Different Similarities (2013)

Actors: Henry Mah (actor), Jeanie Kawakami Cloutier (actress), Andy Wong (producer), Andy Wong (editor), Andy Wong (actor), Sabrina Prada (actress), Deborah Levy Barnett (producer), Deborah Levy Barnett (writer), Deborah Levy Barnett (director), Megan Thompson (actor), Megan Emanuel (composer), Giovanna Lin (composer), Rob Gillespie (actor),

Plot: Chaya and Bingwen are university students in a newly-begun, cross-cultural relationship. Chaya is Jewish. She is tall, beautiful, intelligent, independent-minded and comes from a very affectionate, noisy and demonstrative family. Bingwen is short in stature, innocent-looking, insightful and self-determining. He is also close to his family but in a much more formal way. Chaya and Bingwen are very happy and comfortable with each other and because each is so proud of - and well-rooted in - their own culture, they see no difficulty in being in a relationship with someone from a different one. When the young couple meet each other's parents, Chaya and Bingwen make a concerted effort to highlight the similarities shared by their cultures. It is by bringing these similarities to light that the differences between the two cultures are spotlighted. Each set of parents are very accommodating and interested in meeting their child's new friend, yet their very actions to show acceptance of this relationship reveal some of the differences that the young couple had not considered. Different Similarities addresses the question of whether differences and similarities between cultures unite or divide a relationship.

Keywords: chinese-jewish-relationship
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Short,

Ganesh Talkies (2013)

Actors: Raima Sen (actress), Biswajit Chakraborty (actor), Anjan Dutt (writer), Anjan Dutt (director), Arghakamal Mitra (editor), Rajesh Sharma (actor), Mahesh Ramanathan (producer), Neel Dutt (composer), Chandan Roy Sanyal (actor), Pallavi Chatterjee (actress), Rita Koiral (actress), Sanjay Pathak (producer), Sani Ghosh Rao (producer),

Plot: Pashupati Ghosh (Bengali) and Pravin Agarwal (Marwari) are childhood friends living in the older part of Kolkata. Pasupati's ancestral business is in the doldrums. His only possession is his huge mansion, which the local promoter Sharma is after. Builder Sharma has employed the local hoodlum Keshto to forcibly vacate Pashupati's mansion. Pravin's ancestral business of manufacturing crackers is doing well. He also owns a cinema hall called Ganesh Talkies which is almost defunct. Pravin's NRI brother Navin, who has lost his job in the US is back and is secretly making a deal to sell Ganesh Talkies to builder Sharma and open up a restaurant. Sharma is using Navin to help him get Pashupati's mansion too. Pasupati's daughter Saban is getting married to a young NRI called Nicky from Boston. Pravin is bearing most of the cost. Parvin's carefree, unemployed son Arjun, is like Saban's brother who is taking care of all the arrangements such as catering, the construction of the shamiana, sending guest cards. Shibu, the sevant of Pasupati is secretly trying to elope with Manda, the maid of Pravin's house. Nicky arrives from the US. Nicky and Shaban, chaperoned by Arjun meet in a hotel to get to interact freely. Nicky is told that Saban is in love with Arjun. Since their fathers are like brothers and will not agree they wanted this marriage to be cancelled. And so they were waiting for Nicky to cancel it. All Nicky has to do is say he doesn't like Saban. Nicky is stunned and goes home to spill the beans... All hell breaks loose. The best of friends Pasupati and Pravin now show their true communal colors. The age old clash between the Marwari and the Bengali surfaces. All relationships are severed. Pashupati refuses Pravin's money and sells his house to Sharma to get money and is hell-bent to get Saban married to Nicky. Arjun and Saban plan to elope...So does Shibu and Manda... Ganesh Talkies is a comic drama about the love hate relationship between the two Hindu communities who finally through a lot of dramatic conflict, hilarious situations, even fights and action end up coming together. A story of true friendship and values that withstand the test of time.

Genres: Drama, Romance,

Shapath (2012)

Actors: Pintu Nanda (actor), Minaketan (actor), Anita Das (actress), Mihir Das (actor), Ashok Pati (director), Sudhakar Basanta (miscellaneous crew), Ashok Pati (writer), Archita Sahu (actress), Jiban Panda (actor), Salil Mitra (actor), Ranjit Patnaik (writer), Prasant Padhi (composer), Akash Das Nayak (actor), Sukumar Mani (editor), Pritiraj (actor),

Genres: Action,

Graters of the Lost Carp (2009)

Actors: Mike Aronson (writer), Mike Aronson (producer), Mike Aronson (director), Mike Aronson (writer), Doris Platt (actor), Aaron Spitzer (actor), Kim Vega (actor), Natalie Daley (actress), Stephanie Jorgensen (actress), Melissa Weintraub (actress), Rob Birdwell (composer), Laura Nash (costume designer), Ken Bronstein (actor), Dave Grucza (editor), Tommy Dye (actor),

Genres: Comedy, Short,

Miriam (2007)

Actors: Kim Estes (actor), Angela Sostre (producer), Barbara Kerr Condon (actress), Matthew Currie Holmes (actor), Lee Schall (actor), Jordan Van Vranken (actress), Bob McCracken (actor), Dani Klein (actress), Alexander Bubenheim (composer), Jessica Hagan (actress), Kamran Pasha (producer), Kamran Pasha (writer), Scott Maisano (editor), Kamran Pasha (director), Kevin Gasca (editor),

Plot: Miriam, a pretty Hasidic teenager, is shocked to discover that she is pregnant. Her horrified parents attempt to hide her away from scandal in their tight-knit religious community. But they soon discover that they are facing greater challenges than they could have ever imagined. Miriam insists that she cannot explain the pregnancy -- as she is a virgin! When medical tests support her claim, Miriam's family is swept into a brewing religious controversy as a representative from the Catholic Church comes to investigate this apparent miracle. Caught between competing religious claims over her body, Miriam seeks to escape -- only to discover that there are dark figures who are hunting her down, intent on preventing her baby from ever being born. Miriam endures terrible loss in trying to protect her unborn child, and is rescued from a terrible fate by the unlikeliest of allies. But when her child is born, she faces the final test of faith.

Genres: Drama, Short,

Keeping the Faith (2000)

Actors: Brian Anthony Wilson (actor), Jenna Elfman (actress), Edward Norton (actor), David Wain (actor), Anne Bancroft (actress), Ben Stiller (actor), Martin Pfefferkorn (actor), Tony Devon (actor), Ron Rifkin (actor), Brian George (actor), Matt Winston (actor), Eli Wallach (actor), Milos Forman (actor), Holland Taylor (actress), Laura Summer (actress),

Plot: Jake and Brian are friends. They are Jewish and Catholic respectively. They would grow up and become a rabbi and priest respectively. Anna whom they knew when they were younger comes back to town a stunning woman. Jake is up to be the head of his synagogue but he is not married which doesn't make his appointment any easier. Jake finds himself attracted to Anna but because she is not Jewish, he can't marry cause it would be another thing that will make his appointment less likely. Brian also finds himself attracted to Anna but being a priest doesn't allow that. When they learn of each other's feelings for her, strains their friendship.

Keywords: bar, bar-mitzvah, bartender, blind-date, blind-date-from-hell, brooklyn-bridge, businesswoman, buxom, catholicism, celibacy
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance,
Taglines: If you have to believe in something, you might as well believe in love.

Quotes:

Rabbi Jacob "Jake" Schram: Let me just say... Oy.::Father Brian Kilkenney Finn: Amen to your oy.

Anna Riley: You don't understand. I have a relationship with my phone, we have a chemistry together, I can't explain it.

Jacob: God was showing off when he made you.

Indian Bartender: May those who love us, love us. And those who don't love us - may God turn their hearts. And if He cannot turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles, so that we may know them by their limping.

Indian Bartender: Let me guess. Your old lady got fed up because you're out here chasing the skirt so she took these little ones and left you.::Father Brian Kilkenney Finn: It's a little more complicated than that.::Indian Bartender: Sure it is. Everyone thinks his story is the one with a twist. Well let me tell you, I've heard just about everything there is to...::[Brian unzips his jacket, revealing his priest's collar]::Indian Bartender: Holy shit.::Father Brian Kilkenney Finn: Exactly.

Father Brian Kilkenney Finn: Sometimes we don't see certain things until we're ready to see them in a certain way.

Anna Riley: So this is a rectory. That sounds like a dirty word. Rectory!

[Brian, a celibate priest, confesses his love for Anna, to Jake's astonishment]::Jacob: I mean, she's like your sister!::Father Brian Kilkenney Finn: Thank you for adding new depth to my confusion.

Anna Riley: I work harder than God. If He had hired me, He would have made the world by Thursday.

Rachel Rose: Oh my God! The Iraqi defense minister just committed suicide!::Rabbi Jacob "Jake" Schram: Ooh!... Is that bad or good?

Left Luggage (1998)

Actors: Mieke Verheyden (actress), Jeroen Krabbé (director), Craig Haffner (producer), Ann Petersen (actress), Maria Peters (producer), Henny Vrienten (composer), Miriam Margolyes (actress), Isabella Rossellini (actress), Maximilian Schell (actor), David Bradley (actor), Jeroen Krabbé (producer), Marianne Sägebrecht (actress), Jeroen Krabbé (actor), Edgar Burcksen (editor), Yan Tax (costume designer),

Plot: While escaping from Nazis during the WWII, a Jewish man dug suitcases full of things dear to his heart in the ground two. The war deprived him of his family, and afterwards he endlessly turns over the soil of Antwerp to find the suitcases, which makes him look obsessed. He keeps checking old maps and keeps digging, trying to find, in fact, those he lost. His daughter Chaya is a beautiful modern girl looking for a part-time job. She finds a place as a nanny in the strictly observant Chassidic family with many children, although her secular manners clearly fly in the face of many commandments. One of the reasons she is accepted is that mother of the family is absolutely overburdened by the household, so she stays despite the resistance of the father, normally - an indisputable authority in the family. She develops a special bond with the youngest of the boys, four-year old Simcha, so far incapable of speaking. She teaches him while walking in the park, and it seems that during the upcoming Passover Seder, Simcha will be able to chant parts of the Haggadah. The old repulsive superintendent of the building is a constant wet blanket for the entire family and now for Chaya. However, as opposed to the observant Jews, she cannot be a victim and is not going to put up with his anti-Semitic tricks, so she fights him, thus exciting the children's admiration and family head's wrath. Unfortunately, walks with Simcha end in a tragedy: after sneaking to the park, he drowns in the pond, and some Chassids hold Chaya responsible. A beautiful, warm picture filled with compassion and humanism, making understandable even the behavior of the superintendent - a mean pathetic anti-Semite: he is so terribly lonely that has only his dog to talk to.

Keywords: based-on-novel, female-frontal-nudity, female-nudity, holocaust-memories, independent-film, jew, jewish, mental-retardation, nanny, orthodox-jew
Genres: Drama,

Quotes:

Mrs. Silberschmidt, Chaya's Mother: It's not the luggage he lost in that filthy war, it was himself.

Chaya Silberschmidt: No cinema, no radio, no theater, no television. Not much fun then.

Mar Baum (1997)

Actors: Assi Dayan (actor), Assi Dayan (director), Assi Dayan (writer), Shirly Brener (actress), Natan Zahavi (actor), Zohar M. Sela (editor), Idan Alterman (actor), Yosef Carmon (actor), Shahar Sorek (actor), Edgard Tenenbaum (producer), Tomer Sharon (actor), Rivka Neuman (actress), Haim Mecklberg (producer), Gil Alon (actor), Shira Geffen (actress),

Genres: Comedy, Drama,

Abhinetri (1965)

Actors: Akshaya Mohanty (composer), Dhira Biswal (actor), Sahu Samuel (actor), Jharana Das (actress), Jharana Das (actress), Gopala Chotrai (writer), Babulal Doshi (producer), Babulal Doshi (writer), Ashok (actor), Kanhu Mohanty (writer), Amar Ganguly (writer), Raghunatha Panigrahi (miscellaneous crew), Amar Ganguly (director), Madhusudan Bondopadhay (editor), Umakant (actor),

Genres: Drama, Family,

The Reef of Stars (1924)

Actors: James Vincent (actor), Harvey Braban (actor), Dick Cruikshanks (actor), Joseph Albrecht (director), Joseph Albrecht (producer), Frank Finch Smiles (actor), Molly Adair (actress), Molly Adair (actress), Roy Gowthorpe (actor), H. Lane Bayliff (actor),

Genres: Adventure,