The Russian poet Andrei Gorchakov, accompanied by guide and translator Eugenia, is traveling through Italy researching the life of an 18th-century Russian composer. In an ancient spa town, he meets the lunatic Domenico, who years earlier had imprisoned his own family in his house for seven years to save them from the evils of the world. Seeing some deep truth in Domenico’s act, Andrei becomes drawn to him. In a series of dreams, the poet’s nostalgia for his homeland and his longing for his wife, his ambivalent feelings for Eugenia and Italy, and his sense of kinship with Domenico become intertwined.

After learning of his sister’s suicide, Nick, a small-time boxer, decides to pay a visit to his sister’s junkie lover in Los Angeles, collect some money and pursue an early retirement in Mexico. Along the way, he meets a 9-year-old girl who’s been abandoned by her father and together they hitchhike south.

Maggie has had four children, by four different fathers, removed by social services because of a previous violent relationship. When she meets Jorge, a gentle Latin American refugee, she gradually sees her chance for happiness, but her history still haunts her.

A group of people gathers back in the post-war ruins of a luxurious Munich hotel they inhabited at one point or another years before; each trying to cope with the tragic consequences of the war and their own actions.

Knut Hamsun is Norway’s most famous and admired author. Ever since he was young he has hated the English for the starvation they caused Norway during WWI. When the Germans occupy Norway 9 April 1940 he welcomes them and the protection they can give from Great Britain. He supports the national socialist ideals, but opposes the way these ideals are turned into action – that Norwegians are jailed and executed. His wife Marie travels in Germany during the war as a sign of support from Knut and herself.

A family in Jerusalem is torn apart by the mysterious disappearance of their father after a tragic a car accident.

Sara Shaw is the type of woman who prefers to sit on the sidelines at work, but when her big idea for a Christmas initiative is stolen, she makes a wish to Santa that she’ll finally have the courage to stand up for herself. Santa grants her wish, but only gives her 48 hours. As the clock ticks, Sara will discover how to channel the Christmas magic and speak her mind all on her own.

When bandits take the town of Sertânia, Antão gets shot, arrested, and left to die. Bleeding out, Antão’s delirious mind begins to recall the events that led up to the incident through a sequence of increasingly unreliable fever dreams.

The lives of five unrelated people — a husband, a doctor, a wife, a student, and a young daughter — are turned upside-down with irreversible consequences.

A martial arts instructor working at a police academy gets imprisoned after killing a man by accident. But when a vicious killer starts targeting martial arts masters, the instructor offers to help the police in return for his freedom.

Shizuku lives a simple life, dominated by her love for stories and writing. One day she notices that all the library books she has have been previously checked out by the same person: ‘Seiji Amasawa’. Curious as to who he is, Shizuku meets a boy her age whom she finds infuriating, but discovers to her shock that he is her ‘Prince of Books’. As she grows closer to him, she realises that he merely read all those books to bring himself closer to her. The boy Seiji aspires to be a violin maker in Italy, and it is his dreams that make Shizuku realise that she has no clear path for her life. Knowing that her strength lies in writing, she tests her talents by writing a story about Baron, a cat statuette belonging to Seiji’s grandfather

A new schoolteacher learns that the previous teacher was killed by his students, and he fears the same fate will befall him.