The Reel World: Fresh award-winning international films

Check out the five latest award-winning additions to our International Film Collection. Of special note, Past Lives was nominated for Best Motion Picture Non-English Language at the recent Golden Globe Awards. We will be getting the other four Golden Globe nominated films as soon as they are released on DVD! Concerned about not speaking the language? All selections below have English subtitles.

Past Lives (Korean, drama, 2023)

past lives DVD Director: Celine Song

Stars: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo and John Magaro

Synopsis: Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week. They confront notions of destiny, love and the choices that make a life in this heartrending modern romance.

Awards: 50 wins and 153 nominees, including nomination for Golden Globes Best Motion Picture Non-English Language $21 million Box Office Sales (world)

Four Daughters (Arabic Documentary 2023)

four daughters DVD Director: Kaouther Ben Hania

Stars: Olfa Hamrouni, Eya Chikhaoui & Nour Karoui

Synopsis: This riveting exploration of rebellion, memory and sisterhood reconstructs the story of Olfa Hamrouni and her four daughters. The film unpacks a complex family history through intimate interviews and artful reenactments to examine how the Tunisian woman's two eldest were radicalized by Islamic extremists. Casting professional actresses as the missing daughters, along with acclaimed Egyptian-Tunisian actress Hend Sabri as Olfa, award-winning director Kaouther Ben Hania (The Man Who Sold His Skin) restages pivotal moments in the family's life. These scenes are interwoven with confessions and reflections from Olfa and her younger daughters.

The film offers the women agency to tell their own stories and captures moments of joy, loss, violence and heartache. Four Daughters is a compelling portrait of five women and a unique and ambitious work of nonfiction cinema that explores the nature of memory, the weight of inherited trauma, and the ties that bind mothers and daughters.

Awards: 9 wins & 22 nominations including Best Documentary and Best Writing 1.5 million Box Office Sales (world)

Godland (Icelandic drama 2023)

Godland DVD Director: Hlynur Palmason

Stars: Elliott Hove, Ingvar Sigurosson & Vic Sonne

Synopsis: The struggle between the strictures of religion and humankind's brute animal nature plays out amid the beautifully forbidding landscapes of remote Iceland. This is a stunning psychological epic from director Hlynur Pálmason. In the late 19th century, Danish priest Lucas made the perilous trek to Iceland's southeastern coast to establish a church. There the arrogant man of God finds his resolve tested as he confronts the harsh terrain, temptations of the flesh, and being an intruder in an unforgiving land. What unfolds is a transfixing journey into the heart of colonial darkness that's attuned to both the majesty and the terrifying power of the natural world.

Awards: 18 wins and 38 nominations including Best International Film, Best Actor, Best Cinematography 1.5 million Box Office Sales (world)

Reveries of a Solitary Stroller (Italian mystery animation 2014, released to DVD in 2023)

Reveries DVD Director: Paolo Gaudio

Stars: Luca Lionello, Lorenzo Monaco & Nicoletta Cefaly

Synopsis: When a young student discovers a fascinating and unfinished manuscript about a child lost in the woods, he finds himself on a unexpected dark journey that will change not only him but the past itself.

Three characters in three different ages are united by a dream of freedom and a small masterpiece of literature. A journey through the mysterious and timeless aspirations, sufferings and "reveries" of a poet, of a young student and a child lost in the woods.

Awards: 5 wins and 23 nominations – Best Animation

Blue Moon (Romanian drama 2022)

blue moon DVD Director: Alina Grigore

Stars: Ioana Chitu, Mircea Postelnicu, Mircea Silaghi and Vlad Ivanov

Synopsis: While struggling to achieve higher education Irina metamorphoses from the victim into the abuser. Irina is struggling to escape the violence of her extended dysfunctional family. She's working to achieve higher education in Bucharest, far away from her mountain village.

Awards: 4 wins and 10 nominations including Best Debut Film, Best Feature Film, Best Actor

Perry Hartmann

Collection Development Professional

Perry focuses on music, media and fine arts. He has a master’s degree in library science from Emporia State University as well as a master’s degree in music from the University of North Texas. A Topeka native, he returned to his hometown after spending more than a decade on the road as a professional trumpet player.

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