The Small World of Sammy Lee

The Tailor of Panama

March 2001 •English

A British spy is banished to Panama after having an affair with an ambassador's mistress. Once there he makes connection with a local tailor with a nefarious past and connections to all of the top political and gangster figures in Panama. The tailor also has a wife, who works for the Panamanian president and a huge debt. The mission is to learn what the President intends to do with the Canal.

American Sole

Invalid date •English

Two twenty-year-old men with mountains of college debt use the fast cash of after-market sneaker reselling to achieve their American dream. But when their startup runs out of cash and a shady investor is their only way out, the dream quickly becomes a nightmare.

Madambi

July 2008 •Malayalam

In a village named Ilavattam there lives a man by the name of Gopalakrishna Pillai. He is a man with diverse qualities. Basically he is a moneylender, but not the avaricious kind. He lends money at very low interest-rates but makes it a point to get his money back on the date agreed upon. The story takes a turn when a bank, named Grand Bank opens up in the village, offering to give out loans at very low interest. The manager of the bank is a young lady named Jayalakshmi. She has made her entry into the village with a very definite purpose. All this, plus the very different kind of bonding between Gopalakrishna Pillai and his mother, form the plot, which develops towards a very interesting climax.

Dancer in the Dark

September 2000 •English

Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder and will suffer the same fate without an expensive operation. When life gets too difficult, Selma learns to cope through her love of musicals, escaping life's troubles - even if just for a moment - by dreaming up little numbers to the rhythmic beats of her surroundings.

Pusher II

December 2004 •Danish

Tonny is released from prison - again. This time he has his mind set on changing his broken down life, but that is easier said than done.

Barbershop

April 2002 •English

A day in the life of a barbershop on the south side of Chicago. Calvin, who inherited the struggling business from his deceased father, views the shop as nothing but a burden and waste of his time. After selling the shop to a local loan shark, Calvin slowly begins to see his father's vision and legacy and struggles with the notion that he just sold it out.

The Wild Pear Tree

June 2018 •Turkish

Fresh out of university, a Turkish young man with literary aspirations returns to his home village, and to his father, a debt-ridden man with a gambling problem.

Choke

September 2008 •English

A sex-addicted con-man pays for his mother's hospital bills by playing on the sympathies of those who rescue him from choking to death.

Factotum

April 2005 •English

This drama centers on Hank Chinaski, the fictional alter-ego of "Factotum" author Charles Bukowski, who wanders around Los Angeles, CA trying to live off jobs which don't interfere with his primary interest, which is writing. Along the way, he fends off the distractions offered by women, drinking and gambling.

Saint George

March 2017 •Portuguese

In 2011 Portugal began the so-called "year of the Troika" (EU, IMF and ECB budget cuts and economic restructuring), with the level of debt among the Portuguese people reaching staggering amounts and a growing number of families and companies unable to repay their installment loans. Jorge is an unemployed boxer on the verge of losing his son and his wife, who has decided to return to Brazil. As a means of paying off his debt and persuading his wife to remain in Portugal, Jorge accepts a job with a debt-collection agency, which will drag him into a world of violence and crime.

Striptease

June 1996 •English

Bounced from her job, Erin Grant needs money if she's to have any chance of winning back custody of her child. But, eventually, she must confront the naked truth: to take on the system, she'll have to take it all off. Erin strips to conquer, but she faces unintended circumstances when a hound dog of a Congressman zeroes in on her and sharpens the shady tools at his fingertips, including blackmail and murder.

Der Eiserne Gustav

December 1958 •German

Glaciers

September 2021 •English

Robby Miller (Bralyn Stokes), a former army soldier leaves the military after his wife's sudden death to raise his son JJ (Jackson Hammer). As the pressures of single fatherhood and his wife's death start to build, Robby finds himself in a place he never thought he'd be.

My Name Is Joe

May 1998 •English

Two thirtysomethings, unemployed former alcoholic Joe and community health worker Sarah, start a romantic relationship in the one of the toughest Glasgow neighbourhoods.

Neandertal

July 2006 •German

17-year-old Guido suffers since his early childhood from neurodermatitis. After being taken to the hospital due to a heavy attack, he starts to question his personal and familiar environment and discovers that his parents’ relationship – which he assumed to be happy and sound – is built on lies. Unable to deal with this disappointment, he flees from it and moves in with his older brother and his roommates...

The Bank Job

February 2008 •English

Terry is a small-time car dealer trying to leave his shady past behind and start a family. Martine is a beautiful model from Terry's old neighbourhood who knows that Terry is no angel. When Martine proposes a foolproof plan to rob a bank, Terry recognises the danger but realises this may be the opportunity of a lifetime. As the resourceful band of thieves burrows its way into a safe-deposit vault at a Lloyds Bank, they quickly realise that, besides millions in riches, the boxes also contain secrets that implicate everyone from London's most notorious underworld gangsters to powerful government figures, and even the Royal Family. Although the heist makes headlines throughout Britain for several days, a government gag order eventually brings all reporting of the case to an immediate halt.

Buffalo '66

January 1998 •English

Billy is released after five years in prison. In the next moment, he kidnaps teenage student Layla and visits his parents with her, pretending she is his girlfriend and they will soon marry.

Easter

October 1988 •Swedish

Drama about a family going through a crisis during the Easter weekend.

Flow and Ebb

January 2024 •German

Crab fishers Fred and Malte have never talked about their feelings. After a stroke of fate Fred experiences a mental breakdown.

The Last Pig

September 2016 •German

Plum out of luck, Swabian farmer Huber’s farm goes under. Then his girlfriend Birgit takes over her father’s newly-acquired firm – in former East Germany. That's reason enough for Huber to bail on his debts and head out on a road trip through southwest Germany.