Offscreenings

Acclaimed Swedish filmmaker Roy Andersson ("A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence") presents us with a series of deadpan and sometimes absurd vignettes that convey both the tragicomedy of the human condition and the visual poetry of everyday existence. From a girl clasping the hand of her lover for the first time, to a father holding the body of his dead son in his arms, it’s a visionary experience that will touch the emotions as well as the intellect.

In 1853, with a US fleet anchored off the coast of Japan, a local warlord responds to the threat of attack by ordering his men to get fit by running a marathon. The UK-born director of "Candyman" turns out a madly entertaining jidaigeki incorporating spies, swordplay and, less traditionally, music by Philip Glass.

Each time you think zombies are all played out, along comes another film to show there’s life in the undead yet. In this German graphic novel adaptation, a mostly female cast and crew stirs fairytale imagery, ecological motifs and folk-horror elements into a fresh spin on the obligatory flesh-ripping carnage.

Get your gag reflex ready as a young wife (Haley Bennett) rebels against her controlling husband and his rich family by swallowing a variety of small household items. The struggle against psychological abuse and suffocatingly tasteful décor makes for disturbing and audacious body horror with a feminist slant.

A bereaved couple tries to patch up their ailing relationship by going on a camping trip into the forest, only to fall victim to a trio of nightmarish carnival characters in this Swedish folk-horror fantasy. Sinister nursery rhymes, shadow puppets and children’s toys add up to the grimmest of fairytales.

+ short film "Dreams From the Woods" (Johannes Nyholm, 2009, 8’)

Two CIA agents get more than they bargain for when they plug their brains into social media to combat a Russian computer virus called "Stalin". Miguel Llansó’s lo-tech retro-SF action-comedy is a glorious multi-level mindfuck of Philip K. Dick, Afrofuturism and giant houseflies; filmed in Ethiopia, Estonia, and Spain.

Two losers calling themselves "The Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker of Porn" try to make it in Hollywood’s adult entertainment industry. This controversial dramatisation of real-life events starts out as a laugh-out-loud guide to the porn business, but the second half turns tragic.

Jean-Christophe Folly gives a fearless (and often fearlessly naked) performance as a troubled Parisian in a dead-end job who can become invisible, but keeps his ability a secret - until, one day, he finds he can no longer control it. This affecting social realist fable explores the downside of having a superpower.

Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots play a young couple whose encounter with an unnaturally cheerful realtor leaves them trapped in a perfect suburban housing estate. And there’s worse to come. "The Twilight Zone" meets Samuel Beckett in this pastel-coloured nightmare anchored by a terrific performance from Poots.

A buffalo wreaks havoc in an Indian village, stirring up primal instincts in the menfolk as they compete to catch the beast. This study of toxic testosterone at its most unhinged pelts you with astonishing music and imagery on its way towards an unforgettably hellish climax.

The Large Hadron Collider wields eerie influence over Pierre-André and his classmates in a small town on the Franco-Swiss border. And then one of them vanishes… In Blaise Harrison’s feature debut, credibly aimless teenagers wrestle with the mysteries of science, ominous landscape and a sense of foreboding.

A cardiologist, emotionally paralysed since the tragic death of his wife, strays into the orbit of a dominatrix, whose extreme BDSM skills help him come to terms with his bereavement. Deadpan Finnish humour and genuine emotions help make the sometimes wince-making consensual torture go down a treat.

Hideki presents himself on his blog as a perfect family man, but the reality will blow your mind in Tetsuya Nakashima’s demented supernatural thriller. Poltergeist action, a sneaky demon, gratuitous dismemberment and a full quota of jaw-dropping moments lead to the most spectacular exorcism you’ve ever seen.