From the youth directed novel of the same name by Greogor Tressnow comes a film by Detlev Buck that is a realistic portrait of life in the section of Berlin called Neukölln. It’s about power and weakness, delinquents and victims, and the difficulties a 15-year-old faces in a poor and criminal environment.
A drama about a Maori family living in Auckland, New Zealand. Lee Tamahori tells the story of Beth Heke’s strong will to keep her family together during times of unemployment and abuse from her violent and alcoholic husband.
Two childhood friends are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.
Kuhle Wampe takes place in early-1930s Berlin. The film begins with a montage of newspaper headlines describing steadily-rising unemployment figures. This is followed by scenes of a young man looking for work in the city and the family discussing the unpaid back rent. The young man, brother of the protagonist Anni, removes his wristwatch and throws himself from a window out of despair. Shortly thereafter his family is evicted from their apartment. Now homeless, the family moves into a garden colony of sorts with the name “Kuhle Wampe.”
A single middle-aged man trapped in frustration and loneliness in Toronto communicates with a divorced woman, and they help from thousands of miles apart. Dhruv lives a lonely life in Toronto, Canada. He is a forty-year-old student who has discontinued his education and gets by working odd jobs. Sheema is the sister of Dhruv's brother-in-law, looking for someone to take care of her apartment while she and her son return home to visit Bangladesh for a few months. Dhruv, never having met Sheema, agrees to house-sit. Communicating over the phone, they develop a friendship and help each other to solve problems related to the cultural challenges of being Bangladeshi immigrants to Canada.
One winter night, Pilar runs away from home. With her, she takes only a few belongings and her son, Juan. Antonio soon sets out to look for her. He says Pilar is his sunshine, and what's more, "She gave him her eyes"...
Three friends reunite in Athens after struggling abroad. They think of a business idea but quickly realise that not everything goes as planned. When they reach out to a lawyer friend for help, they find that we are all on our own.
A heroin junkie works as a prostitute to support his habit and fund an abortion needed by the girlfriend of his lesbian wife. His seedy encounters with delusional and damaged clients, and dates with drag queens and hustlers are heavy on sex, drugs and decadence.
Unemployed Antonio is elated when he finally finds work hanging posters around war-torn Rome. However on his first day, his bicycle—essential to his work—gets stolen. His job is doomed unless he can find the thief. With the help of his son, Antonio combs the city, becoming desperate for justice.
Pocho Huerta is an unemployed stuntman waiting for his students to come to class, until he realizes that no one will come because he forgot to promote it. This leads him to wonder about his life, death, and overall purpose.
"Año cero" is about the well-educated, well-to-do middle-class man, Miguel who loses his job. Now he finds himself without direction, credentials or long-term relationships.
A depiction of the life of an impoverished early twentieth century rural Bengali family.
"The Last One Put Out the Light" - The Berlin construction workers Micha, Silvio and Norbert are out of work. The way out spells - Norway. Because over German craftsmen are in demand. The three with 17 other desperate people are bawling Norwegian and preparing themselves for "it's always just salmon" and fearing the darkness. Too bad that their wives have other plans.
In a Japan of the near future, the government program Plan 75 encourages senior citizens to be voluntarily euthanized to remedy a super-aged society. An elderly woman whose means of survival are vanishing, a pragmatic Plan 75 salesman, and a young Filipino laborer face choices of life and death.
The ever-poker-faced Ilona loses her job as a restaurant hostess, as her tram driver husband, Lauri, also finds himself out of work. Together they must hit the streets of Helsinki, facing up to hardship and humiliation in their quest for survival, guided through the gloom by a ray of hope.
Jim Davis is an ex-Army Ranger who finds himself slipping back into his old life of petty crime after a job offer from the LAPD evaporates. His best friend is pressured by his girlfriend Sylvia to find a job, but Jim is more interested in hanging out and making cash from small heists, while trying to get a law enforcement job so he can marry his Mexican girlfriend.
Die Polizistin is a drama by Andreas Dresen about the life of a young police woman who is faced with the difficulties between her responsibilities at work and her personal responsibilities.
Old Mr. Cohen (Paul Graetz) simply walks away from his London department store, leaving his sons to run it.
A boy living in underdeveloped Welsh village hopes for a better time of his homeland when seeing the two Japaneese businessmen with the apparent intentions to build a factory there.
Set in Genoa, the film concerns the financial struggles and emotional strain that occur after Michele loses his job. He and his wife Elsa are forced to give up their affluent lifestyle and cope with the tensions of moving into a smaller home, finding new work, and making sacrifices.