Mustang
Sunday, 3.50pm, Sundance Channel
Deniz Gamze Ergüven's debut feature tells the story of five young sisters being raised by their conservative extended family in rural Turkey. Following an innocent encounter with some boys from school, the girls' grandmother confines them to the house until she can marry all five off against their will, leading to a chain of escape attempts, suicide and conflict. If you're thinking it all sounds a bit Virgin Suicides you may have a point, but the Turkish setting adds extra cultural context, and a glut of awards including four Cesars, a Europa Cinemas Award at Cannes and an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film suggest that, derivative or not, Ergüven has done something right.
Tangerines
Monday, 6.20pm, Sundance Channel
Zaza Urushadze's polemic on the horrors of war finds a tangerine farmer and his friend the only remaining residents in a formerly ethnic Estonian village following the Russian invasion of the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia in 1992. While the rest of the village has fled to Estonia, Ivo has stayed behind to harvest his tangerine crop. When a Georgian soldier and a Chechen mercenary fighting alongside the Abkhaz separatists are injured close to his house, Ivo takes them in to heal on condition they do not hurt each other under his roof. It's kind of a Georgian No Man's Land, but with less comedy, and picked up Georgia's nomination for Best Foreign Language Oscar in 2014.
Hail, Caesar!
Tuesday, OSN Movies HD, 7.25pm
The Coen Brothers are on top form in this hilariously absurd satire on the realities of the Hollywood bubble. Josh Brolin plays Eddie Mannix, an executive for Capitol Pictures in the 50s. His main job revolves around keeping the studio’s far-from-perfect stars out of the press - no easy task when Hollywood’s main, feuding twin sister, rival gossip columnists are digging for dirt and he’s surrounded by pregnant synchronised swimmers, feuding stars, alcoholic leading men, and the studio’s biggest screen idol has been kidnapped by communists. Brolin is joined in an all-star cast by George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Ralph Fiennes and many more.
Creed
Wednesday, OSN Movies Action HD, 3.40pm
Ryan Coogler's boxing drama is a far, far better film than what is essentially Rocky 7, has any right to be. Sylvester Stallone reprises his role as boxer Rocky Bilbao, though this time the attention shifts to Michael B Jordan's Adonis Creed, a raw young boxer and son of Rocky's nemesis-turned-best-friend, the late Apollo Creed, who Rocky agrees to train. The film is nothing new, but it has all the drama, emotion and excitement you'd expect from the genre, as well as some sterling performances – Stallone himself was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, his first nomination since the 1976 original.
Glengarry Glen Ross
Thursday, 4.20am, Sundance Channel
Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Ed Harris, Alec Baldwin and Jonathan Pryce head up an impressive cast in James Foley’s real estate drama, based on David Mamet’s adaptation of his own play. The movie unveils a web of deceit and subterfuge as four competing real estate agents get dirty following the news that only the best performing two will keep their jobs. The film wasn’t a smash hit on release – it didn’t even make back its modest $12 million budget in US theatres, but with outstanding performances from a stellar cast, and a script from one of modern drama’s greatest minds, its commercial failure is just a reminder that big box office and great movies are not mutually exclusive.
Everyman’s Journey: Don’t Stop Believing
Friday, 9.10pm, Sundance Channel
Ramona S Diaz’s documentary follows the real life rock-n-roll fairy tale story of Filipino singer Arnel Pineda, who was plucked from You Tube to become the frontman for American rock band, Journey, thereby becoming the latest performer to go from the Internet to real life celebrity. Having already overcome a life full of painful obstacles and now saddled with the immense pressures of leading a world renowned band and replacing a legendary singer, the film follows Arnel on his journey.
I Am Nojoom, Age 10 And Divorced
Saturday, 12.50am, Sundance Channel
Khadija Al Salami's harrowing 2014 drama tells the story of Nujoom, a 10-year-old Yemeni girl seeking divorce from an abusive marriage after she was married off to avoid a scandal following the rape of her sister. The film, which had its world premiere at DIFF in 2014, is based on the true story of Nujood Ali and her book I am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced. Nujood was nominated as Glamour Magazine's Woman of the Year in 2008 and is now a key figure in Yemen's opposition to child marriages. The film was the first from Yemen to be nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.