SMITTY is a family film about a rescue dog. When life gets tough for Ben, a friendly paw is all it takes to pull him through. Mischievous thirteen-year-old Ben is sent to his grandfather’s farm for the summer, where he crosses paths with a lovable mutt. With help from the unlikely canine companion, Ben learns the importance of friendship, family and responsibility.
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A young man, Pat, visits the clan of gypsy-like grifters (Irish Travellers) in rural North Carolina from whom he is descended. He is at first rejected, but cousin Bokky takes him on as an apprentice. Pat learns the game while Bokky falls in love and desires a different life. Written by Jeff Hole
Since they were both five, Ryosuke has been stalked by Momoko – the ugliest girl in the village. Her love for Ryosuke is so boundless that she has her face surgically altered to suit his taste – but still he wants nothing to do with her. Ryosuke goes in for fleeting romance – for example, with the girlfriend of a gangster boss. But when he finds out about their affair, he has Ryosuke’s little finger hacked off. Magically, the finger falls into Momoko’s hands, and she uses it to clone Ryosuke, so she can finally have him (or almost him) for herself. And this is just the first five minutes of Lisa Takeba’s short-but-powerful feature debut. Just like in her previous short films, the director – who cut her teeth in the advertising world and as the writer of a video game – throws a lot of genres and techniques into the mix: from science fiction to gangster films, from hospital eroticism to animation. Hectic and absurd, but with its heart in the right place. © IFFR
Fantasy adventure about the arrival of Buddhism in China. When the Goddess of Happiness tosses the Longevity Monk and his disciples out of heaven (because the Monkey King tried to attain immortality), the Monkey King is reincarnated as the Joker. He now spends his time chasing two jealous women. When one of them is dying, the Joker goes back in time in an attempt to save her.
Two ex-lovers meet after a long time and their romance gets rekindled briefly. Though they ensure that their newly-found love shouldn’t affect their respective families, one of them believes they are meant to be together, leaves the life of other in trouble.
An ancient wind carries with it omens of the apocalypse, stirring the pride and envy of a group of college kids to murderous rage. Michael Mongillo’s directorial debut is a lyrical, meditative film charged with sex and violence.
During a trip to Sicily in 1920, Luigi Pirandello meets two gravediggers-turned-playwrights rehearsing a play with their amateur dramatics. Pirandello takes an interest in the odd couple, having been suffering from writer’s block while working on his eventual masterpiece, Six Characters in Search of an Author.
Unlucky in love, strangled at work, and tormented at home, Joel Slater is desperately searching for a way to juggle his life. But sometimes, the secret to happiness begins with letting go.
An immigrant’s story about the love that is lost when a man’s wife and son finally receive visas to join him in the USA.
Dublin; June 16, 1904. Stephen Dedalus, who fancies himself as a poet, embarks on a day of wandering about the city during which he finds friendship and a father figure in Leopold Bloom, a middle-aged Jew. Meanwhile, Bloom’s day, illuminated by a funeral and an evening of drinking and revelry that stirs paternal feelings toward Stephen, ends with a rapprochement with Molly, his earthy wife.
Astrid is a comedian who makes people laugh for a living; her husband Markus is her manager and the two of them work well together. They have a nine-year-old daughter and are expecting their second child. When they learn that their child will not be born healthy, they are at first optimistic that they will be able to meet this challenge – although they have no idea what awaits them. But the closer it gets to the due date, the more Astrid begins to worry about the future of her unborn child as well as that of her family and her career. After many discussions and arguments Astrid realises that the decision that will affect all their lives must be made by her alone. What complicates matters further is the fact that, as a successful entertainer, she is in the eye of the public and the media.
Rebecca must throw the company holiday party with office rival, Chris. It coincides with Hanukkah, so she must juggle her work, family traditions, and nemesis to make the party a success.
