Passionate about dance, young Merab has trained at the National Georgian Dance Ensemble since childhood. His sole aim in life is to join the Main Dance Ensemble, break free from the confines of Georgian society and travel the world. When Irakli, a virile, talented male dancer joins his group, Merab fears the newcomer is the only thing standing between him and his dreams. As they compete, Irakli becomes both Merab’s fiercest rival and strongest desire – a desire that, in conservative Georgian society, threatens to throw his dance career, livelihood and family into turmoil. With a breath-taking central performance from its breakout stars, Levan Akin’s luminous film explores forbidden desire, ambition and liberation set against the backdrop of traditionalist Tbilisi where screening of the film sparked protests, due to its portrayal of an illicit love affair.

A young, French, opera-loving mail courier, Jules, becomes inadvertently entangled in murder, when a young woman fleeing two mob hit-men drops an incriminating cassette into his mailbag just before she is murdered. Jules has just recently recorded American opera star Cynthia Hawkins at her latest concert, something of a coup as Hawkins refuses to make recordings of any kind. Soon the unwitting Jules finds himself being pursued by Taiwanese bootleggers and a thuggish gang of drug dealers who will do anything to get their hands on the cassettes.

Set in 1980, after the sudden passing of his mother, taciturn Jón takes her in the backseat, and the family dog Bresnef, on one last trip to Eyrarbakki where she had always wanted to visit. Driving Mum is a clever, imaginative film that flickers in the light of various genres but develops its own distinctive character. The leading man, hirsute and unworldly, is heroic. His dog easily justifies third place on the credits. The film successfully negotiates the line between eccentricity and silliness: characters, scenes and events teeter at the far edge of implausibility but never topple over. Shot in monochrome it is often starkly beautiful, and the supporting cast adds colour.

In this acclaimed film which won top directing and acting prizes at the Venice Film Festival, writer-director Garrone presents a “reverse shot” of the immigration experience while unfurling an epic, cinematographically magnificent odyssey from West Africa to Italy. The story is told through the mind’s eye and experiences of two Senegalese teenagers living in Dakar who yearn for a brighter future in Europe. Yet between their dreams and reality lies a treacherous journey through a labyrinth of checkpoints, the scorched Saharan desert, a fetid North African prison and the vast waters of the Mediterranean where thousands have died packed inside vessels barely fit for passage.

Hired to be a servant to pampered nightclub singer and mob moll Xiao Jinbao (Gong Li), naïve teenager Shuisheng (Wang Xiaoxiao) is thrust into the glamorous and deadly demi-monde of 1930’s Shanghai. Over the course of seven days, Shuisheng observes mounting tensions as triad boss Tang (Li Baotian) begins to suspect traitors amongst his ranks, and rivals for Xiao Jinbao’s affections.

In the arid Bolivian highlands, an elderly Quechua couple has been living a tranquil life for years. While he takes their small herd of llamas out to graze, she keeps house and walks for miles with the other local women to fetch precious water. When an uncommonly long drought threatens everything they know, Virginio and Sisa must decide whether to stay and maintain their traditional way of life or admit defeat and move in with family members in the city. Their dilemma is precipitated by the arrival of their grandson who comes to visit with news of his own. The three of them must face, each in their own way, the effects of a changing environment, the importance of tradition, and the meaning of life itself.

What more needs to be said about this cult classic? The film’s plot centres on Cockney criminal Charlie Croker (Michael Caine), recently released from prison, who forms a gang for the job of stealing a cache of gold bullion being transported through the city of Turin, Italy in an armoured security truck. In addition to Caine, the cast also included Noël Coward and, surprisingly, Benny Hill. The soundtrack was composed by Quincy Jones. The film proved a success upon its release, earning critical acclaim amongst critics for the performances by Caine and Coward, the film’s reflection of British culture from the period and the climactic car chase. Several elements became symbolic cult features, including a rare never-resolved cliffhanger ending,