Top Foreign Language Films of 2012
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- DirectorPablo BergerStarsMaribel VerdúEmilio GaviraDaniel Giménez CachoA twist on the Snow White fairy tale that is set in 1920s Seville and centered on a female bullfighter.
- DirectorFrançois OzonStarsFabrice LuchiniVincent SchmittErnst UmhauerA high school French teacher is drawn into a precocious student's increasingly transgressive story about his relationship with a friend's family.
- DirectorNikolaj ArcelStarsAlicia VikanderMads MikkelsenMikkel Boe FølsgaardA young queen, who is married to an insane king, falls secretly in love with her physician - and together they start a revolution that changes a nation forever.
- DirectorLeos CaraxStarsDenis LavantEdith ScobEva MendesA man boards a limousine to be driven to his day's work: nine mysterious "appointments."
- DirectorThomas VinterbergStarsMads MikkelsenThomas Bo LarsenAnnika WedderkoppA teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son's custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.
- DirectorFelix van GroeningenStarsVeerle BaetensJohan HeldenberghNell CattrysseElise and Didier fall in love at first sight, in spite of their differences. He talks, she listens. He's a romantic atheist, she's a religious realist. When their daughter becomes seriously ill, their love is put on trial.
- DirectorAfonso PoyartStarsFernando Alves PintoAlessandra NegriniCaco CioclerIn São Paulo, the scheme of the corrupt DA Júlia and her mate, the lawyer Henrique with the gangster Maicom is discovered and sent to the Internal Affairs. Maicom is responsible for kidnappings, murderers and heists and his only chance is the support of the corrupt and powerful assemblyman Jader Kerteis that demands 2 million-dollars to help him. Meanwhile the "paulistano" Edgar, who killed a mother and her son two years ago in a car accident, invites the "motoboy" and thief Velinha to steal the escorted courier that is carrying the pouch with the money to be delivered to Jader. How their lives are entwined?
- DirectorMiguel GomesStarsTelmo ChurroMiguel GomesHortêncílio AquinaA restless retired woman teams up with her deceased neighbor's maid to seek out a man who has a secret connection to her past life as a farm owner at the foothill of Mount Tabu in Africa.
- DirectorHalder GomesStarsEdmilson FilhoJesuíta BarbosaRoberto BomtempoThe massive arrival of television in rural Brazil in the 1970s jeopardizes the small movie theaters' business. Francisgleydisson is the owner of Cine Holliudy, and he must be extremely creative to keep his passion for cinema alive, a Brazilian way of showing its passion for the 7th art, even in the remotes areas. Cinema Paradiso and Amacord are close references.
- DirectorKim NguyenStarsRachel MwanzaAlain Lino Mic Eli BastienSerge KanyindaSomewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, Komona, a 14-year-old girl, tells her unborn child growing inside her the story of her life since she has been at war. Everything started when she was abducted by the rebel army at the age of 12.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsJean-Louis TrintignantEmmanuelle RivaIsabelle HuppertGeorges and Anne are an octogenarian couple. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, also a musician, lives in Britain with her family. One day, Anne has a stroke, and the couple's bond of love is severely tested.
- DirectorWalter CarvalhoLeonardo GudelStarsRoberto CarlosPaulo CoelhoDaniel de OliveiraThe film tells the story of Raul Seixas, a Brazilian rock legend. The documentary unveils by rare archival images, meeting with family, conversations with artists, producers and friends, the trajectory of the artist, who died in 1989.
- DirectorCate ShortlandStarsSaskia RosendahlKai-Peter MalinaNele TrebsAs the Allies sweep across Germany, Lore leads her siblings on a journey that exposes them to the truth of their parents' beliefs. An encounter with a mysterious refugee forces Lore to rely on a person she has always been taught to hate.
- DirectorJoachim LafosseStarsÉmilie DequenneClaire BodsonNiels ArestrupHappy couple, will marry and have children under the roof of the benevolent Doctor. Little by little, relationships become complex, suffocating the couple and the family, who are unaware of the tragic end towards which they are heading
- DirectorGabriel MascaroStarsVanuza Santos de OliveiraDilma dos Santos SouzaMaria das Graças Santos AlmeidaSeven adolescents take on the mission of filming their family housemaids for one week and hand over the footage to the director to make a film.
- DirectorUlrich SeidlStarsMaria HofstätterNabil SalehRené RupnikA single woman in her 50s devotes her vacations to doing Catholic missionary work in Vienna, descending into violent self-punishment as part of her faith.
- DirectorMarcelo GomesStarsHermila GuedesW.J. SolhaJoão MiguelA woman tries to make a life for herself in a violent Brazilian city.
- DirectorUlrich SeidlStarsMargarete TieselPeter KazunguInge MauxTeresa, a fifty-year-old Austrian mother, travels to the paradise of the beaches of Kenya, seeking out love from African boys. But she must confront the hard truth that on the beaches of Kenya, love is a business.
- DirectorHaifaa Al-MansourStarsWaad MohammedReem AbdullahAbdullrahman Al GohaniAn enterprising Saudi girl signs on for her school's Koran recitation competition as a way to raise the remaining funds she needs in order to buy the green bicycle that has captured her interest.
- DirectorChristian VincentStarsCatherine FrotArthur DupontJean d'OrmessonThe story of Danièle Delpeuch and how she was appointed as the private chef for François Mitterrand.
- DirectorEduardo GoldensteinStarsBia GoldensteinAugusto MadeiraCláudio MendesMaria,10, was born and raised at a small circus. She's suddenly forced to live at the city with a rich grandmother that she barely knows. Loneliness and grief strike her, while she struggles to overcome a momentary memory lapse. She crosses on an imaginary tightrope towards a facing dark window where she'll reach her deepest memories behind the colorful doors of a mysterious corridor, gathering the strength to face again a tragic moment of her life, and finally being able to move forwards.
- DirectorUrsula MeierStarsLéa SeydouxKacey Mottet KleinMartin CompstonA drama set at a Swiss ski resort and centered on a boy who supports his sister by stealing from wealthy guests.
- DirectorMarcos PradoStarsNathalia DillLuca BianchiLívia de BuenoTwo girlfriends visit a big Brazilian beach festival and decide to just let go. They enjoy the music, booze, drugs and on one steamy afternoon even each other. They also meet a young man and things can't be better. Can this paradise last?
- DirectorBoudewijn KooleStarsRick LensLoek PetersCahit ÖlmezA young boy and his father have a difficult relationship, but are trying to reach each other. They need a catalyst to make that happen.
- DirectorMauro LimaStarsSelton MelloOtávio MüllerRafaela MandelliEstado do Rio de Janeiro, 1963. O coreto da praça principal de Bacaxá explode no momento de abertura da gincana de primavera da pequena cidade. O alvo do atentando é Amélia Castanho, cantora de boate escolhida para a tarefa da efeméride anual. Segundos antes de o coreto ir pelos ares, ela escuta do rádio do automóvel uma bizarra transmissão: o locutor, em transe, revela o plano que pretendia vitimá-la pela explosão onde ela deveria estar mas não estava! Assim começa Reis e Ratos. A partir daí, a narrativa quebrada em flashbacks nos traz de volta até a explosão do coreto e seu desfecho. A trama e suas situações conduzem o espectador pela atmosfera conspiratória das vésperas do Golpe Militar de 1964. A narrativa suja e delirante de Reis e Ratos ocorre numa certa antessala do cenário golpista. A história é contada através dos pontos de vista de um grupo de personagens de alguma forma ligados à direita. Esse grupo de pessoas é parte de um plano pra tirar o presidente do governo sem que o uso do dispositivo militar, tanto golpista quando legalista, precise ser empreendido. (Fonte: site oficial do filme)
- DirectorCao HamburgerStarsJoão MiguelFelipe CamargoCaio BlatThree brothers embark on a journey that begins with a kinship with Brazil's indigenous tribes, to their creation of South America's largest national park.
- DirectorBenoît JacquotStarsLéa SeydouxDiane KrugerVirginie LedoyenA look at the platonic relationship between Marie Antoinette and one of her female readers during the first days of the French Revolution.
- DirectorJuan Carlos ManegliaTana SchémboriStarsCelso FrancoVíctor SosaLali GonzalezVíctor receives an unusual proposal, to carry 7 boxes of unknown content through the Market Number 4 but things get complicated along the way.
- DirectorSusanne BierStarsPierce BrosnanTrine DyrholmMolly Blixt EgelindA hairdresser who has lost her hair to cancer, finds out her husband is having an affair, travels to Italy for her daughter's wedding, and meets a widower who still blames the world for the loss of his wife.
- DirectorPablo LarraínStarsGael García BernalAlfredo CastroAntonia ZegersAn advertising executive comes up with a campaign to defeat Augusto Pinochet in Chile's 1988 referendum.
- DirectorFelipe JoffilyStarsBruno MazzeoMarcos PalmeiraEmílio Orciollo NettoThe real first comedy about love.
- DirectorJacques AudiardStarsMarion CotillardMatthias SchoenaertsArmand VerdurePut in charge of his young son, Alain leaves Belgium for Antibes to live with his sister and her husband as a family. Alain's bond with Stephanie, a killer whale trainer, grows deeper after Stephanie suffers a horrible accident.
- DirectorCristian MungiuStarsCosmina StratanCristina FluturValeriu AndriutaThe friendship between two young women who grew up in the same orphanage; one has found refuge at a convent in Romania and refuses to leave with her friend, who now lives in Germany.
- DirectorIlmar RaagStarsJeanne MoreauLaine MägiPatrick PineauAnne leaves Estonia to come to Paris and care for Frida, an elderly Estonian lady who emigrated to France long ago. Anne soon realizes that she is not wanted. All Frida wants from life is the attention of Stephane, her younger lover from years ago. Stephane, however, is desperate for Anne to stay and look after Frida, even against the old lady's will. In this conflict of strangers, Anne finds her own way...
- DirectorMarcelo MachadoStarsGilberto GilCaetano VelosoSet against the turbulent atmosphere of the 1960s, Tropicália is a feature length documentary exploring the Brazilian artistic movement known as tropicália, and the struggle its artists endured to protect their right to freely express revolutionary thought against the traditional brazilian music of that time.
- DirectorChristian PetzoldStarsNina HossRonald ZehrfeldRainer BockA doctor working in 1980s East Germany finds herself banished to a small country hospital.
- DirectorMarcos BernsteinStarsJoão GuilhermeJosé de AbreuCaco CioclerMy Sweet Orange Tree begins with José Mauro de Vasconcelos (Caco Ciocler) receiving an edition of his finished novel. Then, the film starts to tell the story from the writer's memories, through flashbacks. Zezé (João Guilherme Avila), a boy of eight years who lives in Minas Gerais in a very humble house with his family, consisting of his father (Eduardo Dascar), an unemployed and alcoholic, and his mother (Fernanda Vianna), which works to support the home and his brother and sisters. Despite the lack of understanding, affection and the aggression suffered by from his father and school colleagues, the boy has a great skill for storytelling using his imagination. With financial difficulties, the family has to move. At the new home, Zezé finds an orange tree, which he talks everyday. However, for being extremely extrovert he got involved in several confusions. One of them, he tries to ride on the bumper of Manoel Valadares, the "Portuga" (José de Abreu), but is caught and spanked. The boy feels humiliated and wants revenge, however Valadares ends up understanding Zezé, which turns to share his world of fantasies, and a new friendship arises.
- DirectorJoachim RønningEspen SandbergStarsPål Sverre HagenAnders BaasmoGustaf SkarsgårdIn 1947, with five loyal friends in tow, explorer Thor Heyerdahl sails a fragile balsa wood raft along an ancient path some 4,300 miles across the Pacific.
- DirectorEduardo NunesStarsJulio AdriãoRegina BastosRaquel BonfanteIn a Brazilian coastal village where everything seems motionless, Clarice grasps her life in a single day, unlike those she meets and who are living this day like any other. She tries to understand her obscure reality and the destiny of the people around her in a circular time that haunts and disorients.
- DirectorJoshua OppenheimerAnonymousChristine CynnStarsAnwar CongoHerman KotoSyamsul ArifinA documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.
- DirectorMarcelo LordelloStarsMaria Luiza TavaresGeórgio KokkosiElayne de MouraCris, aged 12, and her older brother are left at the side of the road by their parents. Very quickly the punishment turns into an even greater challenge. "Eles Voltam" (They'll Come Back") follows Cris as she attempts to find her way back home. It is a journey through a series of different realities, guided by the people that inhabit them. A modern day fable, filled with realistic overtones, and the story of Cris's self-discovery.
- DirectorStéphane AubierVincent PatarBenjamin RennerStarsLambert WilsonPauline BrunnerAnne-Marie LoopThe story of an unlikely friendship between a bear, Ernest, and a young mouse named Celestine.
- DirectorAndré DibStarsGabriel BodsteinGabriela CerqueiraLígia CortezJoão Lucas works on a video store where he always reveals to clients the ending of the movies they're about to rent. One day, he is surprised with a female client who always rents the same movie. After a while, they'll start spending the night discussing that movie's ending.
- DirectorMichel FrancoStarsTessa IaHernán MendozaGonzalo Vega Jr.Alejandra and her dad Roberto have just moved to town. She is new at school, he has a new job. Starting over is sometimes complicated when you have left so much behind.
- DirectorRégis RoinsardStarsRomain DurisFéodor AtkineDéborah François1958. Rose is a terrible secretary but a demon typist. Her handsome boss resolves to turn her into the fastest girl in the world.
- DirectorBreno SilveiraStarsÂngelo AntônioJoão MiguelVinícius NascimentoTo escape past traumas, a truck driver John decides to leave his hometown behind and travel cross the country. Alone and lonely he drives all over Brazil until John discovers hiding in his truck a motherless boy looking for his father. Reluctantly, John agrees to take the boy to the nearest town and, during the trip, he finally finds the courage to face his past.
- DirectorLuciano MouraStarsWagner MouraLima DuarteMariana LimaA man who has put his career ahead of everything else in life learns the value of family when his son goes missing.
- DirectorOlivier AssayasStarsClément MétayerAndré MarconLola CrétonIn the months after the heady weeks of May '68, a group of young Europeans search for a way to continue the revolution believed to be just beginning.
- DirectorJean-Pierre AmérisStarsGérard DepardieuMarc-André GrondinEmmanuelle SeignerA freak show performer's life is turned upside down when he is discovered to be the missing son of a disgraced noble.
- DirectorSophie LelloucheStarsAlice TaglioniPatrick BruelMarine DeltermeAlice, a Woody Allen-obsessed pharmacist and hopeless romantic, meets a charming man named Victor but has trouble committing to him.
- DirectorBernardo BertolucciStarsJacopo Olmo AntinoriTea FalcoSonia BergamascoAn introverted teenager tells his parents he is going on a ski trip, but instead spends his time alone in a basement.
- DirectorJan-Ole GersterStarsTom SchillingKatharina SchüttlerJustus von DohnányiAn aimless university dropout attempts to make sense of life as he spends one fateful day wandering the streets of Berlin.
- DirectorPaolo TavianiVittorio TavianiStarsCosimo RegaSalvatore StrianoGiovanni ArcuriInmates at a high-security prison in Rome prepare for a public performance of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar."
- DirectorGilles BourdosStarsMichel BouquetChrista ThéretVincent RottiersSet on the French Riviera in the summer of 1915, Jean Renoir -- son of the Impressionist painter, Pierre-Auguste -- returns home to convalesce after being wounded in World War I. At his side is Andrée, a young woman who rejuvenates, enchants, and inspires both father and son.
- DirectorEdgard NavarroStarsEvelin BuchegguerBertrand DuarteMariana FreireIn a small town in the countryside, five people are assailed by the same terrible nightmare. The arrival of a miserable pilgrim will break out the internal conflict in which they live, determining a rupture in their lives.
- DirectorMarcelo GalvãoStarsAriel GoldenbergRita PokkBreno ViolaThree young people with Down syndrome decide to run away in search of three simple wishes: Stalone wants to see the sea, Aninha looks for a husband and Marcio needs to fly.