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World Cinema: One Film Per Country

Around the World in 102 Films

From the riches of Europe to the remote island nations of Polynesia, the list aims to shift the world’s focus on North American cinema back to the many other equally rich, yet underappreciated film industries around the world. This world cinema list is a true and authentic celebration of foreign cinema. Sparkling with diversity, we offer you 102 of the best foreign films ever made, one film per country.

To write this article, we spent years watching and re-watching every film mentioned in this article; exceptions being those films considered “lost”. Still, our article features merely the top of the iceberg of all the foreign cinema output we watched to compose this list. To make sure each country on this list is represented by an authentic, locally produced film of the highest quality, we’ve watched over 3,000 non-U.S. films in the past two decades.

Pick a Country

AfghanistanAlgeriaArgentinaAustralia AustriaAzerbaijanBangladeshBelarusBelgiumBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBrazilBulgariaBurkina FasoCambodiaCanada ChileChinaColombiaCook IslandsCubaCzechoslovakiaCzech RepublicDenmarkEcuador EgyptEl SalvadorEstoniaEthiopiaFinlandFranceGeorgiaGermanyGreeceHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIranIraqIrelandIsraelItalyIvory CoastJamaicaJapanJordanKazakhstanLaosLebanonLithuaniaMacedonia MaliMauritaniaMexicoMongoliaMoroccoMyanmarNepalThe NetherlandsNetherlands AntillesNew ZealandNicaraguaNigeriaNorth KoreaNorwayPalestineParaguayPeruThe PhilippinesPolandPuerto RicoQuebecRomaniaRussiaRwandaSamoaSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSloveniaSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth KoreaSoviet-Union SpainSri LankaSwedenSwitzerlandTaiwanThailandTunisiaTurkeyUkraineUnited KingdomUruguayUnited States of AmericaVenezuelaVietnamWest-GermanyYugoslaviaZambia

Lists of the best foreign films in the world

While in the past there have been some attempts to create lists with the best foreign films of all time, each one of those lists made our film scholar souls cringe. They either listed a film like Dracula (1992) as an entry for Romania or featured the Outback-drama A Town Like Alice (1956) as an Australian film, failing to recognize that these films were produced and directed by foreigners, starred foreigners, and said very little about the country they attempted to display. You’ll find no such entries on our list!

Travel the World Through Cinema

Over the course of this list, we will travel across the continents to explore the world’s splendorous cinematic landscape. We will highlight hidden gems produced within each geographical region, one film per country. From the famed film industries of France and Italy to the virtually non-existent industries of Myanmar and Saudi Arabia and the now-defunct countries of West-Germany and Yugoslavia; you’ll find them all in the list.

During our cinematic journey across the globe, we will offer you a historical outline of each country’s local film industry. Additionally, we reflect on the socio-political factors that shaped the countries’ cinematic landscape, which resulted in the production of the films we recommend.

The Best Films of Europe

The Best Films of Africa

The Best Films of Asia

The Best Films of Oceania

The Best Films of the Americas

Browse Films by Geographical Region

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Central and Eastern European Cinema (Burnt by the Sun)

Cinema of Eastern Europe

Explore the very best movies from Central and Eastern Europe, based on a selection of over 9,100 films.

Join us in shifting the world’s focus on American cinema back to the many other equally rich, yet underappreciated film industries around the world. In this article series, we highlight several hidden gems produced within a certain geographical region, one film per country, from the riches of Europe to the remote island nations of Polynesia.

As a bonus, we will make a donation to the welfare of wild cats, and the preservation of their habitats, for every film purchased through this site.

Table of Contents

Pick a Country

AustriaBelarusBosnia and HerzegovinaBulgariaCzechoslovakiaCzech Republic HungaryMacedonia PolandRomaniaRussiaSerbiaSloveniaSoviet-Union UkraineYugoslavia

The History of Eastern European Cinema

In general, Eastern European cinema was off to a slow start, mainly due to economic and technical issues. World War I and World War II recomposed the region after the devolvement of the Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, as well as the fracturing of Yugoslavia, subsequently broke up the region in smaller pieces. Though both the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia boasted strong film industries before their collapse, the recovery of the splintered nation’s domestic industries came only gradually.

Eastern European Cinema (Burnt by the Sun)
(Credit: Burnt by the Sun / Utomlennye solntsem, Russia)

Facing stiff competition from Hollywood and Western Europe, the Eastern European film industries tend to focus on the production of small scale films, telling simply, yet compelling stories about everyday life. Most of these stories focus on social struggles, such as poverty and class differences, while others deal with corruption and the harshness of life under Communism.

With each Eastern European nation being slightly different in nature, every country hosts its own set of hopes and ideals. From the self-criticizing comedies of Romania and Bulgaria and the aspirational dramas of Yugoslavia’s former nations to the gloomy war films produced by the former members of the U.S.S.R., Eastern Europe offers a rich diversity in quality films.

The Best Films from Central Europe

After exploring the national cinema of Western Europe and Southern Europe, we head east into Central Europe, crossing the borders of Austria, the Czech Republic, the former nation of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland.

Austria: Funny Games

Directed by: Michael Haneke, 1997.

World Cinema 012 - Austria (Funny Games)
(Credit: Funny Games)

Despite Austrian German being Austria’s official language, the citizens of the mountainous country still share a common language with neighboring countries Germany, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein through standardized German. This allowed the four nations to often co-produce films in a similar way as the United Kingdom and the United States have done throughout (film) history. Austria, for example, successfully teamed up with Germany for the productions The Edukators (2004) and Academy Award-winner The Counterfeiters (2007).

The collaborative nature of the Austrian film industry has not stopped Austria from developing its own film industry. Both Austria’s grandeur films such as Sissi (1955) and small gems like Slumming (2006) fared well abroad. From the late 1940s to the early 1970s, the “heimat” film was a popular genre within the German-speaking market. Heimat films were usually set in the outdoors and offered sentimental depictions of rural life.

Breaking away from the traditions set by the heimat films, Austrian director Michael Haneke characterized himself stylistically as a very bold director, refusing to shy away from difficult topics. Within Austria’s national film industry, his name stands out above all others: Haneke directed some of the country’s most successful films, including Caché (2005), The White Ribbon (2009), and Amour (2012). After his shocking break-out film Benny’s Video (1992), Haneke continued to play around with topics such as violence and abuse in the horrifying Funny Games (1997). The psychological thriller perfectly captures the nature of Haneke’s early work and shatters the moralistic ideology of the heimat films.

Two seemingly friendly, articulate young men take a family hostage in their holiday cabin, forcing them to play a series of sadistic games with one another.

Find Funny Games on Amazon.com.

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Czech Republic: Kolya

Directed by: Jan Sverák, 1996.

World Cinema 013 - Czech Republic (Kolya)
(Credit: Kolya / Kolja)

After World War I, the Czechoslovakian film industry was booming. Dubbed as the “Hollywood of the East”, Czechoslovakian directors continued to deliver great films for many decades. This eventually led to the production of the Academy Award-winning films The Shop on Main Street (1965) and Closely Watched Trains (1966) in the 1960s. With an additional two nominations in the same decade, Czechoslovakian cinema was at the top of its game.

Steadily continuing its film production after the country’s peaceful dissolution into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, the Czech Republic continued to score international hits, among which Divided We Fall (2000) and Želary (2003).

The new-born country’s first Academy Award hit after Czechoslovakia’s dissolution was the influential film Kolya (original title: Kolja, 1996). Kolya takes place in the year before the Czechoslovakian Velvet Revolution, which peacefully ended the long-lasting rule of the country’s communist party. In the film, František Louka, a middle-aged Czech man runs up a large debt after losing his job at the Czech Philharmonic. To meet ends, he accepts payment for a sham marriage with a Soviet woman to enable her to stay in Czechoslovakia. Once the deal is done, the woman uses her new citizenship to emigrate to West Germany, leaving her son in the care of Louka.

English-language films such as Big Daddy (1999) and About a Boy (2002) have since attempted to present worldwide audiences with similar films in which a young boy seemingly educates an irresponsible bachelor. Stripped down to simple romantic comedies, both films lack the social and political backstory of what makes Kolya such a great film.

Louka, a confirmed bachelor, and a lady’s man, agrees to a sham marriage to make ends meet, which ultimately leaves him with the care of the son of his pretend wife.

Find Kolya on Amazon.com.

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Czechoslovakia: Who Wants to Kill Jessie?

Directed by: Václav Vorlícek, 1966.

World Cinema 014 - Czechoslovakia (Who Wants to Kill Jessie)
(Credit: Who Wants to Kill Jessie? / Kdo chce zabít Jessii?)

In Avengers: Endgame (2019), the Avengers collided with a planet-throwing Titan, while 20th Century Fox, Sony, Warner Bros., and other production studios were battling each other over a piece of the superhero pie on both the big and the small screen. There seems to be no end to the number of new superhero movies being put in production. However, before the superhero surge of the early 2000s, only Superman and Batman rang familiar in the general audiences’ ears. And before that…

In a time when superhero movies were an obscure– virtually non-existent – niche market, the now-dissolved country of Czechoslovakia attempted playing around with the genre. Who Wants to Kill Jessie? (original title: Kdo chce zabít Jessii?, 1966) is a science fiction comedy breaking with the domestic conventions of everyday life under the highly oppressive Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. In the film, a scientist finds new inspiration in a series of Jessie-comic books, after which his wife (and fellow scientist) accidentally manifests his dreams: comic book heroine Jessie and her two archenemies are brought into the real world.

Playboy cover girl Olga Schoberová takes on the role of what might just be the first cinematic superheroine ever, while actor Juraj Visny plays her opposite as a joyfully evil version of Superman. The film brilliantly brings the conventions of comic books into the real world, including text balloons and sound effects. Vorlíček goal was “to make the Czech people collectively aware that they were participants in a system of oppression and incompetence which had brutalized them all.” Blissfully amoral and a little weird, Who Wants to Kill Jessie? is definitely worth a watch.

Two scientists working on a project engendering dreams accidentally project comic book heroine Jessie into the real world.

Find Who Wants to Kill Jessie? on Amazon.com.

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Hungary: White Palms

Directed by: Szabolcs Hajdu, 2006.

World Cinema 015 - Hungary (White Palms)
(Credit: White Palms / Fehér Tenyér)

After film was introduced into Hungary by the Lumiére brothers, the country slowly started to build up its own film industry. The country’s first film, The Dance (1901), focused on the shows of the Uránia Scientific Theatre. After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and both world wars, however, little money was left to work with. With the film industry being under government control for decades, local films were often only mildly successful. It wasn’t until the second half of the 20th century that Hungarian cinema was allowed to take a more liberal approach to storytelling. The revolutionary wave of the late 1980s ended communist rule and finally allowed the country’s national film industry to really find its footing.

During the final decade of communist rule in Hungary, director Béla Tarr stepped onto the playing field. Offering a cynical view of both society and humanity, his films Damnation (1988) and the seven hour-long Satan’s Tango (1994) spoke to audiences around the world. Tarr’s works were followed up by a new generation of Hungarian directors, each trying to capture the spirit and soul of their country.

Szabolcs Hajdu’s sports drama White Palms (original title: Fehér Tenyér, 2006) does so by telling the story of Hungarian gymnast Miklós Dongó, a man, who like everyone else in his generation, was only a child during the communist regime, but became an adult during capitalism. In search of a new start, Miklós moves to Canada, where a clash of different cultures and values hampers his career as a trainer.

In White Palms, gymnast Miklós moves to Canada in search of a new life as a trainer, but finds it difficult to shed his own past while training young prodigy Kyle.

Find White Palms on Amazon.com.

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Poland: Knife in the Water

Directed by: Roman Polanski, 1962.

World Cinema 016 - Poland (Knife in the Water)
(Credit: Knife in the Water / Nóz w Wodzie)

The Polish film industry trod the same pathways as the Hungarian film industry. Films were produced under strict supervision and all cinemas were state-owned. Historical events such as the end of Stalinism in Poland and the fall of communism in 1989 greatly affected the national film industry. The change in Poland’s political climate after Stalin’s death gave rise to the Polish Film School movement, which sprouted a new wave of Polish film directors, including the now world-famous Roman Polanski.

Born in Paris, but growing up in Kraków, Poland, Polanski witnessed the emergence of the Kraków Ghetto and the subsequent deportation of all the ghetto’s Jews to concentration camps, which inspired his powerful World War II-film The Pianist (2002). Long before directing The Pianist – and well before the infamous sexual abuse case which caused Polanski to flee from the United States to France – the director made his big-screen debut with Knife in the Water (original title: Nóz w Wodzie, 1962).

Knife in the Water’s themes are comparable to those found in Polish classics such as Ashes and Diamonds (1958), in which Poland’s social classes started fighting each other after the end of World War II. Knife in the Water tells the story of a similar social clash between a wealthy couple and a young hitchhiker, who, after hitching a ride with the married Andrzej and Krystyna, is invited to go with them on their sailing trip. During the trip, the tension gradually builds between Andrzej and the hitchhiker. The unsettling nature of their relationship is firmly rooted in Poland’s post-war class system and subtly conveys the director’s pessimistic views on human nature.

After reluctantly picking up a young hitchhiker, a wealthy, married couple invite the man to go with them on their weekend sailing trip, initiating a tense struggle for power onboard the vessel.

Find Knife in the Water on Amazon.com.

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The Best Films from Eastern Europe

Making our way south, we pass parts of the former Soviet-UnionRussia, Belarus and Ukraine – before visiting the Eastern European countries of Romania and Bulgaria.

Soviet-Union: Stalker

Directed by: Andrey Tarkovsky, 1979.

World Cinema 024 - Soviet-Union (Stalker)
(Credit: Stalker / Stalkyer)

From 1922 to 1991, the Soviet Union stretched the Eurasia supercontinent. Throughout its existence, the nation’s national film industry was strictly guided by its government, ruled by the Soviet Communist Party. From the get-go, the leaders of the Union stated that film was an ideal propaganda tool due to its widespread popularity. Still, technical issues, as well as the economic pressure of war, prevented Soviet cinema from flourishing before World War II. The Soviet Union was able to produce only a number of films, but managed to bring forth a new generation of Soviet film makers, including the world-famous Sergei Eisenstein.

Eisenstein’s silent propaganda film Battleship Potemkin (1925) has been named one of the greatest films of all time by modern critics. Using new techniques and storytelling methods, Eisenstein left his mark on world cinema. Soviet cinema prospered throughout the following decades. The death of Stalin and the end of Stalinism allowed new voices to be heard within the country, taking a more liberal stance on film making. This allowed directors to chose a more artistic approach to filmmaking.

Directors such as Andrei Tarkovsky and Nikita Mikhalkov were largely unconcerned with their films’ economical successes. Taking a philosophical approach to film making, they each sculpted a series of beautiful art house films. Tarkovsky’s science fiction film Stalker (original title: Stalkyer, 1979) is perhaps one of the greatest examples of post-Stalinist film. The film depicts the efforts of a guide known only as “the Stalker” in taking his clients through a mysterious, seemingly sentient site known as “the Zone”. Taking a path that can only be sensed, but not seen, the Stalker aims to lead his clients to a room which has the ability to fulfil a person’s innermost desires. Poetic and philosophical in nature, Stalker presents its viewers with a lengthy, hypnotic journey through the human consciousness.

A guide known as “the Stalker” is tasked with leading two men through a mysterious area known as “the Zone” to find a room that will fulfil their innermost desires. Along the way, the three strangers exchange thoughts and try to find the meaning in both their journey as well as their lives.

Find Stalker on Amazon.com.

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Russia: Burnt by the Sun

Directed by: Nikita Mikhalkov, 1994.

World Cinema 025 - Russia (Burnt by the Sun)
(Credit: Burnt by the Sun / Utomlennye Solntsem)

From Sergei Eisenstein’s enigmatic The Battleship Potemkin to Andrei Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev (1966) and Vladimir Menshov’s Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (1980), Russian cinema has been at the forefront of the world’s cinematic landscape since the early 20th century. After the death of Stalin and the subsequent devolution of the Soviet Union, the country’s filmmakers started focusing on themes that were previously unexplored, such as the effects Stalinism had had on the country. One of these films was Nikita Mikhalkov’s Burnt by the Sun (original title: Utomlennye Solntsem, 1994).

Burnt by the Sun depicts the arrival of the Red Army in a small countryside village in the Soviet Union during the summer of 1936. During this period, Stalin executed what is now known as the Great Terror: a campaign of political repression, including a large-scale purge of people deemed unwanted by Stalin’s government. Throughout this period, an estimated 600.000 people died at the hands of the Soviet Union’s leaders.

In the film, Sergei Petrovich Kotov, a senior Red Army officer, tries to protect his family from the repression brought on by Stalinism. The arrival of Mitya, Kotov’s wife former fiancé who disappeared in 1923 further unsettles the family’s peaceful life. Through the stories of Kotov and Mitya, Burnt by the Sun sketches the randomness of Stalin’s mindless purge, demonstrating just how pointless his repression was once the Khrushchev thaw set in after the dictator’s death.

Set in Russia, 1936, during the period of Stalinist repression, Burnt by the Sun tells the story of senior Red Army officer Kotov and his family, and the unheralded arrival of Kotov’s wife former fiancé.

Find Burnt by the Sun on Amazon.com.

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Belarus: Fortress of War

Directed by: Aleksandr Kott, 2010.

World Cinema 026 - Belarus (Fortress of War)
(Credit: Fortress of War / Brestskaya Krepost)

Belarus – often referred to as White Russia, much to the disgruntlement of the country’s inhabitants – was a part of the Soviet Union until 1991. The country’s history, as well as the history of its film industry, mimics that of similar formerly Soviet-occupied nations, such as Estonia, Lithuania, and Ukraine. What sets Belarus apart from these other countries is that the country continued to produce films in both Russian as well as Belarussian.

With a steady output of approximately 1-3 films each year, Belarus is still a small player within the European film industry. Like in many other Eastern European countries, Belarusian cinema has a tendency to focus on life during communism and the people’s struggles during the Soviet occupation. Other films, such as Franz + Polina (2006) and Fortress of War (original title: Brestskaya Krepost, 2010) focus on the Nazi occupation of Belarus.

Fortress of War recounts an important event in the history of the Soviet Union: the Nazi invasion at Brest in Belarus. Starting what was known as ‘Operation Barbarossa’, Nazi troops crossed the Bug River, invaded Brest, and marched onwards to Minsk, leaving the heavily guarded Brest Fortress surrounded by enemy troops. Soviet propaganda dictated that “there would be no war”, causing the Red Army soldiers stationed in the fortress to be caught off-guard once the German army attacked. For over a week, the Soviet soldiers of Brest Fortress fought off the German troops, desperately trying to keep their families living at the fortification safe from harm. Fortress of War depicts the bloody battle through the eyes of its Soviet army leaders, as well as the 15-year-old Sashka.

When Nazi Germany executes its invasion into the Soviet Union, a Soviet fortification situated on the border is left isolated and surrounded by enemy troops.

Find Fortress of War on Amazon.com.

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Ukraine: The Tribe

Directed by: Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi, 2014.

World Cinema 027 - Ukraine (The Tribe)
(Credit: The Tribe / Plemya)

There is no doubt about the fact that Sergei Eisenstein’s propaganda film Battleship Potemkin will always remain the most famous film ever to be filmed in Ukraine. Depicting the 1905 mutiny of the crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin against their officers, the film’s Odessa Steps-sequence became one of the most influential scenes in film history. As a region – and since 1991, as an independent country – Ukraine has steadily produced a host of films. The Ukrainian film industry is a few steps ahead of Belarus and the Baltic states, producing around 10 films every year.

Despite being one of the most successful countries at the Paralympic Games, Ukraine has a reputation for largely underserving people with a disability. Today, very few facilities in the country are disability-friendly. Spokesmen for Ukraine’s deaf population recently stated they still feel ignored by the country’s government. Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi’s The Tribe (original title: Plemya, 2014) introduces us to Sergey, a teenager arriving at a boarding school for deaf students. Rather than focusing on the students’ struggles with their hearing problems, the film depicts the ring of organized crime ruling the school from inside. Sergey is drawn into the school’s violent inner circle, where crime and prostitution are part of the daily routine.

The Tribe’s silent dialogues speak volumes, effortlessly recounting the school’s horrifying story to its audience without uttering a single word. The whole film is presented in Ukrainian Sign Language and features no subtitles, making it a unique and captivating drama that truly embodies the film industry prescription “show, don’t tell”.

Sergey, a deaf teenage boy, enrolls in a boarding school for the deaf, where he is confronted by a circle of organized crime set up within the institution by its violent and uncompromising pupils.

Find The Tribe on Amazon.com.

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Romania: California Dreamin’

Directed by: Cristian Nemescu, 2007.

World Cinema 028 - Romania (California Dreamin')
(Credit: California Dreamin’ / California Dreamin’: Nesfarsit)

In 1897, the French cameraman Paul shot the first film set in Romania: a news item depicting Romania’s ruler, King Carol I. When the public’s interest in cinema started fading in 1898, Menu sold his camera to doctor Gheorghe Marinescu, who became Romania’s first filmmaker. Marinescu’s short medical documentaries did very little to spark the country’s national film industry. For decades, Romania’s movie theatres could hardly generate the amount of money to make a single film, let alone educate new directors and crew members.

Recognizing the influential power of cinema, a law was passed establishing a national cinema fund in 1934, which finally allowed the country’s national film industry to flourish. The period 1948-1989 was then characterized by a series of socialist films, made under the banner of the Communist government.

After the collapse of Communism in Romania following the 1989 revolution, Romanian filmmakers turned their attention to the past, examining the influences Communism had had on their country both before and after 1989. Cristian Mungiu’s drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007) explores the oppressive nature of the Communist government, Radu Muntean’s The Paper Will Be Blue (2006) portrays the chaotic nature of the revolution itself, and in Tudor Giurgiu’s Of Snails and Men (2012) the post-Communist years are satirized with a healthy dose of self-reflective humor.

Cristian Nemescu’s California Dreamin’ (original title: California Dreamin’: Nesfarsit, 2007) in turn, wittily explores the country’s internal struggles in the 1990s by juxtaposing the community of a small countryside village with a troop of American and Romanian soldiers. In the movie, a train containing radar equipment required in Kosovo is halted by a Romanian station chief, demanding to see their customs papers. Stubbornness and bureaucracy prevent the train and its military passengers to pass the village, leaving the soldiers to the whims of the village’s kind, but opportunistic population.

A stubborn railway chief delays a NATO train transporting military equipment during the war in Kosovo, leaving the soldiers escorting the train stranded in a countryside village.

Find California Dreamin‘ on Amazon.com.

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Bulgaria: Mission London

Directed by: Dimitar Mitovski, 2010.

World Cinema 029 - Bulgaria (Mission London)
(Credit: Mission London)

Though Bulgaria’s first film, Bulgaran is Gallant (1915), kicked off the nation’s film industry after World War I, the nation’s cinematic output remained small until a growth spurt in the 1970s. Much like Romanian cinema, Bulgarian cinema doesn’t shy away from utilizing some self-reflective humor. Taking a stab at Bulgaria’s government, ambassadors, and a host of cultural clichés, director Dimitar Mitovski sketches a humorous portrait of his home country in the over-the-top comedy Mission London (2010).

Both before and after the end of communist rule in Bulgaria in November 1989, the country’s cinematic history closely mirrors that of their northern neighbor, Romania. After several years of reformation, Bulgaria was finally allowed to join to European Union in 2007. Mission London takes a satirical look at the country’s entry into the union by spreading its story across a host of characters. In the film, Bulgaria’s president gives the country’s new ambassador in London the task to ensure that the Queen will attend their London-based concert, celebrating Bulgaria joining the European Union.

Mission London perfectly reflects the contemporary Bulgarian mindset, with all its shortcomings and limitations. Mitovski shows his audience how Eastern Europe’s focus on Western culture after decades of Communist oppression translates to everyday life by extrapolating its characteristics in a movie that is satirical and honest at the same time.

Varadin, Bulgaria’s new ambassador in London, is tasked with ensuring that the Queen attends the embassy’s concert celebrating Bulgaria joining the European Union.

Not available on Amazon.com.

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The Best Films from (former) Yugoslavia

Heading back to central Europe to explore the cinema of the former nation of Yugoslavia, we take a trip to the crystal clear lakes of Slovenia, the rural perfection of Bosnia and Herzegovina, post-Milosevic Serbia, and the mountains of sunny Macedonia.

Yugoslavia: Underground

Directed by: Emir Kusturica, 1995.

World Cinema 030 - Yugoslavia (Underground)
(Credit: Underground)

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia once had a booming film industry, supported by the country’s rich and prosperous economy. Nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Yugoslavia was at the top of its game during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1945, the country was established under Josip Broz Tito, who successfully maintained the diverse population of Yugoslavia under one banner. After Tito’s death in 1980, the relations among the six republics of Yugoslavia deteriorated, leading to the destructive Yugoslav Wars.

Dissected to its very core by critics around the world, Emir Kusturica’s Underground (1995) is a fascinating piece of art dosed with exhilarating music, displaying the history of Yugoslavia in the style of Italian historical films. The film depicts the epic story of two friends, Blacky and Marko, from the beginning of World War II until the beginning of the Yugoslav Wars during which the film was released. Rowdy and full of life, Underground churns away like a splendorous circus performance: the film’s opening scenes show the bombing of Belgrade at the hands of the Nazi’s, leading to the destruction of the Belgrade Zoo and the escape of its animals. The film never stops its rollercoaster-ride of excess, but always maintains enough heart and pertinence to eventually leave a deep and lasting impression on its viewers.

Underground tells its story with a sense of dark humor; not shying the absurd, nor underplaying the unspeakable suffering the people of Yugoslavia went through. The stories of Blacky and Marko represent different sides of the conflicts that plagued the country, with Blacky’s story – living underground, in hiding – serving as a strong metaphor for the very real situation Yugoslavs had to deal with during the 1990s: what once was a great country, had suddenly ceased to exist.

In the aftermath of the fall of Yugoslavia during World War II, friends Blacky and Marko organize a resistance, operating from an underground facility. After the end of the war, Marko, the only member of the resistance movement who gets to go to the surface, fails to inform his friends underground that the war has ended.

Find Underground on Amazon.com.

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Slovenia: Rooster’s Breakfast

Directed by: Marko Nabersnik, 2007.

World Cinema 031 - Slovenia (Rooster's Breakfast)
(Credit: Rooster’s Breakfast / Petelinji zajtrk)

Following 1991’s Ten-Day War that followed the Slovenian declaration of independence, Slovenia gained its rightful independence. The country’s role in the Yugoslav Wars was relatively small, allowing the country to continue its film production with relative ease. Though producing only a handful of movies per year and never being nominated for an Academy Award, Slovenian cinema does feature some beautiful examples of filmmaking.

Director Marko Nabersnik’s Rooster’s Breakfast (original title: Petelinji zajtrk, 2007) is one of these hidden gems. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Slovenian writer Feri Lainšček, the film tells the story of a young mechanic named Đuro. After being laid off from his job in the city, his former boss offers him a new job at an auto mechanic shop owned by an acquaintance in a remote village.

Đuro accepts the job and exchanges life in the big city for a quiet rural existence. His new boss, Pišti Gajaš – played wonderfully by Vlado Novak – is the real star of the movie. Gajaš’ caring, naïve personality constantly get him into trouble, but the old fashioned peasant maintains a positive outlook on life. Though simple-minded, he has a clear outlook on life, shepherding his new protégée with his amusing mechanic’s wisdom.

After being laid off at work, a young car mechanic finds a new job in a remote village, becoming the apprentice of the warm, old fashioned, and naive Pišti Gajaš.

Not available on Amazon.com.

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Bosnia and Herzegovina: Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams

Directed by: Jasmila Zbanic, 2006.

World Cinema 032 - Bosnia and Herzegovina (Grbavica - The Land of My Dreams)
(Credit: Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams / Grbavica)

A short stroll through Sarajevo should tell you enough to understand that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s post-war struggles are far from over. The city’s bullet-ridden buildings are inelegantly patched up with cement, and though the city’s residents are remarkably friendly, their scars still run deep. In spite of the country’s financial struggle, Bosnia and Herzegovina was the only post-Yugoslavian country to be nominated for an Academy Award and win.

The award-winning film, No Man’s Land (2001), is not the only great film the country managed to produce after the war, though. Where No Man’s Land deals with the Bosnian War itself, Jasmila Zbanic’s Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams (original title: Grbavica, 2006) deals with the aftermath of the long-lasting conflict. Through the eyes of the main character Esma and her teenage daughter Sara, Grbavica shows how everyday life in Sarajevo is still heavily influenced by the Yugoslav Wars.

Sara’s school is organizing a field trip, but Esma struggles to come up with the money to pay for her daughter’s inclusion. To earn the money for the trip, Esma starts working as a waitress at a nightclub. Meanwhile, the school informs them that the children of shaheeds (“martyrs”, or “war heroes”) can go on the field trip for free, on the condition that they provide a certificate proving that they are the offspring of those who died fighting for their country.

Set against the backdrop of Grbavica, the neighborhood that marked the frontline during the siege of Sarajevo, a woman and her daughter struggle to make ends meet in the aftermath of the Yugoslav Wars.

Find Grbavica: Land of My Dreams on Amazon.com.

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Serbia: The Trap

Directed by: Srdan Golubovic, 2007.

World Cinema 033 - Serbia (The Trap)
(Credit: The Trap / Klopka)

Serbia hosted one of Yugoslavia’s most prosperous film industries, producing 12 films before World War II and continuing to build its output afterward. Despite the Yugoslav Wars, Serbia managed to keep making films that become international hits throughout the 1990s, such as Underground and Black Cat, White Cat (1998). Film production in Serbia vastly outpaced all other former Yugoslavian nations both during and after the war, though so far this has not resulted in any Academy Award nominations.

Modern Serbian films, like those of its neighboring countries, often focus on the aftereffects of the war. Srdan Golubovic’s neo-noir film The Trap (original title: Klopka, 2007) explores the post-Milošević Serbian society, where, after the fall of communism, the gap between the rich and the poor is ever-expanding. The film contrasts Serbia’s nouveau riche class with the country’s struggling middle class, who have nothing to hold on to but their own pride.

The shattered Serbian economy weighs heavy on The Trap’s main character, ordinary construction engineer Mladen Pavlović. When Pavlović’s son is diagnosed with a heart muscle condition, he struggles to collect the money to pay for the surgery needed. After several attempts to raise the money, Pavlović’s wife desperately submits an ad in the paper, asking for charitable donations. When the caller responds with a horrifying proposal, Pavlović is forced to choose between the life and death of his own child.

In a country where even after the war human life still holds very little value, an ordinary man is forced to choose between the life and death of his own child.

Find The Trap on Amazon.com.

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Macedonia: Before the Rain

Directed by: Milcho Manchevski, 1994.

World Cinema 034 - Macedonia (Before the Rain)
(Credit: Before the Rain / Pred Doždot)

Much like Serbia, Macedonia’s film industry got an early start. Nowadays, the small, landlocked country produces approximately four films per year. Macedonia was the first post-Yugoslavian country to receive an Academy Award nomination, making Milcho Manchevski’s Before the Rain (original title: Pred Doždot) one of only two post-Yugoslavian films to receive the honor. Before the Rain’s nomination was well deserved: the extraordinary film gracefully portrays Macedonia’s role in the Yugoslav Wars.

The film is broken down into three parts: Words, Faces, and Pictures. The three parts are connected through an illusionistic circular narrative, linking characters and events from all three stories. A closer viewing, however, discloses deliberate inconsistencies in the film’s narrative. The stories and themes presented in Before the Rain serves as a melancholic metaphor for the uncompromising nature of war.

Actor Rade Šerbedžija, who portrays disillusioned war photographer Aleksandar in the film, is one of Before the Rain’s most familiar faces. After breaking through internationally, the Croatian actor played a host of sinister (and often Russian) villains in films and series ranging from Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) and X-Men: First Class (2011) to 24 (2001-2010) and Downton Abbey (2010-2015). Seeing him return to (former) Yugoslavia to play a well-balanced, politically charged role is wonderful in itself.

The stories of an Albanian girl on the run, a young monk who has taken a vow of silence, a London picture editor and a disillusioned war photographer collide in a tragic tale of war set in rural Macedonia.

Find Before the Rain on Amazon.com.

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Looking for something else? Check out our recommendation for the best films from Western Europe, films from Africa, films from South Asia, films from West and Central Asia, films from East and Southeast Asia, films from Oceania and the Pacific, films from North America, films from Central America and the Caribbean and films from South America.

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European Cinema (Lola Rennt)

Cinema of Europe

Explore the very best movies from Western, Southern and Northern Europe, based on a selection of over 9,100 films.

Join us in shifting the world’s focus on American cinema back to the many other equally rich, yet underappreciated film industries around the world. In this article series, we highlight several hidden gems produced within a certain geographical region, one film per country, from the riches of Europe to the remote island nations of Polynesia.

As a bonus, we will make a donation to the welfare of wild cats, and the preservation of their habitats, for every film purchased through this site.

Table of Contents

Pick a Country

BelgiumDenmarkEstoniaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceIcelandIrelandItalyLithuaniaThe NetherlandsNorwaySpainSwedenSwitzerlandUnited KingdomWest-Germany

The History of European Cinema

Before World War I, Germany, Italy, France, and Britain dominated the worldwide film industry. The destructive nature of both World Wars caused many of Europe’s film industries to falter, as its hosting countries lacked funding for the motion picture industry. Meanwhile, the United States had reached what is now known as “the Golden Age of cinema”. Import embargos prevented American films from reaching Europe during World War II, but once those embargos were lifted, the European markets were flooded with American films that had been produced during the war.

The heavy competition arising from this steady stream of films being imported into Europe meant the final nail in the coffin for many national film industries. It wasn’t until the late 20th century that European cinema found its footing again.

European Cinema (Lola Rennt)
(Credit: Lola Runs / Lola Rennt, Germany)

Today, the modern European film landscape is still dominated by American films. Thanks to decades of growth, North American film studios can now continuously produce big-budget films, easily fending off foreign competition. This has forced European production houses to focus on a cheaper, more cost-effective form of film: art house productions. Europe became known for the production of serious, small scale films, focusing on different aspects of everyday life and the emotional struggles originating from it…

The Best Films from Western Europe

We start off in bustling Western Europe, visiting the national film industries of some of the world’s most prolific non-English cinematic landscapes. Hitting the ground running, we explore the controversial films of the Netherlands, before moving into experimental Germany and looking back at the impressive output of West-Germany. We continue our journey through gentle-natured Belgium, eclectic France, working-class Ireland, and the prolific United Kingdom. Slowly migrating south, we cross mountainous Switzerland to reach the sun covered beaches of Southern Europe.

The Netherlands: Off Track

Directed by: Sander Burger, 2017.

World Cinema 001 - The Netherlands (Off Track)
(Credit: Off Track)

Worldwide, the Netherlands is known for its open-mindedness, famously legalizing soft drugs, prostitution, and euthanasia. Dutch films are similarly known for their blasé handling of taboos. It’s not uncommon for a Dutch movie to depict a sweaty sex scene complete with freely dangling genitals, or to show a character doing his or her business on the toilet. If you haven’t seen at least one pair of bare breasts bouncing around in the latest Dutch movie you watched, you might have mistaken a Flemish film for a Dutch one.

Though the first Dutch film, Disturbed Angler (1896) was a fictional slapstick comedy, the country was renowned for the production of documentary films before fiction films grew in popularity. National cinema didn’t start gaining in popularity until the 1970s. From the 1970s to the 1990s, directors Paul Verhoeven and Dick Maas boosted the national film industry with commercial films such as Turkish Delight (1973) and Flodder (1986) – each having a fairly high breast count – but it wasn’t until the early 2000s that Dutch film really found its footing. Sadly, this was paired with a steady stream of lackluster releases: every year the Dutch film industry churned out a host of silly, star-studded romantic comedies, leaving audiences skeptical at the idea of quality Dutch cinema – as is evident in the low IMDb scores for about every Dutch movie ever made.

Because it was extremely difficult for producers to gain funding for their projects, the public broadcasting foundation Nederlandse Publieke Omroep initiated the Telefilm initiative in 1998; a financial support system aiding the production of six made-for-television films per year. Over 20 years and 100 titles later, the Telefilms are stronger than ever, offering up films that put the country’s cinematic output to shame.

Off Track (2017) is one of those Telefilms. First broadcasted in 2017, the film tells the story of three Dutch men enjoying life on the road in Ecuador. After a nightly adventure at a local club, the backpackers are lured into a shady brothel. There, main character Luuk encounters Soledad, a young prostitute forced to work under dire conditions. Shocked by his encounter with Soledad, Luuk takes the story of meeting a “hooker with a heart of gold” one step further: he tries to negotiate her freedom, hoping to save her from life in hell.

Off Track is an honest, true-to-life depiction of illegal prostitution, bringing the story of Luuk and Soledad to a heart-breaking conclusion. In the tradition of Dutch film, Off Track doesn’t shy away from complex social issues and manages to challenge its viewers’ ideas about illegal prostitution.

Raw and uncompromising, Off Track follows the struggles of three friends backpacking through South America as their ideals and values are challenged following an encounter with a local prostitute.

Find Off Track on NPO3. Not available on Amazon.com.

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Germany: Head-On

Directed by: Fatih Akin, 2004.

World Cinema 002 - Germany (Head-On)
(Credit: Head-On / Gegen die Wand)

The history of the German film industry is one of the richest in Europe. In the years after World War I, Germany produced up to 250 films per year. The unstable political situation in the country during the 1930s and 1940s, however, led to a number of renowned filmmakers and actors leaving the country. Many of them established prosperous careers in the United States, such as director Fritz Lang and actress Marlene Dietrich. Though the country was able to re-establish its film industry after the war, German cinema never found its way back to the top.

From the 1980s onwards, a new wave of popular films revitalized the industry by harking back to the provocative nature of early German cinema, while establishing a new form of film. The original feel of German cinema was recaptured in films such as Run Lola Run (1998), Good Bye, Lenin! (2003) and Reclaim your Brain (2007).

Modern German films often take a critical look at current social and political issues. Spirited and rebellious, the films continuously question the German social system, making sure past mistakes are not repeated. Fatih Akin’s Head-On (original title: Gegen die Wand, 2004) combines the provocative nature of early German films with a story firmly rooted in the multicultural society of modern-day Germany. Head-On is a raw drama about Cahit, a nihilistic Turkish-German who has given up on life following the death of his wife, and Sibel, a woman trapped between traditional values and the modern world. The film shines a dark light on the lives of the immigrants living in Germany, sketching a modern love story within the framework of a broken society.

In Head-On, a forty-year-old addict is approached by a suicidal young woman requesting to set up a pretend marriage in order to break free from the strict rules of her conservative family.

Find Head-On on Amazon.com.

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West-Germany: Wings of Desire

Directed by: Wim Wenders, 1987.

World Cinema 003 - West-Germany (Wings of Desire)
(Credit: Wings of Desire / Der Himmel über Berlin)

After World War II, Germany was split in two, as was its national film industry. In Berlin’s Soviet occupation zone, cinemas re-opened merely three weeks after Germany’s capitulation and the East-German film industry was given a strong boost by the ruling powers. On the other side of the wall, film production stagnated. Though both East and West eventually fully re-established their film industries, neither could fight off foreign competition.

Thanks in part due to its relations to the West, West-Germany was able to secure eight Academy Award-nominations between 1949 and 1990, while East-Germany was only nominated once in 1976 for the Holocaust film Jacob the Liar (1974). Only a few years before the fall of the Berlin Wall, director Wim Wenders filmed Wings of Desire (original title: Der Himmel über Berlin, 1987), a film depicting the lives of two immortal angels roaming around Berlin. Walking freely throughout the city and unbound by the wall, the angels reflect on the Germany that once was.

Wings of Desire offers an intriguing view of human existence through the eyes of Damiel, an angel who sheds his immortality to be with a lonely trapeze artist named Marion. Damiel’s confrontation with the limitations and harshness of his newfound humanity is beautifully sculpted throughout the film, offering an intriguing glimpse into the history of a once-divided nation.

Two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, wander around Berlin, listening to the many thoughts of the city’s inhabitants and offering comfort where needed. Becoming tired of his immortality, Damiel chooses to become human after falling in love with a beautiful trapeze artist.

Find Wings of Desire on Amazon.com.

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Belgium: Come as You Are

Directed by: Geoffrey Enthoven, 2011.

World Cinema 004 - Belgium (Come as You Are)
(Credit: Come as You Are / Hasta la Vista!)

Compared to other Western European countries, the Belgian film industry is characterized by its slow start. It wasn’t until the 1990s that the country’s cinematic landscape really came into bloom, producing Academy Award-nominated films such as Daens (1992) and Bullhead (2011). Belgium’s film industry perfectly reflects the state of the nation itself: the country’s cinematic landscape is linguistically and politically divided into two separate regions; the Flemish-speaking north and the French-speaking south.

The Flemish road comedy-drama Come As You Are (original title: Hasta la Vista!, 2011) crosses both the country’s linguistic border as well as its actual borders. In the film, three twentysomething men are paired up with a grumpy, French-speaking nurse hired to chaperone them on a road trip. Each of the men struggles with a physical handicap: Philip suffers from paraplegia, Jozef is almost completely blind and Lars has an incurable brain tumor, which paralyzed his body. Worried they might all die as virgins, the three friends plan to overcome their disabilities and travel to Spain, where they hope to visit a brothel specialized in taking care of “their kind of people”.

The film brilliantly balances the sadness of living with a handicap with a dose of true, heartfelt optimism. Come As You Are shows how a strong spirit, guided by undying friendship, can overcome any disability. Humorous and endearing, the film gives life to the obstinacy of these three special friends, doing what most non-disabled people can only dream of doing.

Come as You Are tells the story of three physically handicapped men and their chaperone, embarking on a unique road trip through France to Spain, hoping to finally lose their virginity in an accommodating Spanish brothel.

Find Come as you are on Amazon.com.

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France: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

Directed by: Jacques Demy, 1964.

World Cinema 005 - France (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg)
(Credit: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg / Les Parapluies de Cherbourg)

France is the birthplace of cinema. Auguste and Louis Lumière – together known as the Lumière brothers – screened the first 10 films ever made on 22 March 1895 in Paris. Their screening started with the short black-and-white silent documentary film Workers Leaving The Lumière Factory in Lyon (1895), which is considered to be the first film ever made. In the years that followed, the Lumière brothers would travel the world to introduce their new invention, and their trip sparked the dawn of many foreign film industries.

France continued to be at the forefront of development within the budding film industry, producing early success such as the adventure film A Trip to the Moon (1902) and the surrealist An Andalusian Dog (1929). To counter the onset of imported films, the French installed an import quota on foreign films after World War I. The quota indicated that for every seven foreign films imported into France, one French film was to be produced and screened in national cinemas.

The effects of this decision can still be felt today: France remains one of the strongest national film industries on the European continent. Counting the most Academy Award-nominations for Best Foreign Language Film ever and coming in second only to Italy in the number of wins, French cinema is a shining example of independent film production.

One of France’s most wonderful Academy Award-nominees is The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (original title: Les Parapluies de Cherbourg. 1964). The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is the antithesis to what we know about modern French film. French films often depict simple, yet captivating and emotional stories; a slice of life with a gut-wrenching twist, such as The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007). The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, however, is an all-out embracement of wonder.

Director Jacques Demy produced the film as a spiritual sequel to his film Lola (1961), which he often self-described as a “musical without music”. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg reuses the themes presented in Lola, but turns the film’s concept upside-down style-wise: were Lola was a black-and-white art-house film, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg became a meticulously designed splendor of color, combining a captivating musical vibe with a story of bittersweet passion.

A cinematic piece of art, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg tells the story of Geneviève, a young woman working in an umbrella boutique who is separated from her lover by the Algerian War.

Find The Umbrellas of Cherbourg on Amazon.com.

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Ireland: The Commitments

Directed by: Alan Parker, 1991.

World Cinema 006 - Ireland (The Commitments)
(Credit: The Commitments)

Though often used as a location for filming foreign productions, such as in John Ford’s The Quiet Man (1952) and the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011-2019), Ireland’s own national cinema is a young one. During the 1980s, American animator Don Bluth managed to produce a series of hit animation films from within the Irish Sullivan Bluth Studios. An American Tail (1986) and The Land Before Time (1988) became worldwide hits, and Irish animation film studio Cartoon Saloon would later lift Irish animation to new heights with titles such as The Secret of Kells (2009) and Song of the Sea (2014).

The country’s commercial production of fiction films equally didn’t start proper development until the late 20th century. One of Ireland’s early successes was Alan Parker’s The Commitments (1991), an uplifting musical comedy-drama based on Irish novelist Roddy Doyle’s novel of the same name. The Commitments is distinctively Irish at heart. The spirit and soul of the Irish can be felt throughout the narrative: positive, no matter the circumstances. Watching the film feels like visiting Dublin’s obscure bars, or staying up until dawn in busker paradise Galway: music seems to flow through the country’s veins.

Like many other Irish films, The Commitments focusses on the country’s working-class. Set in northern Dublin, the film details the formation of an Irish soul band under the lead of happy-go-lucky music fanatic Jimmy Rabbitte. The film follows Jimmy’s attempt to form a proper musical group out of a band of working-class misfits and manages to portrait a charming portrait of the country’s spirited youth.

Living in the slums of Dublin, Jimmy Rabbitte decides to put together an Irish soul band: the Commitments.

Find The Commitments on Amazon.com.

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United Kingdom: Life of Brian

Directed by: Terry Jones, 1979.

World Cinema 007 - United Kingdom (Life of Brian)
(Credit: Monty Python’s Life of Brian)

The British film industry started operating in 1888, with the production of the world’s first moving pictures by Louis Le Prince. From the first British film, Incident at Clovelly Cottage (1895), to the poignant The Father (2020), Britain’s national film library is so extensive that choosing one definitive movie is nearly impossible: every choice would be a divisive one.

The United Kingdom produced mesmerizing classics such as The 39 Steps (1935), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and A Clockwork Orange (1971) to franchise hits such as Dr. No (1962) and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001), proving that British cinema is of limitless wealth. Successful throughout the decades – in part due to its collaborative nature with the United States and other English-speaking markets – the United Kingdom managed to secure itself a place at the top of the worldwide box office.

Known for its fish and chips, school uniforms, the Beatles, and an insurmountable dose of dry humor, British culture is reflected in every film genre from heavy drama to over-the-top action movies. Where the British film industry really excels, though, is when its directors present their deadpan humor in its purest form: comedy – dark or otherwise. Prime examples of British comedy can be found within the body of work put out by the comedy group Monty Python, consisting of John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin.

Broadcast by the BBC, Monty Python’s Flying Circus (1969-1974) was an incredibly popular British sketch comedy series. Following their television work, the Pythons began making films, including 1979’s Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979), a film every lover of British cinema should have seen at least once, because, “yes – [they] are all individuals!”

Brian of Nazareth, born in the stable next door to Jesus, becomes a reluctant Messiah after joining up with an anti-Roman political organization.

Find Monty Python’s Life of Brian on Amazon.com.

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Switzerland: My Life as a Courgette

Directed by: Claude Barras, 2016.

World Cinema 008 - Switzerland (My Life as a Courgette)
(Credit: My Life as a Courgette / Ma vie de Courgette)

Sandwiched between the Swiss Alps displayed in Philipp Stölzl’s Nord Face (2008), Switzerland has a relatively small film industry. Swiss national cinema is primarily influenced by the industries of its neighboring countries: France, Germany, and Italy. Like other European films, early Swiss productions mostly focused on the working class, who accounted for most of the paying audience.

Switzerland enhanced its film industry by co-producing several films with its surrounding neighbors. This led to the production of award-winning hits such as the Academy Award-nominated The Boat is Full (1981), a film about refugees seeking shelter in Switzerland during World War II. Still slowly growing its national film industry, Swiss films vary greatly in terms of content: the landlocked country’s multicultural nature – Switzerland has four official languages – is reflected in its output.

My Life as a Courgette (original title: Ma vie de Courgette, 2016) is a remarkable French-language stop-motion animated film, directed by Swiss animator Claude Barras. At first sight, My Life as a Courgette’s visually stunning pallet of colors hides the dark, sobering story of its main character Courgette. The opening scenes of the film, however, instantly reveal its true nature: My Life as a Courgette is an adult comedy-drama, filled with emotional depths not often found in an animated movie.

After losing his mother, a young boy nicknamed Courgette is sent to an orphanage, where he struggles to fit in amid the foster home’s equally traumatized children.

Find My Life as a Courgette on Amazon.com.

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The Best Films from Southern Europe

After exploring the national cinema of Western Europe, we move onto the cinematic industry of Southern Europe. From the great epics of Italy to the colorful slice-of-life dramas of Spain, we finally reach the shores of Greece: the birthplace of theatre.

Italy: The Best of Youth

Directed by: Marco Tullio Giordana, 2003.

World Cinema 009 - Italy (The Best of Youth)
(Credit: The Best of Youth / La Meglio Gioventù)

The first Italian film was a short 1896 documentary showing Pope Leo XIII. Before the wars, the nation led the development of art cinema and pioneered many stylistic aspects of film. Italy was responsible for producing some of the world’s first blockbusters, such as Quo Vadis? (1913) and Cabiria (1914), making it one of the most renowned film-producing countries of its time.

Unfortunately, like in most other countries, Italy’s national film industry was brought to a grinding halt due to World War I. Re-establishing itself after World War II through the production of neorealist films, the country’s film industry survived by continuously reinventing itself. Moving from neorealist films to sword-and-sandal films and Spaghetti Westerns such as Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars (1964), Italy managed to stay relevant within the cinematic landscape.

Following the Academy Award-win for Cinema Paradiso (1988) in 1989, Italy’s national film industry was boosted by a generation of new talent. To detail the rich, yet the troublesome history of his country, director Marco Tullio Giordana adapted the tradition of several earlier Italian films: in The Best of Youth (original title: La Meglio Gioventù, 2003) he narrated Italian history through the eyes of one family.

Running at 366 minutes, The Best of Youth chronicles the lives of two Italian brothers and their families from 1966 through 2003. Balancing the family’s personal dramas with the political events that took place during the brothers’ lives, The Best of Youth paints a beautiful portrait of the shaping of modern-day Italy, in the form of a true Italian epic.

Spanning from 1966 to 2003, The Best of Youth follows the lives of two brothers as they live through some of the most tumultuous events of recent Italian history.

Find Act I and Act II of The Best of Youth on Amazon.com.

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Spain: Talk to Her

Directed by: Pedro Almodóvar, 2002.

World Cinema 010 - Spain (Talk to Her)
(Credit: Talk to Her / Hable Con Ella)

War and authoritarian rule long thwarted the proper development of Spain’s national film industry. The first Spanish film was released in 1897, and by 1914, Barcelona was the center of the Spanish film industry. Like their neighbors in Italy, Spanish studios produced many historical epics, such as The Life of Christopher Columbus and His Discovery of America (1917).

Following the Spanish transition to democracy in the mid-twentieth century, Spain began to collaborate with Italy to finance and produce a number of films. Additionally, countries such as the United States, Greece, the United Kingdom, and Mexico shot several films in Spain. The collaborative nature of the Spanish film industry in the early democratic era can still be seen in the production of several English-language films produced by Spain, such as The Machinist (2004) and The Impossible (2012).

Though co-producing many films with other countries for several decades, Spain was also able to establish its own national film industry. Following the general trend of European cinema, Spain produced mainly art films for niche markets. Spanish films are characterized by their absurdist, off-beat nature, often combining humor, drama, and romance, such as in Cows (1992), Unconscious (2004), and Km. 0 (2000).

Pedro Almodóvar’s Talk to Her (original title: Hable Con Ella, 2002) takes on a somewhat more serious tone, combining drama with an unconventional, off-beat romance. The film stars Spanish art-house actress Leonor Watling as Alicia Roncero, a beautiful dance student residing in a coma. Watling, who is equally famous for her talents as the lead singer of the jazzy band Marlango, is a familiar face within the Spanish film industry and can be seen in a large number of Spanish productions from the 2000s.

Male nurse Benigno dedicates his life to his only patient, Alicia, a young dancer in a coma. While at work, Benigno befriends Marco, who’s girlfriend is brought into the hospital in a comatose state after a bullfighter accident.

Find Talk to Her on Amazon.com.

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Greece: The Red Lanterns

Directed by: Vasilis Georgiadis, 1963.

World Cinema 011 - Greece (The Red Lanterns)
(Credit: The Red Lanterns / Ta Kokkina Fanaria)

The first Greek feature film, Kostas Bachatoris’ Golfo (1914), slowly started the nation’s film industry. Production truly took flight after the end of the 1919-1922 Greco-Turkish War, building up towards the country’s “Golden Age of Cinema” in the 1950s and 1960s. During this period Greece produced a series of internationally successful epics, such as Michael Cacoyannis’s Electra (1962) and Zorba the Greek (1964). Unconcerned with Communist influences like its surrounding countries, Greek films were generally more liberal in terms of story and characterization.

A classic example of these liberal, open-minded films is Vasilis Georgiadis’ The Red Lanterns (original title: Ta Kokkina Fanaria, 1963), which takes place inside one of Pireus’ many brothels. The film was the second Greek film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and, though not a winner, was lauded around the world.

Set just before the ban on brothels in Troumba, Pireus, The Red Lanterns follows the daily lives of the brothel’s residents. Actress Tzeni Karezi takes center stage as the beautiful Eleni, who struggles to fend off the affections of her abusive “manager”. Eleni is surrounded by a diverse group of girls working in the home of Madam Pari, a former prostitute now running her own brothel. The girls’ stories are tales of hope and optimism, but also show clear signs of desperation, oppression, and inevitability.

The Red Lanterns follows the stories of five women working as prostitutes in a low-class brothel in Troumba, Pireus, in the period before the ban on prostitution forces the girls’ Madam to close down their house.

Not available on Amazon.com.

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The Best Films from Northern Europe

Heading into Northern Europe, we start with Iceland in the North Atlantic, after which we’ll dock our boat in Denmark, take the Øresund Bridge to Sweden, and travel onwards to Norway and Finland, before heading into the Baltics to visit the former Soviet Republics Estonia and Lithuania.

Iceland: Reykjavík-Rotterdam

Directed by: Óskar Jónasson, 2008.

World Cinema 017 - Iceland (Reykjavík-Rotterdam)
(Credit: Reykjavík-Rotterdam)

It took some time before Icelandic cinema established itself internationally. In 1991, director Friðrik Þór Friðriksson’s Children of Nature (1991) was the first Islandic movie to receive an Academy Award nomination. Afterward, the country’s cinematic landscape started showing signs of growth. Iceland’s relative seclusion in the film market lies mostly in its geographical isolation and its small, thin-spread population. Counting less than 40 screens and producing less than 10 films per year, the country’s small but steady output is slowly gained traction.

With Reykjavík-Rotterdam (2008), director Óskar Jónasson bridged the gap between Iceland and mainland Europe, leading his characters on a high-risk voyage from their home island to the busy port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Jónasson assembled an all-star cast of Icelandic actors and with Reykjavík-Rotterdam, made one of the most expensive Icelandic films of all time.

The film was a great success, winning five Edda Awards in its home country and receiving the dubious honor of being remade in the United States under the title Contraband (2012). The remake, starring Mark Wahlberg, was directed by another successful Icelandic director, Baltasar Kormákur, who made a name for himself with films such as The Deep (2012) and Everest (2015). Quality-wise, Kormákur’s Contraband is no match for its predecessor, though. Reykjavík-Rotterdam easily overshadows the remake in terms of action, humor, and drama, unveiling a touch of what life is like beyond the sea.

Faced with money problems, a security guard accepts a smuggling job aboard a ship sailing from Reykjavík to Rotterdam.

Find Reykjavík-Rotterdam on Amazon.com.

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Denmark: Nymphomaniac, Vol. I & Vol. II

Directed by: Lars von Trier, 2013.

World Cinema 018 - Denmark (Nymphomaniac)
(Credit: Nymphomaniac)

Ever since director Peter Elfelt shot Denmark’s first film, Traveling with Greenlandic Dogs (1896), the country’s film industry has maintained a steady stream of film production. Denmark has a long history of off-beat, unconventional filmmaking, challenging social, religious, and moral themes.

In 1995, Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg started the Dogme 95 filmmaking movement to bring the art of filmmaking back to its core. The directors hoped to do this by embracing the profession’s traditional values and obscuring the use of elaborate special effects and advanced technology. Subversive and controversial, von Trier himself spent a lifetime making experimental films.

In 2013, von Trier concluded his thematic “Depression” trilogy with the two-part art film Nymphomaniac (2013). Though Nymphomaniac is not directly related to its predecessors – the controversial Antichrist (2009) and the enigmatic Melancholia (2011) all three films feature characters dealing with depression or grief.

Watching Nymphomaniac will be a true test of open-mindedness, as the film reads like a poetic presentation of a psychological study. The film starts by telling the story of the sexual awakening of a young woman, but progresses into more controversial territories as it goes on. Throughout its lengthy running time, Nymphomaniac continues to challenge viewers’ ideas and conceptions concerning several topics, from sadomasochism and abortion to the psychological issues of pedophiles. The film has the ability to offend every single conservative mind, but if you are willing and intrigued by the question of whether a child molester can be a victim of his own mind, this might be the right movie for you.

Running at over five hours, Nymphomaniac tells the story of a self-diagnosed nymphomaniac recounting her sexual experiences to the man who takes care of her after receiving a beating.

Find Nymphomaniac Part I and Part II on Amazon.com.

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Sweden: Force Majeure

Directed by: Ruben Östlund, 2014.

World Cinema 019 - Sweden (Force Majeure)
(Credit: Nymphomaniac)

Swedish cinema is inseparably connected with the name Ingmar Bergman, Sweden’s most famous and influential filmmaker. Winning the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for two consecutive years with The Virgin Spring (1960) and Through a Glass Darkly (1961), Bergman paved the way for future generations of Scandinavian filmmakers. Just like many other European countries, Sweden upped its film production in the 1980s and hasn’t slowed down since.

A recent addition to Sweden’s director’s pool is Ruben Östlund. Östlund debuted making skiing films and documentaries, but broke through internationally with his feature film Force Majeure (original title: Turist, 2014). Much like the previously discussed Nymphomaniac, Force Majeure deals with some uncomfortable subject material. The film’s main storyline concerns the aftermath of an avalanche, during which a man prioritized his own escape over the safety of his family. The marital tension resulting from the man’s split-second decision derails the lives of the family.

One of the things that make Force Majeure so uncomfortable to watch is seeing just how destructive human emotion can be. Our lack of communication, our sense of self-worth… Force Majeure brings its core characters spiraling down a deep hole they might never climb out of – not by major conflict, not by a series of life-changing events, but simply through their own, flawed humanity.

A family vacation in the French Alps takes an unexpected turn when a man prioritized his own escape over the safety of his family during an avalanche.

Find Force Majeure on Amazon.com.

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Norway: Kon-Tiki

Directed by: Joachim Rønning & Espen Sandberg, 2012.

World Cinema 020 - Norway (Kon-Tiki)
(Credit: Kon-Tiki)

Norwegian cinema started several years after the film industries of its surrounding countries. The first local film was the documentary short The Dangers in a Fisherman’s Life (1907). Though not as prolific or revered as its neighboring countries’, Norway’s cinematic output has been a notable player on the international market for some time. With Kon-Tiki (2012), directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg brought a unique part of Norwegian history to the big screen and were awarded for it with a series of nominations. Taking place far away from the country’s icy shores, Kon-Tiki is set in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

The Kon-Tiki expedition was a 1947 journey across the Pacific Ocean, led by Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl. Heyerdahl aimed to prove the possibility that Polynesia had first been settled by people from South America, rather than people migrating from the west. His beliefs were based on the similarities between the cultures of Peru and Polynesia, as well as several native legends detailing a conflict between the Hanau epe and Hanau momoko tribes.

To prove his theory, Heyerdahl – played by Pål Sverre Valheim Hagen in the film – set out on a journey to sail the Pacific on a pae-pae raft, which he named after the Inca god of sun and storm, Kon-Tiki. Along with his crew of five men, he voyaged the ocean on the steerless raft, left to perils of the open sea. Kon-Tiki shows the great challenges Heyerdahl and his crew went through in proving what nobody in the world wanted to believe.

To complement your viewing experience, also watch Heyerdahl’s own documentary Kon-Tiki (1950), which details the sea voyage through his own lens.

To prove that it was possible for South Americans to first settle in Polynesia, Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdal sets out to sail 6,900 km across of the Pacific Ocean on a balsawood raft.

Find Kon-Tiki on Amazon.com.

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Finland: Rare Exports, Inc.

Directed by: Jalmari Helander, 2003.

World Cinema 021 - Finland (Rare Exports, Inc)
(Credit: Rare Exports, Inc.)

After the Lumière brothers screened their films in Helsinki in 1896, it took almost a decade for Finland to produce its first local film, Novelty from Helsinki: School youth at break (1904). Regular film production started in the 1920s, and the country’s film industry slowly developed throughout the silent era into the Finnish “Golden age of Cinema” in the 1930s. After a decline in success in later years, the industry was revitalized under influence of the French New Wave movement of the 1960s and received a second boost by the European surge of national cinemas in the late 1990s.

Running at a mere 8 minutes, Rare Exports, Inc. (2003) is by far the shortest recommendation on this list. Carefully crafted by Jalmari Helander, the short film turns Finland’s legendary status as the home of Santa Clause upside down. Rare Exports, Inc. follows the efforts of three skilled hunters venturing into the woods to capture a rare and dangerous prey. The question as to what exactly they are hunting – and why – is part of what makes Rare Exports, Inc. such a great little dark fantasy film.

Dark, surprising, and funny, Rare Exports, Inc. serves as one of the best anti-holiday movies. The short’s brilliant pacing combined with its documentary-style storytelling offers a rare and unconventional take on the Christmas festival. Though Helander’s feature film career never really took off, Rare Exports, Inc. did spawn both a sequel titled Rare Exports: The Official Safety Instructions (2005) and the full-length feature film Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010). Both were directed by Helander himself.

Rare Exports, Inc. is the perfect film for you if you wish to have a full cinematic experience in under ten minutes. The short combines a sense of wonder with the thrills of a horror movie and the laughs of a solid dark comedy. Do watch the short film first before turning your attention towards the feature-length version; the initial reveal is just too good to be spoiled.

Three elite hunters venture into the bitter cold woods of Lapland, to track down and capture a rare and dangerous prey for the Christmas season.

Watch Rare Exports, Inc. on Vimeo. Not available on Amazon.com.

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Estonia: In the Crosswind

Directed by: Martti Helde, 2014.

World Cinema 022 - Estonia (In the Crosswinds)
(Credit: In the Crosswind / Risttuules)

A short ferry ride from Finland, Estonia is the most Northern of the three Baltic states in Europe. Occupied by Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Russia even before World War II’s Soviet occupation began, Estonia finally declared independence in 1991. During it’s earlier, short-lasting period of independence between 1918 to 1934, Estonian director Konstantin Märska produced and directed the country’s first full-length feature film Shadow of the Past in 1924.

Estonia’s national film industry followed the same path as that of the Polish film industry: the end of Stalinism allowed filmmakers to become more liberal and the country’s declaration of independence in 1991 opened up the market for independent filmmakers. During this period, however, the cost of filmmaking skyrocketed and Estonia’s output declined dramatically. In 1996, no feature films were produced at all.

After the 1990s, Estonia’s national film industry once again showed signs of growth. One of the country’s – and perhaps, all of Europe’s – most unique films is director Martti Helde’s In the Crosswind (original title: Risttuules, 2014). In the Crosswind is a beautifully sculptured three-dimensional photograph of the emotional and tragic mass deportation of Estonians to Siberia during World War II. Helde’s black and white tableaux vivant is both mesmerizing and hypnotic, and fashions an eerie portrait of a dark page in Estonia’s history.

In the Crosswind recounts the tragic deportation that took place in the early morning of June 14, 1941. Ordered by Stalin to remove the political opponents of the Soviet government, more than 40,000 people from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were deported to Siberia.

Find In the Crosswind on Amazon.com.

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Lithuania: Forest of the Gods

Directed by: Algimantas Puipa, 2005.

World Cinema 023 - Lithuania (Forest of the Gods)
(Credit: Forest of the Gods / Dievu Miskas)

The history of Lithuania’s cinematic landscape is very similar to that of Estonia’s film industry. In the early 20th century, Lithuania mainly produced short films, but during the country’s short-lived independence in the 1920s, several feature-length films were produced. Similar to Estonia and Latvia, Lithuania was occupied by both the Soviets and the Germans during World War II, and after the war ended the Soviet Union had once again reoccupied the small nation.

Following the same path as other Soviet-occupied nations, Lithuania’s film industry’s output was embedded in Communist ideals, but became more liberal after the death of Stalin and was eventually liberated from censorship after the country gained independence in 1990. With independence came a heavy decrease in state funding due to financial issues, drastically dropping the number of movies the Lithuanian film industry was able to produce. Nowadays, the country produces an average of two films per year.

One of Lithuania’s modern-day successes is Algimantas Puipa’s Forest of the Gods (original title: Dievu Miskas, 2005), a film highlighting a different aspect of the mass deportation depicted in Estonia’s In the Crosswind. Forest of the Gods is based on the novel The Forest of the Gods by Lithuanian poet Balys Sruoga. Sruoga based the novel on his experiences as a political prisoner in the Stutthof concentration camp during World War II. Stutthof was built on the former site of the Forest of the Gods, which was leveled by the Nazis to construct the camp. During the war, an estimated 63,000 to 65,000 prisoners died in Stutthof. Due to Soviet censorship, Sruoga’s novel was not published until after Stalin’s death in 1957…

A university professor is sent to a Nazi concentration camp as a ‘political safety arrest’, where he details the ongoing struggles of the camp’s prisoners and sheds light on its many inhabitants.

Find Forest of the Gods on Amazon.com.

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Looking for something else? Check out our recommendation for the best films from Eastern Europe, films from Africa, films from South Asia, films from West and Central Asia, films from East and Southeast Asia, films from Oceania and the Pacific, films from North America, films from Central America and the Caribbean and films from South America.

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