Chinese Box (1997)
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In the brink of the 90s, 18-year-old Zheng Wei steps into her university life with a hopeful heart for love. She forms a great friendship with her roommates and united as a group, they embark on their university life together. Wei meets Chen Hao-Zheng in a chance encounter, and despite initial reluctance, Chen accepts Wei as his girlfriend and the two become inseparable. Four years of university life pass and Wei looks forward to establishing a life together with Chen. However, Chen is forced into an impossible decision to leave Wei. Devastated, Wei decides to start afresh. A decade later, Weiâs previous lovers Lin and Chen both find their way back into her life and she has to make a choice of her next step in life.
Lovelife is a 1997 romantic comedy film written and directed by Jon Harmon Feldman. The ensemble cast includes Matt Letscher, Sherilyn Fenn, Saffron Burrows, Carla Gugino, Bruce Davison, Jon Tenney and Peter Krause. Lovelife was nominated for a Feature Film Award at the 1997 Austin Film Festival, and won an Audience Award at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival. The film was winner of the screenplay award at the L.A. Indie fest.
This American Indie drama follows several endearing characters as they wade through life seeking happiness, peace and ultimately, love. Will (Ronnie Kerr, Vampire Boys 2, Shut Up and Kiss Me) leaves the Navy after many years, soon reunites old friends and begins to start his new civilian life. His friend Rich (Bruce L Hart) tries to set him up with ruggedly handsome Josh (Ian Roberts-a former Australian professional rugby player, actor and model-Cedar Boys, Superman Returns, Little Fish). While there is immense chemistry between the two, timing and certain ideals never seem to align. When a shocking tragedy happens the two are paired up to pick up the pieces and sort through the after effects. Saltwater is a story about men of all ages, finding love, losing friends, navigating their way through life and knowing it's the journey rather then the destination that's important.
An all-knowing interlocutor guides us through a series of affairs in Vienna, 1900. A soldier meets an eager young lady of the evening. Later he has an affair with a young lady, who becomes a maid and does similarly with the young man of the house. The young man seduces a married woman. On and on, spinning on the gay carousel of life.
Apathy, technology, paranoia, disease and medication. Meet Arin. Arin is a shy videographer who finds it too much to handle to go out and meet girls, so he sets up an account on meester.net. The flood of responses never comes, save for one email from Susan, a struggling artist who finds her job as a waitress stifling her creativity. Susan is also on the shy side and is seeking an alternative to the classic dating situation. When Arin and Susan finally meet, that alternative dating situation comes to life as the two refuse to communicate verbally with each other, wanting to avoid bs small talk.
An edgy indie-psychological drama about an alluring but mixed-up L.A. Girl who flip-flops between facing life's uncertainty under her own direction or "the good life" provided by a wealthy, disturbing middle-aged benefactor.
Josh's life is pretty much in the toilet. He's a failed NYC indie rocker, and a failing booking agent. But he finds the potential of a small victory in a really bad idea. He decides to purchase a 1985 Lazy Boy on eBay, just like the one his dad had when Josh was a kid. He'll drive cross-country for the chair, staying with Emily at his brother's house on the way, and deliver it to his father as a surprise birthday gift. But when Rhett ends up coming along for the ride, it's three people and a giant purple puffy chair in a too-small van... and one of them has to go before the trip's end.
Rachel Cartwright and Mitchell Little both grow up in the small town of Providence, Tennessee. Their paths keep intersecting and at one point it looks like they'll finally get together. But the opportunity slips away and they go their separate ways. It takes a tragedy many years later before they're reunited. This time will they let the moment pass or will they finally overcome their insecurities and connect with their soulmate? This beautiful romance is told silent cinema style, using only dramatic action and a soundtrack of eclectic indie music to portray this emotional journey of love.
Patti Petalson is a promising writer, but her marriage and conventional job keep her from her dream. She longs to return to her writing, especially after running into her first love Brian Callahan, a successful crime novelist. Kate is Patti's best friend since college; she's a tough-talking schoolteacher who plays therapist to all Patti's problems, while she's got a few of her own.
Filipino indie film directed by G.A. Villafuerte.
After seizing an English ship, buccaneer captain Anne Providence spares Pierre LaRochelle from walking the plank - as he's in irons he is presumably no friend of England. He signs on as a pirate and she is increasingly drawn to him, a feeling that seems to be reciprocated. When fearsome Captain Blackbeard, her teacher in the ways of pirating, sets eyes on LaRochelle he recalls him as a French navy officer. Anne sticks by her man but the truth, when it is uncovered, is even more painful.
Cannes, 1999. Alice, an actress, wants to direct an indie picture. Kaz, a talkative (and maybe bogus) deal maker, promises $3 million if she'll use Millie, an aging French star. But, Rick, a big producer, needs Millie for a small part in a fall movie or he loses his star, Tom Hanks. Is Kaz for real? Can Rick sweet-talk Alice and sabotage Kaz to keep Millie from taking that deal? Millie consults with Victor, her ex, about which picture to make, Rick needs money, an ingenue named Blue is discovered, Kaz hits on Victor's new love, and Rick's factotum connects with Blue. Knives go in various backs. Wheels spin. Which deals - and pairings - will be consummated?
Black college graduate Richard Kelly (Cedric Sanders) reluctantly accepts a plea bargain requiring him to spend two semesters at an all-white seminary after he's wrongly accused of crimes committed during the 1965 Watts riots. Facing bigotry on all sides, he's close to cracking until he meets an elderly custodian (Louis Gossett Jr.) who helps him navigate the trials of racism. Lauren Holly also stars in this indie drama inspired by a true story.
In Bodeen, Texas, Land Of The Dragon, an indie-rock loving misfit finds a way of dealing with her small-town misery after she discovers a roller derby league in nearby Austin.
Before carving out a niche as one of the most distinct voices in nineties American cinema, Allison Anders made her debut, alongside codirectors and fellow UCLA film school students Kurt Voss and Dean Lent, with 1987âs Border Radio. A low-key, semi-improvised postpunk diary that took four years to complete, Border Radio features legendary rocker Chris D., of the Flesh Eaters, as a singer/songwriter who has stolen loot from a club and gone missing, leaving his wife (Luanna Anders), a no-nonsense rock journalist, to track him down with the help of his friends (John Doe of the band X; Chris Shearer). With its sprawling Southern Californian and Mexican landscapes, captured in evocative 16mm black and white, Border Radio is a singular, DIY memento of the indie film explosion in America.
Based on the Tangshan Earthquake in 1976 that took the lives of 240,000 people.
A marvelous new film from Andrew Bujalski, one of the brightest stars in indie film, Beeswax revolves around the personal and professional entanglements of twin sisters Jeannie and Lauren â played by extraordinary newcomers Tilly and Maggie Hatcher â living in Austin, Texas. Jeannie co-owns a vintage clothing store with Amanda, a semi-estranged friend who she fears is trying to end their partnership. Lauren leads a looser, less tethered existence and is considering getting out of the country altogether. When Jeannie receives an email from Amanda threatening a lawsuit, she calls her law student ex-boyfriend Merrill for help. Eager for distraction from his own problems, he begins helping the sisters with theirs. Imbued with an innate charm, Beeswax is a story about families, friends, lovers and those awkward moments that bring all of them together.
BELLE is inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate mixed race daughter of a Royal Navy Admiral. Raised by her aristocratic great-uncle Lord Mansfield and his wife, Belle's lineage affords her certain privileges, yet the color of her skin prevents her from fully participating in the traditions of her social standing. Left to wonder if she will ever find love, Belle falls for an idealistic young vicar's son bent on change who, with her help, shapes Lord Mansfield's role as Lord Chief Justice to end slavery in England
he enigmatic but vivid imagery of this loosely plotted film is based on a similarly evocative novel by the Italian author Antonio Tabucchi, Noturno Indiano. An old friend of the hero's has been living in Bombay with a prostitute. His friend Peter Schlemihl (Otto Tausig) is a concentration camp survivor, who went to India after being captivated by a photograph he saw there. When the prostitute writes to him in Europe asking that he rescue his friend from a mysterious malaise, he flies into India to try and help. When he gets to Bombay, he discovers that his friend has disappeared. Following the clues left behind by the friend, and based on his acquaintance with him, he journeys to Madras to speak to a Theosophist dignitary there, and then journeys on to Portugues Goa. With each step of his journey, the hero (Jean-Hugues Anglade) becomes more identified with his friend, and re-enacts in his own person the transformations he must have experienced.
Stephen, an international trader, tracks down his ex-wife Patricia in some Amazonian backwater. He needs her consent to a divorce so that he can marry Charlotte. Unfortunately, he discovers a son he didnât know he had â Mimi-Siku. The young jungle boy yearns to see Paris so Stephen reluctantly agrees to take him back home with him for a few days. How will Mimi-Siku react to life in the great metropolis?
A priest, after spending years in humanitary missions in Africa, reunites with his family, which is in worse conditions than when he left, and above all meets a young lady who will make him doubt both himself and his faith.
Abel Grey is sent to investigate the death of a boy from an exclusive local school, who is found floating in the river. Fearing scandal, the school insists it was suicide. But after discovering from the boy's girlfriend, Carlin, that he was being badly bullied, Abel suspects that a dangerous schoolboy initiation has gone horribly wrong and he secretly solicits the help of a sympathetic teacher, Betsy. He is warned off the investigation by his boss, as the school is a generous benefactor to the Police benevolent fund. Abel, however, cannot let the case go, not only because his own brother committed suicide years before, but also it seems that the spirit of the dead boy is leaving them clues as to what really happened that night.
For never-do-well compulsive gambler Fong, there's only one thing more fearsome than debtors at his doorstep - having to coax a crying baby. But what if the baby becomes his golden goose to fend off his debtors? Can he overcome his phobia of diapers, milk bottles, and cloying lullabies?
The title says it all for the bleak Korean indie Mother is a Whore. Do-all filmmaker Lee Sang Woo writes, produces, directs, and stars in this shocking drama about an impoverished HIV-positive man forced to pimp out his 60-year-old mother (Lee Yong Nyeo) to make ends meet. Angry about his mother's suffering and his own sickness, Sang Woo rages against his father (Kwon Bum Taek), who left them for a younger woman (Kim Ji Hee). It turns out his father's life isn't doing so well either with a fanatically religious wife and her dysfunctional children. A notable rising name in Korean indie cinema, Lee Sang Woo has drawn comparisons to early Kim Ki Duk with his dark family dramas Mother is a Whore and Father is a Dog.
TV MX, the powerful Mexican Television Corporation, discloses a story that involves Governor Carmelo Vargas in illegal business. The Governor, to try to clean up its image, decides to negotiate an agreement with the Television. Carlos Rojo, a young producer on the rise, and Ricardo Diaz, TV MX star reporter, are commissioned to achieve the difficult task of changing the perception the public has of the corrupt and folkloric âGoberâ. They start to walk a plan known as âChinese boxâ which is to generate a scandal, and then another ... and another, to try to distract public opinion and make the move from being the Despicable Governor to a presidential candidate who will become the âSavior of the Countryâ... Will they succeed?
Nova Zembla tells the gripping true story of the legendary failed mission of the late sixteenth century Dutch flotilla trying to find a trading route to Asia across the North Pole. The ship crew, who got stuck in the ice of Nova Zembla and had to survive the dark coldness of winter in the most gruesome of circumstances. An incredibly powerful story of determination, hardship and a triumph of the human spirit. The sixteenth century Dutch ship crew is leaving the port of Amsterdam and sailing to the northern arctic, where they get stuck in the ice. Two ships take part at the mission and captain De Rijp decides to return while he still can, while the other ship helmed by Willem Barentsz, stubbornly proceeds.
A recalcitrant thief vies with a duplicitous Mongol ruler for the hand of a beautiful princess.
Two French Canadian neâer-do-wells travel to New York City with a scheme to a get rich quick selling Christmas trees. Easygoing charmer Rene (Paul Rudd) clashes with misanthropic ex-con Dennis (Paul Giamatti), whose wife Rene just stole. Still, this odd couple must make an honest go of it in this fresh buddy comedy co-starring Sally Hawkins, by the director of the indie breakout hit Junebug.
Gibson Bonifacio stopped speaking when he was a child. Now twenty, he returns home to Manila for Christmas. While always festive in the Philippines, for his family it is tinged with sadness, marking the anniversary of his twin brotherâs death. Against the backdrop of the vibrant indie music scene, his childhood best friend tries to reconnect with him, while he unexpectedly finds a chance at a first, real romantic relationship. Amidst the holidays, Gibson reconsiders and redefines his relationship with his family, with himself, even with his dead brother: the only person he talks to.
Anna: Scream Queen Killer takes us on a journey into the world of indie grind house film auditions with a twist. Our young actress is desperate to make it in the movies. She is invited to a series of filmed auditions, playing out various scenarios on camera. The problem is, the director is a perverted sicko with only one thing on his mind. As the actress progresses through an ever more bizarre series of roles she slowly realizes all the man wants is sexual satisfaction. Forced to strip, and do carnal things in the name of the art, she eventually flips and takes matters into her own hands.
Based on Gayle Forman's novel of the same name. "If I Stay" is the story of the gifted classical musician Mia and her boyfriend, Adam, an up and coming indie-rock star. Torn between two paths in life, her art or her relationship, Mia is forced to make an even starker choice between life and death when she is caught in a fatal car accident with her family one snowy morning in Oregon.
Laurel Canyon focuses on Sam and Alex, a pair of upper-middle class lovebirds from the East Coast who relocate to Los Angeles. Enter Jane, Sam's estranged mother, a successful record producer, who's more than willing to put the couple up in her lavish digs. As Sam and Alex settle in at Jane's, they gradually lose their straight-and-narrow approach to life and begin to experiment.
Friends/fledgling entrepreneurs invent a device in their garage that reduces the apparent mass of any object placed inside it, but they accidentally discover that it has some highly unexpected capabilities--ones that could enable them to do and to have seemingly anything they want. Taking advantage of this unique opportunity is the first challenge they face. Dealing with the consequences is the next.
A down and out young punk gets a job working with a seasoned repo man, but what awaits him in his new career is a series of outlandish adventures revolving around aliens, the CIA, and a most wanted '64 Chevy.
Estranged from her family, Franny returns home when an accident leaves her brother comatose. Retracing his life as an aspiring musician, she tracks down his favorite musician, James Forester. Against the backdrop of Brooklynâs music scene, Franny and James develop an unexpected relationship and face the realities of their lives.
A journey through the memories of teenager Paul Varderman as he reflects on the events leading to the fatal moment his life is cut short. Paul moves to a new school and becomes involved with 'The Freaks', a group on the periphery of school life, those who don't fit in: scene kids, emo kids, indie kids. Outsiders. At the same time he attracts the attention of the schools twisted and manipulative bully, Roth. When Paul delivers a message from Roth to the leader of a gang at a rival school, it sparks a dangerous feud. Faced with growing pressures from both groups, Paul must decide where his friendship lies, a decision that may cost him his life.
Tracey Berkowitz, 15, a self-described normal girl, loses her 9-year old brother, Sonny. In flashbacks and fragments, we meet her overbearing parents and the sweet, clueless Sonny. We watch Tracey navigate high school, friendless, picked on and teased. She develops a thing for Billy Zero, a new student, imagining he's her boyfriend. We see the day she loses Sonny and we watch her try to find him.
Dreaming of fame and fortune, a local Denver performer hires two indie filmmakers to come to town and make a film with him as the star.
Kouzelný pÅÃbÄh o Krabatovi, pocházejÃcà původnÄ z Indie a objevujÃcà se pozdÄji v různých obmÄnách souboje ÄarodÄjova uÄnÄ a mistra v mnoha zemÃch svÄta, je pÅÃbÄhem chlapce, který se na prahu dospÄlosti pÅiblÞil temným silám a je jimi fascinován, dokud nepozná, že jej mohou zahubit.
Two college roommates -- prim and proper Grace (Cat Taber) and wild and woolly Casey (Soleil Moon Frye) -- find themselves in a tense rivalry when Casey's conduct almost destroys Grace's engagement to preppie heartthrob Charlie (Wil Wheaton). Not too high-minded to seek revenge, Grace cozies up to Casey's pal Joey (Gary Wolf), setting off a cycle of envy and mistrust that may destroy both women's lives in director Irene Turner's well-paced indie.
Relationship problems plague a family of siblings in director Catherine O. Camarillo's multilayered indie drama. Businessman Jimmy is reeling from the shock of being dumped by his fiancee, while his sisters cope with their own romantic woes. Leslie can't decide between two eligible bachelors, Annette nurtures a long-distance love, and housewife Claire can't get pregnant.
An indie film about greed and corruption among small-time criminals in the streets of Manila starring GMA contract artist Sherwin Ordonez in his first mature role.
Karera tells the story of a family involved in illegal horse race betting. Directed by Adolf Alix Jr., this indie film stars Rosanna Roces, Laurice Guillen, Joem Bascon, Marife Necesito and Arnold Reyes. Rosanna is cast as a head financier; Jay plays a horse caretaker, Joem is an illegal bet collector while their mother, portrayed by Laurice, is a bookie joint owner.
The film, Play, tells the story of how three young men met in chance encounters, formed a band and got discovered. It chronicles the creative struggles, relational vicissitudes and professional mis-steps the band goes through while under the pressure of trying to attract a label to sign them. Just at the moment when all seems lost, the boys are offered a chance to busk in the lobby where fans are waiting to see the indie folk rock band, The Swell Season. Glen Hansard, its guitarist and singer, catches their performance and invites them to join him on stage. Upon learning that the band has not chosen a name, he introduces them as his mates. Thus, the band, Mate, is named.
Anchored by an outstanding turn by Asian Film Award-winner Donny Damara and bathed in an appropriately seedy neon wash, Indonesian indie writer-director Teddy Soeriaatmadjas Lovely Man is, in a word, lovely. Working with well-worn material about family relationships and father-daughter bonds that is never once in danger of falling into cliché this layered two-hander unfolds over the course of one enlightening and bittersweet night. Soeriaatmadjas astute script and Damaras sensitive, nuanced performance grab viewers from minute one and remain compelling throughout.
Year 1977. Punk and new wave rock´n roll has arrived to remote Finland and a bleak small town Oulu where increasingly odd-looking youths began to appear in the street with a message. Their rebellion speaks to Välde (17). Välde dreams of joining a rock band and becoming famous. He wants to get drunk for the first time, and to win the love of Pike, the most beautiful girl in the class. When Pike wins the Miss Blue Jeans contest organised by the country´s leading (and only) pop music magazine Suosikki and takes as her boyfriend the bourgeois Henri Hakala, Välde puts all his eggs in one basket. He abandons his former self and begins purposefully constructing a new persona for himself. But everything doesnât go as Välde wanted ⦠The film is based on a novel by Kauko Röyhkä, an author and indie rock musician.
ABERYA (literally, âdisruptionâ or âmalfunctionâ from Tagalog) is a time-tripping, psychedelic acid noir following four overlapping stories in the seamy, steamy âQueen Cityâ of the Philippines, Cebu. Itâs the first feature from self-taught Filipino director Christian Linaban, whoâs ready to do anything and everything to up his city and his countryâs cinematic profile on the international stage, from crowdfunding his movie online to creating a gorgeous tie-in graphic novel. Utilizing a ragtag crew who work outside the slicker Manila film industry, his drive to tell his story by any means necessary infuses every frame of his film with a raw, pulsating indie spirit. The cutting is ragged, the lighting vividly garish, the garage band FX rough, ready, and utterly winning. The sum of its elements form an unholy alchemy that produces some the most immediate and vibrant cinema of the Philippines, like the crack baby love child of Aleister Crowley and Darren Aronofsky.
The dorkiest thing in the world, according to feminist poet Sigrid, is the movie cliche of the young woman who in the morning dons her male lover's shirt, looking adorably "indie cute". But when she begins a relationship with KÃ¥re Tryvle, a writer twenty years her senior, she has difficulties living up to her ideals. Meanwhile, pregnant performance artist Trine is planning to give birth in a cage, dressed up as Marie Antoinette, on camera, and factory worker Astrid is looking for the son she had adopted. Yngvild Svee Flikke's directorial debut, based on Gunnhild Ãyehaug's celebrated feminist novel "Wait, Blink", is an elegant, energetic and extremely funny portrait of three women struggling with the patriarchy as well as themselves.
WEDDING PALACE has been called the Korean-American âMy Big Fat Greek Wedding.â Abandoned at the altar, Jasonâs (Brian Tee) family approaches bridal replacements, but to their horror, he rejects them all. On a business trip to Korea, he meets the girl of his dreams, Na Young (Kang Hye-jung). They embark on a cyber love affair fueled by imagination and video chats. Jason proposes and his family is delighted. When Na Young arrives, Jasonâs wacky family screws things up at every turn causing a roller coaster of ups and downs to this modern romance. Jason will have to bridge the gap between family expectations and true love. Award winning indie trail blazer, WEDDING PALACE is the first ever US-Korea indie co-production and was shot in Los Angeles and Seoul.
In this action-comedy, four twenty-something friends are looking for love and having no luck. While on a ski trip, one of them finds passion with a beautiful girl after a random accident on the icy slopes. The others quickly conclude that the extreme circumstances of the accident were what caused love to bloom. They decide that the path to true love is to purposely set each other up on "extreme dates" with the objects of their affections...
Jay Brooks is that black guy who digs indie rock, graphic novels, and dates white chicks. After a slew of bad break-ups, Jay gives up white women, "cold turkey," and he goes on a mission: "Operation Brown Sugar". But because Jay doesn't fit the "brotha" stereotype, he fails miserably with the "sistahs." Then he meets the dynamic Catherine, a misunderstood "Half-rican Canadian", who's as righteously quirky as he is. To win her heart, Jay must confront his fears as he realizes commitment is a bigger issue than race.
A lonely plumber poses as a director to meet women, and the writer whose script he's stolen builds on his ruse to get her movie made.
In this indie comedy from helmer Bob Byington, dry wit and deadpan humor abound as aptly named lyricist Harmony (Justin Rice) insists on wallowing in misery eons after being unceremoniously dumped by his girlfriend, the lovely Jessica (Kristen Tucker). While the members of Harmony's family are long over his antics, that doesn't stop him from milking his heartbreak and telling his tale of woe to anyone who will listen.
Indie Game: The Movie is a feature documentary about video games, their creators and the craft. The film follows the dramatic journeys of video game developers as they create and release their games to the world. The film tells the emotional story of friends Edmund McMillen & Tommy Refenes, as they craft their first Xbox game: "Super Meat Boy". It follows Phil Fish, the creator of the highly-anticipated game: "FEZ". After 4 years of working in near solitude, Phil reveals his opus to the public for the first time. And, the film tells the surprising story of one of the highest-rated video games of all time:"Braid". The film is about making video games, but at its core, it's about the creative process, and exposing yourself through your work. In short: Making fun and games is anything but fun and games.
Asian Hawk (Jackie Chan) leads a mercenary team to recover several lost artifacts from the Old Summer Palace, the bronze heads of the 12 Chinese Zodiac animals which were sacked by the French and British armies from the imperial Summer Palace in Beijing in 1860. Assisted by a Chinese student and a Parisian lady, Hawk stops at nothing to accomplish the mission.
When once-up-and-coming indie film starlet Halley Feiffer loses her boyfriend, her agent and her career in one fell swoop she finally realizes that something in her life has got to change... she has to become WAY MORE FAMOUS! Armed with a stolen script and two pitchers of sangria, Halley enlists the help of her brother Ryan and his boyfriend to make her own movie, starring herself (of course) as herself, and any A-list celebrity she can land along the way.
An American journalism student in London scoops a big story, and begins an affair with an aristocrat as the incident unfurls.
A married, indie band duo regretfully takes a job on a children's show ("Rumperbutts"). Despite the money & success, they are miserable. However, on one magical evening, a mysterious man appears & gives them a second chance.
Preparing for the hand-to-hand battle of his life and the title of Champion Star Runner, a headstrong fighter creates a deadly hybrid mix of Thai kickboxing and Chinese kung fu. Get ready for the ultimate Pan-Asian mixed martial arts competition, where anything goes and lives are bought and sold.
Tang Lung arrives in Rome to help his cousins in the restaurant business. They are being pressured to sell their property to the syndicate, who will stop at nothing to get what they want. When Tang arrives he poses a new threat to the syndicate, and they are unable to defeat him. The syndicate boss hires the best Japanese and European martial artists to fight Tang, but he easily finishes them off.
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