Popcorn & Candy is DCist’s selective and subjective guide to some of the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week.

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Dream Alliance and breeder Jan Vokes (Sony Pictures Classics)

Dark Horse

The mining village of Cefn Fforest is one of the smallest and poorest in Wales. When Jan, a barmaid in the local pub, heard one of the working class regulars talk about the time he owned a share in a racehorse, she got the idea to breed her own. From the union of a cheap, slow mare and an aging stallion, Dream Alliance was born, named for the group aspirations of the 23 friends Jan and her husband recruited to buy shares. Director Louise Osmond’s documentary is filled with subjects and scenery that ooze an old world charm, even (or especially) if you can’t always understand the Welsh accents. You will understand touching lines like, “To them it was an industry; to us, he’s like one of the family!” This real life sports drama follows an inevitable and familiar arc, but that doesn’t mean you won’t cheer when Dream wins a big race or worry that he’ll survive a racing accident.

Watch the trailer.
Opens tomorrow at Landmark E Street Cinema

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The members of Songhoy Blues come from different areas of Mali, and met in exile in Bamako. (BBC Worldwide)

They Will Have to Kill Us First

Mali’s rich musical culture was devastated by the rise of jihadists who took over the northern part of the country in 2012 and instituted strict Sharia law. The new regime destroyed radio stations, burned instruments, and threatened Malian musicians, who fled the country to escape torture and death. But the musicians in exile fought back, organizing a concert in Timbuktu in defiance of their oppressors. Director Johanna Schwartz’s film was one of the highlights of this year’s New African Film Festival, and the AFI has brought it back for two more screenings this weekend.

Watch the trailer.
Saturday, May 14 and Monday, May 16 at the AFI Silver.

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Paul Muni

The World Changes

Once a month the Library of Congress (disclosure: I work there) will be showing newly restored 35mm prints in the intimate Mary Pickford Theater. Next week’s feature is director Mervyn LeRoy’s 1933 social drama starring Paul Muni (I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang) as a farmer who rises to the top of the meatpacking industry, only to see his family fall apart. Preceded by the 1934 Vitaphone short “I Scream,” about an ice cream delivery man caught in the middle of a gang war. Look for the Three Stooges’ unsung Shemp Howard in the short.

Thursday, May 19, 2016 at 7 p.m. at the Mary Pickford Theater, third floor of the Madison Building, Library of Congress. Free. Seating is on a first-come first-serve basis. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

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Courtesy of the Freer

Gangnam Blues

The 2012 K-pop smash “Gangnam Style” painted a modern picture of a posh Seoul neighborhood that was just farmland in the ’70s. This year’s Korean Film Festival opens with director Yoo Ha’s epic tale of the land grab and violent political machinations that led to its development. Pierce Conran of Twitch Film writes that Gangnam Blues is “an evocative and immensely entertaining saga … one of the most beautifully designed and lushly filmed Korean productions ever made.”

Watch the trailer.
Thursday, May 19 at 7:15 p.m. at the AFI Silver.

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Raw Force

Once upon a time, American exploitation directors flocked to the Philippines to crank out sleazy low budget product. Next week the Washington Psychotronic Film Society offers this Filipino joint directed by Edward Murphy (who has a bit part in Goodfellas as “Liquor Cop #1”). The programmers explain that this film, also known as Kung Fu Cannibals, is set on “Warrior’s Island, burial ground of disgraced martial arts masters! A group of students find themselves facing the bloodthirsty vengeance of flesh-ripping kungfu zombies, gun-toting white slave traders, and a band of strange monks. A smorgasbord of over-the-top sleaze and outrageous action starring Cameron Mitchell (The High Chaparral) and Hope Holiday (The Apartment).”

Watch the trailer.
Monday, May 16 at 8 p.m at Smoke and Barrel.

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Also opening this week, Tom Hiddleston stars in director Ben Wheatley’s dystopian drama High-Rise, adapted from the novel by J. G. Ballard. We’ll have a full review tomorrow.