Midnight Express (USA 1978) 121´31/05/2012

Midnight Express was directed by Alan Parker and it is the harrowing story of Billy Hayes (Brad Davis), a young American tourist condemned to a Turkish prison for his futile attempt to struggel hashish out of the country. Made an example of by a corrupt legal system and a victim of ineffectual diplomacy, Hayes is sentenced to 30 years and must overcome ruthless brutality and his own descent into madness in order to survive.

The film won Academy Awards for Best Music, Original Score (Giorgio Moroder) and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Oliver Stone).
"A solid prison film that feels so real that if you heard a voiceover you'd swear it was a documentary". James Plath. Movie Metropolis. 19/07/2009.
See the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAY4aADKk08

Please be aware that the film contains strong sex and violence.

Nights of Cabiria (Italy. 1957) 117´ 24/05/2012

This film, that is considered the Federico Fellini´s last foray into gritty neo-realism, tells the story of Cabiria (Giulietta Masina), a wide-eyed prostitute who earns her living in the unforgiving streets of a crumbling Rome. In a world of episodic adventures and strange encounters, the main character dreams with a better life.


Since its release, the film has been acclaimed and nowadays is a classic. It won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Giulietta Massina got the Best Actress Award at Cannes Film Festival for her performance as Cabiria, one of the most unforgettable and endearing characters the history of the cinema.
"Through Masina's unforgettable performance, Cabiria will endure as long as anyone cares to watch transcendence projected on a screen". Kenneth Turan. Los Ángeles Times. 13/02/2001
See the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfy2GAppCSM&feature=endscreen

The cuckoo (Russia 2002) 100´ 17/05/2012

THE CUCKOO, from Russian director Alexander Rogozhkin, is a seriously funny comedy about the universal human values that lie underneath both, language and culture. The film looks at the unexpected friendship between three people from different countries at the end of World War II. A Finn soldier, Veiko (Ville Khaapasalo), a Lapp woman, Anni (Anni-khristiina Juuso), and a Russian soldier, Ivan (Vicktor Bychkov), come very close together although they are unable to speak each other's languages. As expected, the "dialogues" are rather incoherent as the three characters continuously misinterpret each other, which is the main source of the funniest moments in the film. Beyond the language barriers however, they manage to communicate love peace and understanding to one another.

The film won a lot of prizes in different Independent Film Festivals, including Best Film and Director at the 2003 Europa Cinema in Viarego, Italy.

"Mr. Rogozhkin maintains a good sense of blood, dirt and sweat, human elements mingled together to keep the action rooted in some degree of reality." Dave Kher. New York Times. 10/07/2003

See the trailer:http://www.moviemaze.de/media/trailer/868,the-cuckoo.html

Missing (United States 1982) 122´ 10/05/2012

This film by Costa Gavras is based on a true story. In the aftermath of the US-backed Chilean coup of 1973 that deposed leftist President Salvador Allende, the American journalist Charles Horman (John Shea) disappears. His wife (Sissy Spacek) and his father (Jack Lemmon) start a search to determine his fate, their efforts will meet with the duplicity by US embassy officials in Santiago.

Missing won the Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay. The film also won the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival,  where Lemmon was awarded Best Actor for his performance.
^"And the best scenes in MISSING (...) are the ones in which Spacek and Lemmon hack their way through a bureaucratic jungle in an attempt to get someone to make a simple statement of fact. Those scenes are masterful." Roger Ebert. Chicago Sun-Times. 23/10/2004.
See the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7rMVneWfto