Foreign Films on DVD

Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 11/01/2005 Run time: 220 minutes Rating: Pg

One of the most influential films in the history of political cinema, Gillo Pontecorvo’s <i>The Battle of Algiers focuses on the harrowing events of 1957, a key year in Algeria’s struggle for independence from France. Shot in the streets of Algiers in documentary style, the film vividly recreates the tumultuous Algerian uprising against the occupying French in the 1950s. As violence escalates on both sides, the French torture prisoners for information and the Algerians resort to terrorism in their quest for independence. Children shoot soldiers at point-blank range, women plant bombs in cafés. The French win the battle, but ultimately lose the war as the Algerian people demonstrate that they will no longer be suppressed. The Criterion Collection is proud present Gillo Pontecorvo’s tour de force—a film with astonishing relevance today.

From the acclaimed political film maker Costa-Gavras (Amen, Missing, Music Box) comes Z, winner of the Best Foreign Film Oscar® in 1969. Z's edge of your seat action closely parallels the real life assassination of Gregorios Lambrakis, a Greek doctor and humanist whose murder in 1963 led to an abortive public scandal. Hailed as one of the greatest political thrillers ever made with superb performances by a top international cast including Yves Montand (Jean de Florette), Jean-Louis Trintignant (Red) and Irene Papas (Zorba the Greek), Z is one movie "you can't afford to miss."

Just when the world is losing hope about the possibility of resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict comes ENCOUNTER POINT. Created by a Palestinian, Israeli, North and South American team, ENCOUNTER POINT moves beyond sensational and dogmatic imagery to tell the story of an Israeli settler, a Palestinian ex-prisoner, a bereaved Israeli mother and a wounded Palestinian bereaved brother who risk their safety and public standing to press for an end to the conflict. They are at the vanguard of a movement to push Palestinian and Israeli societies to a tipping point, forging a new consensus for nonviolence and peace. Perhaps years from now, their actions will be recognized as a catalyst for constructive change in the region. ENCOUNTER POINT is a film about hope, true courage and implicitly about the silence of journalists and politicians who pay little attention to vital grassroots peace efforts. More than 1 hour of Additional Features - On the Road - audience reactions to ENCOUNTER POINT from Jerusalem to Dubai to New York and more! - Additional and extended scenes Filmmaker audio commentary - Film subject audio commentary - 4 minute trailer - Theatrical trailer

Official Selection! - 2002 Cannes Film Festival<br> Winner! - Nestor Almendros Prize, 2003 Human Rights Watch Film Festival
Winner! - Best Actress, Clara Khoury, Marrakech Film Festival

Shooting on location in East Jerusalem and Ramallah, Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad (Academy Award® nominee, <b><i>Paradise Now) offers a romantic and compelling portrait of love under occupation and everyday life turned upside down. When Rana (Clara Khoury) is faced with an ultimatum - choose a husband from a list of eligible, respectable men or leave for Egypt - she goes searching for a lover of her own choosing. Moving across checkpoints to the West Bank, finding a wedding dress in a war zone, and settling family differences all in just ten hours, Rana finds. . . in Jerusalem, love has many roadblocks. <br><br>In Arabic with English Subtitles<br><br> DVD Features: <li>New transfer - remastered audio and video<li>Original Theatrical Trailer

Hany Abu-Assad Biography

Clara Khoury Biography

This is a story of old and young in Algeria told through a mother and daughter hiding out in a hotel from local terrorists. We follow pretty Goucem (Lubna Azabal), 27, through the urban landscape of modern-day Algiers as she attempts to assert her own version of a liberated lifestyle. She battles daily with the conflict of a new Algiers; pitting traditional life against the rapidly modernizing city. Goucem is contrasted by her more traditional mother, Papicha played by Biyouna who is an ex-singer longing for her cabaret and for an Algeria of days gone by. Fifi (Nadia Kaci), the women's neighbor at the hotel, adds more color to this story as an energetic prostitute who keeps herself busy with wealthy men twenty- four hours a day.

This second feature in Nacer Khemir's Desert Trilogy is a visually ravishing folktale reminiscent of "The Thousand and One Nights." The story revolves around Hassan, who is studying Arabic calligraphy from a grand master. Coming across a fragment of manuscript, Hassan goes in search of the missing pieces, believing that once he finds them, he will learn the secrets of love. With the help of Zin, a lovers' go-between, he meets the beautiful Aziz, Princess of Samarkand. After encountering wars, a battle between false prophets and an ancient curse, he learns that an entire lifetime would not suffice for him to learn the many dimensions of love.<br><br><br><b>Winner! Special Jury Prize, Locarno International Film Festival

A Tunisian widow takes an unlikely journey of self-discovery in Raja Amari's sumptuous and sensual SATIN ROUGE. While investigating a suspected liaison between her headstrong teenaged daughter and a cabaret musician, Lilia becomes drawn to an exhilarating nightclub netherworld of Rubenesque belly dancers and nocturnal pleasure-seekers. In trading her shapeless housedresses for sequins and satin, she begins to emerge from her cocoon of melancholy and loneliness. Writer-director Amari's tale of liberation recalls Douglas Sirk's 1950s suburban melodramas as it also paints a distinctly modern portrait of Arab women.