Arabic

Love During Wartime
Directed by Gabriella Bier
(Sweden, 2011, 92 min.)
A Palestinian Muslim artist and an Israeli Jew who is a dancer and a daughter of a German Jewish immigrant find love but must fight an Israeli bureaucracy filled with suspicion and a menacing Palestinian society that make their lives together a nightmare.
The Jerusalem Fund

Cantonese

Life without Principle
(Dyut meng gam)
Directed by Johnnie To
(Hong Kong, 2011, 107 min.)
This tense drama from veteran director Johnnie To taps into the zeitgeist by telling three linked stories of Hong Kong’s money-obsessed culture.
Freer Gallery of Art
Fri., July 13, 7 p.m.,
Sun., July 15, 2 p.m.

Lover’s Discourse
(Leun yan sui yu)
Directed by Derek Tsang and Jimmy Wan
(Hong Kong, 2010, 117 min.)
Derek Tsang and Jimmy Wan’s directorial debut presents a series of seemingly unconnected vignettes to create a poignant portrait of modern love, Hong Kong-style.
Freer Gallery of Art
Fri., July 27, 7 p.m.,
Sun., July 29, 2 p.m.

Once a Gangster
(Fei saa fung chung chun)
Directed by Felix Chong
(Hong Kong, 2010, 95 min.)
Jordan Chan and Ekin Cheng—themselves veterans of numerous triad films—poke fun at themselves, playing rivals doing everything they can not to get elected to the post of top gangster.
Freer Gallery of Art
Fri., July 20, 7 p.m.,
Sun., July 22, 2 p.m.

A Simple Life
(Tao jie)
Directed by Ann Hui
(Hong Kong, 2011, 118 min.)
When the lifelong maid to a wealthy family suffers a stroke, it’s up to the only family member in the city, a busy movie producer, to take care of her. (Cantonese, English and Mandarin)
Freer Gallery of Art
Sun., July 1, 2 p.m.

English

A Cat in Paris
(Une Vie de Chat)
Directed by Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol
(France/Netherlands/Switzerland/Belgium, 2010, 69 min.)
In Paris, a cat who lives a secret life as a cat burglar’s aide must come to the rescue of the little girl he lives with, after she falls into a gangster’s clutches.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

The Dark Knight Rises
Directed by Christopher Nolan
(U.S./U.K., 2012, 164 min.)
Despite his tarnished reputation, Batman feels compelled to help Gotham and its police force, which is struggling to cope with Bane’s plans to destroy the city.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., July 20

Gerhard Richter Painting
Directed by Corinna Belz
(Germany, 2011, 97 min.)
Corinna Belz was granted exclusive access to Gerhard Richter, the infamously media-shy German painter, for this thrilling documentary of Richter’s creative process, juxtaposed with intimate conversations and rare archive material. (English and German)
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Hip Hop is Bigger than the Occupation
Directed by Nana Dankwa
(Palestine, 2011, 85 min.)
During a 10-day journey through Palestine, artists teach and perform nonviolent resistance, while witnessing night raids and meeting with young Palestinians who’ve been jailed, shot and humiliated (followed by a panel discussion with some of the film’s artists and activists).
Georgetown University
Rafik B. Hariri Building

To Rome with Love
Directed by Woody Allen
(U.S./Italy/Spain, 2012, 112 min.)
A kaleidoscope of characters, some American, some Italian, engage in romances, adventures and predicaments in one of the world’s most enchanting cities.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Take This Waltz
Directed by Sarah Polley
(Canada/Spain/Japan, 2011, 116 min.)
When a happily married women meets a handsome artist who lives across the street, their chemistry is intense and immediate.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

French

The Rabbi’s Cat
(Le Chat du Rabbin)
Directed by Antoine Delesvaux and Joann Sfar
(France/Austria, 2011, 89 min.)
Set in Algeria in the 1920s, a rabbi’s cat who learns how to speak after swallowing the family parrot expresses his desire to convert to Judaism. (A reception to benefit the Washington Jewish Film Festival accompanies the screening.)
La Maison Française

German

Café Müller
Directed by Pina Bausch
(Germany, 1985, 55 min.)
“Café Müller” is Pina Bausch’s most personal and saddest performance, in which she expresses the human quest for safety and love. (Screens with “Pina Bausch”)
Goethe-Institut
Mon., July 2, 6:30 p.m.

The Complaint of an Empress
(Die Klage der Kaiserin)
Directed by Pina Bausch
(Germany/France, 1990, 99 min.)
Put together as a collage with scenes set in different locations throughout and surrounding the city of Wuppertal, Germany, the futility of human action and the quest for love constitute the main focus of choreographer Pina Bausch’s debut film.
Goethe-Institut
Mon., July 9, 6:30 p.m.

Pina
Directed by Wim Wenders
(Germany, 2011, 100 min.)
In this powerful new film, German master Wim Wenders shoots in 3D, putting the viewer deep inside Pina Bausch’s playful, thrillingly unpredictable pieces.
Goethe-Institut
Mon., July 16, 6:30 p.m.

Pina Bausch
Directed by Anne Linsel
(Germany, 2006, 43 min.)
Just three years before her death, famous German choreographer Pina Bausch and the Tanztheater Wuppertal Ensemble try to track the roots of her own worldwide success. (Screens with “Café Müller)
Goethe-Institut
Mon., July 2, 6:30 p.m.

Hindi

Alms of the Blind Horse
(Anhey gorhey da daan)
Directed by Gurvinder Singh
(India, 2011, 117 min.)
The first Punjabi feature to make the international festival rounds chronicles a day in the life of a village — starring mostly actual villagers — that begins with the late-night destruction of a house by a greedy landlord.
Freer Gallery of Art
Sat., July 14, 2 p.m.

Russian

Elena
Directed by Andrei Zvyagintsev
(Russia, 2011, 109 min.)
When a sudden illness and an unexpected reunion threaten a dutiful Moscow housewife’s potential inheritance, she hatches a desperate plan.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema