The Lobster
UK/Greece, 2015
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Science Fiction
Language: English
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Starring: Colin Farrell, Léa Seydoux, Rachel Weisz, John C. Reilly, Ben Whishaw
What's it about?
It wouldn't be an arthouse cinema list without one of the leaders of the 'Greek Weird Wave', Yorgos Lanthimos. In his first English language feature film, Lanthimos once again teamed up with writing partner Efthymis Filippou to create a dystopian comedy where single people are sent to a hotel and they have 45 days to find a mate or be turned into the animal of their choice.
[link title="The Lobster review: An achingly dystopian rom-com" url="node/49645"]
Chevalier
Greece, 2015
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Language: Greek, English
Director: Athina Rachel Tsangari
Starring: Vangelis Mourikis, Makis Papadimitriou, Sakis Rouvas, Kostas Filippoglou, Panos Koronis, Yiorgos Kendros, Yorgos Pirpassopoulos, Giannis Drakopoulos, Nikos Orphanos
What's it about?
Let's keep things Greek. Athina Rachel Tsangari also teamed up with Efthymis Filippou to co-write this comedy. In the middle of the Aegean Sea, six men on a fishing trip on a luxury yacht decide to play a game. During this game, things will be compared. Things will be measured. Songs will be butchered, and blood will be tested. Friends will become rivals and rivals will become hungry. But at the end of the journey, when the game is over, the man who wins will be the best man. And he will wear on his smallest finger the victory ring: the Chevalier.
Border
Denmark, Sweden, 2018
Genre: Thriller, Fantasy, Romance, Drama
Language: Swedish
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Eva Melander, Eero Milonoff, Sten Ljunggren, Ann Petrén, Rakel Wärmländer, Viktor Åkerblom, Jörgen Thorsson, Andreas Kundler, Matti Boustedt, Kjell Wilhelmsen
What's it about?
Customs officer Tina is known for her extraordinary sense of smell. It's almost as if she can sniff out the guilt on anyone smuggling or hiding something. However, when she encounters the first person she cannot prove is guilty, she is forced to confront terrifying revelations about herself and humankind. Winner of the Un Certain Regard Award at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival this unique genre film is based on a short story by John Ajvide Lindqvist (Let the Right One In).
[link title="'Border': Genre-Bending Swedish Film Destined For Cult Status" url="node/193714"]
Liyana
Swaziland, 2017
Genre: Documentary, Animation
Language: English
Director: Aaron Kopp, Amanda Kopp
Starring: Gcina Mhlophe
What's it about?
This genre-defying documentary tells the story of five children in the Kingdom of Eswatini who turn trauma from their past into an original tale about a girl named Liyana who embarks on a perilous quest to save her young twin brothers. The film weaves her animated journey together with poetic documentary scenes to create an inspiring story of perseverance and hope.
Suk Suk
Hong Kong, 2019
Genre: LGBTQ, Drama
Language: Yue Chinese
Director: Ray Yeung
Starring: Tai-Bo, Ben Yuen, Patra Au, Lo Chun Yip, Yiu-Sing Lam, Hiu Yee Wong, Yixin Hu
What's it about?This award-winning drama presents the story of two closeted married men in their twilight years. One day Pak, 70, a taxi driver who refuses to retire, meets Hoi, 65, a retired single father, in a park. Despite years of societal and personal pressure, they are proud of the families they have created through hard work and determination. Yet in that brief initial encounter, something is unleashed in them which had been suppressed for so many years. As both men recount and recall their personal histories, they also contemplate a possible future together. Suk Suk studies the subtle day-to-day moments of two men as they struggle between conventional expectations and personal desires.
If Beale Street Could Talk
USA, 2018
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Director: Barry Jenkins
Starring: KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Brian Tyree Henry
What's it about?
Following his Best Picture Academy Award winner Moonlight, writer/director Barry Jenkins breathes new life into poet/author/activist James Baldwin's acclaimed novel about the power of love to help endure an unforgiving, unjust place. The intimate love story is set in 1970s Harlem, and follows Tish and Fonny, deeply in love and preparing for parenthood, whose plans are derailed when Fonny is wrongfully arrested for a crime he didn't commit. As their dream for a life together breaks apart in front of their eyes, Tish and Fonny draw strength from their own families (including Regina King in her Oscar-winning supporting role), who act as a buffer to the racist world outside.
If Beale Street Could Talk premieres at SBS On Demand on 12 November
About Endlessness
Sweden, 2019
Genre: Drama
Language: Swedish
Director: Roy Andersson
Starring: Jessica Louthander, Tatiana Delaunay, Anders Hellström
What's it about?
A reflection on human life in all its beauty and cruelty, its splendour and banality, in this film, we wander, dreamlike, gently guided by our Scheherazade-esque narrator. Inconsequential moments take on the same significance as historical events: a couple floats over a war-torn Cologne; on the way to a birthday party, a father stops to tie his daughter's shoelaces in the pouring rain; teenage girls dance outside a café; a defeated army marches to a prisoner-of-war camp. Simultaneously an ode and a lament, About Endlessness presents a kaleidoscope of all that is eternally human, an infinite story of the vulnerability of existence.
About Endlessness premieres at SBS On Demand on 19 November
Fanny Lye Deliver'd
UK, 2019
Genre: Drama, History, Thriller
Language: English
Director: Thomas Clay
Starring: Maxine Peake, Charles Dance, Freddie Fox
What's it about?Set on an isolated farm in Shropshire in 1657, Fanny Lye lives a quiet Puritan life with her husband John and young song Arthur, but her simple world is shaken to its core by the unexpected arrival of a mysterious young couple in need. A visit from the local Sheriff causes events to escalate and changes Fanny's disciplined life forever.
Fanny Lye Deliver'd premieres at SBS On Demand on 19 November
Funny Cow
UK, 2017
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Language: English
Director: Adrian Shergold
Starring: Maxine Peake, Tony Pitts, Paddy Considine, Stephen Graham
What's it about?
Maxine Peake delivers another incredible performance as she depicts the rise to stardom of a female comedienne through the 1970s and '80s. It is set against the backdrop of working men's clubs and the stand-up comedy circuit in the north of England. From her troubled childhood to her turbulent adult relationships, the Funny Cow uses the raw material of her life experiences to bring her unique style of comedy to the stage. A stand-up comedienne in an all-male world, Funny Cow delivers tragedy and comedy in equal measure.
Funny Cow premieres at SBS On Demand on 26 November
Bait
UK, 2019
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Director: Mark Jenkin
Starring: Edward Rowe, Giles King, Chloe Endean
What's it about?
Winner of the 2020 BAFTA Film Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director, or Producer, Bait tells the story of Martin Ward, a cove fisherman without a boat. His brother Steven has repurposed their father's vessel as a tourist tripper, driving a wedge between the brothers. With their childhood home now a get-away for London money, Martin is displaced to the estate above the picturesque harbour. As his struggle to restore the family to their traditional place creates increasing friction with tourists and locals alike, a tragedy at the heart of the family changes his world. Bait is a hand-crafted monochrome expression of a life under threat.
Bait premieres at SBS On Demand on 26 November
