XConfessions 8[2016]

On the Edge(en)

A compendium of three short science-fiction films, each with a decidedly feminist slant.

Dog Days(ko)

Min-sang, a meticulous planner and tidy single man, is frustrated daily by his tenant, Jin-young, a veterinarian who turns his newly mortgaged building into a mess. During another quarrelsome day with Jin-young, Min-sang encounters an elderly lady at the animal hospital, who turns out to be the world-renowned architect Min-seo. Desperate for Min-seo's approval for an ongoing project, Min-sang starts to persuade Jin-young and her cared-for puppy to impress Min-seo. Meanwhile, Hyun, the leader of a small band, is left bewildered while looking after his absent girlfriend's dog, especially when her ex-boyfriend Daniel shows up unexpectedly, demanding to see the dog, claiming he used to raise it together and insisting on visiting the dog once a month...

The Tower of Babble(en)

Three different scenarios, intercut, all using the same words but with very different meanings. A corrupt cop is more interested in the money on the criminals he catches than justice; a young woman discovers she's pregnant, and her boyfriend is unfeeling; and a young man calls a prostitute it's the first time for both, and neither can go through with it. Ultimately, all the stories come together.

Tales of Manhattan(en)

Ten screenwriters collaborated on this series of tales concerning the effect a tailcoat cursed by its tailor has on those who wear it. The video release features a W.C. Fields segment not included in the original theatrical release.

O. Henry's Full House(en)

Five O. Henry stories, each separate. The primary one from the critics' acclaim was "The Cop and the Anthem". Soapy tells fellow bum Horace that he is going to get arrested so he can spend the winter in a nice jail cell. He fails. He can't even accost a woman; she turns out to be a streetwalker. The other stories are "The Clarion Call", "The Last Leaf", "The Ransom of Red Chief", and "The Gift of the Magi".

The Echo(en)

An ex-prisoner moves to an old apartment, where one gets to see in the middle of a domestic problem between a police officer, his wife and his daughter. When he tries to intervene, he will be caught in a mysterious curse.

Dear Diary(it)

Nanni Moretti recalls in his diary three slice of life stories characterized by a sharply ironic look: in the first one he wanders through a deserted Rome, in the second he visits a reclusive friend on an island, and in the last he has to grapple with an unknown illness.

Ragtime(en)

A young black pianist becomes embroiled in the lives of an upper-class white family set among the racial tensions, infidelity, violence, and other nostalgic events in early 1900s New York City.

The Carousel Never Stops Turning(id)

This film talks about today’s Indonesia from different perspectives—economy, politics, arts and culture, society, laws, and history—outlined in several fragments influenced by one another.

A Side of a Relationship(ko)

Killer Diller(en)

A guitar playing car thief meets an autistic savant piano player, and together they transform a group of reluctant halfway house convicts into The Killer Diller Blues Band.

Aria(en)

Ten short pieces directed by ten different directors, including Ken Russell, Jean-Luc Godard, Robert Altman, Bruce Beresford, and Nicolas Roeg. Each short uses an aria as soundtrack/sound, and is an interpretation of the particular aria.

Tales from the Hood(en)

A strange mortician tells four horrific tales to three drug dealers that he traps in their local funeral parlor.

Rain(es)

Story of six interwoven narratives in Mexico City, exploring the human condition against intermittent rain. With each encounter, the characters experience a moment of absurdity, brightness, or strangeness that reveals their true selves.

Bits of Life(en)

This film combines four short films under the title Bits Of Life. The Bad Samaritan is taken from a story in Popular Magazine in which the son of a Chinese father and a white mother is sold into slavery by his father. The boy becomes a criminal and a cunning but cruel thief. The one time he stops to help a lady in distress he is thrown in jail. Wesley Barry is the young boy and Lon Chaney the grown-up criminal.

Dissonance(en)

A young boy must relearn piano in order to rekindle the broken relationship between him and his mother.

Carnival, Angel and Dust(sh)

Three stories from the Mediterranean region that deal with feelings of loneliness, disappointment and transience, and efforts to overcome them.

The Beat That My Heart Skipped(fr)

A ruthless real estate agent discovers a passion for piano and auditions with help from a young virtuoso, but the pressures of his corrupt career threaten to derail his musical aspirations.

The Piano Player(en)

A tale about the relationship between a businessman who launders money for a Mafia figure and his gangster bodyguard.

Omniboat: A Fast Boat Fantasia(en)

Chronicling the life of Lay'n Pipe, a 47 foot TopGun Cigarette speedboat, from its conception through the end of human civilization. It's not just a speedboat ride, it's a Miami adventure.