There is more oddity, camp, colour, and off-pitch warbling in Manish Acharya's vibrant film than in the last seven seasons of American Idol. Set in New Jersey, it follows a pack of unlikely songsters who do battle in order to win the Desi American Idol competition, sponsored by a pork company (hence the loins).  More...

Think your job environment is inhospitable? Try working alongside the scientists posted in high-altitude Antarctica at temperatures down to minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit... Anne Aghion delivers an intriguing slice-of-life that observes the area's staggeringly beautiful and imposing landscapes, and the unique challenges experienced by those who work there.--Variety  More...

When 12-year-old Oskar is befriended by the preternaturally pale and possessed girl next door, blood and snow begin to mix in his Stockholm neighbourhood. Director Tomas Alfredson (Four Shades of Brown, VIFF 04) does the seemingly impossible by reinventing the hoariest of horror genres--the vampire film--with sly wit and surprising sweetness.  More...

Director Lisandro Alonso (Los muertos) returns with this story of a man drawn home to the family he abandoned years earlier. On every level, from the expressive capacity of natural image and sound to the emotional content of the characters onscreen, [the film] marks personal artistic progress and an impressive standard for others to match.--Variety  More...

A caste-crossed tale of doomed love that mixes song and dance with passion and tragedy. The eponymous hero and the spirited woman who loves him are caught up in the coils of honour and revenge that can only end one way. The story climaxes in a shock sequence that devastates us as cathartically as the climax to The Wild Bunch...--Financial Times  More...

A French pallet factory is the setting for this lively, humour-filled exploration of religious hypocrisy and the immigrant experience. Mao (played by the film's director Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche) builds a mosque for his Algerian employees and chooses the imam without consultation. When the factory threatens to close, the workers must choose whether to fight for their jobs...  More...

One of the best Greek films of the past year features a homeless man, newly released from prison, who wanders the streets of multi-ethnic Athens on a journey that may or may not have sinister implications. Along the way, director Thanos Anastopoulos poses questions about identity, xenophobia and the nature of violence in contemporary Greek society.  More...

Director Philippe Aractingi mixes real footage of the massive destruction wrought by Israel’s 33-day bombardment of Lebanon with a a mother's desperate search for her son. Shot in part during the 2006 summer war between Hezbollah and Israel which devastated Lebanon's infrastructure and civilian population, the docu-fiction road movie plays like a cri de coeur. --Variety  More...

A Bangkok architect sent to supervise rebuilding in a coastal town hit by the 2004 tsunami drifts into a casual affair with the Thai-Chinese manageress of his hotel. But the sullen local community, still numbed by the loss of so many loved ones, disapproves of extra-marital sex and is still looking for a scapegoat for the tragedy … Aditya Assarat’s multi-prize-winning debut announces a major new voice in South-East Asian cinema.  More...

Three adult siblings must come to terms with the legacy of their difficult mother in Olivier Assayas's surprisingly gentle film. Stars Juliette Binoche and Charles Berling, as well as some rather famous artwork, on loan from the Musée d'Orsay, that also commissioned the short upon which the film is based.  More...

Legendary video artist/filmmaker Michel Auder--friend to Warhol and his Superstars, ex-husband of Cindy Sherman, bon vivant, addict, cynic, romantic--turns the camera on his own history in this remarkable fictional biography. New footage interspersed with video flashbacks reveal the true story of Auder's life...  More...

A man is getting ready to commit a radical act. A woman faces a difficult memory. Their lives intersect at a tiki motel in this exquisite short.  More...

Daniel Mermet and Olivier Azam's revivifying documentary comes from a European perspective and poses a number of challenging questions. Greatly benefiting from direct access to Noam Chomsky himself, the film also more generally celebrates critical thinking and folds in several other leading anti-establishment intellectuals.  More...