Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder and will suffer the same fate without an expensive operation. When life gets too difficult, Selma learns to cope through her love of musicals, dreaming up little numbers to the rhythmic beats of her surroundings.
A Polish-Jewish family comes to the U.S. at the beginning of the twentieth century. There, the family and their children try to make themselves a better future in the so-called promised land.
Mexican immigrant and single mother Flor Moreno finds housekeeping work with Deborah and John Clasky, a well-off couple with two children of their own. When Flor admits she can't handle the schedule because of her daughter, Cristina, Deborah decides they should move into the Clasky home. Cultures clash and tensions run high as Flor and the Claskys struggle to share space while raising their children on their own, and very different, terms.
A group of teenagers living in a housing project in the outskirts of Paris rehearse a scene from Marivaux's play of the same name. Krimo is determined not to take part, but after developing feelings for Lydia, he quickly assumes the main role and love interest in the play.
In Manhattan’s Upper West Side, rival gangs of Polish-Americans and newly arrived Puerto Ricans clash for control of the neighborhood, even as two young members from opposite sides fall dangerously in love.
Unicorn Human Disease is an extremely rare phenomenon in certain traditional societies. Research indicates that this disease is typically caused by feelings of isolation and the repression of personal sexual instincts, with the most prominent symptom being the growth of a horn on the patient's forehead.
A boy struggles to reconcile his burgeoning queer identity with his filial duties and expectations from his Chinese immigrant mother.
A prosperous small-town peddler accedes to his family's wish to move from their secure existence to the uncertainty of New York City. It proves fruitless and eventually his kin sees the error of their ways and return to their true home.
In early 1860s New York, Irish immigrant Amsterdam Vallon is released from prison and returns to the Five Points, seeking revenge against his father's killer, William Cutting, a powerful anti-immigrant gang leader. He knows that revenge can only be attained by infiltrating Cutting's inner circle. Vallon's journey becomes a fight for personal survival and to find a place for the Irish people.
A shut-in´s routine is disrupted by the visit of his older brother. The disruption leads to joy in the end.
A British ex-convict in colonial Australia and his fragile wife, haunted by the past crime that binds them, struggle to rebuild their lives when a young newcomer stirs long-buried passions and secrets.
In southern France, a Franco-Arabic shipyard worker along with his partner's daughter pursues his dream of opening a restaurant.
Two middle-aged friends, Mićko and Đorđe, decide to make a joke with their childhood friend, teacher Svetislav, who is a stingy when it comes to paying for the bills at bars where they often hang out. After filling his lottery ticket with numbers that Mićko claims he saw in his dream, they invite him to his home to watch lottery live on TV, but instead they play a previously recorded video material in order to make him believe he scored all seven hits. However, a joke goes wrong after Svetislav ditches his wife, resigns at the school where he works, and raises a credit at the bank, believed he's about to make a new start.
A boy, obsessed with comparing himself with those less fortunate, experiences a different life at the home of his aunt and uncle in 1959 Sweden.
In several unrelated stories, the consequences of putting one's foot down – or failing to do so – are explored.
Idealistic young man supports the party and the new Yugoslavia's communist regime, but soon gets involved in various political and criminal machinations becoming more and more confused about what's right and what's wrong.
After a run-in with his estranged father, aspiring writer Ashish or "Ash" learns a secret that will force him to balance family, love and success while navigating the divide between the exciting city life he wants and his suburban reality.
A working class teenager comes of age in 1910s rural Sweden, moving through a series of jobs and romances that gradually shape his future.
When housewife Trina wins the lottery, her comfortable life with her dentist husband John slowly deteriorates, in part by her own increasing paranoia and partly by the machinations of villainous acquaintance Marcus.
A young journalist, an experienced cameraman and a discredited reporter find their bold plan to capture Bosnia's top war criminal quickly spiraling out of control when a UN representative mistakes them for a CIA hit squad.