SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL 2009

Robert is a jaded and middle-aged former saxophone player living in New York. One day, a young Serbian immigrant Branko asks him to marry his girlfriend for money in order to get her the Green Card. Reluctantly, Robert sets off to Belgrade to make money, but the plan goes awry.

Director:

Darko Lungulov

Cast:

David Thornton, Mirjana Karanovic, Cyndi Lauper

79-year-old Paula lives alone in Israel haunted by emptiness and loneliness. Her best friend Friedel introduces her to a young Polish girl Valentina to help her around the house. Valentina's presence triggers Paula to speak about her repressed memories from the Holocaust and Valentina becomes indispensable part of her daily life.

Director:

Matti Harari, Arik Lubetzky

Cast:

Ethel Kovenska, Sylvia Drori, Yossi Oulu

Adam, a handsome and shy Jewish teenager, falls in love with Yasmine, a beautiful and passionate Lebanese girl. The deeper they fall for each other, the more their families feel betrayed. When Adam and Yasmine set off on a journey that test their love, can they tear down the wall that separates them?

Director:

Michael MacKenzie

Cast:

Jesse Aaron Dwyre, Flavia Bechara, Tyrone Benskin

Abandoned by his mother at the age of 8, Marcel was raised by his grandfather Pascual who gave him the love and care that his mother had not provided. When Marcel turns twenty-one, he decides to leave his grandfather and lives with his girlfriend.

Director:

Freddy Mas Franqueza

Cast:

Hector Alterio, Alberto Ferreiro, Monica Lopez

Sara is a professional swimmer relentlessly urged on by her ambitious father. Mette has left her religious family who has determined her own fate for her. Stephanie rejects her boyfriend in fear of being rejected. Three girls meet by chance in a hospital as they struggle to find love and friendship.

Director:

Christian E Christiansen

Cast:

Julie R. Ølgaard, Laura Christensen, Neel Rønholt

Noah is a boxer with a tireless opponent: Autism. Living an obscure life in the city of Oakland, he crosses paths with an exotic dancer Alexia. As they find themselves becoming strangely attracted to each other, they soon must face a bridge that neither of them are sure they are prepared to cross.

Director:

Michael Worth

Cast:

Margot Farley、Michael Worth、Mitzi Kapture-donahue

Established by a Venezuelan musician José Antonio Abreu over thirty years ago, 'El Sistema' is a network of children's and youth orchestras, music centers and workshops that provides hope and happiness for over 250,000 children by teaching them how to play instruments.

Director:

Paul Smaczny, Maria Stodtmeier

Cast:

Jose Antonio Abreu, Gustavo Dudamel, Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra

Wu-Hsiung is a middle-aged man living in a fishing village with his daughter, whose mother abandoned them upon giving birth. His daughter reaches the age to enter school, and Wu-Hsiung applies to join her to the family register, but discovers that his daughter's mother got remarried and she can't be registered as his daughter.

Director:

Leon Dai

Cast:

Wen-Pin Chen, Yo-Hsuan Chao, Chih-Ju Lin

12-year-old Barzebai dreams of leaving behind the green pastures of his native Western Mongolian province, lured instead by the call of the urban jungle: Ulan Bator. But Barzebai's father has his own aspirations for his son: one day the young boy will make him proud by following the famed eagle hunter's own footsteps.

Director:

René Bo Hansen

Cast:

Barzabai Matei, Serikbai Khulan, Mardan Matei

A fifteen year old Johnny is a merciless soldier who robs and slays everything that　comes his path. A thirteen year old Laokolé tries to flee the city occupied by the teenage-soldier militias, with her disabled father and her little brother.

Director:

Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire

Cast:

Christopher Minie, Daisie Victoria Vandy

* Not suitable for audience under 18

Uruguay, 1966. The country is torn apart by a civil war. Masángeles is an illegitimate child of a leading politician Saavedra. When the child's mother commits suicide, Masángeles is taken into the Saavedra family. The only way Masángeles can survive in the family, which is unraveling like the country itself, is to learn to adjust.

Director:

Beatriz Flores Silva

Cast:

Antonella Aquistapache, Elisa Garcia Lester, Hector Guido

Before dying, Nora schemes a plan to make José, her ex-husband take care of her corpse. Her plan is perfect, but a mysterious photograph forgotten under the bed leads to an unexpected outcome reminding us that the biggest love stories are sometimes hidden in the smallest places.

Director:

Mariana Chenillo

Cast:

Fernando Lujan, Cecilia Suarez, Ari Brickman

Mikio moves in with his brother suffering from a mental disability. Satoko is a prostitute who was hired to solve his brother's sexual frustration. Mikio is troubled by his relationship with his brother who can barely communicate. Satoko calls herself an idol despite the fact that she is a prostitute. Their world begins to unravel.

Director:

Kazuya Shiraishi

Cast:

Kobayashi Katsuya, Uchida Chika, Uda Takaki

Director Profile
Born 1974 in Hokkaido, Shiraishi joined Film Study Group hosted by a director Genji Nakamura. Since then, he worked under Koji Wakamatsu and also served as an assistant director for Isao Yukisada and Isshin Inudo. His first directorial assignment was a short film Join with Ami Suzuki and a music video O.K. Funky God. In 2008, he directed a TV show called The Cursed High School. Lost Paradise In Tokyo is his first feature.

Atsuko lives in a country side with her daughter Sanae. Her son Shinji comes home from Tokyo to introduce his new wife. Atsuko is happy to see him and excited about his marriage. Sanae welcomes her brother, but she has a problem that she can only share with him.

Director:

Junichi Kanai

Cast:

Saito Yohichiro, Hukasawa Shiho, Rukawa Atsuko

Director Profile
Born 1984 in Saitama, Kanai started making documentaries while he was attending a college. In 2006, he studied filmmaking at ENBU Seminar. In 2007, his original screenplay Courtship won the Best Screenplay at Isama Studio Film Festival and it was subsequently made into a film in 2008.