Alain Resnais

Renowned French director Alain Resnais has died at the age of 91. Resnais was responsible for classics such as "Hiroshima, Mon Amour", "Last Year at Marienbad" and the documentary "Night and Fog" about Nazi concentration camps. He started his career directing medium length films back in the 1940s and came to increasing prominence with “Night and Fog” and “Van Gogh”, eventually winning an Oscar in 1950.

Resnais was a Cannes regular, with ties to the festival dating back to the 1950s.

He directed one of his seminal works – “Hiroshima, Mon Amour” in 1959 with with author Marguerite Duras as scriptwriter. The film tells the story of a love affair between a French woman and a Japanese architect – highly recommended Sunday night viewing.

Continue reading: Renowned Director Alain Resnais Dies At Age 91

You might have bought the Werner Herzog box-set when it was on offer; you might watch subtitled films with a mid-range whiskey to impress your friends and you may well snub the Oscars, suggesting the futility of ranking art doesn’t interest you at all. Or, you might genuinely like world cinema. Either way, this list of foreign films should envelop ten minutes of your life, easily.

2014 will see the billion-dollar club swell with the likes of X-Men: Days of Future Past being unleashed, but where are the 90-second shots of a decomposing log being eaten by a nondescript bug while a young couple fornicate on a broken down Ferris Wheel in a remote district of rural Prussia? I mean, where is that?

It’s in none of the films we’re about to list, but what we can guarantee is some of the best foreign cinema you’ll be able to find in 2014. Grab a strong coffee and one of those ‘NICE’ biscuits.

Continue reading: 7 Foreign Films To Look Out For In 2014