SCFZ forum's poll of the best films of 2009
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38 titles
- DirectorJiayin LiuStarsHuifen JiaJiayin LiuZaiping LiuThe director shows herself and her parents making dumplings in their apartment with nine fixed camera positions, with which she revolves around the kitchen table.
- DirectorMaren AdeStarsLars EidingerBirgit MinichmayrHans-Jochen WagnerWhile on a Mediterranean vacation, a seemingly happy boyfriend and girlfriend find their connection to one another tested as they bond with another couple.
- DirectorHong Sang-sooStarsKim Tae-wooUhm Ji-wonGo Hyun-jungDelightfully comic exploration of the emotional and social geography of an art-house film director.
- DirectorManoel de OliveiraStarsRicardo TrêpaCatarina WallensteinDiogo DóriaA young man falls helplessly in love with a mysterious blonde woman who turns his life upside down.
- DirectorCorneliu PorumboiuStarsDragos BucurVlad IvanovIon StoicaA police officer refuses to arrest a young man for offering drugs to his friends.
- DirectorJean-Marie StraubStarsGiovanna DaddiGiovanna Giuliani
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsBrad PittDiane KrugerEli RothIn Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same.
- DirectorIlisa BarbashLucien Castaing-TaylorIn the summer of 2003, a group of shepherds took a herd of sheep one final time through the Beartooth Mountains of Montana, in the extreme north-west of the United States. It was a journey of almost three hundred kilometres through expansive green valleys, by fields of snow, and across hazardous, narrow ridges - a journey brimming with challenges. The aging shepherds do their very best to keep the hundreds of sheep together; the panoramic high mountains are teeming with hungry wolves and grizzly bears.
- DirectorZeki DemirkubuzStarsSerhat TutumluerBerrak TüzünataçNergis ÖztürkIt's the 1930s. The Republic Day Ball is in progress in Zonguldak, a coal mining town in Turkey. Among the invited guests are the newcomers to this small and boring town: Halit, an engineer; his gorgeous wife Mükerrem, and Halit's sister and unwanted household member Seniha. During the ball Seniha realizes she would be the one who determines the destiny of beauty.
- DirectorBruno DumontStarsJulie SokolowskiKarl SarafidisYassine SalimeA young nun is expelled from a convent because of her extreme devoutness and forms a relationship with a radical Muslim.
- DirectorCatherine BreillatStarsDominique ThomasLola CrétonDaphné BaiwirAn adaptation of the classic tale of a wealthy aristocrat with a blue beard.
- DirectorTsai Ming-liangStarsKang-sheng LeeYi-ching LuFanny ArdantHsiao-Kang, a Taiwanese film director, travels to the Louvre in Paris, France, to shoot a film that explores the Salomé myth.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsIsabelle HuppertChristopher LambertIsaach De BankoléAmidst turmoil and racial conflict in a Francophone African state, a white French woman fights for her coffee crop, her family and ultimately for her life.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsChristian FriedelErnst JacobiLeonie BeneschStrange events happen in a small village in the north of Germany during the years before World War I, which seem to be ritual punishment. Who is responsible?
- DirectorAsghar FarhadiStarsTaraneh AlidoostiGolshifteh FarahaniShahab HosseiniThe mysterious disappearance of a kindergarten teacher during a picnic in the north of Iran is followed by a series of misadventures for her fellow travelers.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsNicolas CageEva MendesRussell M. HaeuserTerence McDonagh is a drug- and gambling-addled detective in post-Katrina New Orleans investigating the killing of five Senegalese immigrants.
- DirectorJim JarmuschStarsIsaach De BankoléAlex DescasJean-François StéveninThe story of a mysterious loner, a stranger in the process of completing a criminal job.
- DirectorJames BenningJames Benning's worrying and also reassuring vision of the Ruhr Valley, shot in 7 fascinating takes of a tunnel, a factory, a forest near an airport, inside a mosque, a graffiti wall, a street and an industrial chimney.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsAbbie CornishBen WhishawPaul SchneiderThe three-year romance between 19th-century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne near the end of his life.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsPenélope CruzLluís HomarBlanca PortilloHarry Caine, a blind writer, reaches this moment in time when he has to heal his wounds from 14 years back. He was then still known by his real name, Mateo Blanco, and directing his last movie.
- DirectorAndrea ArnoldStarsKatie JarvisMichael FassbenderKierston WareingEverything changes for 15-year-old Mia when her mum brings home a new boyfriend.
- DirectorDuncan JonesStarsSam RockwellKevin SpaceyDominique McElligottAstronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet's power problems.
- DirectorLiang ZhaoStarsZhang WeiyeXiao YuanIt is a fantastic documentary about Chinese govt's systemic oppression and persecution toward ordinary folk who petition the government.
- DirectorMarco BellocchioStarsGiovanna MezzogiornoFilippo TimiFausto Russo AlesiThe story of Mussolini's secret lover, Ida Dalser, and their son Albino.
- DirectorJessica HausnerStarsSylvie TestudLéa SeydouxBruno TodeschiniIn order to escape her isolation, wheelchair-bound Christine makes a life changing journey to Lourdes, the iconic site of pilgrimage in the Pyrenees Mountains.
- DirectorLuca GuadagninoStarsTilda SwintonFlavio ParentiEdoardo GabbrielliniEmma left Russia to live with her husband in Italy. Now a member of a powerful industrial family, she is the respected mother of three, but feels unfulfilled. One day, Antonio, a talented chef and her son's friend, makes her senses kindle.
- DirectorStéphane AubierVincent PatarStarsStéphane AubierJeanne BalibarNicolas BuysseCowboy and Indian's only wish was to come up with a brilliant idea for Mr Horse's birthday, but when their plan ends up in utter disaster, they'll need to travel the world and back to make things right again.
- DirectorApichatpong WeerasethakulStarsPhetmongkol ChantawongKumgieng JittamaatMiti JittamaatA fluorescent tube illuminates an empty playground in the evening. Nearby a flash of light is projected on a makeshift screen. This outdoor movie is a portrait of a village repeatedly struck by lightning. As night falls, the silhouette figures of young men emerge, they are playing with a football raging with fire. They take turns kicking the ball which leaves illuminated trails in the grass. The lightning on the screen flickers amid the fire and the smoke rising from the ground. The game intensifies with each kick that sends the fireball soaring into the air. Finally the teens burn the screen and crowd around it to witness the blazing canvas, behind which is revealed the ghostly white beam of a projector. Phantoms of Nabua is part of the multi-platform Primitive project which focuses on a concept of remembrance and extinction and is set in the northeast of Thailand.
- DirectorJacques AudiardStarsTahar RahimNiels ArestrupAdel BencherifA delinquent Muslim man struggles to get by in prison until he is taken under the wing of a powerful mob boss. But his gradual rise through the mob's ranks brings him in conflict with his mentor.
- DirectorNeill BlomkampStarsSharlto CopleyDavid JamesJason CopeViolence ensues after an extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth finds a kindred spirit in a government agent exposed to their biotechnology.
- DirectorVeiko ÕunpuuStarsTaavi EelmaaRavshana KurkovaTiina TauraiteA mid-level manager who develops an aversion to being "good" finds himself confronting the mysteries of middle-age and morality as he loses grasp of what was once his quiet life.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsAndré DussollierSabine AzémaAnne ConsignyA quirky woman who spends her free time as a pilot has her purse stolen; when a mysterious man finds her wallet, they embark on a peculiar romance.
- DirectorJason ReitmanStarsGeorge ClooneyVera FarmigaAnna KendrickRyan's job is to travel around the country firing off people. When his boss hires Natalie, who proposes firing people via video conference, he tries to convince her that her method is a mistake.
- DirectorValérie DonzelliStarsValérie DonzelliJérémie ElkaïmBéatrice de StaëlAdele's attempt to recover from a devastating breakup leads to surprisingly hilarious results as she bounces from one lover to the next, but can't escape the vision of her ex. France. Official Selection - Locarno Int'l FF.
- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsKim Hye-jaWon BinJin GooA mother desperately searches for the killer who framed her son for a girl's horrific murder.
- DirectorJennifer Todd ReevesA montage of image and sound representing the dreams of a light sleeper whilst travelling on a train.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsGeorge ClooneyMeryl StreepBill MurrayAn urbane fox cannot resist returning to his farm raiding ways and then must help his community survive the farmers' retaliation.
- DirectorSharon LockhartObserves the everyday life of children in Lodz, Poland in a series of long takes.