distributor of connoisseur films since 1968
distributor of connoisseur films since 1968
This is a small selection of past releases. For further titles, please download our 2007 Catalogue.
IRINA PALM - THE ITALIAN - CHANGE OF ADDRESS - PRICELESS - THE VALET -
BEYOND THE SEA - BRASILEIRINHO - 36 QUAI - THE CLOSET -
APRES VOUS - MOLOKAI - MOOLAADE - PARADISE NOW - TAIS TOIS -
A SHARMILL / AZTEC RELEASE SEPTEMBER 2007
DIR. Sam Garbarski, Belg/UK/Ger/Fra, 2006
Staring Marianne Faithfull as the courageous and loving Maggie, Irina Palm was a standout film at the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival.
Maggie, a middle aged widow, is desperate to find a way to pay for her dying grandson's last chance medical treatment. With little chance of re-entering the job market, Maggie finds herself in an unlikely situation; working in the dark depths of London's seedy underground in a sex club.
Available to rent on DVD in Australia May 14 2008.
Co-Distribution with Aztec International Entertainment
A JUMP STREET / SHARMILL RELEASE APRIL 2007
DIR : Andrei Kravchuk, Russia, 2006
Moderate Themes, Infrequent Moderate Violence A film that states that the heart speaks louder than the intellect, the story of The Italian revolves around six year old Vanya. Living comfortably as an adopted child with an Italian family, Vanya's quest for more leads him on a journey to find his real mother.
Official Russian Entry-Academy Awards, Best Foreign Language Film
This is a Co-Distribution with Jump Street Films
A SHARMILl FILMS RELEASE JUNE 2007
DIR : Emmanuel Mouret , France, 2006
When David (actor/director Mouret) sticks up an accommodation wanted sign, he ends up minutes later in a flat share with Anne, a zesty but not over-cultured blonde who has her own small business and a boyfriend, whose name she does not know. David too has his love interest; serious, introverted Julia.
Yet another delightful twist on the notion that there is no need to look far and wide for true love, because more often than not, it is right in front of you.
Director's Fortnight, Cannes 2006.
A DENDY/SHARMILL RELEASE APRIL 2007
DIR : Pierre Salvadori, France, 2006
Jean (The Valet's Gad Elmaleh), a shy waiter working in a grand hotel, is mistaken for a young millionaire by beautiful, scheming adventuress Irène (Audrey Tatou). When she discovers his lowly status, Irène beats a quick retreat. But lovestruck Jean has no intention of letting her escape, and pursues her to the Côte d'Azur.
Quickly running out of money, he adopts his beloved's lifestyle, setting himself up as a gigolo and moving in to a magnificent luxury hotel. Irène at last accepts this new Jean. She starts to give him advice, she grows closer and closer to him, not realizing that love is working its subtle magic on her too.
NOW AVAILABLE ON 35mm AND HARD DRIVE
DIR : Francis Veber, France
Francois Pignon is again revealed to audiences as a valet at a French Barassiere. In a case of wrong place, wrong time, Pignon is caught standing next to a millionaire C.E.O. in the throws of a confrontation with his mistress.
In a desperate bid to save his marriage and career, the millionaire, with the assistance of his lawyer, concot a plan to save everything; have the mistress supermodel move in with Pignon in a bid to save his soon to crumble world. Stars Gad Elmaleh, Daniel Auteuil and Kristen Scott Thomas.
Now Available on 35mm and DVD
DIR : Mika Kaurismaki, France, Brazil, Netherlands
Mika Kaurismaki's latest film is a documentary about choro, a Brazilian music style that was born when musicians started mixing European sounds with Afro-Brazilian and native rhythms in the mid-1800s, became very popular and that has made a comeback after being forgotten during the years when samba took over.
Brasileirinho gives the center stage to the music and the people who play it: beautiful scenes of musicians playing choro in concert, colourful tableaus of people dancing - this film is a pleasure to watch with a soundtrack you will adore for years to come.Official selection Berlin Film Festival.
Available on 35mm.
Director : Kevin Spacey, U.S.A., 2004Kevin Spacey takes the helm in this wonderful and energetic adaption of the life and times of the late Bobby Darin. Darin's hits, including Splish Splash and Mack the Knife are given a faithful tribute by Spacey, who performs many of the numbers for the film.
Including John Goodman, Brenda Blethyn, Bob Hosking, Greta Scacchi and Kate Bosworth, Spacey has put together a highly energetic and warm film.
PRESS KIT
NOW AVAILABLE ON 35mm and DVD
Dir : Olivier Marchal, France, 2005
Taking its name from the famous Parisian police station, 36 Quai des Orfevres offers the delicious prospect of France's two top actors, Gerard Depardieu and Daniel Auteuil, going head to head in a dark and deadly game of cat and mouse. It's a kind of French Heat - except that rather than cop v robber, it's corrupt cop v corrupt cop as they do battle for top spot in the Parisian police force.
36 Quai des Orfevres was a major box office hit in France and an official selection at the Sydney Film Festival and Brisbane International Film Festival where it played to sell-out crowds.
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE on 35mm and DVD
Director : Pierre Salvadori
110 Minutes
Featuring the once-in-a-lifetime comic pairing of Daniel Auteuil and Jose Garcia, Pierre Salvadori's intelligent, sophisticated and very human comedy is a delightful portrait of male friendship developing in the unlikeliest of situations.
Antoine is a maitre d' at Chez Jean, an upmarket brasserie in Paris. One evening, while returning home from work, he saves an unknown man from suicide. But the stranger, Louis, is furious. He must now face his crumbling world; no job, no friends and no love.
AVAILABLE NOW ON 35mm AND DVD
DIR : FRANCIS VEBER, FRANCE, 2001
Francois Pignon, Veber's hapless idiot rides again in this corporate world farce. Despserate to keep his job at a condom factory, Pignon turns on his hetrosexuality to improve his prospects at work.
Convincing all around him that he is gay, from his co-workers to his bosses, Pignon becomes the anti-hero providing his colleagues with gossip, chat and the belief that anything can sway the opinions of those around you.
AVAILABLE NOW ON 35mm
Dir : Paul Cox, 1999
Under the direction of Australian film maker, Paul Cox, Molokai is the true and uplifting story of Father Damien. Delving into the world of leprosy and outcasts, Father Damien single handedly changed the lives of those less fortunate, themselves exiled from the common world.
Shot on authentic locations with riveting attention to detail, this film is a marvel. With a screenplay by John Briley (Ghandi) and performances from David Wenham, Derek Jacobi, Tom Wilenson and Alice Krige, Molokai will certainly provide you with a feeling of truth and humility.
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ON 35mm and DVD
Director: Ousmane Sembene, Senegal
MinutesMoolaade was a highlight in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2004 Cannes Film Festival where it won the section's top prize. Writer/director Sembene Ousmane, the 81 year old father of Sengalese cinema, if not African cinema itself, raises an important and crucial social debate relevant to his country in a film filled with color and music. The conflict centres between the men in a tiny backward village clinging to ancient traditions and the wives who are no longer willing to expose their daughters to a life-endangering practice. The triumphant stand taken by the women brought loud applause from the Cannes audience.
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE on 35mm and DVD
Director : Kore-eda Hirokazu
Based on a true story, four children are left to fend for themselves in a bustling city. Born to seperate fathers and a party going mother, they learn to operate on their own when their mother disappears, begging, borrowing and stealing to get by on a daily basis. No matter how difficult their situation becomes, their resilience and sense of joy never dissappears.
This extraordinary film was acclaimed at the recent Cannes Film Festival where 14-year-old Yagira Yuga was awarded the Best Actor award. Based on a true story, Nobody Knows is an emotional, enriching experience from Japanese auteur Kore-eda Hirokazu (Afterlife, Distance).
AVAILABLE NOW ON 35mm
DIR : Siddiq Barmak, 2003
"An Extraordinary film from a country it's mandatory to know more about . . . a totally engrossing piece of cinema, one of the best films I saw at Cannes." Margaret Pomeranz, The Movie Show
Certainly, without doubt, this film is a triumph on many levels. An engrossing story about a young girl who is transformed into a boy to protect her from the The Taliban, who learns the rites of passage in an increasingly oppressing world. The first film since the rise and fall of the Taliban, Osama shall remain a legacy to brazen and extraordinary film making.
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ON 35mm and DVD
Director : Hany Abu-Assad
Paradise Now is an edge of your seat thriller following two Palestinian childhood friends who have been recruited for a strike on Tel Aviv. When they are intercepted at the Israeli border and separated from their handlers, a young woman who discovers their plan causes them to reconsider their actions.
The film gives voice to the Palestinian condemnation of violence while offering insights into the individuals behind such events.
Distribution with Aztec International
NOW AVAILABLE ON 35mm and DVD
Dir : Richard Kweitniowki, Canada., 2003
110 minutes
The true story of one man and his obsession, Owning Mahowney is a gripping story based largely around the casinos of Las Vegas. In a phenomenally engrossing performance by Acadmey Award Winner Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Capote, Boogie Nights), Dan Mahowney, mild mannered banker, goes from spiralling debt to corporate thief.
Also starring Minnie Driver and John Hurt, this calm and resolute film by Richard Kwietnowski and penned by Maurice Chavert swings an audience from empathy to disappointment scene by scene.
AVAILABLE NOW ON 35mm and DVD
DIR : Francis Veber, France, 2003
Stupid is as stupid does in this hilarious comedy by Francis Veber. Starring two of France's big names, Gerard Depardieu and Jean Reno, Veber's pits them against each other; one as the idiot, one who needs the idiot.
The French police capture the idiot Depardieu and use him in an attempt to coerce Reno's character to confess the location of a large booty he has recently stolen. In a hair brained escape, the two leave the confines of jail and begin a frantic run to escape an ever closing in Parisian police force.
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ON 35mm and DVD
Director : Eytan Fox, Israel
Eyal is a professional hit man for the Mossad, the Israeli Secret Service. His newest mission is to track down ex-Nazi officer Alfred Himmelman, rumoured to still be alive. Posing as a tour guide, he meets up with the young grandchildren of Himmelman, showing them the sites of Israel in an attempt to win their trust and gain an inside route to complete his mission.Eytan Fox's new film creates an uneasy tension between the two cultures of Germany and Israel whose past is more than ready to take control. As the friendships evolve throughout the film, what opens up is the commonality between man and a reach for compassion, as well as justice.
Sharmill Snippits... Sharmill Films is pleased to be distributing Ari Folman's critically acclaimed Waltz with Bashir, which recently premiered at the 2008 Festival de Cannes in Official Competition. APRIL 24 th: Fatih Akin brings modern Turkey and Germany alive in his absorbing 2007 Cannes winner, The Edge of Heaven
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