Brazil (B)

When The Earth Trembles

Director: Walter Salles

Nov. 5, 2015, the reservoir dam owned by a mining company collapsed, resulting in an avalanche of mud that destroyed several towns in the State of Minas Gerais in Brazil, and caused many to become homeless.

Once the catastrophe has passed, the residents who have lost their homes are sent to hospices. While they pine for the good old days, they must now redefine their life so as to escape their predicament.

Nostalgia means the past will never disappear; yet hope means that time will keep moving forward.

Russia (R)

Breathing

Director: Alexey Fedorchenko

At the end of a snow-covered railway line in Russia, Zina and her husband Nazar live in a cabin set in a secluded valley.

Nazar suspects that his wife Zina is having an affair with the railway driver; a serious argument ensues. Nazar smashes Zina's accordion, a gift from the railway driver. Zina cries sadly in the snow. As the husband hurries out to find Zina, he falls and injures himself. When Zina saves Nazar by using the broken accordion to pump oxygen into his lungs, the accordion makes a gentle, weeping sound.

Time is short but also eternal; time stops in the presence of love.