Taking man's inhumanity to man as its central theme, 'Au Hasard Balthazar' traces the life of a donkey, christened Balthazar by a group of young children, from birth to death. Balthazar's story begins on a small farm in a rural district of France. Throughout his life he is owned by many of the locals, returning to some of them more than once, and is set various tasks, from drawing a carriage to performing in a circus, turning a grindstone to acting as a smuggler's means of transport. Some owners find out more...

One of the great cinema love stories as a one-night stand leads to a life of yearning for the beautiful Lisa but was just another **** for handsome Stefan. Years later a chance encounter leads to his receiving a letter from Lisa telling her tale. A piercing fable of doomed love. Tear-jerker. find out more...

Vittorio De Sica's award-winning masterpiece, Miracle in Milan, is one of the watershed films of the Italian cinema renaissance. find out more...

Adapted from the novel by George Barnanos, 'Mouchette' tells the story of the alienated teenage girl of the title. Neglected by her terminally ill mother and her abusive, alcoholic father, ostracised at school, with the insinuating glances of the villagers and her gruelling domestic duties, Mouchette's chance encounter with a local hunter sets her on a downward spiral that can only end in tragedy. An angry yet compassionate denunciation of a rural society corrupting and undoing an unorthodox ang find out more...

German folklore pervades this romantic tale of a man deciding to murder his wife and then changing his mind, in the end spending an enjoyable day with her. Dreamlike lyricism underlies the moral fable, achieving images of undeniable emotion and beauty. A silent, perhaps THE silent classic. find out more...

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs might be Japanese filmmaker Mikio Naruse's finest hour, a delicate, devastating study of a woman, Keiko, played heartbreakingly by Hideko Takamine, who works as a bar hostess in Tokyo's very modern post-war Ginza district. Sly, resourceful, but trapped, Keiko comes to embody the conflicts and struggles of a woman trying to establish her independence in a male-dominated society. A profoundly moving masterpiece. find out more...

This story of a man as he reflects upon his life and begins to perceive his mortality. As he travels to Lund to receive an honorary award after 50 years of medical practice, a professor finds himself repeatedly affected by intrusive dreams and hallucinations that expose his darkest fears. He slowly comes to realize that the choices he has made in the past created a cold and empty life, devoid of real meaning or value. Finally, he achieves redemption and reintegration through forgiveness and the find out more...