If you’re a fan of foreign films, you’re in for a treat this month. The Portland International Film Festival is scheduled for February 5-21. PIFF will include scores of feature films, documentaries, and shorts from 44 countries. The festival will also include 28 films that are Oscar submissions in the Best Foreign Language Film category. With so many selections, there’s something for everyone.
If you can’t make it to the festival, or just can’t get enough foreign films, You can still enjoy many of the films from previous festivals on DVD. Here are a few of my favorites:
4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days (Romania)
Two college roommates find their plans spinning out of control as they try to obtain a black market abortion.
Amazing Grace (Great Britain)
Portrays politician William Wilberforce’s efforts to abolish the British slave trade and John Newton’s writing of the famous hymn.
Away From Her (Canada)
A man deals with putting his Alzheimer’s-stricken wife of 40 years into a care facility, heartbreakingly acted by Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent.
The Band’s Visit (Israel)
When a policemans band on route from Egypt to Israel for a cross-cultural exchange concert gets on the wrong bus, they end up stuck in a small town overnight. What follows is a charming night of confessions and quiet connections with the townsfolk .
Bothersome Man (Norway)
A man finds himself in a city where everything seemed oddly disjointed and people seem divorced from their emotions. So when he finds a crack in a wall through which light and music seep, he decides to find a way through.
Into Great Silence (Germany)
The director lived in a monastery in the French Alps for sixth months to make this documentary. The result is an intimate, meditative immersion in the monks’ everyday lives.
Men At Work (Iran)
What happens when four immovable men meet an irresistible object? A comic tale of four friends who become obsessed with dislodging a rock spire gradually disintegrates into a tale of recrimination and betrayal.
Mongol (Kazakhstan/Mongolia)
A sprawling epic, lushly filmed, chronicling the early life of the man who would become known as Genghis Khan.
Offside (Iran)
Because women are banned from sporting events, the girls who want to watch a soccer game have to sneak in, disguised as boys. When they’re caught and rounded up, the girls find themselves spending the exciting game listening only to the distant cheers, guarded by bored soldiers who wish they too were at the game.
The Page Turner (France)
After having her childhood dream of being a concert pianist crushed by a famous pianist, 10 years later Melanie insinuates herself into the pianist’s family to wreak her revenge.
Ten Canoes (Australia- Aboriginal)
Based on an Aboriginal myth, and alternating between color and black-and-white, Ten Canoes tells an age-old story of forbidden love, betrayal, and revenge.
Where’s Molly (US- documentary)
When he was six years old, Jeff Daly’s younger sister was taken away and his family refused to talk about it. It took him 47 years to learn the truth that she’d spent most of her life in the Fairview Home for the mentally ill in Salem Oregon.
XXY (Argentina)
Puberty is hard enough for most teenagers, but 15-year-old Alex is a special case. Born with the sex organs of both males and females, and raised as a girl, Alex must now choose how to live from now on.
Every year the 
