The Best Reward (2024)

8 Mile

For Jimmy Smith, Jr., life is a daily fight just to keep hope alive. Feeding his dreams in Detroit's vibrant music scene, Jimmy wages an extraordinary personal struggle to find his own voice - and earn a place in a world where rhymes rule, legends are born and every moment… is another chance.

Billy Elliot

County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.

American History X

Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for killing two African-American men. Through his brother, Danny Vineyard's narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. and his actions greatly influenced Danny. Reformed and fresh out of prison, Derek severs contact with the gang and becomes determined to keep Danny from going down the same violent path as he did.

Dirty Dancing

Expecting the usual tedium that accompanies a summer in the Catskills with her family, 17-year-old Frances 'Baby' Houseman is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a professional hoofer—and unexpectedly falling in love.

The 400 Blows

For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.

Aparajito

Apu and his family have moved away from the country to live in the bustling holy city of Benares. As he progresses from wide-eyed child to intellectually curious teenager, eventually studying in Kolkata, we witness his academic and moral education, as well as the growing complexity of his relationship with his mother.

Do the Right Thing

Salvatore "Sal" Fragione is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin' Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria's Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin' Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin' Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.

Y Tu Mamá También

In Mexico, two teenage boys and an attractive older woman embark on a road trip and learn a thing or two about life, friendship, sex, and each other.

Nostalgia

A Russian poet, Andrei and his interpreter, Eugenia travel to Italy to research the life of an 18th-century composer.

The Virgin Suicides

A group of male friends become obsessed with five mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their strict, religious parents.

If Only I Could Hibernate

Ulzii, a teenager from a poor neighborhood in Ulaanbaatar, is determined to win a sciences-physics competition to get a scholarship. His illiterate mother finds a job in the countryside, leaving him and his brother and sister in the middle of winter. Ulzii wanders around at night looking for things to burn for heat while preparing for the national competition.

Mechanical Bulls

After being reunited with an old college friend who visits for the weekend, a group of immature twenty-somethings come to terms with what friendship and growing up actually mean.

Ask the Dust

Mexican beauty Camilla hopes to rise above her station by marrying a wealthy American. That is complicated by meeting Arturo Bandini, a first-generation Italian hoping to land a writing career and a blue-eyed blonde on his arm.

Paranoid Park

A teenage skateboarder becomes suspected of being connected with a security guard who suffered a brutal death in a skate park called "Paranoid Park".

Golden Door

The story is set at the beginning of the 20th century in Sicily. Salvatore, a very poor farmer, and a widower, decides to emigrate to the US with all his family, including his old mother. Before they embark, they meet Lucy. She is supposed to be a British lady and wants to come back to the States. Lucy, or Luce as Salvatore calls her, for unknown reasons wants to marry someone before to arrive to Ellis Island in New York. Salvatore accepts the proposal. Once they arrive in Ellis Island they spend the quarantine period trying to pass the examinations to be admitted to the States. Tests are not so simple for poor farmers coming from Sicily. Their destiny is in the hands of the custom officers.

Persepolis

In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Satrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah's defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. However as Marji grows up, she witnesses first hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own.

Open Range

A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.

Malcolm X

A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

In the questionable town of Deer Meadow, Washington, FBI Agent Desmond inexplicably disappears while hunting for the man who murdered a teen girl. The killer is never apprehended, and, after experiencing dark visions and supernatural encounters, Agent Dale Cooper chillingly predicts that the culprit will claim another life. Meanwhile, in the more cozy town of Twin Peaks, hedonistic beauty Laura Palmer hangs with lowlifes and seems destined for a grisly fate.

Inland Empire

As a Hollywood actress begins to adopt the persona of her character in a film, her world becomes nightmarish and surreal.

Last Summer

One summer, a French teenager who has been living with his mother in the city moves in with his estranged father’s family in the countryside, where he clashes with his stepmother.

Northwood Pie

A Community college burnout in the making Crispin, spends the majority of his time stuck on repeat with a longtime group of childhood friends. But his newfound desire to move out of his suburban hometown prompts him to land a job at the local, rundown Northwood Pizza. There he meets a group of employees as attached to their jobs as Crispin's friends are to their city; including Sierra, a girl whose musings lie deeper than most. Through his experiences with his friends, coworkers, and a kindling relationship, Crispin Learns to embrace his higher ambitions.

Devara: Part 1

Devara, a fearless man from a coastal region, embarks on a perilous journey into the treacherous world of the sea to safeguard the lives of his people. Unbeknownst to him, his brother Bhaira is plotting a conspiracy against him. As events unfold, Devara passes on his legacy to his mild-mannered and timid son, Varada.

Sweet Thing

For Billie and Nico, life with their father is a roller-coaster ride of playfulness and unease. When he is in the grip of alcohol, tears flow and their apparently idyllic family life collapses. Their mostly absent and irresponsible mother is not much help either. But their friendship with Malik, a boy of Billie’s age, frees them from their shackles. Together they embark on a journey full of intense moments of freedom. The colourful, emotional world of the three young people is depicted in kaleidoscopic black and white imagery, which opens space for their own notions of childhood. Alexandre Rockwell's tale portrays a profound sense of solidarity and deep love: for cinema and Billie Holiday, and also for risk and adventure.

Our Ladies

In 1996 Scotland, a group of Catholic schoolgirls get an opportunity to go into Edinburgh for a choir competition, but they're more interested in drinking, partying and hooking up than winning the competition.

Pure Love

A troubled teen turns his life around with the help of a classmate. Years later, their reunion sparks old feelings, but uncertainty clouds their story.

STAR DRIVER: The Movie

In the remote Southern Cross Island, a secret organization named The Glittering Crux plans to reactivate giant machines that have been sealed for ages. Known as Cybodies, they can only be controlled by pilots identified as Star Drivers. To unleash their full power, the mysterious group must break the seals of the four shrine maidens that reside in the isle. Recently arrived outsider Takuto Tsunashi vows to stop the Glittering Crux in order to protect Wako Agemaki, the girl who saved his life and is one of the four maidens. Wako is a lively young lady who has already been betrothed to Sugata Shindou, a rich and talented childhood friend. Despite being very close to Agemaki, Sugata quietly disapproves of this engagement since it was forced on them due to a family tradition. The melancholic couple becomes a radiant trio as Takuto becomes not only their friend but protector of the seals since he is none other than the Galactic Pretty Boy, gifted Star Driver of Tauburn, the 22nd Cybody.

Ginger Snaps

The story of two outcast sisters, Ginger and Brigitte, in the mindless suburban town of Bailey Downs. On the night of Ginger's first period, she is savagely attacked by a wild creature. Ginger's wounds miraculously heal but something is not quite right. Now Brigitte must save her sister and save herself.

The Siege

The secret US abduction of a suspected terrorist from his Middle East homeland leads to a wave of terrorist attacks in New York. An FBI senior agent and his team attempt to locate and decommission the enemy cells, but must also deal with an Army General gone rogue and a female CIA agent of uncertain loyalties.

Honey

Honey Daniels dreams of making a name for herself as a hip-hop choreographer. When she's not busy hitting downtown clubs with her friends, she teaches dance classes at a nearby community center in Harlem, N.Y., as a way to keep kids off the streets. Honey thinks she's hit the jackpot when she meets a hotshot director casts her in one of his music videos. But, when he starts demanding sexual favors from her, Honey makes a decision that will change her life.

Die Like a Man

Set in the heart of a rapidly gentrifying west Los Angeles neighborhood still reeling from decades of guns and gang violence across the four corners near Venice, a working-class single mom desperately tries to wean her 17-year-old son Freddy away from a veteran gangster who has become a father figure to him.

Human Traffic

For Jip, Lulu, Koop, Nina and Moff, the dead-end jobs they endure during the week just kill the time until Friday night. That's when they cut very loose and get on the rollercoaster ride that takes them right through to Monday morning.

Léolo

The story of an imaginative boy who pretends he is the child of a sperm-laden Sicilian tomato upon which his mother accidentally fell.

Mysterious Skin

A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth.

Mystic Pizza

Three teenage girls come of age while working at a pizza parlor in Mystic, Connecticut.

Cinema Paradiso

A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.

The Gentiles

Ana throws her life on the Instagram and other social networks, where she posts pictures, videos and short animations, together with witty (and lucid) texts. Ana is going through a strange moment. In addition to going through the family conflicts and identity issues typical of her age, she experiences something new. She feels something she does not quite understand, for her close friend Corrales.

My Life as a Comedian

Juha, 12, class clown in the suburb of Sävbyholm, Sweden. To be funny is the only thing he is good at and all he wants is to fit in the social peckingorder at school. When Juha as an adult performs the show – My Life As A Comedian- to sold out theatres and tells the horrid and funny stories from his childhood to the audience he gets an unexpected visit from an old friend from school which makes him return to Sävbyholm and deal with his past.

Empire of the Sun

Jamie Graham, a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor, who looks out for him while they are in the camp together. Even though he is separated from his parents and in a hostile environment, Jamie maintains his dignity and youthful spirit, providing a beacon of hope for the others held captive with him.

La Haine

After a chaotic night of rioting in a marginal suburb of Paris, three young friends, Vinz, Hubert and Saïd, wander around unoccupied waiting for news about the state of health of a mutual friend who has been seriously injured when confronting the police.

Popular Music

Matti and Niila, growing up in the mid-sixties in the harsh and conservative environment of a Finnish-speaking part of Tornedalen in Swedish Laponia, close to the Finnish border. Their big dream is to become rock stars. In the present the now grown-up Matti feels guilt for the death of his drug-addicted rock star friend Niila.

7 Virgins

Tano is 16-years-old and is already sitting in jail. In 48 hours he’s a free man and off to the wedding of his brother. In the two days he recounts his neighborhood in a section of Sevilla.

Sweet As

With problems on the home front, 15-year-old Murra is on the verge of lashing out. That is, until her policeman uncle thwarts her self-destructive behaviour with a lifeline: a “photo-safari for at-risk kids”. Murra isn’t entirely convinced, but she soon joins cantankerous Kylie, uptight Sean, happy-go-lucky Elvis, and camp counsellors Fernando and Michelle on a transformative bus trip to the Pilbara. On the trail, the teens learn about fun, friendship and first crushes, as well as the forces of ‘reality’ that puncture the bubble of youth.

Esperpentos y la Sociedad del Bullying

After a delicate case of bullying, a group of "PHENOMENON" boys seek refuge in a place called "The Cusp" school, the only place where they fully accept anyone socially called "Rares" to make them bigger, geniuses and eliminate traumas caused by society. An opposing group of adolescents reveal the confessions of all of them in a new social network and with the evaluation of their mental problems in their former schools and training center, the aggression increases and begins to generate confrontations between them because their conflicts are more serious than those who believe, unaware that this chain of events will unleash a single secret: a totally violent society that if revealed would be fatal.

Wild Youth

Wild Youth is an ode to being young. A sensitive and intimate story of the first experiences of losing one's childlike innocence, questioning the imposed "masculinity" and (re)discovering yourself in the function of others.

Astrakan

Samuel is a wild-looking twelve-year-old orphan who has been placed with a nanny, Marie, for several weeks. Marie, who is struggling between her feelings and her need for money, is married to Clément with whom she has two sons, Alexis and Dimitri. Very quickly Samuel will have to get to know this new family and their possible secrets.

American Beauty

Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.

Three Months

Caleb, a South Florida teen, loves his camera, his weed and his grandmother. On the eve of his high school graduation, everything changes when he's exposed to HIV. While he waits three months for his results, Caleb finds love in the most unlikely of places.

Times and Winds

In a small, poor village leaning over high rocky mountains, the villagers are simple and diligent people who struggle to cope with a harsh nature. They earn their living off the earth and a few animals they feed. Fathers always prefer one of their sons. Mothers command their daughters ruthlessly. Ömer, the son of the imam, wishes hopelessly for the death of his father. When he understands that wishful thinking does not have any concrete results, he begins to search for childish ways to kill his father. Yakup is in love with his teacher, and one day after seeing his father spying on the teacher he dreams too, like Ömer, of killing his father. Yıldız studies and tries to manage the household chores imposed by her mother. She learns with irritation about the secrets of the relationship between men and women.

Salvador

In 1980, an American journalist covering the Salvadoran Civil War becomes entangled with both the leftist guerrilla groups and the right-wing military dictatorship while trying to rescue his girlfriend and her children.

Kidnapped

The story of Edgardo Mortara, a young Jewish boy living in Bologna, Italy, who in 1858, after being secretly baptized, was forcibly taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents’ struggle to free their son became part of a larger political battle that pitted the papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification.

The Reivers

In turn-of-the-century Mississippi, an 11-year-old boy comes of age as two mischievous adult friends talk him into sneaking the family car out for a trip to Memphis and a series of adventures.

Shower Boys

“Are you a man or a mouse?” asks the bandy trainer? Viggo answers with doubt but the team chant “MEN!”. After training, Viggo and Noel go home to Noel’s house and have a sauna. The friends start to compete on who is most manly, a tough competition where no-one really wants to be tough.

Water Lilies

Set during a sultry summer in a French suburb, Marie is desperate to join the local pool's synchronized swimming team, but is her interest solely for the sake of sport or for a chance to get close to Floriane, the bad girl of the team? Sciamma, and the two leads, capture the uncertainty of teenage sexuality with a sympathetic eye in this delicate drama of the angst of coming-of-age.

Happiness Costs Nothing

A man in his forties has had enough. He leaves his loveless family, uninspiring job and fake friends and tries to find something more. He meets a young woman he falls for, but she puts him on the test.

No Hard Feelings

Parvis, the son of exiled Iranians, copes with life in his small hometown by indulging himself with pop culture, Grindr dates, and raves. After being caught shoplifting, he is sentenced to community service at a refugee shelter where he meets siblings Banafshe and Amon, who have fled Iran. As a romantic attraction between Parvis and Amon grows, the fragile relationship between the three is put to a test.

Reinventing Marvin

Telling the true story of Marvin Bijou, a young boy from a working-class family in a small village, who suffers constant bullying at school and home for being ‘different’ – too sensitive and too feminine. A chance encounter with a drama teacher opens the doors to a world that offers him the chance to escape his situation.

Words with Gods

The first of four installments in the groundbreaking Heartbeat of the World anthology film series. Comprised of several short films by some of the world's most exciting directors, Words with Gods follows the theme of religion - specifically as it relates to an individual's relationship with his/her god or gods...or the lack thereof. In Words with Gods, each director recounts a narrative centered around human fragility, as well as environmental and cultural crises involving specific religions with which each has a personal relationship; including early Aboriginal Spirituality, Umbanda, Buddhism, the Abrahamic faiths, Hinduism, and Atheism. An animated sequence by Mexican animator Maribel Martinez is woven through each of the film segments, with each segment narratively connected as a feature-length film.

Wonder Boys

Grady is a 50-ish English professor who hasn't had a thing published in years—not since he wrote his award winning 'Great American Novel' 7 years ago. This weekend proves even worse than he could imagine as he finds himself reeling from one misadventure to another in the company of a new wonder boy author.

Picnic at Hanging Rock

In the early 1900s, Miranda attends a girls boarding school in Australia. One Valentine's Day, the school's typically strict headmistress treats the girls to a picnic field trip to an unusual but scenic volcanic formation called Hanging Rock. Despite rules against it, Miranda and several other girls venture off. It's not until the end of the day that the faculty realizes the girls and one of the teachers have disappeared mysteriously.

Thirteen

When average 13-year-old Tracy befriends Evie, the most popular girl in school, Tracy's world is turned upside down as Evie introduces her to a world of sex, drugs and cash. But it isn't long before Tracy's new world and attitude finally takes a toll on her, her family, and old friends.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year

As seniors in high school, Troy and Gabriella struggle with the idea of being separated from one another as college approaches. Along with the rest of the Wildcats, they stage a spring musical to address their experiences, hopes and fears about their future.

We Love Moses

When Ella was twelve, she had her first fight. And when she was twelve, she discovered sex. Now eighteen, Ella reflects on how her obsession with her older brother Michael's best friend Moses left her with a secret she still carries.

Babylon Sisters

A migrant tale of sisterhood and music celebrating unconventional friendships and the power of diversity.

Kes

Bullied at school and ignored and abused at home by his indifferent mother and older brother, Billy Casper, a 15-year-old working-class Yorkshire boy, tames and trains his pet kestrel falcon whom he names Kes. Helped and encouraged by his English teacher and his fellow students, Billy finally finds a positive purpose to his unhappy existence.

West Michigan

Hannah is a seventeen-year-old girl who struggles to find her place in the world. Around the time that she gives up all hope of fitting in, her grandfather falls ill. She and her brother, Charlie, drive up the coast of West Michigan in order to visit him on his deathbed. However, their journey north takes a turn after their car breaks down in rural Michigan, and Hannah's search for meaning grows more crucial than ever.