Czech

District League: Pepik Hnatek’s Last Stand
(Okresní prebor: Poslední zápas Pepíka Hnátka)
Directed by Jan Prusinovsky
(Czech Republic, 2012, 104 min.)
In this dark comedy, an eccentric provincial soccer coach keeps his pending heart surgery a secret from both his wife and his team.
The Avalon Theatre
Wed., March 13, 8 p.m.

English

Before Sunrise
Directed by Richard Linklater
(U.S./Austria/Switzerland, 1995, 105 min.)
American backpacker Ethan Hawke and French student Julie Delpy walk and talk their way through the night in baroquely beautiful Budapest.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., March 2, 8 p.m.,
Tue., March 5, 7 p.m.

Bottled Life
(Nestlés Geschäfte Mit Dem Wasser)
Directed by Urs Schnell
(Switzerland, 2012, 90 min.)
Do you know how to turn ordinary water into a billion-dollar business? In Switzerland, there’s a company that has developed the art to perfection: the Nestlé Corporation.
University of the District of Columbia
Thu., March 21, 6 p.m.

Cinderella Moon
Directed by Richard Bowen
(China, 2011, 96 min.)
Based on the Chinese legend of Ye Xian that predates Perrault’s Cinderella by about 800 years, the film focuses on little Mei Mei who hopes to follow in her mother’s footsteps, finding a love match by dancing in the village festival.
National Gallery of Art
Sat., March 16, 10:30 a.m.,
Sun., March 17, 11:30 a.m.

Happy People: A Year in the Taiga
Directed by Werner Herzog
(Germany, 2010, 90 min.)
Werner Herzog’s visually stunning documentary tracks the people of the small village of Bakhtia in the remote and desolate Siberian wilderness, snowbound for months at a time (English and Russian).
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Jane’s Journey
Directed by Lorenz Knauer
(Germany, 2010, 106 min.)
It would be hard to name anyone who has had more of an impact on animal research and wildlife conservation than Jane Goodall, whose 45-year study of wild chimpanzees in Africa is legendary.
National Museum of Natural History
Sun., March 17, 12 p.m.

The Last Ocean
Directed by Peter Young
(New Zealand, 2012, 85 min.)
The most pristine marine ecosystem on Earth, the Ross Sea has remained free from widespread pollution, invasive species, mining and over-fishing — a living laboratory providing scientists with the last chance to understand how a healthy marine ecosystem functions (screens with “Planet Ocean”).
National Museum of Natural History
Sat, March 16, 12 p.m.

Now, Forager
Directed by Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin
(Poland, 2012, 94 min.)
A husband-and-wife team of foragers makes their living gathering wild mushrooms in the woodlands of New Jersey and selling them to New York City restaurants, but their unpredictable foraging lifestyle puts their marriage to the test.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., March 17, 7:15 p.m.

Once
Directed by John Carney
(Ireland, 2006, 85 min.)
Sparks fly and music flows when a down-on-his-luck Irish busker and a poor Czech immigrant meet on the streets of Dublin in this intimate modern musical.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., March 10, 4 p.m.,
Thu., March 14, 9:30 p.m.

One Life
Directed by Michael Gunton and Martha Holmes
(U.K., 2011, 85 min.)
Daniel Craig narrates this amazing BBC wildlife documentary celebrating the diversity and tenacity of life on earth, bringing some of the most brilliant and imaginative stories from the animal kingdom to the big screen.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Peak
Directed by Hannes Lang
(Germany/Italy, 2011, 91 min.)
The Alps are an ancient region of natural beauty that is changing as a result of global warming.
Goethe-Institut
Mon., March 18, 6:30 p.m.

Planet Ocean
Directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Michael Pitiot
(France, 2012, 90 min.)
This cinematic adventure highlights the scientific missions of TARA expeditions, a unique pool of international researchers, oceanographers and biologists exploring the deep blue (screens with “The Last Ocean”).
National Museum of Natural History
Sat, March 16, 3:15 p.m.

Stoker
Directed by Park Chan-wook
(U.S./U.K., 2013, 98 min.)
India’s father dies in an auto accident and her Uncle Charlie, who she never knew existed, comes to live with her and her emotionally unstable mother, although India begins to suspect that he has ulterior motives.
Freer Gallery of Art
Fri., March 1, 7 p.m.,
Sat., March 2, 7 p.m.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., March 8

The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Directed by Philip Kaufman
(U.S., 1988, 171 min.)
Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche and Lena Olin shine as husband, wife and mistress in Czechoslovakia during the Prague Spring in this erotically charged and thought-provoking cult classic.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., March 3, 7:30 p.m.,
Wed., March 6, 6:45 p.m.

Unfinished Spaces
Directed by Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray
(Cuba, 2011, 86 min.)
Cuba’s ambitious National Art Schools project, designed by three young visionary architects in the wake of Castro’s Revolution, was long neglected but has now been rediscovered as an architectural masterpiece.
National Museum of Women in the Arts
Thu., March 14, 7 p.m.

French

A Bottle in the Gaza Sea
(Une bouteille à la mer)
Directed by Thierry Binisti
(France/Israel/Canada, 2011, 100 min.)
A 17-year-old French girl who’s immigrated to Jerusalem slips a letter about peace between Israelis and Palestinians in a bottle and throws it out to sea — only to receive a response from a young Palestinian man in Gaza (French, Hebrew and Arabic).
The Avalon Theatre
Wed., March 27, 8 p.m.

The Day of the Crows
(Le jour des corneilles)
Directed by Jean-Christophe Dessaint
(France, 2012, 96 min.)
In this animated film, a child and his father lead a wild and hard life in an isolated forest with only the ghosts haunting the forest as their companions, until one day the child discovers a girl in a neighboring village.
The Avalon Theatre
Sat., March 16, 10:30 a.m.

The Kid with a Bike
(Le gamin au vélo)
Directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne
(Belgium/France/Italy, 2011, 87 min.)
Cinema Art Bethesda’s monthly Sunday screening looks at the relationship between an abandoned 12 year-old-boy and the local hairdresser who agrees to foster him on weekends; professor Stan Levin moderates post-film discussion.
Landmark’s Bethesda Row Cinema
Sun., March 3, 10 a.m.

The Little Room
(La Petite Chambre)
Directed by Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond
(Switzerland/Luxembourg, 2010, 87 min.)
Edmond fights the idea of going to a retirement home until a bad fall forces him to accept help from his caregiver Rose.
The Avalon Theatre
Wed., March 20, 8 p.m.

Rosetta
Directed by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
(France/Belgium, 1999, 95 min.)
A teenage girl uses her meager resources to eke out an existence in a trailer park for herself and her alcoholic mother (screens with “The Son”).
National Gallery of Art
Sat., March 2, 2 p.m.

The Son
(Le fils)
Directed by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
(Belgium/France, 2002, 103 min.)
Olivier, a middle-age carpenter at a rehabilitation center for boys, refuses to take on Francis as his apprentice until, curiously, he changes his mind (screens with “Rosetta”).
National Gallery of Art
Sat., March 2, 4:30 p.m.

German

Warm Period
(Warmzeit)
Directed by Knut Karger
(Germany, 2012, 80 min.)
This film connects individuals, scientists and engineers of alternative energy technologies from Greenland to Namibia who are experiencing the impact of climate change.
Goethe-Institut
Tue., March 19, 6 p.m.

Italian

 The Mercenary aka A Professional Gun
(Il mercenario)
Directed by Sergio Corbucci
(Italy/Spain, 1968, 110 min.)
A Polish mercenary, sensing a business opportunity, falls in with a band of Mexican revolutionaries.
AFI Silver Theatre
Fri., March 29, 7 p.m.,
Sun., March 31, 9:45 p.m.

Korean

In Another Country
Directed by Hong Sang-soo
(France/South Korea, 2012, 89 min.)
The great French actress Isabelle Huppert stars as three different women visiting the Korean resort town of Mohan in this triptych of tales.
Freer Gallery of Art
Sun., March 10, 1 p.m.

Helpless
Directed by Byun Young-joo
(South Korea, 2012, 117 min.)
A man searches for his fiancée, who vanished without a trace just before their wedding ceremony — only to discover her shocking identity.
Angelika Mosaic
Wed., March 27, 7:30 p.m.,
Thu., March 28, 7:30 p.m.

Jiseul
Directed by O. Muel
(South Korea, 2012, 108 min.)
This film recreates little-known tragic events that occurred on Jeju Island in 1948, when the South Korean government, in collusion with the U.S. military, cracked down on the island’s protesting residents.
Freer Gallery of Art
Sun., March 24, 2 p.m.

JSA: Joint Security Area
Directed by Park Chan-wook
(South Korea, 2000, 110 min.)
Structured as a classic whodunit, “JSA” begins with a U.N. investigator looking into the killing of two North Korean soldiers by a South Korean soldier. But flashbacks reveal a surprising truth: the soldiers had developed a cross-border friendship.
Freer Gallery of Art
Sun., March 3, 1 p.m.

Lady Vengeance
Directed Park Chan-wook
(South Korea, 2005, 112 min.)
Imprisoned for 14 years for a crime she didn’t commit, a woman plots her revenge on the sociopathic schoolteacher who forced her to confess to the crime.
Freer Gallery of Art
Sun., March 17, 2 p.m.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., March 31, 7:30 p.m.

Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time
Directed by Yoon Jong-bin
(South Korea, 2012, 133 min.)
A corrupt customs inspector stumbles upon a wayward drug shipment and leverages it into a business partnership with the city’s biggest crime boss.
Freer Gallery of Art
Fri., March 8, 7 p.m.
Angelika Mosaic
Wed., March 13, 7:30 p.m.,
Thu., March 14, 7 p.m.

Oldboy
Directed by Park Chan-wook
(South Korea, 2003, 120 min.)
A man who is mysteriously imprisoned for 15 years and then just as mysteriously released begins a search for his tormentor — and the secrets he uncovers make for a visually stunning, hyper-violent journey.
Freer Gallery of Art
Sun., March 3, 4:30 p.m.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., March 24, 6:30 p.m.

Pieta
Directed by Kim Ki-duk
(South Korea, 2012, 104 min.)
A vicious loan shark collects from his victims by crippling them and reaping the insurance benefits, until a woman appears claiming to be his mother and shows him the only tenderness he’s ever known, but does she have an ulterior motive?
Freer Gallery of Art
Fri., March 22, 7 p.m.

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Directed Park Chan-wook
(South Korea, 2002, 129 min.)
The first film in Park Chan-wook’s “Vengeance Trilogy,” it tells the story of a hearing-impaired factory worker who turns to an illegal organ-trafficking ring to get a new kidney for his dying sister. Cheated gruesomely by the ring, he kidnaps his former boss’s daughter as both men set off on bloody-minded missions of revenge.
Freer Gallery of Art
Fri., March 15, 7 p.m.

Taste of Money
Directed by Im Sang-soo
(South Korea, 2012, 115 min.)
A secretary to the center of a Korean conglomerate deals with the immoral private issues of a wealthy family, doing whatever he’s told as his desire for power and money grows.
Angelika Mosaic
Wed., March 20, 7:30 p.m.,
Thu., March 21, 7:30 p.m.

Thirst
Directed by Park Chan-wook
(South Korea, 2009, 133 min.)
A priest devoted to healing the sick volunteers as a test subject for an experimental drug that ends up giving him a taste for human blood.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., March 17, 9 p.m.,
Mon., March 18, 9 p.m.

A Werewolf Boy
Directed by Jo Sung-hee
(South Korea, 2012, 126 min.)
When a family discovers a feral teenager living in their barn, they take the boy in and train him, but soon his superhuman strength and odd behavior indicate that he is the product of a shady scientific experiment.
Angelika Mosaic
Wed., March 6, 7:30 p.m.,
Thu., March 7, 7:30 p.m.

Young Gun in the Time
Directed by Oh Young-doo
(South Korea, 2012, 95 min.)
In this eccentric caper, a mysterious woman approaches a down-on-his-heels private eye with a disturbing assignment: track down the owner of a particular wristwatch and kill him.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., March 24, 9 p.m.,
Mon., March 25, 9:40 p.m.

Mandarin

Beijing Besieged by Waste
Directed by Wang Jiu-liang
(China, 2011, 72 min.)
While China’s economic ascent commands global attention, less light has been shed upon the monumental problem of waste spawned by a burgeoning population, booming industry and insatiable urban growth.
Woodrow Wilson Center
Thu., March 14, 12 p.m.

Romanian

Beyond the Hills
(Dupa dealuri)
Directed by Cristian Mungiu
(Romania/France/Belgium, 2012, 152 min.)
Two girls who grew up together in an orphanage and later become lovers are separated when one leaves for a better life in Germany while the other joins a convent.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., March 15