SHIFTY

SHIFTY

The Story:
Chris (Daniel Mays), a young man who returns to his old Essex stamping ground after an absence of four years and is shocked to discover that his one-time best friend Shifty (Riz Ahmed) has graduated to dealing hard drugs.

Over the course of 24 hours, Chris tries to reconnect with Shifty and tags along with him as he deals to a variety of drug users across the community.Unknown to his righteous brother, Rez (Nitin Ganatra), Shifty is dealing crack to the lower-middle-class neighborhood, including outwardly respectable builder Trevor (Jay Simpson) and a loony middle-aged woman, Valerie (Francesca Annis).

As Chris accompanies Shifty on his rounds, his past comes back to haunt him and Shifty is screwed by a rival dealer, Glen (Jason Flemyng). Chris confronts the dark past he left behind him, Shifty is forced to face up to the violent future he’s heading fast towards.

Starring:
Riz Ahmed, Daniel Mays, Jason Flemyng, Francesca Annis

Directed By:
Eran Creevy

Release:
2009

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IS ANYBODY THERE?

IS ANYBODY THERE ?

The Story:
Set in 1980s seaside England, this is the story of Edward (Bill Milner), an unusual ten year old boy growing up in an old people's home run by his parents. Whilst his mother (Anne-Marie Duff) struggles to keep the family business afloat, and his father (David Morrissey) copes with the onset of mid-life crisis, Edward is busy tape-recording the elderly residents to try and discover what happens when they die.

Increasingly obsessed with ghosts and the afterlife, Edward's is a rather lonely existence until he meets Clarence (Michael Caine), the latest recruit to the home, a retired magician with a liberating streak of anarchy.

Their relationship begins at odds until Clarence notices that the boy is growing up even more fitfully than he is growing old. As they begin to face life together, Clarence comes to terms with his past, Edward tames his obsession with the unknown and they are both reminded of what magic is possible when life is lived to its fullest.

Starring:
Michael Caine, Bill Milner, Anne-Marie Duff, David Morrissey, Rosemary Harris, Leslie Phillips, Sylvia Syms

Directed By:
John Crowley

Release:
2008

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REAL TIME

REAL TIME

The Story:

Andy Hayes (Jay Baruchel), a hyperactive compulsive gambler, is plucked off the street by the calm yet imposing Reuban (Randy Quaid). Reuban tells Andy that he's been dispatched to kill him. Andy doesn't believe him at first. He figures it's just another one of Reuban's scare tactics to get him to pay off his gambling debt. After a few punches to the head and a gun held to his face, Andy finally gets it. Reuban is really going to kill him— but not before Andy gets an hour to do whatever he'd like before he dies.

Reuban is a little surprised when Andy chooses to spend his hour looking for a hooker, seeking revenge on a former boss and trying to find his old Playdough barber shop toy at Grandma's. But as we move closer to the deadline, we see there is more to Andy than we first thought and Reuban turns out to have a secret or two of his own.

Starring:

Randy Quaid, Jay Baruchel, Ella Chan, Jayne Eastwood

Directed By:
Randall Cole

Release:

2008

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AMREEKA

The Story:
A Palestinian single mom Muna (Nisreen Faour) and her teenage son arrive in rural Illinois to escape a life of oppression, only to face the fallout from America's war on Iraq.

West Bank, just prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, with divorced Muna's discovery of the green card that will take her and 16-year-old Fadi (Melkar Muallem) away from their daily drive through menacing checkpoints to Jerusalem. More of a similar nature, however, accompanies Muna and her son at the Chicago airport, where the modest seed money she had naively wrapped in a cookie tin gets confiscated by customs agents, leaving her broke upon arrival at the suburban home of her sister Raghda (Hiam Abbass), married with three kids.

Thickly accented Muna tries and fails to land a bank management job similar to the one she held back home, leading her to take work at a White Castle and struggle to keep it secret from her sister and son, and laying the groundwork for a gentle, not-quite romance between Muna and Mr. Novatski (Joseph Ziegler) the Jewish principal of Fadi’s school.

Though Muna and her family are both a culture without a state and strangers in a strange land, they learn that the meaning of home transcends borders, and love needs no checkpoints.

Starring:
Nisreen Faour, Alia Shawkat, Hiam Abbass, Jenna Kawar, Melkar Muallem, Selena Haddad

Directed By:
Cherien Dabis

Release:
2009

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AMEXICANO

AMEXICANO

The Story:
Bruno (Carmine Famiglietti), an overweight average Joe who's unemployed, is offered an off-the-books construction job by his landlord and friend Alex (Michael Aronov). He's told to pick out a helper at a corner of Northern Boulevard, where Hispanic illegals hang out looking for work.

Bruno reluctantly agrees, only half-joking about his ethnic prejudices, but the first guy he picks up, Diego (Manny Perez), lives up to all his worst fears.

His second attempt, however, yields Ignacio (Raul Castillo), an open, thoroughly likeable, competent and hard-working young man, who speaks little English. Soon the two are teaching each other their respective tongues, sharing lunches and becoming best buds.

Ignacio's lovely, rather impish wife Gabriela (Jennifer Pena) invites Bruno to their home, and Bruno soon becomes the odd Italian out, awaiting gigs on Northern Boulevard with the Mexican guys and attending Mexican birthday parties and soccer matches. He is accepted by all except Diego, who has citizenship papers and bullies anyone who dares to stand up to him, threatening to turn them in to the immigration authorities.

An unprovoked attack lands Ignacio first in the hospital and then back in Mexico, and strands Bruno with Gabriela, to whom he is increasingly drawn.

Starring:
Carmine Famiglietti, Raúl Castillo, Jennifer Peña, Michael Aronov, Manny Perez, Hugo Aleman

Directed By:
Matthew Bonifacio

Release:
2007

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BLOOD & CHOCOLATE

Blood & Chocolate

The Story:
In Bucharest, Romania, the orphan Vivian Gandillon (Agnes Bruckner) was raised by her aunt after losing her parents ten years ago in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado. His family belongs to a bloodline of werewolves and Vivian is promised to the leader of the pack, Gabriel (Olivier Martinez).

Vivian's life begins to unravel when she has a chance encounter with Aiden (Hugh Dancy), an artist researching Bucharest' ancient art and relics for his next graphic novel. Aiden pursues Vivian until she relents and begins to see him, but she can't bring herself to tell him the truth - and lives in fear of showing him who she really is.

However, the evil son of Gabriel and Vivian's cousin Rafe (Bryan Dick) poisons Gabriel about the love of Vivian, forcing her to choose between her bounds with her family and her passion for Aiden.

Not only is Vivian up next, but Gabriel believes she's the "Promised One" who will usher in the "Age of Hope." Gabriel and his werewolf buddies warn Aiden to stay away from Vivian, but when he proves remarkably stubborn, they decide to simply kill him

Vivian and the extraordinary Aiden--who manages to outwit the loup-garou in ways they never thought possible--are forced to go on the run, even though Vivian has sworn never to kill, she is as much an animal as she is human, and her love for Aiden threatens to cast him to the very wolves who saved her life and who are waiting for their chance to hunt him as prey.

Starring:
Agnes Bruckner, Olivier Martinez, Hugh Dancy, Bryan Dick, Katja Riemann,

Directed By:
Katja von Garnier

Release:
2007

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B13-U: NABLIEUE 13 - ULTIMATUM

B13-U: BANLIEUE 13 - ULTIMATUM (France)

The Story:
Sequel to District B13, two years later. The government has changed, not the rest ... The wall of isolation - ever higher, ever greater and Beyond - has spread around towns ghettos and gangs that have proliferated further increased their influence.

However the death of gang overlord Taha Bemamud at the end of the original film has left a power vacuum, and total control of the area is now being fought over by five rival territorial gang lords who want to step into Taha's position of overlord over District 13.

When an elite squad of killer cops stages a police assassination inside the nabe, their conniving boss (Daniel Duval) hopes to convince his president (Philippe Torreton) to raze the area so they can all cash in on the real estate boom. Thankfully, local rogue Leito (David Belle) and his law-enforcing partner Damien (Cyril Raffaelli) manage to re-team and run, flip, jump, tumble, twist, swing, punch, kick and head-butt their way to saving the slum from destruction.

Their goal: to save the city from chaos. Their program: Muscle and fighting for race-defying the laws of gravity...

Starring:
Cyril Raffaelli, David Belle, Philippe Torreton, Daniel Duval, Elodie Yung, MC Jean Gab'1, James Deano, La Fouine, Fabrice Feltzinger, Pierre-Marie Mosconi, Sophie Ducasse

Directed By:
Patrick Alessandrin

Release:
2009

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