Descent into Darkness: My European Nightmare (France, 2013)
An overly friendly Eastern European tourist arrives in Paris to begin filming his travelogue about the European dream. But a series of mishaps drive him over the edge into a primal state of paranoia and brutality. Starring director Rafaël Cherkaski as the main character, this film goes into some very dark areas that most people would rather avoid. Seriously, this one’s not for the squeamish, and it stays with you for a while.
Shopping Tour (Russia, 2013)
Here’s one of those rarities that more people should know about. A Russian mother and her teenage son get on a tour bus to go shopping through Finland. Once there, they find themselves surrounded by cannibalistic Finns and they have to either set aside their bickering to survive or be eaten alive by their Scandinavian neighbors. By incorporating socio-political satire and a complex family dynamic, director Mikhail Brashinskiy delivers a found footage film like no other.
