The Balad of Mamelouk

A Story of the Forest: Mavka

July 1980 •Ukrainian

Mavka, a water nymph, loves Lukash, a country youth. Their brief happiness ends when Lukash is forced to marry the shrewish Kilina. The Spirit of the Forest turns Lukash into a wolf as punishment for his infidelity. The strength of Mavka's love breaks the spell, but Kilina curses the nymph, transforming her into a weeping willow. This beautiful and tragic story is based on a play written in 1912 by Lesya Ukrainka, a Ukrainian poet, writer and political, civil and female activist, and includes mythological characters taken from Ukrainian folklore.

Pentos a Iola

October 1967 •Czech

Mamay

February 2003 •Ukrainian

Mamay draws on traditional Ukranian and Tatar folktales for its Romeo and Juliet-like love story and parable about chivalry and the struggle for freedom. Hundreds of years ago, in the wild steppes of Crimea that form an uneasy border between East and West, Europe and Asia, nomad and farmer, the proud Cossack Mamay falls in love with the Tatar beauty Omai. The title, like the storyline, holds a variety of different meanings taken from different cultures. In Turkic languages, it means "no one," but it was also the name of a famous Mongol conqueror, the great grandson of Ghengis-Khan. In Persian legends, mamay literally means "the spirit of the steppes. "

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner

February 2002 •Inuktitut

Based on a local legend and set in an unknown era, it deals with universal themes of love, possessiveness, family, jealousy and power. Beautifully shot, and acted by Inuit people, it portrays a time when people fought duels by taking turns to punch each other until one was unconscious, made love on the way to the caribou hunt, ate walrus meat and lit their igloos with seal-oil lamps.

Sita Sings the Blues

February 2008 •English

Utilizing the 1920s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw, the epic Indian tale of exiled prince Ramayana and his bride Sita is mirrored by a spurned woman's contemporary personal life, and light-hearted but knowledgeable discussion of historical background by a trio of Indian shadow puppets.

Nobleza baturra

October 1935 •Spanish

Aragón, Spain, early 20th century. María del Pilar is a honest girl whose good name is dirtied when an old suitor seeking revenge accuses her of losing her virginity outside of marriage. The scandal soon spreads throughout the countryside.

The Christmas Witch Trial of La Befana

Invalid date •English

A group of children kidnap the legendary Christmas Witch, and put her on trial as a means of banishing her annual judgments.

Oedipus Rex

January 1957 •English

The story of Oedipus' gradual discovery of his primal crime, killing his father and marrying his mother, filmed by the famed British theatrical director Sir Tyrone Guthrie. This elegant version of Sophocles' play adds a brilliant stroke: the actors wear masks just as the Greeks did in the playwright's day.

Queen of Serpents

January 2003 •Lithuanian

Based on a Lithuanian folk tale.

Beowulf & Grendel

September 2005 •English

The blood-soaked tale of a Norse warrior's battle against the great and murderous troll, Grendel. Heads will roll. Out of allegiance to the King Hrothgar, the much respected Lord of the Danes, Beowulf leads a troop of warriors across the sea to rid a village of the marauding monster.

Whom the Gods Wish to Destroy

December 1966 •German

A young hero defeats a dragon to find acceptance to the court of burgundy.

William Tell

April 1914 •French

A tale about the Swiss folk hero.

Príbeh o Fatime a Omarovi

December 1975 •Slovak

Hinemoa

August 1914 •Māori

The film told the Māori legend of Hinemoa and Tutanekai. It is the first dramatic feature film produced in New Zealand.

La rubia de Kennedy

October 1995 •Spanish

The ghost of a young German colonist, who died a couple of hundred years ago in unclear supernatural circumstances, appears in Chile to fulfill her mythical destiny. To achieve this, she will intervene in the life of an unsuccessful publicist and his lover.

Mughal-e-Azam

August 1960 •Hindi

In the 16th century, when Prince Salim falls in love with a beautiful courtesan named Anarkali, Emperor Akbar's disapproval leads to a battle between father and son.

Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge

April 1924 •German

When Kriemhild, thirsty for revenge, marries to Etzel, king of the Huns, she invites King Gunther and his court to visit them, intending to finally take the life of the man responsible of her disgrace.

V stolnom meste Kyjeve

January 1972 •Slovak

The Oath

December 2023 •English

400 A.D., in a forgotten time of Ancient America, a lone Hebraic fugitive must preserve the history of his fallen nation while being hunted by a ruthless tyrant – but rescuing the King's abused mistress could awaken a warrior's past.

Black Orpheus

June 1959 •Portuguese

Young lovers Orfeu and Eurydice run through the favelas of Rio during Carnaval, on the lam from a hitman dressed like Death and Orfeu's vengeful fiancée Mira and passing between moments of fantasy and stark reality. This impressionistic retelling of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice introduced bossa nova to the world with its soundtrack by young Brazilian composers Luiz Bonfá and Antonio Carlos Jobim.