Of Love and Shadows (1994)
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A beautiful Argentine activist receives preferential treatment from a man supposed to torture her.
A political activist is convinced that her guest is a man who once tortured her for the government.
Accomplished British screenwriter Christopher Hampton directs the political drama Imagining Argentina, based on the novel by Lawrence Thornton. Set during the unsettling disappearances in Buenos Aires during the dictatorship of the 1970s, the film involves theater director Carlos Rueda (Antonio Banderas) and his wife Cecilia (Emma Thompson). Shortly after Cecilia writes an editorial commentary questioning the mysterious abductions, she is herself abducted and taken into police custody. Soon Carlos develops the supernatural ability to see into the future and he imagines his wife meeting an awful fate during an escape attempt. To make matters worse, their teenage daughter Teresa (Leticia Dolera) is also kidnapped. Imagining Argentina was nominated for the Golden Lion at the 2003 Venice Film Festival. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: Venice Film Festival (ref. Amazon)
Based on the real-life experiences of Ed Horman. A conservative American businessman travels to a South American country to investigate the sudden disappearance of his son after a right-wing military takeover. Accompanied by his son's wife he uncovers a trail of cover-ups that implicate the US State department which supports the right-wing dictatorship.
Jack Cutter is the last in long line of vampire hunters. After killing few vampires in one L.A. restaurant, he is chased both by police and by other vampires. In the process he meets an attractive woman-reporter.
Little known actor, Jack Noah, is working on location in the dictatorship of Parador at the time the dictator dies. The dictator's right hand man, Roberto, makes Jack an offer he cannot refuse.. to play the dictator. Jack's acting skills fool the masses but not close friends and employees of the dictator.
Four corrupted fascist libertines round up 9 teenage boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of sadistic physical, mental and sexual torture.
A school teacher discusses types of government with his class. His students find it too boring to repeatedly go over national socialism and believe that dictatorship cannot be established in modern Germany. He starts an experiment to show how easily the masses can become manipulated.
A ruthless inquisitor spins the superstitions of local peasants into religious heresy, finding cause to accuse dozens of innocent men and women of witchcraft. The inquisitor targets nobles and merchants, whose property and goods are then confiscated. After suffering an array of medieval tortures, most of the accused confessâonly to be burned alive at the stake as helpless villagers watch. With its bold and striking cinematography, the film captures scenes of both daring nudity and brutal torture
The Night of the Pencils was a series of kidnappings and forced disappearances, followed by the torture, rape, and murder of a number of young students during the last Argentine dictatorship (known as the National Reorganization Process). The kidnappings took place over the course of several days beginning on September 16, 1976.
A light hearted comedy about the beginnings of Professional American Football. When a decorated war hero and college all star is tempted into playing professional football. Everyone see the chance to make some big money, but when a reporter digs up some dirt on the war hero... everyone could lose out.
Sarah Barcant, a lawyer in New York City who grew up in South Africa, returns to her childhood dwelling place to intercede for Alex Mpondo, a Black South African politician who was tortured during apartheid.
Based on the true events surrounding Frank Sinatra's tour of Australia. When Sinatra calls a local reporter a "two-bit hooker", every union in the country black-bans the star until he issues an apology.
Corky, a tough female ex con and her lover Violet concoct a scheme to steal millions of stashed mob money and pin the blame on Violet's crooked boyfriend Caeser.
A boy is left alone in a Jewish neighborhood in the year of 1970, where both world cup and dictatorship happen in Brazil.
Film adaptation of the same-titled comic popular for its extraordinary premise. Up-and-coming Yoshida Kota, known for his humorous yet sensual style in films like Usotsuki Paradox, creates a unique coming-of-age drama about love between two girls, with elements of sports and perseverance sprinkled throughout. The "Torture Club" is an official afterschool activity at the private school Saint Honesty Gakuen. Yuzuki (Kijima Noriko) has no idea about the club when she enrolls, and gets abducted by the club members and hauled off the clubroom. There, she finds out that upperclass student Aoi (Yoshizumi Haruna), her secret idol, is in the club, and decides to join, butâ¦
Recently released from a mental hospital, Ricky ties up Marina, a film star he once had sex with and keeps her hostage.
Prime Time Soap tells the story of a group of people living at the height of interlaced 70s with all its cultural effervescence, with the backdrop of the military dictatorship.
In 1599 Italy, Beatrice Cenci is the teenage daughter of the crazed landowner and nobleman Francesco Cenci whom he keeps his daughter locked up in the dungeon of his castle and sexually abuses her as well. Beatrice then plots with her stepmother, her besotted servant Olimpio, as well as a local bandit, named Catalano, to plan Francescoâs murder.
Hannah is a young woman who lives on her own. She starts to get this feeling that she is being watched. The phone starts ringing at night and when she answers, no one is there. Is she imagining everything or is it for real?
In 1988, Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet, due to international pressure, is forced to call a plebiscite on his presidency. The country will vote âYesâ or âNoâ to Pinochet extending his rule for another eight years. Opposition leaders for the âNoâ vote persuade a brash young advertising executive, Rene Saavedra, to spearhead their campaign. Against all odds, with scant resources and while under scrutiny by the despotâs minions, Saavedra and his team devise an audacious plan to win the election and set Chile free.
A victim from World War II's "Death Railway" sets out to find those responsible for his torture. A true story.
The clues to a young woman's death come together as the lives of seemingly unrelated people begin to intersect.
A convert to Islam sends the U.S. government a tape showing him in three nondescript storage rooms, each of which may contain a nuclear bomb set to detonate in less than a week. Helen Brody, an FBI agent in L.A., is tasked with finding the bombs while a CIA "consultant", known as H, interrogates the suspect who has allowed himself to be caught. The suspect, whose wife and children have left him and disappeared, seems to know exactly what the interrogation will entail. Even as H ratchets up the pressure, using torture over Brody's objection, the suspect doesn't crack. Should H do the unthinkable, and will Brody acquiesce? Is any Constitutional principle worth possible loss of life?
The year is 1919. German troops retreat from Ukraine. The Directory, the Ukrainian national government lead by Symon Petliura, takes control of Kyiv. Meanwhile, the Bolshevik division commanded by Mykola Shchors is marching on the capital. The Bolsheviks capture the cities of Vinnytsia, Zhmerynka, and others one by one, but lose Berdychiv to Petliuraâs forces. They are demoralized by the defeat. By his personal example of courage and military skill, Shchors inspires the retreating Red troops and leads them to victory over the enemy.
The opening titles explain that American corporations are using the North American Free Trade Agreement by opening large maquiladoras right across the United StatesâMexico border. The maquiladoras hire mostly Mexican women to work long hours for little money in order to produce mass quantity products.Lauren Adrian (Jennifer Lopez), an impassioned American news reporter for the "Chicago Sentinel" wants to be assigned to the Iraq front-lines to cover the war. Instead, her editor George Morgan (Martin Sheen) assigns her to investigate a series of slayings involving young maquiladora factory women in a Mexican bordertown.
After killing her father who had attempted to rape her, Maria da Guerra is sentenced to prison for life. The wardress is a sadistic lesbian without mercy or humanity. Upon her arrival Maria is taken to a special section for mentally disturbed prisoners where torture and rape are part of the day-to-day reality. One day the Regional Governor arrives, claiming to have received a letter from one of the prisoners describing incredible events in the prison. The writer of the letter was clearly unaware that the Governor is also part of the conspiracy. Carlos Costa, a male nurse pretending to be the prison doctor Moore, falls in love with Maria. After seducing him, Maria kills him with a pair of scissors and escapes with her friends Bertha and the disturbed Rosario, hoping to find safety in the Governor's house, unaware that he will not help them...
A young Italian actress embarks on a self-destructive spree of sex, drugs and other excess while doing some soul searching to find the path for redemption.
The real story of Carlos Lamarca, a captain who, during the military dictatorship in Brazil, deserted Brazilian Army and got involved in left-wing guerilla groups, becoming one of their most prominent leaders.
This film focuses on an aging starlette (Silvia Perez) was once an it-girl. She returns to her hometown for her niece's birthday party and has to deal with her conservative family who does not agree with her chosen lifestyle.
During a stopover in Buenos Aires on her way to Chile, 31-year-old Maria recognizes a nursery rhyme. Maria doesn't speak a work of Spanish, but without understanding what she is singing, she remembers the Spanish lyrics. Disturbed and thrown off course, she decides to interrupt her journey and wander through the unfamiliar city. On the phone to Germany, she tells her father, Anton, about her experience and the peculiar fascination the unfamiliar city has had for her. Two days later, Anton suddenly turns up at Maria's hotel with something to confess: Maria spent the first three years of her life in Buenos Aires during the military dictatorship at the end of the 1970s. The people she had always thought were her parents had adopted her and brought her to Germany. Father and daughter begin a journey in search of Maria's biological parents. Anton does everything he can not to lose his daughter.
A newspaper reporter comes across a man and woman arguing on the beach, and after obligingly driving the woman around when she seeks him out, he takes her back to discover that the man has been murdered. The woman takes off, but the reporter, after many twists and turns, runs into her on a train. They start a relationship, but he had better pay closer attention to how he got to know her in the first place.
As single mom Grace juggles work, bills, and her affair with a married doctor, her daughter, Ansiedad, plots a shortcut to adulthood after finding inspiration in the coming-of-age stories she's reading for school.
Secrets, rumors and betrayals surround the upcoming marriage between a young dissolute man and virtuous woman of the French aristocracy.
A Brazilian theatre group that through talent, irony and humour confronted the Brazilian violent dictatorship in the 1970's revolutionising the gay movement worldwide and changing theatre and dance language to an entire generation.
Filmmaking icon Agnès Varda, the award-winning director regarded by many as the grandmother of the French new wave, turns the camera on herself with this unique autobiographical documentary. Composed of film excerpts and elaborate dramatic re-creations, Varda's self-portrait recounts the highs and lows of her professional career, the many friendships that affected her life and her longtime marriage to cinematic giant Jacques Demy.
A second rated journalist from the US tries his luck in El Salvador during the military dictatorship in the 1980s.
Officer Daniel Harding is a distinguished member of the K-9 police unit. His partner and best friend is Ace, a police dog. When Ace is accused of mauling a suspect, an overzealous DA convinces police authorities that Ace should be euthanized.
Three flatmates in Mexico City face uncertainties: LucÃa who has a great job as an art director for TV commercials is abusing alcohol and cocaine. She risks losing her job, going to prison for assault, and she's woefully in love with a bullfighter who may be two-timing her. Carmen, an artist without income, can be manic - snorting lots of cocaine and hanging out with a gay man and a transvestite. What's her future? Hanna contemplates divorce from Abraham, a wealthy momma's boy, and she's disoriented by feelings of attraction to Sandra, a customer at her jewelry store. Can any of these poor little rich girls sort things out in a world of excess?
The story of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who led a rebellion against the corrupt, oppressive dictatorship of president Porfirio Diaz in the early 20th century.
In a quiet suburban town in the summer of 1958, two recently orphaned sisters are placed in the care of their mentally unstable Aunt Ruth. But Ruth's depraved sense of discipline will soon lead to unspeakable acts of abuse and torture that involve her young sons, the neighborhood children, and one 12-year-old boy whose life will be changed forever.
The true story of a young couple (Babis and Eleni) fighting for love and freedom. An odyssey in and out of prisons during the dark period between the Greek civil war until the end of dictatorship in 1974
Like most of Costa-Gavras' political thrillers, the French State of Siege is based on a true story. The incident dramatized herein is the kidnapping of a U.S. official somewhere in Latin America. The director's sympathies clearly lie with the kidnappers, especially since the official (played by Yves Montand), ostensibly an expert in traffic control, has been assigned as special advisor to the government's secret police, training these worthies in the art of the torturing of political prisoners. Uruguay was the country where this story actually took place; though no names are given, there's little doubting the identity of Costa-Gavras' fictional locale. Despite its up-to-date radicalism, State of Siege adheres to time-honored Hollywood formula, with ugly, vulgar bad guys vs. handsome, articulate good guys.
A priest secretly leads rebels in their struggle against the corrupt military dictatorship of the Central American country of Puerto Santo.
Hamdias, a producer who's set out to break new boundaries, plans to finance a film about torture. According to him, torture, the clash of two or more people, is not only what substantiates basic human relationships but also love and politics. Unfortunately Hamdias dies in a freak accident and his project is grounded. After some time, Galai (Olga Karlatos), who should have been the main actress of Hamdias movie, sets out to complete the controversial project. As soon as filming starts again, the thin line that separates reality from a nightmarish obsession begins slowly to blur.
The happy lives of three best friends from school are brutally upended when Hei (Ivy Chen) breaks up with her fiancé (Wallace Chung). High flyer Kimmy (Fiona Sit) and director May (Yang Zishan) close ranks to help a devastated Hei move on, but she clings to her old feelings despite meeting a highly eligible prospect (Shawn Yue). Whilst May considers leaving the film set to travel the world with a free spirited musician (Vanness Wu); rivalry over the same guy threatens to tear Kimmy and May apart. An unexpected, shocking incident provides a climactic test. Can the girls keep their friendship together?
Anthony Hopkins plays an English medical doctor living with his family in Paraguay and treating the poor people from the surroundings, who has his life turned upside down when his son was mysteriously murdered in what could have been an attack to him since he's opposed to the military dictatorship of the country. The doctor and his family will take lots of risk while trying to prove that the government was involved in the murder.
A single father decides to break his dying wife's last wish to not box again in order to save his young son from certain death.
Reunited after years apart, childhood sweethearts William and Janne are forced to confront the dark secrets of their past-and the menacing presence of William's pathologically jealous brother â in this haunting story from celebrated Norwegian director Sara Johnsen. (TIFF)
The film tells the story of Fernando Quintero (Gustavo Camacho), revolutionary leader who, after the fall of the dictatorship of Marcos Perez Jimenez, ascends to power, betraying their ideals to become an accomplice of repression against whom he fought.
Before crossing paths with Peyton, falling for a woman was an unimaginable situation for Elena, a straight wife and mother. The friendship between Peyton, an out lesbian writer, and Elena, the wife of an anti-gay paster who has never experienced true love, transforms swiftly from a one-sided crush into a torrid extramarital affair. Despite their attraction, Peyton, jaded in a number of ways, has strong reservations about becoming involved with a married straight woman; Elena, recognizing that she is caught in a loveless marriage, can barely begin to rationalize the nature and magnitude of her desires. As their relationship evolves, Elena confronts the choice of leaving her husband or ending her involvement with Peyton to save her unraveling and unrewarding marriage and return to a drab and automated life. Above all, Elena faces the looming challenge of convincing Peyton that the two women have a bright future together despite their unfavorable circumstances
Through the recovery of found Super-8mm footage captured by his brother during the 70´s dictatorship, André tries to revive the memories of his father, whoâs been waiting for his missing son for over 30 years.
Titus Andronicus returns from the wars and sees his sons and daughters taken from him, one by one. Shakespeare's goriest and earliest tragedy.
The film narrates the love between Janaina and a native warrior who, when dying, takes the form of a bird. For six centuries, the story of the couple survives through four stages in the history of Brazil: 1500, when the country was discovered by the Portuguese explorers, 1800, in events during slavery; 1970, during the high point of the military dictatorship, and 2096, when there will be a war over water.
When Song Qi stumbles upon her boyfriend's affair with her best friend, her life quickly starts falling apart and she is subsequently drawn into a quicksand of revenge and murder. Though all is not as it seems and Song Qi will have to embark on a twisted journey into her past and the very depths of her own mind
Victor Bukowski is an out-of-work actor with problems. He's got a lousy agent, he has a habit of falling out with directors and he's still in love with his ex-girlfriend. However, Victor is about to embark on an unexpected emotional journey which will make him confront his future and his past mistakes.
Djata is a care-free 12-year-old growing up in a brutal dictatorship shut off from the outside world. When the government imprisons his father, Peter, and Djata and his mother Hannah are labeled traitors, the boy will not rest until he sees his father again.
A female journalist (Naomi Watts) must prevent evil Samara from taking possession of her son's (David Dorfman) soul.
Anthology film of six shorts by leading Korean directors. Park Chan-Wook, tackles racial prejudice and the economic exploitation of immigrant workers through the real-life story of a Nepalese woman in Korea. Jeong Jae-Eun, tackles the plight of a paedophile released into the community. Yeo Gyun-Dong, invites disabled actor Kim Moon-Joo to re-enact his most famous protest. Im Soon-Rye, goes for the engrained sexism of Korean men with superb wit and, Park Jin-Pyo, confronts the horror of children forced into oral surgery to improve their English-speaking ability.
During the last days of Eva Peron, a pair of low-ranking detectives are thrust into a case of corruption involving the Mafia.
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