The Case of Charlie Gordon

Summer in Berlin

September 2005 •German

When you read the title ‘Summer on the Balcony’ you probably think it will be a light Berlin summer comedy but it’s not. This film is an intimate study of two women friends who come to each other because of troubles with everyday life and with men and thus try to enjoy a life based on their ideas.

Tough Enough

March 2006 •German

From the youth directed novel of the same name by Greogor Tressnow comes a film by Detlev Buck that is a realistic portrait of life in the section of Berlin called Neukölln. It’s about power and weakness, delinquents and victims, and the difficulties a 15-year-old faces in a poor and criminal environment.

Once Were Warriors

September 1994 •English

A drama about a Maori family living in Auckland, New Zealand. Lee Tamahori tells the story of Beth Heke’s strong will to keep her family together during times of unemployment and abuse from her violent and alcoholic husband.

Paradise Now

September 2005 •English

Two childhood friends are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.

Estanislao

November 2021 •Spanish

After 15 years, Mateo returns to the old textile factory to say goodbye to his recently deceased mother. Incidentally, he will have to spend time with his alcoholic father, whom he can't stand.

Gung Ho

March 1986 •English

When a western Pennsylvania auto plant is acquired by a Japanese company, brokering auto worker Hunt Stevenson faces the tricky challenge of mediating the assimilation of two clashing corporate cultures. At one end is the Japanese plant manager and the sycophant who is angling for his position. At the other, a number of disgruntled long-time union members struggle with the new exigencies of Japanese quality control.

Kuhle Wampe or Who Owns the World?

May 1932 •German

Kuhle Wampe takes place in early-1930s Berlin. The film begins with a montage of newspaper headlines describing steadily-rising unemployment figures. This is followed by scenes of a young man looking for work in the city and the family discussing the unpaid back rent. The young man, brother of the protagonist Anni, removes his wristwatch and throws himself from a window out of despair. Shortly thereafter his family is evicted from their apartment. Now homeless, the family moves into a garden colony of sorts with the name “Kuhle Wampe.”

Aderyn Papur... and Pigs Might Fly

January 1984 •English

A boy living in underdeveloped Welsh village hopes for a better time of his homeland when seeing the two Japaneese businessmen with the apparent intentions to build a factory there.

Take My Eyes

October 2003 •Spanish

One winter night, Pilar runs away from home. With her, she takes only a few belongings and her son, Juan. Antonio soon sets out to look for her. He says Pilar is his sunshine, and what's more, "She gave him her eyes"...

Drifting Clouds

January 1996 •Finnish

The ever-poker-faced Ilona loses her job as a restaurant hostess, as her tram driver husband, Lauri, also finds himself out of work. Together they must hit the streets of Helsinki, facing up to hardship and humiliation in their quest for survival, guided through the gloom by a ray of hope.

A Friendship

July 2021 •Bengali

A single middle-aged man trapped in frustration and loneliness in Toronto communicates with a divorced woman, and they help from thousands of miles apart. Dhruv lives a lonely life in Toronto, Canada. He is a forty-year-old student who has discontinued his education and gets by working odd jobs. Sheema is the sister of Dhruv's brother-in-law, looking for someone to take care of her apartment while she and her son return home to visit Bangladesh for a few months. Dhruv, never having met Sheema, agrees to house-sit. Communicating over the phone, they develop a friendship and help each other to solve problems related to the cultural challenges of being Bangladeshi immigrants to Canada.

Ainhoa

October 2016 •Spanish

Ainhoa is 8 years old and has left home with her school bag, a Playmobil figure and a secret plan.

Change of Heart

May 1934 •English

Catherine and Mack and their close friends Chris and Madge graduate from a West Coast college and fly to New York City to find work.

Flesh

December 1968 •English

A heroin junkie works as a prostitute to support his habit and fund an abortion needed by the girlfriend of his lesbian wife. His seedy encounters with delusional and damaged clients, and dates with drag queens and hustlers are heavy on sex, drugs and decadence.

Der Letzte macht das Licht aus

January 2007 •German

"The Last One Put Out the Light" - The Berlin construction workers Micha, Silvio and Norbert are out of work. The way out spells - Norway. Because over German craftsmen are in demand. The three with 17 other desperate people are bawling Norwegian and preparing themselves for "it's always just salmon" and fearing the darkness. Too bad that their wives have other plans.

Policewoman

May 2000 •German

Die Polizistin is a documentary by Andreas Dresen about the life of a young police woman who is faced with the difficulties between her responsibilities at work and her personal responsibilities.

According to Plan

June 2007 •German

You're Not Alone

July 2007 •German

Master painter Hans Moll and his wife, the television announcer Ms. Wellinek and her husband, and the German-Russian Jew Yevgenia have many things to live on: food, drink, an apartment. What they do not have is work. They all discover the yearning for a chance to start all over again and bring themselves back to life.

Harsh Times

September 2005 •English

Jim Davis is an ex-Army Ranger who finds himself slipping back into his old life of petty crime after a job offer from the LAPD evaporates. His best friend is pressured by his girlfriend Sylvia to find a job, but Jim is more interested in hanging out and making cash from small heists, while trying to get a law enforcement job so he can marry his Mexican girlfriend.

Import/Export

October 2007 •German

A nurse from Ukraine searches for a better life in the West, while an unemployed security guard from Austria heads East for the same reason. Both are looking for work, a new beginning, an existence, struggling to believe in themselves, to find a meaning in life...