Omar Amiralay's film about the dictatorship in Syria highlights the devastating effects of 35 years of autocratic Baath party rule on society. Thirty-four years ago, Amiralay was an admirer of the modernisation of his country and even made his first short essay-like documentary in praise of the Baath party's new-built Euphrates River Dam. Today however, Amiralay regrets the naivety of his youth.

He returns to the scene of his first documentary and stops for a few days at the village el-Machi near the lake Assad, which was named after the late Syrian leader Hafez al-Assad who ruled Syria with an iron-fist for 30 years until his death in 2000. The people he encounters there show the shocking effects of party propaganda. From school children to teachers and government officials, everyone recites the same praise for the president and the same slogans glorifying the Baath party.

In Amiralay's highly controversial film which was applauded on its first showing in Lebanon but attacked elsewhere in the Arab world as part of a Zionist plot and withdrawn from the Carthage Film Festival, the dangerous cracks in the ageing dam become a metaphor for what is happening to Syria and its people.

Award: Grand Prix at the Biennale of Cinémas Arabes, Paris 2004

Mr Zhu works in a Chinese Restaurant in Vienna. Having been re-settled under Mao's regime he seized the chance of a dream life in Europe. Sadly, ten years down the line, reality for him has become the daily grind of a life in a Chinese restaurant. He has no day off, no free time and little contact with the outside world and even if he did he speaks no German. Yet Mr Zhu lives and loves through his work. With the help of his wife and daughter he runs his restaurant and recounts his life story; from why he never learnt German to what makes him happy. In the kitchen he speaks to his clientele through his skill and precision work, be it carving meat or carrot roses, with the greatest of love and attention to detail. The dishes he prepares represent a culinary and sensory feast. But, for Mr Zhu the icing on the fortune cookie is that he is lucky enough in life to do the thing that he loves the most.

Life at thirteen is not easy. Hansi, short for Johann, named after his father, his grand-father and his great-grandfather, has to fight a lot: at school against the older pupils who beat him up; and at home against his three sisters. And when he’s in trouble with one of them, he’s in trouble with all three. That’s why Hansi loves to play soccer, where he also has to fight, but not alone. On the pitch there are ten others to help him.

Hansi also likes his dog, especially because he’s a male, and he likes sitting with his dad, who works for a recycling company, in his truck. But, of course, what he likes most is being on the pitch. And although his coach thinks his game is "disastrous", Hansi and his team will do their best to make sure their defeat is as small as possible.  And when they are beaten by only 6 to nil, the feeling of victory is not far away and, for once, even the coach is happy.

"Now come on, boys! Faster, come on! Bite bite bite!"

In this exhilarating and touching film, Petra Wallner and Josef Mayerhofer take us inside the home of a Bavarian "pop legend". Lotte Lenz, "the ageless woman", lives in a little village deep in the heart of the Bavarian province. Her entire life has been dedicated to kitsch and eternal youth. With great sensitivity the filmmakers accompany this peculiar character through the last months of her life. With a delicate attention to detail, they immerse us in Lotte Lenz's bizarre world. Everything is red in Lotte Lenz’s house except for a white rug – she has red varnished nails and a red wardrobe with a huge assortment of clothes. The stools in the bar, even the velvet cover of the telephone, are red. On the walls we see portraits of Bavarian King Ludwig, of the Pope and the Statue of Liberty. There is a collection of stuffed cats in the corridor and one live Persian cat who doesn't move much itself.

The directors remain faithful to their protagonist throughout the film, and the viewer can sense a strong relationship of trust that has been established between the filmmakers and their subject. And at the end, the film brings a touch of Hollywood to the deepest Bavarian countryside.