Sueño y silencio

Jaime Rosales : 2012
The Dream and the Silence

Oriol and Yolanda are Spaniards living in Paris with their two school-age daughters, Celia and Alba. Oriol is an architect and Yolanda is a teacher. During a holiday at the Ebro River Delta a tragic event occurs that changes their lives. The eldest child dies in a car accident which her father survives, but which completely erases the memory of his daughter. Totally broken, the dialogue between husband and wife will be rebuilt over time and through each of them quietly working on themselves in their own way. By coming back to the roots or by going round in circles, by immersing themselves in nature in the Parisian parks of Luxembourg and Buttes-Chaumont, full of children, the couple gradually find ways to return to life. A mesmerising and deeply moving depiction of loss, grief, all-consuming anger and self-doubt, Jaime Rosales's fourth feature premiered at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs 2012 at Cannes.

Trois mondes

Catherine Corsini : 2012
Three Worlds

Al, a young man from a modest background is about to marry his boss's daughter, along with succeeding him as the head of a car dealership. One night, while driving back from his stag night party, he knocks down a stranger, but egged on by his two childhood friends in the car with him, he doesn't stop. Over the following days, he is haunted by his cowardly actions and decides to inquire about his victim. What he does not know is that Juliette, a young woman, had witnessed the entire accident from her balcony. She is the one who had called 911 and helped the victim's wife Vera, a Moldavian immigrant with no residency papers. But when Juliette recognises Al as the reckless driver in the hospital corridor, she is unable to denounce him. Al is dragged into a spiral to preserve a secret which could cost him dearly. The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard selection at Festival de Cannes 2012.

Sightseers

Ben Wheatley : 2012

Tina has always lived a sheltered life with a possessive, meddling mother. For their first romantic holiday, Chris decides to show her England in his caravan. It's quite a change of scenery for Tina. But the dream quickly turns to ashes when litterbug tourists, noisy youths and pre-booked caravan sites destroy Chris's dream and all those who get in his way. At their first destination Chris has an argument with another sightseer about littering and later, on the way out of the car park, he runs him over, entirely by accident. Both Tina and Chris are shaken but they also recognise a kind of cosmic justice at work. A shared psychosis then develops, and other holidaymakers who cross their paths begin to meet a series of increasingly sticky ends. Ben Wheatley's pitch-black, very British comedy premiered at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs 2012 at Cannes.

Barbara

Christian Petzold : 2012

It is the summer of 1980. Barbara begins work as a pediatrician in a small hospital far away from everything in a provincial backwater. She was transferred for disciplinary reasons, away from the capital East Berlin, due to her request for a departure permit from the GDR to the West. Joerg, her lover, a foreign trade employee whom she met on a spring night in East Berlin, comes over for secret meetings with Barbara. He is working on the preparation of their flight, the Baltic Sea is one possibility. Barbara has been allocated a simple apartment. At the hospital she works attentively with the patients, but remains distant from colleagues. There is nothing holding her here anymore. Barbara is cold, within herself, withdrawing from everyone and everything around her. That summer, her existence is disturbed. She meets a physician, André, who was also transferred for disciplinary reasons. André confuses Barbara. Did they put him on to her? Or has he fallen in love with her? As Barbara begins to lose control – of herself, her love, of her life – the day of the planned escape is imminent.

Post tenebras lux

Carlos Reygadas : 2012
After Darkness Light

An urban family live in the Mexican countryside, where they enjoy and suffer a world apart. Nobody knows if these two worlds are complementary or if they strive to eliminate one another. In the twilight a little girl, Rut, plays in a vast field scattered with puddles and mud, while dogs run excitedly around her and cattle and horses move in the background. A spectacular thunderstorm breaks out at nightfall. Dreadful elemental forces are at work. In the dark a devil-figure makes his way into a house while everyone sleeps. The house belongs to Juan and Natalia, a well-off Mexican couple who have brought their two toddlers to live in what seems to be a luxuriant corner of Paradise. But they are not welcome and soon their weaknesses will become destructive wounds. Described by Carlos Reygadas as a work where reason will intervene as little as possible, his fourth feature is a fluid and elusive expression of emotional memory, dream sequences and fantasies exploring the elemental nature of trauma and isolation. The film won the award for Best Director at Festival de Cannes 2012.

Aquí y allá

Antonio Méndez Esparza : 2012
Here and There

Pedro returns home to a small mountain village in Guerrero, Mexico after years of working in the US. He finds his daughters older, and more distant than he imagined. His wife still has the same smile. Having saved some earnings from two trips to the US, he hopes to now finally make a better life with his family, and even to pursue his dreams on the side by starting a band, Copa Kings. He cherishes the everyday moments with his family. The villagers think this year's crop will be bountiful. There is also good work in a growing city an hour away. But the locals are wise to a life of insecurity, and their thoughts are often of family members or opportunities far away, north of the border. While working in the fields, Pedro meets and begins to mentor a teenager who dreams of the US. That place somehow always feels very present, practically knocking at the door. The director's first feature is a story about hope, and the memories and loss of what we leave behind. The film was awarded the Grand Prix at Semaine de la Critique du Festival de Cannes 2012.

À perdre la raison

Joachim Lafosse : 2012
Our Children

Murielle and Mounir love each other passionately. Ever since he was a boy, the young man has been living with Doctor Pinget who provides him with a comfortable life. When Mounir and Murielle decide to marry and have children, the couple's dependence on the doctor becomes excessive. Murielle finds herself caught up in an unhealthy emotional climate that insidiously leads the family towards a tragic outcome. Inspired by the real-life case of Geneviève Lhermitte in 2007, when a Belgian mother killed her five infant children before attempting suicide, this penetrating psychological drama won the Un Certain Regard award for Best Actress at Festival de Cannes 2012.

Children of Sarajevo

Aida Begić : 2012
Djeca

The story of 23-year-old Rahima and her 14-year-old brother Nedim who are orphans of the Bosnian war. They live in Sarajevo, a transitional society that has lost its moral compass, including in the way it treats children of the people who were killed fighting for the freedom of their city. After crime-prone adolescent years, Rahima has found comfort in Islam and she hopes her brother will follow in her footsteps. Their life of bare survival becomes even more difficult after Nedim gets into a fistfight with the son of a local strongman and breaks his expensive mobile phone. This incident triggers a chain of events leading Rahima to the discovery that her brother leads a double life. Aida Begić's second feature received the Mention Spéciale du Jury in the Un Certain Regard selection at Festival de Cannes 2012.

The Hunt

Thomas Vinterberg : 2012
Jagten

Following a tough divorce, 40-year-old Lucas has a new girlfriend, a new job and is in the process of reestablishing his relationship with his teenage son, Marcus. But things go awry. Not a lot. Just a passing remark. A random lie. And as the snow falls and the Christmas lights are lit, the lie spreads like an invisible virus. The shock and mistrust gets out of hand, and the small community suddenly finds itself in a collective state of hysteria, while Lucas fights a lonely fight for his life and dignity. The film won the award for Best Actor at Festival de Cannes 2012.

Amour

Michael Haneke : 2012
Love

Georges and Anne are in their eighties, a happily married couple living in a beautiful apartment in Paris. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter Eva, who is also a musician, lives abroad with her family. One day, Anne suffers a stroke and is paralysed down her right side. Georges's love for his wife is stretched to the limit and their bond of love severely tested as Anne's condition worsens and she begins to fade away. Michael Haneke's tender, beautiful and uncompromising portrait is described as being his masterpiece and his most humane work to date. The film was awarded the Palme d'Or at Festival de Cannes 2012.

Beyond the Hills

Cristian Mungiu : 2012
După dealuri

A drama centred on the friendship between two young women who grew up in the same orphanage. Alina returns to Romania from Germany to see Voichiţa, her only love since they grew up together. Alina is hoping that Voichiţa will return to Germany with her, but soon she discovers that the latter's heart now belongs to God, who rules her daily life in the monastery. Alina is perceived as a disturbing, deranged element in the religious community, and its priest and nuns try to cure her from the lack of God in her heart. Based on real events in a Moldovan monastery, relating the actions of an extremely rigid Orthodox priest, the story deals with love, beliefs, the feelings of guilt, and the freedom of choice. The film won awards for Best Actress and Best Screenplay at Festival de Cannes 2012.

Toutes nos envies

Philippe Lioret : 2011
All our Desires

Claire is a young, newly assigned magistrate at the law court in Lyon. Moved by the plight of the mother of her daughter's school friend, she meets Stéphane, an experienced, disillusioned magistrate whom she involves in her fight against financial companies that exploit the poor. After learning that she is suffering from a brain tumor, Claire refuses to tell her family. Then something happens between her and Stéphane – a fusion of revolt and emotions, and the urgent need to continue unabated her struggle for social justice.

Like Someone in Love

Abbas Kiarostami : 2012

An old man and a young woman meet in Tokyo. She is a student who finances her studies through prostitution, he a brilliant, elderly academic. She knows nothing about him, he thinks he knows her. He welcomes her into his home, she offers him her body. But the web that is woven between them in the space of twenty-four hours bears no relation to the circumstances of their encounter. Described as a thematic continuation of writer/director Abbas Kiarostami's Certified Copy, the film premiered at Festival de Cannes 2012.

J'enrage de son absence

Sandrine Bonnaire : 2012
Maddened by his Absence

After ten years, Jacques returns to France to manage his father's succession. He had left France to live in the USA to escape a painful past he shared with Mado, his former wife, after their son's death in an accident in the car he was driving. Mado meanwhile has built a new life with Stéphane and their seven-year-old son, Paul. Upon his return, Jacques and Mado meet again and he asks to meet her son Paul. At first Mado is suspicious of resuming ties with Jacques and hesitates, then accepts but hides it from her husband. Soon Jacques and Paul begin to spend more time together and affection grows between them, eventually disturbing Mado. Jacques then discovers a box of toys that belonged to his dead son, and despite the presence of husband Stéphane, he attempts to get closer still to Paul and Mado. Sandrine Bonnaire's first feature premiered at Semaine de la Critique du Festival de Cannes 2012.

Broken

Rufus Norris : 2012

The story of a young girl in North London whose life changes after witnessing a violent attack. Shortly after witnessing a brutal beating, Skunk's home, neighbourhood, and school become treacherous environments, where the happy certainties of childhood give way to danger. Her innocence is rapidly worn away and a harsh world fills her future, over which she has no control. When Skunk finally seeks solace in an unspoken friendship with sweet, damaged Rick, she's faced with the greatest choice of all. Rufus Norris's first feature premiered at Semaine de la Critique du Festival de Cannes 2012.

Elefante blanco

Pablo Trapero : 2012
White Elephant

Julián and Nicolás are long-standing friends, both Catholic priests, working on behalf of the poor and dispossessed in Villa Virgin, one of Buenos Aires's most rundown shantytowns, an area overrun by powerful drug cartels and corrupt police. Julián uses his political connections to oversee the construction of a hospital. Nicolás joins him following the failure of a project he was leading in the jungle, after paramilitary forces assassinated members of the community. Deeply troubled, he finds a little comfort in Luciana, a young, attractive, atheist social worker. As Nicolás's faith weakens, tension and violence between the slum drug cartels grow. And when work on the hospital is halted by ministerial decree, the fuse is lit. The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard selection at Festival de Cannes 2012.

Café de Flore

Jean-Marc Vallée : 2011

Paris in the 1960s and present-day Montréal. A love story following the destinies of Jacqueline, a young Parisian mother of an only child, and Antoine, a Montréal DJ and the women in his life. Jacqueline is an impoverished single mother of little Laurent, born with Down's syndrome. Her life, obsessively devoted to her son, is a routine built around giving him the most love and opportunities she can provide. One day in school Laurent meets Véronique, a girl also with Down's syndrome and soon the two are inseparable, triggering in Jacqueline an unexpected jealousy. Antoine lives a seemingly idyllic life with his girlfriend Rose and two daughters. But behind his glossy, jet-setting exterior he is in deep turmoil, obsessed with the guilt he feels for the breakdown of his previous marriage to Carole, his first love. Weaving between its two parallel stories, in past and present, the film is about love, obsession and betrayal, the constant uncertainty of whether we are doing the right thing for the people we love, and also about knowing when to let go. It's not so much about the destination, as about the journey.

La Sirga

William Vega : 2012

Alicia is helpless. Fleeing the armed violence in her Colombian village that has claimed the lives of those dearest to her, she ends up in La Sirga, at the guesthouse of Oscar, the only family she has left. Here, on the shores of a great lake high up in the Andes, she tries to rebuild her life. But this place, where she feels safe, is not spared by the fighting. The return of Freddy, the son that Oscar has been awaiting for years, his enigmatic intentions and his possible link with the warring factions bring to La Sirga what Alicia fears the most. William Vega's debut feature premiered at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs 2012 at Cannes.

Night and Day

Hong Sang-soo : 2008
Bam gua Nat

Kim Seong-nam is a successful married painter of around forty years of age. He has just arrived in Paris, on the run from a jail sentence in Seoul because he was caught smoking marijuana with some American visitors. Seong-nam finds a place to stay at a rundown hotel belonging to a Korean man in the 14e arrondissement. He spends his time wandering aimlessly about the streets of the city on the Seine, or meandering through the park, for there's little else for him to do here. By chance he runs into an ex-girlfriend, Min-seon, but the unexpected encounter leaves him cold. Seong-nam loves his wife whom he had to leave behind on her own in Korea, and his thoughts are constantly with her. But then he meets Hyeon-joo, a young Korean woman who is studying art in Paris and her flat-mate, Yoo-jeong. Seong-nam falls head over heels in love in this pretty and mysterious young woman. He also falls in love with Paris.

Zuo You

Wang Xiaoshuai : 2007
In Love We Trust

Mei Zhu and Xiao Lu used to be a couple. They lived together, were married and had a little daughter named Hehe. But that was long ago. Mei and Xiao's marriage broke up, they both found new partners and remarried. The only bond that remains is Hehe. But their normal, routine lives come to an end when their daughter suddenly falls ill and leukaemia is the shocking diagnosis. Her only hope is a bone marrow transplant from a sister or brother. But Hehe has no siblings. Mei Zhu and Xiao Lu are faced with a life-changing decision and the film follows the emotional strain that this development brings to both marriages. All at once they find themselves confronted with issues such as love, responsibility, loyalty and morals.

Snijeg

Aida Begić : 2008
Snow

Six women, a grandfather, four girls and a young boy live in the war-ravaged and isolated village of Slavno. Their families and friends have been killed and their bodies have never been found. The first snow brings full isolation to the village. Alma, a young stubborn woman, believes they can still survive. She encourages her people to work their way out of poverty by selling plum jam and other fruits and vegetables their village is famous for on a deserted road. Two businessmen eventually come to visit Slavno demanding residents to leave the village, offering money in return. The villagers ultimately face a dilemma – should they accept the offer that could save their lives, but destroy their souls.

Au galop

Louis-Do de Lencquesaing : 2012
In a Rush

Ada was settled in her life. She was pleased with it, or thought she was. She was one half of a couple who seemed happy. She'd had a child, was even due to get married, and then – she met Paul. And this Paul was a writer to boot, who lived alone with his grown daughter, had an exceedingly intrusive mother, and had the unfortunate idea of losing his father when this story had hardly got off the ground. Life started to gather speed. It was about time. Actor/director Louis-Do de Lencquesaing's first feature premiered at Semaine de la Critique du Festival de Cannes 2012.

Une vie toute neuve

Ounie Lecomte : 2009
Yeo-haeng-ja

Seoul, 1975. Nine-year-old Jinhee's father has placed her in an orphanage run by Catholic nuns. He leaves her there never to return but Jinhee desperately believes he will come back for her and take her on a trip. The little girl has to deal with the ordeal of separation and the long wait for a new family. As the seasons pass, the departures of adopted children allow her to glimpse the dream that awaits her but shatter the friendships that she has just formed. Jinhee resists because she knows that the promise of a brand-new life will separate her for good from those she loves. Inspired by the director's own experiences, when as a child she was adopted by a French couple in the 1970s.