Go East!

directed by Sergey Dvortsevoy. Germany, Kazakhstan, 2008, 100 min - Italian version
A discovery of the new Kazakh cinema, this director triumphed in the "Un Certain Regard" section in Cannes with his poetic vision suspended between two contrasting worlds, that of the nomadic shepherds dominated by the violence of nature in the desert steppes, and that of the city, a dream of mode [...]

1 - Venice and Turkey
2 - Turkey and Tehran
produced by Along Mekong Productions. Germany, 2010/2011, 100 min - Italian version
Bradly Mayhew, a contemporary traveller, follows in the footsteps of the greatest traveller of all time in a series of powerful documentaries filmed along the 8,000 km of the Silk Road, his copy of Marco Polo's Il Milione in his rucksack. Mayhe [...]

directed by François Girard. Canada, France, Italy, UK, Japan, 2007, 107 min - English version with Italian subtitles
Based on Alessandro Baricco's bestseller, this extraordinary, visually rich reconstruction enhanced by Sakamoto's fabulous musical score retraces the journey to the east in search of silkworms, of a 19th century French silk farmer who ended up travelling as far a [...]

3 - Iran an Afghanistan
4 - Tajikistan and China
produced by Along Mekong Productions. Germany, 2010/2011, 100 min - Italian version
Mayhew's amazing journey along the Silk Road in the footsteps of Marco Polo continues on into Afghanistan and Tajikistan on board a rusty old Russian jeep, from icy mountain tops to the welcome shelter of Kirghiz nomad tents, and on to Chi [...]

directed by Andrea Segre. Italy, France, 2011, 100 min
This minor jewel of film-making tells the story of immigration to the Italian provinces with heart-rending delicacy and poetic sensitivity.  Against the backdrop of the Venetian lagoon, we track an impossible love story between a young Chinese immigrant girl and an old fisherman: an encounter between two different cultures re [...]

directed by François Girard. Canada, France, Italy, UK, Japan, 2007, 107 min - English version with Italian subtitles
Based on Alessandro Baricco's bestseller, this extraordinary, visually rich reconstruction enhanced by Sakamoto's fabulous musical score retraces the journey to the east in search of silkworms, of a 19th century French silk farmer who ended up travelling as far a [...]

directed by Andrea Segre. Italy, France, 2011, 100 min
This minor jewel of film-making tells the story of immigration to the Italian provinces with heart-rending delicacy and poetic sensitivity.  Against the backdrop of the Venetian lagoon, we track an impossible love story between a young Chinese immigrant girl and an old fisherman: an encounter between two different cultures re [...]

directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Turkey, Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2011, 150 min - Italian version
The prizewinning genius of the Turkish cinema offers us an unusual, deadpan anti-detective movie in his own formidable style, baring the darker side of our nature through the journey undertaken by a band of cops in search of a body which a forgetful murderer has buried somewhere in the Anat [...]

directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Turkey, Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2011, 150 min - Italian version
The prizewinning genius of the Turkish cinema offers us an unusual, deadpan anti-detective movie in his own formidable style, baring the darker side of our nature through the journey undertaken by a band of cops in search of a body which a forgetful murderer has buried somewhere in the Anat [...]

directed by Ismaël Ferroukhi. France, Morocco, 2004, 108 min - Italian version
For the very first time a director and a troup of actors manage to film amid the crowds of pilgrims in Mecca, revealing an astonishing scenario when those crowds reach their final goal, in this exciting road movie from the West to the Middle East, a soul-searching journey that probes the contrast betwe [...]

directed by Ismaël Ferroukhi. France, Morocco, 2004, 108 min - Italian version
For the very first time a director and a troup of actors manage to film amid the crowds of pilgrims in Mecca, revealing an astonishing scenario when those crowds reach their final goal, in this exciting road movie from the West to the Middle East, a soul-searching journey that probes the contrast betwe [...]

directed by Asghar Farhadi. Iran, 2011, 123 min - Italian version
Winner of the Golden Bear award in Berlin and of an Oscar for best foreign film, this movie - one of the most original of the past few years - successfully uses the microcosm of a family conflict to illustrate the condition of an entire country split in two, circumventing the censor's shears in a private tale that [...]

directed by Asghar Farhadi. Iran, 2011, 123 min - Italian version
Winner of the Golden Bear award in Berlin and of an Oscar for best foreign film, this movie - one of the most original of the past few years - successfully uses the microcosm of a family conflict to illustrate the condition of an entire country split in two, circumventing the censor's shears in a private tale that [...]

directed by Jafar Panahi. Iran, Italy, 2000, 90 min - Italian version
The masterpiece of this great Iranian film-maker, who has been sentenced to two years in jail and banned from making any more films, won the Golden Lion in Venice for the intensity of its exploration of the world of women in a rigidly codified society through tales of solitude and daily survival.

directed by Jafar Panahi. Iran, Italy, 2000, 90 min - Italian version
The masterpiece of this great Iranian film-maker, who has been sentenced to two years in jail and banned from making any more films, won the Golden Lion in Venice for the intensity of its exploration of the world of women in a rigidly codified society through tales of solitude and daily survival.

directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf. Iran, France 2001, 85 min - Italian version
Filmed way before 11 September 2001 happened, this film is still today a fundamental work in helping us to grasp the suffering and the contradictions of a country devastated by the Taliban regime - a film of extraordinary visual stringency and power in denouncing a conflict-torn country's tribulations.

directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf. Iran, France 2001, 85 min - Italian version
Filmed way before 11 September 2001 happened, this film is still today a fundamental work in helping us to grasp the suffering and the contradictions of a country devastated by the Taliban regime - a film of extraordinary visual stringency and power in denouncing a conflict-torn country's tribulations.

directed by Michael Winterbottom. UK, 2002, 88 min - Italian version
A disturbing road movie telling the tale of two extremely young Afghan refugees fleeing to the "golden" West.  Concealed in trucks and containers, they travel the old Silk Road, which has turned today into an opium smuggling route and a veritable calvary for the millions of refugees to whom this major film, whic [...]

directed by Michael Winterbottom. UK, 2002, 88 min - Italian version
A disturbing road movie telling the tale of two extremely young Afghan refugees fleeing to the "golden" West.  Concealed in trucks and containers, they travel the old Silk Road, which has turned today into an opium smuggling route and a veritable calvary for the millions of refugees to whom this major film, whic [...]

directed by Sergey Dvortsevoy. Germany, Kazakhstan, 2008, 100 min - Italian version
A discovery of the new Kazakh cinema, this director triumphed in the "Un Certain Regard" section in Cannes with his poetic vision suspended between two contrasting worlds, that of the nomadic shepherds dominated by the violence of nature in the desert steppes, and that of the city, a dream of mode [...]

directed by Jamshed Usmonov, Tajikistan, 2002, 90 min - Italian version
Based on a Muslim legend in which two angels sit on our shoulders recording our good and bad actions, this surprisingly ironical and surreal film is a dark and violent parable which perfectly captures the condition of social uncertainty that is such a feature of the former Soviet republics.

directed by Jamshed Usmonov, Tajikistan, 2002, 90 min - Italian version
Based on a Muslim legend in which two angels sit on our shoulders recording our good and bad actions, this surprisingly ironical and surreal film is a dark and violent parable which perfectly captures the condition of social uncertainty that is such a feature of the former Soviet republics.

directed by Mani Ratnam. India, 2010, 137 min - original version with Italian and English subtitles
A masterpiece of the new Indian cinema, the film bends the kitschest Bollywood style with its unbridled spectacularity, its wealth of dancing and its suspence, to the demands of the great art film, turning the ancient epic poem Ramayana into a smouldering contemporary melodrama ooz [...]

directed by Mani Ratnam. India, 2010, 137 min - original version with Italian and English subtitles
A masterpiece of the new Indian cinema, the film bends the kitschest Bollywood style with its unbridled spectacularity, its wealth of dancing and its suspence, to the demands of the great art film, turning the ancient epic poem Ramayana into a smouldering contemporary melodrama ooz [...]

directed by Werner Herzog. Germany, 2003, 81 min - original version with Italian subtitles
A talented, visionary master of the contemporary cinema takes us on a fascinating journey through Buddhist ritual in India, forcing his way amid pilgrims kneeling their way around a mountain in Tibet or building a gigantic mandala - a painting in coloured sand at the heart of the spiritual [...]

directed by Werner Herzog. Germany, 2003, 81 min - original version with Italian subtitles
A talented, visionary master of the contemporary cinema takes us on a fascinating journey through Buddhist ritual in India, forcing his way amid pilgrims kneeling their way around a mountain in Tibet or building a gigantic mandala - a painting in coloured sand at the heart of the spiritual [...]

directed by Sergei Bodrov. Russia, Germany, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, 2007, 120 min - Italian version
An extraordinary visual fresco depicting the epic history of Genghis Khan, the feared Mongol leader who conquered half the world, told by one of the most popular contemporary Russian film-makers who provides us with a masterly combination of action and sentiment, history and legend, [...]

directed by Sergei Bodrov. Russia, Germany, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, 2007, 120 min - Italian version
An extraordinary visual fresco depicting the epic history of Genghis Khan, the feared Mongol leader who conquered half the world, told by one of the most popular contemporary Russian film-makers who provides us with a masterly combination of action and sentiment, history and legend, [...]

directed by Gianni Amelio. Italy, 2006, 103 min
Amelio lends his extraordinarily intense, earnest and penetrating gaze to an Italian worker travelling in contemporary China, unveiling a reality that has sacrificed human rights and relationships to the burning fire of unbridled capitalism and of modernity at any price, amid open-air construction sites and monumental architectural [...]

directed by Gianni Amelio. Italy, 2006, 103 min
Amelio lends his extraordinarily intense, earnest and penetrating gaze to an Italian worker travelling in contemporary China, unveiling a reality that has sacrificed human rights and relationships to the burning fire of unbridled capitalism and of modernity at any price, amid open-air construction sites and monumental architectural [...]

directed by Zhang Yimou. China, 2010, 114 min - original version with Italian subtitles
This leading Chinese movie-maker shines the spotlight on the clash between the individual and authoritarian repression in a tender love story set in the days of the Cultural Revolution.  Afer his action-packed hit movies (Hero, House of Flying Daggers), here he returns to the intimate, poetic [...]

directed by Zhang Yimou. China, 2010, 114 min - original version with Italian subtitles
This leading Chinese movie-maker shines the spotlight on the clash between the individual and authoritarian repression in a tender love story set in the days of the Cultural Revolution.  Afer his action-packed hit movies (Hero, House of Flying Daggers), here he returns to the intimate, poetic [...]

directed by Jia Zhang-ke. China, 2008, 107 min - original version with Italian subtitles
One of today's most interesting and courageous Chinese film-makers, midway between documentary and fiction, analyses the devastating changes taking place in contemporary China, through eight stories told against the backdrop of an old factory under demolition - the shocking instagram of a soc [...]

directed by Jia Zhang-ke. China, 2008, 107 min - original version with Italian subtitles
One of today's most interesting and courageous Chinese film-makers, midway between documentary and fiction, analyses the devastating changes taking place in contemporary China, through eight stories told against the backdrop of an old factory under demolition - the shocking instagram of a soc [...]