features

Zhang Yimou

China, Hong Kong | 2002 | 99mins | 35mm | Colour | Subtitled

At the height of China's Warring States period, the country was divided into seven warring kingdoms. The King of Qin was obsessed with conquering all of China and becoming her first Emperor. He had long been the target of assassins. Of all the would-be killers, none inspired as much fear as the three legendary assassins, Broken Sword, Snow and Sky. To anyone who defeated the deadly trio, the King of Qin promised great power, mountains of gold and a private audience with the King himself. But defeating the killers was a near impossible task.

For ten years no one came close to claiming the prize. So when the enigmatic county sheriff, Nameless, came to the palace bearing the legendary weapons of the slain assassins, the King was eager to hear his story.

To bring to life this epic tale of love, loyalty, jealousy and intrigue, Hero assembled an unprecedented collection of Asia's hottest talent. International martial arts superstar Jet Li heads the stellar cast as Nameless, who earns his audience with the mighty king.

Michael Mayer

USA | 2004 | 96mins | 35mm | Colour

Widely considered to be Colin Farrell's finest performance as an actor, he plays the loveable Bobby Morrow. An orphan before he was a teenager, he ends up living with his best friend, Jonathan, and his family in suburban Cleveland. They provide a kind of stability that he's never known.

Bobby and Jonathan reunite in 1980's New York as young adults. By now, Bobby is a dark, heterosexual hipster and he once again moves in with, the openly gay, Jonathan and his eccentric and sexy roommate Clare, who just happens to be pregnant with Jonathan's baby. Clare is in love with Jonathan, who's in love with Bobby and moving restlessly through a succession of one-night stands. Bobby, Jonathan and Clare form an alternative family with small-scale utopian ambitions that the world, or their hearts, may not allow to last.

Farrell's astutely judged portrayal, he finds the crucial streak of manipulation in Bobby's sweetness, is a career highlight. - Rolling Stone

Colin Farrell is magnetic as a sexually ambiguous young man. - Michael Dwyer, The Irish Times

Joshua Marston

USA, Colombia| 2003 | 101mins | 35mm | Colour | Subtitled

Spirited and rebellious, 17-year-old Maria Alvarez lives with her family in a cramped house in a rural town. She works alongside her neighbours in a hazardous, mind-numbing job on a rose plantation. But she is determined to make more of her life and escape the desperate poverty and pre-dictable direction in which her life is headed.

Finding herself pregnant and also losing her hellish job, an opportunity soon arises. Maria is introduced to Colombia's highly profitable and extremely dangerous drug trade. She's offered a job travelling to America as a drug mule. It's a harrowing journey and a frightful experience for a small-town girl. Far from the uneventful trip she is promised, Maria is transported into the risky and ruthless world of international drug-trafficking.

Catalina Sandino Moreno gives an excep-tional performance as a young woman fac-ing this crossroads with bravery, grace and grit. Marston demonstrates a fantastic eye for detail and crafts a narrative with disarming rawness and authenticity.

Best Actress, Berlin Film Festival

Audience Award, Sundance Film Festival