Banned (1989)

Box

All Monsters Attack

Ichiro Miki is a child living in the industrial district of Kawasaki, where his parents' constant struggle to make ends meet often leaves the schoolboy alone. Constantly teased by a bully nicknamed Gabara, his only friends are toy consultant Shinpei and fellow classmate Sachiko. Ichiro turns to escapist dreams of Monster Island where he befriends the equally bullied Minilla.

Six Days of Sistine

Two souls lost in a world of modernisation find each other in a moment's need for clarity and appreciation.

Dodes'ka-den

This film follows the daily lives of a group of people barely scraping by in a slum on the outskirts of Tokyo. Yet as desperate as their circumstances are, each of them—the homeless father and son envisioning their dream house; the young woman abused by her uncle; the boy who imagines himself a trolley conductor—finds reasons to carry on.

Lion, London Zoological Gardens

A male lion, right next to bars that are about 6 or 8 inches apart, keenly watches a uniformed zoo attendant toss small morsels of food into the cage. The lion alternates between finding the food on the cage floor and reaching through the bars to swipe at the man, who stays alarmingly close to the beast. In the background are the large rocks and brick wall at the back of the lion's habitat.

The Front Runner

Gary Hart, former Senator of Colorado, becomes the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1987. Hart's intelligence, charisma and idealism makes him popular with young voters, leaving him with a seemingly clear path to the White House. All that comes crashing down when allegations of an extramarital affair surface in the media, forcing the candidate to address a scandal that threatens to derail his campaign and personal life.

GUO4

A confrontation between two swimmers in a locker room.

Persona non grata

José Nunes and Maxime Charasse are friends and minority partners in a struggling construction company. Faced with the need to protect their interests, they make a radical decision and find themselves bound by a dark secret.

Petra

Petra doesn’t know who her father is. Her entire life, it’s been hidden from her. After the death of her mother, she embarks on a search that leads her to Jaume, a famous artist and a powerful, ruthless man. On her path to uncovering the truth, Petra also meets Jaume’s son, Lucas, as well as Marisa, his mother and Jaume’s wife. That is when the story of these characters begins to intertwine in a spiral of malice, family secrets and violence that drives them all to the edge. But fate’s cruel logic is derailed by a twist that opens a path to hope and redemption.

Havenhurst

A troubled young woman takes up residence in a gothic apartment building where she must confront a terrifying evil.

Who's That Knocking at My Door

A Catholic New Yorker falls in love with a girl and wants to marry her, but he struggles to accept her past and what it means for their future.

The Uncle from Brooklyn

The best italian film of the 90's, the most extreme and radical work since SALO', a ruthless representation, in a surreal-metaphorical key, of a civilization condemned to worshipping its own blindness. The two sicilian directors use a language free from compromise and from the traditional storyline rules: the movie is photographed in a sharp and very contrasting black & white, with no beautiful pimp music, and lacks a logical story. There are no women (the ones we see are actually men), and the language is strict sicilian dialect. The directing style is characterized by long fixed shots on a post-atomic world, which is really present-day Palermo, inhabited by fat people in socks and underwear who burp and fart while roaming around smelly alleyways and waste dumps.

La Maladroite

Stella is 6 but she is going to school for the first time. Happy, exuberant (maybe too much) she is a lovely child, but is often absent. Her parents say she is fragile. She tells her teacher, Céline, she fell when asked why she has a few bruises. Is it child abuse or real immune deficiency? The doubt is growing in the mind of those who meet the child. Worried, Céline notes every injury until the day the family moves without telling anyone.

The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity

Kaji is sent to the Japanese army labeled Red and is mistreated by the vets. Along his assignment, Kaji witnesses cruelties in the army and revolts against the abusive treatment against the recruit Obara. He also sees his friend Shinjô Ittôhei defecting to the Russian border, and he ends in the front to fight a lost battle against the Russian tanks division.

Blue Jean

Jean, a PE teacher, is forced to live a double life. When a new student arrives and threatens to expose her sexuality, Jean is pushed to extreme lengths to keep her job and her integrity.