Telescope Recommends
One Sings, the Other Doesn't
(L'une chante, l'autre pas)
This story of friendship and reproductive rights chronicles 14 years in the lives of two very dissimilar women.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Soviet Union • 1977
- Director Agnès Varda
- Cast Thérèse Liotard, Valérie Mairesse, Robert Dadies, Mona Mairesse, Francis Lemaire, Ali Rafie
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max
The Blue Caftan
(Le Bleu du caftan)
A middle-aged tailor and his wife find their relationship turned upside down by the arrival of a handsome new apprentice.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Morocco, Belgium • 2023
- Director Maryam Touzani
- Cast Lubna Azabal, Saleh Bakri, Ayoub Messioui, Mounia Lamkimel, Hamid Zoughi
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
The Summit of the Gods
(Le Sommet des dieux)
Seventy years after a mountaineer’s mysterious death on Mount Everest, a reporter believes he knows how to find the answer.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Luxembourg, France • 2021
- Director Patrick Imbert
- Cast Éric Herson-Macarel, Damien Boisseau, Elisabeth Ventura, Lazare Herson-Macarel, Kylian Rehlinger
- Genre Adventure, Animation, Mystery
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
The Pianist
Music was his passion. Survival was his masterpiece.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Poland, Germany • 2002
- Director Roman Polanski
- Cast Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman, Emilia Fox, Ed Stoppard
- Genre Drama, War
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Black Souls
(Anime nere)
There is only one way to end bad blood.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France • 2014
- Director Francesco Munzi
- Cast Marco Leonardi, Peppino Mazzotta, Fabrizio Ferracane, Barbora Bobuľová, Anna Ferruzzo, Giuseppe Fumo
- Genre Crime, Drama
- Available on Amazon Video, FILMRISE
Look at Me
(Comme une image)
This is the story of human beings who are very simply struggling to find out who they are.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Italy • 2004
- Director Agnès Jaoui
- Cast Marilou Berry, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Agnès Jaoui, Laurent Grévill, Virginie Desarnauts, Keine Bouhiza
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Tubi TV
Zazie dans le Métro
(Zazie dans le métro)
9-year-old Zazie embarks on an exciting adventure through Paris with her uncle - but he’s no match for his naughty niece.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1960
- Director Louis Malle
- Cast Catherine Demongeot, Philippe Noiret, Hubert Deschamps, Carla Marlier, Annie Fratellini, Vittorio Caprioli
- Genre Comedy, Fantasy
- Available on Criterion Channel
La Pointe-Courte
A penetrating drama about a marriage on the brink of disintegration.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1955
- Director Agnès Varda
- Cast Silvia Monfort, Philippe Noiret, Marcel Jouet, Albert Lubrano, Anna Banegas, André Lubrano
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, DocAlliance Films, Max Amazon Channel, Max
Land and Shade
(La tierra y la sombra)
Beyond the dust there is clarity.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Colombia, France, Netherlands • 2015
- Director César Augusto Acevedo
- Cast Haimer Leal, Hilda Ruiz, Edison Raigosa, Marleyda Soto
- Genre Drama
- Available on Hoopla, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Filmzie
Germany, Year Zero
(Germania anno zero)
The country is obliterated, the buildings are dilapidated and the people are desolated.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France, Germany • 1948
- Director Roberto Rossellini
- Cast Edmund Moeschke, Ernst Pittschau, Ingetraud Hinze, Franz-Otto Krüger, Erich Gühne, Heidi Blänkner
- Genre Drama, History, War
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max
Lola Montès
She lived too intensely and far too well!
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, West Germany • 1955
- Director Max Ophüls
- Cast Martine Carol, Peter Ustinov, Adolf Wohlbrück, Henri Guisol, Lise Delamare, Paulette Dubost
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max
Happening
(L'Événement)
A college student deals with an unwanted abortion when it was still illegal in1960s France.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2021
- Director Audrey Diwan
- Cast Anamaria Vartolomei, Kacey Mottet Klein, Luàna Bajrami, Louise Orry-Diquéro, Pio Marmaï, Sandrine Bonnaire
- Genre Drama
- Available on Hulu, AMC+, AMC+ Amazon Channel, IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
India Song
Anne-Marie, the wife of a French diplomat in 1930s India, takes many lovers to relieve the boredom in her life.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1975
- Director Marguerite Duras
- Cast Delphine Seyrig, Michael Lonsdale, Mathieu Carrière, Claude Mann, Vernon Dobtcheff, Didier Flamand
- Genre Drama, Fantasy, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel
The Innocents
(Les Innocentes)
Poland, 1945. Mathilde, a young French Red Cross doctor, is on a mission to help war survivors when a nun asks for her help.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Poland • 2016
- Director Anne Fontaine
- Cast Lou de Laâge, Agata Buzek, Agata Kulesza, Vincent Macaigne, Joanna Kulig, Eliza Rycembel
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Hoopla, OVID, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, Freevee, Kanopy, Plex, Plex Player
Stray Dogs
(郊遊)
A father and his children wander the margins of modern day Taipei, and spend their nights sleeping in abandoned buildings.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Taiwan, France • 2014
- Director Tsai Ming-liang
- Cast Lee Kang-Sheng, Lu Yi-Ching, Chen Shiang-Chyi, Chao-rong Chen, Yang Kuei-Mei
- Genre Drama
- Available on MUBI, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, YouTube, Kanopy
Bamako
A trial in Mali’s capital city debates whether to take action against the IMF and World Bank as life goes on around the courtyard.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Mali, United States, France • 2006
- Director Abderrahmane Sissako
- Cast Aïssa Maïga, Tiécoura Traoré, Maimouna Hélène Diarra, Balla Habib Dembélé, Djénéba Koné
- Genre Drama
- Available on Hoopla, OVID, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Kanopy
The Empty Hours
(Las horas muertas)
On the desolate coast of Veracruz, Sebastián, 17, has to run his uncle's motel single-handedly, renting rooms by the hour. He meets Miranda, and a fleeting game of seduction is sparked.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain, France, Mexico • 2013
- Director Aarón Fernández Lesur
- Cast Kristyan Ferrer, Adriana Paz, Eliseo Lara Martínez, Amaranta Abril, Bartolo Campos, Fermín Martínez
- Genre Romance, Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, VUDU Free
Young Soul Rebels
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, France, Germany • 1991
- Director Isaac Julien
- Cast Valentine Nonyela, Sophie Okonedo, Jason Durr, Frances Barber, Mo Sesay, Dorian Healy
- Genre Drama, Mystery, Music
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
Quest for Fire
(La Guerre du feu)
Fire is survival.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Canada, France • 1981
- Director Jean-Jacques Annaud
- Cast Everett McGill, Ron Perlman, Nicholas Kadi, Rae Dawn Chong, Gary Schwartz, Naseer El-Kadi
- Genre Adventure, Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand
Pina
Dance, dance, otherwise we are lost.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Germany, France, United Kingdom • 2011
- Director Wim Wenders
- Cast Regina Advento, Malou Airaudo, Ruth Amarante, Pina Bausch, Jorge Puerta, Mechthild Großmann
- Genre Documentary
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, Kanopy, Plex, Plex Player
Arabian Nights: Volume 2, The Desolate One
(As Mil e Uma Noites: Volume 2, O Desolado)
In this second installment of Gomes’ trilogy, Scheherazade tells three tales of a Portugal in crisis
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Portugal, France, Germany • 2015
- Director Miguel Gomes
- Cast Crista Alfaiate, Chico Chapas, Luísa Cruz, Pedro Caldas, Gonçalo Waddington, Margarida Carpinteiro
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kino Now, Kanopy
The Ornithologist
(O Ornitólogo)
A lone ornithologist is swept away by rapids while looking for black storks along a river, waking to an unfamiliar world.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Portugal, France, Brazil • 2016
- Director João Pedro Rodrigues
- Cast Paul Hamy, Xelo Cagiao, Jules Elting, Flora Bulcão, Isabelle Puntel, Chan Suan
- Genre Adventure, Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube
Titane
A near-fatal car crash leaves a girl with physical and emotional trauma that shapes her future — and her fetishes.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Belgium • 2021
- Director Julia Ducournau
- Cast Vincent Lindon, Agathe Rousselle, Garance Marillier, Laïs Salameh, Mara Cissé, Marin Judas
- Genre Drama, Horror, Thriller
- Available on Hulu, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Microsoft Store, AMC on Demand, Kanopy
Policeman
(Ha-shoter)
A member of an Israeli anti-terrorist unit clashes with a group of young radicals.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Israel, France • 2011
- Director Nadav Lapid
- Cast Ben Adam, Michael Aloni, Meital Barda, Gal Hoyberger, Yiftach Klein, Michael Moshonov
- Genre Drama
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, Amazon Video, Kanopy
Mauvais Sang
A love that burns quickly but lasts forever.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Switzerland • 1986
- Director Leos Carax
- Cast Juliette Binoche, Denis Lavant, Michel Piccoli, Hans Meyer, Julie Delpy, Carroll Brooks
- Genre Crime, Drama, Romance
- Available on Hoopla, Amazon Video
Benda Bilili!
Beyond appearances.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Congo, France • 2010
- Director Florent de La Tullaye
- Cast Léon Likabu, Roger Landu, Coco Ngambali Yakala , Theo Nsituvuidi, Claude Kinunu Montana , Paulin Kiara-Maigi
- Genre Documentary, Music
- Available on Apple TV
Black Orpheus
(Orfeu Negro)
A retelling of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice that introduced Bossa Nova to the world.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Brazil, France, Italy • 1959
- Director Marcel Camus
- Cast Breno Mello, Marpessa Dawn, Marcel Camus, Fausto Guerzoni, Lourdes de Oliveira, Léa Garcia
- Genre Drama, Fantasy, Music, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Video, Kanopy
The Salt of Tears
(Le Sel des larmes)
A callow young Frenchman pursues tumultuous relationships with three different women.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2020
- Director Philippe Garrel
- Cast Logann Antuofermo, Oulaya Amamra, Louise Chevillotte, Souheila Yacoub, André Wilms, Aline Belibi
- Genre Drama
- Available on OVID, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Eastern Boys
A middle-aged businessman gets more than he bargained for when he picks up a young Ukrainian hustler.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2013
- Director Robin Campillo
- Cast Olivier Rabourdin, Kirill Emelyanov, Daniil Vorobyov, Edéa Darcque, Camila Chanirova, Bislan Yakhiaev
- Genre Drama
- Available on Hoopla, OVID, Dekkoo, Apple TV
Red Desert
(Il deserto rosso)
Her tenuous grip on reality is starting to slip... can a new man save her or will it only get worse?
- Italy, France • 1964
- Director Michelangelo Antonioni
- Cast Monica Vitti, Richard Harris, Carlo Chionetti, Xenia Valderi, Rita Renoir, Lili Rheims
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max
Fear and Trembling
(Stupeur et tremblements)
A young Belgian woman decides to return to Japan, where she spent part of her childhood. Fitting in turns out to be harder than it seems.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Japan • 2003
- Director Alain Corneau
- Cast Sylvie Testud, Kaori Tsuji, Bison Katayama, Taro Suwa, Yasunari Kondo, Sokyu Fujita
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, Vudu
Dead Souls
(死靈魂)
Meet the survivors of China's 1957 reeducation camps. Who are they? What did they face? And what's become of them now?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Switzerland, France • 2018
- Director Wang Bing
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on OVID
Father of My Children
(Le père de mes enfants)
A film producer struggles to balance the work he loves with the family who love him.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Germany, Belgium • 2009
- Director Mia Hansen-Løve
- Cast Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Chiara Caselli, Alice de Lencquesaing, Eric Elmosnino, Olivia Ross, Sandrine Dumas
- Genre Drama
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube
The Pinochet Case
(Le cas Pinochet)
This searing documentary chronicles the saga of the long-awaited trial of Augosto Pinochet, and the case built against him by Carlos Castressana.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Chile, Belgium • 2001
- Director Patricio Guzmán
- Cast Augusto Pinochet, Margaret Thatcher
- Genre Documentary
- Available on OVID
Jellyfish
(Meduzot)
Three women—waitress, a new bride, and a caretaker—each with their own quiet triumphs and tragedies.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Israel, France • 2007
- Director Shira Geffen, Etgar Keret
- Cast Sarah Adler, Shosha Goren, Tsipor Aizen, Bruria Albeck, Ilanit Ben-Yaakov, Assi Dayan
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Kanopy
Quai des Orfèvres
A flirtatious wife, a jealous husband, and a dead body. Who’s responsible?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1947
- Director Henri-Georges Clouzot
- Cast Louis Jouvet, Simone Renant, Bernard Blier, Suzy Delair, Pierre Larquey, Jeanne Fusier-Gir
- Genre Crime, Drama
- Available on Kanopy
Holy Spider
(عنکبوت مقدس)
A journalist descends into the dark underbelly of the Iranian holy city of Mashhad to investigate the serial killings of sex workers.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Denmark, Germany, Sweden • 2022
- Director Ali Abbasi
- Cast Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Mehdi Bajestani, Arash Ashtiani, Forouzan Jamshidnejad, Sina Parvaneh, Nima Akbarpour
- Genre Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads, Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Video
It's Only the End of the World
(Juste la fin du monde)
A man returns home after 12 years to tell his family that he is dying.
- ✭ ✭
- Canada, France • 2016
- Director Xavier Dolan
- Cast Nathalie Baye, Vincent Cassel, Marion Cotillard, Léa Seydoux, Gaspard Ulliel, Antoine Desrochers
- Genre Drama
- Available on The Roku Channel
To Die Like a Man
(Morrer Como Um Homem)
A transgender woman tries to appease the increasing demands of her younger boyfriend.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Portugal, France • 2009
- Director João Pedro Rodrigues
- Cast Fernando Santos, Alexander David, Gonçalo Ferreira De Almeida, Chandra Malatitch, Jenni La Rue, Fernando Gomes
- Genre Drama, Music
- Available on Amazon Video
The Restless
(Les Intranquilles)
A bipolar painter's family life becomes strained as his disorder grows less manageable.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Belgium, France, Luxembourg • 2021
- Director Joachim Lafosse
- Cast Leïla Bekhti, Damien Bonnard, Gabriel Merz Chammah, Patrick Descamps, Jules Waringo, Alexandre Gavras
- Genre Drama, Family
- Available on Film Movement Plus
PlayTime
The clumsy Monsieur Hulot gets into various mishaps in Paris.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Italy • 1967
- Director Jacques Tati
- Cast Jacques Tati, Barbara Dennek, Rita Maiden, France Rumilly, France Delahalle, Valérie Camille
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Kanopy
The Crime of Padre Amaro
(El Crimen del Padre Amaro)
Lead us not into temptation...
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Mexico, Spain, Argentina • 2002
- Director Carlos Carrera
- Cast Gael García Bernal, Ana Claudia Talancón, Sancho Gracia, Angélica Aragón, Ernesto Gómez Cruz, Gastón Melo
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Hoopla, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, AMC on Demand, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, VIX , Kanopy, Plex, Plex Player
Atlantics
(Atlantique)
When one comes back to claim what was left behind, what are the consequences?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Senegal, Belgium • 2019
- Director Mati Diop
- Cast Ibrahima Traore, Mame Bineta Sane, Aminata Kane
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
Tabu
When Pilar's befriended neighbour Aurora dies, he starts to dig into her past.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Portugal, Germany, Brazil • 2012
- Director Miguel Gomes
- Cast Teresa Madruga, Laura Soveral, Henrique Espírito Santo, Carloto Cotta, Isabel Muñoz Cardoso, Ivo Müller
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, Kino Now, Kanopy
First Name: Carmen
(Prénom Carmen)
When love and passion comes in the middle of a big plan.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1983
- Director Jean-Luc Godard
- Cast Maruschka Detmers, Jacques Bonnaffé, Myriem Roussel, Christophe Odent, Jean-Luc Godard, Valérie Dréville
- Genre Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
- Available on MUBI, Kanopy
Camille Claudel
The life of Camille Claudel, a french sculptor who becomes the apprentice of Auguste Rodin and, later, his lover.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1988
- Director Bruno Nuytten
- Cast Isabelle Adjani, Gérard Depardieu, Laurent Grévill, Alain Cuny, Roch Leibovici, Madeleine Robinson
- Genre Drama, History, Romance
- Available on OVID, Kanopy
Godland
(Vanskabte land)
A Danish priest embarks on a perilous journey to build a church in a desolate and isolated part of Iceland.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Denmark, Iceland, France • 2022
- Director Hlynur Pálmason
- Cast Elliott Crosset Hove, Vic Carmen Sonne, Ingvar E. Sigurðsson, Jacob Ulrik Lohmann, Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir, Waage Sandø
- Genre Adventure, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Video
Jauja
A father and daughter journey from Denmark to an unknown desert.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Argentina, Denmark, France • 2014
- Director Lisandro Alonso
- Cast Viggo Mortensen, Ghita Nørby, Viilbjork Mallin Agger, Adrián Fondari, Esteban Bigliardi
- Genre Western, Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, YouTube, Kanopy
Platform
(站台)
An amateur theater troupe evolves after China's "open door" policy.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Hong Kong, China, Japan • 2001
- Director Jia Zhangke
- Cast Zhao Tao, Wang Hongwei, Liang Jingdong, Tian Yi Yang, Wang Bo, Han Sanming
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel
Soul Kitchen
Zinos decides to reopen his restaurant with a hotshot chef, possibly alienating his loyal customer base that is used to a family style atmosphere.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Germany, France, Italy • 2009
- Director Fatih Akin
- Cast Adam Bousdoukos, Birol Ünel, Moritz Bleibtreu, Anna Bederke, Pheline Roggan, Dorka Gryllus
- Genre Drama, Comedy
- Available on AMC+, AMC+ Amazon Channel, IFC Films Unlimited Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Tubi TV, Kanopy
The Wages of Fear
(Le Salaire de la peur)
A rivalry develops between the two sets of drivers on remote roads where the slightest jolt can be deadly.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Italy • 1953
- Director Henri-Georges Clouzot
- Cast Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter van Eyck, Folco Lulli, Véra Clouzot, Antonio Centa
- Genre Drama, Thriller, Adventure
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Kanopy
Arabian Nights: Volume 3, The Enchanted One
(As Mil e Uma Noites: Volume 3, O Encantado)
In the trilogy’s final installment, Scheherazade doubts that she will still be able to tell stories to please the King.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Portugal, France, Germany • 2015
- Director Miguel Gomes
- Cast Crista Alfaiate, Bernardo Alves, Carloto Cotta, Américo Silva
- Genre Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kino Now