10 Must Watch Movies From Around The World

Aseem Chhabra lists his top 10 films from the Sundance Film Festival, a blend of narratives and documentaries made in the US and other parts of the world.

The last edition of the Sundance Film Festival in Utah ended with a tribute to its founder -- the late Robert Redford -- and a renewed commitment to support independent cinema. Next year, the festival moves to its new location in Boulder, Colorado.

The 11-day festival presented an eclectic mix of narrative and documentary films. Many of these films will travel to other festivals and theatres near you.

After many years, India had virtually no representation in the festival programming, other than a beautiful short film in Telugu and Kannada called Pankaja made by a New York University graduate, Anooya Swamy.

Indian American producer Apoorva Guru Charan (Joyland) presented her US-made film Take Me Home, a story of a young adopted Korean girl, who now cares for her aging parents. The film's cinematographer is Farhad Ahmed Dehlvi, who also shot Khufiya and Kuttey.

 

10. The Incomer (UK/Ireland)

In this delightful comedy, siblings Isla (Gayle Rankin) and Sandy (Grant O'Rourke) live on a remote Scottish island, with scenic cliffs, eels and sea gulls surrounding them. They are cut off from modern civiliSation, suspicious of the mainland folks, until an outsider -- an incomer, as they call him -- arrives in their private world.

Daniel (Domhnall Gleeson, who played Bill Weasley in the Harry Potter films) is the incomer, sent by the local government to move the siblings to the mainland. They resent the incomer, until a certain degree of warmth develops and both the siblings find themselves attracted to Daniel.

Louis Paxton's debut feature is hilarious, often wacky and crazy, but does not fall into the mainstream cinema trappings. It remains truly independent in its soul.

The Incomer was the winner of the Innovator Award in the festival's NEXT category.

9. Closure (Poland)

In Polish Director Michał Marczak's heartbreaking documentary, a middle-aged man named Daniel spends years searching for his missing teenage son. He travels the depths and corners of Vistula, Poland's largest river because there is a possibility his son may have jumped and committed suicide. But Daniel is also hopeful that one day, his son may come back home.

Closure follows Daniel's obsession, which impacts his relationship with his older son. But he has the support of his wife.

As time goes on, seasons change, and months and years pass, Daniel is approached by other people who are also looking for their missing children. He is often able to help them find closures.

But closure for Daniel remains elusive, even though he does not give up his quest.

 

8. The Friend's House is Here (US/Iran)

As Iran goes through political and social upheaval, Iranian filmmakers Maryam Ataei and Hossein Keshavarz brought to Sundance a film they secretly shot and then smuggled out of the country.

The Friend's House is Here is a fascinating portrayal of Tehran's underground art and theatre scenes, the free-spirited parties with an ensemble of colourful characters who populate this world. They are young and want change.

In fact, they are already living changed lives, quite different from the conservative society that Iran's theological government demands of its citizens.

The women in the film run around the streets without hijabs and perform secret plays where only select guests are invited. Ultimately, the Islamic regime catches up with this underground scene and the consequences are harsh.

The Friend's House is Here won the US Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast at this year's festival.

 

7. Hanging by the Wire (Pakistan/US)

In 2023, a poorly constructed cable car connected mountains in Pakistan's Battagram village, located in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, snaps, leaving six school-going teenagers and two adults dangling 900 feet above ground in a dangerously precarious position.

Pakistani American filmmaker Mohammed Ali Naqvi (Among the Believers, 2025, which he co-directed with Indian American filmmaker Hemal Trivedi) recreates the accident and the efforts by local people and authorities to rescue those stuck in the cable car.

The result is an edge-of-the-seat documentary quite similar to Hollywood thrillers. Naqvi said at the premiere that this time, he deliberately moved from showing abuse, oppression and religious extremism in Pakistan. Instead he wanted to use 'genre, spectacle and resilience' as means of political storytelling.

 

6. Who Killed Alex Odeh? (US)

Alex Odeh, a California-based Palestinian American who believed in dialogue with the Jewish and Zionist communities, was killed in a tripwire bomb blast in his office in October 1985.

The local authorities and FBI carried on what seemed like a thorough investigation. But Odeh's killers were never charged. Forty years later, the case is still open.

In their riveting documentary, Directors Jason Odor and William Lafi Youmans reveal a huge conspiracy to silence Odeh, that involved Mossad, Israeli governments, including that of current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an extreme right-wing group called the Jewish Defence League and even the US State Department.

It is a shocking story that should be seen by all interested in how complex global political issues sometimes leaves collateral damage by destroying people's lives.

At Sundance, Who Killed Alex Odeh? won the US Documentary Special Jury Award for Journalistic Excellence.

 

5. American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez (US)

Luis Valdez is an American playwright and filmmaker who, for decades, has been narrating stories of the struggles of the Chicanos -- people of Mexican origin who are born in the US. His works have mostly focused on race relations, discrimination faced by the Chicanos, and their combined efforts to fight it, including a strike by grape farm workers.

Valdez's most well-known works are the play and film Zoot Suit (1981) and La Bamba (1987), the blockbuster hit biopic of the Chicano singer Richie Valens.

Director David Alvarado's crowd-pleasing documentary creates a compelling portrait of an American master. No wonder the film won the Festival Favourite Award: Sundance's top audience prize.

 

4. One in a Million (UK)

This documentary film took 10 years in the making (somewhat like Richard Linklater's Boyhood). One In A Million follows the life of a Syrian girl who fled her country's civil war with her family.

Their arduous journey took the family members through Turkey, Greece, and other Eastern European countries and eventually to Cologne, Germany.

Directors Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes follow the young girl Isra's growth in Germany, from her teen years -- school, struggles at home because of a conservative father, to finding love, marriage and then motherhood. Eventually, Isra returns to Syria to visit her husband's family along with their young son.

One in a Million is an aspiring film, heart wrenching at times, but also endearing, especially because of the film's charming protagonist and her spirit.

The Sundance jury and audiences loved the film and it won two awards at the festival, Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary and an Audience Award.

 

3. If I Go Will They Miss Me (US)

Set in the Watts area in Los Angeles, a working-class neighbourhood, Director Walter Thompson-Hernández's debut film examines the estranged relationship between a 12-year-old African American boy and his father.

The father has recently been released from prison, and the kid tries to reconnect. But the older man is unclear about how to be a father.

If I Go Will They Miss Me is a terribly sad film, but the director's poetic vision gives us pure cinematic pleasure. The film, at times embracing Greek mythology, is stunning to look at.

It a hauntingly beautiful, the best American indie in recent months.

 

2. American Doctor (US/Qatar)

Director Poh Si Teng's powerful documentary is a tribute to doctors who selflessly devote their time, risking their lives to take care of victims in conflict regions.

The film's three protagonists -- all American doctors -- come from varied backgrounds. One doctor is Jewish, the other of Palestinian origin and third a Parsi whose family came to the US from Pakistan. They dedicate their time to work in hospitals in Gaza, while Israeli missiles end up destroying medical facilities.

Their efforts are not just related to travel to Gaza. They also spend time in the hallways of the US senate trying to convince senators to stop funding Israel's war. Their efforts in Washington, DC do not result in any positive change but they do not give up hope.

American Doctor is an important film about war and good people who want to help those in distress and require urgent medical care. It is perhaps the best documentary that has emerged since Israel launched the offensive against Palestinians in Gaza.

 

1. Josephine (US)

One morning, eight-year-old Josephine goes on a run with her father in a park. While the two separate, Josephine sees a crime happening. The little girl freezes. When the act of the crime ends, the alleged criminal is arrested and charged. But Josephine's nightmare is only beginning.

Director Beth de Araújo's terrific film is tense and often terrifying, showing the emotional journey of a child as she begins to understand the enormity of what she has witnessed and adults around her who often do not know enough about how to support young Josephine.

Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan, playing Josephine's parents, deliver strong performances. But the film's soul rests on the shoulder of its young star Mason Reeves, whose eyes and facial expressions reveal so much, despite her confused mind.

Critics and audiences loved Josephine, as did the Sundance festival jury. The film won the Audience Award in the US Dramatic Section and then the top US Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic.

Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff