A young violinist is brought by his father from a remote village to Beijing to become a professional violinist. Based on real events, the tale of his changing fortunes is told with charm and sensitivity by Chen Kaige - the director of Farewell my Concubine - and underlined with a perfectly judged score

Two terrible crimes, committed years apart, put pressure on the relations between three childhood friends - one the investigating detective, another the father of a murder victim. Sean Penn and Tim Roberts won Oscars for their performances in Clint Eastwood's taut mystery.

In the Afghanistan, where women cannot appear in public without a male companion, a demure 12-year old girl reinvents herself in order to work. survive and support her family. This first post Taliban feature film delivers tense and complusive viewing.

As enthralling as any fiction, this documentry follows eight children, drawn from every corner of the US, through the preparations for, and then the agonies and ecstasies of, a knock-out spelling bee in Washington DC. Although the mood is cheery, this is, in the end, a competition with only one winner.

A group of French-Canadian friends are re-united at the bedside of the terminally ill Remy, thanks to the machinations of his filthy-rich son. Denys Arcand's comedy - Best Foreign Language film at the 2004 Oscars - is dark and nostalgic, but nevertheless witty and optimistic.

This Korean gem is set in a tiny monastry floating on a beautiful lake, where an elderly monk teaches his apprentice the ways of Buddha. The film follows the novice's passage through sexual awakening to spiritual enlightenment, over the four seasons of the year. Wisdom. humour and peace in a spectacular setting.

Set in France during and after the first World War, this is the story of a young officer who is horribly maimed in battle and sent to the 'Officers Ward' to recuperate. While sketching his rehabilitation with subtlety and grace, Dupeyron focuses on the prejudice with which the outside world treats the disfigured.

This understated independent masterpiece centres on a train obsessed dwarf, drawn out of his solitude by inheriting a derelict station where a handful of other damaged and lonely characters are washed up. Its an oblique comedy that slyly subverts the conventional image of the Hollywood hero.

A new print of Visconti's gorgeous epic account of Lampedusa's novel - a great film of a great book. It charts the relationship between the private lives of a princely Sicilian family and the republican forces of change sweeping through Italy. A beautifully designed and photographed costume drama.

In this eccentric buddy movie, Elling and his room-mate Kjell Bjarne are released from their institution to a city-centre flat, supposedly on the route to social rehabilitation. It's a comedy of dysfunctional manners that neither judges nor condescends, but engages our empathy.

The first of the season's two documentaries covers one of the Earth's great miracles and mysteries, bird migration. Outstanding camerwork, shot mainly on the wing, produces some stunning images of a complex and improbable phenomenon.

One of the freshest American films in years, American Splendour brings to the screen a funny and touching account of Harvey Pekar's successful attempt to make something of his life by transforming his humdrum daily experiences into a best-selling series of comic-strip books.

On a project to carry out research into home efficiency in 1950's Norway, a middle-aged scientist arrives in an isolated town to monitor the kitchen routines of an elderly farmer. A compassionate bitter-sweet fable of an unlikely friendship, infused with warm-hearted humour.

Essentially a fraught and poignant dispute over a family house in California, from which recovering alcoholic Kathy is wrongfully evicted for non-payment of a property tax. Sir Ben Kingsley - nominated for an Oscar - is an Iranian exile whose acquisition of the house cheaply at auction leads to tragedy.

A doctor visits and old friend - now in poor health - whose wife recognises him as her former lover. She is torn between loyalty to her husband and feelings for his friend. Tian said of his remake of the 1948 classic: I am dedicating my version to the memory of China's film- making pioneers

A timely and highly accomplished account of two Afghan refugees' attempt to get to the UK overland. Its camerwork and factual detail give it the feel of a documentary, yet at the same time it packs a powerful dramatic punch.

Oscar-winning documentary maker Kevin Macdonald's absorbing and visually spectacular adaptation of Joe Simpson's best-selling book, is the true story of two British mountaineers who faced death while climbing a treacherous Andean peak. It's a gripping tale of ordinary men coping with extraordinary circumstances.

This is a Gallic riposte to Disney and Pixar - an inventive and hilarious fantasy loosely based on the national obsession with cycling and packed with grotesque parody and comic detail. Frenchness in concentrated form.