Sundance 2009: World Cinema Dramatic Competition

Nathalie Baye in A French Gigolo

Before Tomorrow (Le Jour Avant Lendemain) / Canada (Directors: Madeline Piujuq, Marie-Helene Cousineau)
A wise old woman fights to survive impossible circumstances with her young grandson in the Canadian Arctic. Cast: Peter-Henry Arnatsiaq, Paul-Dylan Ivalu, Madeline Piujuq Ivalu, Mary Qulitalik, Tumasie Sivuarapik. U.S. premiere

Bronson / U.K. (Director: Nicolas Winding Refn; screenwriter: Brock Norman Brock)
Traces the transformation of Mickey Peterson into Britain's most notorious, dangerous and charismatic prisoner, Charles Bronson. Cast: Tom Hardy. North American premiere

Carmo, Hit the Road / Spain (Director-screenwriter: Murilo Pasta)
A lonely, handicapped smuggler and a beautiful girl embark on a reckless ride through a South American border landscape. Cast: Mariana Loureiro, Fele Martinez, Seu Jorge. World premiere

The Clone Returns (Kuron Wa Kokyo-Wo Mezasu) / Japan (Director-screenwriter: Kanji Nakajima)
A Japanese astronaut who dies during a mission is subsequently resurrected as a clone and returns to his childhood home. Cast: Mitsuhiro Oikawa, Eri Ishida, Hiromi Nagasaku. North American premiere

Dada's Dance / China (Director: Zhang Yuan; screenwriter: Li Xiaofeng)
Dada is a flirtatious young woman who lives with her mother in a small town. Having to fend off the constant advances of her mother's boyfriend, who tells her she is adopted, she undertakes a journey in search of her birth mother. Cast: Li Xinyun, Li Xiaofeng, Gai Ge, Chen Jun. World premiere

An Education / U.K. (Director: Lone Scherfig; screenwriter: Nick Hornby)
In the early 1960s, a sharp 16-year-old with sights set on Oxford meets a handsome older man whose sophistication enraptures and sidetracks her and her parents. Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, Carey Mulligan, Alfred Molina, Emma Thompson. World premiere

Five Minutes of Heaven / U.K. (Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel; screenwriter: Guy Hibbert)
Two men from the same town but from different sides of the Irish political divide discover that the past is never dead — in fact, it isn't even past. Cast: Liam Neeson, James Nesbitt, Anamaria Marinca. World premiere

A French Gigolo (Cliente) / France (Director-screenwriter: Josiane Balasko)
An attractive, successful fiftysomething woman regularly treats herself to the sexual services of young men selected on Internet sites. When one particular escort becomes a habit, the relationship gets a bit more complicated. Cast: Nathalie Baye, Eric Caravaca, Isabelle Carre, Josiane Balasko. World premiere

Heart of Time (Corazon del Tiempo) / Mexico (Director-screenwriter: Alberto Cortes)
In La Esperanza de San Pedro, Chiapas, in the midst of the Zapatista struggle, a young woman makes serious waves when she falls in love with a revolutionary fighter from the mountains. Cast: Rocio Barrios. North American premiere

Louise-Michel / France (Directors: Benoit Delepine, Gustave Kervern)
When a French factory is abruptly closed by its corrupt management, a group of disgruntled female workers pool their paltry compensation money and hire a hit man to knock off the corrupt executive behind the closure. Cast: Yolande Moreau, Bouli Lanners. North American premiere

Lulu and Jim (Lulu und Jimi) / Germany (Director: Oskar Roehler)
Bright, garish colors, rock 'n' roll and wild dance numbers mark this road movie about lovers fleeing from the evil powers of a 1950s deeply bigoted German society. Cast: Jennifer Decker, Ray Fearon, Katrin Sass, Rolf Zacher, Udo Kier. World premiere

The Maid (La Nana) / Chile (Director-screenwriter: Sebastian Silva)
When her mistress brings on another servant to help with the chores, a bitter and introverted maid wreaks havoc on the household. Cast: Catalina Saavedra, Claudia Celedon, Mariana Loyola, Alejandro Goic, Andrea Garcia-Huidobro. North American premiere

One Day in a Life (Un Altro Pianeta) / Italy (Director-screenwriter: Stefano Tummolini)
One languid summer day, a man heads to the beach in search of sunshine and bit of peace, but finds himself tangled up in the dramas of an eclectic group of nearby sunbathers. Cast: Antonio Merone, Lucia Mascino. World premiere

Unmade Beds / U.K. (Director-screenwriter: Alexis Dos Santos)
Two young foreigners find romance in the vibrant, artistic underground of London's East End. Cast: Deborah Francois, Fernando Tielve. World premiere

Victoria Day / Canada (Director-screenwriter: David Bezmozgis)
Over the course of one week in 1988, the search for a missing teammate, parental expectations, a burgeoning sexual awakening and the rock concert of the century all threaten to jolt a 16-year-old into adulthood. Cast: Mark Rendall, Sergiy Kotelenets, Nataliya Alyexeyenko, Holly Deveaux, John Mavrogiannis. World premiere

Zion and His Brother (Zion Ve-Achiv) / France and Israel (Director-screenwriter: Eran Merav)
In this gritty story of a working-class Tel Aviv single-parent family, the disappearance of a young boy drives a wedge between two teenage brothers whose loyalty had been unshakable. Cast: Reuven Badalov, Ronit Elkabetz, Tzahi Grad. World premiere