2006 Traverse City Film Festival Archive

Winner of Best Director at last year's Cannes Film Festival and multiple Best Foreign Film awards here in the States, this French psychological mystery is a sharp, relentless allegory about fear, trust, and war. Anne and Georges (Juliette Binoche & Daniel Auteuil) literally watch as their tranquil middle class marriage is thrown into disarray by a series of mysterious videotapes anonymously delivered on their doorstep. At first mundane, then increasingly invasive, the tapes leave the terrified couple questioning what is real and what is not. Rated R (brief strong violence)  More...

Following in the honored footsteps of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, this Chinese epic features the spirited Princess Qingcheng who falls in love with a heroic general she believes saved her life. In fact, her savior is the general's servant who was wearing the general's armor and mask when he rescued her. The general does nothing to dissuade the princess of the actions he never took, and his servant, who loves the princess, dares not reveal the truth lest he lose his own life. This is perhaps the most beautifully shot Chinese film ever. A love story full of action. Directed by Chen Kaige (Farewell My Concubine, The Emperor and the Assassin). Rated PG-13 (stylized violence and martial arts, some sexual content)  More...

Who would think a film about people who play an invisible guitar would be one of best films of the year and certainly one of the funniest? After competing for the national title, the American air guitar champs travel to Finland where they must face international competition and global political tension. You will learn about the art of air guitar, the Zen of air guitar, and the larger implications of it for the world in which we live. As the air guitar guru says, "Make air, not war." This is one not to be missed. Director Alexandra Lipsitz and air guitar stars C Diddy and Bjorn Turoque will appear on stage. Not Rated  More...

Winner of Best Director at last year's Cannes Film Festival and multiple Best Foreign Film awards here in the States, this French psychological mystery is a sharp, relentless allegory about fear, trust, and war. Anne and Georges (Juliette Binoche & Daniel Auteuil) literally watch as their tranquil middle class marriage is thrown into disarray by a series of mysterious videotapes anonymously delivered on their doorstep. At first mundane, then increasingly invasive, the tapes leave the terrified couple questioning what is real and what is not. Rated R (brief strong violence)  More...

Produced by Lawrence Bender (and presented as part of our Lawrence Bender tribute), this film is the story of a 12-year-old boy who becomes a runner and a seller of drugs. This sometimes shocking film is one of the most powerful American independent dramatic films of the last decade.  With dismal realities laid bare, this film is anything but easy viewing. By pulling no punches it is a small masterpiece of filmmaking, one that will stay with you long after you leave the theater. Producer Lawrence Bender will appear in person as part of our tribute to him. Rated R (intense violence, drugs, language, sexual content)  More...

Nominated for Best Foreign Film at this year's Oscars, an emotional, riveting film based on a true incident in World War I. It's Christmas Eve, 1914. The Germans are dug in their trenches on one side of a field and the French and Scots are dug in on the other side. Someone starts singing "Silent Night" -- and, across the field, the enemy joins in. Soon everyone puts down their guns and decides that killing on Christmas is not quite in keeping with the holiday spirit. A beautiful movie that is timeless and timely. Rated PG-13 (war, violence, brief sexuality)  More...

Can you be married to someone for 15 years and never notice they have a mustache? And how can the shaving of one's moustache be the cause of a psychological and marital meltdown? French director Emmanuel Carrere shows us, in this clever, sharp, award-winning look into the small cracks that lurk in the "best" marriages and professional relationships. Dubbed a "Kafka-meets-Seinfeld" experience, Marc (Vincent London) -- half of an upscale Parisian couple -- begins to slowly unravel the day no one notices he shaved off his mustache. Are they pulling his leg? Conspiring to make him go insane? Did he ever have the mustache in the first place? Not Rated  More...

The first Palestinian film to be nominated for an Academy Award (this year's Best Foreign Film category), the story is of two young Palestinian men in the West Bank who make do with the life they live under occupation. Friends since childhood, they find themselves recruited for a suicide bomb strike in Tel Aviv. It is the moment they have been waiting for all their lives. A Palestinian woman discovers their plan for shared martyrdom and pleads with them to reconsider. Will they go through with it? Considered by critics to be one of the best films of 2005. Directed by Hany Abu-Assad. Rated PG-13 (mature thematic material, brief strong language)  More...

A stunning directorial debut by the Oscar-winning actor Tommy Lee Jones in which he also stars as a local ranch foreman on the tense border between Texas and Mexico. Illegal immigrants cross over and work in the area, and Jones befriends one of them, only to find him shot dead one day by a border patrolman under questionable circumstances. Jones kidnaps the cop and forces him to dig up the body of his friend. They then undertake a dangerous and quixotic journey into Mexico to return the body to its rightful resting place. A movie that is set squarely in today's headlines, this movie resonates dramatically in an environment of violence and racism that has long been present at the U.S.-Mexico border. Also featuring Dwight Yoakam, it was nominated for the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival. Rated R (language, violence, sexuality)  More...