2009 Program
World Focus
Culled from over 1,500 films, these international dramas, romances, thrillers and actioners showcase the best of international filmmaking.
Bitter & Twisted
An emotionally powerful family drama about a suburban Sydney family and how the unexpected death of a son affects them.
An emotionally powerful family drama about a suburban Sydney family and how the unexpected death of a son affects them.
The Chaser
A violent, action-packed crime thriller about a serial killer and the lowlife pimp forced to act as vigilante. A huge popular hit in Korea.
A violent, action-packed crime thriller about a serial killer and the lowlife pimp forced to act as vigilante. A huge popular hit in Korea.
The Country Teacher
A poignant and affecting drama about a repressed gay schoolteacher who moves to a Czech farming village and befriends a lonely widow and her teenage son.
A poignant and affecting drama about a repressed gay schoolteacher who moves to a Czech farming village and befriends a lonely widow and her teenage son.
Eldorado
Rarely does a film successfully combine elements of melancholy and personal loneliness with existential absurdness and surreal humor, but the Belgian-made Eldorado does so — and entertainingly succeeds.
Rarely does a film successfully combine elements of melancholy and personal loneliness with existential absurdness and surreal humor, but the Belgian-made Eldorado does so — and entertainingly succeeds.
The Equation of Love and Death
Five characters — a tough lovelorn female cabbie, two inept smugglers from the countryside, a man of multiple personas and a baffled policeman are all caught up together in this fast-paced Chinese thriller.
Five characters — a tough lovelorn female cabbie, two inept smugglers from the countryside, a man of multiple personas and a baffled policeman are all caught up together in this fast-paced Chinese thriller.
A Game for Girls
Set in a privileged world of rich young Italians, this drama follows the lives of four beautiful teenage girls and their charismatic queen who plots sexual revenge on a teacher she both likes and hates.
Set in a privileged world of rich young Italians, this drama follows the lives of four beautiful teenage girls and their charismatic queen who plots sexual revenge on a teacher she both likes and hates.
Go Go 70s
One of Korea’s biggest box office sensations of 2008, this music biopic will have you dusting off those go-go boots, working that miniskirt and shimmying down the aisle.
One of Korea’s biggest box office sensations of 2008, this music biopic will have you dusting off those go-go boots, working that miniskirt and shimmying down the aisle.
GS Wonderland
Playfully re-creating Japan’s answer to the Britpop invasion that influenced ’60s Japanese music and style, GS Wonderland charts the time when the pop sensibility of the Beatles collided with an entirely different culture.
Playfully re-creating Japan’s answer to the Britpop invasion that influenced ’60s Japanese music and style, GS Wonderland charts the time when the pop sensibility of the Beatles collided with an entirely different culture.
I'd Rather Be a Shellfish
Katsuo Fukuzawa’s intimate epic about military justice miscarried is a poetic narrative coupled with handsome cinematics, doubly honoring a story that has become a beloved cultural/political touchstone in Japan.
Katsuo Fukuzawa’s intimate epic about military justice miscarried is a poetic narrative coupled with handsome cinematics, doubly honoring a story that has become a beloved cultural/political touchstone in Japan.
Il Divo
Imagine an Italian Mafia saga – replete with intrigue, shifting alliances, backstabbing, and violent and bloody retributions -- and then set it all in the historically true world of contemporary Italian politics and you’ll get Il Divo, the Jury Award Winner at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival
Imagine an Italian Mafia saga – replete with intrigue, shifting alliances, backstabbing, and violent and bloody retributions -- and then set it all in the historically true world of contemporary Italian politics and you’ll get Il Divo, the Jury Award Winner at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival
Is Anybody There?
In this comedy-drama about an eccentric magician who forms a friendship with a precocious ten-year-old. Two-time Academy Award winning actor Michael Caine delivers another amazing performance.
In this comedy-drama about an eccentric magician who forms a friendship with a precocious ten-year-old. Two-time Academy Award winning actor Michael Caine delivers another amazing performance.
It's Not Me I Swear!
Winning performances by two young lead actors anchor this darkly comic, rebellious coming-of-age story set in the suburbs of Montreal in the late 1960s.
Winning performances by two young lead actors anchor this darkly comic, rebellious coming-of-age story set in the suburbs of Montreal in the late 1960s.
The King of Ping Pong
This affecting coming-of-age tale avoids all the usual clichés but none of the compassion as it profiles two brothers holed up in a snow-bound rural town.
This affecting coming-of-age tale avoids all the usual clichés but none of the compassion as it profiles two brothers holed up in a snow-bound rural town.
Kisses
In this spirited coming-of-age story that is intentionally shot in both color and black and white, director Lance Daly skillfully balances the beauty and ugliness of human existence while coaxing wonderful performances out of his adventurous young leads.
In this spirited coming-of-age story that is intentionally shot in both color and black and white, director Lance Daly skillfully balances the beauty and ugliness of human existence while coaxing wonderful performances out of his adventurous young leads.
Landscape #2
This dark, allegorical political thriller tells the story of a thief who accidentally uncovers a document revealing a post-WWII atrocity and soon finds himself the target of a coldly efficient assassin.
This dark, allegorical political thriller tells the story of a thief who accidentally uncovers a document revealing a post-WWII atrocity and soon finds himself the target of a coldly efficient assassin.
Love, Soccer and other Catastrophies
A fast-paced comedy/drama about the tumultuous lives of five soccer-obsessed friends and how the game of sport affects their more important game of life.
A fast-paced comedy/drama about the tumultuous lives of five soccer-obsessed friends and how the game of sport affects their more important game of life.
Marcello, Marcello
Set in an idyllic Italian fishing village in 1956, this sweet story of young love revolves around a teen boy’s frantic efforts to find a gift for the father of the beautiful young woman he adores.
Set in an idyllic Italian fishing village in 1956, this sweet story of young love revolves around a teen boy’s frantic efforts to find a gift for the father of the beautiful young woman he adores.
Mommy Is at the Hairdresser's
Director Léa Pool (Set Me Free, Lost and Delirious) shows a keen eye for detail in this breezy French-Canadian period piece full of serious dramatic elements as well as youth and spirited freedom.
Director Léa Pool (Set Me Free, Lost and Delirious) shows a keen eye for detail in this breezy French-Canadian period piece full of serious dramatic elements as well as youth and spirited freedom.
My Dear Enemy
In this sly urban road movie/romance, a woman must team up with her roguish ex-boyfriend in order to recoup the money he owes her.
In this sly urban road movie/romance, a woman must team up with her roguish ex-boyfriend in order to recoup the money he owes her.
Revanche
An ex-con, a former prostitute, a rural policeman and his frustrated wife — find themselves fatefully intertwined in this taut, Academy Award-nominated thriller.
An ex-con, a former prostitute, a rural policeman and his frustrated wife — find themselves fatefully intertwined in this taut, Academy Award-nominated thriller.
Stone of Destiny
A band of intrepid university students attempt to steal a quarter ton stone associated with Scottish nationalism from London’s Westminster Abbey in this rollicking action/comedy based on a true event.
A band of intrepid university students attempt to steal a quarter ton stone associated with Scottish nationalism from London’s Westminster Abbey in this rollicking action/comedy based on a true event.
Three Blind Mice
In this action-packed evening of comedic excess, three men are propelled into a life-changing adventure.
In this action-packed evening of comedic excess, three men are propelled into a life-changing adventure.
The Tour
From acclaimed director Goran Markovic comes this disquieting black comedy about a squabbling, self-centered acting troupe who find themselves stranded on the front lines of the bloody Bosnian civil war.
From acclaimed director Goran Markovic comes this disquieting black comedy about a squabbling, self-centered acting troupe who find themselves stranded on the front lines of the bloody Bosnian civil war.
Treeless Mountain
The two young actresses in Treeless Mountain are astonishing. Though only seven and five, they calmly sustain this heartbreaking story of cast-off children with grown-up worries.
The two young actresses in Treeless Mountain are astonishing. Though only seven and five, they calmly sustain this heartbreaking story of cast-off children with grown-up worries.
Tulpan
A sweeping and innocently romantic Kazakh tale of one young man’s persistent wooing of a shy –- and seemingly uninterested -- country girl.
A sweeping and innocently romantic Kazakh tale of one young man’s persistent wooing of a shy –- and seemingly uninterested -- country girl.
White Night Wedding
Nordic bad boy auteur Baltasar Kormákur is back with this emotionally charged, briskly paced and tragically comic rendition of Anton Chekhov’s “Ivanov” set on a desolate island off Iceland’s northern coast.
Nordic bad boy auteur Baltasar Kormákur is back with this emotionally charged, briskly paced and tragically comic rendition of Anton Chekhov’s “Ivanov” set on a desolate island off Iceland’s northern coast.
Worlds Apart
This classic story about falling in love and fighting to be together despite being ostracized by family and faith shines with superb acting from the entire cast.
This classic story about falling in love and fighting to be together despite being ostracized by family and faith shines with superb acting from the entire cast.
Zift
Javor Gardev’s debut feature is a well-crafted thriller that uniquely combines elements of both neo-noir and Soviet pseudo-socialist art.
Javor Gardev’s debut feature is a well-crafted thriller that uniquely combines elements of both neo-noir and Soviet pseudo-socialist art.
2009 TLA Entertainment Group, Inc. / 2009 Philadelphia Cinema Alliance
