2007 Film Guide

A tennis-court confrontation with the young spawn of a wealthy Calgary suburb forces a father and son to look inward. more...

Eleven full years after Shall We Dance?, Suo Masayuki returns with a devastating account of the shortcomings and hypocrisies of Japan’s legal system. En route to his first job interview, Kase Ryo (Letters from Iwo Jima) is accused of groping a girl on a train; protesting his innocence marks the start of a season in legal hell. more...

In a candid 1969 interview in his Toronto hotel room, John Lennon talks about peace. Seemed like a good idea at the time. more...

Jiri Menzel's (Closely Watched Trains) absurdist picaresque romps from a Nazi sex farm to a Communist prison following one Jan Dite, a man who aptly notes: A person becomes human, almost against his own will. Winner of the FIPRESCI prize at Berlin, as well as four Czech Lion Awards. more...

A young dreamer free falls through clouds into an imaginary world ... or is it? IMAGINE 3D takes audiences on a journey to the ultimate frontier of science -- the mystery of human consciousness. more...

What’s become of the Philippines 20 years after the “People Power” revolution which overthrew Marcos? Twenty indie directors offer answers, some amusing, some startling, some terrifying. They include the ever-surprising Lav Diaz and the ever-remarkable Raymond Red. more...

Another unflinching and masterful exploration of miserablism from Ulrich Seidl, this time with two separate stories of protagonists who never meet: a Ukrainian nurse who leaves the post-Soviet tundra for Austria, and a Viennese lowlife whose search for employment leads him to the glum housing blocs of the East. more...

What do you call an audio voyeur? Call her Carrie and be careful what you say. She's listening. more...

Saverio Costanzo's much lauded drama delves into the agonized novitiate period of a young priest-to-be with intelligence and eloquence. The compositions have a frieze-like symmetry; the soundtrack is all hymnal swells and echoing footfalls. Evocative and mysterious, the film is also a triumph of functional design...--IndieWire more...

There's more to Mozart than Amadeus in Phil Grabsky's new documentary. A combination of the composer's letters and music creates a fully fleshed portrait of genius, with narration from Juliet Stevenson. An adamantly linear, myth-busting stride through a prodigiously talented life.--The New York Times more...

Director Ian Darling's documentary is a behind-the-scenes look into the thespian machinery of Cate Blanchett's star-turn as Hedda Gabler (Ibsen's legendary doomed heroine). As the production travels from Sydney, Australia, to Brooklyn's prestigious BAM theatre, the actors must reinterpret their roles before the curtain rises. more...

When a young man claiming to be the reincarnation of an elderly Brahmin couple's long-dead son enters their lives, everything in their orthodox village changes. Three generations struggle with faith, desire and truth. Winner of the Best Film Award at the Karachi International Film Festival. more...

The excitement, majesty and extraordinary human accomplishment of the American lunar program of the 60s and early 70s is rousingly captured in [David Sington's documentary]. [He] deftly mixes a treasure trove of archival footage with engaging commentaries of surviving astronauts from all nine Apollo moonshots...--Variety more...

A dissolute father, a forgotten son and a heist-gone-wrong all add up to betrayal and tragedy in director David Oelhoffen's debut drama. Strong performances from veteran Jacques Gamblin and newcomer Nicolas Giraud bring an intensity and power to this story of filial sacrifice and broken promises. more...

“Issun Boshi,” Japan’s answer to Tom Thumb, was the subject of a series of picture books published by Kodansha, known to everyone in the baby-boomer generation. Regular long-distance collaborators Tanaami and Aihara (Trip, VIFF 05) riff on their childhood memories of these books, stressing the latent eroticism, humour and malice they found there. Their Issun Boshi is a distinctly phallic figure... more...

Step inside the universe that is Stephen Reid. Canada's criminal poet laureate speaks cogently about his experiences with drug addiction, bank robbery, and the infinite space of prison. Director Jason Young thoughtfully presents Reid and his meditations with mesmerizing imagery and energy. more...

Twelve-year-old Iska (the compulsively watchable Mária Varga, essentially essaying her own life) survives a life of poverty and abuse by scavenging scrap metal. One day she decides she's had enough and takes off... Director Csaba Bollók makes Iska's journey--shot using a palette of greys and blues that is as beautiful as it is ominous--a memorable one indeed. more...

Taiwan’s surprise box office hit of 2007, Chen Huai-en’s lyrical road movie is about university student Ming who bicycles around Taiwan in one week. Elegiac and intensely local, set off by breathtaking seascapes, it offers vivid portraits of the people he meets en route. more...

A striking mix of docudrama and art-film techniques, Anja Salomonowitz's debut deals with the global phenomenon of trafficking in women. Using true stories, she weaves together the tales of a customs official, a villager, a brothel bartender, a diplomat and a taxi driver, all of whom may be involved. more...