A Separation 2011
Directed by Asghar Farhadi
Starring: Peyman Noadie, Leila Hatami

Through the difficulties of one couple, director Asghar Farhadi illustrates the schism between the classes in contemporary Iran. The spiral of complications begins when Nader (Peyman Moaadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami) separate, because she wants to give 11-year-old daughter Termeh (Sarina Farhadi) a better life abroad and he wants to stay in Tehran to care for his father, who has Alzheimer's disease. Though Termeh would prefer to live with Simin, she remains with Nader in hopes to encourage reconciliation. After Simin moves back in with her mother, Nader hires housekeeper Razieh (Sareh Bayat), who quits when she finds out she has to assist his father with intimate matters, which doesn't square with her religion, so she arranges for her husband to take her place, but he's struggling with his creditors again. Out of desperation, Razieh returns, but then she loses track of the old man, gets into a fight with Nader, and ends up in the hospital. Nader insists he didn't know she was pregnant and had nothing to do with her fall, but the case proceeds to court, one of three trials in the film. The middle-class couple appears to have all the power, except the ensuing web of lies and omissions leaves everyone at some kind of a loss. A Separation isn't, in other words, a happy story, but Farhadi spins out the various twists and turns in an expertly directed, beautifully acted manner, fulfilling the promise of his earlier domestic dramas, like Fireworks Wednesday. --Kathleen C. Fennessy (Persian/Farsi dialogue with English/French subtitles)

Certified Copy 2011
Directed by Abbas Kiarostami
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Jean-Claude Carrier

From acclaimed director Abbis Kiarostami (Taste of Cherry, The Wind Will Carry Us) comes the story of a couple's apparent chance meeting in beautiful Tusccany. He (William Shimell) is a British author in town to talk about his new book. She (Juliette Binoche) is a French gallery owner in search of originality. Together they tour the local galleries, cafes and museums and discover that nothing is quite what it seems and truth, like art, is always open to interpretation. A captivating film, Certified Copy marries post-modern reality games with mature romantic comedy in a single playful and provocative package.(Mongrel Films)
A mix of English/French/Italian dialogue with English subtitles

Biutiful 2010
Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Starring: Javier Bardem

A heartbreakingly direct performance by Javier Bardem anchors Biutiful, a film from Mexican auteur Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel, 21 Grams). Uxbal (Bardem) is not an admirable man: he's a criminal middleman, helping human traffickers and illicit street peddlers in Barcelona. But in the thick of his corrupt and compromised world, Uxbal strives to do some modest good: he demands heaters for the cold basement where illegal Chinese laborers sleep and he carefully scrapes together money for his children, whom he deeply adores. On top of all this, Uxbal can commune with the recently dead, and tries to pass on reassurance to the bereaved. When Uxbal himself is diagnosed with severe cancer, he desperately tries to leave behind something better for his children. This plot summary paints a bleak picture, and there's no question this is--much like Iñárritu's other films, including Amores Perros--an emotionally harrowing experience. But Biutiful is also visually rich and deeply humane, and holds moments of grace that can only be found in sadness and loss. The entire cast brings a fullness of life to all of the characters, no matter how briefly they appear, but Bardem almost never leaves the screen and carries the movie with magnetic force. --Bret Fetzer

Spanish dialogue with English/Spanish subtitles

The Storm Warriors 2010
Directed by the Pang Brothers
Starring Aaron Kwok

Based on the comic book series “Fung Wan” and directed by the Pang Brothers comes the incredible story of two friends, Wind and Cloud, who find themselves up against a very powerful warlord intending to invade their country. In order to protect their land, these two friends seek the help of the all-powerful master. Through extensive training, Wind and Cloud expose themselves to the “evil” ways to increase their powers of element. When the intensive battle begins, their friendship will be tested when one finds it hard to be righteous and easy to be evil.(Lionsgate Pictures) Cantonese dialogue with English and Spanish subtitles

Hostel 2011
Directed by Manish Gupta
Starring: Vatsal Setg, Mukesh Tiwari

Few Indians are aware of the number of suicides that occur in Indian Hostels as a result of the phenomenon termed as 'Ragging'. This sadistic practice has become a ritual wherein students are beaten up, stripped, paraded naked, starved, tortured, molested and even raped by their seniors. Since victims of ragging find it humiliating to report sexual abuse to their parents or others, most ragging-related crimes go unreported. Sadly, these very students - who suffer silently at the hands of their seniors - in turn, vent their frustrations by ragging their juniors in the following years. Thus, this cruel practice continues year after year and has claimed (and is still claiming) the lives and careers of innumerable students. The film 'Hostel' is a shocking eye-opener about this evil practice and is a wake-up call for all of us.(Shree International)
Hindi dialogue with English subtitles

The Father of My Children 2010
Directed by Helene Bastide
Starring: Elsa Pharaon

GREGOIRE A PARISIAN FILM PRODUCER, HAS IT ALL. ON THE SURFACE HE SEEMS INVINCIBLE MAINTAINING HUMOR AND CHARM AS HE TIRELESSLY JUGGLES THE DEMANDS OF HIS PRODUCT COMPANY. BUT WHEN HE REACHES A DRAMATIC BREAKING POINT, HIS FAMILY'S LOVE AND RESILIENCE IS TESTED AND THEIR WORLD IS FOREVER CHANGED.(IFC Independent Film)

Sweden

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 2010
Directed by Niels Arden Opley
Starring: Michael Nygvist, Noami Rapace

Fans of Stieg Larsson's Men Who Hate Women may have been concerned about how the Swedish author's novel would translate to the screen, but they needn't have worried. Significant changes to the source material have been made, but director Niels Arden Opley's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, as it's now called, is mostly riveting. As the story begins, middle-aged investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) has just been convicted of a bogus charge of libel against a rich and corrupt corporate hotshot when he's unexpectedly offered a most unusual gig. An aging captain of industry named Henrik Vanger (Sven-Bertil Taube) wants Blomkvist to figure out what happened to Vanger's niece, who disappeared more than 40 years earlier; not only is the old man convinced that she was murdered, but he suspects that another member of his large and rather disagreeable family (which includes several former Nazis) is the culprit. Blomkvist takes the job, which includes spending at least six months on Vanger's isolated island in the middle of winter. But what he doesn't know is that he's being spied on by twentysomething Lisbeth Salander (brilliantly played by Noomi Rapace in a career-making performance), the titular Girl and the possessor of remarkable skills as a sleuth and computer hacker. With her gothlike piercings and all-black clothes, Lisbeth is a vivid character, to say the least. While we don't exactly know the details of her dark past, it's obviously still with her; indeed, she's just been assigned a new "guardian" (like a parole officer) to look after her finances and other matters. We also know that she is not someone to mess with; when the guardian turns out to be a thoroughly vile monster, Lisbeth gets back at him in one of the more satisfying revenge sequences in recent memory. That Lisbeth and Mikael should end up working together, and more, isn't especially surprising. But the horrifying details and depths of depravity they uncover while working on the case (parallels to The Silence of the Lambs are facile but appropriate) definitely are, and Opley does a nice job of keeping it all straight. At more than two and a half hours, the film is long, with its share of grim, graphic, and scary moments, but The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a winner. --Sam Graham
Swedish dialogue with English subtitles

Korea

Fighter in the Wind 2005
Directed by Yang Yunho
Starring: Yang Donggeun, Aya Hirayama

A young Korean Taekwondo competitor arrives in Japan near the end of World War II with hopes of being a fighter pilot, but ends up on the streets battling racism, organized crime, occupying American servicemen, and his own fear of failure as a martial artist. He retires to the wilderness for two years to train his body in the art of karate and returns to take on the world. Cinema Epoch
Korean dialogue with English subtitles

Seven Swords 2005
Directed by Tsui Hark
Starring: Donnie Yen, Leon Lau

In the early 1600's, the Manchurians have taken over sovereignty of China and established the Ching Dynasty. The newly set-up government immediately imposes a Martial Arts Ban, forbidding the practice of martial arts altogether in order to gain control and order. A group of soldiers travel the country seeking out those who would flout the law. A swordsman and his disciples decide to take the fight to the enemy, following a plea from a group of villagers. The SEVEN SWORDS is formed and their heroic journey begins. As they lead the entire village to the road of a safer place, they discover there is a trator amongst them. Between this narrow gap of life and death, the situation is further complicated by the blossoms of love. Weinstein Ent.
Cantonese/Mandarin dialogue with English or Spanish subtitles or English dubbed

The Science of Sleep 2006
Written and Directed by Michel Gondry
Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg

The French magician and director Georges Méliès was arguably the first master of special effects, filling the silent movie houses of the early 20th century with camera trickery that stunned and delighted audiences. A century later, Michel Gondry works very much in the spirit of his artistic predecessor and countryman, creating films and music videos that feel just as hand-crafted and visually fantastical. The Science of Sleep concerns the flirtations and misunderstandings of Stéphane (Gael García Bernal, Babel), an aspiring visual artist, and Stéphanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg, 21 Grams), his Parisian neighbor who creates whimsical sculptures from cotton balls and felt. As Stéphane toils in a caustic office for a company that makes calendars, he retreats into his dreams and finds them increasingly hard to distinguish from reality, and vice-versa. The Science of Sleep is a trilingual film, with dialogue spoken in French, English, and Spanish by characters who are very much global citizens, crossing boundaries of consciousness as easily as they cross boundaries of culture. Gondry decorates his love story with deliberately low-tech special effects, including cellophane made to look like bath water and a subconscious television studio constructed largely of corrugated cardboard. This is filmmaking with all the seams and stitches exposed, an appreciation for the patent falseness of films that nonetheless transport and enchant us. It's dreamy. --Ryan Boudinot
English/Speanish/French dialogue with English/Spanish/French subtitles