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Aram, Aram (Armenian)
Award-winning coming-of-age drama set in Little Armenia in Los Angeles. When 12-year-old Armenian boy, Aram, is suddenly uprooted from his home and sent to live with his grandfather in America, he struggles to navigate his new surroundings.
Director: Christopher Chambers
Starring: Levon Sharafyan, John Sevag Roohinian, Sevak Hakoyan, Alla Tumanyan, Mike Ghader, Tigran Kirakosyan, Sako Berberian
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Cactus Pears (Marathi)
Anand, a 30-something city dweller compelled to spend a 10-day mourning period for his father in the rugged countryside of western India, tenderly bonds with a local farmer who is struggling to stay unmarried. As the mourning ends, forcing his return, Anand must decide the fate of his relationship born under duress.
Director: Rohan Kanawade
Starring: Bhushaan Manoj, Suraaj Suman, Jayshri Jagtap, Nitin Bansode
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Caught by the Tides - Criterion Collection (Mandarin)
In this visionary chronicle of China's turbulent new century, acclaimed director Jia Zhangke embarks on a kaleidoscopic odyssey across time and space, incorporating footage captured for his previous films into an entirely original, captivating epic. Drawing on a twenty-three-year collaboration between Jia and actors Zhao Tao and Li Zhubin, Caught by the Tides casts them as a pair of estranged lovers, tracking these characters across an increasingly alien China as they age in real time, from the dawn of the millennium to the COVID-19 era. Observing the future-shock developments transforming his country, Jia constructs a sensorially immersive, emotionally profound portrait of both a world in flux and two people navigating its uncertain currents.
Director: Jia Zhangke
Starring: Zhao Tao, Li Zhubin
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Cloud - Criterion Collection (Japanese)
A darkly comic revenge thriller and biting anticapitalist critique, this audacious work from Kiyoshi Kurosawa follows Yoshii, a factory worker who quits to resell dubious goods online at steep markups. As profits soar, so do enemies, turning petty disputes into chilling threats. With slow-burn tension, Kurosawa crafts a shocking vision of digital alienation and the unpredictable dangers lurking in the virtual age.
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Starring: Masaki Suda, Kotone Furukawa, Daiken Okudaira, Amane Okayama, Masaaki Akahori, Tetsuya Chiba
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Come Closer (Hebrew)
Wild and restless Eden, following her brother's unexpected death, discovers he had a secret girlfriend. Drawn to the mysterious Maya, Eden plunges into a world of parties, obsession, and forbidden desire, blurring the lines between love and loss. Israel's official submission for the 2025 Academy Awards. Winner of the Viewpoints Award at Tribeca.
Director: Tom Nesher
Starring: Lia Elalouf, Darya Rosenn, Netta Garti, Yaakov Zada Daniel
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Diva (French)
Jules, a young postal carrier, illegally tapes a concert of a reclusive opera singer. Jules' attempts to woo the diva are interrupted when Taiwanese bootleggers come after the recording. His problems worsen when a prostitute slips another tape, one that incriminates a police chief, into his bag. Now, Jules must escape the police chief, the cop's henchmen and the bootleggers to keep both precious tapes safe and to stay alive.
Director: Jean-Jacques Beineix
Starring: Frederic Andrei, Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez, Dominique Pinon, Anny Romand, Richard Bohringer, Thuy An Luu, Jacques Fabbri, Gerard Darmon
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Empty Nets (Farsi)
A poetic love story about young generations' hope for a free future, entrenched inequalities, and refugee movements that threaten their lives in contemporary Iran.
Director: Behrooz Karamizade
Starring: Hamid Reza Abbasi, Sadaf Asgari, Keyvan Mohammadi, Pantea Panahiha
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Jellyfish Can't Swim in the Night: Complete Collection (Japanese)
Four girls - an illustrator, a former idol, a VTuber, and a composer - form an anonymous artist group called JELEE, each pursuing their artistic dreams while supporting one another. Disc 1: episodes 1-9; Disc 2: episodes 10-12.
Director: Ryohei Takeshita
Starring: Miku Itou, Rie Takahashi, Miyu Tomita
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Kung Fu Rookie (Kazakh)
A young and ambitious guy from the village comes to the city to fulfill his dream and enter the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. His desire to become a policeman is known to everyone around him. However, in the area where his uncle lives, there is a criminal group that controls ruthless gangs, and when he enters the academy, he meets his love. Now he has to not only prepare for exams, but also enter into a confrontation with bandits in order to protect his loved ones and his future.
Director: Aman Ergaziyev
Starring: Irina Azhmukhamedova, Timur Baktybayev, Talgat Duisenov, Kuat Khamitov
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Köln 75 (German)
Keith Jarrett's legendary performance in January 1975 nearly didn't happen. Based on a true story, Köln 75 shows how the concert was conceived and orchestrated through the efforts of a teenage concert promoter, Vera Brandes. She enthusiastically organized the concert venue (the Cologne Opera House), promoted the event, and even sold the tickets. And after Jarrett threatened to drop out because his Bösendorfer Imperial Grand piano was nowhere to be found she convinced him to go on with the show. John Magaro (Past Lives) plays Jarrett with brilliant intensity, a counterpoint to Mala Emde's joyful portrayal of the unstoppable Vera. Köln 75 captures the compelling, entertaining and previously unknown backstory of Jarrett's one-hour, entirely improvised masterpiece The Köln Concert, which became the best-selling solo album in jazz history.
Director: Ido Fluk
Starring: Mala Emde, John Magaro, Michael Chernus
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Little Trouble Girls (Slovenian)
At her mother's urging, introverted 16-year-old Lucia joins her Catholic school's all-girls choir, where she befriends Ana-Maria, a popular older student. When the choir travels to a countryside convent for a weekend retreat of intensive rehearsals, Lucia navigates the unfamiliar surroundings, complex teenage social structures, and her own awakening sexuality. A series of initiations, including an eye-opening experience with a handsome construction worker, test Lucia's friendship with Ana-Maria and the other girls, as she begins to question her beliefs and disrupt the harmony within the choir.
Director: Urska Djukic
Starring: Jara Sofija Ostan, Mina Svajger, Sasa Tabakovic, Nataŝa Burger
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Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project No. 5 (Multiple)
Established by Martin Scorsese in 2007, the World Cinema Project has maintained a fierce commitment to preserving and presenting masterpieces from around the globe, with a growing roster of more than sixty restorations of works by essential filmmakers. This collector's set gathers four groundbreaking and innovative films, ranging from the epic to the intimate, from Algeria (Chronicle of the Years of Fire), Burkina Faso (Yam Daabo), India (Kummatty), and Kazakhstan (The Fall of Otrar). Each title is a significant contribution to the art form and a window onto a cinematic tradition that international audiences previously had limited opportunities to experience.
Director: Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, Idrissa Ouédraogo, G. Aravindan, Ardak Amirkulov
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No Dogs Allowed (German)
15-year-old Gabo struggles to control and hide his illegal sexual urges, confiding only in online forums where he encounters the manipulative older Dave. When Dave is arrested for suspected abuse of minors, Gabo must make a choice.
Director: Steve Bache
Starring: Carlo Krammling, Robin Sondermann, Katharina Marie Schubert, Sithembile Menck
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Playtime - Criterion Collection (French)
Jacques Tati's nearly wordless comedy masterpiece follows Monsieur Hulot and other lost souls navigating a bewildering, high-tech Paris. A three-year production packed with visual gags and inventive detail, it satirizes modernity with humor and grace, creating a dazzling widescreen spectacle that captures an era teetering on the brink of oblivion.
Director: Jacques Tati
Starring: Jacques Tati, Barbara Dennek
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Rain Town (Mandarin)
Lantern maker Choo controls his three children, denying their dreams in pursuit of pride. After tragedy strikes his wife, the family unravels as his children struggle to reclaim their lives.
Director: Tunku Mona Riza
Starring: Susan Lankester, Kin Wah Chew, Fabian Loo, Wilson Lee, Pauline Tan
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Sandbag Dam (Croatian)
A story about a forbidden love, set in a flood-threatened village in Croatia…Upon his return home for his father's funeral, Slaven revives a relationship with his childhood friend, a young sportsman Marko, who was the reason his father kicked him out of the house. Now tempted to reunite, they need to make peace with their own decisions and struggle against family strife.
Director: Cejen Cernic Canak
Starring: Lav Novosel, Andrija Zunac, Leon Grgic, Franka Mikolaci, Tanja Smoje, Alma Prica, Filip Sovagovic, Luka Baskarad
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Sunday Special (Kannada)
On a holiday when the sale of meat is prohibited, a young girl goes on an adventure in pursuit of a forbidden chicken curry.
Director: Abhilash Shetty
Starring: Samrudhi Kundapura, Sanidhya Acharya, Prabhakar Kunder, Radha Ramachandra
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The Painted Bird (Multiple)
Based on the acclaimed Jerzy Kozinski novel, THE PAINTED BIRD is a meticulous 35mm black and white evocation of wild, primitive Eastern Europe at the bloody close of World War II.
The film follows the journey of The Boy, entrusted by his persecuted parents to an elderly foster mother. The old woman soon dies and the Boy is on his own, wandering through the country-side, from village to farmhouse. As he struggles for survival, The Boy suffers through extraordinary brutality meted out by the ignorant, superstitious peasants and he witnesses the terrifying violence of the efficient, ruthless soldiers, both Russian and German.
When the war ends, The Boy has been changed, forever.
Director: Václav Marhoul
Starring: Petr Kotlár, Nina Šunevič, Alla Sokolova, Udo Kier
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Trifole (Italian)
In Italy's Piedmont region, aging truffle hunter Igor faces failing health and the loss of his family home. When his aimless granddaughter Dalia arrives from London to care for him, their strained reunion transforms as she embarks on a quest for a legendary truffle that could change both their lives. Trifole is a warm, whimsical tale of family, tradition, and belonging. In Italian and English with optional English SDH subtitles.
Director: Gabriele Fabbro
Starring: Umberto Orsini, Ydalie Turk, Margherita Buy, Enzo Iacchetti, Frances Sholto Douglas
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Mercer County Library System
2751 Brunswick Pike Lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648 609-882-9246
https://mcl.org
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