Frantisek Vlácil (Czech Republic, 1966). In memory of George Gund III (1937–2013). An elliptical story of rivalry and revenge in medieval Bohemia, this rarely seen work evokes Kurosawa or Mizoguchi: intense, poetic, and devastatingly cinematic. (162 mins)

Moussa Touré (France/Senegal/Germany, 2012). (La pirogue). Senegalese director Moussa Touré offers an unvarnished glimpse into a common but often deadly immigrant journey, taking us on a perilous sea voyage with thirty West African immigrants heading for Spain. (87 mins)

Kenji Uchida (Japan, 2012), (Kagi dorobo no mesoddo). Kenji Uchida in person. A depressed and unemployed actor switches lives with a Yakuza assassin in Kenji Uchida's brilliantly conceived and executed Japanese screwball comedy. (128 mins)

Marcel Gisler (Switzerland, 2013). Jaded gay novelist Lorenz returns home to provincial Switzerland to care for his ailing mother (scene-stealing Sibylle Brunner) in this gently humorous crowd-pleaser-nominated for six Swiss Film Awards-that deftly disentangles the familial and romantic ties that bind. (106 mins)

Kalyanee Mam (Cambodia/U.S., 2012). (Kbang tuk tonle). Kalyanee Mam and editor Chris Brown in person. In vivid cinema-vérité style, Bay Area filmmaker Kalyanee Mam presents an intimate and moving portrait of the vanishing world of rural farmers and fishermen in Cambodia. (83 mins)

Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Veréna Paravel (France/U.K./U.S., 2012). A thrilling adventure both on the high seas and in documentary storytelling, Leviathan immerses viewers in the waterlogged world of fishermen toiling in the dead of night on a creaking trawler off the coast of Massachusetts. (87 mins)

William Vega (Colombia/France/Mexico, 2012). A shy teenage orphan seeks shelter on the shores of a mist-shrouded lagoon in this coming-of-age tale set in the lonely, enchanted landscapes of the high Andes. (88 mins)

Ilian Metev (Germany/Bulgaria/Croatia, 2012). (Poslednata lineika na Sofia). On the front lines of a degraded emergency-care system in Sofia, Bulgaria, an over-extended, yet emphatically humane, paramedic crew hurtles frantically from one call to the next in a dilapidated ambulance. (75 mins)

Jennifer Baichwal (Canada, 2006). Lecture by Marilyn Fabe. A pictorially ravishing tour of China's devastated industrial landscapes with photographer Edward Burtynsky. (90 mins)

Song Fang (China, 2012). (Ji yi wang zhe wo). In this strong feature debut, Song Fang directs and plays herself as she visits her parents in Nanjing and they muse on life, death, and tradition. (87 mins)

Marcelo Lordello (Brazil, 2012). (Eles voltam). Marcelo Lordello in person. A potent exploration of class and adolescence, They'll Come Back is a beautifully shot modern fable that tells the story of Cris, a privileged twelve-year-old who embarks on a journey that will open her eyes to a world she never knew. (105 mins)

Olivier Assayas (France, 2012). (Après mai). The latest from French master Olivier Assayas chronicles the period following the May '68 riots in Paris through the eyes of a group of young political idealists trying to make sense of their world through art. (122 mins)

Joshua Oppenheimer (Denmark/Norway/U.K., 2012). “I have not seen a film as powerful, surreal and frightening in at least a decade,” says Werner Herzog of this flabbergasting documentary in which notorious death-squad chiefs brazenly reenact heinous crimes they committed during the Indonesian genocide of the mid-1960s. (116 mins)

Bence Fliegauf (Hungary/Germany/France, 2012). As rumors of a right-wing death squad fill their community, a marginalized Hungarian Romany family goes about its daily routines in this powerful, intimate work based on true events. (87 mins)

Treva Wurmfeld (U.S., 2012). Treva Wurmfeld and producer Amy Hobby in person. With warmth and candor, director Treva Wurmfeld probes the intimate dimensions of the friendship between playwright/actor Sam Shepard and his close friend, archivist Johnny. (92 mins)

Kim Longinotto (U.K./India, 2013). Veteran British documentarian Kim Longinotto's latest work is the remarkable story of a South Indian Muslim woman who endured a twenty-five-year imprisonment by her own family before becoming the most famous female poet in the Tamil language. (90 mins)

Mika Mattila (Finland, 2013). Mika Mattila in person. This revelatory and visually striking documentary follows a pair of artists-painter/sculptor Wang Guangyi and photographer Liu Gang-as they grapple with their place and purpose in a new China of pervasive materialism and Western influence. (86 mins)

Raúl Ruiz (France/Chile, 2012). (La noche de enfrente). This posthumously released film, shot in Ruiz's native Chile, brings back the elegance of his straight-faced surrealism in the story of a man nearing death who conjures up his childhood heroes. (113 mins)

Les Blank (U.S.). Three newly restored 16mm films by Les Blank: the West Coast premiere of the restoration of Spend it All, a documentary celebrating Cajun food, music, and culture, and world premieres of the restorations of the rarely seen Chicken Real (1970) and Christopher Tree (a.k.a. Spontaneous Sound, 1972). (73 mins)