1. LIFE’S NO PIECE OF CAKE YEAR: 2012 GENRE: DRAMA DIRECTOR: ANDRÉ ERKAU CAST: WOTAN WILKE MÖHRING, HELEN WOIGK, CHRISTINE SCHORN SHORT SUMMARY: WHEN TEACHER BABETTE DIES IN AN ABSURD ACCIDENT, HUSBAND MARKUS (WOTAN WILKE MÖHRING) AND 15-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER KIM (HELEN WOIGK) ARE LEFT TO PICK UP THE PIECES. WHILE HE TRIES TO HIDE HIS PAIN BEHIND A BRAVE FACE AND INSISTS THAT LIFE WILL CONTINUE AS NORMAL, HE CANNOT LET GO OF HER MEMORY. ALIENATED BY HIS BEHAVIOUR AS SHE STRUGGLES TO COPE WITH HER OWN GRIEF, KIM RETREATS FURTHER INTO HER GOTH-GIRL PERSONA, EVENTUALLY RUNNING AWAY TO DENMARK WITH HER BOYFRIEND. 2. WHERE I BELONG YEAR: 2012 GENRE: ROMANCE DIRECTOR: FRITZ URSCHITZ CAST: KATY BARTROP, CHARIS-ELIZABETH DEIGHTON, KARL FISCHER SHORT SUMMARY: ROSEMARIE IS A HARD-WORKING YOUNG WOMAN LIVING IN A SMALL ENGLISH TOWN IN THE 1950'S. SHE LEFT AUSTRIA WITH HER FATHER DURING THE WAR TO ESCAPE THE NAZI OPPRESSION AND SINCE THEN, DESPITE POVERTY AND LONELINESS, SHE HAS ALWAYS KEPT THE FAITH THAT BETTER DAYS WOULD ARISE. WHEN SHE MEETS ANTON, ONE OF HER FATHER'S FRIENDS, SHE IMMEDIATELY FALLS IN LOVE AND STARTS BELIEVING IN A FORTUNATE DESTINY WITH HIM. AGAINST ALL IMPEDIMENTS, THEIR SECRET LOVE AFFAIR MAY HELP ROSEMARIE TO FIND OUT WHERE SHE REALLY BELONGS. 3. THE CLOSED CIRCUIT YEAR: 2012 GENRE: ACTION/CRIME DIRECTOR: RYSZARD BUGAJSKI CAST: JANUSZ GAJOS, KAZIMIERZ KACZOR, WOJCIECH ZOLADKOWICZ SHORT SUMMARY: INSPIRED BY REAL EVENTS, “THE CLOSED CIRCUIT” IS A COMPELLING, STRONGLY PERFORMED POLITICAL THRILLER ABOUT GREED AND CORRUPTION IN CONTEMPO GDANSK, POLAND, WHERE SOME HIGH-FLYING NEW ENTREPRENEURS FALL VICTIM TO THE MACHINATIONS OF THE CITY’S ENTRENCHED POWERS. ONE OF THE HIGHEST-GROSSING FILMS OF THE YEAR ON HOME TURF, THIS LATEST FILM FROM HELMER RYSZARD BUGAJSKI (“INTERROGATION”)... 4. MIRAGE ORIGIN: MAKEDONIJA YEAR: 2004 GENRE: DRAMA DIRECTOR: SVETOZAR RISTOVSKI STARS: VLADO JOVANOVSKI, MARKO KOVACEVIC, JORDANCO CEVREVSKI SHORT SUMMARY: INSPIRED BY TARKOVSKI’S THE CHILDHOOD YEARS OF IVAN, THE FILM TELLS THE STORY OF A PUPIL WHO IS LED TO VIOLENCE AND REVENGE WHEN HE IS ROBBED OF ALL HOPE FOR A BETTER LIFE. LIVING WITHIN A BROKEN DOWN SOCIAL AND FAMILY ENVIRONMENT, TWELVE-YEAR-OLD MARCO PINS ALL HIS HOPES ON A POETRY COMPETITION THAT HIS TEACHER HAS SUGGESTED HE PARTICIPATE IN. BUT WHEN THAT SAME TEACHER BETRAYS HIM AND THINGS AROUND HIM JUST KEEP GETTING WORSE, MARKO WILL TAKE HIS FATE INTO HIS OWN HAND AND PUT INTO PRACTICE THE LESSONS HE WAS TAUGHT BY A LONE DESPERADO 5. THE LITTLE ONE ORIGIN: SOUTH AFRICA YEAR: 2012 GENRE: DRAMA LITTLE ONE TELLS A STORY OF A SIX-YEAR-OLD GIRL, PLAYED BY VUYELWA MSIMANG, WHO IS FOUND LEFT FOR DEAD ON THE DUNES NEAR A TOWNSHIP IN JOHANNESBURG. SHE IS FOUND BY A MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN, PAULINE (LINDIWE NDLOVU), WHO RUSHES HER TO HOSPITAL. SAVING HER LIFE, IT TRANSPIRES THAT THE LITTLE GIRL HAS BEEN RAPED AND HER FACE BEATEN IN SO BADLY THAT SHE DOESN'T EVEN LOOK HUMAN ANYMORE. THE STORY THEN FOLLOWS PAULINE'S JOURNEY AS SHE 6. THE WEE MAN ORIGIN: U.K. YEAR: 2013 GENRE: CRIME/GANGSTER SHORT SUMMARY: 1970’S BLACKHILL, GLASGOW: 11-YEAR-OLD PAUL FERRIS HAS LEARNED QUICKLY THAT LIFE ON THE STREET IS TOUGH. EVERYONE KNOWS THEIR PLACE. POVERTY BREEDS CORRUPTION, CRIME, VIOLENCE AND BULLYING. GROWING UP IMMERSED IN A CULTURE OF CRIME, FERRIS FINALLY SNAPS WHEN TORMENTED ONE TOO MANY TIMES BY A VICIOUS GANG OF BULLYING NEIGHBOURHOOD BROTHERS WHO HAVE MADE HIS CHILDHOOD A LIVING HELL. NOW IN HIS LATE TEENS, DESPITE HIS FATHER’S ADVICE AND IN THE FRUSTRATED KNOWLEDGE THAT THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AND POLICE DO NOTHING TO HELP, HE DECIDES TO TAKE ON HIS TORMENTORS ALONE AND SYSTEMATICALLY WREAK VENGEANCE ON THEM. CONSEQUENTLY ATTRACTING A STREET REPUTATION, FERRIS IS SOUGHT OUT BY THE ‘GODFATHER’ OF THE GLASWEGIAN GANGSTER COMMUNITY, ARTHUR THOMPSON SNR. AGAIN IGNORING HIS FATHER’S ADVICE, HE STARTS TO WORK FOR THE GANGLAND BOSS THROUGHOUT THE '80S AND '90S, RISING THROUGH THE RANKS MUCH TO THE IRRITATION OF ARTHUR’S SON, 'FAT BOY' THOMPSON JR. RIVAL MOB HONCHO TAM MCGRAW RECOGNISES THE WEAK LINK IN THE GODFATHER’S ARMOUR IS HIS SON’S EGO, AND IN A BID TO START A TURF-WAR HE FANS THE FLAMES OF FAT-BOY’S DRUG-FUELLED PARANOIA AGAINST THE GANG’S RISING STAR, FERRIS. MCGRAW’S VIOLENCE AND CLEVER MANIPULATION OF FAT BOY ESCALATE WITH PAUL CAUGHT IN AN INCREASING SPIRAL OF CRIME, WHILE THE POLICE - IN THE POCKET OF MCGRAW - SET OUT TO TAKE DOWN FERRIS. HAVING BEEN SET UP BY FAT BOY AND MCGRAW, FERRIS SERVES TIME IN PRISON. SAFELY OUT OF THE WAY, TAM MCGRAW ORDERS A HIT ON ‘FAT BOY’ THOMPSON POINTING THE FINGER TOWARDS FERRIS. DISTRAUGHT OVER HIS SON’S DEATH, ARTHUR ‘THE GODFATHER’ THOMPSON DECLARES OPEN WAR ON FERRIS AND HIS GANG, LEAVING A WAKE OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION THE LIKES OF WHICH GLASGOW HAS NEVER SEEN BEFORE. BASED ON THE LIFE AND MEMOIRS OF PAUL FERRIS, THE WEE MAN THROWS LIGHT ON THE WORLD OF CORRUPTION, CRIME, POLICING AND PRISON SERVICES DURING GLASGOW’S GANG-WAR HEYDAY AT THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM. 7. WAYS TO LIVE FOREVER ORIGIN: SPAIN/U.K. YEAR: 2010 GENRE: FAMILY SHORT SUMMARY: SAM LOVES FACTS. HE WANTS TO KNOW ABOUT UFOS AND HORROR MOVIES AND AIRSHIPS AND GHOSTS AND SCIENTISTS, AND HOW IT FEELS TO KISS A GIRL. AND BECAUSE HE HAS LEUKEMIA HE WANTS TO KNOW THE FACTS ABOUT DYING. SAM NEEDS ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS NOBODY WILL ANSWER. 8. BILL COLLECTOR ORIGIN: U.S.A YEAR: 2014 GENRE: THRILLER/COMEDY/ACTION SHORT SUMMARY: UNCLE FRANKIE (DANNY TREJO) IS NOT THE KIND OF GUY YOU WANT TO MEET IN A DARK ALLEY ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU OWE HIM MONEY AND ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN GIVING HIM THE SLIP FOR A FEW YEARS. SUCH IS THE FATE OF LORENZO ADAMS, TOP BILL COLLECTOR AT LUMP SUM COLLECTIONS, WHOSE BOSS LEAVES HIM IN CHARGE OF THINGS WHILE HE GOES ON VACATION. ENTER UNCLE FRANKIE AND HIS THUGS WHO TRACK LORENZO TO NORFOLK, VIRGINIA AND ARE COMING TO COLLECT. WITH HIS BACK TO THE WALL, LORENZO SCHEMES DESPERATE DOWN-AND-OUTERS OF AN INNER-CITY MISSION TO SERVE AS UNWITTING PAWNS IN LORENZO'S FAST-TRACK SCAM TO COME UP WITH THE NEEDED CASH 9. FREELOADERS YEAR: 2012 GENRE: COMEDY DIRECTOR: DAN ROSEN CAST: JOSH LAWSON, CLIFTON COLLINS JR., BRIT MORGAN SHORT SUMMARY: A COMEDY ABOUT A CHEATING HUSBAND (RAY LIOTTA) AND AN INJURED HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL STAR (SHAUN SIPOS) WHO BECOME COURT ORDERED ROOMMATES. EMOTIONAL CARNAGE LEADS TO UNLIKELY ALLIANCES, AS THE TWO MEN SCRAMBLE FOR A SECOND CHANCE AT LOVE AND STARDOM. 10. INESCAPABLE YEAR: 2012 GENRE: MYSTERY /ROMANCE/THRILLER DIRECTOR: RUBA NADDA CAST: ALEXANDER SIDDIG, JOSHUA JACKSON, MARISA TOMEI SHORT SUMMARY: IT IS JANUARY, 2011, BEFORE THE ARAB SPRING BEGINS TO TAKE HOLD IN SYRIA. ADIB ABDEL KAREEM (SIDDIG) HAD MADE THE PERFECT LIFE FOR HIMSELF IN TORONTO: BEAUTIFUL WIFE, TWO GROWN DAUGHTERS, GREAT JOB. HE IS A CONFIDENT MAN, AT EASE IN ANY SETTING - HIS SYRIAN BACKGROUND BETRAYED ONLY BY A SLIGHT ACCENT AND HIS DAUGHTERS’ NAMES, MUNA AND LEILA. ADIB IS A MAN WHO HAS SUCCESSFULLY BUILT A LIFE FROM SCRATCH – A MAN WHO HAD LEFT HIS PAST BEHIND. UNTIL HIS DAUGHTER, MUNA, DISAPPEARS IN DAMASCUS AND HIS PAST CATCHES UP TO HIM ALL AT ONCE. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, ADIB, A PROMISING YOUNG OFFICER IN THE SYRIAN MILITARY POLICE, SUDDENLY LEFT DAMASCUS UNDER SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES. HE LEFT HIS ENTIRE LIFE BEHIND, INCLUDING THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE, FATIMA (TOMEI). HE MADE HIS WAY TO CANADA AND WIPED THE SLATE CLEAN. HE NEVER TOLD ANYONE ABOUT HIS PAST. SO WHEN HIS DAUGHTER MUNA, A YOUNG FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER, DECIDED TO VISIT DAMASCUS ON A WHIM, SHE HAD NO IDEA WHAT SHE WAS WALKING INTO. AS SOON AS HE LEARNS OF HER DISAPPEARANCE, ADIB KNOWS HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN GET HER OUT. HE RETURNS TO RETRACE MUNA'S STEPS THROUGH SYRIA - A CLOSED AND PARANOID POLICE STATE. HE ENLISTS THE HELP OF FATIMA AND THEN PAUL, A CANADIAN CONSULAR OFFICIAL (JACKSON) WHO KNOWS MORE THAN HE LETS ON. IN ORDER TO FIND HIS DAUGHTER, HE MUST CONFRONT THE PAST THAT HE LEFT BEHIND. INESCAPABLE IS BOTH A TENSE MYSTERY AND A CHARACTER DRAMA HELD TOGETHER BY THE UNIVERSAL THEME OF UNDYING AND UNCOMPROMISING LOVE BETWEEN A FATHER AND A DAUGHTER. 11. NO CLUE YEAR: 2013 GENRE: COMEDY DIRECTOR: CARL BESSAI CAST: BRENT BUTT, AMY SMART, DAVID KOECHNER SHORT SUMMARY: IN A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY, A SALESMAN IS HIRED AS A PRIVATE DETECTIVE BY A WOMAN TO FIND HER MISSING BROTHER, AND COMPLICATIONS ENSUE. 12. MARINA YEAR: 2013 GENRE: BIOGRAPHY (ROCCO GRANATA)| DRAMA | MUSIC DIRECTOR: STIJN CONINX CAST: MATTEO SIMONI, CRISTIAAN CAMPAGNA, LUIGI LO CASCIO SHORT SUMMARY: SALVATORE GRANATA IS A RATHER POOR MAN WHO LIVES WITH HIS WIFE, SON AND DAUGHTER IN CALABRIA IN ITALY. ONE DAY SALVATORE DECIDES TO MOVE TO BELGIUM TO WORK IN THE COAL MINE OF WATERSCHEI AS A "GASTARBEIDER," AN IMMIGRANT WORKER. HIS FAMILY WILL STAY IN ITALY AS SALVATORE WILL ONLY BE IN BELGIUM FOR THREE YEARS. HE HOPES TO EARN MUCH MONEY IN A RATHER SMALL TIME FRAME SO HE CAN BUY A FORGE FOR HIS SON ROCCO WHO IS NOW STILL A 9 YEAR OLD BOY. AFTER A YEAR, SALVATORE DECIDES HIS FAMILY SHOULD BE WITH HIM, SO THEY ALSO MOVE TO BELGIUM. THEY SOON DISCOVER THE LIFE OF A "GASTARBEIDER" IS DIFFICULT: THEY HAVE TO LIVE IN SOME KIND OF BARRACKS, THEY ARE NEGLECTED BY THE BELGIAN PEOPLE AND THEY DO NOT EARN MUCH.