Volker Schlöndorff transposes Bertolt Brecht’s late-expressionist work to latter-day 1969. Poet and anarchist Baal lives in an attic and reads his poems to cab drivers. At first feted and later rejected by bourgeois society, Baal roams through forests and along motorways, greedy for schnapps, cigarettes, women and men: ‘You have to let out the beast, let him out into the sunlight.’ After impregnating a young actress he soon comes to regard her as a millstone round his neck. He stabs a friend to death and dies alone. ‘You are useless, mangy and wild, you beast, you crawl through the lowest boughs of the tree.’ The film takes youthful impetuousness and hatred of oppression as its subject and also ponders the cult of genius and sexual morals. Rainer Werner Fassbinder simultaneously plays both Baal and himself and is surrounded by many actors who were later to perform in his own films. After the film was broadcast on West German television, Brecht’s widow Helene Weigel prohibited any further screenings, arguing that the social circumstances engendering Baal’s rebelliousness had not been adequately explained.
The year is 1989. In an era of Palestinian demands for independence, the State of Israel sends young soldiers to oversee the Arab population in the Occupied Territories. After one of them is killed, the common fate of four young soldiers and one Palestinian family is sealed. The film describes the extraordinary journey of a young soldier trying to find his place in the chaos surrounding him.
Who really is Diabolik, the ruthless Italian comic book antihero? The final chapter of the Manetti Bros. adaptation sets out to find the answer. Taking a leap in time to the 1970s, a period of unrest marked by the Vallanzasca and Magliana gangs, student protests and street killings. The story begins with car chases and machine gun shots that leave innocent victims dead on the street. It’s not Diabolik pulling the trigger, as he has his own code of ‘professional’ ethics and only kills when necessary. Instead, it’s a gang of criminals responsible for the bloodshed, wreaking havoc in the city with gratuitous and unscrupulous violence. Captured by the gang, Diabolik and his nemesis, Inspector Ginko, find themselves locked in a cell with no way out.
¿How far does a soccer fan go for his beloved national team? Mariano Cárdenas (Adrian Uribe), a married man and a civil servant, shows us that crossing the line when supporting the national team is a must. Mexico and the USA are in the final qualifying match for the 2018 World Cup. Mariano is committed to giving everything he has, including his time and relationship with his wife, to be present in the game because he is convinced that his presence in the stadium is the only thing factor that will guarantee the victory. Everything is ready and organized for the big day. Unfortunately, plans change when Mariano learns of the death of his uncle, with whom he lived and with whom he wagered a large bet on the team. Mariano is torn between being at the funeral or escaping to accompany the team. Thanks to the decision he makes, he loses his job, his wife, his home but his heart is full as Mexico qualifies for the World Cup.