Montxo Armendáriz’s OBABA (Spain) is one of two world premieres added to Masters. Based on Bernardo Atzaga’s book Obabakoak, the film tells the story a young woman who tries to solve the mystery of the fictional Basque village of Obaba. Carlos Saura’s IBERIA (Spain) was inspired by the work of Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz and unites the discipline and passion of Flamenco, classical music, ballet, and contemporary dance. Takeshi Kitano’s TAKESHIS’ (Japan), a North American premiere in Masters, stars Kitano as a celebrity who crosses paths with his lookalike.

Two new titles have been added to Visions. Lee Myung-se’s DUELIST (Korea), a world premiere, is a martial arts detective story set during Korea’s Choson Kingdom. Patrice Chéreau’s GABRIELLE (France/Italy), a North American premiere, is adapted from Joseph Conrad’s The Return and stars Isabelle Huppert in a story of an upper-middle-class couple in a loveless marriage.

Anne Fontaine’s ENTRE SES MAINS (France), a world premiere, is one of six titles added to Special Presentations. The film tells the story of a married woman who grows closer to a seemingly dangerous man. Hur Jin-ho’s APRIL SNOW (Korea), also a world premiere, tells the story of a man and woman who discover their spouses were having an affair. Andrucha Waddington’s HOUSE OF SAND (Brazil), an international premiere, chronicles the experiences of a woman who spends her life in the remote sand dunes of Brazil.

Special Presentations also includes several North American premieres. Laurent Cantet’s VERS LE SUD (France/Canada) is a story of three female tourists whose eyes are opened to the poverty-stricken and dangerous world of 1980s Haiti. (Seville Pictures owns the Canadian rights to this film.) Based on Wang Anyi’s award-winning novel of the same name, Stanley Kwan’s EVERLASTING REGRET (Hong Kong/China) follows a legendary Shanghai beauty as she struggles to preserve the dignity of her past and survive the constant betrayal of the men in her life. Adapted from Liang Yu-Shen’s classic novel, Tsui Hark’s SEVEN SWORDS (Hong Kong) tells the heroic story of seven men who set out to save a village from massacre at the hands of a cruel military general in early 1600s China.

Ten titles have been added to Contemporary World Cinema. Alain Tasma’s OCTOBER 17, 1961 (France), a world premiere, reveals the truth about one of the bloodiest moments in the history of France: the brutal arrest of more than 11,000 Algerians. In Marcelo Piñeyro’s THE GRÖNHOLM METHOD (Spain/Argentina/Italy), a world premiere, seven candidates compete for an executive position at a multinational company. Andreas Dresen’s SUMMER IN BERLIN (Germany), also a world premiere, is the story of two women struggling for love and decent jobs. Antonio Capuano’s MARIO’S WAR (Italy), an international premiere, tells the story of a troubled foster child who is taken in by a middle-class couple, resulting in a confrontation between two very different worlds. In Majid Majidi’s THE WILLOW TREE (Iran), also an international premiere, a blind university professor is suddenly faced with a fatal disease and must undergo a treatment in France.

Bohdan Sláma’s SOMETHING LIKE HAPPINESS (Czech Republic/Germany), a world premiere, is a tale of three childhood friends who are each struggling with desire and loneliness, longing and failure, in their adult lives. Emmanuelle Bercot’s BACKSTAGE (France), a world premiere, is a portrait of desperate obsession and unconditional love when a teenage girl gains access to the inner circle of her favourite pop idol. Sophie Fillières’s GENTILLE (France), a North American premiere, tells the story of a woman who finds that reality always catches up with her, including when her partner of 10 years, unaware of the pertinence of his question, asks her to marry him. In Wisit Sasanatieng’s magical CITIZEN DOG (Thailand), a North American premiere, a migrant worker falls in love with a maid and becomes a celebrity as the only man in Bangkok without a tail. Anne Villacèque’s RIVIERA (France), also a North American premiere, tells the story of a mother and daughter who are both spectators to the world of money and easy pleasures that is the French Riviera.

The films announced today join a growing list of previously announced international non-English language titles of interest for attending distributors. These prominently include Danis Tanovic’s L’ENFER, initially announced as a Special Presentation and today announced as a Gala Presentation, and Antonin Svoboda’s YOU BET YOUR LIFE.