A blind wanderer and his spirited granddaughter travel the desert in search of a great reunion of dervishes that takes place just once every thirty years. Click for more info. 

A family enjoys an idyllic existence in their isolated, ramshackle home by an abandoned highway. But everything changes when rush hour traffic starts rumbling by and the family must resort to desperate measures to preserve their solitude. Click for more info.

Intent on teaching his son about their Mayan heritage, Jorge takes 5-year-old Natan to the pristine Chinchorro reef. As the bond between father and son grows, Natan learns to live in harmony with life above and below the surface of the sea. Click for more info.

A modern Egyptian retelling of "The Arabian Nights," features oppressive politics and repressed women in this feature by director Yousry Nasrallah. Click for more info.

Set among a small circle of friends and neighbors in a Parisian suburb, "35 Shots of Rum" is a warm, funny and enchanting film from the great French filmmaker Claire Denis. Purchase the DVD.

After leaving her job to fulfill her dream of studying art history, Elsa discovers her husband has lost his job and their once sophisticated lifestyle is falling to pieces. Tension grows between the couple, threatening their most valuable possession: Love.

Capturing the confused birth of contemporary Romania, this film follows a young militiaman on the night of Ceauşescu’s overthrow. Directed by Radu Muntean, 2006.

A provincial television show commemorating the 16th anniversary of the fall of Communism morphs into a clever take on history and memory. Directed by Corneliu Porumboiu, 2006. Purchase the DVD.

This debut feature skirts genres of the road movie, the buddy movie, and the slacker story as it depicts Romania as a corrupt, brutal land. Directed by Cristi Puiu, 2001. Film available for purchase 2/15/10. To order, email anca@mandragora.ro.

A look at the mundane, fascinating and sometimes tragic life stories of customers frequenting the last State-owned bar to survive Communism. Directed by Corina Radu, 2007.

From their first meeting at university, adventurous city girl Kiki falls in love with a provincial girl, Alex. Directed by Tudor Giurgiu, 2006. Purchase the DVD (PAL only, for computer & multi-standard DVD players).

This documentary looks at Radio Free Europe, enemy of Communist dictators and information lifeline for Romanian listeners. Written and Directed by Alexandru Solomon, 2008. Purchase the DVD (PAL only, for computer & multi-standard DVD players).

Diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor, the filmmaker questions if illness and death can spur artistic creativity. Written and Directed by Răzvan Georgescu, 2008. To order this film, email info@starcrest.de (PAL or NTSC).

A carefree student in totalitarian Romania finds his life irrevocably destroyed when he is arrested for a murder he did not commit. Directed by Titus Muntean, 2002.

A quirky short film about humanitarian aid workers in Romania who are taught a lesson by the villagers they go to help.

A Romanian short about an old overweight postal worker who, when nagged by his wife, joins a weekly caravan of local villagers who cross the border to sell their goods for hard currency.

Andrei, a 13 year old teenager, living on the outskirks of Bucharest, decides one day to steal a trolleybus in order to impress Marilena, a prostitute he fell in love with. Things you do for love…

In this award-winning film from Mexico, a humble violin player is more than he appears, using his harmless look to evade the eyes of the military as he covertly supports the campesina peasant guerilla movement.

In a desolate, sun-scorched corner of the world, an elderly woman has come to see her beloved grandson, a young officer stationed at a remote military outpost. Alexandra is a viscerally powerful film from the great Alexander Sokurov.

This film from Israel is an intimate and heartwrenching story of the conflict between a father's love and his deep devotion to religion -- a dramatic retelling of the story of Abraham and Isaac with a devastating "twist." 

In this beautiful classic film directed by Youssef Chahine, Cairo's main railroad station is used to represent all of Egyptian society - a place brimming with sexuality, repression, madness and violence among society's most marginalized. 

A Turkish actress can no longer bear the distance between her and her lover from northern Iraq. However, getting into a country at war turns out to be just as difficult as getting out.

When amnesty is granted following Chad's civil war, 16 year-old Atim sets out on a journey to avenge his father's death. But after apprenticing himself to the killer and growing close to the man, he discovers that revenge is not a simple matter.

In a remote Kurdish village on the Iran-Iraq border, five motherless children endure hard scrabble lives, smuggling in order to survive.

Shy and humble to the point of unworldliness, Muharrem leads a devout life, and takes comfort in ecstatic prayer at his local mosque. But when picked by his Sheikh to become a rent collector, he’s catapulted into the temptations of the material world, and his piety is challenged.

When 14-year-old Vanaja is told by a fortune teller that she will be a great dancer, she presses her alcoholic father to get her a job with the rich local landowner, who was once herself a great dancer. But her path to success is disrupted by a seduction and the strict dictates of the Indian caste system.

Blind Shaft tells the story of two men (Song Jinming and Tang Chaoyang) working in the corrupt and dangerous mines of China, who develop a murderous scheme in order to better their lives.

Singapore Dreaming is a poignant, darkly humorous story about a typical Singaporean family coming to grips with their dreams and aspirations.

Set against the backdrop of contemporary Marrakech, Raja is a cross-cultural drama about the relationship of a middle-aged Frenchman (Pascal Greggory) with a poor local girl  played by Najat Benssallem, whose stunning performances earned her awards at both the Venice and Marrakech Film Festivals.

To some it’s the end of the world, to others it’s the gateway to a new life: the river Oder between Poland and Germany. Vibrant with expectancy, this place is a magnet for people on a journey towards happiness, security and a better life.

This one-of-a-kind gem has left critics trying to trace its roots in everything from Jacques Tati for its hilarious visual wit to Bad Santa for making comic protagonists out of an ill-tempered pair who make everyone else miserable.

The year is 1942. Johann, a young German opposed to Hitler’s war, travels the dusty roads of northeastern Brazil selling a new wonder drug  — Aspirin — to peasants and farmers. Along the way, he picks up a hitchhiker, the sharp-tongued Ranulpho, who helps in his efforts. An unlikely friendship blossoms between the two intrepid travelers, but as Brazil enters the war against Germany and Johann is subject to deportation, each man must decide his own fate.

This award-winning feature debut by one of Africa’s most talented female directors takes place in an unnamed country, where two peoples, the ruling Nayak and the opposition Bonandés, have finally embarked on a path to peace after a decade of civil war and atrocities.

Young, energetic and restless, Bahta dreams of fleeing to Europe to escape the restrictions of his life in Tunisia. At home, his macho father offers nothing but criticism and when Bahta is out with his break-dancing peers the police seem to track their every move. Set in 2003, things come to a head when Iraq is invaded by the American-led coalition forces and Bahta’s European mirage evaporates.

How much is a woman worth in comparison to a man in Islamic Iran - and who pays the difference? A story of vengeance, labyrinthine judicial procedure, and the concept of "blood money."

A poetic and beautifully photographed film that examines the conflict between progress and tradition in Mauritania, Africa. Screening in Link TV's Cinemondo series, which premieres entertaining and award-winning foreign films.

An eccentric Czech comedy filled with odd characters searching for connections in a post-communist world.

In this Chinese film by director Li Shaohong, a young girl finds herself shunned by the world when she becomes pregnant out of wedlock.

A romantic drama about a Palestinian girl that wants to marry the man of her own choice, but only has ten hours to find a boyfriend in occupied and chaotic Jerusalem.

The scandalous story of the assassination of the South Korean President in 1979, The President’s Last Bang is essential viewing for anyone who wants to understand the roots of modern Korean democracy and politics.

Part of Link's world cinema series Cinemondo, this film offers a look at Dutch society, from slain director Theo van Gogh's perspective.

Inspired by true events in Northern Greece, this film explores the sensitive issue of Greek-Albanian relations through a young Albanian immigrant who hijacks an intercity bus in an attempt to return home.

Set in the post-war era of peace, this film depicts the Bosnian village of Tesanj as Muslim and Serbian townies grudgingly attempt to join forces to present a positive and unified image for Bill Clinton's presidential visit.

A complex portrait of the roles of women and men in modern Iran.

This award-winning, poignant film tells the story of two men in Brazil: white, middle-class Miguel, and black favela-dweller Jorge, who meet as boys through their fathers’ passion for music.

Sonia, an elderly lady, treats herself to a day at the beach in this CINEMONDO short film. After being asked to watch a young woman's bag, she starts longing for her younger days.

Pepe Danquart's Academy Award® winning short film captures the dignity of a man confronted with a problem many of us may have faced in a foreign culture.

For an exile the Internet is more than a mere resource, it is a lifeline to his or her homeland. For Maung Maung Aye, an ex-Burmese freedom fighter now living in Australia, and  the co-director of this short exploration, it means even more.

Patricio Schmidt and his crew took time away from shooting a commercial to film the beautiful plateau of Huinay, Chile, using basic production techniques and the local population to create this wonderful short.

This short film follows the route of five bullets and the people they affect during a shoot-out in Rio de Janeiro.

Undeterred by the looming U.S.-Iraq war and despite lurking dangers, a solitary boatman steers his way through the maze of reedy marshes along the border of Iran, intent on his important personal mission. This quiet drama is a tribute to human resilience

A fictional representation of modernity, apathy, and the ease with which modern subjects allow themselves to be transformed.

An innocent man has his computer confiscated and is arrested suddenly under National Security Law. He is set free but without his computer that contains a precious and valuable poem.

A ten year-old Pakistani boy mistakenly crosses the border with no way of getting back.

A dance short about the anguish of air travel.

Younghee is an adventurous little girl with a younger brother, a boyfriend, an absent father, and a troubled mother. As she observes her mother's life, she mimics it until the two come together in a shattering confrontation.

On an ordinary day in Seoul, one hapless housewife is faced with nuclear holocaust. What happens to her family as they face their last 30 minutes of life is a lesson in alternative realities.

An interview with "35 Shots of Rum" director Claire Denis, and actor Alex Descas.
Interview courtesy of filmmaker Lea Rinaldi from Paris. Visit Lea's website.

Francisco Vargas sits down with CINEMONDO host Peter Scarlet for an interview about the film "The Violin". Vargas discusses the inspirations for the film, including his wish to present a "universal story". The director also reveals how his rural roots contributed to the genuine believability of the film and its characters.

In this interview, director Huseyin Karabey tells how he met the actress Ayça, the inspiration for the story in the Cinemondo film "My Marlon and Brando." He also discusses why he became a filmmaker - in part, to tell the story of his working-class Kurdish heritage.

A revealing interview with Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, who is working toward a cinematic vocabulary that is specifically of Chad. He gives an emotional and historic context to the film, and offers what may be some surprising insights into the end of "Daratt". For the complete interview tune into Link TV's presentation of "Daratt."

In this revealing interview taped in Istanbul, Özer Kiziltan gives detailed information about the making of "Takva: A Man's Fear of God." He discusses his own journey as a filmmaker, and the directors who have influenced his art. He also discusses his decision to cast Erkan Can in the central role, and the nature of being Muslim in modern day Turkey.

Rajnesh Domalpalli speaks with Cinemondo host, Peter Scarlet about the incredible stories behind the making of "Vanaja." In particular, Rajnesh discusses the difficult but rewarding task of working with non professional actors. He also shares with us the process of having the then fourteen year old main actress (Mamatha Bhukya), a non professional actor with no previous dance experience, trained to perfect both the nuances of her character as well as the complex Kuchipudi dance sequences she so effortlessly performed in the film

Colin Goh and Yen Yen Woo talk to Peter Scarlet in another original Cinemondo interview. Here, they discuss being married and working as co-directors, how "Singapore Dreaming" was made and how audiences around the world have reacted to it. This introduction and interview originally aired as part of Link TV's CINEMONDO presentation of "Singapore Dreaming."

Peter Scarlet interviews Fanta Regina Nacro, the director of "The Night of Truth." Enjoy this revealing converation about Fanta's reasons making a film that congfronts the issues of genocide and reconciliation in African countries.

Taped in Sicily during the 2007 Taormina Film Festival, Nouri Bouzid talks to Peter Scarlet about the need for Islam to renew itself and his goal of using the film to spearhead this process from within the faith. Together, Bouzid and Abdelli discuss the unusual documentary / fiction format they created which, in and of itself, demonstrates not only their desire for change but the love of their religion and humility in the face of it.

Peter Scarlet interviews Abderrahmane Sissako, the director of "Waiting for Happiness." Find out more about the making of this carefully observed film about a young man's return to the traditional Mauritanian village of his youth, and hear more about Sissako's latest film, "Bamako."

Cinemondo host, Peter Scarlet, speaks with director Pjer Zalica about, "Fuse," his acidly funny, and sometimes tender exploration of Muslim and Serb neighbors in Bosnia struggling to imagine a future together in the aftermath of a brutal war.