Sand Dollars

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....

Longing

February 2006 •German

An average, everyday metalworker and volunteer firefighter content in his marriage to his childhood sweetheart finds his emotions unexpectedly stirred when he falls for a pretty waitress from a nearby town.

Signature Move

March 2017 •English

A secret new romance with Alma forces Zaynab to confront her complicated relationship with her recently widowed mother. In this coming-of-age Muslim melodrama, Zaynab copes by taking up Lucha-style wrestling.

The Year of Spectacular Men

June 2018 •English

In the year after graduating college, Izzy struggles to navigate the seemingly incessant failures of adulthood, the reality of a substandard dating pool and a debilitating fear of top-sheets, all in between X-Files marathons. Comically unsuccessful in love over the course the year, including five half-hearted relationships with astoundingly self-centered men, Izzy resigns herself to the support of her mother and sister, who are struggling with their own relationship problems. Seeing herself in them, Izzy gradually gains the confidence to be honest and vulnerable.

Voevoda

January 2017 •Bulgarian

At the end of the 18th century in Bulgaria under Ottoman slavery, a young woman leaves home and family to become leader of a guerrilla gang.

Naked

September 2002 •German

Nackt is the story of three couples, one of which just broke up, one that seems to be about to and one perfectly okay. They are all friends and from time to time they gather to talk about everything.One time they gather for dinner at the second couple's "mansion" - the husband became rich with his business. We see each couple as they prepare themselves for the party and learn a lot about their relationships.At the dinner they get to talking about recognizing each other's peer with closed eyes and decide to try it (thus the title "Nackt"=naked in German).

The Secret

November 2000 •French

Marie, who works as a successful door-to-door encyclopedia salesperson, has been married to her husband Francois for 12 years and has a two-year-old son. Though she is relatively content with her life, she feels something is wanting. Enter 50-year old African-American Bill. Initially she is annoyed by his insouciance, but she finds that she is irresistibly attracted to him. Soon the two are in the midst of sordid illicit affair. She knows little about her new lover, and he seems uninterested in learning about her, but the long sessions of lovemaking are something else entirely. Feeling out of control, Marie is increasingly repelled by her own actions. Psychologically, she struggles to reconcile her torrid encounters with Bill and mundane domestic chores such as bathing her son. Moreover, she finds herself incapable of hiding her adulterous behavior, rather she comes home with scratches and hickeys all over her body, to the devastation Francois.

Alias

January 1999 •French

On her birthday, Juliette is too upset to worry about the strange cleaner who imitates her every move and lusts after her clothing.

The Extraordinary Tale of the Times Table

July 2014 •Spanish

Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl suffers an obsessive compulsive disorder, boy and girl live happily ever after.

The Lost Child

November 2000 •English

Knowing the past changes the future. Seeking a connection to her heritage, Rebecca Hoffman sets out on a journey of discovery following the deaths of her adoptive parents. She finds that connection with her birth family in the Navajo community. But cultures clash when her husband is rejected as an outsider. Rebecca and her family experience rebirth in a rich culture and renewal as a family in this dramatic film based on the autobiography Looking for Lost Bird by Yvette Melanson (with Claire Safran).

Model Minority

May 2012 •English

Kayla, an underprivileged Japanese American 16 year old, endangers her promising future as an aspiring artist when she becomes involved with a drug dealer.

The Purse Snatcher

April 1995 •Dutch

Alex is very close to his elderly grandmother partly because his busy parents seem to have little or no time for him. One day he surprises two boys from his school leaving her house and is shocked to find her tied up inside – they have robbed her! Alex is sworn to secrecy as his gran is worried that her daughter will think her incompetent. This secret leads Alex into trouble as the two boys accost him in the street and bully him into becoming a pickpocket ("tasjesdief") for them, mugging old ladies. Alex learns how to deal with this situation in the end.

Come Swim

January 2017 •English

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

Orphans

June 2014 •Spanish

Orphans is the true story of a forbidden love affair set in the oppressive and violent atmosphere of nineteenth century Mexico. One man, Melchor Ocampo, driven by the twin passions of love and idealism, defies the stain of illegitimacy to shake off the crippling yoke of Spain and the Catholic Church. In so doing he becomes a founding figure of modern day Mexico.

Overseas

December 1990 •French

In French Algeria, after WWII, three daughters of wealthy settlers begin their adult lives. Zon marries an often absent sailor. Malene's husband, Gildas, refuses to work in the farm, so she has to take care of everything. Gritte, the youngest, does not want to marry and is a nurse for the natives. We will follow their three different destinies.

The Acorn People

March 1981 •English

An unemployed teacher becomes a counselor at a summer camp for severely disabled children.

Vanity Fair

September 2004 •English

Beautiful, funny, passionate, and calculating, Becky is the orphaned daughter of a starving English artist and a French chorus girl. She yearns for a more glamorous life than her birthright promises and resolves to conquer English society by any means possible. A mere ascension into the heights of society is simply not enough. So Becky finds a patron in the powerful Marquess of Steyne whose whims enable Becky to realise her dreams. But is the ultimate cost too high for her?

A Matter of Sex

January 1984 •English

Dramatization of the true story of the so-called Willmar Eight, a group of Minnesota bank workers who braved freezing conditions whilst picketing their branch in a struggle for union rights.

The Arsonist’s Daughter

December 1923 •Czech