HeyUGuys brings you the latest in World Cinema film trailers in association with Film Dates UK.
Each week we’ll be showcasing some of most anticipated foreign releases as well as highlighting a few hidden gems which may have fallen off your radar. It’s no surprise that Hollywood has turned to World Cinema for inspiration in recent years with the number of remakes getting more and more popular.
Whilst it remains to be seen how many of these remakes go on to succeed or stay true to their original story counterparts, we decided it was high-time we turned the spotlight onto the next wave of foreign films to grace our screens.
This week we have 7 new trailers for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!
Au Revoir Taipei (Yi ye Taibei)
UK Cinema Release Date: Sunday 13th March 2011
Synopsis: A love story takes place over the course of one evening in Taipei. (Mandarin)
Katka
UK Cinema Release Date: Thursday 10th March 2011
Synopsis: Helena Trestikova is the author of 10 episodes from the series Women on the Brink of the New Millennium, intimate portraits of both successful women and women on the social periphery. The tragic story of a girl named Katka who believes that joy and happiness can be applied through a hypodermic needle. All she is left with is despair. We first meet Katka at a rehab clinic in Nemcice, still full of optimism and faith in a drug-free future. The film tries to draw attention to the drug problem from a somewhat different point of view. (Czech)
Norwegian Wood (Noruwei no mori)
UK Cinema Release Date: Friday 11th March 2011
Synopsis: Upon hearing the song “Norwegian Wood,” Toru remembers back to his life in the 1960s, when his friend Kizuki killed himself and he grew close to Naoko, Kizuki’s girlfriend. As the two try, in very different ways, to contend with their grief, Toru forms a bond with another woman, Midori. (Japanese)
One Million Yen Girl (Hyakuman-en to nigamushi onna)
UK Cinema Release Date: Thursday 10th March 2011
Synopsis: Suzuko is 21 years old and lives at home. A coworker offers to share an apartment with her. After they sign the lease, Suzuko discovers that her coworker has planned to share her room with her boyfriend. However, the day she moves in, the couple have broken up, leaving her with the boyfriend as a roommate. She finds a small kitten on her balcony and brings it in. She goes to the store to buy it food. When she returns, she finds out that her depressed roommate has thrown the kitten out. Finding the dead kitten in the road, Suzuko throws all her roommates belongings out. She is arrested and criminally charged. She ends up in prison. Upon her release, she finds herself dealing with the neighborhood gossip and family conflicts. She decides to save one million yen, move to a place where no one knows her and to continue repeating the process. She discovers many things about herself, as she corresponds with her younger brother, (who is dealing with bullies) and meets new people on her travels. (Japanese)
Slingshot Hip Hop
UK Cinema Release Date: Sunday 13th March 2011
Synopsis: Palestinian youth write and perform hip hop in the ’48 (what they call Israel) and the occupied territories (Gaza and the West Bank). We meet DAM, a ’48 group, led by Tamer Nafar; three young women who perform to rousing applause but objection from some family members and neighbors; and PR, an emerging trio from Gaza. They see rap as a way to channel anger. The camera observes them composing and performing, going to gigs, and walking the streets of Tel Aviv and Gaza. Israel’s military presence is extensive: for instance, will PR be allowed to travel from Gaza to a concert in Ramallah, even with proper papers? Cell phones and the Internet link friends across walls, checkpoints, and barbed wire. (Arabic)
Southern District (Zona sur)
UK Cinema Release Date: Friday 11th March 2011
Synopsis: In La Paz -as opposed to many other cities- the rich live below, which is the Southern District. Life goes on without major mishaps in a large house surrounded by a beautiful garden. It is a wonderful world, a great bubble of comfort, where different personal spheres coexist: the mother, along with her three children and the Aymara inhabitants of the house. The drama surfaces slowly, without narrative ploys, observing day-to-day activities until internal and external forces make the bubble burst. The film relates the story of the final days of an upper-class family, at a time when the country is undergoing social changes. (Spanish)
Vision: From The Life Of Hildegard Von Bingen (Vision – Aus dem Leben der Hildegard von) Bingen
UK Cinema Release Date: Thursday 10th March 2011
Synopsis: The life story of the multi-talented German nun Hildegard von Bingen. The film portrays an original woman – best known as a composer and religious visionary – whose grand claims often run counter to the patriarchal world around her. The monks and nuns at the convent become a kind of family, offering both confidants and enemies. For example Jutta, struggling with her jealousy of Hildegard’s success, and the young Richardis who worships Hildegard both as an intellectual role model and a mother figure. (German)
