What to Watch Right Now

Journalist Elvis Mitchell interviews twenty-two African American leaders, ranging from athletes and academics to politicians, social activists, and artists, providing a series of living portraits-a unique glimpse into the zeitgeist of black America-and redefining traditional notions of a "blacklist".

This seven hour mini-series is based on the memories of Vittorio Mussolini, the oldest son of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. The film opens in 1922 as Mussolini gathers his power through the use of his Black Shirt militia. Promoting himself as Caesar reincarnate, Il Duce gains a national fervor that peaks after the Italian invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in 1935. In 1938, Mussolini attempted to promote peace at a Munich conference. Nonetheless he aligned himself with Hitler and drew his country into World War II. Of course, this led to his country's downfall and his total dishonor.

Director Rohan Sippy's Dum Maaro Dum, starring Bollywood superstars Abhishek Bachchan and Bipasha Basu, revolves around an honest, tough cop in Goa who sets out to eradicate the drug Mafia and a college student who turns to crime when his scholarship to an American university falls through. The film features a soundtrack from award-winning Mumbai composer Pritam Chakraboty.

Refusing to let anything spoil their romantic weekend break, a young couple confront a gang of loutish youths with terrifyingly brutal consequences.

Tôyama, a weak-willed businessman, is in debt to the Yakuza; they also have a video of him bribing a government minister. To clear his debts, he agrees to let them drug and kidnap his wife Shizuko, Japan's queen of the tango, and subject her to the proclivities of a 95-year-old voyeur, who's a Yakuza boss. After a masked ball, Shizuko is taken prisoner; she fights her captors, submitting only when the life of Kyôko, her female bodyguard, is threatened. Tôyama feels regret and seeks to buy back Shizuko, but by this time, she may be enjoying her situation. Is she, or is she pretending in order to protect herself and Kyôko? Would she want a way out if there is one?

Farmhouse is a psychological thriller set in the modern day mid-west. We follow a young couple as they leave their everyday lives behind and head out to a new beginning; starting over from scratch. After becoming stranded in an isolated Wine Vineyard in the middle of nowhere, the young couple is forced to face the secrets they're running from, all the while trying to escape the malicious intent of the Vineyard mysterious inhabitants.

During the early 1960s, Kate is faced with a dreary small-town existence, surrounded by her mother, who is a stroke victim, and her bigoted Uncle Ray, who owns a theatre. When a black minister dies in Uncle Ray's theater, Ray is charged with wrongful death.

Drama based on the life of Eva Peron, an obscure actress, who rose to become wife of Argentine strong-man President Juan Peron and one of the most powerful figures in Argentina until her death in 1952 at age 33.

Rosenwald, by Aviva Kempner, is a documentary about how Chicago philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, the son of an immigrant peddler who rose to head Sears, partnered with Booker T. Washington to build 5,400 Southern schools in African American communities in the early 1900s during the Jim Crow era. Rosenwald also built YMCAs and housing for African Americans to address the pressing needs of the Great Migration. The Rosenwald Fund supported great artists like Marian Anderson, Woody Guthrie, Langston Hughes, Gordon Parks, and Jacob Lawrence. Among those interviewed are civil rights leaders Julian Bond, Ben Jealous and Congressman John Lewis, columnists Eugene Robinson and Clarence Page, Cokie Roberts, Rabbi David Saperstein, Rosenwald school alumni writer Maya Angelou and director George C. Wolfe and Rosenwald relatives.

Mina Sohn is a Christian, Korean woman living in Los Angeles. She runs a flower shop for a living and ministers to those around as her calling. When a young, Jewish lawyer shows up in need of a florist, the two sense an immediate connection. After a series of dinners and in-depth conversations about Christianity and Judaism, they eventually travel to Israel together where they both explore questions of faith, love, duty, and religion.

London, modern day: Joe, a mild mannered young man is bored by his life. When his beloved brother is murdered Joe finds solace in Piggy, one of his brother's old friends. Piggy helps Joe to cope with grief, intent on saving him and helping him get justice for his brother's killing. As their friendship grows Joe finds himself in an increasing dangerous and murky world of violence and revenge. As Joe life collapses around him he starts to question who Piggy really is, and how honest he's really been with him. When Joe confronts Piggy a series of events are put in place that lead to a disastrous climax.

A Texan mother loses her child to foster care and she starts to smuggle Mexicans across the border to make money.

Lao Yang and Eddy both work for a company called CREC (Chinese Railway Engineering Company). They have just set up camp near the remote mining town of Kolwezi in the Katanga province of the RDC. The goal of the company is to redo the road - covering 300km - that connects Kolwezi with the capital of the province Lubumbashi. Lao Yang is head of logistics of the group. He is responsible for the equipment, building materials and food (mainly chickens) to arrive in the isolated Chinese prefab camp. The Congolese government was supposed to deliver these things but so far the team hasn't received anything. With Eddy (a Congolese man who speaks Mandarin fluently) as an intermediate, Lao Yang is forced to leave the camp and deal with local Congolese entrepreneurs, because without the construction materials the road works will cease. What follows is an endless, harsh, but absurdly funny roller coaster of negotiations and misunderstandings, as Lao Yan learns about the Congolese way of making deals.

In Nazi-occupied France, Jewish brothers Joseph and Maurice are forced to flee Paris and make their way south, away from persecution. Separated from their parents and left largely to their own devices, the two boys must navigate a country where a careless word or a revealed identity could mean arrest. Moving from place to place, they survive through ingenuity, courage and deception, encountering both danger and unexpected acts of kindness. Their journey gradually strips away the innocence of childhood, while their unwavering loyalty to one another becomes their greatest source of strength. What begins as a desperate escape becomes a poignant story of survival, brotherhood and resilience.

In this passionate modern day retelling of the classic novel, Emmaline Robinson and Dean McMullen are on two opposing sides of their high school world. But when they are caught in a storm at sea during a Caribbean field trip and stranded on a tropical island, these two teenagers will have to come together in ways they never imagined. Without parents, without cell phones and without help, they will learn how to survive on their own or face the ultimate consequences. As they explore and learn about each other, they also learn about themselves while falling in love, while waiting for rescue on the island.

Red Krokodil tells the story of a man meant to represent all men. It is the story of a man addicted to ‘Krokodil’, that suddenly finds himself alone in a post-nuclear city similar to Chernobyl. His physical decay, caused by the massive intake of drugs, is mirrored in his inner world, as reality mixes with hallucinations. The result is a film that uses the Krokodil as a metaphor of destruction.

Mischievous grandma Madea lands in jail, where she meets a variety of mixed-up characters.

France's top secret agent is back! It is 1967 and Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath (the hilarious Jean Dujardin) - aka OSS 117 - jets off to Rio de Janeiro to track down a microfilm containing a list of countrymen who collaborated with the Nazis. He is soon up against the CIA, Nazis, the Israeli secret service, Chinese gangsters and even Mexican wrestlers. A delirously entertaining spy-thriller parody.

A deviant rampages through a city, victimizing women after he discovers how easy it is to gain their trust. Lessons will be learned.

AMIGO, the 17th feature film from Academy Award-nominated writer-director John Sayles, stars legendary Filipino actor Joel Torre as Rafael, a village mayor caught in the murderous crossfire of the Philippine-American War. When U.S. troops occupy his village, Rafael comes under pressure from a tough-as-nails officer (Chris Cooper) to help the Americans in their hunt for Filipino guerilla fighters. But Rafael's brother (Ronnie Lazaro) is the head of the local guerillas, and considers anyone who cooperates with the Americans to be a traitor. Rafael quickly finds himself forced to make the impossible, potentially deadly decisions faced by ordinary civilians in an occupied country. A powerful drama of friendship, betrayal, romance and heartbreaking violence, AMIGO is a page torn from the untold history of the Philippines, and a mirror of today's unresolvable conflicts.

Follow Phil Rosenthal, creator of the hit TV series 'Everybody Loves Raymond,' in this incredibly funny true story of the attempt to translate 'Raymond' into a Russian sitcom. A hilarious, warm and intimate journey of one man, considered an expert in his country, who travels to a distant land to help people that don't seem to want his help. Lost in Moscow, lost in his mission, lost in translation, Phil tries to connect to his Russian colleagues but runs into unique characters and situations that conspire to drive him insane. The movie is a true international adventure, a genuine 'fish out of water' comedy that could only exist in real life.

Ronnie comes from a poor family, lives with his mother, and drives a taxi in Bombay, India. One day he comes to the rescue of a Punjabi woman named Santho, who is lost and in distress. She is unable to find the person, Gulbahar Singh, she is looking for, has her belongings and money stolen, and takes shelter with Ronnie. Both of them fall in love, and want to get married. Then Ronnie gets the shock of his life when he sees Santho dancing in a brothel, and being referred to as Ram Kali. Ronnie must find out why Santho is leading a double life, before he can get married to her.

Love can be painful. Very painful. The intriguing-on-the-outside, twisted-and-tortured-on-the-inside Tara sets her sights on the unassuming guy-next-door Ray. Their innocent flirting turns into a regretful one night stand which he hopes to put behind him. Tara has different plans for their relationship. It becomes horrifically apparent that she refuses to be cast aside and is willing to go to sick extremes to keep her man as people in Ray's life are met with torturous ends. Amidst this violently twisted love story unfolds a profound social commentary on love and the effects of violence.

Struggling actor Wayne still needs financial help from his worried parents as major parts are hard to find. Father finally convinces him to make some use of his teaching degree and accept at least an interim as high-school English teacher, for which he proves more adequate then the present staff. When model student J.D. also makes his class's Shakesepeare project an exciting success, Wayne, who also has a budding affair with a helpful school colleague, is offered a dream part in a major commercial, so he must choose.