ABSURDISTAN A film by Viet Helmer 90 minutes, color, 2008 Russian w/ English subtitles    UPC: 7-20229-91361-4 Catalog #: FRF 913614D SRP: $24.95 /CAN.: $29.95  Street Date: August 18 DVD Bonus Features: • Interview with Director • Director Biography • Photo Gallery

Welcome to ABSURDISTAN, a small village in the high desert mountains, just on the outskirts of reality, where magical visions and bizarre events fuse together. Home to only 14 families including the young lovebirds Aya and Temelko, who await their wedding day.

Although the village is facing a water shortage, the men are too lazy to fix a rickety pipeline and the women are soon fed up with their good-for-nothing husbands. Led by  Aya, the women make a simple vow: “No water, no sex.” The men’s only hope is Temelko, who must find a solution before the wedding.  Soon a crazy war of the sexes breaks out and they divide the town in half between the power of women and the "weaker sex.”

From the wild imagination of Viet Helmer, the award-winning director of TUVALU (also available from First Run Features), comes this perfectly pitched lyrical comedy that is romantic, surreal and boundlessly poetic. As in TUVALU (1999) and GATE TO HEAVEN (2003), he sketches a never-before-seen world with whimsical humor, a wealth of ideas, and an abundance of references from film history.

The film was shot in northwest Azerbaijan, far from mainstream and standardized European cinema. The visual design is the signature of Georgian cameraman Giorgi Beridze, whose most celebrated work A CHEF IN LOVE (1997) by Nana Dhzordzadze, was nominated for an Oscar.

Helmer once again puts together an international cast headed by Czech actress Kristyna Malérova and newcomer Maximilian Mauff and featuring more than 30 actors who are all stars in their native countries, be it Latvia, Belarus, Moldavia, Bulgaria, Portugal, Spain or France, including the Georgian icon Nino Chkheidze. 

OFFICIAL SELECTION- SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

“A wildly imaginative romantic fable... Worthy of Gabriel Garcia Marquez at his most playful.”-WASHINGTON POST

“A rollicking, bawdy fable reminiscent of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin!” -SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

“A droll, lusty comedy! Folkloric charm buoyed by comic inventiveness!” - LOS ANGELES TIMES

“An irresistible tale of love and perseverance with magic at its heart!” - SEATTLE TIMES

“A treat for the eyes and funny bone!” - VARIETY

“Charming and visually inventive! A sweet and silly delight.” - SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN

“A nonstop charm machine!” - LA WEEKLY

“Imaginative, fabulous!” - EAST BAY EXPRESS

“Truly romantic! Easy on the eyes, ears and funny bone!” - PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE

THE FISH FALL IN LOVE A film by Ali Raffi 96 minutes, color, 2006 Persian w/English subtitles UPC: 7-20229-91386-7 Catalog #: FRF913867D SRP: $24.95 Street Date: August 18 DVD Bonus Features: • Discussion Guide which includes: • Notes about Iranian History and Food • Director Biography • and More

The Global Film Initiative promotes cross-cultural under-standing through cinema. Each year, films from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East are selected to tour the United States as part of the Global Lens Film Series. Since 2004, First Run Features, a long-standing supporter of unique, foreign films, is proud to be the exclusive North American distributor of all the Initiative’s titles in the home video, theatrical/semi-theatrical, and television markets.

WINNER BEST FILM- AUBAGNE FILM FESTIVAL

OFFICIAL SELECTION- ROTTERDAM & SEATTLE
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVALS

“Captivating! More than just a love story.” - HOUSTON PRESS

“A mouth-watering, touching film about food, family and friendship.”
- SAN FRANCISCO FILM SOCIETY

“An old-fashioned, seductive tale of thwarted romance, wonderfully shot and easy-going.” - MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

“Soulful... Enticing!” - SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

From filmmaker Martin Doblmeier, director of BONHOEFFER and THE POWER OF FORGIVENESS comes the award winning docu-drama of the Nobel Laureate Dr. Albert Schweitzer, a humanitarian healer who believed in a “Reverence for Life.”

ALBERT SCHWEITZER: CALLED TO AFRICA tells the remarkable story of this towering figure – jungle doctor, pastor, philosopher, and musician. Revered by royalty and the famous of his day, Schweitzer is one of the great humanitarians of the 20th century and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in healing the sick and injured in Africa.

The film tells the story of the price of his fame, paid in part by his wife Helene, a nurse who shared her husband's dream of carving a hospital out of the rugged African jungle, and their young daughter, both left behind in Europe while he pursued his African dream.

Filmed in West Africa, where the hospital Schweitzer founded continues to treat people today, and in Strasbourg, France, where the young Schweitzer gave organ recitals and preached, the film is enhanced by interviews with the Schweitzer’s daughter, Rhena, and granddaughter, Christine Engles, Dr. Timothy Johnson of ABC News, Dr. Lachlan Forrow of the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, biographer James Brabazon, theologian Marvin Meyers and others.

WINNER! GABRIEL AWARD, 2008
• WINNER! TELLY AWARD, 2009

Gendun Choephel is a legendary figure in Tibet. Believed to be the reincarnation of a famous Buddhist lama, this promising young monk “renounced the false duty” of monastic life and became a fierce critic of his country’s religious conservatism, cultural isolationism and reactionary government.

After leaving the monastery in 1934, and fueled by his intellectual curiosity and free-spirited nature, Choephel traveled throughout Tibet and India in order to understand the true history of his country. His writings include a Tibetan translation of the Kama Sutra and a political history of Tibet published posthumously. He also wrote for an ex-patriot newspaper criticizing Tibet and was jailed as a political subversive.

Both a personal and political portrait of this pioneering and visionary intellectual, ANGRY MONK tells the story a life that spanned the British colonial invasion of 1903 and the occupation of the Chinese army in 1951. It features rare archival footage, Choephel’s paintings, and contemporary scenes of sites he visited, along with interviews with Tibetan historians, scholars, writers, and his wife, whose reminiscences chronicle the major phases of Choephel’s life.

Today Choephel is a revered figure in his homeland, and an influential symbol of hope for those seeking political and spiritual reform in a free Tibet.