Baraka is a feature film that has no dialog, no characters, and no plot. It does have brilliant cinematography from 152 locations in 24 countries on 6 continents, world class time-lapse scenes shot with a camera designed by director, Ron Fricke (Chronos, Samsara), and ethereal music by Dead Can Dance.

An attempt to establish a small settlement in a virtual sea of barren dunes leaves a woman wondering how to get back to the place she would rather be. Visually spectacular and unconventionally cast, House of Sand offers a new take on the “stranded on a desert island” story.

What exactly is The Fall? It is a visual extravaganza, an unlikely friendship, a romance, an adventure, two stories in one, and an action adventure art film If director Tarsem Singh (The Cell, Immortals) keeps making movies like this, he is going to make quite a name for himself.

With this bleak, highly atmospheric film, ostensibly about music, adultery, and small time criminals, Béla Tarr (Werckmeister Harmonies, Satantango) found his “voice” and reinvented himself as filmmaker with a new, truly unique style that most viewers end up either loving or hating.

Two nazi soldiers order a Czech villager to hitch up her horses and drive them to Vienna. She chooses compliance over death, and as soon as they get on the road, the movie starts. Carriage to Vienna is the story of their journey through the forest. Director Karel Kachyňa (The Ear, Long Live the Republic) was known for making beautifully photographed films and this is no exception.

In the feature film debut of one of Poland’s greatest directors, Wojciech Has (The Saragossa Manuscript, The Hour-Glass Sanatorium), viewers are invited to spend a day with Kuba, a man with a serious drinking problem and an opportunity to overcome his addiction with support from the people who care about him. Kuba hopes it will be easy, but chances are he is in for a long 24 hours.

A fraction of a second may seem like nothing in the span of a lifetime, but a split second here or there can have a huge impact on all that follows. With Blind Chance, director Krzysztof Kieślowski (Three Colors trilogy, The Double Life of Veronique) demonstrates how profoundly people’s lives can be changed by what appears to be an insignificant moment in time. Chaos reigns!

Enjoy a 500 mile walk along El Camino de Santiago, which has been a pilgrimage route across northern Spain for centuries, and is now the basis for The Way. By choosing such an uncommon film topic, and by steering clear of most of the usual Hollywood formulas, actor/director Emilio Estevez (The Breakfast Club, Repo Man) has made a fresh, creative movie at a time when that can be a lot to ask.