San Fu Maltha

The fatal shooting of a Moroccan youth by a racist police officer finds simmering tensions between ethic Dutch and a rapidly expanding Moroccan-heritage minority bubbling over into a boil in director Albert ter Heerdt's more serious-minded follow up to 2004's Shouf shouf habibi!. When veteran policeman Frank (Marcel Musters) and his Moroccan-Dutch partner Aaliyah (Maryham Hassouni) receive word of a potential break-in at a local youth center, they arrive on the scene to find two teenagers crouched behind a dumpster. When one of the teens panics and leaps out from behind the dumpster brandishing what appears to be a handgun, racist cop Frank immediately opens fire. Now Moroccan teen Redouan (Iliass Ojja) is dead, but his friend Karim (Ilias Addab) somehow managed to escape without injury. As the community goes into an uproar over the senseless killing, Aaliyah struggles to discern whether her partner's blatant racism played into his split-second decision to use deadly force in the heat of the moment. Out in the streets, Karim and the authority-weary locals openly advocate violent protest while others such as Redouan's level headed older brother Said (Mimoun Oaissa), the owner of a popular youth boxing gym, urges everyone to wait and see what becomes of the case. Later, when Said is accused of being a traitor to his own people, he begins to grow uncomfortable in his relationship with his white girlfriend (Chantel Janzen). Meanwhile, Aaliyah's fiancée Marouan (Mohammed Chaara) is derided by his future father-in-law for opting to join the Dutch Army, and local filmmaker Woulter (Roeland Fernhout) ventures out into the streets with girlfriend Kim (Hadewych Minis) to conduct research for an upcoming movie about the immigrant experience in Denmark. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Made in Korea: A One Way Ticket Seoul-Amsterdam? is a personal documentary by director In-Soo Radstake. Radstake was one of thousands of Korean children who were adopted as infants by people who live in the Netherlands. The film constitutes Radstake's journey back to Korea to look at the orphanage where he spent time as an infant, and his attempts to discover his birth parents. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Musicians from different lands but sharing a common heritage come together for a concert tour that proves as revelatory for the participants as their audiences in this documentary. In 2001, American promoters persuaded five noted bands of gypsy musicians to join forces for what was billed as "the Gypsy Caravan Tour," but while these musicians appealed to many of the same fans, for the most part they had never met before going on the road together. The performers were Taraf de Haidouks, an 18-piece group from Romania whose lineup spans several generations; another Romanian group, the 11-piece horn ensemble Fanfare Ciocarlia; Antonio de Pipa's Flamenco Ensemble, which combines both music and dance in their performances; Maharaja, a Northern Indian group featuring musicians from all sides of Indian society; and Esma Redzepova, one of Macedonia's best and most acclaimed vocalists. As the tour wore on, the artists began to interact both musically and socially, and their different takes on gypsy music began to inform one another in new and interesting ways. Filmmaker Jasmine Dellal followed the tour with a camera crew, and When the Road Bends: Tales of a Gypsy Caravan offers a look at the music these artists performed on stage as well as their interaction after the shows and on the road; the film also features individual interviews with the musicians back home after the tour was completed. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Siberian firemen battle a raging forest blaze, a disciplined Alaskan trawler gathers a hearty catch of king crab, German miners work in claustrophobic conditions deep underground, and ambitious astronauts train at a Kazakh air base in filmmaker Jiska Rickles' anthropologically engaging look at mankind's relationship to the world and its elements. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Dutch filmmaker Paula van der Oest directs the thriller Moonlight, which is set in Luxembourg but features English dialogue. Thirteen-year-old Claire (Laurien van den Broeck) has just gotten her first menstrual period. She lives in the suburbs with her concert pianist mother (Jemma Redgrave) and psychiatrist father (Johan Leysen). In the backyard of her house, she discovers a young wounded Afghan boy (Hunter Bussemaker), who has nearly escaped his fate as a drug mule. She takes care of his wounds and they become secret friends. Soon she witnesses the criminals, who are after the young boy and the drugs. They go on the run, followed by a vicious killer (Andrew Howard). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Soul Assassin is an action movie from The Netherlands made by music video director Laurence Malkin. Skeet Ulrich plays Kevin Burke, a recently promoted young executive at Jorgensen Financial in Rotterdam. After a hit man murders his girlfriend Rosalind (Katherine Lang), he goes off in search of the killers. Eventually, he gets his boss Karl Jorgensen (Derek de Lint) and the entire security division of the company on the investigation. This makes Karl's son Junior (Antonie Kamerling) jealous. Kristy Swanson plays the mysterious mobster Tessa. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Director John Strickland creates this gritty look at race and class in southeast London, as he focuses on a multi-racial group of youths who form a band called Greenwich Mean Time. Between gigs, the band members negotiate the currents of their lives, including girlfriend problems, an ill-fated venture into drug dealing, and sleazy record producers. As the film progresses, the narrative inches its protagonists toward a sudden bloody finale. The film features tunes by such noted Acid Jazz and Jungle figures as Talvin Singh, Hinda Hicks, and Imogen Heap. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

In this Italian drama an astrophysicist returns to his birthplace and re-discovers his humanity. Lorenzo needs money. He stops his research in Milan and goes to his former childhood villa in Sicily to sell it. Because workers are renovating it, he must linger longer than he wanted. He begins to remember the slower pace of Sicilians as compared to the hustle of mainland urban Italy. He slowly becomes friends with Salvatore, the head repairman. He lives in an alternative-therapy community for mental patients. His son Agostino is a patient there. Salvatore's simple philosophies have a cathartic effect upon Lorenzo who begins to view the handyman as a father figure. When Lorenzo was younger his own father died. As a result, Lorenzo left Sicily. The research also finds healing in his relationship to Luisa, another patient to whom is drawn. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Angie is the study of a believable Italian-American woman who takes an honest look at herself and sees she's on a predictable path that will soon include an altar and a baby carriage. "There's gotta' be more!" she feels, and she's one gal with courage enough to find the answer. Geena Davis stars in this worthwhile effort. ~ All Movie Guide