Bare Essence of Life

I'm Staying

April 2007 •Russian

Many people assume that life does not end after death. Not Dr. Tyrsa, practical and skeptical man, who never believed in this nonsense. However, thanks to the bowling accident, he finds himself in a desert land with people like him not belonging to this world yet not accepted into the other. Now Dr. Tyrsa realizes that the life he used to live was not so bad, and he's got something worth returning to.

Smooth Talk

September 1985 •English

Connie, the fifteen-year-old black sheep of her family, finds her summertime idyll of beach trips, mall hangouts, and innocent flirtations shattered by an encounter with a mysterious stranger.

Starring Maja

September 2009 •Swedish

In a hopeless small town in Sweden, lives Maja, 18 years old. Her highest and only dream is to become an actress. She wants to be the center of attention - for everyone to see HER, to see the beautiful person she is inside. It's just a little hard to see. Maja is severely overweight, clumsy and completely without social skills... We get to follow Maja and her struggle to realize her dreams during the last semester of high school.

Place Vendôme

October 1998 •French

The story of a woman that remained distracted for a long time from her life, from the passions that made her feel alive. The importance of true love is compared with the material value of diamonds. Only one truly lasts forever. She's got to find the thing that values most for her, the thing that gives psychical stability and real happiness again to her life.

Everyone Else

March 2009 •German

While on a Mediterranean vacation, a seemingly happy boyfriend and girlfriend find their connection to one another tested as they bond with another couple.

La Cerca

May 2005 •English

Edward James Olmos narrates this multi-fest winner about an immigrant who recalls a vivid and momentous memory where he discovered his boundaries.

Los pasos perdidos

August 2001 •Spanish

An Argentinean family living in Spain has their lives rocked when a famous author from their home country claims that their daughter is actually his granddaughter who was lost during a war.

The Garden of Eden

March 1994 •Spanish

Tijuana is a mystical city and the scene of different stories, where the characters search for meaning in their lives.

Anduni - Fremde Heimat

December 2011 •German

Armenian Belinda feels at home in Germany, where she was born, lives and studies just like any other German girl her age. But when she loses her father, she is suddenly drawn into the traditional Armenian lifestyle of her migrant relatives. Her aunts require her to work in their seamstress shop and secretly plot to marry her off to one of her kind. While Belinda is becoming increasingly curious about her roots, their traditional ways also threaten her relationship with Manuel, a German. She embarks on a journey into the past and the present to find out who she really is. ANDUNI shows a culture that is exciting and complex, and a love story that reaches beyond family traditions.

Hooray for the Blue Hussars

November 1970 •Danish

Lieutenants Adam and Ditlev dream of being accepted into the Guard Hussar Regiment, and Captain von Rabenberg puts the two rivals to the test.

Montana Amazon

March 2013 •English

The Dunderheads are an eccentric Montana family who've been in the mountains for far too long. Now one step ahead of the law, matriarch Grandma Ira flees to Canada with her two wildly dysfunctional teenage grand kids, across the American West into a comic collision with the mainstream world. Montana Amazon is a both funny and poignant fable on the nature of the human family.

Rock 'n' Roll High School Forever

May 1991 •English

Those rambunctious kids are back in school and back in trouble in a smash sequel to the 1978 worldwide hit. Corey Feldman leads a rock and roll rally at Ronald Reagon High, but must triumph over the evil plans of the school's fascist principal, Vadar, who wants to halt the school dance and run their school like a prison.

Das verflixte 17. Jahr

February 2002 •German

Little Veronika (Innocence)

November 1929 •German

Young Veronika travels from her Tyrolean village to her aunt’s Viennese apartment for her confirmation. The aunt’s flighty nature and her profession as a prostitute leave her niece in the company of men who assume she is just another new girl on offer.

Kill Me Later

September 2001 •English

Her goldfish dead, her lover exposed as a rat, Shawn Holloway leaves her bank post and goes to the roof intent on suicide. Before she can leap, she's taken hostage by Charlie Anders, a fleeing bank robber. He and his partners have stolen a million in cash and plan to escape to Venezuela. Shawn agrees to cooperate if Charlie promises to kill her once he's in the clear. Parts of the plan go awry, so Charlie has time to try to pierce her bleak manner and self pity, and she has time for reflection. As night falls, their interlude ends: they're each alone, Charlie facing prison as the police close in, and Shawn staring down at a river from atop a high bridge.

If These Walls Could Talk

September 1996 •English

A powerful, intimate portrait of three women living in the same house during different eras who all face unplanned pregnancies. The vignettes follow a recently widowed nurse struggling to take control of her life in the early 50s, a mother of four balancing raising a family and maintaining a career in the 70s, and a student making a difficult decision with the help of one woman that will change the course of both their lives in the 90s.

Miss Sweden

March 2004 •Swedish

Moa is in her early 20s, works at a factory and lives by herself in a cottage in the forest. She is a vegan and follows her friends and demonstrations, mostly to fit in. But at home, by herself, she listens to pop music and use make-up.

The Triumph of Love

September 2001 •English

A princess is determined to restore her homeland's throne to its rightful heir, a young prince with whom she falls in love.

Cold Copy

January 2024 •English

A young broadcast journalism student is trying to win the approval of her influential mentor who pushes her to reconsider the meaning of truth if it means success.

A Letter to the President

January 2017 •Arabic

Soraya, a low-level government official, is imprisoned when she defends a woman from village lords. Behind bars, she writes the Afghan President for help.