My top 25 of SIFF 2009

A man convicted in his teens for killing a child is released on parole. He struggles to build a new life, but his past is uncovered.

Moth is freed on parole after spending time in prison on wrongful conviction of murder. Jailed shortly before the Bulgarian communist coup of 1944, he now finds himself in a new and alien world - the totalitarian Sofia of the 60s. His first night of freedom draws the map of a diabolical city full of decaying neighborhoods, gloomy streets and a bizarre parade of characters.

Soon after buying an expensive cello, Daigo learns that his orchestra is disbanding. He moves back to his hometown with his wife, where he answers an ad for what Daigo thinks is a travel agency but is, in actuality, a mortuary.

In 1952, an Inuit hunter named Tivii with tuberculosis leaves his northern home and family to go recuperate at a sanatorium in Quebec City. Uprooted, far from his loved ones, unable to speak French and faced with a completely alien world, he becomes despondent. When he refuses to eat and expresses a wish to die, his nurse, Carole, comes to the realization that Tivii's illness is not the most serious threat to his well-being. She arranges to have a young orphan, Kaki, transferred to the institution. The boy is also sick, but has experience with both worlds and speaks both languages. By sharing his culture with Kaki and opening it up to others, Tivii rediscovers his pride and energy. Ultimately he also rediscovers hope through a plan to adopt Kaki, bring him home and make him part of his family.

In Seoul, Korea, two sisters must look after each other when their mother leaves them to search for their estranged father.

This is a love story set in the steppes of Central Asia of today. Temür a thirty year old Kazakh decides to start life again in his ancestral village in the Kyrghyz Mountains. He discovers soon after his arrival that he is a misfit in this settlement of old conservative Islamic men,some women and children. The only ray of hope for him is Amira a young married woman who waits in frustration for her absentee husband - a Mujahideen. Temur watches sorrowfully as the individual village stories unfold at the same as he tries to help the community out in any way he can. In this way he comes closer to Amira and Taib, her young brother-in-law. In a dead end situation the lovers decide to leave the settlement and travel to a place that would hold out with their dreams.

When a mysterious stranger arrives in their isolated coastal town, 10-year-old twins, Kimi and Melody are forced apart. Kimi must find the strength to let go of what he loves the most.

On the steppes of Kazakhstan, Asa lives in a yurt with his sister Samal, her husband Ondas, and their three children. Ondas is a herdsman, tough and strong. It's dry, dusty, and windy; too many lambs are stillborn. Against this backdrop, Asa, a dreamer who's slight of build and recently finished with a stint in the Russian Navy, tries to establish a life on the steppes. He, his friend Boni, and Ondas call on Tulpan, the only single girl in the area. The men talk to her parents while she listens out of sight. Her answer and Asa's later trips to talk to her form an arc of hope against the harsh land. Is this the place of Asa's dreams? What about the other lambs?

There is civil war in Finland. Between whites vs reds. A woman soldier of reds is captured by the whites. She is ordered to be executed.

Post traumatic life of the Bosnian Muslim widows and daughters after their husbands and fathers were murdered by Bosnian Serb Army. Plot is set in post war eastern Bosnian village near town of Zvornik.

Life is wonderful for the people in the quiet, island town of Port Gamble....until a zombie virus outbreak.

The mysterious disappearance of a kindergarten teacher during a picnic in the north of Iran is followed by a series of misadventures for her fellow travelers.

A soldier returning from war is hired by her own father to drive his prostitutes around town. She calls upon herself to help one of them.

After his family's donkey is confiscated by a moneylender, 8-year-old Tahaan travels across conflict-torn Kashmir to find his beloved pet.

A young doctor relocates to a remote region of central Asia, thinking his fiancee soon will join him ...

A family gathers together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear.

A film that examines the relationships between lives on both sides of the proscenium, Petr Zelenka's Karamazovi finds a Prague-based theatrical ensemble arriving in Krakow, Poland - where its members prepare to mount a stage production of Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov.

Abu Laila used to be a judge, but because the government doesn't have the means to renew his assignment he is forced to be a taxi driver. On the day his daughter Laila becomes seven years old his wife insists that he'll be at home early and bring her a present and a cake. Abu Laila's has nothing else on his mind then completing this mission. But the daily life in Palestine has other plans.

Bilal sets off on an adventure-filled journey across Europe and wants to get to England to see his love who lives there.

A woman tries to survive the invasion of Berlin by the Soviet troops during the last days of World War II.

A comedic exploration of the turbulent lives of three very different women and the complex relationship each has with her daughter.

Celebrity Chef Anita hasn't seen her family for twenty years. That is until her son Michael decides to do some soul searching and track down his aunt.

Living almost as a recluse, the topographer Malek accepts a job in a region of western Algeria at the insistence of his friend Lakhdar. Malek arrives at the base camp previously used by a team, but decimated by fundamentalists. A young shepherd observes him from afar; several men, some armed, approach and question his being there. Having previously run from Islamist terrorism, these farmers decided to return to their village. At dusk, the local police arrive for a routine visit. After the police have left, Malek is invited by the villagers to a makeshift party. During the night a series of explosions are heard. At dawn, Malek begins the first topographical readings, surveys the area surrounding the base camp and measures distances. During the night, again his sleep is disturbed by powerful explosions. The next morning, Malek sees a crowd along the edges of the mined field. On his return to the base camp, he discovers a young woman hiding in a corner of the Saharan hut. She's an African woman and won't give her name. Lakhdar arrives at the site, to find that both she and Malek have disappeared. At first, the two runaways head north, towards the Moroccan frontier which is the route to reach the Spanish enclave of Mellila. But the young woman doesn't want to flee to Europe; she's exhausted and wants to return home. With her finger, she traces the itinerary on Malek's maps, an interminable diagonal towards the southeast, the route to Tchad - towards the desert, towards a point of mutual disappearance.

Broke, and armed with only a wry sense of humor, middle-aged Gianni lives with his mother in their old apartment. The debts are mounting, but if Gianni looks after the building manager's mother during the Ferragosto, all will be forgiven.

Shooka, a spirited, hardworking girl from an Iranian mountain village is to be married in an arranged marriage. Shokrollah, her neighbor with Down syndrome, has been head over heels in love with Shooka since they were children, and so Shokrollah's father buys his son's way into a marriage deal with Shooka's father. Enter Rafie, the tailor, and his daydreaming assistant Jalil, who falls for Shooka after overhearing her pour her heart out to her family. Determined to be with the bride to be despite her impending wedding, Jalil follows her over the mountain trails and invents ingenious ways to delay the wedding.