The Student

Lena is a bright, disabled girl who, after years spent studying at home, is keen to get back to school. She is assigned to a special class for disabled pupils who have to present themselves before a school commission at the end of the year in order to prove that they merit being moved back into a "normal" class. Her enervated teachers, however, show absolutely no desire to motivate the students and help them improve; on the contrary, they try to quash right from the start any interest Lena shows in more complex study material. Nevertheless, Lena soon involves herself in the school routine and gets together with classmate Anton. Yet their transparent happiness is not to everyone's liking and repercussions soon follow.

A high school English teacher goes to disturbing lengths to protect his favorite students from bullies, and challenge the power of a wealthy patron within the community.

In order to prevent the construction of a skyscraper in an urban forest, Elya, a young environmental activist, accepts a challenge from the mega wealthy developer: If after spending seven days with him, she doesn't fall for him, he'll stop the project. During this time of luxury and passion, Elya becomes increasingly attracted to him.

A drama teacher's taboo relationship with an unstable student strikes a nerve in her jealous classmate, sparking a vengeful chain of events within their suburban high school that draws parallels to "The Crucible".

A reclusive English teacher suffering from severe obesity attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter for one last chance at redemption.

Despite his dedication to the junior-high students who fill his classroom, idealistic teacher Dan Dunne leads a secret life of addiction that the majority of his students will never know. But things change when a troubled student Drey makes a startling discovery of his secret life, causing a tenuous bond between the two that could either end disastrously or provide a catalyst of hope.

A farmer and his wife live in a rural part of Inner Mongolia with their three children. Chinese population control policies prevent them from having any more. The farmer sets out for the nearest town to obtain birth control. He comes upon a Russian truck driver who has ended up in a lake. The farmer takes the man back to his farm, and after initially being appalled, the Russian becomes enchanted with the peaceful life of the countryside and decides to stay. But his presence presages big changes for the peasants.

Over one intense day, the devoted head teacher of a last-chance reform school strives to keep his students in line while facing pressures of his own.

Grace lives an idyllic life in a British seaside town, but her world soon comes crashing down when her husband of 29 years tells her he's leaving her for another woman. Through stages of shock, disbelief and anger -- and with support from her son -- Grace ultimately regains her footing while learning it's never too late to be happy.

After he refuses to disavow his faith, a devout Christian student must prove the existence of God or else his college philosophy professor will fail him.

The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't have much time to spend with their aged parents, and so it falls to Noriko, the widow of their younger son who was killed in the war, to keep her in-laws company.

Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father twenty years earlier. Memories fill the gaps between camcorder footages as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the troubled man she didn't.

A man is broken hearted at the loss of his lover, then later visits the same pain on the next woman with whom he becomes involved.

After living abroad, Lana returns to the United States, and finds that her uncle is a reclusive vagabond with psychic wounds from the Vietnam War.

Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.