Films Under the Radar

Based on George Skampardonis's book of the same title, Cloudy Sunday takes place in Thessaloniki, Greece, between 1942 and 1943. Under the German occupation, a young couple, George and Estrea, fall in love. But in these tempestuous times, love between a Christian and a Jew is forbidden. The adventurous lovers, caught between a brutal totalitarian regime and the absurdity of racial discrimination, find refuge in the historic Ouzeri Tsitsanis, a taverna run by composer Vasilis Tsitsanis. There, the great Tsitsanis is going through his most creative years, composing his best known songs, among them the legendary Synnefisameni Kyriaki (Cloudy Sunday).

Palestinian rapper Kareem and his singer girlfriend Manar struggle, love and make music in their crime-ridden ghetto and Tel Aviv’s hip-hop club scene. The film depicts a new generation of young Arabs who, against all odds, seek normality through their love and music. 

A Hole in the Moon is a wild, zany parody of Israel in the early 1960s. Zohar, a new immigrant, opens a kiosk in the middle of nowhere. The lack of clients doesn’t deter Heffner from opening a competing business across the road.

Denial tells the true story behind one of the most gripping court cases of the twentieth century. The film recounts Prof. Deborah E. Lipstadt’s legal battle for historical truth against controversial historian David Irving who accused her of libel when she declared him a Holocaust denier. In the English legal system, in cases of libel, the burden of proof falls on the defendant, and therefore, it was up to Lipstadt and her legal team to prove that the Holocaust did actually happen.

Featuring Rachel Weisz as the brash, loquacious, and fiercely intellectual Lipstadt, Timothy Spall as the quintessentially evil David Irving, and Tom Wilkinson as the quietly commanding barrister Richard Rampton, Denial is a powerful cinematic reminder of how history is shaped. “I’d like people to understand that the Holocaust is the best documented genocide in the world. There is no denying it. You can debate aspects of it – why it happened, how it happened, but not the fact that it happened…. And that’s not being closed-minded, it’s acknowledging the truth” (Deborah E. Lipstadt). 

Thirty years after Home of the Brave, Laurie Anderson is back with another feature film, and the wait was well worth it. Her new film – whose name refers to Lolabelle, Anderson's beloved rat terrier who died in 2011 – is a personal essay that weaves together childhood memories, video diaries and philosophical musings alongside tributes to artists, musicians and thinkers. Fusing her own narration with original violin compositions, beautiful hand-drawn animation, 8mm home movies and artwork from her past and present exhibitions, the pioneering musician creates a hypnotic, collage-like visual language to examine how stories are constructed and told and how we use them to make sense of our lives.