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The hugely anticipated new film from writer/director Céline Sciamma (Tomboy, Water Lilies), Girlhood is a sensational story of female empowerment set in the tough neighbourhoods of Paris.

Mariame is a shy 16-year-old who lives with her mostly absent mother, a domineering older brother, and two younger sisters of whom she largely takes responsibility for caring. Left behind at high school where she’s told her grades are too poor to continue, Mariame is soon lured out of her shell by three vivacious neighborhood teens. Enthralled by their bravado and brash energy, Mariame quickly adopts their flashier look and adapts to their bolder and often reckless behavior, making both foolish and brave choices as she struggles towards independence. – Alliance Francaise French Film Festival 2014

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France, 2014 | Language: French | 113 minutes | Cert: 15A

Director: Celine Sciamma

Starring: Karidja Toure, Assa Sylla, Lindsay Karamoh

Imagine True Detective set in the Andaluz swamplands and you begin to get the measure of Alberto Rodriguez ’s atmospheric, richly textured Spanish murder mystery. It is 1980 and Spain is slowly emerging from the shadows of the Franco era. In the sleepy backwater of Villafranco del Guadalquivir, two teenage girls have disappeared. Detectives Pedro (Raúl Arévalo) and Juan (Javier Gutiérrez) arrive from Madrid to investigate and soon find themselves at odds with a community deeply suspicious of their presence and yoked to misogynistic attitudes of the past. A superb Southern gothic thriller. – Glasgow Film Festival 2014

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Spain, 2014 | Language: Spanish | 104 minutes | Cert: TBC

Director: Alberto Rodriguez

Starring: Javier Gutierrez, Raul Arevalo, Maria Varod

2015 Academy Award Nominee for Best Foreign Language Film.

Not far from Timbuktu, now ruled by religious fundamentalists, Kidane lives peacefully in the dunes with his wife Satima, his daughter Toya, and Issan, their twelve-year-old shepherd. In town, the people suffer, powerless, from the regime of terror imposed by the Jihadists determined to control their faith. Music, laughter, cigarettes, even soccer have been banned. The women have become shadows but resist with dignity. Every day, the new improvised courts issue tragic and absurd sentences. Kidane and his family are being spared the chaos that prevails in Timbuktu. But their destiny changes when Kidane accidentally kills Amadou, the fisherman who slaughtered “GPS,” his beloved cow. He now has to face the new laws of the foreign occupants. Timbuktu is Mauritania’s first entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award.

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France, Mauritania, 2014 | Language: Arabic, French | 97 minutes | Cert: 12A

Director: Abderrahmane Sissako

Starring: Ibrahim Ahmed aka Pino, Toulou Kiki, Abel Jafri

At the peak of her international career, Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche) is asked to perform in a revival of the play that made her famous twenty years ago. But back then she played the role of Sigrid, an alluring young girl who disarms and eventually drives her boss Helena to suicide. Now she is being asked to step into the other role, that of the older Helena.

She departs with her assistant (Kristen Stewart) to rehearse in Sils Maria; a remote region of the Alps. A young Hollywood starlet with a penchant for scandal (Chloë Grace Moretz) is to take on the role of Sigrid, and Maria finds herself on the other side of the mirror, face to face with an ambiguously charming woman who is, in essence, an unsettling reflection of herself. – Cannes Film Festival main Competition 2014

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France, 2014 | Language: French, English | 124 minutes | Cert: TBC

Director: Olivier Assayas

Starring: Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart, Chloë Grace Moretz, Lars Eidinger

Wild Tales is a collection of six crazy, absurd and hilarious stories of people who are stressed out or depressed by the drive for success, competition and the inequality of the world we live in. With its underlying theme of violence and vengeance, this Argentinean black comedy-drama boasts an eclectic ensemble cast. Co-produced by Pedro Almodóvar, Wild Tales is Argentina’s submission to the 87th Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category. – Dubai International Film Festival 2014

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Argentina, 2014 | Language: Spanish | 122 minutes | Cert: TBC

Director: Damián Szifrón

Starring: Ricardo Darín, Oscar Martínez, Darío Grandinetti, Rita Cortese, Julieta Zylberberg, Erica Rivas, Leonardo Sbaraglia

PLEASE NOTE:  Blind contains some sexually explicit scenes. The film has not been classified here in Ireland.  Here is the link to the British Board of Film Classification which notes “images of strong real sex”: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/blind-2014

‘A dark and gripping story  about a newly blind woman is twisty, intense and illuminated by a dazzling central performance.’ – Irish Times

Premiered at both Berlin and Sundance to great critical acclaim, this new Norwegian film has attracted a lot of attention for the way it blends humour, insight, complexity and tension, keeping the audience gripped from start to finish without any sense of where it might be headed. Ingrid is a young woman who has gone blind and is adjusting to her new condition in her apartment, where even making a cup of tea is a major undertaking. In order to keep her visual imagination fresh, she is writing a story in which fantasy and reality overlap, to the point where the audience becomes uncertain of what is real. Comparisons have been made with Charlie Kauffman’s Adaptation, and Variety calls it ‘droll, sexy and heartbreaking’. – Bath Film Festival 2014

Click here to read The Irish Times review.

Click here to read The Telegraph review.

Norway, 2014  | Language: Norway | 31 minutes | Cert: TBC

Director: Eskil Vogt

Starring: Ellen Dorritt Petersen, Henrik Rafaelsen, Vera Vitali, Marius Kolbenstvedt

A late 1970s-set drama about a young East German woman trying to build a new life in the west is an intriguing study of family, love and treachery.

Two suitcases, a schoolbag, a toy – that’s all Nelly Senff and her son Alexej take with them to start their new life in the West. A Volkswagen stops in front of their house in East Berlin and a West German man takes them over the border. Nelly wants a fresh start and it should be possible on the other side of the Wall. Her only shelter is the first place of refuge for emigrants, the Emergency Refugee Center in West Berlin. It is the place where her past will catch up with her. – Cambridge Film Festival

Germany, 2013 | Language: German | 103 minutes | Cert: CLUB

Director: Christian Schwochow

Starring: Jordis Triebel, Tristan Gobel, Alexander Scheer, Jacky Ido, Anja Antonowicz

The mountainous scenery of Lesotho provides the canvas for director Andrew Mudge’s profoundly visual story, which tells the tale of Atang: a young man obliged to make a pilgrimage from the bustle of Johannesburg to his native Lesotho upon learning that his father has passed away.

There, Atang is reunited with childhood friend Dineo, with whom he discovers a romantic spark. But her disapproving father whisks Dineo away and sends Atang back to Jo’burg. Resolving to win her back, Atang enlists the help of a young orphan boy to guide him through the arresting rural terrain.  The first film ever to be produced in Lesotho, The Forgotten Kingdom is a beguiling quest steeped in the history and culture of the Basotho people. – Cambridge Film Festival 2013

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Winner – Audience Award, Cambridge Film Festival 2013
Winner – Audience Award, Florida Film Festival 2013

Lesotho, 2013 | Language: Sesotho | 97 minutes | Cert: CLUB

Director: Andrew Mudge

Starring: Zenzo Ngqobe, Nozipho Nkelemba, Jerry Mofokeng, Lebohang Ntsane

Mumbai’s Dabbawallahs are a community of 5000 dabba (lunch box) deliverymen.  Harvard University analysed their delivery system and concluded that just one in a million lunch boxes is ever delivered to the wrong address. This film is the story of that one lunch box.

Director:  Ritesh Batra.  India, 2013. Language: Hindi, English. 104 minutes.  Cert: PG
Middle class housewife Ila is trying once again to add some spice to her marriage, this time through her cooking. She desperately hopes that this new recipe will finally arouse some kind of reaction from her neglectful husband. She prepares a special lunchbox to be delivered to him at work, but, unbeknownst to her, it is mistakenly delivered to another office worker, Saajan, a lonely man on the verge of retirement. Curious about the lack of reaction from her husband, Ila puts a little note in the following day’s lunchbox, in the hopes of getting to the bottom of the mystery.

This begins a series of lunchbox notes between Saajan and Ila, and the mere comfort of communicating with a stranger anonymously soon evolves into an unexpected friendship. Gradually, their notes become little confessions about their loneliness, memories, regrets, fears, and even small joys. They each discover a new sense of self and find an anchor to hold on to in the big city of Mumbai that so often crushes hopes and dreams. Still strangers physically, Ila and Saajan become lost in a virtual relationship that could jeopardize both their realities.

‘The Lunchbox is perfectly handled and beautifully acted; a quiet storm of banked emotions.’ – The Guardian

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Starring: Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Nawazuddin Siddique, Denzil Smith, Bharati Achrekar, NakulVaid, Yashvi Puneet Nagar, Lillete Dubey

Vancouver International Film Festival 2013:  Some romances are written in the stars. Others, it would seem, can be chalked up to a misread street map. When a lunchbox painstakingly prepared by Ila (NimratKaur) for her emotionally distant husband is mistakenly delivered to Saajan (the wonderful Irrfan Khan, Life of Pi), the under-appreciated Mumbai housewife and lonely accountant strike up an intimate correspondence. Continuing to use Mumbai’s legion of lunch couriers as their go-betweens, they share increasingly involved letters detailing their inner thoughts and life stories. The tinges of disappointment and regret that punctuate these missives reflect the enticing soulfulness of RiteshBatra’s debut. In turn, there’s exhilaration to be had watching these characters realize that their futures are unwritten. But will they put down their pens and overcome the obstacles keeping them from one another?

From Ken Loach’s protege, Diego Quemada-Diez, comes this astounding and gripping debut feature, that is a piercing and poetic road movie that follows the fortunes of four Guatemalan teenagers on a dangerous journey across the Mexican border into America. Using improvisational techniques and non-professional actors, The Golden Dream has astounded and won critical praise world over, garnering numerous awards including a specially created prize for ‘Best Ensemble Cast’ at the  Cannes Film Festival.

“A beautiful film, full of human warmth, compassion and truth. The struggle of the innocent is caught with precision. And it is clear that the real enemy is beyond their reach or comprehension, but nonetheless very present in the film. Terrific!” – Ken Loach

Director: Diego Quemada-Diez.  Mexico, Spain, 2013.  Language: Spanish. 102 minutes  Cert: CLUB

Starring: Brandon Lopez, Rodolfo Dominguez, Karen Martinez, Carlos Chajon

Spanish Film Festival 2013:   In order to escape from the squalid barrio in which they live, young Guatemalan teens Juan, Sara and Samuel make the decision to attempt the 1,200 mile-long arduous border crossing into “The Golden Cage”, i.e. USA, via Mexico in search of a better life.   In order to blend in with the group and protect herself from the harm a woman can suffer on the journey, Sara initially disguises herself as a boy named Oswaldo.

Not long after their departure, the group encounter Chauk, an Tzotzil Indian who speaks virtually no Spanish.  Despite Juan’s fervent and passionate opposition, Sara insists they allow Chauk to join the gang. A harsh road follows as the four children show inspiring bravery in the face of relentless danger and obstacles, both natural and man-made. All the while, they risk arrest, deportation and death. From the first frame to the last hopeless moment, this is a heart-wrenching story of hope, friendship, survival, love and desperation, and a profound homage to the treacherous journey thousands of immigrants undertake each year.