The Commissar of Light

The Girl of the Mountains

An unbaptized woman is killed because of the regressive mentality existing in the mountains of northern Albania.

Eternity

Can heartbeats be “reactionary”? Yes, if they are the only sonic element on a montage-heavy documentary about the war dead. Made just before Enver Hoxha’s cultural purges in 1974, Dhimitër Anagnosti’s formalist, wonderfully edited affair will finally premiere in a restored version after its completion forty-two years ago.

Brothers and Friends

The year is 1941, World War II is going on. Vaso returns to his village, helping the revolt of the villagers against the enemy. Marko, his brother, wants to get revenge against the people who took his fiancée. This revenge becomes part of the overall revolt.

The Discussion

Three years after the fascist occupation, a group of children create the anti-fascist organization called "Debatik". Coli, an orphan boy, manages to become a member.

The Stones of my House

World War II. Italians accuse the residents of a village in South Albania of giving signals to the Greeks during the Greek-Italian War.

Mountains Clad in Green

Year 1943. A group of soldiers, carrying an injured comrade, are trying to reach the hospital.

Old Wounds

An old man refuses to undergo an operation in the hospital because he does not trust the abilities of the female surgeon.

The Return of the Dead Army

A general and an Italian priest arrive in Albania to retrieve the bones of the soldiers who were killed during the war.

When the Masks are Taken Off

A satirical anthology film transforms popular humorous and sarcastic stage songs into standalone vignettes that lampoon the absurdities of bureaucratic officials and the liberal attitudes that were systematically targeted and suppressed in that era.

Silent Duel

Spectacular film by successful director Dhimitër Anagnosti. Three people, Sergeant Rahmiu (Ndrek Luca), Islam (Reshat Arbana), and Bepini (Bujar Kapexhiu) hijack a military ship to emigrate to Italy. Along the way they encounter opposition in the sailor Skender Guri (Rikard Ljarja), who wants to turn the ship back to Albania. 4 people representing different layers of the postwar Albanian society merge and collide offshore, unfolding the political conflicts of that era.

Our Land

After the agrarian reform, a dispute for the land starts between two families in north Albania.

Red Poppies on the Wall

In an orphanage in Tirana at the beginning of the Second World War during the occupation by the Italian fascists, a group of boys make plans to rebel against the despotic director and the oppression by the management.

A Tale from the Past

To meet the desires and needs of the parents, a marriage is arranged between 14-year-old Gjino and 20-year-old Marigo. Gjino reluctantly obeys, but Marigo, who loves another, tries various devious methods to free herself from this bizarre marriage agreement.

The Monument

An old gardener tends for the flowers during the war. Nazis ask him for flowers for their dead.

The Break

A story about a little boy who lives in Tirana, the capital of Albania.

The Red Pledge

Film about the 5 Heroes of Vig, who died in a bloody battle during the National Liberation War.

Ugetsu

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.

The Night of the Iguana

A defrocked Episcopal clergyman leads a bus-load of middle-aged Baptist women on a tour of the Mexican coast and comes to terms with the failure haunting his life.

Doubt

In 1964 Bronx, two Catholic school nuns question the new priest's ambiguous relationship with a troubled African-American student.

Bad Day at Black Rock

One-armed war veteran John J. Macreedy steps off a train at the sleepy little town of Black Rock. Once there, he begins to unravel a web of lies, secrecy, and murder.

Herod's Law

In the 1940s, a small Mexican town has seen its last three mayors assassinated in rapid succession. A naive janitor is recruited to become the new mayor, and he believes he will modernize the little town and usher in a reign of peace. But the system corrupts him very quickly, and he takes to abusing his power while associating with an unscrupulous assortment of opportunists, hypocrites and criminals.

Harakiri

Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.

Wood Job!

After failing his university entrance exam, Yuki Hirano sets his eyes on the role of a forestry trainee. Setting off for training he doubts his decision many times, but eventually after passing the training course, he is sent to Kamusari Village for a year of work experience - where he becomes assimilated with the beauty of nature and the warm-hearted people of the village.

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society

Free-spirited writer Juliet Ashton forms a life-changing bond with the delightful and eccentric Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, when she decides to write about the book club they formed during the occupation of Guernsey in WWII.

Only Yesterday

In lyrical switches between the present and the past, Taeko contemplates the arc of her life, and wonders if she has been true to the dreams of her childhood self.

Try Seventeen

Teenager Jones has opted not to go to college and is instead renting a room in a boarding house to work on his writing skills. Soon, Jones finds himself dividing his time between two women: a young actress named Lisa and a photographer named Jane. After Jane's ex-boyfriend arrives to help her recover from a car accident, Jones begins to understand just how much he cares for her.

Welcome to Dongmakgol

Based on the long running play by Jang Jin, the story is set in Korea during the Korean War in 1950. Soldiers from both the North and South, as well as an American pilot, find themselves in a secluded and naively idealistic village, its residents unaware of the outside world, including the war.

My Son

The story of a busy man, who fills his time travelling to Africa, South America and the Middle East. His passion for his job has distanced him from his loved ones. He’s been divorced for three years and has since seen his son very little. When the latter disappears, he is forced to stand still, and soon discovers things about his ex-wife and, above all, his son. A terrible feeling of guilt overwhelms him and he decides to find his son at all costs...

De-Lovely

From Paris to Venice to Broadway to Hollywood, the lives of Cole Porter and his wife, Linda Lee Thomas were never less than glamorous and wildly unconventional. And though Cole's thirst for life strained their marriage, Linda never stopped being his muse, inspiring some of the greatest songs of the twentieth century.

A Man Escaped

A captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from prison.