Charting Iran’s descent into Islamic intolerance, Persepolis is based on the true-life story of Marjane Satrapi, a sparky girl from a middle class family born during the time of the despotic Shah. After his overthrow, young Marjane is sent to Vienna for an education no longer possible in fundamentalist Iran. Some years of culture shock and isolation later, she returns home to an equally unsettled life in the new Iran that obliges her to question her ideology and much else. Based on Satrapi’s own simple but evocative cartoon characterisations popularised in her graphic novels, the film, impressively animated, is voiced by the likes of Sean Penn, Gena Rowland and Iggy Pop.
	On the face of it a film tackling the issue of abortion wouldn’t seem to make for gripping viewing. Yet, as with Mike Leigh’s Vera Drake (admittedly a very different take on the subject) the intensity of this extraordinary drama by Romanian director, Cristian Menglu, is shot through with suspense, humour and humanity. Set against the privations of the last years of the Ceausescu regime the story follows two young women, Otilia (Annamaria Marinca) and her friend Gabita (Laura Vasiliu), as they seek assistance with an unlooked-for pregnancy. Utterly believable performances and a grimy re-creation of the period result in a truly outstanding, multi-award winning feature. (S)
	Critically acclaimed, and a box office success, In Bruges is a comedy-thriller full of dark hilarity and intrigue. Irish contract killers Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) are sent to Bruges by their psychopathic boss (Ralph Fiennes) to await further orders after a hit goes wrong. They find themselves out of place in this chocolate-box setting but become increasingly entangled in the lives of some of the bizarre characters they meet, and events begin to spiral out of control. In this first feature film by playwright Martin McDonagh, his superb script is enthusiastically seized by the accomplished cast and Colin Farrell, in particular, has rarely been better. Don’t miss it!
	Turkish director, Fateh Akin, once again explores the dynamics of eastern and western European cultures in this impressive film. A softer and more haunting effort than his earlier Head On, it follows six characters from Istanbul and Hamburg and their intersecting relationships. The film begins with Nejat, a Turk travelling to the Black Sea during a public holiday. Through an extended flashback we discover what has brought him to this point and understand the purpose of his journey. The strong, twisting plot is supported by richly coloured cinematography and ultimately offers an optimistic vision for contemporary inter-cultural relations. (S)

	As their rivals, Pixar, create an animated robot in Wall-E one wonders what will the animators at Dreamworks come up with next? The answer arrives in the unlikely form of an overweight, Kung Fu obsessed panda called Po who, through a combination of events, begins training as a warrior only to be challenged by a dastardly snow leopard called Tai Lung. OK, so the storyline is not exactly unpredictable but it is told with joyous verve and features a raft of verbal and visual gags to keep both adults and children happy. Voices are provided by stars such as Jack Black (Po), Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jollie and Jackie Chan along with a villainous turn from Brit, Ian McShane, as Tai Lung.
	A dark yet hilarious Scandinavian take on the state of man in the 21st century, You, The Living is about human beings, about their greatness and weakness, their joy and sorrow, their self-confidence and anxiety. Enormously praised, it is simply a tragic comedy, or a comic tragedy, about all of us. The title is from Goethe; “Be pleased then, you, the living, in your delightfully warmed bed, before Lethe’s ice-cold wave will lick your escaping foot.” A fluent succession of 50 short sketches – each filmed in one take on a static camera – make a small point and then move on, with, for example, “Lethe” being the destination of a tram glimpsed in a typically enigmatic scene. (S)
	Winner of the Golden Lion Award, 2006 Venice Film Festival and set in Fengjie, the ancient river city on the Yangtze, largely flooded and partially rebuilt, upstream from the Three Gorges Dam. The world’s largest hydroelectric project submerged thousands of towns and villages. More than one million people have been displaced because of the dam, evicted from their homes by a ravenous hunger for power, electricity and wealth, that is washing them and history away. Jia Zhangke’s wonderful film tells two parallel stories, both about individuals coming to Fengjie in search of long-absent partners and is a powerful evocation of the new China. (S)
	Equal parts updated Oliver Twist and Pinocchio, director Andrei Kravchuk’s warm-hearted fictional drama explores a real-life social problem in modern Russia – the trafficking of abandoned children to rich foreign couples. Vanya, “the Italian”, 6 years old, lives in an overcrowded and under-financed Russian orphanage easily meriting the adjective Dickensian. Children fend for themselves with cunning and invention in a Fagin’s den where the (brilliantly acted) young inmates are as predatory as the officials. The resourceful Vanya will make your heart race with trepidation and hope, as he tackles the realities of this modern underworld. Official Russian entry, 2006 Academy Awards. (S)