The Magpie in the Wisp

Squandered Sunday(cs)

A day in the life of Arnošt, a soldier staying in Josefov. A sense of desperation permeates the environment as well as the mind of the protagonist. It is sunday, and saturday left just a hangover. Days go by, nothing changes. A metaphor for the political situation in the Czech lands at a time where depicting a soldier as a drunk was considered out of place to say the least.

The Seventh Day, the Eighth Night(cs)

An allegory set in an archetypal Czech village, it tells the story of what happens when a series of mysterious events take place, including the disappearance of the station master. While everything has a rational explanation, collective paranoia takes over and everyone's worst instincts are unleashed. Interrogations, disenfranchisement, and the search for scapegoats ultimately lead to murder. The movie was completed in 1969, but it was banned and not released till 1990, Evald Schorm who died in 1988 never saw it completed.

Larks on a String(cs)

In post-WWII Communist Czechoslovakia, several characters considered bourgeois are sentenced to work in a junkyard for rehabilitation. Among them is a young man who pines for a female convict.

Král Ubu(cs)

A television recording of a theatrical production of Alfred Jarry's absurd drama about the gluttonous, gluttonous, compulsive and unscrupulous Father Ubo, who, with the generous advice of his ambitious wife, gets rid of the Polish king and seizes his throne. He establishes a reign of terror in which he only cares about his own benefit, so it is not surprising that the people rebel against him. The recording was made at the end of July 1968 and, thanks to a copy saved from destruction during the normalization period, was first published in 1990.

Funeral Ceremony(cs)

Matylda, who lives in the Czech countryside, is trying to arrange burial plans for her dying husband, Jan. While Matylda hopes to have a funeral for Jan in the small town where they once lived, there are complications. Years earlier, Jan spoke out against the Communist government and was consequently expelled from the town. When Matylda fails to convince a local politician to allow the ceremony, she uses her husband's funeral as a public show of dissent.

Klec(cs)

A successful scientist dares to openly and forcefully criticize the unproductive activities of the institute in which he works. He draws attention to outdated procedures and also to the fact that scientific work must not fall into the abyss of mediocrity and everyday grayness, so typical of the entire society. Will his career withstand this situation?

The Ear(cs)

Upon returning home from an official party, a Czech government official and his wife discover it bugged and surveilled by mysterious figures, driving them to paranoia and intensifying their discontents with one another.

The Borstal(cs)

A young teacher is sent to a rural reform school, where he is faced with brutality of the inmates.

The Uninvited Guest(cs)

A run-of-the-mill family is terrorized by strangers dressed in military garb who invade their private realm.

Jan 69(cs)

Hidden Faces(tr)

Complex and intriguing Turkish drama about revenge killing. A young woman who went into hiding from her family talks about her life in a documentary. An uncle who sees the film in Germany won't let it rest .

Fatal Sin(pt)

A boy and a girl fall in love. But on the night they met, she was drunk and stoned and he took advantage of her. Although she does not remember almost anything from that night, she remembers something that may compromise their relationship.

Tortured Souls(ru)

Member Of Parliament(ru)

John Shilcott, a member of the English Parliament, a nervous, sickly man, has long since lost all energy for work, and only at times the increasing doses of morphine, which he injects into himself, give him the illusion of an influx of vitality. In his family life, too, not all is not well: over the past three years, he has become estranged from his wife, there is no spiritual closeness between them, and Ava Shilkott begs her father to help her get a divorce...

Boucherie Halal(en)

A muslim couple opens a butcher shop in Montreal and wishes to successfully integrate into Quebec society. But the butcher's father is an imam who sets up a little mosque in the back room and uses it to spread his fundamentalist views. When he is arrested by the RCMP on suspicions of past terrorist activities, his son, torn between love for his wife and allegiance to his father, gets involved in a plot to free him. Fed up by her husband's unwillingness to stand up to his father's wishes, the butcher's wife leaves to live a more fulfilling life away from the muslim community.

A Day and a Night(ar)

In a remote village in the mountains, Yzza is still waiting for the monthly package of medicine that her husband Hossein sends to treat their daughter. Failing to have the medicine being a matter of life and death, Yzza decides to go to Casablanca to fetch it. Without a proper address and with little money in her bag, this inexperienced, religious, naïve woman does not even fathom that Casablanca is an enormous metropolis, very far from her little rural village. Yzza’s bag is stolen and in her misfortune Yzza meets a young woman, a prostitute wanted by the police. From adventure to adventure, Yzza discovers the workings of an absurd society where her sensible codes are pushed and shoved. Director Naoufel Berraoui skillfully knits the portrayal of a city swarming with cars and people with the dramatic lives of his characters. A remarkable cast directed with sensitivity in a poignant drama with documentary-like accents.

Rapist in Uniform: A Sexual Demon(ja)

A high school girl and a teacher form a relationship but the man was arrested on suspicion of indecent conduct. Three years later, the man quit his job as a teacher, worked as a salesman for a general company, had a girlfriend, and was about to get engaged. Then, one day, in town, the two of them had a fateful reunion...

Standing Towards the Great Forest(ja)

Strife between competing lumber mills.

The Golden Trumpet(zh)

A Hong Kong wenyi drama.

Dans l'ombre des dunes(fr)

Superintendent Becker arrives in a small town in Les Landes to try and win his wife back. Tired of her husband's late hours, she decided to go back to her home region, where she meets old friends. Becker swears he'll do better, and he'll spend more time with his family... But a series of strange murders occurring in the region which forces him to dive into this case. With the help of a young cop, eager to prove himself, the "Parisian" will try and solve the case despite his promise to his wife.

Puncture(en)

A lawyer who is a drug addict fights a medical-supplies corporation in court while battling his personal demons.

The Eternal Daughter(en)

An artist and her elderly mother confront long-buried secrets when they return to a former family home, now a hotel haunted by its mysterious past.

Possession(en)

Maud Bailey, a brilliant English academic, is researching the life and work of poet Christabel La Motte. Roland Michell is an American scholar in London to study Randolph Henry Ash, now best-known for a collection of poems dedicated to his wife. When Maud and Roland discover a cache of love letters that appear to be from Ash to La Motte, they follow a trail of clues across England, echoing the journey of the couple over a century earlier.

Inseparable(en)

A troubled engineer faces pressure at work and problems at home with his moody wife. American expat Chuck, rescues him from the brink of despair and becomes an unlikely mentor.

Donovan's Echo(en)

A series of uncanny déjà vu events force a man to re-examine his tragic past, memory, instinct, and future.

Brand Upon the Brain!(en)

After returning home to his long-estranged mother upon a request from her deathbed, a man raised by his parents in an orphanage has to confront the childhood memories that have long haunted him.

Mr. K(en)

Mr. K, a traveling magician, finds himself in a Kafkaesque nightmare when he can’t find the exit of his hotel. His attempts to get out only pull him deeper, entangling him further with the hotel and its curious inhabitants.

Northanger Abbey(en)

A young woman's penchant for sensational Gothic novels leads to misunderstandings in the matters of the heart.

Remember(en)

With the aid of a fellow Auschwitz survivor and a hand-written letter, an elderly man with dementia goes in search of the person responsible for the death of his family.

Triage(en)

The wife of a photojournalist sets out to discover why he came home from a recent assignment without his colleague.

Agatha and the Midnight Murders(en)

As bombs fall on London, writer Agatha Christie decides it is time to kill off her most famous creation.

End of Sentence(en)

Newly widowed Frank Fogle embarks on a journey to Ireland to scatter his late wife’s ashes. His estranged son, Sean, recently released from prison, agrees to join only when his father promises that they’ll never see each other again following the trip. After revelations surface about an old flame of Frank’s wife and a charming hitchhiker with plans of her own intervenes, father and son find themselves drawn together in unexpected ways.

Moonlight Mile(en)

As he copes with the death of his fiancee along with her parents, a young man must figure out what he wants out of life.

Endless Night(en)

Shiftless dreamer Michael Rogers fantasizes about a lifestyle above his means and marries a wealthy, young girl who just came of age. They hire a famous architect to build their dream home amidst a series of suspicious incidents. The spouse has dark intentions toward his naive, inexperienced bride. Secrets from his past and sinister ties to their house guest Greta lead to a terrible turn of unexpected events.

Elephant Song(en)

A psychiatrist is drawn into a complex mind game when he questions a disturbed patient about the disappearance of a colleague.

A Beautiful Place to Die: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery(en)

After being forced into early retirement, former detective Jeff Jackson returns to a quiet life on Martha's Vineyard. Quiet, at least, until a body washes up and he's drawn back into crime solving.

Garage Sale Mystery: Guilty Until Proven Innocent(en)

When Jenn's old pal Sandra becomes the prime suspect in a murder case, it'll be up to her to discover who done it before time runs out.

Maria's Lovers(en)

A World War II prisoner returns home to his childhood sweetheart. However, back home, he discovers that he has to compete to win her love.

She's So Lovely(en)

After being released from a psychiatric institution, a man tries to redeem himself in the eyes of his now-ex wife from the events that led up to his incarceration.

Garage Sale Mystery: A Case Of Murder(en)

Jenn buys an old reel-to-reel recorder at a garage sale only to find that it includes the sound of a man pleading for his life. When the former owner of the recorder, a retired therapist, is found murdered in a patient’s apartment, Jenn’s investigation leads to other patients whose love lives are more entangled than she was first led to believe.