A family gathering on Visit Your Relatives Day (USA)

“You must realize that today in Germany anything can happen, even the improbable, and it's just the beginning, Frederick. Personal morals are dead. We are an elite society where everything is permissible. These are Hitler's words. My dear Frederick, even you should give them some thought.”

– Aschenbach

The wealthy Von Essenbecks gather for a family dinner party. There is entertainment.

A good or bad mother for Mother's Day.

 

Arranged by his widowed mother, Per Nilsson marries the wealthy judge's daughter Hanna. The wedlock remains unfulfilled as son and mother find satisfaction in each other. Hanna suspects something.  

Based on the Yngsjö murder case, which at the time was considered more noteworthy for the mother/son relationship than the resulting tragedy.

A traffic accident: UN Global Road Safety Week *

“My Hermès handbag!”

– Corinne

The bourgeois make their way to the countryside, and find themselves in a cacophony of car crashes, primitive urges, and political uprisings.

 

* In 2025, this actually takes places from May 12 – 18.

A hug, romantic or platonic, on the first day of National Hug Holiday Week (USA)

 

Two teenagers in love become increasingly oblivious of the grey world around them.

A director from the EU for Europe Day

“Producers are something I can easily do without”

– Fritz Lang

A film in a film, the former directed by Fritz Lang, directed by Godard.

Intergalactic travel on Star Wars Day

“Our grandfathers always lived on Earth, and we are the first people ever to undertake such a journey. You can be proud that you’re here. Your grandfather, who volunteered to come, was a great man, and we’ve got to do everything to make sure that the Station keeps running.”

– Dr Francis (from Thirteen to Centaurus, J.G. Ballard, 1962)

A ship travels the universe, on its way to Centaurus. On board is a group of people, fourteen in total, one of them a teenager named Abel. His recurring nightmare about a glowing disc prompts to sessions with the on-board psychologist, and the only one with knowledge of Earth, Dr Francis.

A film set during the Great Depression (or set in Oklahoma) on the date John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath was published in 1939.

 

A man who returns from the Boer War decides to become a wheat farmer, but – like so many others in North America – falls victim to the Dust Bowl.

Siblings as main characters for Siblings Day (USA/Canada)

– “Nous sommes deux sœurs jumelles, nées sous le signe des gémeaux   – Mi fa sol la mi ré, ré mi fa sol sol sol ré do   – Aimant la ritournelle, les calembours et les bons mots   – Mi fa sol la mi ré, ré mi fa sol sol sol ré do”

– Delphine & Solange

Bad drivers: the start of compulsory driving tests in the UK was established on March 26, 1934* with the Road Traffic Act.

“This film portrays the traffic war that goes on every day. — Tokyo, 1964”

– opening title

*I find no solid proof to support this statement

Freebie: “Give me liberty or give me death!” (Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775).

“F-R-double-E-D, D-O-M spells Freedom! We fight for freedom, for one and for all! It's you-and-me-dom, and ten foot tall! Freedom, freedom, and oh-can-you-see-dom, we'll always beat 'em with star-spangled freedom!”

– Mr. Freedom singing his theme song