Allan Corduner

Charles Dickens`s A Christmas Carol is transformed into a joyous, colorful, feel-good Christmas musical that celebrates modern-day London and all of its communities and cultures.

In 1930s Shanghai, a blind American diplomat develops a curious relationship with a young Russian refugee who works odd--and sometimes illicit--jobs to support members of her dead husband's aristocratic family. Shanghai. 1936. Crossroads of the world. Into this city of political intrigue comes Sofia, a Russian Countess whom the Revolution has left stateless with the remains of her family. Forced by her reduced circumstances to support herself and her family as a bar-girl and taxi dancer, Sofia forms a relationship with Jackson, a blind former diplomat who opens an elegant bar, The White Countess. Their curious relationship matures, but they are caught up in the fall of the city to the Japanese invaders. —johnno.r@xtra.co.nz Living exiled in Shanghai during the 1930s, Russian Countess Sofia Belinskya remembers old times of opulence and fancy dance parties, memories she cherishes as she endures her current poor life with her daughter Katya and her husband's family. The Countess works as a hostess and companion lady in a dance club, where she entertains all kinds of men, dancing with them and having a chat. She comes to know American diplomat Todd Jackson, a nice, kind man with whom she begins a friendship, despite the fact that Jackson is blind. Meanwhile, Jackson meets there friendly Japanese diplomat Matsuda and they become friends. Years later, Jackson sets up a glamorous club, "The White Countess", taking Sofia with him to work there as a companion lady. But Sofia doesn't want Katya to find out about her real work, protecting the girl from following in her footsteps in the future. Between Jackson and Sofia exists a special attraction which could turn into love at any moment. But Jackson is being tortured by a traumatic event from the past, while Sofia is longing to leave the city. The Japanese invasion takes place and threatens their dreams and longings. —Alejandro Frias

Inspecting a magical biographical stage musical, composer Cole Porter reviews his life and career with his wife, Linda. De-Lovely is an original musical portrait of American composer Cole Porter, filled with his unforgettable songs. In the film, Porter is looking back on his life as if it was one of his spectacular stage shows, with the people and events of his life becoming the actors and action onstage. Through elaborate production numbers and popular hits like "Anything Goes," "It's De-Lovely," and "Night and Day," Porter's elegant, excessive past comes to light - including his deeply complicated relationship with his wife and muse, Linda Lee Porter. —Anonymous Educated fleas in this vale of tears: the marriage of Cole Porter and his wife, Linda, told loosely as a three-act review with Porter watching. In act one, Porter and Linda meet in Paris, fall in love and marry with her knowledge of his being gay; on to Venice and New York, where parties, music, and their love lead him to decide to compose professionally. Act two is New York and Hollywood, where success awaits, as do an increasing number of young men who take Porter's attention from Linda and leave her lonely and apart. Act three begins with a crippling accident that brings Linda back to Porter's side, their attentiveness to each other renewed in his pain and her illness. —<jhailey@hotmail.com>

A Jewish girl disguises herself as a boy to enter religious training. Eastern Europe, 1904. A Jewish woman, Yentl, has a thirst for knowledge but is prohibited from learning due to the restrictions of her religion. When her father dies, she sets off to increase her knowledge, posing as a man in order to gain admission to a Jewish religious school.