INDIE TREASURES
Must-see films with an independent and unique style. True bargains in this list !
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- DirectorHiner SaleemStarsKorkmaz ArslanGolshifteh FarahaniSuat UstaBaran, a Kurdish independence war hero, is now sheriff in Erbil, the capital city. No longer feeling useful in this society now at peace, he thinks about quitting the police force, but instead agrees to be stationed in a small valley, at the very borders of Iran, Turkey, and Iraq. It is a lawless territory, right at the heart of illegal drug, medication and alcohol trafficking. Having arrived in the small village, he refuses to bow down to Aga Azzi, the seriously corrupt tribal chief and absolute ruler of the area. Baran meets Govend, the village school teacher, who is also rejected by the villagers. Like Baran, she represents another law, that of the young and autonomous Kurdish state. Govend is all the more vulnerable as she is not a married woman.A poetic Western in the Kurdistan like you've never seen before.
- DirectorJuan PadrónStarsFrank GonzálezManuel MarínIrela BravoA vampire family from Cuba is preparing for a showdown between the USA vampires and the Eastern European vampires. But with the aid of a scientist, they need a type of vaccination where they can live in daylight."Vampiros en la Havana" is the only cartoon I have rated mainly because it's like no other one.
- DirectorMikhail KalatozovStarsSergio CorrieriSalvador WoodJosé GallardoFour vignettes about the lives of the Cuban people set during the pre-revolutionary era.Another treasure coming from Cuba ? No ! From Russia of course ! Kalatozov at his very best, paradoxically so free and so cuningly critical for this special order from the Sovietic Union about the Cuban revolution of 1959 ! Directed only 5 years after the revolution, it delivers both a precious and profound analysis as well as a poetic and true piece of art concerning the revolution that had just ocurred. A masterpiece of art and aesthetics, moreover a model of a political story ! A true propaganda film that turns out to be a subtle description of what has changed the country and the region for decades."
- DirectorKirill SerebrennikovStarsRoman BilykIrina StarshenbaumTeo YooA love triangle emerges around a rock and roll musician, his protege and his wife in 1980s Russia.And from Russia as well.. Leto is to me the best film of 2018, certainly the best photography of the decade.
I would definitely take on the direction of this film as its main feature, as Serebrennikov films so well, invents moments of magic, and has so much inventions that you can feel the soul of rock. Serebrennikov pays tribute to what rock and roll meant for his generation, what it inspired and what it felt to listen to this music in this oppressive atmosphere of Russia in the 80's. - DirectorJoachim TrierStarsRenate ReinsveAnders Danielsen LieHerbert NordrumThe chronicles of four years in the life of Julie, a young woman who navigates the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path, leading her to take a realistic look at who she really is.Several scenes are to be remembered by the history of cinema in this auteur film from Norway, which mixes crude dialogs, daring direction, and a fantastic actress.
- DirectorGillo PontecorvoStarsBrahim HadjadjJean MartinYacef SaadiIn the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.One of my favourite movie. The symbol of the perfect history movie, authentic, heartful, daring. Just imagine....Only 4 years after the independance, an Italian director is authorized to shoot in Algiers what represented the first blow to the independentists during the war of independance: the battle of Algiers. The events occur in 1957, and it will end up with a massive slaughter for the independentists but will remain a clear flame of resistance built to last and an undestructible hope that no one in the country (colonialists or native indigenous) could ignore. A masterpiece.
- DirectorFernando E. SolanasStarsSusú PecoraroMiguel Ángel SoláPhilippe LéotardThe movie starts while Floreal, the main protagonist, was being released from the prison when the military coup ended in 1983. He is estranged to his former life because of his last few years in prison and especially discovering his wife has cheated on him soured their relation. He is not sure if he wants to go back to his old life and family. Wandering through the night his old friend "El-Negro" appears in the dark. He announces that he was assassinated during the military coup and he is a dead man now. But he has a special mission this night and he is back for this special occasion: To help Floreal catch up fast and face with his life and his time in prison. El-Negro helps him to watch through the important events happened in his absence. He confronts some people of importance to him as he wanders around through the night while his wife is waiting for him anxiously thinking he might never come back. During the long night El-Negro helps him to get past with his anger, makes him to understand the difficulties in such a controversial time and how military coup crushes people's lives and even killing a some of them relentlessly. Finally during the dawn, El-Negro announces that he is ready to go on with his life now and he must be back. Floreal figures that he must be strong and continue his life where he left off like his coup stricken country.Indefinable and rare film of Solanas, bursting with emotions of a coming back on the heroe's land after the dictatorship in Argentina, combining political denunciation, surrealism, fantasy in a film that looks like a poem or a dream.
- DirectorMario CamusStarsAlfredo LandaTerele PávezBelén BallesterosSpain, 1960s. The family of poor farmers work hard in the countryside for the rich landowners who exploit them.Perfect film adaption from Mario Camus to the novel of Miguel Delibes. Probably one of the best adaptation on screen ever. Camus makes a perfect depiction of the system of "haciendas" in Spain, making a tough critic to the conservative Franco's regime and the servitude of the poor class . I recall the perfect performance of the landlord, the servant and the disabled person. Spain countryside in the 60's, far away from any kind of civilisation, and far away from any social claim ! Terrifying but so authentic and true !
- DirectorRené VautierStarsAlexandre ArcadyHamid DjellouliPhilippe LéotardIn 1961, Noël is a French soldier in the Algerian war. His comrades, formerly opposed to the war, now oppress civilians, kill and torture. To stay faithful to his pacifist values, he will do something radical.That's the other movie one should see about the Independance War in Algeria. This time you'll follow French military during their appauling campaign in the mountains (Aurès) and the non-sense that war will reveal to them. A genuine reproduction of what almost 1.5 million French conscripts of the army lived.
- DirectorLuca GuadagninoStarsTimothée ChalametArmie HammerMichael StuhlbargIn 1980s Italy, romance blossoms between a seventeen-year-old student and the older man hired as his father's research assistant.
- DirectorMarco BellocchioStarsLou CastelPaola PitagoraMarino MaséA young man takes drastic measures to rid his dysfunctional family of its various afflictions.
- DirectorWalter SallesDaniela ThomasStarsFernanda TorresFernando Alves PintoAlexandre BorgesAfter the death of his mother, a young Brazilian decides to leave his country and travel to his mother's native land. In a foreign land, he finds love and danger.I do not recall any film which has a better photography than this one. An ode to travelling !
- DirectorNanni LoyStarsNino ManfrediAdolfo CeliVittorio MezzogiornoAn Italian laborer foils anyone who tries to stop him from selling espresso on a night train to Naples."Italia da vero !". A story that takes place in a train that goes through the whole country. Funny, witty, and with many cultural insights. I can't explain why it stil has less than 500 votes.
- DirectorJean-Bernard MarlinStarsDylan RobertKenza FortasIdir AzougliZachary, 17 years old, gets out of jail. Rejected by his mother, he hangs out in the mean streets of Marseille. This is where he meets Shéhérazade.After 3 years, Shéhérazade has less than 2000 votes on IMDB (and probably not much more 6-10 or 15 years later). A proper scandal if you think that it is such a beautiful film (like I do). Shéhérazade is a rare film, powerful in its story, thanks to its characters that are so genuine. Poverty at its heart, poverty is described essentially, with no budget and a fantastic outcome.
- DirectorJulio MedemStarsEmma SuárezCarmelo GómezAna TorrentSet in the Basque region, a story of the rivalry of two families, period 1870-1935Probably the best first scene ever:A lumberjack cutting a tree trunk at a few inches to his own toes in a basque competition that will give you the tokens ! Does it add anything to the merit of the director to say it was his first film ?
All the Basque country, Julio Medem's world of fantasy and directing feats in one film. A must-see one indeed. - DirectorTomás Gutiérrez AleaJuan Carlos TabíoStarsJorge PerugorríaVladimir CruzMirta IbarraStory of two men who are opposites: one gay, the other straight; one a fierce communist, the other a fierce individualist; one suspicious, the other accepting; and how they come to love each other.That one was a real crush when I saw it. It's both fresh and funny, classic and rare, emotional and realistic. It reminds us that very few things were tolerated under Castro's regime however, cinema has always had a lot of freedom of speech, and here is another example. A love story under very special conditions. The outcome can be seen as brave political denunciation. Definitely worth the watch.
- DirectorÓscar Ruiz NaviaStarsKarent HinestrozaArnobio Salazar RivasRodrigo VélezA drama set in the black communities of Colombia's Pacific coast, where a man looking to flee the country by boat encounters a local fisherman.Poetic, mysterious and beautiful movie which takes place in an unknown place of Colombia by its caraibean coast. No one has seen it, even in Colombia sometimes. It's a very independant, home made film...but it has poetry in the filming, the landscapes. I found it fantastic !
- DirectorValérie DonzelliStarsValérie DonzelliJérémie ElkaïmCésar DesseixWhen their young son is diagnosed with a brain tumor, young parents Roméo and Juliette unite in the fight for his survival.Poignant story, personaly expericenced by the actors-directors of this film. Original and full of emotions. Show it to your friends.
- DirectorMario CamusStarsVictoria AbrilAna BelénConcha VelascoAs in the novel of the same title from Camilo Jose Cela, "La Colmena" is a sad composition with the stories of many people in the Madrid of 1942, just the postwar of the spanish civil war. The main theme of the film is the contrast between the poets, surviving close to misery under the Franco's regime, and the winners of the war, the emerging class of the people that makes easy money with illegal business.Another masterclass adaptation of Camilo José Cela's fantastic novel "La Colmena" by Mario Camus with a genuine depiction of Madrid in 1939.
- DirectorJaime RosalesStarsBárbara LennieAlex BrendemühlJoan BoteyThe identity of Petra's father has been hidden from her all her life. When her mother dies, Petra embarks on a quest which leads to Jaume, a celebrated artist and a powerful, ruthless man.
- DirectorEmmanuel FinkielStarsMélanie ThierryBenoît MagimelBenjamin BiolayMarguerite must navigate through the hardships of the Liberation after losing her husband and starting a relationship with the enemy during the War.Emmanuel Finkiel delivers a heartbreaking film about the waiting of the French famous writer Marguerite Duras. Fantastic actors in this film: Melanie Thierry above all of them of course, so unsettling and seductive, torned apart and brave, as well as Benoit Magimel with a deep twisted role of a cop you never end up to decipher. The beautiful reconstruction of the ocuppied Paris back in the early forties and the creative camera inventions the director resorted to during the film allowed to maintain the supense and comprehend the unexpected turns of the historical events. Melanie Thierry is just amazing (quite unfair not to give her the Cesar for that utterringly good performance), we suffer with her, and never abandon her pain (the real title in French means pain). A great adaptation on screen and a very emotional moment .
- DirectorAndrucha WaddingtonStarsRegina CaséLima DuarteStênio GarciaA true story that comically depicts the relationship between an ordinary woman and her three husbands, who live in the same house in a poor and arid small village of the Brazilian northeast.
- DirectorYolande MoreauGilles PorteStarsYolande MoreauWim WillaertOlivier GourmetIrene is on tour with her one-woman-show "Sale Affaire" in the north of France. When she runs into Dries, who carries giants in fairs, it's the beginning of a love story that bears an uncanny resemblance to the show performed by Irene on stage.
- DirectorBrad SilberlingStarsJake GyllenhaalDustin HoffmanSusan SarandonAs he copes with the death of his fiancée, a young man befriends her parents and must figure out what he wants out of life.