Mania Akbari's Favourite Films
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- DirectorSohrab Shahid SalessStarsHedayatollah NavidHibibollah SafarianAne Mohammad TarikhiA small schoolboy lives an austere life with his family in Northern coasts of Iran.
- DirectorSohrab Shahid SalessStarsZadour BonyadiMohammed KaniHedayatollah NavidThe daily life of Mohammad Sardari(Zadour Bonyadi) , a railway switchman on the verge of retirement, who lives with his wife and soldier son near the railway track.
- DirectorChris MarkerStarsAmilcar CabralFlorence DelayArielle DombasleA woman narrates the contemplative writings of a seasoned world traveler, focusing on contemporary Japan.
- DirectorAgnès VardaStarsCorinne MarchandAntoine BourseillerDominique DavrayCleo, a singer and hypochondriac, becomes increasingly worried that she might have cancer while awaiting test results from her doctor.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsChantal AkermanNatalia AkermanSylvaine AkermanFilmmaker Chantal Akerman documents the life of her mother Natalia Akerman, a Polish immigrant and survivor of Auschwitz.
- DirectorCristian MungiuStarsAnamaria MarincaLaura VasiliuVlad IvanovA woman assists her friend in arranging an illegal abortion in 1980s Romania.
- DirectorLois WeberStarsClaire WindsorJ. Frank GlendonGeorge HackathorneAn inventor starts a family with his childhood sweetheart, but after he becomes successful, he becomes restless and takes up with another woman. However, the woman's true nature is revealed, he realizes his mistake.
- DirectorCristi PuiuStarsMara Elena AndreiMirela ApostuEugenia BosânceanuCenters around a family gathering on the anniversary of a patriarch's recent death.
- DirectorAlice GuyStarsVinnie BurnsFraunie FraunholzClaire WhitneyNorma, a dancer, receives many presents from admirers. Among them she finds a peculiar looking box, out of which spring several poisonous snakes. Nelson, a detective, is called upon to solve the mystery. On the box he finds a peculiar trademark, which he seizes as a clue. At his home he finds the same odd mark on an ashtray bought by his mother in a Hindu curio shop, and he learns that the box containing the snakes was purchased by a Hindu woman. Calling upon the woman, he is surprised to find himself in the home of a Priestess of Buddhism. The Priestess tries to fascinate him with her beauty and, not succeeding, drops a powder into an incense burner, the fumes of which begin to throw him into a stupor. He fights his way to a window, blows a police whistle, and is attacked by three giant Hindu attendants. But the police arrive in time to save his life, and the Priestess is arrested and thrown into prison. The dancer, Norma, is attracted to Nelson by his bravery, and they become friends. Meanwhile, the Priestess succeeds in working a psychic miracle in which she goes into a trance and, while her earthly form remains in prison, her soul is freed and appears before the horrified detective in his study. His nature is changed immediately by the Priestess's mystic influence, and his face becomes the face of a hardened criminal. Changing his clothes for one of the rough suits used in his detective work, he visits a den of crooks and aids them to rob a bank, the plans of which he has been entrusted with in his professional capacity. Later he is called to the bank to investigate the robbery and, not knowing of his dual personality, makes every effort to find the man who had committed the crime. He finds his own scarf among the scattered papers taken from the safe. A threatening letter, which he receives from the followers of the Priestess, is seen by Norma, who is so greatly concerned for his safety that when he asks her to marry him, she quickly consents to an engagement, so that she can do all in her power to protect him. His old mother is puzzled by seeing him leave his own house through the window, when he is again visited by the spirit of the Priestess and influenced to aid the same band of crooks in the robbery of his own home. When his real personality returns, he finds himself in his own office, where he has been discovered by his mother, sleeping in a chair, dressed in his old clothes. Upon discovery that his house has been robbed, he calls the chief of police and is seen by the companions of his criminal personality, who thinks that he is acting as an agent of the authorities merely to place them in the hands of the law. When he is again transformed toy the spirit of the Priestess and returns to the thieves' den, they regard him as a spy and plan to do away with him, leaving him bound and gagged in the care of an old hag, while they celebrate his capture. But Norma, who, with his mother has been watching him, follows him to the den of thieves and, overpowering the old woman, helps him to escape. Meanwhile, the followers of the Priestess succeed in rescuing her from her prison cell and are speeding away in an automobile when Nelson, who still retains his criminal personality, asks them to assist him to escape from the crooks, who are closely upon his trail. Thus, he unwittingly places himself and his fiancée in the power of the Priestess, who makes them prisoners in a temple of Buddha. Norma faints, and when Nelson's real personality returns, he finds himself bound hand and foot in the temple. Norma quickly explains the situation to him and, by burning the ropes that bind his wrists with the fire in the incense burner, he frees his companion and makes his way to the roof by the aid of a heavy chain from which a large oriental lamp is swung from the ceiling. He succeeds in helping Norma to the roof by the same method and they reach the ground with the aid of a large tree. The chief of police, who has been summoned by Nelson's mother, overtakes the crooks and arrests them after a desperate struggle. But the Priestess cheats the majesty of the law by the aid of a poisoned ring with which she does away with herself during one of her wild fanatical dances. Her death marks the end of her influence over Nelson, and he at last feels free to marry Norma.
- DirectorGermaine DulacIn this avant garde short subject, the director gives us her visual impressions from listening to two pieces by Chopin: the 4tn and 6tn preludes.
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsEmily WatsonStellan SkarsgårdKatrin CartlidgeOilman Jan is paralyzed in an accident. His wife, who prayed for his return, feels guilty; even more, when Jan urges her to have sex with another.
- DirectorAbbas KiarostamiStarsHossain SabzianMohsen MakhmalbafAbolfazl AhankhahThe true story of Hossain Sabzian, a cinephile who impersonated the director Mohsen Makhmalbaf to convince a family they would star in his so-called new film.
- DirectorJim JarmuschStarsTom WaitsJohn LurieRoberto BenigniTwo men are framed and sent to jail, where they meet a murderer who helps them escape and leave the state.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsSusanne LotharUlrich MüheArno FrischTwo violent young men take a mother, father, and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic "games" with one another for their own amusement.
- DirectorFatih AkinStarsBirol ÜnelSibel KekilliGüven KiraçWith the intention to break free from the strict familial restrictions, a suicidal young woman sets up a marriage of convenience with a forty-year-old addict, an act that will lead to an outburst of envious love.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiMaggie CheungSiu Ping-LamTwo neighbors form a strong bond after both suspect extramarital activities of their spouses. However, they agree to keep their bond platonic so as not to commit similar wrongs.
- DirectorAki KaurismäkiStarsMarkku PeltolaKati OutinenAnnikki TähtiM arrives in Helsinki only to be viciously attacked by thugs and pronounced dead by medics. He revives but with no memory of his past or his identity. He rebuilds his life from scratch, but the past inevitably catches up with him.
- DirectorRoy AnderssonStarsLars NordhStefan LarssonBengt C.W. CarlssonWhere are we humans going? A film poem inspired by the Peruvian poet César Vallejo. We meet people in the city. People trying to communicate, searching compassion and get the connection of small and large things.