At the beginning of the 19th century, Japan was under a policy of national isolation. A group of Dutch scholars who wanted to open the country secretly completed a copy of a map of Japan under shogunate control. They sent a young Dutch scholar, Michi-an, as a secret envoy to deliver the copy of the map to the Dutch. Michi-an, hiding himself and making his way through the deserted winter mountains, but the mountain guardians, led by Takayama, had begun hunting in the mountains with a description of Michi-an's appearance arranged by the shogunate.
A goat named Mei and a wolf named Gabu pledge to be secret friends after meeting on a stormy night, despite the fact that they are supposed to be natural enemies. The two must overcome hardships as they journey far in hopes to find an "Emerald Forest", free from persecution of their kind.
Utilizing the 1920s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw, the epic Indian tale of exiled prince Ramayana and his bride Sita is mirrored by a spurned woman's contemporary personal life, and light-hearted but knowledgeable discussion of historical background by a trio of Indian shadow puppets.
The Forester of the Silver Wood
Set in 19th Century Canada, Brigitte and her sister Ginger take refuge in a Traders' Fort which later becomes under siege by some savage werewolves. But when one of the girls is bitten, they have no one to turn to but themselves.
A child is born. We see underwater swimmers representing this. He is young, in a jungle setting, with two fanciful "instincts" guiding him as swooping bird-like acrobats initially menace, then delight. As an adolescent, he enters a desert, where a man spins a large cube of metal tubing. He leaves his instinct-guides behind, and enters a garden where two statues dance in a pond. As he watches their sensual acrobatics of love, he becomes a man. He is offered wealth (represented by a golden hat) by a devil figure. In a richly decorated room, a scruffy troupe of a dozen acrobats and a little girl reawaken the old man's youthful nature and love.
The corpse of a young man appears in a forest on the island of La Gomera, one of the Canary Islands. The case is closed with the indictment of a local politician who is finally exonerated. Three years later, Sergeant Bevilaqua and Corporal Chamorro join Corporal Anglada to reactivate the investigation.
One spring night, Ana falls into a permanent sleep. Her mother Irene and her little sister Ayleen witness each other's loneliness as they interact with the sleeping body and discover a distance that was previously imperceptible.
Della Myers, a suburban housewife, lives with her twin children and her abusive husband, Kenneth. On Christmas Eve, she drives to the local mall to buy gift-wrap. In the jam-packed parking lot, she notices an old car taking up two spaces and decides to leave a note on the windshield calling them out. After the mall closes, her car is blocked by the old car and she's threatened by four thugs. She escapes in her vehicle, but they drive after her. She crashes at a dead end construction site at the edge of a forest. What unfolds in the desolate woods is Della's lone fight for survival against a gang of angry young men with murderous intent.
When athletic teen Mari Collingwood opts to hang out with her friend Paige in town rather than spend an evening in with her parents vacationing at the family's remote lake house, it marks the beginning of a night no one is going to forget.
A group of people go on a picnic in the mountains. Longing for some love and understanding, they try to get close to one another, but the barriers are insurmountable. Failing to pull through their nutshells of solitude, they get back to the city, the eternal desert.
New York in the 1920s. Max Perkins, a literary editor is the first to sign such subsequent literary greats as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. When a sprawling, chaotic 1,000-page manuscript by an unknown writer falls into his hands, Perkins is convinced he has discovered a literary genius.
Susana, a 10-year-old girl, lives with her father in a cabin located in the mountains of Veracruz, in the middle of a threatening tranquility. When Susanna finds and falls into an old well, she will discover a dark and heartbreaking secret about her family. She will no longer be the same.
Eight months after the Chernobyl disaster, a Chernobylite woman that stayed behind to care for her sick mother gives birth to a mutated daughter. She wakes up after giving birth to find her mother gone. Masha, isolated and suffering from cataracts from the radiation exposure, becomes fearful that soldiers will take her contaminated baby. While attempting to reunite with her family in Kiev, the blinding mother and infant become lost in a forest. Masha sees a figure chasing her and believes it's a soldier that wants her child.
In the 1930s, Count Almásy is a Hungarian map maker employed by the Royal Geographical Society to chart the vast expanses of the Sahara Desert along with several other prominent explorers. As World War II unfolds, Almásy enters into a world of love, betrayal, and politics.
Obsessive scientist Nathan and his lover, the naturalist Lila, discover Puff: a man born and raised in the wild. As Nathan trains the wild man in the civilized ways of the world, Lila fights to preserve the man’s natural state. In the power struggle that ensues, an unusual love triangle emerges.
A dying man in his forties recalls his childhood, his mother, the war and personal moments that tell of and juxtapose pivotal moments in Soviet history with daily life.
Twenty-something Richard travels to Thailand and finds himself in possession of a strange map. Rumours state that it leads to a solitary beach paradise, a tropical bliss - excited and intrigued, he sets out to find it.
In a remote woodland cabin, a small town doctor discovers Nell — a beautiful young hermit woman with many secrets.
A young woman is faced with a choice: give up her ability to transform into a dog or face the familial and societal consequences of keeping it.