A donkey strays into a village dominated by the upper caste Brahmins.
Taking an experimental approach to the relationship between the written text and moving image, Mani Kaul has a series of texts read aloud in voice-overs (poetry, essays, and stories), while the characters within the texts walk through real or imaginary landscapes.
101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A young Rose boards the ship with her mother and fiancé. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson and Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets aboard the ship. Rose tells the whole story from Titanic's departure through to its death—on its first and last voyage—on April 15, 1912.
Apu and his family have moved away from the country to live in the bustling holy city of Benares. As he progresses from wide-eyed child to intellectually curious teenager, eventually studying in Kolkata, we witness his academic and moral education, as well as the growing complexity of his relationship with his mother.
Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut on a mountain in Nepal. When the Himalayan monsoons wash away all that remains of the family's crops, Lakshmi's father says she must leave home and take a job to support her family. He introduces her to a glamorous stranger who tells her she will find her a job as a maid in the city. Glad to be able to help, Lakshmi journeys to India and arrives at "Happiness House" full of hope. But she soon learns the unthinkable truth: she has been sold into prostitution...
Bhanwar, a simpleton young man in the rural Rajasthan wants a bride for him but gets duped. Instead of a woman, he is married off to a transgender person – Sanwri. Having no resort Bhanwar and his uncle decide to keep Sanwri for their household work but fearing the social ostracization they also try to keep her actual identity a secret. Bhanwar and Sanwri eventually fall in love and fight to survive as a couple in a conservative, oppressive society where marriages are meant to take place only between a man and a woman, and traditional norms are more important than humanity.
In a poetic hour and a half, director Mani Kaul looks at the ancient art of making pottery from a wide variety of perspectives.
In a drought-stricken city in India, the emperor Maharaja Dhiraj Chandrasen, who has two wives, and no children, orders all kinds of rituals to appease the Rain Gods
Eight very different couples deal with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London.
In a barren, arranged marriage to an amateur swami who seeks enlightenment through celibacy, Radha's life takes an irresistible turn when her beautiful young sister-in-law seeks to free herself from the confines of her own loveless marriage.
A loose retelling of the 13th century Galician legend of the boy Cotolay who helped three pilgrims establish the Convent of San Francisco near Santiago de Compostela.
A look a the life of 19th century Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma.
In India, Toomai, a young mahout, helps lead the British on a large expedition to round up wild elephants.
In the Northwest Frontier of India, the 41st Bengal Lancers leaded by the harsh Colonel Tom Stone are having trouble with the rebellious leader Mohammed Khan. After two casualties, the experienced but insubordinate Lieutenant Alan McGregor receives as replacement, the arrogant Lieutenant Forsythe and the immature son of Colonel Stone, Lieutenant Donald Stone. With the intention to prove that he will not have any privilege in the troop, the reception of Colonel Stone to his son is absolutely cold, but he becomes the protégé of McGregor. When Lieutenant Stone is kidnapped by Mohammed Khan, McGregor and Forsythe disobey the direct order of their commander, disguise as Indian peddlers and go to Khan's fortress to attempt to rescue their friend.
Indian parents have to meet with Chinese parents when their kids decide to get married in LA.
In a small town of 1960's India, where cinema is forbidden for women, a 14-year-old embarks on a quest to watch her first film.
Italy, early '90s. Calm, clever and inscrutable, politician Giulio Andreotti has been synonymous with power for decades. He has survived everything: electoral battles, terrorist massacres, loss of friends, slanderous accusations; but now certain repentant mobsters implicate him in the crimes of Cosa Nostra.
As the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has only a single remaining vacancy - posing a rooming predicament for two fresh arrivals - Sonny pursues his expansionist dream of opening a second hotel.
The film starts in the early 1950s showing Sreedharan, the protagonist, as a very popular communist leader and trade union activist. He is forced to go underground after his name was associated with the murder of the owner of a tile factory. He is considered to be dead by his party and they even erect a memorial for him. But he makes an unexpected comeback almost 10 years later, after the first communist ministry gained and lost power in Kerala and after the Communist Party of India has split. On his return, he spends his time sleeping and drinking. His come back is first a puzzle and then an embarrassment to his comrades and family. As the disappointment on his new face grows, he is found murdered. The film ends when both the communist parties jointly celebrate his martyrdom.
The film begins in 1857, when India was ruled by the British East India Company. Mangal Pandey is a sepoy, a soldier of Indian origin, in the army of the East India Company. Pandey is fighting in the Anglo-Afghan Wars and saves the life of his British commanding officer, William Gordon. Gordon is indebted to Pandey and a strong friendship develops between them, transcending both rank and race.