Camera Buff

Lisbon Story

December 1994 •English

Wim Wenders' homage to Lisbon and films. A sound engineer obtains a mysterious postcard from a friend who at the moment is filming a film in Lisbon. He sets out across Europe to find him and help him.

The Pianist

September 2002 •English

The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.

Schindler's List

December 1993 •English

The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.

Distant Lights

February 2003 •German

Lichter is an episodic tale from Hans-Christian Schmid about the life on the border between Germany and Poland. The film sheds light on the everyday stories of escape and desperateness.

Ariel

October 1988 •Finnish

A Finnish man goes to the city to find a job after the mine where he worked is closed and his father commits suicide.

The Promised Land

February 1975 •Polish

In nineteenth-century Łódź, Poland, three friends want to make a lot of money by building and investing in a textile factory. An exceptional portrait of rapid industrial expansion is shown through the eyes of one Polish town.

The Night of the Agama

November 2018 •Czech

Prague, night station in winter. Radka with a small daughter, a suitcase on wheels and a sports bag get off the bus. Luděk slowly walks back home through the streets of the same city, knowing that no one is waiting for him. A few hours before dawn, the initially purposeful intersection of lonely destinies can resemble a family. A Night with Agama is about the meeting of people who are dependent on the help of others, yet have to help themselves first and foremost.

Dancer in the Dark

September 2000 •English

Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder and will suffer the same fate without an expensive operation. When life gets too difficult, Selma learns to cope through her love of musicals, dreaming up little numbers to the rhythmic beats of her surroundings.

Children of the Revolution

December 1996 •English

A man (Richard Roxburgh) the Australian government blames for 1990s political woes blames his mother (Judy Davis), a communist Stalin seduced in 1951.

A Sentença

June 2021 •Portuguese

The Clearing

July 2004 •English

When affluent executive Wayne Hayes is kidnapped by a disgruntled employee and held for ransom in a forest, Wayne’s wife is forced to reckon with the FBI agents as they negotiate with the kidnapper.

En Route

February 2004 •German

A slightly sinister but charming young man falls in with a young mother and daughter and her boyfriend on a camping holiday and leads them astray.

The Lens Within Me

Invalid date •English

An original semi-autobiographical coming-of-age drama very loosely inspired by Max Hechtman's adolescence and college experience as a young filmmaker.

Ömrümce Unutamadım

January 1971 •Turkish

The film tells the story of Doğan, who is forced to leave the woman he loves. Doğan is a factory worker. He and Selma, who has no one but her sick mother, love each other and want to get married. The owner of the factory where Doğan works offers him to marry his daughter Meral. Doğan initially refuses the offer. However, he is forced to accept it in order to cover the medical expenses for Selma's mother, who suddenly falls ill. Doğan and Meral marry. Selma's mother dies during surgery. Selma marries Doğan's closest friend, Murat. Twenty years later, Doğan and Selma's children will meet.

Wind Over the City

November 1996 •Greek

In a small, poor town, a young worker falls in love with an actress from a traveling theater troupe and tries to keep her close, dreaming and working hard to rebuild a new town while the troupe increasingly faces decline and the end of its run.

Chance of a Lifetime

April 1950 •English

The workers in a small plough factory take over the firm, but when a large order falls through, the old management come back to help out.

BAD SURVIVOR

February 2025 •English

After being "broken up with" by her oncologists, a sarcastic young cancer patient — or should I say survivor — struggles to adjust to life at home with her multicultural family during her first day in remission. www.badsurvivor.com

Following the Sound

January 2024 •Japanese

Haru, a bookstore clerk, talks to Yukiko pretending to ask for directions. Haru has detected deep sorrow on Yukiko's face. Meanwhile, Haru has been spending days following Tsuyoshi discretely and checking his expressions.

The Match Factory Girl

January 1990 •Finnish

Iris is a shy and dowdy young woman stuck in a dead-end job at a match factory, who dreams of finding love at the local dancehall. Finding herself pregnant after a one-night stand and abandoned by the father, Iris finally decides the time has come to get even and she begins to plot her revenge.

Joy

December 2015 •English

A story based on the life of a struggling Long Island single mom who became one of the country's most successful entrepreneurs.