In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Statrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah's defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. However as Marji grows up, she witnesses first hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own.
In a post-apocalyptic world, the residents of an apartment above the butcher shop receive an occasional delicacy of meat, something that is in low supply. A young man new in town falls in love with the butcher's daughter, which causes conflicts in her family, who need the young man for other business-related purposes.
Hamid is part of a secret group pursuing the Syrian regime’s fugitive leaders. His mission takes him to France, on the trail of his former torturer whom he must confront.
Twenty-something Freddy is becalmed in a podunk French village where the only sign of life is the local amateur brass band and youth aimlessly roaming around the countryside on scooters. He has an intense sexual connection with his girlfriend but has no joy or passion to give her. When she falls for a handsome Arab youth a tragedy unfolds.
The true story of the rise to power and brutal assassination of the formerly vilified and later redeemed leader of the independent Congo, Patrice Lumumba. Using newly discovered historical evidence, Haitian-born and later Congo-raised writer and director Raoul Peck renders an emotional and tautly woven account of the mail clerk and beer salesman with a flair for oratory and an uncompromising belief in the capacity of his homeland to build a prosperous nation independent of its former Belgian overlords. Lumumba emerges here as the heroic sacrificial lamb dubiously portrayed by the international media and led to slaughter by commercial and political interests in Belgium, the United States, the international community, and Lumumba's own administration; a true story of political intrigue and murder where political entities, captains of commerce, and the military dovetail in their quest for economic and political hegemony.
Paris. Nedjma, a teenager living with her mom and sister, spends the summer with her squad. She sees her life turned upside down when she meets Zina, coming from the opposite gang. They are rivals in broad daylight, but lovers in secret.
An alcoholic Bosnian poet sends his wife and daughter away from Sarajevo so they can avoid the troubles there. However, he is soon descended upon by a pair of orphaned brothers. The brothers have escaped a massacre in their own village and have come to the Bosnian capital in search of a long lost Aunt. The poet befriends the boys and together they try to survive the horror of the siege of Sarajevo.
Thirty-something Mehdi is a safecracker. He and his mates are just trying to get by, but robbery isn’t paying like it used to. Day to day Mehdi tries to be a good son to his mother, and a good father to his 1-year-old son to win back his ex, Sarah.
A series of seemingly unconnected events and 50 important speaking parts make this film a jigsaw puzzle to be solved by the viewer. Martin and Claire were separated in childhood, and are brought together by a series of coincidences. A tragic car crash is central to the story, but seemingly unimportant events can hold great significance. Through a montage of different film stock and techniques director Diane Bertrand creates pieces of a puzzle, from which the viewer has to piece together a story. That's the premise of the film, and it is solvable. You just have to work a bit...
