1. MORVERN CALLAR
 
United Kingdom
dir. Lynne Ramsay
world premiere 2002
U.S. release 2002
 

 
Because virtually the entire story, minus one impulsive vacation, is right there in the first handful of shots: a girl, a body, a book, a note, a tape. Forsaking voiceover, hitched to a character who eschews talk, every single thing we come to know or intuit or ask about Morvern emerges in ways completely unique to cinema. Against all odds, it's a tremendous amount.