Film Studies

A Chinese immigrant widow faces the New Year with apprehension after it is predicted that it would be the year she dies. Her list of things to do, which includes seeing her daughter get married and visiting China one last time, soon comes into focus.

Giovanna is a young working-class wife and mother, who has no time for the senile elderly man her husband has rescued from the streets. But as she uncovers the stranger's secrets, it unlocks a freedom within her heart she never expected; a freedom that will lead her to the arm of a neighbor she secretly adores, and to fulfillment her husband and family cannot provide.

Bathsheba Everdene is a willful, passionate girl who is never satisfied with anything less than a man's complete and helpless adoration. She captures the lives and loves of three very different men. Gabriel Oak is a sheep farmer who is captivated by her beauty and proposes marriage. William Boldwood is an older, prosperous man who had been a confirmed bachelor. Sergeant Frank Troy is a handsome, but reckless swordsman who is given to sudden fits of violence.

A woman about to marry her long time colleague has a chilling past that threatens to destroy her future. Driven to desperation she murders three men who raped her and locks their bodies in her freezer.

A car, loaded with delinquent girls, is headed to reform school when it crashes and the girls escape to freedom. On the run from the law, girl boss Komasa and her friends seek refuge right in the middle of Osaka's hardcore gang territory. Rival gangs battle it out for supremacy in a corrupt world of money-hungry degenerates whose only objectives are to make a quick buck and score a quick score.

Chronicles the life story of a Hollywood sex symbol and the price she pays for fame.

This documentary traces the Hollywood portrayal of Eastern women, creating the prevailing Hollywood image of the "exotic" Eastern woman. Juxtaposing film clips from the 1920's through the 1980's, Tania Kamal-Eldin explores the organization of gender, race, and sexuality in Hollywood's portrayal of the exotic east an indiscriminate fusion of things Arab, Persian, Chinese, and Indian. Kamal-Eldin argues that in abridging cultural plurality and difference, these technicolor fantasies have worked to both shape and reinforce negative assumptions about peoples of the east while at the same time re-inscribing the moral, spiritual, and cultural supremacy of the Anglo-European west.

Valeria's joy at becoming pregnant with her first child is quickly taken away when she's cursed by a sinister entity. As danger closes in and relationships with her family become fractured, she's forced deeper into a chilling world of dark magic that threatens to consume her. A group of witches emerge that could be her only hope for safety and salvation, but not without grave risk.

In her BAFTA award-winning debut feature, Rungano Nyoni crafts a satiric feminist fairy-tale set in present-day Zambia. When 9-year old orphan Shula is accused of witchcraft, she is exiled to a witch camp run by Mr. Banda, a corrupt and inept government official. Tied to the ground by a white ribbon, Shula is told that she will turn into a goat if she tries to escape. As the only child witch, Shula quickly becomes a local star and the adults around her exploit her supposed powers for financial gain. Soon she is forced to make a difficult decision - whether to resign herself to life on the camp, or take a risk for freedom. ...

This highly informative documentary offers critical insight into the dynamic world of South Korean cinema spanning a period of nearly 50 years. The film considers the significant role women have played in various productions -- such as Madame Freedom (1956) and The Housemaid (1960) -- and with great dexterity reconstructs the history of South Korean cinema from the perspective of female audiences and actresses. I'll Be Seeing Her also shows how South Korean actresses are being displaced by North Korean, Swiss, and Chinese women as a result of a globalized film market.

In this cool, seductive jewel of the Japanese New Wave, a yakuza, fresh out of prison, becomes entangled with a beautiful yet enigmatic gambling addict. What at first seems a redemptive relationship ends up leading him further down the criminal path.

Mousse and Louis are young, beautiful, rich, and in love, but drugs have invaded their lives. After Louis' fatal overdose, Mousse soon learns she is pregnant. Feeling lost, Mousse escapes to a beautiful beach house far from Paris and is soon joined in her refuge by Louis' gay brother, Paul. The two strangers gradually develop an unusual and deeply moving relationship as Ozon continues his unique exploration of the nature of family and blood ties.

Morvern Callar is greeted with a startling surprise, her boyfriend has committed suicide. He has left her a cryptic message on his computer and a manuscript for a novel. She changes the author's name to her own and begins a re-birth of self discovery.

Four episodes on the condition of the modern woman in Buenos Aires.

Rachel Cameron is a 35-year old school teacher living in New England. Her life is small and safe. She has no man in her life and lives with her mother. She wants to do anything to keep from slipping into spinsterhood. When a man from the big city returns and asks her out, she has to make decisions about her life and where she wants it to go.

The Red Kimona was based on the life of Gabrielle Darley and opens with Mrs. Reid reading from a newspaper account of Darley's murder trial. Priscilla Bonner plays Darley, a small town girl who finds escape from her cruel home life in the arms of a handsome stranger. Soon she finds herself working as a prostitute in New Orleans, desperately clinging to the belief that he really loves her. When she discovers him buying an engagement ring for another woman, she shoots him. Her murder trial becomes a cause celebre and Gabrielle finds herself befriended by a rich society woman who professes deep concern for the unfortunate girl. After the acquittal, she goes to live with Mrs. Smith, intending to start a new life, but finds that her benefactor has little use for her once the newspaper men have gone. Unable to find an honest job because of her notorious past, Gabrielle becomes homeless and penniless and nearly returns to prostitution before fate and the love of a good man save her. ...

The Tunisian Revolution sparked the Arab Spring. But revolution was the easy part--as two women learned on the journey from protest to functioning government. Emna Ben Jemaa and Jawhara Ettis represent opposite sides of their country's politics: One is a well-known journalist in the city, fighting for free speech. The other is a strict Islamist from a rural town, elected to help draft the new constitution. Despite their differences, both face the threat of extremists hijacking their fragile political process, and both Emna and Jawhara have to make difficult choices to balance their public political roles with their domestic environment.

A poor sugarcane plantation worker makes many sacrifices to ensure a better life, through education, for her grandson.

This documentary is not only about film star Debra Winger, but also about the trials and tribulations of actresses in Hollywood who have reached "that certain age". Arquette interviews several of her colleagues, all of whom have their own personal horror stories about insensitive producers and casting directors who tend to think of over-40 actresses as being suitable only for mother, "other woman", and "hero's girlfriend" roles, if they bother to cast these roles at all. The women also discuss the difficulties in balancing a successful career and a private life.

Angie Evans, fast-rising nightclub singer, interrupts her career to marry struggling songwriter Ken Conway. When Ken lucks into a career as chart-topping radio crooner, Angie is forced into idle luxury which proves her downfall. Her potential alcoholism burgeons and Ken remains clueless concerning his responsibility for her problems.

An investigative look at and analysis of gender disparity in Hollywood, featuring accounts from well-known actors, artists, and industry executives.

Set against the political turmoil of Iran's 1953 coup d'etat, 'Women Without Men' tells the story of four disparate women whose lives converge in a mystical orchard on the outskirts of Tehran.

Chronicles the life and times of Queen Victoria from her childhood to her early rise to power and the first turbulent years of her rule. Her romantic relationship and eventual marriage to Prince Albert culminates in a royal power struggle which ultimately is the key to her happiness when she comes to the realization that he is someone she can fully trust and believe in.