A study of loneliness, voyeurism and passivity, The Spectator tells the story of Valeria. A simultaneous interpreter by profession, she spends her days alone in her translation booth listening to the words of others. She visits bars and indulges in one-night stands but is chronically detached until she becomes obsessed with Massimo, a doctor who lives opposite her. She follows the man around, intrigued by his movements, especially when she translates a conference in which he speaks of “solitude, emotional poverty, and detachment from the world.” When Massimo suddenly moves from Rome to Turin, Valeria too leaves her life behind to follow. Finding Massimo is involved with an older woman, Valeria creates an “accidental” meeting with her rival that leads to a mutual curiosity and then to the development of an ambiguous relationship between the two women, which soon becomes a love triangle entangling Massimo. 

Set against a tumultuous backdrop of fear and violence, Haim Bouzaglo's acclaimed film tells of a Tel Aviv playwright who attempts to make sense of his country's carnage and his own tangled personal life by writing a new play. When writer's block sets in, Haim seeks a creative spark by hiring a private eye to trail his documentary filmmaker girlfriend. Bouzaglo brings an original mix of filmmaking styles to this potent and challenging drama about the malaise of contemporary life in Israel.

This expressionistic tale of sexual politics follows Rainbow, a mute yet musically gifted girl, whose arranged marriage to an impotent and crippled art teacher causes her eye to wander. Set against the historical background of China's bloody war with Japan in the 1930's, the bold colors and unique stylization of Gao Xiao-Song's film brings to mind both Zhang Yimou and Takashi Miike. With its Surrealistic imagery and classical-meets-heavy metal soundtrack, Rainbow offers a glimpse of a bright new talent on the Chinese cinema scene. In Mandarin with English subtitles.

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