Jen Brister: The Optimist (2023)

Army of Darkness

Ash, a handsome, shotgun-toting, chainsaw-armed department store clerk, is time warped backwards into England's Dark Ages, where he romances a beauty and faces legions of the undead.

Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself

The strange comedy film of two close brothers; one, Wilbur, who wants to kill himself, and the other, Harbour, who tries to prevent this. When their father dies leaving them his bookstore they meet a woman who makes their lives a bit better yet with a bit more trouble as well.

Black Knight

Martin Lawrence plays Jamal, an employee in Medieval World amusement park. After nearly drowning in the moat, he awakens to find himself in 14th century England.

Happy-Go-Lucky

A look at a few chapters in the life of Poppy, a cheery, colorful, North London schoolteacher whose optimism tends to exasperate those around her.

The Nonexistent Knight

Agilulfo is a righteous, perfectionist, faithful and pious knight with only one shortcoming: he doesn't exist. Inside his empty armor is an echoing voice that reverberates through the metal. Nevertheless, he serves the army of a Christian king out of goodwill and faith in the holy cause.

Forrest Gump

A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.

For Love and Gold

A group of rogues steal a scroll granting its bearer the property of the land of Aurocastro in Apulia, a province in the south of Italy. They elect a shaggy knight, Brancaleone from Norcia, as their leader, and decide to get possession of this supposedly wealthy land. Many adventures will occurr during the journey.

Same Time, Next Year

A man and woman meet by chance at a romantic inn over dinner and, although both are married to others, they find themselves in the same bed the next morning questioning how this could have happened. They agree to meet on the same weekend each year—in the same hotel room—and the years pass each has some personal crisis that the other helps them through, often without both of them understanding what is going on.

Two Tickets to Paradise

Three guys on the verge of forty begin to realize all the best things in their lives happened before they were twenty. A spontaneous road trip adventure gives them a chance to balance the ledger

Nothing Left to Do But Cry

Two 20th-century friends accidentally stumble into the year 1492, where they meet a charming teen and try to alter history.

The Visitors II: The Corridors of Time

The sequel to The Visitors reunites us with those lovable ruffians from the French Medieval ages who - through magic - are transported into the present, with often drastic consequences. Godefroy de Montmirail travels to today to recover the missing family jewels and a sacred relic, guarantor of his wife-to-be's fertility. The confrontation between Godefroy's repellent servant Jack the Crack and his descendent, the effete Jacquart, present-day owner of the chateau, further complicates the matter.

A Night at Karlstein

No Woman is allowed into Karlstejn Castle! Yet the enamoured Daniele Kolářová and the equally enamoured Jana Brejchová manage to spend one night in disguise in the Castle despite the strict royal ban.

A Man of No Importance

Alfie Byrne is a middle-aged bus conductor in Dublin in 1963. He would appear to live a life of quiet desperation: he's gay, but firmly closeted, and his sister is always trying to find him "the right girl". His passion is Oscar Wilde, his hobby is putting on amateur theatre productions in the local church hall. We follow him as he struggles with temptation, friendship, disapproval, and the conservative yet oddly lyrical world of Ireland in the early 1960s.

Good King Dagobert

King's Dagobert I intestinal and sexual problems loom large as he survives an attack on his royal caravan then barely makes it to Rome to personally give thanks to the Pope. After he arrives at the Vatican, he becomes involved in the battle between two contenders for the papacy and has to face the machinations of a ruthless Byzantine princess.

You Won't Have Alsace-Lorraine

Whilst King Gros Pif I amuses himself at debauched banquets, his musketeers pursue their tax-collecting duties with a malicious zeal. Goaded by the court jester (who is also the Queen’s lover), the ministers decide to put an end to this regime and have the King locked up. Hearing the news, the famous Chevalier Blanc comes to his rescue. Aided by the knight and his cousin Lucienne, the King flees to Flanders, where he devises a scheme to win him back the throne of France...

Slasti Otce vlasti

The young Prince Charles (Jaromír Hanzlík), the future King of his country Charles IV, is being educated at the French court in the company of his fiancée Blanche (Daniela Kolárová). One day he receives a summons from his father John of Luxembourg (Milos Kopecký) in Italy. He leaves for Italy accompanied by a deputation from Bohemia. On the way the prince's company fights a battle with armed Milanese against heavy odds. Thanks to Charles's perspicacity, the prince's almost naked soldiers win through. In Lucca in Italy Charles joins his father, and here he experiences an amorous adventure and escapes from the traps laid by the Italian rebels.

Good King Dagobert

Mr. Pelletan's rascal son Bébert son got another F for playing in class. His punishment is an essay on the Merovingian king Dagobert. All they know is he had eight wives and reunited Francia. The ignorant knave's irreverent imagination turns that into a harem and a ludicrous war without armies, loaded with anachronisms, in a race against rival king Charibert for the crown of Reims. The king's right hand, archbishop Eloi, the later patrons saint of carpentry, is portrayed as an inventor.

Sex, Shame and Tears 2

Twenty years have passed since those two apartments in the heart of Mexico City were the battlefield of a war of the sexes between Ana, Carlos, Andrea, Miguel, Tomás and María. All that is left of those apartments are memories and the image of Tomás' dead body at the bottom of the elevator shaft. Their lives have changed, their families have grown and new and unexpected characters have come to unsettle their daily lives and trigger a chain of events that will make them realize that modesty has been replaced by public disclosure; sex is only an app away; but love...love is still something elusive that everyone in today's banal and chaotic world is seeking.

Pollyanna

When Pollyanna is orphaned, she's sent to live with her crotchety Aunt Polly. Pollyanna discovers that many of the people in her aunt's New England hometown are as ill-tempered as her aunt. But Pollyanna's incurable optimism - exemplified by her "glad game", in which she looks for the bright side of every situation - brings a change to the staid old community.

Recipes to Stay Together

"Cilantro y perejil" is a comedy about couples from the same family, hit by the economic crisis in Mexico. The plot turns around the eternal question of whether it is worth it to live as a couple. The conclusions are fun, unpredictable and very human. After ending a ten-year marriage, Carlos and Susana try to fall in love with other people without success. As the days go by, Carlos realizes that without Susana he is unable to do many things, including distinguishing cilantro from parsley.

The Sow

After spending three years in captivity in Tunis, Bartolomé returns home Extremadura with the only hope to eat his favorite dish: the pork. Along the way he meets a deserter who is traveling with a sow.

If Paris Were Told to Us

Historical film directed and written by Sacha Guitry follows the the history of Paris from its founding through the significant events in the city's history.

Jake Squared

A filmmaker sets out to make a new project in order to figure out how he's screwed up every relationship he's ever had.

The Little Hours

Garfagnana, Italy, 1347. The handsome servant Masseto, fleeing from his vindictive master, takes shelter in a nunnery where three young nuns, Sister Alessandra, Sister Ginevra and Sister Fernanda, try unsuccessfully to find out what their purpose in life is, a conundrum that each of them faces in different ways.

Martyrs of Striving

When Death wants to bring the plague to Württemberg in 1349, he has not reckoned with the two guard soldiers Volckel and Utz, who engage him in a heated argument about plague ordinances and entry regulations.

Ubalda, All Naked and Warm

During the Middle Ages, a clumsy knight returns home where his wife awaits him. Sensuous and beautiful, she has attracted several male admirers during his absence, but her chastity belt has maintained her faithfulness. Now is her chance to wrest the key from him and enjoy herself. The knight’s portly friend has a similar problem with his equally gorgeous wife. And to top it off, both men have designs on the other’s wife — leading them to devise painful methods to discourage the other from trespassing.

A Gun in Each Hand

J. is depressed. E. lives peacefully. S. tries to get back with his wife. G. resorts to anxiolytics. P. plays seduction games. María and Sara exchange their husbands. L. calls his lover in a peculiar way.

Mascara

Mascara is the story of three very different women who rediscover the value of their friendship at a time when their lives are in turmoil. Panic sets in as they approach their thirtieth birthdays and nothing is going according to plan.

Angela Goes On

One woman taxi driver in Bucharest is hoping for a conventional relationship.

Catherine Called Birdy

A teenage girl in Medieval England navigates life and tries to avoid the arranged marriages her father maps out for her.

Pleasant Nights

A trilogy of comedic tales set in the Middle Ages.

Lawrence & Holloman

Lawrence is an optimistic suit salesman for whom everything always goes right-until he takes the suicidal credit collector Holloman under his wing, and everything starts to go wrong. Very wrong.

The Visitors

After a wizard's spell goes awry, 12th-century Gallic knight Godefroy de Papincourt, Count of Montmirail finds himself transported to 1993, along with his dimwitted servant, Jacquouille la Fripouille. Startled and perplexed by modern technology, the duo run amok, destroying cars and causing chaos until they meet Beatrice de Montmirail, an aristocratic descendant of the nobleman, who may be able to help them get back to 1123.

Pfitzner: Palestrina

Requiring 38 soloists, chorus, and large orchestra, Hans Pfitzner's "Palestrina" is a challenging opera to stage. In Munich, the city in which it was premiered in 1917, director Christian Stückle, conductor Simone Young, and the Bavarian State Opera met those challenges with stunning success.

Mama Mama Jagoan

Myrna, whose husband just passed away, struggling with depression. She just found her purpose once again when she received a postcard from Monang, her son which ran away from home because of conflicts with his father. Accompanied by two of her best friends, Dayu and Hasnah, Myrna decided to search for Monang in Bali, with the postcard as their only clue of Monang's whereabouts. Once they arrived in Bali, they realized it is not easy to find Monang, they had many unfortunate events which lead them to jail, until they have arguments with each ocher which caused their life-long friendship breaking apart. Will Myrna succeeded to find Monang? How will their friendship stands?

Justin Moorhouse: Stretch & Think

Justin is back: still funny, yet middle-aged. A brand-new show that may contain: yoga, getting older, Madonna, shoplifters, labradoodles, middle-aged cyclists, The Menopause, running, hating football fans but loving football, not drinking, funerals, 'Is tapas a rip off?', Captain Tom, Droylsden, the environment, self-improvement, ruining a sexual position, electric car charging spots used by doggers, nursery graduation, horses, Stig lookalikes, home-cooked food but not in your own home, the odd advantages of fundamental religions, the gym, shop-door etiquette. And he's got a new suit. Come, it'll be fun.

Shaparak Khorsandi: Shapchat!

In the blink of an eye, Shappi has clocked up 50 years on this planet, a quarter-century as a comedian. What would the 25-year-old Shaparak think of this incarnation? Two dogs: very good. Tory friends: what has she become!? And why are there still so many things she doesn’t know, or is just learning now: is it going to take another 50 years? A fast-paced, celebratory hour from this much-loved Fringe institution and the author of forthcoming memoir, Scatterbrain.

The Warrior

In 1375, China was in chaos between Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty. Coryo (an ancient kingdom of Korea then) sent a delegation of many diplomats, soldiers and a silent slave to make peace with the new Chinese government. However, this delegation got charged as spies and sent in exile to a remote desert.

The Name of the Rose

14th-century Franciscan monk William of Baskerville and his young novice arrive at a conference to find that several monks have been murdered under mysterious circumstances. To solve the crimes, William must rise up against the Church's authority and fight the shadowy conspiracy of monastery monks using only his intelligence; which is considerable.

Andrei Rublev

An expansive Russian drama, this film focuses on the life of revered religious icon painter Andrei Rublev. Drifting from place to place in a tumultuous era, the peace-seeking monk eventually gains a reputation for his art. But after Rublev witnesses a brutal battle and unintentionally becomes involved, he takes a vow of silence and spends time away from his work. As he begins to ease his troubled soul, he takes steps towards becoming a painter once again.

Pathfinder

Around the year 1000 AD warlike people, the so-called "tjuder", roam in northern Scandinavia. As they brutally kill a family in a remote area, including the parents and their little daughter, the family's teenage son, Aigin, observes the slaughter. He manages to flee from these killers and reaches a camp with other Sámi whose inhabitants are worried if he has been able to hide his track. Afraid of the murderous people, they decide to flee to the coast. The boy stays alone to avenge his family's murder. Unfortunately, they get him before he can do anything and force him to lead them to the other Sámi. He guides them but has a plan to destroy the barbarous people before reaching the camp.

Krabat

A 14-year-old orphan named Krabat flees the horrors of the 30 Years War by becoming an apprentice to an ominous master of a mysterious mill. Krabat is not only taught the craft of milling, but is also instructed in the sinister world of the darker arts. When the life of his friend and protector is threatened, Krabat must struggle to free himself from an evil sorcerer's control in a gripping fight for freedom, friendship and love.

Tristan & Isolde

An affair between the second in line to Britain's throne and the princess of the feuding Irish spells doom for the young lovers.

Another Woman

Marion is a woman who has learned to shield herself from her emotions. She rents an apartment to work undisturbed on her new book, but by some acoustic anomaly she can hear all that is said in the next apartment in which a psychiatrist holds his office. When she hears a young woman tell that she finds it harder and harder to bear her life, Marion starts to reflect on her own life. After a series of events she comes to understand how her unemotional attitude towards the people around her affected them and herself.

Season of the Witch

A 14th century Crusader returns with his comrade to a homeland devastated by the Black Plague. The Church commands the two knights to transport a witch to a remote abbey, where monks will perform a ritual in hopes of ending the pestilence.

Oldrich and Bozena

At the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries Boleslav's kingdom fell apart in the fratricidal war between the Přemyslovci and the other clans the main profiteer of this being the German emperor. At that time it seemed as if the Czech state and the lineage of its princes was awaiting its end..." It is with these words that the tale of this film begins, whose narrative is based upon the the play by František Hrubín of the same name.

Long Live Robin Hood

Also known as The Scalawag Bunch - This bunch is none other than the Merry Men of Sherwood Forest and their feisty leader, Robin Hood. This is a '70s Italian-Spanish-French version of the often-played Robin Hood story, sometimes known as Archer of Fire.

Toldi

Animated version of a famous Hungarian epic tale by János Arany. Through the story of Miklós Toldi, we witness a brutal young man learning to master his strength and inner struggles to become King Louis I’s most famous knight. Toldi clashes with his scheming elder brother and travels from the marshlands to 14th-century Pest, fighting every challenge to prove his honor. His journey of self-discovery and courage unfolds against the rich backdrop of the chivalric world and the Hungarian plains.

Anne of Green Gables

At the turn of the century on Prince Edward Island, Matthew Cuthbert and his sister Marilla decide to take on an orphan boy as help for their farm. But they get an unexpected jolt when they're mistakenly sent a girl instead: Anne Shirley.

Merlin and the War of the Dragons

In 5th Century Britian, a young Merlin struggles for his place in his known land under the tutelage of The Mage, a local wizard whom sees the young man's potential for magic, as well as face off against his evil former friend, Vendiger, whom plots with a feudal warlord king to conquer all of Britian using an army of flying dragons, and only Merlin with the alliance of the local Prince Uther and Ingraine and a pair of mystical goddesses, can have the power to stop the evil from taking over the land.

Nights of Cabiria

Rome, 1957. A woman, Cabiria, is robbed and left to drown by her boyfriend, Giorgio. Rescued, she resumes her life and tries her best to find happiness in a cynical world. Even when she thinks her struggles are over and she has found happiness and contentment, things may not be what they seem.

Camelot

The plot of his illegitimate son Mordred to gain the throne, and Guinevere's growing attachment to Sir Lancelot, threatens to topple King Arthur and destroy his "round table" of knights.

The Great Escape

The Nazis, exasperated at the number of escapes from their prison camps by a relatively small number of Allied prisoners, relocate them to a high-security 'escape-proof' camp to sit out the remainder of the war. Undaunted, the prisoners plan one of the most ambitious escape attempts of World War II. Based on a true story.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Krabat, a beggar boy, is lured to become an apprentice to an evil, one-eyed sorcerer. With a number of other boys, he works at the sorcerer's mill while learning black magic. Every Christmas one of the boys has to face the master in a magical duel, where the boy never stands a chance because the master is the only person who is allowed to use a secret spell: The Koraktor.

Cassandra's Dream

The tale of two brothers with serious financial woes. When a third party proposes they turn to crime, things go bad and the two become enemies.

The Charlemagne Code

An action-packed race to find the legendary treasure of the Nibelungen hidden by Charlemagne and thought to be the biggest lost treasure in the world.