The Sun Beaten Path

The Grassland

Pema's graduation film made for Beijing Film Academy, Set in rural Tibet ; it is a timeless allegory of an old nomadic couple searching for a stolen yak.

River

The rich complexity of human relationships is central to this story of a young girl, her father, and his father, who each long to strengthen their bonds, but find themselves fighting the weight of personal and national histories. Tibetan writer-Director Sonthar Gyal (The Sun-Beaten Path) makes breathtaking use of the Tibetan plains and mountains as an epic backdrop to this intimate family drama.

Ala Changso

A touching story about Tibetan people’s pilgrimage to Lhasa.

The Search

A filmmaker searches the Himalayas for an actor and actress to play the lead roles in his Tibetan opera.

Old Dog

A story of an aged sheepherder, his gruff grown son (who’s having trouble conceiving a child with his wife) and the old man’s Tibetan mastiff hound – a highly prized breed, much sought after by urban Chinese – whose existence is imperiled from all sides.

The Silent Holy Stones

A young Tibetan monk goes back home for the New Year's celebrations. Fascinated by television, he wants to bring his family's television to the monastery to show it to his master.

Lhamo and Skalbe

Lhamo and Skalbe fail to get married when they find out that Skalbe has already registered a marriage. Memories rush back as Skalbe embarks on a journey in search for his so-called ex-wife Cuoyehe, only to discover that the girl had renunciated her secular life when she broke their marriage promise four years ago. As a result, Cuoyehe's religious identity causes great difficulty in Skalbe's attempt at a divorce. On the other hand, Lhamo becomes aloof.

Bystander

A man returns home after sixteen years for his father's funeral, only to uncover a long-buried family secret and the truth about his unresolved relationship with his deceased father.

Flares Wafting in 1983

The 40th Anniversary of Chinese Film Since China's Reform and Opening-Up

Documentary about China's film industry and the monumental changes in the past 40 years from beginning with propaganda films to the "5th generation" filmmakers and beyond, who embraced art and commercial films to make China the second largest box office market in the world after Hollywood.

The Wizard

A boy and his brother run away from home and hitch cross-country, with help from a girl they meet, to compete in the ultimate video game championship.

The Wages of Fear

In a run-down South American town, four men are paid to drive trucks loaded with nitroglycerin into the jungle through to the oil field. Friendships are tested and rivalries develop as they embark upon the perilous journey.

Knockin' on Heaven's Door

Two young men, Martin and Rudi, both suffering from terminal cancer, get to know each other in a hospital room. They drown their desperation in tequila and decide to take one last trip to the sea. Drunk and still in pajamas they steal the first fancy car they find, a 60's Mercedes convertible. The car happens to belong to a bunch of gangsters, which immediately start to chase it, since it contains more than the pistol Martin finds in the glove box.

Stranger Than Paradise

New York layabout Willie forms an unexpected bond with his young Hungarian cousin Eva when she pays him a surprise visit. Later, Eva moves in with their aunt in Cleveland, and Willie takes his best friend Eddie to see her—a visit that culminates in a strange, eventful trip to Florida.

Transamerica

A transgender woman takes an unexpected journey when she learns that she had a son, now a teenage runaway hustling on the streets of New York.

The Straight Story

Retired farmer and widower Alvin Straight learns one day that his distant brother Lyle has suffered a stroke and may not recover. Alvin is determined to make things right with Lyle while he still can, but his brother lives in Wisconsin, while Alvin is stuck in Iowa with no car and no driver's license. He then has the idea of making the trip on his old lawnmower, thus beginning a picturesque and at times deeply spiritual odyssey.

Free Zone

Rebecca, an American who has been living in Jerusalem for a few months now, has just broken off her engagement. She gets into a cab driven by Hanna, an Israeli. But Hanna is on her way to Jordan, to the Free Zone, to pick up a large sum of money.

Highway

Jack is caught with the wife of his employer, a Vegas thug. The thug sends goons after Jack, who convinces his best friend, Pilot, to flee with him. Pilot insists that they head for Seattle, but doesn't tell Jack why. The goons learn from Pilot's drug source where the youths are headed, and they follow, hell bent on breaking Jack's feet. On the road, Jack and Pilot give a ride to Cassie, a distressed young woman. She and Jack hit it off. They pick up an aging stoner headed to Seattle for Kurt Cobain's memorial, and they help a circus sideshow family. Why is Pilot so set on Seattle, will the goons catch Jack, and is there any way the friends' competing needs can be resolved?

Wrong Move

Six days in the life of Wilhelm: a detached man without qualities. He wants to write, so his mother gives him a ticket to Bonn, telling him to live. On the train he meets an older man, an athlete in the 1936 Olympics, and his mute teen companion, Mignon. She's an acrobat in market squares for spare change.