Yesterday
Written and Directed By Darrell James Roodt
South Africa (HBO)
This Oscar-nominated film, which was supported by the Nelson Mandela Foundation in one of its first attempts to help "spread the message of prevention,"� follows the story of a young Zulu mother, Yesterday, when she is diagnosed with AIDS. Despite poverty and disease, Yesterday retains an inspiring steadiness, dedicating herself to the goal of ensuring her only daughter Beauty's education. It is a moving film, the first ever to be shot in the Zulu language, and a testament to the courageous women of this beautiful country in these harrowing times.

Quinceañera
Written and Directed By Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland
U.S.
If you have ever been to an actual quince dance, the Latina equivalent to a sweet sixteen, then you know this film is bound to have more than bit a melodrama. Set in Los Angeles, Quinceañera is a well-constructed tale of the traumatic trials of adolescence, while it manages to address some family and friendship issues. The film is about Magdalena, your typical Latina teen, preparing for her fifteenth birthday party who finds that, despite never actually having had sex, she is pregnant. Quinceañera takes on the challenge of addressing certain aspects of growing up and it does it honestly and with a kind of subtlety not often seen. It's a refreshing experience amidst the alternatives that would have us sitting for two hours, watching while a gaggle of cheerleaders plot to kill their two-timing boyfriends. Click on the image to buy now!

Whale Rider
Directed By Niki Caro
New Zealand
Rent this one if you haven't already seen it! This cinematic gem, details the power struggle that takes place within a modern Maori village of the coast of New Zealand between a young girl, Paikea (played by the Oscar-nominated Keisha Castle-Hughes), and her grandfather, the tribe's Chief, who is unwilling to accept her as his heir. Pai's willful attempts to prove her power and ability culminate in a truly gut-wrenching scene (yes, it involves a whale). The story is poignant and lyrical and the cinematography is simply breath taking, with sweeping New Zealand seascapes that echo the mysterious longing in Castle-Hughes' soulful gaze. Click on the image to buy now!

 
A Very Long Engagement
Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
France
Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie was an unforgettable visual masterpiece in which Jeunet used special effects with the subtle genius of a master painter. In A Very Long Engagement, an epic tale about a woman searching for her fiancé after the devastation of WWI, Jeunet once again utilizes his talents to present a smorgasbord of richly detailed cinematography. In addition, Jeunet manages to portray the overdone horrors of trench warfare with his own does of otherworldly intuition. Mathilde, played by Amelie's Audrey Tautou, is unwilling to believe that her lover, Manech, was killed in the doomed trench Bingo Crepuscule. Her detective work takes you through a network of intricate, winding plots that build to a bitter-sweet ending. Although this film cannot compare to the poignant triumph of Amelie, A Very Long Egagement proves that Jeunet's vision is nothing short of exquisite. Click on the image to buy now!

March of the Penguins
Directed by Luc Jacquet
France
A documentary about the mating migration of the emperor penguin has got to be good if it played to a wide audience across AMC theaters everywhere. Luc Jacquet's film is actually stunning with vivid, breathtaking shots of Antarctica's vast white-blue icescapes and intensely moving scenes that capture the unexpected valor and candor of the emperor penguin. Call me crazy, but I couldn't stop drawing parallels between the trials forced upon these strange birds, stubbornly forging through their harrowing attempt to procreate, and the basic human condition that sees us constantly struggling to forge and protect our own families. I had to cry a couple of times. March of the Penguins will make you laugh and even flinch through a couple of more violent scenes (a seal attacks, a precious egg cracks, 100-mile-an-hour winds assail). Jacquet also proves how unspoiled nature holds a drama and mystery that we can't even begin to imagine. Click on the image to buy now!

The Constant Gardner
Directed by Fernando Meirelles
U.K.
Based on the novel by John Le Carré, this film's most notable triumph lies in its vivid and heart-wrenching portrayal of the wife of British diplomat stationed in Kenya, played by Rachel Weiss, who is found brutally murdered. As her quietly devastated widower, played with subtle finesse by Ralph Fiennes, begins to dig into the mysteries that surround her death, he unearths a horrifying conspiracy. Although the acting is superb and the characters superbly rendered, Fernando Meirelles' exquisite shots of Africa steal the show. The ravaged country and its incomparable beauty become the main protagonist of The Constant Gardner. Your heart would have to be made of ice not to be fundamentally moved by this film. It is an eye-opener and a testament to the extreme needs that are not being met in a country wrought with ancient wisdoms and a rich culture we cannot afford to lose. Click on the image to buy now!

Valentí­n
Directed by Alejandro Agresti
Argentina
You'll fall in love with this precocious 8-year-old within the first 10 minutes of this film. Despite being cross-eyed and orphaned, Valentí­n, played by Rodrigo Noya, is determined to see what is rich and beautiful in his decidedly bleak bearings. Given to both the depressions of a seasoned old man and the hope of a guileless child, his voiced-over ruminations, peppered with heartfelt curses, guide you from the dissipation of his family to his imaginative attempts to build a new one for himself. If you're a cynic and set in your ways, this movie might annoy you. But despite its intrinsic sadness, Valentí­n's dosage of hope and perseverance will leave you feeling like you can conquer all the monsters in your world. Click on the image to buy now!

Goodbye Lenin!
Directed by Wolfgang Becker
Germany
This hilarious account of a young man's elaborate quest to hold on to the past for the sake of his ailing mother tells the story of a post-socialist Eastern Germany exploding with expression and confusion as it struggles to adjust to the rapid flux of capitalism and Western culture. Ales, played deliciously by Daniel Brühl, will stop at nothing to keep the news that the Berlin Wall has fallen from his diehard Socialist mother. As Burger King, porn, drugs, art and Coca-Cola transform the facades of East Germany, Alex finds himself at odds with the Socialist ideals he'd come to rely on. His morphing surroundings act as a metaphor as he discovers painful truths about a family torn apart by politics and lies. A film made about 1989 could have fallen short in many ways, but Goodbye Lenin! manages to become a potent signifier for the plights that haunt our culture today. In short, it is a good time with more than a few moving observations about the world we live in and a cast of characters you'll never forget. Click on the image to buy now!