Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center: World Cinema / thru February, 2021

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In a world where ordinary film-lovers are stuck at home for indefinite amounts of time, one organization teams up with distributors to bring you the very best in virtual cinema. When the temperatures drop and the dark days of winter look bleak, cozy up on the couch with the latest new releases in independent and foreign films – or Netflix-and-chill to some of our weekly suggestions!

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When you rent one of these films, half of your rental fee goes to the WHBPAC. It’s a great way to support us at home!

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Latvia’s Official Submission to the Academy Awards

Blizzard of Souls

Directed by Dzintars Dreibergs

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123 minutes | Latvian | NR

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“…exceptionally atmospheric cinematography….” The Hollywood Reporter

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Blizzard of Souls pays stark witness to the horrors and brutality of the First World War, as seen through the eyes of an innocent 17-year-old farm-boy turned soldier. Though he is underage, and his dad, a former marksman, is overage for the army, they are both conscripted into one of Latvia’s first national battalions. The thrill of training is soon followed by reality, as shells burst around them in the endless mud. He grows up on the battlefield, fighting at the side of his father and brother, their lives constantly in jeopardy.

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Adapted from the book by Aleksandrs Grins, which was banned in the U.S.S.R., the story was based on Grins’ own war experiences in a Latvian battalion, and the film is the biggest box office success in Latvia in the past 30 years.

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RENT BLIZZARD OF SOULS

BUY A PASS

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For the discounted price of $30, you will be able to access four international films (Blizzard of Souls, My Little Sister, You Will Die at Twenty, True Mothers)and will receive a reminder email when titles become available.

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COMING SOON

JANUARY 15

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Some Kind of Heaven

Crack open the manicured façade of The Villages — a massive, self-contained retirement community located in Central Florida. Behind the gates of this utopia lie a small group of Villages residents and one interloper who are unable to find happiness within the community’s pre-packaged paradise.

JANUARY 15

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My Little Sister

Lisa gives up her ambitions as a playwright in Berlin and moves to Switzerland with her husband. When her twin brother, a star actor at Berlin’s Schaubühne theatre, falls ill with cancer, Lisa returns to the German capital.

Switzerland’s Official Submission to the Academy Awards

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JANUARY 22

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You Will Die At Twenty

During her son’s naming ceremony, a Sheikh predicts that Sakina’s child will die at the age of 20. Haunted by this prophecy, Sakina becomes overly protective of her son Muzamil, who grows up knowing about his fate. As Muzamil escapes Sakina’s ever-watchful eye, he encounters friends, ideas and challenges that make him question his destiny.

Sudan’s Official Submission to the Academy Awards

JANUARY 22

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Atlantis

Eastern Ukraine, 2025. A desert unsuitable for human habitation. Water is a dear commodity brought by trucks. A Wall is being build-up on the border. Sergiy, a former soldier, is having trouble adapting to his new reality. He meets Katya while on the Black Tulip mission dedicated to exhuming the past. Together, they try to return to some sort of normal life in which they are also allowed to fall in love again.

Ukraine’s Official Submission to the Academy Awards

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JANUARY 29

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True Mothers

After a long and unsuccessful struggle to get pregnant, Satoko and her husband decide to adopt a child. Over the next six years, the middle-class couple and their young son Asato settle into a comfortable, albeit routine, life. The family’s orderly existence is shattered by the arrival of Hikari, a young woman claiming to be Asato’s biological mother, demanding his return.

Japan’s Official Submission to the Academy Awards

FEBRUARY 5

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Two of Us

Nina and Madeleine, two retired women, have been secretly deeply in love for decades. From everybody’s point of view, including Madeleine’s family, they are simply neighbors living on the top floor of their building. They come and go between their two apartments, sharing the tender delights of everyday life together. Until the day their relationship is turned upside down by an unexpected event leading Madeleine’s daughter to slowly unveil the truth about them.

France’s Official Submission to the Academy Awards