167 articles
Der Bockerer
Der Bockerer is a 1981 Austrian-German tragic-grotesque comedy by Franz Antel, based on the Becher and Preses play, starring Karl Merkatz as a Viennese butcher surviving the Nazi era; it won the 1982 Deutscher Filmpreis and spawned two sequels.
Der Stand der Dinge
Der Stand der Dinge (The State of Things) is Wim Wenders' 1982 black-and-white film about a stranded film crew in Portugal, made during the troubled Hammett shoot; it won the 1982 Venice Golden Lion and the 1983 German Film Award.
Desert Hearts
Desert Hearts, Donna Deitch's 1985 lesbian romance adapted from Jane Rule's novel Desert of the Heart, stars Helen Shaver and Patricia Charbonneau in 1959 Reno; first mainstream feature with a positive lesbian love story, restored by Criterion in 2017.
Distant Voices, Still Lives
Distant Voices, Still Lives is a 1988 British film in which director Terence Davies reconstructs working-class family life in wartime and postwar Liverpool through fragmented memories, winning the Fipresci Prize at Cannes.
El Sur
El Sur (The South) is Víctor Erice's 1983 Spanish drama, his second feature, adapted from Adelaida García Morales's novella about Estrella and her secretive doctor father in postwar northern Spain. Production was halted 48 days into an 81-day shoot, leaving the Andalusian half unfilmed; it competed at Cannes 1983 and is considered a Spanish cinema landmark.
Evil Angels (film)
Evil Angels, released in the US as A Cry in the Dark, is Fred Schepisi's 1988 drama starring Meryl Streep and Sam Neill about the Azaria Chamberlain dingo case; Streep won Cannes Best Actress 1989.
Fanny and Alexander
Fanny and Alexander (Fanny och Alexander) is Ingmar Bergman's 1982 semi-autobiographical drama about the Ekdahl family in 1907 Uppsala, made in a 188-minute theatrical cut and a five-hour TV version, winner of four Oscars including best foreign language film.
Father and Son (父子情) (1981 film)
Father and Son (父子情) is Allen Fong's 1981 Hong Kong New Wave debut, produced by Feng Huang, about a father sacrificing his daughters for his son's education; it won Best Film and Best Director at the first Hong Kong Film Awards.
From the Life of the Marionettes
From the Life of the Marionettes (Aus dem Leben der Marionetten) is Ingmar Bergman's 1980 German-language TV film, made in Munich exile, a semi-sequel to Scenes from a Marriage about Peter Egermann's murder of a prostitute.
Full Moon in New York
Full Moon in New York (人在紐約, Ren zai Niu Yue) is a 1989 Stanley Kwan Hong Kong drama starring Sylvia Chang, Maggie Cheung, and Siqin Gaowa as three Chinese women from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the mainland who meet in New York; it won eight Golden Horse Awards including Best Feature Film.
Gagman (개그맨)
Gagman (개그맨) is Lee Myung-se's 1988 debut feature, a Korean New Wave comedy-drama starring Ahn Sung-ki, Hwang Shin-hye, and Bae Chang-ho about a delusional cabaret comedian; shot in 21 days, released June 1989, later reevaluated as a cult classic.
Gaijin - Os Caminhos da Liberdade
Gaijin - Os Caminhos da Liberdade (Gaijin: Roads to Freedom) is Tizuka Yamasaki's 1980 Brazilian feature debut about Japanese immigration to Brazil in 1908, starring Kyoko Tsukamoto and Antonio Fagundes, winner at Gramado and Havana.
Gilsotteum (길소뜸)
Gilsotteum (길소뜸, also Gilsoddeum) is Im Kwon-taek's 1985 South Korean drama-war film, released April 5, 1986, starring Kim Ji-mee and Shin Seong-il as war-separated lovers reunited by the 1983 KBS Finding Dispersed Families telethon; it competed at the 36th Berlinale.
Hail Mary (1985 film)
Hail Mary (Je vous salue, Marie) is Jean-Luc Godard's 1985 French-Swiss-British drama retelling the virgin birth with Mary as a basketball-playing petrol-station worker. Denounced by Pope John Paul II, banned in Brazil, yet awarded at the Berlinale.
Hansa Vilak
Hansa Vilak (හංස විලක්) is a 1980 Sinhala-language film directed by Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, his directorial debut, known for Swarna Mallawarachchi's acting, Premasiri Khemadasa's music, and its Sarasaviya Awards wins.
Her Vengeance (血玫瑰)
Her Vengeance (血玫瑰, Blood Rose) is a 1988 Hong Kong Category III rape-and-revenge thriller directed by Lam Nai-Choi, starring Pauline Wong and Lam Ching-Ying, a remake of The Kiss of Death (1973), released on Blu-ray in 2025.
Himala
Himala (Miracle) is a 1982 Filipino drama by Ishmael Bernal, written by Ricky Lee, starring Nora Aunor as healer Elsa; it won nine 1982 MMFF awards and was named CNN's Best Asia-Pacific Film of All Time in 2008.
Himatsuri
Himatsuri (火まつり, Fire Festival) is a 1985 Japanese drama directed by Mitsuo Yanagimachi from Kenji Nakagami's first screenplay, about a Kumano lumberjack who kills his family after a storm; shown at Cannes 1985.
Homecoming (似水流年) (1984 film)
Homecoming (似水流年) is a 1984 Hong Kong drama directed by Yim Ho, starring Josephine Koo, Siqin Gaowa, and Tse Wai-hung. Shot in Chaoshan, produced by Xia Meng's Bluebird, it won six Hong Kong Film Awards including Best Film and Best Director.
Hong Kong Hong Kong
Hong Kong Hong Kong (男與女) is a 1983 Shaw Brothers drama directed by Hong Kong New Wave filmmaker Clifford Choi, starring Cherie Chung and Alex Man as illegal immigrants in Hong Kong; it won the 1983 Golden Horse Award for Best Original Screenplay.
House of Sleeping Beauties
House of Sleeping Beauties (Nemureru Bijo, 眠れる美女) is Yasunari Kawabata's 1961 novella about old men sleeping beside drugged young women, adapted into films including Vadim Glowna's 2006 German Das Haus der schlafenden Schönen.
In the Wild Mountains (野山)
In the Wild Mountains (野山, Ye shan) is a 1985 Chinese drama by Yan Xueshu, Xi'an Film Studio, adapted from Jia Pingwa's novel Jiwowa renjia; two Shaanxi farming couples divorce and remarry during rural reform, winning the 1986 Golden Rooster Best Picture.
Interrogation (1982 film)
Przesłuchanie (Interrogation), 1982 Polish political drama by Ryszard Bugajski; Stalinist-era cabaret singer Tonia Dziwisz jailed and tortured to sign a false confession; banned seven years, premiered December 1989, Krystyna Janda won Cannes Best Actress 1990.
King of the Children (孩子王)
King of the Children (孩子王, Hai zi wang) is Chen Kaige's 1987 Xi'an Film Studio drama, adapted from Ah Cheng's novella, about a sent-down youth teaching in Yunnan during the Cultural Revolution who abandons rote textbook instruction and is dismissed; it competed at Cannes 1988.
Kisapmata
Kisapmata (In the Blink of an Eye) is Mike de Leon's 1981 Filipino psychological horror film based on Nick Joaquin's true-crime report "The House on Zapote Street," starring Vic Silayan and Charo Santos, read as a Marcos dictatorship allegory.
Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985 film)
Kiss of the Spider Woman (O Beijo da Mulher Aranha), 1985 Héctor Babenco drama adapted from Manuel Puig's novel, starring William Hurt and Raul Julia as cellmates; Hurt won Cannes and Oscar Best Actor.
Kuei-mei, a Woman (我这样过了一生)
Kuei-mei, a Woman (我这样过了一生, 我這樣過了一生) is a 1985 Taiwanese drama by Chang Yi, adapted from Xiao Sa's novella Xiafei zhi Jia, starring Yang Hui-shan; it won four 1985 Golden Horse Awards and spans 25 years of a mainlander woman's life in Taipei.
Kuro Arirang (구로 아리랑)
Kuro Arirang (구로아리랑, Guro Arirang) is a 1989 South Korean drama, Park Jong-won's debut film adapted from Lee Mun-yeol's short story, depicting women sewing workers in Seoul's Guro Industrial Complex; the first commercial labor film after 1987 democratization, censored with about 20 scenes cut.
La Bamba (film)
La Bamba (1987) is Luis Valdez's Columbia Pictures biographical drama of Ritchie Valens, starring Lou Diamond Phillips and Esai Morales, with Los Lobos performing the music; it grossed $54 million and entered the National Film Registry in 2017.
La Colmena
La Colmena: 1951 postwar Madrid novel by Camilo José Cela, censored in Spain and first published in Buenos Aires, and its 1982 Mario Camus film adaptation that won the Berlin Golden Bear.