SIFF Award Winners from the 1990s

Shower
(洗澡)

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• China • 1999
• Director Zhang Yang
• Cast Zhu Xu, Quanxin Pu, Jiang Wu, He Zeng, Zhang Jin Hao, Lao Lin
• Genre Comedy, Drama
• Available on No streaming locations found.

A disaffected son, an old-values father, and a sibling who stayed loyal.

Run Lola Run
(Lola rennt)

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• Germany • 1998
• Director Tom Tykwer
• Cast Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu, Herbert Knaup, Nina Petri, Armin Rohde, Joachim Król
• Genre Action, Drama, Thriller
• Available on DIRECTV, iTunes, Amazon, Redbox, YouTube, VUDU, Microsoft Movies & TV, FandangoNOW, Google Play

Every second of every day, you're faced with a decision that can change your life.

God Said, 'Ha!'

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• USA • 1998
• Director Julia Sweeney
• Cast Julia Sweeney
• Genre Comedy
• Available on Netflix, iTunes, VUDU, Amazon, YouTube, Google Play, Microsoft Movies & TV

Comedian Julia Sweeney shares a monologue about the hard time in her life when her brother fought cancer at the same time she was also diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

Trainspotting

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• United Kingdom • 1996
• Director Danny Boyle
• Cast Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle, Kelly Macdonald, Kevin McKidd
• Genre Drama, Crime
• Available on CBS.com, iTunes, VUDU, Amazon, FandangoNOW, Redbox

Choose life.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

• ✭ ✭ ✭
• Australia • 1994
• Director Stephan Elliott
• Cast Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, Bill Hunter, Sarah Chadwick, June Marie Bennett
• Genre Drama, Comedy
• Available on VUDU, Amazon, FandangoNOW, Google Play, YouTube

Three drag queens journey through the Australian outback in a lavender tour bus named Priscilla.

The Wedding Banquet
(喜宴)

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• Taiwan, USA • 1993
• Director Ang Lee
• Cast Winston Chao, May Chin, Gua Ah-leh, Sihung Lung, Mitchell Lichtenstein, Dion Birney
• Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
• Available on VUDU, Hoopla, Tubi

A gay Taiwanese American man plans a marriage of convenience to a Chinese woman in order for her to legally remain in the United States.

Shower
(洗澡)

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• China • 1999
• Director Zhang Yang
• Cast Zhu Xu, Quanxin Pu, Jiang Wu, He Zeng, Zhang Jin Hao, Lao Lin
• Genre Comedy, Drama
• Available on No streaming locations found.

A disaffected son, an old-values father, and a sibling who stayed loyal.

Gods and Monsters

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• USA, United Kingdom • 1998
• Director Bill Condon
• Cast Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave, Lolita Davidovich, David Dukes, Mark Kiely
• Genre Drama
• Available on Netflix, iTunes, VUDU, Amazon, Hulu, YouTube, Google Play, Microsoft Movies & TV, Tubi, DIRECTV

A famed Hollywood director in retirement develops an unlikely friendship with his young gardener which will change their lives forever.

Trainspotting

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• United Kingdom • 1996
• Director Danny Boyle
• Cast Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle, Kelly Macdonald, Kevin McKidd
• Genre Drama, Crime
• Available on CBS.com, iTunes, VUDU, Amazon, FandangoNOW, Redbox

Choose life.

The Pillow Book

• ✭ ✭ ✭
• Netherlands, United Kingdom, France • 1996
• Director Peter Greenaway
• Cast Vivian Wu, Yoshi Oida, Ken Ogata, Hideko Yoshida, Ewan McGregor, Yutaka Honda
• Genre Drama, Romance
• Available on Google Play, YouTube, FlixFling, Hoopla, FandangoNOW, Microsoft Movies & TV, OVID

A woman with a body writing fetish seeks to find a combined lover and calligrapher.

Lone Star

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• USA • 1996
• Director John Sayles
• Cast Chris Cooper, Matthew McConaughey, Elizabeth Peña, Kris Kristofferson, Joe Morton, Frances McDormand
• Genre Drama, Mystery, Romance
• Available on Amazon, Microsoft Movies & TV, FandangoNOW, iTunes, VUDU, Google Play, YouTube

When the skeleton of his murdered predecessor is found, Sheriff Sam Deeds unearths many other long-buried secrets in his Texas border town.

The Usual Suspects

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• USA, Germany • 1995
• Director Bryan Singer
• Cast Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Pollak, Pete Postlethwaite
• Genre Drama, Crime, Thriller
• Available on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, VUDU, AMC, DIRECTV, Showtime Anytime, Microsoft Movies & TV, Redbox, YouTube, FandangoNOW, Tubi

While being interrogated by police, a criminal attempts to tell his side of the story while his partners each tell their own in this neo-noir drama.

The Wedding Banquet
(喜宴)

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• Taiwan, USA • 1993
• Director Ang Lee
• Cast Winston Chao, May Chin, Gua Ah-leh, Sihung Lung, Mitchell Lichtenstein, Dion Birney
• Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
• Available on VUDU, Hoopla, Tubi

A gay Taiwanese American man plans a marriage of convenience to a Chinese woman in order for her to legally remain in the United States.

Bad Boy Bubby

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• Australia, Italy • 1993
• Director Rolf de Heer
• Cast Nicholas Hope, Ralph Cotterill, Claire Benito, Syd Brisbane, Ullie Birve, Natalie Carr
• Genre Crime, Drama, Comedy
• Available on Google Play, YouTube, Tubi, Amazon

After being held captive in his mother's rundown apartment for over 30 years, a man escapes and attempts to begin his life in the real world.

An Ideal Husband

• ✭ ✭ ✭
• United Kingdom, France, USA • 1999
• Director Oliver Parker
• Cast Cate Blanchett, Minnie Driver, Rupert Everett, Julianne Moore, Jeremy Northam, Peter Vaughan
• Genre Drama, Comedy, Romance
• Available on The Roku Channel, Google Play, YouTube, Redbox, Cinemax Amazon Channel, Amazon, iTunes, FandangoNOW, DIRECTV, VUDU, Microsoft Movies & TV, Cinemax

A successful and married Government minister attempts to navigate blackmail from an ex wife with the help of his bachelor friend.

Still Breathing

• ✭ ✭ ✭
• USA • 1997
• Director James F. Robinson
• Cast Louis Allen Rawls, Brendan Fraser, Joanna Going, Ann Magnuson, Celeste Holm
• Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
• Available on iTunes, VUDU, Amazon, YouTube, Google Play

A man guided by his powerful dreams, makes a trip to Los Angeles to find the love of his life—a con artist.

The Whole Wide World

• ✭ ✭ ✭
• USA • 1996
• Director Dan Ireland
• Cast Vincent D'Onofrio, Renée Zellweger, Ann Wedgeworth, Harve Presnell, Benjamin Mouton, Helen Cates
• Genre Drama, Romance
• Available on Netflix, VUDU, Amazon, YouTube, Google Play

In 1930s Texas, Novalyne Price, a schoolteacher has a romantic and turbulent relationship with Robert E, Howard, the great pulp fiction writer.

The Usual Suspects

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• USA, Germany • 1995
• Director Bryan Singer
• Cast Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Pollak, Pete Postlethwaite
• Genre Drama, Crime, Thriller
• Available on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, VUDU, AMC, DIRECTV, Showtime Anytime, Microsoft Movies & TV, Redbox, YouTube, FandangoNOW, Tubi

While being interrogated by police, a criminal attempts to tell his side of the story while his partners each tell their own in this neo-noir drama.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

• ✭ ✭ ✭
• Australia • 1994
• Director Stephan Elliott
• Cast Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, Bill Hunter, Sarah Chadwick, June Marie Bennett
• Genre Drama, Comedy
• Available on VUDU, Amazon, FandangoNOW, Google Play, YouTube

Three drag queens journey through the Australian outback in a lavender tour bus named Priscilla.

Romper Stomper

• ✭ ✭ ✭
• Australia • 1992
• Director Geoffrey Wright
• Cast Russell Crowe, Daniel Pollock, Jacqueline McKenzie, Alex Scott, Leigh Russell, Daniel Wyllie
• Genre Action, Drama, Thriller
• Available on Pluto TV, Kanopy, iTunes, VUDU, Amazon, Microsoft Movies & TV, FandangoNOW, YouTube, Google Play

A group of neo-Nazis in Melbourne routinely terrorize members of the local Vietnamese community until a mysterious woman joins their group.

Where the Day Takes You

• ✭ ✭ ✭
• USA • 1992
• Director Marc Rocco
• Cast Laura San Giacomo, Will Smith, Sean Astin, Lara Flynn Boyle, Christian Slater, Peter Dobson
• Genre Drama
• Available on Google Play, YouTube, iTunes, VUDU, Amazon, FandangoNOW

A group of teen-age runaways try to survive in the streets of Los Angeles.

Close My Eyes

• ✭ ✭ ✭
• United Kingdom • 1991
• Director Stephen Poliakoff
• Cast Alan Rickman, Clive Owen, Saskia Reeves, Karl Johnson, Lesley Sharp, Kate Gartside
• Genre Drama, Romance
• Available on Amazon

There are some relationships so taboo they're irresistible.After some years of tension, Richard begins a sexual relationship with his sister Natalie. Now married, the relationship proves dangerously obsessional.

Buffalo '66

• ✭ ✭ ✭
• USA, Canada • 1998
• Director Vincent Gallo
• Cast Vincent Gallo, Christina Ricci, Ben Gazzara, Anjelica Huston, Rosanna Arquette, Jan-Michael Vincent
• Genre Drama, Romance, Comedy
• Available on Netflix, iTunes, VUDU, Amazon, YouTube, Google Play, Microsoft Movies & TV, Tubi, Tribeca Shortlist

An ex-convict tries to prove to his parents that a teenager he kidnapped is his wife and he was never in prison.

The Opposite of Sex

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• USA • 1998
• Director Don Roos
• Cast Christina Ricci, Martin Donovan, Lisa Kudrow, Lyle Lovett, Johnny Galecki, William Lee Scott
• Genre Comedy, Drama
• Available on YouTube, Kanopy, Hoopla, FandangoNOW, FuboTV, Amazon, Google Play

A 16-year-old girl visits her gay half-brother and ends up seducing his boyfriend, thus wreaking havoc on all of their lives.

Loved

• ✭ ✭
• USA • 1997
• Director Erin Dignam
• Cast Sean Penn, Robin Wright, William Hurt, Anthony Lucero, Richard Schiff
• Genre Drama, Thriller
• Available on Amazon, Tubi

After a husband is accused of driving his third wife to suicide, his first wife is subpoenaed to testify on his abusive behavior during their marriage.

To Die For

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• USA, United Kingdom, Canada • 1995
• Director Gus Van Sant
• Cast Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon, Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck, Alison Folland, Illeana Douglas
• Genre Drama, Comedy, Crime
• Available on Netflix, iTunes, VUDU, Amazon, YouTube, Google Play, Microsoft Movies & TV, DIRECTV, FandangoNOW

Suzanne Stone wants to be a world-famous news anchor and she is willing to do anything to get what she wants.

Orlando

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• United Kingdom, Russia, Italy • 1992
• Director Sally Potter
• Cast Tilda Swinton, Billy Zane, Lothaire Bluteau, John Wood, Charlotte Valandrey, Heathcote Williams
• Genre Drama, Fantasy
• Available on Amazon, iTunes, YouTube, VUDU, Microsoft Movies & TV, Google Play, DIRECTV, FandangoNOW

In this adaption of Virginia Woolf's novel, Orlando, a gender bending aristocrat, travels through more than 400 years of English history as a man and then a woman.

Buena Vista Social Club

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• Germany, USA, United Kingdom • 1999
• Director Wim Wenders
• Cast Compay Segundo, Eliades Ochoa, Ry Cooder, Joachim Cooder, Ibrahim Ferrer, Omara Portuondo
• Genre Documentary, Music
• Available on HBO Max, DIRECTV, iTunes, YouTube, HBO GO, Amazon, Google Play, VUDU

In Havana, music isn't a pastime, it's a way of life.

Frank Lloyd Wright

• ✭ ✭ ✭
• USA • 1998
• Creator
• Cast Edward Herrmann
• Genre Documentary
• Available on No streaming locations found.

The story of the turbulent life and the extraordinary professional career of one of America's greatest architects -- hated by some, worshipped by others and ignored by many.

Licensed to Kill

• ✭ ✭ ✭
• USA • 1997
• Director Arthur Dong
• Cast
• Genre Documentary
• Available on Netflix, Amazon

An interview based documentary examining men who have committed hate crimes against gay men.

Hype!

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• USA • 1996
• Director Doug Pray
• Cast Valerie M. Agnew, Carrie Akre, Jeff Ament, Michael Anderson, Mark Arm, James Atkins
• Genre Documentary, Music
• Available on VUDU, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube, Amazon, FandangoNOW

This documentary examines the Seattle grunge scene as it became the focus of a merging of punk rock, heavy metal, and innovation.

A Brief History of Time

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• United Kingdom, Japan, USA • 1991
• Director Errol Morris
• Cast Stephen Hawking, Isobel Hawking, Janet Humphrey, Mary Hawking
• Genre Documentary
• Available on iTunes, Amazon, HBO Max, VUDU, Kanopy, Google Play, YouTube, Criterion

A documentary film based on the life of English theoretical physicist, Steven Hawking.

Son of the Shark
(Le fils du requin)

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• Belgium, France, Luxembourg • 1993
• Director Agnès Merlet
• Cast Ludovic Vandendaele, Eric Da Silva, Sandrine Blancke, Maxime Leroux, Yolande Moreau
• Genre Drama, Crime
• Available on YouTube

The Whole Wide World

• ✭ ✭ ✭
• USA • 1996
• Director Dan Ireland
• Cast Vincent D'Onofrio, Renée Zellweger, Ann Wedgeworth, Harve Presnell, Benjamin Mouton, Helen Cates
• Genre Drama, Romance
• Available on Netflix, VUDU, Amazon, YouTube, Google Play

In 1930s Texas, Novalyne Price, a schoolteacher has a romantic and turbulent relationship with Robert E, Howard, the great pulp fiction writer.

Safe

• ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
• United Kingdom, USA • 1995
• Director Todd Haynes
• Cast Julianne Moore, Peter Friedman, Xander Berkeley, James Le Gros, Susan Norman, Kate McGregor-Stewart
• Genre Drama
• Available on VUDU, Amazon, FandangoNOW, Redbox, Google Play, YouTube, iTunes

A suburban housewife succumbs to a mysterious environmental illness that wreaks havoc on her life and those around her.