Directed by István Szőts • 1948 • Hungary

A landmark film in Hungarian cinema history, István Szőts’s penultimate feature was banned for more than 30 years before being rehabilitated as a national treasure. Centring on a Hungarian soldier returning from the First World War who marries a woman he...

Directed by Marlen Khutsiev • 1956 • USSR/Ukraine

The feature debut of beloved auteur Marlen Khutsiev, Spring on Zarechnaya Street signalled a sea change in Soviet cinema on its release in 1956. Charting the romance between a literature teacher and a happy-go-lucky factory worker in provincial U...

Directed by Alexandre Koberidze • 2021 • Georgia

Alexandre Koberidze’s existential fairy tale unfolds like a dream over a long, hot summer of thwarted romance and World Cup fever. In Georgia’s ancient capital Kutaisi, pharmacist Lisa (Oliko Barbakadze) and footballer Giorgi (Giorgi Ambroladze) f...

Directed by Pavel Chukhrai • 1997 • Russia

Left widowed after the Second World War, Katya desperately tries to keep her son Sanya safe from harm. When charismatic officer Tolyan enters her life, she succumbs to his charms, despite her son’s misgivings. But can Tolyan be trusted? This parable of ...

Directed by Asif Rustamov • 2022 • Azerbaijan

Asif Rustamov’s erotic, ironic psychodrama is a breath of fresh air for Azerbaijani cinema. A struggling, one-eyed artist (Elshen Esgerov) ekes out a living carving gravestones while engaged in a passionate but provocative affair with a married woman...