From the trials and tribulations of a dysfunctional middle-class
family to a portrait of late-night theater and performance arts in
Tehran, Iranian cinema captures a wide variety of themes.

Rio de Janeiro consists of 600 “favelas” ““ the
Brazilian word for an urban slum or ghetto with illegal squatter
settlements.
Anderson Sá is native to the Vigário Geral favela,
which, controlled entirely by an underworld society of teenage drug
armies and policemen, is considered the most dangerous of them all.

“The Little Mermaid.” The songs. The talking crab.
The little fish that could. That was Walt Disney’s fairy
tale, complete with happily ever-after ending. But the rendition of
this classic story that Michelle Banta-Tessier watched left a very
different impression, and ignited her passion for children’s
media.

The summer movie selection offers viewers its fair share of big
name actors ““ Tom Cruise, Ewan McGregor, Angelina Jolie. But,
possibly the most notable performances this year come from an
unlikely source.