Directed by Nabil Ayouch • Drama • With Laura Ramsey, Assaad Bouab • 2007 • 115 minutes
Lola (Laura Ramsey) is struggling to pursue her dream of becoming a dancer in New York, but the rejections are piling up. On top of it all, her day job as a mail carrier is beginning to look more and more like a permanent gig. By chance, during one of many evenings she spends commiserating with Yussef, her gay Egyptian neighbor, she's captivated when he shows her an old video featuring the seductive belly dancing of Ismahan, one of Egypt's biggest stars. Fate soon intervenes and through a series of twists, Lola finds herself in Cairo, where she decides to track down the reclusive Ismahan for lessons. This modern-day, global fairytale offers plenty of dancing, sparkling costumes, and a rousing soundtrack.
Directed by Karel Reisz & Tony Richardson • Documentary • With Chris Barber, Monty Sunshine, Pat Halcox, Ron Bowden • 1956 • 22 minutes
This lively Free Cinema short captures a night out at the Wood Green Jazz Club, where teenagers jive to trad jazz. Funded by the BFI Experimental Film Fund,...
Directed by Kenneth Elvebakk • Documentary • With Lukas Bjorneboe, Syvert Lorenz Garcia, Torgeir Lund • 2014 • 72 minutes
Billy Elliot meets First Position in Ballet Boys, a documentary that follows, over four years, the struggles, set-backs and accomplishments of three friends and hopeful futu...
Directed by Anne Linsel & Rainer Hoffman • Documentary • With Pina Bausch, Jo-Ann Endicott, Bénédicte Billiet • 2010 • 89 minutes
Two years ago, world-famous dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch selected 40 teenagers who had never heard her name to be part of her dance piece Contact Zone. F...
