What is it like to be ageing men in contemporary young India? On one side, Indian uncles shouting. On the other side, selfies and Snapchat. Anuvab Pal tells us how middle aged Indian men delude themselves into wanting to be younger, and the tragedies that await them. As seen through his life as India’s most senior stand up comedian (pun intended). Who said tragedy isn’t comedy?

Kaufman’s Game follows Stanley, an unemployed young man with a passion for boxing, who is keen to improve his strength and stamina. When a stranger approaches him outside the gym with the offer of a specially produced steroid, Stanley is drawn into the ever more violent operations of a powerful organisation, unwittingly entering into a series of tests designed to prove his mettle. This is a film about power, determination and being your own worst enemy. It celebrates the archetypes of classic Film Noir, and the dark, conspiratorial storytelling technique of Franz Kafka, but with a contemporary minimalist aesthetic.

Algeria today. Past and present collide in the lives of a newly wealthy property developer, a young
woman torn between the path of reason and sentiment and an ambitious neurologist impeded by
wartime wrongdoings. Three stories that plunge us into the human soul of a contemporary Arab
society.

As one art scene insider proclaims, the contemporary art world can be summed up as “rich people trying to prove how rich they are,” but is that all there is to this billion dollar industry? Well-researched and expertly constructed, Barry Avrich’s eye-opening documentary peels back the layers of the art world economy- from production to circulation, and delineates every integral player in the game of art-making, including curators, gallerists, collectors, donors, auction houses, and … artists. In the process, he unpacks the complex and surprising ecosystem that supports the art world superstars and million-dollar deals that make front-page news. Featuring extraordinary access to industry players and candid statements from prominent artists like Damien Hirst, Julian Schnabel, Taryn Simon, and Marina Abramovic, Blurred Lines collides the two narratives of the art world as both above and beholden to market forces.

Child’s Pose is a contemporary drama focusing on the relationship between a mother and her 32-year-old son. After the accidental killing of a boy in a car crash, the mother tries to prevent her son being charged for the death, and she refuses to accept that her son is a grown-up man.

Traveling Route 66, a charismatic preacher, Reverend Johnny Jones, and his seductively beautiful Latina girlfriend, Rebecca, find their lives spiraling out of control as they travel from small town to small town; running their scam on the churches they encounter along the mother road. He’s able to convince people he has the power to heal their illnesses and solve their most dreadful life experiences. But what the couple think is their scam begs the question does he really have the power? It’s a question that haunts him and only intensifies his inner demons. Scarred for life, his childhood abuse from his evil father won’t soon go away. He finds temporary refuge at the bottom of each bottle of tequila and endless grams of cocaine that goes up his nose. His childhood demons will not subside, neither will his vices. In the end, his powers serve as a blessing and a curse. Hang on tight while we follow this perilous couple’s journey into the abyss of miracles and tragedy.

On Australia’s most controversial national holiday, the lives of three Australians from diverse cultural backgrounds will collide, illuminating contemporary issues of racial tension and national identity that simmer beneath the surface of modern Australia.

With the help of a hilarious, all-female slate of stand-up comedians, Jenny McCarthy takes an outrageous look at life as a contemporary woman: from single motherhood to casual sex. Shot at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, this one-hour special includes sets from Justine Marino, Tammy Pescatelli, Lynne Koplitz, Paula Bel and Tiffany Haddish, as well as a series of sketch vignettes from McCarthy herself.

n the history of Romanian cinema, Sergiu Nicolaescu’s name stands for “prolific, highly commercial and professional”. At the age of 80, the director launched his latest production, which is also his second comedy in a long row of action and historic films. “Poker” is a cinema adaptation of Adrian Lustig’s theatre play with the same name, and focuses on four male friends, representatives for the social canvas: a doctor without a moral conscience, an unscrupulous politician, a chief of the local mafia, and a businessman who made a fortune in America. Made by MediaPro Pictures, ‘Poker’ looks at immorality and intrigues in politics, hinting at the fact that contemporary Romania is a day to day jungle where strings are pulled by those in power, so everything turns into a poker round, where those who have the right aces in their sleeve can win.

This film focuses on contemporary 30- and 40-somethings trying to make sense of their lives in an age in which the old certainties have disappeared. Lorenzo and Davide make their lives together within a circle that includes Antonio and Angelica, married with children; Nerval and her policeman husband.

Pippa is a physically and emotionally scarred former model living as a recluse in her meticulous Georgian flat. When a heist taking place in the same building goes wrong, Pippa’s home is broken into by the charismatic Kayleigh. Pippa is taken hostage by this unpredictable and volatile thief who’s looking for a temporary hideout, but when outside forces close in, Kayleigh takes a darker path to get her way. As the confined space becomes a fighting ring, in a tense struggle to get out Pippa learns how to stand up for herself once again.

Set over three summers at The Westival, a fictional West Australian rural folk festival redoubtable local radio personality ‘Queenie’ describes as “Australia in a tent”. Two young musicians fall in love against a wider collection of tales dealing with a microcosm of contemporary discussion points, including Indigenous, immigration and refugee issues.

Him and her. A husband and a wife staying in a cozy hotel where you can come for just a couple of days with a risk to get stuck forever. It is so easy to get trapped in the daily routine. Indeed, nothing is more permanent than the temporary. Their time is like a flat circle. He has his phone calls and business meetings. She is wrapped in her dreams and doubts. All reactions are predictable, all conversations are learnt by heart. An endless LP record of life keeps playing again and again repeating itself. But a few things can break this tune, like a scratch on the record, a crack on a wine glass, a sudden glance or a meeting with a stranger. And then you know: tomorrow will come soon. Any moment something can go wrong, throw you off course, and force you to make a choice.

The story of two sisters on a journey, where they try to get close to each other and approach the tough questions in life. Euphoria is a contemporary drama about responsibility and reconciliation, in a world where these concepts are gradually being lost.

Peter (Travis Owens) is an aspiring comedian encouraged by his friend Ben (Ben Price, Australia’s Got Talent finalist) to perform at the local comedy club. But stage fright isn’t Peter’s only fear. When confronted with one of today’s most divisive issues, he feels compelled to speak, but can he? Challenged by his coworker Diana (Molly Ritter) to defend his convictions about homosexuality and gay marriage, will he have the courage to stand for what he believes—even at the risk of losing a friendship? And how will he respond when faced with a harrowing life-or-death experience? “Audacity” uses a unique approach to address a very sensitive subject in contemporary society. Regardless of your views on homosexuality, you’ll gain fresh insights and a new perspective.

It is the story of an 18 year old boy who falls hopelessly in love with a 25 year old woman. A woman he cannot have, but a woman he cannot help but desire. And, as is the case with desires unfulfilled, they turn into obsessions. The movie emphasizes that in a world of temptation, romance is temporary, love is lonely, but addiction is forever

Li Haoming, a talented funny geek enjoys living in his own virtual world and suddenly is dragged into a real dangerous hacker game by mysterious men. Contemporary police cyber security team go under cover in Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur to capture cybercriminal gang and thwart their attempt to hack computer control system.

Horror is back in the hood! The sequel to the groundbreaking original film “Tales from the Hood” reunites executive producer Spike Lee and writers/directors/producers Rusty Cundieff and Darin Scott for an all-new gripping, horrifying and oftentimes devilishly comical anthology. Keith David stars as a contemporary Mr. Simms to tell bloodcurdling stories about lust, greed, pride and politics through tales with demonic dolls, possessed psychics, vengeful vixens and historical ghosts. Mr. Simms’s haunting stories will make you laugh… while you scream.

Thirteen-year-old Kayla endures the tidal wave of contemporary suburban adolescence as she makes her way through the last week of middle school — the end of her thus far disastrous eighth grade year — before she begins high school.

The film revolves around a pair of big-boned, bumbling cops who find themselves at the heart of a drug trafficking case. The agent “J” (Zhang Wen) was shot in the head during an A-level mission, causing damage to the intracranial hypothalamus. During the period of rehabilitating, J gradually became a big fat man of three hundred pounds and suffered from severe narcolepsy, but J still considered himself a ace agent. Finally, J received the task again and went to Japan to retrieve the confidential documents. After the file was obtained, J arbitrarily opened the file and decided to continue the task of hiding the organization for the organization, but he fainted in the izakaya. J who woke up in the hospital got to know the security guard Handsome Hao (Bei-Er Bao), Handsome Hao to prove that he is not a waste of nothing to resolutely join the mission. In the process of carrying out the task, the temporary partner has experienced the ridiculous and dangerous crisis of time over and over …

Contemporary Moscow. A talented gambler gathers a team of people with supernatural powers to win big at a casino. But they find a much stronger mystical rival.

Thinking they’re doing the right thing by taking matters into their own hands, two brothers cross the line when they take a household rifle without their father’s consent. Set in contemporary middle class rural Lebanon, a country with a porous border constantly threatened by hostile infiltration, this coming-of-age story examines fraternal trust and brings into focus the ethics of seemingly innocuous violence and its consequences.

Drawing on the collections of major Russian institutions, contributions from contemporary artists, curators and performers and personal testimony from the descendants of those involved, the film brings the artists of the Russian Avant-Garde to life. It tells the stories of artists like Chagall, Kandinsky and Malevich – pioneers who flourished in response to the challenge of building a new art for a new world, only to be broken by implacable authority after 15 short years and silenced by Stalin’s Socialist Realism.

Creepers – Horror Anthology Movie Volume Two features four tales of terror from contemporary authors Joe R. Lansdale and Jeff Strand and classic horror writers Edgar Allan Poe and Lafcadio Hearn. Directed by filmmakers Jeremiah Kipp, Gregory Lamberson, Christian Walker and Mike T. Lyddon.

We are in the year 2001, a temporary ceasefire brings a much-needed break to a small war-torn village in Northern Nepal, bringing much joy among the residents. Prakash and Kiran, two young close friends, are also starting to feel the change in the air. Though they are divided by caste and social creed, they remain inseparable, and start raising a hen given to Prakash by his sister, with hopes to save money by selling her eggs. However, the hen goes missing. To find it, they embark on a journey, innocently unaware of the tyranny brought by the fragile ceasefire.

Desire Will Set You Free is a feature film that explores life in contemporary Berlin with an often critical and sometimes humorous eye. Based on a true story, the plot follows the relationship of an American writer of Israeli/Palestinian descent and a Russian aspiring artist working as a hustler, offering access to the city’s vibrant queer and underground scenes while examining the differences between expatriate and refugee life. Our characters travel through Berlin’s layered history and unique subcultural landscape; on their adventures they discover influences and remnants of the Weimar Republic, WWII, the Bowie years, and punk.

A meditative, immersive tribute to the astonishing work and achievements of naturalist, inventor and pioneering filmmaker F. Percy Smith. Smith worked in the early years of the 20th century, developing various cinematographic and micro-photographic techniques to capture nature’s secrets in action. Working in a number of public roles, including the Royal Navy and British Instructional Films, Smith was prolific and driven, often directing several films simultaneously, apparently on a mission to explore and capture nature’s hidden terrains. This film is an interpretative edit that combines Smith’s original footage with a new contemporary score by tindersticks to create a hypnotic, alien yet familiar dreamscape that connects us to the sense of wonder Smith must have felt as he peered through his own lenses and seen these micro-worlds for the first time.

Hector has been living on the motorways for years. His once comfortable family life has been replaced by a never-ending tour of service stations that offer him shelter, anonymity, washing facilities and food. The story follows his journey south from Scotland on his annual pilgrimage to a temporary Christmas shelter in London where he finds comfort, friendship and warmth. Over the course of his Homeric journey, Hector decides to reconnect with his long estranged past. As his previous life catches up with him, the story of how he came to be leading a marginal life begins to emerge.

A couple (Jian RenZi and Andrew Lin) who has been unsuccessfully trying to have a child for a few years, and decides to resort to an old Chinese fertility ritual, that of the “primer”: to temporarily adopt a child, who will open the way for their own progeny. They adopt a quiet 7-year-old girl (Wang Yifei) at an orphanage whose supervisors (Hui Shiu Hung and Pat Ha) are obviously not telling them everything. The adopted child is silent, asocial and constantly draws disturbingly dark pictures of her previous family. It doesn’t help that her new mother is beset with strange visions that threaten her sanity.

The cyber crime investigation division at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department finds a video on website “YOURTUBE.” In the video, a man covered by a newspaper, warns that a fire will be set at a food processing company. More crime notices are soon found involving violent crimes. Geitsu is the main guy behind the group “Shinbunshi,” which has posted the videos. He used to work as a temporary employee at an IT company, but was unfairly dismissed. He then begins doing manual labor work and meets the other members of “Shinbushi.”

The extraordinary untold story of how an NYPD bomb disposal expert played a key role in helping defuse the decades old “Troubles” in Northern Ireland. In 1975, Irish immigrant Denis Mulcahy of the NYPD bomb squad – gathered a group of family, friends and neighbours to start a scheme offering children from Northern Ireland a chance to temporarily escape the violent turmoil of their daily lives. From modest beginnings, Project Children ultimately brought over 20,000 Catholic and Protestant children to suburban US for summer-long visits where they forged unexpected friendships and found they had more in common with the ‘enemy’ than they thought. Now this extraordinary untold story is being brought to the screen in a new documentary by Des Henderson, and narrated by Liam Neeson, entitled How To Defuse A Bomb: The Project Children Story.

Michael Winterbottom, celebrated director of 24 Hour Party People, The Road to Guantanamo, and The Trip, joins forces with actor, comedian, and provocateur Russell Brand for that most unlikely of documentary approaches: an uproarious critique of the world financial crisis. Building on Brand’s emergence as an activist following his 2014 book Revolution, where he railed against “corporate tyranny, ecological irresponsibility, and economic inequality,” The Emperor’s New Clothes pairs archival footage with comedic send-ups conducted in the financial centers of London and New York. Brand spotlights not only how the crisis affected the working class around the world, but also how the uber-wealthy benefited from the downturn. With Winterbottom providing his signature ingenuity and pinpoint directorial control, they generate a riveting, boisterous, and, at times, cathartic riff on the extreme disparities between the haves and have nots in contemporary society.

When Lisa (Wagner) takes a last-minute Christmas trip to her hometown of Evergreen, she finds that the historic general store has been closed. Using her skills as a professional retail designer, Lisa decides to keep local tradition alive and help the good people of Evergreen bring the store back to life. As Lisa charms a local contractor named Kevin (Deklin) into working with her, the pair find themselves facing one surprise after another as they restore the store to its former glory. When the staff at the Kringle Kitchen temporarily accept the store’s beloved ‘Mailbox to Santa’ for safekeeping, the townspeople find and rally around a mysterious 25-year-old letter that never made it to the North Pole. As old traditions are made new again, Lisa finds herself falling for Kevin, the traditions, and the town of Evergreen.

Exploring the labyrinth of the contemporary art world, The Price of Everything examines the role of art and artistic passion in today’s consumer-based society. Featuring collectors, dealers, auctioneers and a rich range of artists, from current market darlings Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter and Njideka Akunyili Crosby, to one-time art star Larry Poons, the film exposes deep contradictions as it holds a mirror up to contemporary values and times, coaxing out the dynamics at play in pricing the priceless.

Recently separated parents Tracie (Fisk) and Rick (Rogers) spend every other holiday with their young daughters Harper and Ava. But this Christmas, the girls have only one thing on their wish lists — to spend Christmas with both Mom and Dad at Tracie’s family farmhouse. The temporary reunion will be no walk in the park for Tracie and Rick, but perhaps this Christmas gathering can help rekindle the lost romance between the two and make their daughters’ greatest wish come true.

After accepting temporary work in a laboratory Cesar begins to notice strange events related to the treatment of a patient with the number 27, this disturbs him the extent of causing insomnia and hallucinations. Isela and Marcos, his coworkers attribute this to the Cesar fatigue, however the real reason for these views is more real and dangerous than they think.

The story of a retired music professor, Misha Brankov, who under unusual circumstances discovers his true origins. At the place where once stood a Nazi concentration camp for Jews during World War II, a metal box filled with documents is found. It was buried by an inmate Isaac Weiss in the year 1941. The professor finds out that his real parents, the Weiss’s, gave him away to their friends, the Brankovs, just before they were taken into the camp. Inside the box there is an unfinished musical score, called “When day breaks”, composed by the inmate Isaac Weiss. Searching for the truth about himself and his origins, Misha discovers the little-known truth about Judenlager Semlin camp, one of the worst Nazi execution sites in the heart of contemporary Belgrade. At the same time, the professor’s obsession is to complete the composition, started by his father, and to perform it on the site of the former camp… which he, after many vicissitudes, finally succeeds.

Drop out of school to ride with the Merry Pranksters. Form America’s most enduring jam band. Become a family man and father. Never stop chasing the muse. Bob Weir took his own path to and through superstardom as rhythm guitarist for The Grateful Dead. Mike Fleiss re-imagines the whole wild journey in this magnetic rock doc and concert film, with memorable input from bandmates, contemporaries, followers, family, and, of course, the inimitable Bob Weir himself.

A contemporary evocation of Judas Iscariot trying to escape from his own guilt after betraying his best friend. He wanders into a forest and lost in himself, meets a mysterious young man. The young companion will accompany him on this path of repentance and penance and help him deal with his feelings, understand his guilt and cope with he has done. This is the story of the last three days of a repentant.

When an accident temporarily robs her of her voice, Diva J flees to a small deserted village to heal both her mental and physical wounds. Her life changes when she meets and falls in love with the blind Hu Ming, who inspires her to make a comeback. But, in her absence, a new diva has risen. R has become an overnight sensation that everyone sees as the main contender for J’s crown. Yet, their successes have come at a high price. J is secretly pining for a forbidden love that seems destined to wither, and R has found that the road to stardom is littered with estranged friends and painful break-ups. But in the midst of this, both divas rise to find their own voice.