Starting
Tatami
Original Persian/English version (with English subtitles)
Director
Zar Amir Ebrahimi & Guy Nattiv
Cast
Arienne Mandi, Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Jaime Ray Newman, Nadine Marshall, Lir Katz, Ash Goldeh, Valeriu Andriuță, Mehdi Bajestani, Farima Habashizadehasl
Plot Outline
Iranian female judokas Leila and her coach Maryam, travel to the Judo World Championship, intent on bringing home Iran’s first gold medal. Midway through the Judo World Championships, they receive an ultimatum from the Islamic Republic ordering Leila to fake an injury and lose, or she will be branded a traitor of the state. With her own and her family’s freedom at stake, Leila is faced with an impossible choice: comply with the Iranian regime as her coach Maryam implores her to do, or fight on, for the gold.
Starting
Mâine Mă Duc
Original version with English/German subtitles
Director
Maria Lisa Pichler & Lukas Schöffel
Plot Outline
Maria, in her early 40s, commutes. After a few weeks in Romania, where she’s from, she has a long stay in Austria, where as a 24-hour-caregiver she lives with a senior citizen whom she takes care of. With empathetic objectivity, Maria Lisa Pichler and Lukas Schöffel portray the caregiver in a state of permanent conflict: between the desire to provide a livelihood for her family and the sacrifice she has to make to do so. It soon becomes clear that those who fill a gap in one place create a new one elsewhere.
Starting
Ripples of Life
Original version with English subtitles
Director
Wei Shujun
Cast
Huang Miyi, Yang Pingdao, Yang Zishan, Kang Chunlei, Liu Yang, Wang Jiajia, Liang Ming, Jin Yang, Nan Cui
Plot Outline
Follows a big star who brings a film crew to her remote hometown for a shoot, and while the production is afflicted by disagreements between the crew, a bored local restaurant owner finds excitement to be the stand-in for the star.
Starting
The Substance
Original English version
Director
Coralie Fargeat
Cast
Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid, Gore Abrams, Hugo Diego Garcia, Olivier Raynal, Tiffany Hofstetter, Tom Morton, Jiselle Burkhalter
Plot Outline
A fading celebrity decides to use a black market drug, a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself.
Starting
Joker: Folie à Deux
Original English version
Director
Todd Phillips
Cast
Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga
Plot Outline
"Joker: Folie à Deux" finds Arthur Fleck institutionalized at Arkham awaiting trial for his crimes as Joker. While struggling with his dual identity, Arthur not only stumbles upon true love, but also finds the music that's always been inside him.
Starting
Anora
Original English version
Director
Sean Baker
Cast
Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Karren Karagulian, Yuriy Borisov, Vache Tovmasyan, Ivy Wolk, Luna Sofía Miranda, Ross Brodar, Lindsey Normington
Plot Outline
Anora, a young sex worker from Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled.
Starting
Emilia Pérez
Original version with English subtitles
Director
Jacques Audiard
Cast
Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, Edgar Ramírez, Mark Ivanir, James Gerard, Eric Geynes, Agathe Bokja
Plot Outline
Rita, an underrated lawyer working for a large law firm more interested in getting criminals out of jail than bringing them to justice, is hired by the leader of a criminal organization.
Starting
Nosferatu
Original English version
Director
Robert Eggers
Cast
Bill Skarsgård, Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Willem Dafoe, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Simon McBurney, Ralph Ineson, Paul Maynard
Plot Outline
A gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.
Starting
Mickey 17
Original English version
Director
Bong Joon-ho
Cast
Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Mark Ruffalo, Toni Collette, Steven Yeun, Holliday Grainger
Plot Outline
Mickey 17 is an "expendable", a disposable employee, on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of its memories intact.
