Monthly pick of foreign language films - May 2023
Here are our monthly pick of the foreign language films being released in Britain during May 2023.
Friday 5th May 2023
Born to Fly (12A) Mandarin,English
A special operations team headed by elite pilots are ordered to test new fighter jets. Test flight after test flight, they challenge the limits of the sky and themselves.
A special operations team headed by elite pilots are ordered to test new fighter jets. Test flight after test flight, they challenge the limits of the sky and themselves.
Harka (15) Arabic
Ali is barely making a living selling contraband gas. The young Tunisian all of a sudden finds himself in charge of his two sisters after his father's death.
Ali is barely making a living selling contraband gas. The young Tunisian all of a sudden finds himself in charge of his two sisters after his father's death.
Ip Man: The Awakening (15) Mandarin
Adventures of a young Master Ip in Hong Kong.
Adventures of a young Master Ip in Hong Kong.
Pamfir (15) Ukrainian
When reformed smuggler Pamfir returns home to his village on the Ukrainian border after working abroad for several years, he's determined to earn an honest living and set a good example for his beloved teenage son Nazar. But in a town where corruption runs deep and crime and religion are inextricably linked, his plan is quickly thwarted when Nazar sets fire to the local church in a misguided effort to keep his father at home. To pay for the damage, Pamfir must take on one last job for a crime syndicate operating a risky smuggling venture in a place where all the rules have changed. Part drama, part thriller, part noir-inflected fairytale, Pamfir is violent, raw and bloody, but also a tender portrait of a family man trying to raise his son well despite his own shady past. Shot in long takes and set amid forests swirling with mist in the run up to the traditional 'Malanka' carnival — a wild pagan festival featuring straw costumes, wooden masks and centuries-old rites and traditions — this is a propulsive, genre-defying debut exploring the thin line between good and evil and fate vs free will in our complex modern world.
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When reformed smuggler Pamfir returns home to his village on the Ukrainian border after working abroad for several years, he's determined to earn an honest living and set a good example for his beloved teenage son Nazar. But in a town where corruption runs deep and crime and religion are inextricably linked, his plan is quickly thwarted when Nazar sets fire to the local church in a misguided effort to keep his father at home. To pay for the damage, Pamfir must take on one last job for a crime syndicate operating a risky smuggling venture in a place where all the rules have changed. Part drama, part thriller, part noir-inflected fairytale, Pamfir is violent, raw and bloody, but also a tender portrait of a family man trying to raise his son well despite his own shady past. Shot in long takes and set amid forests swirling with mist in the run up to the traditional 'Malanka' carnival — a wild pagan festival featuring straw costumes, wooden masks and centuries-old rites and traditions — this is a propulsive, genre-defying debut exploring the thin line between good and evil and fate vs free will in our complex modern world.
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Return to Seoul (15) English,French,Korean
A twenty-five-year-old French woman returns to Korea, the country she was born in before being adopted by a French couple, for the very first time. She decides to track down her biological parents, but her journey takes a surprising turn.
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A twenty-five-year-old French woman returns to Korea, the country she was born in before being adopted by a French couple, for the very first time. She decides to track down her biological parents, but her journey takes a surprising turn.
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The Blue Caftan (12A) Arabic
A middle-aged tailor and his wife find their relationship turned upside down by the arrival of a handsome new apprentice.
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A middle-aged tailor and his wife find their relationship turned upside down by the arrival of a handsome new apprentice.
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The Laureate (15)
A married couple on the brink of disillusion allows a stranger to live with them in their idyllic cottage. Will this stranger push their fragile state over the edge?
A married couple on the brink of disillusion allows a stranger to live with them in their idyllic cottage. Will this stranger push their fragile state over the edge?
Friday 12th May 2023
Plan 75 (15) Japanese,Tagalog
Government program Plan 75 encourages senior citizens to be euthanized to remedy an aged society. An elderly woman whose means of survival are vanishing, a pragmatic Plan 75 salesman, and a Filipino laborer face choices of life and death.
Government program Plan 75 encourages senior citizens to be euthanized to remedy an aged society. An elderly woman whose means of survival are vanishing, a pragmatic Plan 75 salesman, and a Filipino laborer face choices of life and death.
The Eight Mountains (12) Italian,English,Nepali
An epic journey of friendship and self-discovery set in the breathtaking Italian Alps, The Eight Mountains follows over four decades the profound, complex relationship between Pietro and Bruno.
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An epic journey of friendship and self-discovery set in the breathtaking Italian Alps, The Eight Mountains follows over four decades the profound, complex relationship between Pietro and Bruno.
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Wednesday 17th May 2023
Butterfly Vision Ukrainian,English,Russian
Returning home from the front line after being held captive for two months, soldier Lilia (29 y.o.) discovers that she is pregnant after being raped by her warden. Will she manage to survive this trauma and save the child in a society that is not ready to accept either of them?
Returning home from the front line after being held captive for two months, soldier Lilia (29 y.o.) discovers that she is pregnant after being raped by her warden. Will she manage to survive this trauma and save the child in a society that is not ready to accept either of them?
Friday 19th May 2023
Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV (12) English,German,Korean
The life and times of Nam June Paik, the father of video art, who coined the phrase "Electronic Superhighway."
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The life and times of Nam June Paik, the father of video art, who coined the phrase "Electronic Superhighway."
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Under the Fig Trees Arabic
Among the trees, young women and men working the summer harvest develop new feelings, flirt, try to understand each other, find - and flee - deeper connections.
Among the trees, young women and men working the summer harvest develop new feelings, flirt, try to understand each other, find - and flee - deeper connections.
Friday 26th May 2023
406 Days Irish Gaelic
On April 9th, 2020, nearly 1,000 Irish Debenhams workers, most of them women, received a generic email telling them their jobs were gone. The longest-ever Irish industrial dispute began.
On April 9th, 2020, nearly 1,000 Irish Debenhams workers, most of them women, received a generic email telling them their jobs were gone. The longest-ever Irish industrial dispute began.
A Crack in the Mountain English,Vietnamese
A small, impoverished Vietnamese community struggles to deal with the opportunity and challenges that arise when Hang Son Doong, the largest cave in the world and a place of extraordinary natural beauty is discovered nearby.
A small, impoverished Vietnamese community struggles to deal with the opportunity and challenges that arise when Hang Son Doong, the largest cave in the world and a place of extraordinary natural beauty is discovered nearby.
Full Time French
Julie finally gets an interview for a job where she can raise her children better only to run into a national transit strike.
Julie finally gets an interview for a job where she can raise her children better only to run into a national transit strike.
Godday Godday Chaa Punjabi
During 1990s, women were not allowed to accompany men to baraats, and the groom's mother was not allowed to attend pheras. Rani intends to put an end to this ritual and starts building a team with other women, fights for women's rights.
During 1990s, women were not allowed to accompany men to baraats, and the groom's mother was not allowed to attend pheras. Rani intends to put an end to this ritual and starts building a team with other women, fights for women's rights.
Sisu (15) Finnish,English
During the last desperate days of WWII, a solitary prospector (Jorma Tommila) crosses paths with Nazis on a scorched-earth retreat in northern Finland. When the Nazis steal his gold, they quickly discover that they have just tangled with no ordinary miner. While there is no direct translation for the Finnish word "sisu", this legendary ex-commando will embody what sisu means: a white-knuckled form of courage and unimaginable determination in the face of overwhelming odds. And no matter what the Nazis throw at him, the one-man death squad will go to outrageous lengths to get his gold back - even if it means killing every last Nazi in his path.
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During the last desperate days of WWII, a solitary prospector (Jorma Tommila) crosses paths with Nazis on a scorched-earth retreat in northern Finland. When the Nazis steal his gold, they quickly discover that they have just tangled with no ordinary miner. While there is no direct translation for the Finnish word "sisu", this legendary ex-commando will embody what sisu means: a white-knuckled form of courage and unimaginable determination in the face of overwhelming odds. And no matter what the Nazis throw at him, the one-man death squad will go to outrageous lengths to get his gold back - even if it means killing every last Nazi in his path.
Watch Trailer
Unclenching the Fists Russian
In a former mining town in North Ossetia, a young woman struggles to escape the stifling hold of the family she loves as much as she rejects.
In a former mining town in North Ossetia, a young woman struggles to escape the stifling hold of the family she loves as much as she rejects.