TODAY PEPING WILL HAPPILY MARRY THE YOUNG MOTHER OF THEIR NEWBORN BABY. FOR A POOR POLICE ACADEMY STUDENT, THERE IS NO QUESTION OF TURNING DOWN AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE MONEY. ALREADY ACCUSTOMED TO SIDE PROFITS FROM A SMALLTIME
DRUG RING, PEPING NAIVELY ACCEPTS A WELL-PAID JOB OFFER FROM A CORRUPT FRIEND. PEPING SOON FALLS INTO AN INTENSE VOYAGE INTO DARKNESS AS HE EXPERIENCES THE KIDNAPPING AND TORTURE OF A BEAUTIFUL PROSTITUTE. HORRIFIED AND HELPLESS
DURING THE NIGHTMARISH ALL-NIGHT OPERATION DIRECTED BY A PSYCHOTIC KILLER, PEPING IS FORCED TO SEARCH WITHIN IF HE IS A KILLER HIMSELF...
JAFFA’S AJAMI NEIGHBORHOOD IS A MELTING POT OF CULTURES AND CONFLICTING VIEWS AMONG JEWS, MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS. BACK AND FORTH IN TIME, AND THROUGH THE EYES OF VARIOUS CHARACTERS, WE WITNESS HOW IMPOSSIBLE THE SITUATION ACTUALLY IS … SENSITIVE 13-YEAR-OLD NASRI AND HIS OLDER BROTHER OMAR LIVE IN FEAR WHEN THEIR ENTIRE FAMILY IS IN DANGER AFTER THEIR UNCLE FOOLISHLY WOUNDS A PROMINENT CLAN MEMBER. NAIVE YOUNG PALESTINIAN REFUGEE MALEK WORKS ILLEGALLY IN ISRAEL TO HELP FINANCE THE SURGERY THAT WILL SAVE HIS MOTHER’S LIFE. AFFLUENT PALESTINIAN BINJ DREAMS OF A BRIGHT FUTURE WITH HIS JEWISH GIRLFRIEND. JEWISH POLICEMAN DANDO IS OBSESSED WITH FINDING HIS MISSING BROTHER. THE TRAGIC FRAGILITY OF HUMAN EXISTENCE IS EXPERIENCED IN THE ENCLOSED COMMUNITY OF AJAMI, WHERE ENEMIES MUST LIVE AS NEIGHBORS. NO LOCATION BETTER EXPRESSES THE DRAMATIC COLLISION OF DIFFERENT WORLDS.
HANS WURST AND MAX DURST DREAM OF GETTING RICH AS HOT DOG STAND TYCOONS WHILE THE SMALL-TIME CROOK SCHORSCH JUST WANTS TO SIT AROUND WATCHING CAR RACING ALL DAY. MAO WOULD BE ABLE TO DO JUST THAT IF SHE DIDN’T HAVE TO BABYSIT HER GIRLFRIEND’S DAUGHTER ALL THE TIME. AND HARRY WOULD ABSOLUTELY DIE FOR A ROLL IN THE HAY WITH HIS BLOND MECHANICS. BUT WHEN CARLOS’ BAG ENTERS THE SCENE, ALL THEIR DREAMS AND WISHFUL THINKING SUDDENLY TURN TO DUST. “NEXT STOP: DROGOMYSL!”
FAUSTA SUFFERS FROM »THE MILK OF SORROW«, AN ILLNESS TRANSMITTED THROUGH MOTHER’S MILK BY WOMEN WHO HAVE BEEN VIOLATED OR MISTREATED DURING THE WAR OF TERRORISM IN PERU. THE WAR HAS ENDED, BUT FAUSTA LIVES TO REMIND OF IT BECAUSE »THE ILLNESS OF FEAR« STOLE HER SOUL. NOW, HER MOTHER’S SUDDEN DEATH FORCES HER TO CONFRONT HER FEARS AND THE SECRET THAT IS HIDDEN INSIDE OF HER: SHE HAS INSERTED A POTATO INTO HER VAGINA TO SERVE AS A PROTECTIVE SHIELD THAT REPELS DISGUSTING INTRUDERS. THE MILK OF SORROW IS THE STORY OF A SEARCH FOR RE-AWAKENING, A JOURNEY FROM FEAR TO FREEDOM.
JARA (35) IS A SHY AND LONELY SECURITY GUARD AT A SUPERMARKET ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF MONTEVIDEO. HE IS IN CHARGE OF MONITORING THE SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS OF THE ENTIRE BUILDING. SINCE HE WORKS THE NIGHT SHIFT, THERE’S NOT MUCH TO DO, AND THE PLACE LOOKS PRETTY QUIET. CONSEQUENTLY, JARA SPENDS MOST OF THE TIME DOING WHAT HE DOES AT HOME: WATCHING VIDEOS, FILLING OUT CROSSWORDS, AND LISTENING TO MUSIC. EVERYTHING SEEMS TO BE GOING AS USUAL UNTIL JARA ACCIDENTALLY DISCOVERS JULIA, A CLEANING WOMAN (25) THROUGH ONE OF THE CAMERAS, AND BECOMES GRADUALLY ATTRACTED TO HER. AT FIRST, JARA SPENDS HOURS WATCHING HER THROUGH THE CAMERAS WHILE SHE WORKS AT THE SUPERMARKET. BUT SOON, HE STARTS FOLLOWING HER AFTER WORK WHEN SHE GOES TO THE CINEMA, TO THE BEACH OR EVEN TO A DATE WITH ANOTHER MAN. HIS LIFE SLOWLY STARTS TO TURN INTO A SERIES OF ROUTINES AND RITUALS AROUND JULIA. ONE DAY, RUMOUR SPREADS OF AN UPCOMING CUT BACK ON PERSONNEL, WHICH GENERATES CONCERN AMONG THE EMPLOYEES. WHEN THE REDUNDANCIES FINALLY BECOME EFFECTIVE AND THE CLEANING WOMAN GETS FIRED, JARA FINDS HIMSELF AT A CROSSROAD, AND HE HAS TO DECIDE WHETHER TO GIVE UP HIS OBSESSION, OR TO CONFRONT IT.
A., AN AMERICAN FILM DIRECTOR, OF GREEK DESCENT, RETURNS TO THE STUDIOS IN ROME IN ORDER TO CONTINUE SHOOTING A FILM HE HAD INTERRUPTED FOR SOME UNKNOWN REASON. THE FILM IS THE STORY OF THE LOVE OF A WOMAN, HIS MOTHER, FOR THE TWO MEN SHE LOVED TO THE VERY END AND WHO LOVED HER TO THE VERY END. THE CHARACTERS IN THE FILM LOSE EACH OTHER AND FIND EACH OTHER AGAIN, SEEKING EACH OTHER IN A JOURNEY IN SPACE, TIME AND THE GREAT EVENTS OF THE LAST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY IN SIBERIA, NORTH KAZAKHSTAN, ITALY, GERMANY, AMERICA. FROM THE DEATH OF STALIN, THE WATERGATE SCANDAL AND VIETNAM TO THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL, THE NEW ERA AND THE TRAUMATIC REFUTATION OF THE DREAM OF A BETTER WORLD AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY. AS THOUGH IN A DREAM, A. RECALLS PEOPLE AND EVENTS IN THE PAST AND PAINFULLY RELIVES THEM IN THE PRESENT. IN A DESERTED BERLIN AT THE DAWN OF THE 21ST CENTURY, THE SNOW FALLS SILENTLY ON TIME PAST AND TIME PASSING, ON THE UNIVERSE.
A GROUP OF GERMANY’S MOST ACCLAIMED FILM DIRECTORS HAS COME TOGETHER TO CREATE GERMANY 09, A VERY PERSONAL PANORAMA OF THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SITUATION IN THEIR COUNTRY TODAY. GERMANY 09 COMES RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SOCIAL UPHEAVAL BROUGHT ABOUT BY »AGENDA 2010« ON THE PATH TO THE GLOBALIZED 21ST CENTURY, MORE THAN 60 YEARS AFTER THE END OF WORLD WAR II, 40 YEARS AFTER THE STUDENT UPRISINGS OF 1968, 30 YEARS AFTER THE 1977’S »GERMAN AUTUMN« AND 20 YEARS AFTER THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL IN 1989.
IT’S THE SUMMER OF 1984 IN SCHMALENSTEDT, RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF HOLSTEINISCHE SCHWEIZ, THE »LITTLE SWITZERLAND« OF HOLSTEIN ON THE COAST OF THE BALTIC SEA. 17-YEAR-OLD MALTE AHRENS, WHO GOES BY THE NAME OF »RODDY DANGERBLOOD«, LIVES WITH HIS LEFTWING PARENTS IN A FARMHOUSE, IS IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS CERAMICS APPRENTICESHIP AND HAS JUST DISCOVERED »PUNK«, WHICH HAS FINALLY MADE ITS WAY, WITH SOME DELAY, TO SCHMALENSTEDT…
AFTER ANBERBER SPENDS SEVERAL YEARS IN GERMANY STUDYING, HE RETURNS TO ETHIOPIA ONLY TO FIND THE COUNTRY OF HIS YOUTH REPLACED BY TURMOIL. HIS DREAM OF USING HIS CRAFT TO IMPROVE THE HEALTH OF ETHIOPIANS IS SQUASHED BY A MILITARY JUNTA THAT USES SCIENTISTS FOR THEIR OWN POLITICAL ENDS. SEEKING THE COMFORT OF HIS COUNTRYSIDE HOME, ANBERBER FINDS NO REFUGE FROM VIOLENCE. THE SOLACE THAT THE MEMORIES OF HIS YOUTH PROVIDE IS QUICKLY REPLACED BY THE COMPETING FORCES OF THE MILITARY AND REBELLING FACTIONS. ANBERBER MUST DETERMINE IF HE CAN BEAR THE STRAIN OR PIECE TOGETHER A LIFE FROM THE FRAGMENTS THAT LAY AROUND HIM.
ON JUNE 12, 1993, MORE THAN 50 000 PEOPLE WITNESSED A HISTORICAL EVENT ON THE SENATE SQUARE IN HELSINKI. FOR THE FIRST TIME AND ON THE BIGGEST SCREEN STAGE EVER SEEN IN FINLAND, THE ROCK GROUP LENINGRAD COWBOYS PERFORMED TOGETHER WITH THE 100 SINGERS, 40 MUSICIANS AND 20 DANCERS OF THE ALEXANDROV RED ARMY CHORUS AND DANCE ENSEMBLE. THE PROGRAMME INCLUDED ROCK CLASSICS FROM “HAPPY TOGETHER” AND “DELILAH” TO “GIMME ALL YOUR LOVIN’” AND “KNOCKING ON HEAVEN’S DOOR”, AS WELL AS TRADITIONAL HITS FROM THE ENSEMBLE’S OWN REPERTOIRE. FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE END, THE CONCERT WAS A ROARING SUCCESS. TOTAL BALALAIKA SHOW IS A DOCUMENTARY ON THE CONCERT, AN EXTRAORDINARY, UNFORGETTABLE ENCOUNTER OF THE OLD AND THE NEW, OF EAST AND WEST.