounded in the first days of the war. When the northern troops continue their advance, his wife and small daughters flee south to Taegu, dragging him along in a two-wheel handcart. His wife struggles to keep herself and their surviving daughter alive. Working as a market trader, she meets a kind young man -- who happens to be tall, dark and handsome.

I faresonen

May 1961 •Norwegian

I Faresonen is a combination of a documentary and fictional approach to the problem of alcoholism -- or alcohol dependency. Tackling a problem common to other Nordic countries as well, director Bjoern Breigutu has focused on the life of sailors, among others, and how alcohol is used or abused in that sector of the population. This was the Norwegian entry at the 1961 Berlin Film Festival.

A Summer Place

December 2021 •Greek

Summer is a permanent state of mind in Limassol, a once small seaside town in Cyprus now transforming into the oligarch paradise of the Mediterranean. Within its asphyxiating environment, Tina, a depressed food stylist is ready to give up on everything on the day of her birthday, until an extraordinary encounter changes her life.

20

January 2018 •German

One month after it happened Alex and Anna meet again on the rooftop. Alex tries to help Anna let go of her grief but the memories of this place are too painful.

The Seagull

December 1996 •French

After agonizing for weeks, Valéria finally comes to terms with being in love with another woman and confesses her love for her best friend, Laurence. Short film from the series "L'@mour est à réinventer: dix histoires d'amour au temps du SIDA" ("Love Reinvented: Ten Love Stories in the Age of AIDS").

Kraft

January 2005 •English

Strangers

August 2003 •

A short story of two strangers meeting in a train journey, not knowing that something stranger is coming their way.

Since Otar Left

September 2003 •French

The one joy in the lives of a mother and daughter comes from the regular letters sent to them from Paris from the family's adored son, Otar. When the daughter finds out that Otar has died suddenly, she tries to conceal the truth from her mother, changing the course of their lives forever.

Enclosed World

January 1998 •Japanese

A short animation by Makoto Shinkai in Lightwave 3D. Inspired by Haruki Murakami's book "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" with music by Tenmon.