The wonderful people over at Second Run DVD have released another hidden gem: 'Daisies' (Sedmikrasky), originally made in 1966 by Vera Chytilova, who has since been called 'the first lady of Czech cinema' and whose efforts also earnt her a screening at the First International Festival of Women's Films in New York in 1972. find out more...

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The intertwined lives of 2 women in 1970's France, set against the progress of the women's movement in which Agnes Varda was involved. Pomme and Suzanne meet when Pomme helps Suzanne obtain an abortion after a third pregnancy which she cannot afford. They lose contact but meet again ten years later. Pomme has become an unconventional singer, Suzanne a serious community worker - despite the contrast they remain friends and share in the various dramas of each others' l find out more...

A superb study by the brilliant Sayles of a married woman who realises she is gay. She falls in love with Ruth, is shunned by her husband and straight friends, and suffers huge emotional upheaval. Sparkling dialogue, tender characters, superb acting and some real comedy. A touch of directorial genius. find out more...

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If you thought Hedwig and the Angry Inch was a film unlike any other you'd seen before, get ready for Shortbus: a frank and fun film about the sex lives of humans, ostensibly set in New York, but relevant to every one of us. The plot plays a supporting role in what is, in many ways, a beautifully disguised self-help documentary. Sex therapist Sofia (played by Canadian radio star, Sook-Yin Lee) has frequent, athletic (yet frustratingly unfulfilling) intercourse with her boyfriend. Her seeming ina find out more...

The scene is contemporary Iran and the lives of a small circle of Iranian women living within the oppressive constraints of their strictly Islamic nation where the Koran has been subverted to the will of a male dominated society. It is through their anguish, anger and despair that we witness their strength and resilience in the face of a world that denies them respect as individuals and equality as women. 'The Circle' is a powerful and moving film, beautifully shot and emotionally gripping. find out more...

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From the director of the excellent 'Old Joy' comes this film about the hassles of trying to survive if you're out of ackers. Wendy, a semi-rootless drifter, along with sole companion Lucy, her dog (but no string attached), is driving her old banger across country to Alaska in the hope of finding work. When the beat-up old car bites the dust in a small Oregon town she encounters one obstacle after another. The threat of both poverty and loneliness are present throughout in this well observed, tho find out more...