Five international movies to stream now

wife. Director Antoneta Kastrati lost her own mother and sister in the war, and here she crafts a remarkable portrait of a community struggling to process unimaginable trauma. Lume’s crippling grief is dismissed as demonic possession by her in-laws and parents, who displace their own sense of loss into the desperate desire for a new generation. Matoshi turns in a formidable performance as a woman who has no words for the pain she so acutely feels, bearing the brunt of not just her own anguish but everyone else’s, too.

‘Factory to the Workers’

Stream or rent it on DAfilms.

In 2005, the ITAS machine parts factory in Croatia became the site for a monumental event. For decades, the institution had been state-funded but worker-managed, with employees owning shares and governing themselves democratically. When efforts were made to privatize the factory, the staff took over and insisted on continuing a system of joint and equitable ownership, in what became the first successful occupation of a European factory by its workers.

By DEVIKA GIRISH

‘It Is Night in America’

Stream it on Mubi.

Ana Vaz’s debut feature is a work of nocturnal ethnography — a documentary that invites us into a thicket of sound and darkling images so we may emerge with a fresh understanding of the world around us. “It Is Night in America” captures Brasília, Vaz’s hometown in Brazil, through two layers of obfuscation. The film is shot on grainy, expired 16 mm film stock and with a blue tint that turns even daytime scenes into something out of a twilight zone.

The camera’s subjects are the wildlife of the city — owls, capybaras, snakes, foxes and more — seen in the Brasília zoo and on the streets; the soundtrack is a viscous fog of ambient noise — crickets, wind, vehicle horns — interspersed with recordings of phone calls to forest officers to report sightings of animals. These dreamlike visions all accumulate into a parable about aggressive urbanization in the name of progress. What happens when our faunal kin are made invaders in their own homes? Vaz suggests that we learn to look not just ahead but also sideways, at the things that take refuge in the shadows, in the background and in the night.

‘Social Hygiene’

Rent or buy it on Apple TV.

This supremely clever feature by Quebecois director Denis Côté wrings great comedy from a simple dissonance. On a grassy field in an unidentified locale, a petty thief, Antonin (Maxim Gaudette), is berated by a series of women — his sister, his wife, his mistress, a tax collector — in long, staged vignettes. The characters speak in dramatic, declam- atory French, as if in a 19th-century play, and their costumes range from corseted dresses and shabby tailcoats to power suits and leather jackets. Yet the content of their conversations is contemporary and drably banal, dotted with references to Facebook, Volkswagens and discount mattresses.

Full of great quips (“I have so many debts, it’s like I have friends”), “Social Hygiene” milks these arch incongruities for an extended gag about the chasms between art and life. Although Antonin fashions himself as a tormented literary protagonist — a scrupled thief and a thwarted artist — he emerges as little more than a posturing, self-pitying millennial unwilling to take charge of his life. An air of phoniness looms over the characters, who appear like marionettes in Coté’s cool, distant tableaux. When we finally see them up close, their faces fill the screen, but they seem even smaller — regular folks playing at being heroes and victims.

‘Zana’

Stream it on Tubi and Amazon Prime Video.

This gutting Kosovan film opens with a scene straight from the horror textbook: While leading a cow through the woods, Lume (Adriana Matoshi), a young, married woman living on a farm in the countryside, stumbles upon a bloodied bovine skull. As “Zana” unfolds, however, its genre stylings — austere visuals, blurred lines between nightmares and reality, pastoral gore and folklore — give way to the real historical terror pulsating underneath.

Lume, we learn, lost her 4-year-old daughter in the Kosovo War, which resulted in thousands of civilian casualties. She has been unable to conceive since, much to the chagrin of her mother-in-law, who drags her to healers and doctors and threatens to find Lume’s husband a second

In the documentary “Factory to the Workers,” director Srdjan Kovacevic visits ITAS 10 years after the takeover to capture its inner workings and outward challenges in a new, ruthlessly capitalist Europe. Assembling footage shot within the factory across five years, Kovacevic crafts a remarkable, fly-on-the-wall portrait of the workers’ labor, relationships and self-fashioned bureaucracy. Competition from corporations has shrunk the factory’s revenue, resulting in a vicious cycle of delayed salaries and lower morale and culminating in a tumultuous leadership change. Unfolding like a thriller, the film is both cynical and galvanizing with its striking reminder that it takes a crowd — or rather, a collective — to make any kind of dent in this world.

‘The Substitute’ Stream it on Netflix.

This Argentine drama might seem, at first glance, to be another entry in a hackneyed, often misguided genre: films about fish-out-of-water teachers trying to make a difference in inner-city schools. But “The Substitute,” directed by Diego Lerman, adds new dimensions to a cinematic cliché.

Lucio (Juan Minujín), a prestigious novelist subbing as a literature teacher at a local school, is indeed miles apart in life circumstances from his teenage students. They are embroiled in the violent intrigues of drug lords and corrupt politicians; his main concern, on the other hand, is to get his 12-year-old daughter, who is dealing poorly with her parents’ divorce, into a fancy school.

But “The Substitute,” crucially, is not about Lucio’s pedagogic brilliance or the transformative power of books; the scenes of him lecturing in class are almost comically uninspired. Rather, Lucio slowly realizes that his real contribution to his students is in being an ally to them in life rather than in school — which means getting his hands dirty in ways he’s always sought to avoid. With a sensitive lead turn by Minujín, “The Substitute” remains elusive and prickly all the way through, mimicking the messiness of reality more so than the neat arcs of stories.

By DANIELLE FRIEDMAN

Hiking is hot right now. From 2018 to 2021, the number of Americans hitting the trails ballooned to 59 million from around 48 million, according to the nonprofit Outdoor Foundation.

For Alyson Chun, an outdoors guide and assistant director of adventure sports at Stanford, hiking offers freedom and perspective. She said it helped her reconnect with “the grandness of the world” whenever she felt bogged down by daily life.

But for those of us who haven’t spent serious time outdoors since summer camp, a half-day hike can feel daunting. What happens if you lose cell service? How can you avoid getting lost or injured? And do you really need special hiking shoes? We asked the experts for help.

The benefits of a hike

Hiking offers all the cardiovascular benefits of walking, but the uneven terrain does more to strengthen the leg and core muscles, which in turn boosts balance and stability, said Alicia Filley, a physical therapist outside Houston who helps train clients for outdoor excursions. It also generally burns more calories than walking.

These benefits multiply when trails increase in elevation. If you want to build upper-body strength, Filley said, you can wear a weighted backpack and use trekking poles.

Spending time in nature and having experiences that inspire awe can also lower stress and anxiety. One small 2015 study found that people who walked in nature for 90 minutes were less likely to negatively ruminate about themselves — a risk factor for depression — than those who walked in an urban environment.

The conversational pace of hiking also makes it an ideal form of group fitness, said Wesley Trimble, a spokesperson for American Hiking Society. Trimble, who has a mild form of cerebral palsy, hiked the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail in 2014.

If you’re exploring a new trail or region, consider meeting up with a local hiking club to learn the lay of the land. Several groups for specific communities have flourished over the past few years, like Outdoor Afro, Latino Outdoors, Disabled Hikers and Hike It Baby, a group for parents of young children.

How to get started

Training for a hike If you’re relatively active, you’re probably already training just by going for walks. “It can be as simple as heading out the door and walking for 40 minutes to an hour and to build up strength and endurance,” said Lee Welton, a personal trainer in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

To train for steeper terrain, walk up hills, shift your treadmill to an incline or take the stairs. Welton also recommended simple leg-conditioning exercises before and between hikes, including calf raises, toe lifts, squats and single-leg exercises such as lunges.

Finding trails

Picking the right trail can mean the difference between a pleasant workout and a miserable slog.

AllTrails and Hiking Project are databases compiled by experts and regular hikers alike that color-coordinate trails based on difficulty. Apps like those also allow you to download or print trail maps, in case cell service is spotty.

When choosing a hike, note its average elevation gain per mile and use the maps and profile tool to see whether the uphills are gradual or more abrupt. “There might be a short, steep section of the trail, and the rest of it’s fairly easy to moderate,” Welton said.

A good starter hike might have between 100 and 300 feet of elevation gain per mile, he added. “Anything over 500 feet gain per mile is considered difficult.”

If you’re attempting something harder, look for a trail with multiple routes back, in case you need to scale back your plan. Read about the trail’s length and terrain to estimate how long it will take (or use an online calculator). Remember to add rest stops and consider how weather might be a factor.

Packing the right gear

The key to a relaxed hike is being as prepared as possible for the unknown, whether it’s a sudden downpour or a twisted ankle. Every hiker should bring the 10 essentials, which include food and drink, first aid supplies, a map and compass and rain gear — all inside a supportive backpack with thick shoulder straps and a waist belt.

But the most essential gear is footwear, Trimble said, because “your feet are literally your foundation.” You don’t need to invest in special hiking shoes, but you do need shoes that offer stability, protection and traction, especially if the trail is rocky, steep or muddy.

“Good shoes and hiking poles offer extra stability,” Filley said.

Staying safe

Hiking carries some risks, but a few simple precautions can help to ensure you get back safely. If you’re a new hiker, go with a friend or a local group until you’re more experienced, Trimble said.

Tell at least one person where you’ll be and check in afterward, Chun said. Leave a note on your car dashboard with your route so if you’re not back by sunset, rangers will know where to find you.

Finally, don’t push yourself too hard.

“Slow down, take in the scenery, listen to the birds,” Welton said. “Just be present in nature.”