Film: A Screaming Man
Country of Production: France/Belgium/Chad
Drama set in modern-day Chad. Adam (Youssouf Djaoro) is a one-time swimming champion who now, in his mid-fifties, works as swimming pool manager at a hotel. His life is turned upside down when the hotel is taken over by new owners who make Adam redundant and give the job to his son Abdel (Dioucounda Koma). Meanwhile, the country is gripped by civil war as the government comes under attack from rebel forces and all civilians are expected to contribute to the war effort. Humiliated, resentful and penniless, Adam makes a deal with the leader of the local resistance movement that he will live to regret.
Film: Love Like Poison
Country of Production: France
A coming-of-age drama which skilfully combines sexual frankness with a captivating sense of innocence, first-time director Katell Quillévéré's charming Love Like Poison was a surprise, yet deserved, critical hit at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.
Anna, a young teenager, comes home from her Catholic boarding school for the holidays and discovers her father has left. Her mother is devastated and confined in the company of the local priest, who is also a childhood friend. Anna clings to her beloved grandfather. She also grows close to Pierre, a free-spirited teenager who cares little about God. Anna is preparing for her confirmation, but her budding desire for Pierre shakes her faith. She longs to give herself over, body and soul but doesn't know if it is to God, or something else?
In the central role young newcomer Clara Augarde delivers a performance of immense assurance and bravery whilst the Breton landscapes are beautifully captured by cinematographer Tom Harari. An eclectic soundtrack includes English folk songs, church choirs and a choral rendition of Radiohead’s ‘Creep’.
Film: After The Apocalypse
During the Soviet era, the people of Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan were used as human guinea pigs in the testing of nuclear weapons. Today they live with the consequences. Whilst sheep graze in radioactive bomb craters, many in the population believe that the testing is the reason why one in twenty children are born with birth defects. Dr Toleukhan Nurmagambetov, the boss of the city’s maternity clinic, wants to introduce a genetic passport which will prevent those with suspect genes from giving birth. Bibigul Balargazinova – a local woman from the test-site – is pregnant and her “defected and frightful” face arouses the suspicion of local medical staff. Nurmagambetov labels her a genetic failure. He implores Bibigul to get tested and abort the child who he fears will be born disabled, but Bibigul refuses to give up her dream of becoming a mother.
*The release date is subject to change for any of these titles.
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