Truly drawn from life

Philip French: A film about a girl growing up in Tehran makes the transition from comic strip to big screen with ease and exuberant humour

Colossal Youth

Cath Clarke: An extraordinary and otherworldly, but also an utterly unforgiving piece of film-making by the Portuguese director Pedro Costa

Philip French: A tale of amour fou with characteristic Gallic philosophising set in aristocratic, early 19th-century France

Peter Bradshaw: French period drama set amidst the intrigues of 19th-century Paris and starring Asia Argento

Philip French: This sees Chan-wook Park, the director of Oldboy and Lady Vengeance, change course

This feature debut by Mexican Francisco Vargas centres on the eternal struggle of an indigenous population against military thugs

Philip French: The less you know of this film, the more you'll be surprised, shocked and, in the end, satisfied

Peter Bradshaw: A heartfelt road movie, with lacerating images of Israel's recent war in Lebanon

DVD of the week: The Counterfeiters

This week, we're on the lookout for younglings on the big screen, whether baby Beelzebubs or endearing offspring

Steve Rose: Documentary about the murder of an Ohio nun who campaigned against ranchers and loggers in the Amazon

Philip French:Four minutes is confused and disappointing

Philip French: Feng Xiaogang's Assembly is a vigorously staged war movie that has been a deserved success in China

Xan Brooks finds a decline in Italian cinema accentuated by the buoyancy and global reach of Spanish film

Peter Bradshaw: Wartime movie which runs on predictable lines