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SECONDARY education

A powerful and eye-opening documentary. Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil. But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.

Film notes:

	Directed by: Marc Francis & Nick Francis "REMARKABLE - A moving but scandalous story. Black Gold has extraordinary power" Daily Telegraph.
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SECONDARY education

Asian teenager Naseema lands a part-time job at a DIY store, which stocks wallpaper and other hardware supplies. She immediately faces a wall of resistance from co-worker Adam, who loves to go out drinking with his racist brother and friends. However, Adam’s silent treatment of Naseema isn't racial hatred, as she initially fears: he is secretly attracted to her, and the more he tries to deny his feelings, the more the lad wants to be close to the object of his affection.

Film notes:

	Directed by: Dominic Savage
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SECONDARY education

This transposition of Raymond Carver’s short story ‘So Much Water So Close to Home’ to an Australian setting makes for an incisive narrative about contemporary Australia and its sexual and racial climate as well as a subtle and haunting drama of mystery and moral horror.

Film notes:

	Directed by: Ray Lawrence
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SECONDARY education

A dark fairytale inspired by the paintings of Goya and rooted in the context of the Spanish Civil War.

In 1940’s Spain, recently remarried Carmen and daughter Ofelia move in with the cold and authoritarian new husband, Vidal, a captain in General Franco’s army. Finding her new life difficult, Ofelia seeks refuge in a labyrinth she discovers next to the house. A magical creature named Pan, the guardian of the labyrinth, reveals that Ofelia is the long-lost princess of a magical kingdom. To discover the truth, she will have to accomplish three dangerous tasks. Del Toro’s startling vision rests on a profoundly moving story with universal appeal.

Film notes:

	Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
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SECONDARY education

An instant classic. Middle class French couple George and Anne receive anonymous videos of their home being monitored from across the street. Gradually the mystery envelops their life and, as George refuses to acknowledge the grim relevance of the tapes, his wife begins to slowly unravel. Using deceptively understated cinematic techniques, this astonishing film reveals itself as an enigmatic -and ultimately unforgettable -psychological thriller with a climactic ‘stomach-punch’ revelation to remember.

Film notes:

	Directed by: Michael Haneke “One of the great films of the decade” The Guardian.
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SECONDARY education

THE SINGER tells a deceptively simple, timeless story. Middle-aged Alain (Gerard Depardieu) is resident singer at the local dance hall. Stuck in a routine it seems he has reached the limit of what he can achieve in life. Then he meets and falls for Marion, a single mother half his age. Beautifuly atmospheric, with genuine chemistry between the two leads, THE SINGER is a wonderfully observed romantic comedy in the mould of LOST IN TRANSLATION, featuring what is already being regarded as one of Depardieu’s finest performances.

Film notes: QUAND J'ETAIS CHANTEUR (The Singer)

SECONDARY education

Queen Elizabeth I (Blanchett) is facing bloodlust over her throne, familial betrayal and an open challenge from Philip II, King of Spain. As she prepares to go to war, Elizabeth struggles to balance her duties with an unexpected vulnerability in her love for Walter Raleigh. THE GOLDEN AGE portrays an icon of English history as she embarks on a bid to crush traitors and enemies, and to control her heart.

Film notes: ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE

SECONDARY education

In this Kenneth Branagh adaptation of the Shakespeare play, young lovers Hero and Claudio are to be married in one week. To pass the time, they conspire with Don Pedro to set a "lover's trap" for Benedick, an arrogant confirmed bachelor, and Beatrice, his favorite sparring partner. Meanwhile, the evil Don Jon conspires to break up the wedding by accusing Hero of infidelity. In the end, though, it all turns out to be "much ado about nothing."

Film notes: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

SECONDARY education

This absorbing and deeply poignant biopic of Curtis's short life, chronicles the rise and fall of British post-punk rockers Joy Division. Featuring an astonishing central performance by newcomer Sam Riley, Control emerges as an incisive character study of a troubled young man. Directed by Anton Corbijn, who started his career as a photographer of Joy Division.

Film notes: CONTROL

	'The best film of the year' -The Guardian

SECONDARY education

The Air Guitar Championships had been quietly taking place in Finland for seven years before America woke up to them. In 2003 the stakes were raised when Americans embraced the 'instrument', and at the West Coast finals a supreme champ emerges. Meanwhile Finns are becoming agitated by the prospect of an influx of new blood. While much of the film affectionately records the sheer folly of grown men pretending to rock out, there emerges a more sublime sense of something mystical. After all, "to air is human".

Film notes: AIR GUITAR NATION