Screenplay: Cathy Rabin

Cast: Linus Roache, Rahul Bose, Nandita Das, Jennifer Ehle, Leopold Benedict, John

Standing, Lal, Dr. Ambikathmajan, Lakshmi Krishnamurthy

Awards: Houston Film Festival: Best Theatrical Feature

The story -set in Kerala,South India ,during the British Raj- is a dispassionate study of how power when threatened ruthlessly exercises its prerogatives!

Henry Moore (Linus Roache) an English tea planter in southwestern India during a time of mounting resentment towards British rule, has borrowed heavily to finance the building of a road for the fantastically lucrative spice trade.

He has his faithful  ''man'' (Rahul Bose) an educated Indian

-well read and devoted- whom he treats as a friend, but up to a point. He also has a mistress...

Unbeknownst to his wife (Jennifer Ehle) , he has become involved with the housemaid (Nandita Das) . He says he loves her and she, wed to a man in the village, risks everything to carry on the affair, but when two boys playing in the woods spot the adulterers, a series of tragic events are set in motion.....

The luscious scenery, shot by director-cinematographer Santosh Sivan is gorgeous to behold, as his camera captures stunning images of mist rising from tea plantations and angry villagers marching with torches. Brilliant acting by all, Nandita Das specifically provides an powerful,emotional force...

Duration: 1 hr 49 mins

Director: Zhang Yimou

Screenplay: Jingzhi Zou based on the book by Geling Yan

Cast: Gong Li, Chen Daoming, Zhang Huiwen, Guo Tao, Yan Ni, Li Chun, Zhang Jia-yi

Awards: Asian Film Award: Gong Li (Best Actress) / Zhang Huiwen (Newcomer)

A haunting drama about a family torn apart by the violent Cultural Revolution in the 1970s when Party officials and local police publicly humiliated and harassed people, seized property, tortured some and arbitrarily imprisoned others. The story is ultimately one of triumph of the human spirit and the endless love it is capable of as well as the phenomenal power of such love to emancipate and create beauty from the bleakest of circumstances.

Duration: 1 hr 50 min

Director: Matthew Heineman

Screenplay: Arash Amiel & Marie Brenner, based on a Vanity Fair article

Cast: Rosamund Pike, Alexandra Moen, Tom Hollander, Faye Marsay

Awards: Golden Globe Award Nomination: Rosamund Pike (Best Actress)

A haunting film about the legendary Sunday Times war correspondent Marie Colvin.The film does an incredible job recreating the tension and anxiety of moving through a war zone and at its center is the remarkable performance of Rosamund Pike who captures with sharp precision the flawed but brave character of Marie Colvin…

Duration: 1 hr 37 mins

Director: Jafar Panahi

Screenplay: Abbas Kiarostami

Cast: Hossain Emadeddin, Kamyar Sheisi, Azita Rayeji, Shahram Vaziri, Ehsan Amani, Pourang Nakhael. Kaveh Najmabadi, Saber Safael

Award: Cannes Film Festival Jury Award

A man stands just inside the doorway of a posh jewelry shop, holding a gun and looking in bewilderment at the crowd gathering outside. Eventually he points the pistol at his head and kills himself. The film then leaps back in time to trace the causes of this violent, seemingly abrupt event...

Duration: 2 hrs 4 mins

Director: John Madden

Screenplay: Ol Parker based on the novel by Deborah Moggach

Cast: Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton, Maggie Smith, Ronald Pickup, Celia Imrie, Dev Patel, Lillete Dubey

A rare film in this youth driven era which deals with issues relating to ‘’Senior Citizens’’ with most of the main characters in the story above the age of 65. Bittersweet but often very amusing and uplifting film that proves to be an emotional journey for the characters as they all discover their strengths wading through the culture clash of their foreign surroundings.