A sneak preview of some of the films and documentaries premiering on Rialto Channel in the next few months

An Education

Directed by Lone Scherfig

Middle class parents Jack and Marjorie (Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour) are set on an Oxford education for their pretty daughter Jenny (Carey Mulligan), but she is drawn towards the school of life from which golden-tongued David (Peter Sarsgaard) claims to have graduated. The con-man and thief soon talks Jenny's mistrustful parents into agreeing to whatever he wants, and the star-struck young girl gets a tour of the lush life to astound her school friends before a rude awakening gives her An Education.

Premiering in October

Country:	UK
Genre:	Drama
Released:	2009
Rating:	M

Sympathy For Lady Vengeance

Directed by Chan-wook Park

Lee Geum-ja (Lee Yeong-ae) has just been released from prison and is determined to exact revenge upon the man who put her there. Not only did jail steal years from her life, but Geum-ja was forced to give up her baby daughter for adoption. Now, calling in favours owed to her by other prisoners, she executes a complicated scheme that will re-unite her with her daughter and settle her score. Then she learns a terrible, and unexpected, truth. Revenge, while it may be just, turns out to be more bitter than sweet.

Premiering in October

Country:	South Korea
Genre:	Drama
Released:	2005
Rating:	18VS

The End of the Line

Directed by Rupert Murray

Former London Daily Telegraph journalist Charles Clover, whose book provides the basis for this documentary, is joined by former tuna fisherman and whistle blower Roberto Mielgo Bregazzi in confronting the problem of over-fishing and those who benefit from it - despite the threat to marine life. Filmed over two years around the world from the Straits of Gibraltar to the coasts of Senegal and Alaska and the Tokyo Fish Market, the filmmakers talk to scientists, indigenous fishermen and fishing enforcement officials. The dangerous depletion of fishing stocks seems inevitable.

Premiering in October

Country:	UK
Genre:	Documentary
Released:	2009
Rating:	PG

Afterwards

Directed by Gilles Bourdos

Nathan (Romain Duris) is a brilliant New York lawyer who leads a life of professional success, but his private life is pretty dismal since he divorced Claire (Evangeline Lilly), his only love. Until he meets Doctor Kay (John Malkovich), a mysterious doctor who introduces himself as a Messenger. He claims that he can sense when certain people are about to die, and that he is sent to help them put their life in order before it's too late. Nathan doesn't believe a word of this, but soon afterwards he witnesses some disconcerting scenes which seem to confirm the doctor's claims.

Premiering in October

Country:	Canada
Genre:	Drama
Released:	2008
Rating:	M

Morris: A Life With Bells On

Directed by Lucy Akhurst

Morris might be one of England's core folk traditions, but it's frequently a subject of ridicule. So it's quite an achievement that mockumentary is remarkably un-mocking. A film producer (Aidan McArdle) is making a documentary about one Derecq - that's D'rek - Twist (Charles Thomas Oldham). Derecq is a tractor mechanic from west Dorset who lives for morris dancing, and is one of the best in the country. The film follows Derecq, and his Millsham Morris team, and talks to various other figures in the scene. There's Professor Chamberlayne (Harriet Walter), a Cambridge scholar who talks about the "Cotswold", the best-known morris dance, as "a distillation of masculinity into dance, a vibrant expression of sensuality..." Then there's Quentin Neely MC CBE (Derek Jacobi), the ultra-traditionalist head of Her Majesty's Morris Circle. Ian Hart, meanwhile, appears as tough Moss Side morrisman Endeavour Hungerfjord-Welsh.

Premiering in October

Country:	UK
Genre:	Comedy
Released:	2009
Rating:	MLS

JCVD

Directed by Mabrouk El Mechri

Jean-Claude Van Damme (himself), an out of luck actor, is out of money, his agent can't find him a decent production, and the judge in a custody battle is inclined to give custody of his daughter (Saskia Flanders) to his ex-wife. He returns to his childhood home of Brussels, where he's still considered a national icon. When he goes into a post office to receive a wire transfer, he finds himself in the middle of a robbery and hostage situation. The police believe Van Damme is responsible for the crime and Van Damme finds himself acting as a hero to protect the hostages, as well as negotiator. Van Damme is forced to play a different kind of hero by accepting responsibility for crimes he didn't commit and the life mistakes that he made.

Premiering in October

Country:	Belgium
Genre:	Drama
Released:	2008
Rating:	MVL

Sons of Cuba

Directed by Andrew Lang

The Havana Boxing Academy is a Cuban boarding school that takes 9-year-old boys, and turns them into the best boxers in the world. The documentary follows the stories of three young hopefuls through eight dramatic months of training and schooling as they prepare for the biggest event of their lives so far: Cuba's National Boxing Championship for Under-12's. But during the season, crisis strikes: Fidel Castro is taken ill, and all of Cuba's Olympic boxing champions defect to the USA, leaving Cuba at crossroads, and the boys contemplating a changing world.

Premiering in October

Country:	UK
Genre:	Documentary
Released:	2009
Rating:	M

Samson and Delilah

Directed by Warwick Thornton

Aboriginal teenagers Samson (Rowan McNamara) and Delilah (Marissa Gibson) live in an isolated community in the Central Australian desert, struggling and making do. Samson is a lost soul, occasionally sniffing petrol. He has eyes for Delilah, who looks after her Nana (Mitjili Napanangka Gibson), who paints - until she dies. Delilah is held responsible and Samson comes to her aid - but he's is also in trouble. They leave the community together - and arrive in Alice Springs, a place no safer than their community. They shelter under a bridge in the town's dry river bed and Samson's sniffing (and isolation) accelerates. Delilah is traumatized by two terrible events and their future seems bleak.

Premiering in September

Country:	Australia
Genre:	Drama
Released:	2009
Rating:	16V