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Summer is here and we are ready to enjoy it! Regardless of the many outdoor activities we have in store for summer, there is always time to watch a good TV show or movie.
There’s nothing like snuggling up on Saturday night, rainy day (or anyday) and watching a good movie or binging a new show. It’s even cooler when you enter a different cinematic territory, brought to you by another country or made for the foreign press. For example, who wouldn’t want to learn more about the trailblazing actress Rita Moreno or enter the different worlds brought to you by the Turkish, Spanish, Italian, French, or South Korean, options we present below? There’s nothing like exploring a new story, characters and new worlds made possible by the art of film.
After a year staying indoors, many of us might feel as though we are exhausted of all the English-language TV options that the world has to offer. Thankfully, there is a great amount of incredible international content out there waiting to be discovered. Here are some of the must-watch foreign films and TV shows for summer 2021.
1. ‘La Llorona’ - Movie (Guatemala) Amazon
A tale of horror and magical realism, the film reimagines the iconic Latin American fable as an urgent metaphor of Guatemala’s recent history and tears open the country’s unhealed political wounds to grieve a seldom discussed crime against humanity. (Winner — Venice Days 2019. Official Selection TIFF 2019, Sundance 2020, Nominated — Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture in a Foreign Language).
2. ‘Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It’ - Documentary (USA) In Theaters
Over a 70+ year career, Rita Moreno defied both her humble upbringing and relentless racism to become a celebrated and beloved actor, one of the rare EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) Award Winners of our time. Born into poverty on a Puerto Rican farm, Moreno and her seamstress mother immigrated to New York City when Moreno was five years old. After studying dance and performing on Broadway, Moreno was cast as any ethnic minority the Hollywood studios needed filled, be it Polynesian, Native American or Egyptian. Despite becoming the first Latina actress to win an Academy Award for her role as Anita in “West Side Story” (1961), the studios continued to offer Moreno lesser roles as stereotypical ethnic minorities, ignoring her proven talent.
3. Everybody Knows - Movie (Spain) Amazon
Academy Award winners Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz star in #EverybodyKnows, a film by Asghar Farhadi. Laura (Cruz), a Spanish woman living in Buenos Aires, returns to her hometown outside Madrid with her two children to attend her sister‘s wedding. However, the trip is upset by unexpected events that bring secrets into the open.
4. Hercai, amor y venganza - TV Series (Turkey) Telemundo
The relationship between Reyyan (Ebru Şahin) and Miran (Akin Akinözü) begins as a vengeful product of hatred between two powerful families, but along the path, vengeance turns to love and loyalty to betrayal.
5. Parasite - Movie (South Korea) - Amazon
‘Parasite’ made Oscars history as the first foreign-language film to win best picture (2020). Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.
6. Marcella - TV Series (France) Netflix
Marcella Backland left the Metropolitan Police for the sake of her family, only to have her husband leave her. She returns to her job on the murder squad, investigating a case that seems disturbingly familiar to her.
7. Elite - TV Series (Spain) Netflix
It is a Spanish thriller teen drama television series created for Netflix by Carlos Montero and Darío Madrona. Season 4 is shaping up to have everything Elite is best known for, and judging by the teaser, another murder is also likely to happen. While several fan-favorites won‘t be returning, Samuel, Guzmán, Ander, Omar, Cayetana and Rebeka are spending another year at Las Encinas. Bonus! Four new faces will be joining them.
8. The Life Ahead - Movie (Italy)
A Holocaust survivor (Sophia Loren) running a daycare business forms an unlikely friendship with a bitter street kid when she takes him in after he robs her.
9. Lupin - TV Series (France) Netflix
Lupin is a French mystery thriller streaming television series created by George Kay and François Uzan that premiered on Netflix on 8 January 2021.