Obscure Gems (<50 checks on ICM) - 2021 edition
We're gettin' to the even lesser known here.
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22 titles
- DirectorKazushi WatanabeStarsDaijirô KawaokaKazushi WatanabeTakeo NoroStylish road movie in which a kidnapped youth becomes friends with his abductors.
- DirectorHans WeingartnerStarsPeter SchneiderTimur MassoldHenrike von KuickTwo misfit males, one man-child, one boy, find each other, building a small cabin in the woods to create a new life. Their daily struggle for survival creates a strong bond between them until the hut is destroyed and one of the boys carted off. The former psychiatric patient is told that his friend was just a figment of his imagination, but this provokes him to fight back and prove the boy's existence.
- DirectorGints ZilbalodisA boy and a little bird are on a journey across a strange island trying to get back home.
- DirectorAndreas CoerperMartin SonnebornStarsMarkus AltekrügerDieter AlthausJennifer ApolinarioThe Movie describes the rise of the german satirical political party Die PARTEI.
- DirectorHark BohmStarsDschingis BowakowUwe BohmMarquard BohmTwo 14-year-old boys try to escape their oppressive home in a working-class suburb of Hamburg, first by taking a homemade raft and later a stolen sailboat down the Elbe towards the open sea.
- DirectorWei TeA group of lost tadpoles search for their mother.
- DirectorAndreas DresenStarsMerlin RoseJulius NitschkoffJoel BasmanIn 1990s east Germany, three boys are in love with techno music and start their own club.
- DirectorÖzgür YildirimStarsMoritz BleibtreuBirgit MinichmayrEdin HasanovicAfter a botched robbery attempt five years ago, Ricky went to jail for his brother Rafael and his buddy Latif. Now that he is back out of jail, Latif wants to show his gratitude: he says he has a surefire scheme to get rich quickly, and Ricky could use the money to set up his new life. Ricky hesitates at first but then agrees. Complications arise as soon as some preparations start. Things kept going out in awry, especially as a form of hardup policewoman Diana.
- DirectorToshio HirataStarsHiroya OkaKyoko IwataMinori MatsushimaUnico arrives in a desolate city covered by dark clouds from the local factory, where he befriends a sickly girl bedridden by the smog.
- DirectorLars JessenJacques PalmingerRocko SchamoniStarsDevid StriesowHeinz StrunkRocko SchamoniAn inept music manager documents his attempt of bringing about a comeback of the 80s techno pioneers Fraktus, who in the past 30 years have disconnected both from each other and their music.
- DirectorAndreas CoerperSusanne MüllerStarsPeter BieringerMartin SonnebornFormer "Titanic" satire magazine editor Martin Sonneborn takes an undercover trip around Berlin and discovers the East-German mentality and what is left of the socialist German Democratic Republic.
- DirectorCheh ChangStarsDavid ChiangHan ChinLung TiThe "iron triangle" of director Chang Cheh and protégés David Chiang and Ti Lung make The Heroic Ones a quintessential action epic, set during the waning years of the Tang Dynasty and centering on a royal family rife with intrigue.
- DirectorRosa von PraunheimStarsLuzi KrynDietmar KrachtSteven AdamczewskiIt's love at first sight: elderly secretary Luzi and young, unemployed Dietmar find each other by accident in Rosa von Praunheim's outrageous genre, social satire.
- DirectorStefan RuzowitzkyStarsVioletta SchurawlowTobias MorettiSammy SheikA vicious serial killer is targeting prostitutes in Vienna, Austria. A tough young woman from Turkey who works as a taxi driver witnesses one of the murders and becomes a target. The police are of no help, so she must stop him herself.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsHiroshi MikamiMayu TsurutaShirô SanoAfter a convenience store robbery, three unidentified men hold a group of people hostage in a hospital. Inspector Ishida and Captain Tohno handle the negotiations while one of their colleagues, Lt. Ando, tries to find out why the men decided to take the hospital hostage. Through flashbacks, relevant information is revealed to the audience. When the negotiations are finished, most things seem to be fine... until they lose track of the criminals. Then, the story unveils from a different perspective, its roots in feelings of love and vengeance.
- DirectorThomas FrickelStarsDennis R.D. MascarenasGus BackusStephanie SchreiterDuring his work as chief reporter for DDC-TV, a German-speaking television station in the USA, Dennis Mascarenas has met some pretty strange people and gotten into quite a few hairy situations. But when he is asked to make a film about the Germans' relationship to the moon, it is the beginning of the craziest and most unbelievable assignment of his career. 'The Moon Conspiracy' is like a glimpse into Pandora's Box: it takes Dennis and his audience on a surreal journey into hidden universes, only to end up at the frozen bottom of the German soul.
- DirectorHélène GiraudThomas SzaboStarsBruno SalomoneThierry FrémontStéphane CoulonWhen the first snow falls in the valley, it is urgent to prepare its reserves for the winter. Alas, during the operation, a small ladybug is trapped in a box - to the Caribbean. One solution: reform the shock team.
- DirectorTakashi Itô
- DirectorBertrand MandicoStarsElina LöwensohnThierry BenoitonJacques MalnouA fantasized portrayal of Polish auteur Walerian Borowczyk: Boro in the Box discovers a cruel and obscene world. He experiences banal yet colorful adventures, caressing erotic birds and organic cameras in a phantasmagorical Alphabet.
- DirectorGeorge UngarA stranger comes to a peaceful village bearing gifts that bear a terrible price.
- DirectorTing-Hung KuoKoichi TakanoStarsLin-Lin LiPaul ChunStephan YipAn iron man comes down to earth and eats all the farmers tractors but you never know who might be the hero.
- DirectorScott Pagano