Need a laugh? Escape your thoughts AND increase your cultural awareness by enjoying some of these comedy films from around the world. Free, of course, and available on Kanopy!
 Key of Life – Japan |
A case of stolen identity and one determined bride-to-be intersect in this comedic escapade from famed Japanese filmmaker Kenji Uchida. As the truth about Kondo, Sakurai and Kanae comes to light, they must scramble to resolve the chaos of this topsy turvy chain of events. Official Selection – Toronto Int’l Film Festival. |
 Ugly, Dirty and Bad – Italy |
Giacinto (Nino Manfredi), along with four generations of his sprawling, crooked clan, lives in a cramped, dilapidated home on the outskirts of Rome. When a work accident leaves him blind in one eye, the derelict Giacinto suddenly finds himself rolling in insurance money. Refusing to share the wealth, Giacinto’s relatives concoct several harebrained plots in hopes of wrenching the riches away. |
 Four Lions – UK |
This is the story of a group of British jihadists who push their abstract dreams of glory to the breaking point. As the wheels fly off, and their competing ideologies clash, what emerges is an emotionally engaging (and entirely plausible) farce. |
 The Rage in Placid Lake – Australia |
Placid Lake has always been different. His crayon-eating, scientific genius of a best friend, Gemma also has a few issues with blending in. As an odd fish in a sea of mediocrity, his brilliant ideas are bound to get him into more trouble than success. So when he finds himself in a tight spot with the school bullies, Placid decides to make a bid for the elusive normal life. |
 In Another Country – South Korea |
Isabelle Huppert stars in the first English-language film from South Korean master Hong Sang-soo. In a triptych of overlapping stories, three different French women visit a small Korean resort town and encounter a flirtatious director, a lovestruck lifeguard and far too much soju… An effortless, laugh-out-loud comedy that plays like a lost French New Wave classic. |
 How about Adolf? – Germany |
It should have been a wonderful evening. Stephan and Elisabeth have invited family and friends for dinner, but as soon as Thomas announces that he and his pregnant girlfriend Anna are planning to name their unborn son Adolf, things get out of hand. |
 Absurdistan – Russia |
Welcome to Absurdistan, a small village in the high desert mountains, just on the outskirts of reality, where magical visions and bizarre events fuse together. The village is facing a water shortage, but the men are too lazy to fix a rickety pipeline and the women are getting fed up with their good-for-nothing husbands. |
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Zohar and Daffi are best friends; serving in an administration office at an artillery base in the south of Israel. Daffi does all she can to be transferred away from the hated remote base. Zohar, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to care so much about where she’s stationed. Her main concern is to lose her virginity. Winner of Best Narrative Feature and the Nora Ephron Prize at the Tribeca Film Festival. |
Zero Motivation – Israel