FOREIGN FILM SERIES
2008-2009
Schedule and Description of movies
The movies that we will be presenting are foreign films shown in a foreign language with subtitles. Some of the movies deal with more than one culture. Some deal with important historical, demographical, and human events such as immigration, exile, spirituality, unemployment, intolerance, precarity, military violence, solitude, and tolerance around the world and humor. Finally, all movies were carefully chosen because they all are:
- Movies having had a wide success around the world
- Movies that will be of interest to most UAB students
- Movies that promote and enforce diversity awareness
- Movies that foster and promote tolerance
- Movies that foster and promote freedom of expression through art
- Movies that foster and promote compassion
- Movies that will enforce language and culture learning
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All Films 8:00pm on a Tuesday of each month beginning in August
Free admission | Hulsey Recital Hall
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August 26 –Cuban– Viva Cuba
Viva Cuba (Cuba, 2005, Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti and Iraida Malberti Cabrera, Directors) -- This award-winning film explores the bond of friendship, as the close relationship between two children living in Cuba is threatened by the class differences between their families. –In Spanish with English subtitles.
Sept 16 –French– Private Fears in Public Places
Private Fears in Public Places (France, 2007, Alain Resnais, Director)— Nominated for eight César awards in its native France, Private Fears in Public Places is an intelligent, adult look at loneliness in the twenty-first century. The film examines the interrelated lives of six main characters who are trying desperately but failing at making real, long-lasting connections. Charlotte (a bewitching Sabine Azéma) is a Bible-reading real estate agent who takes care of Lionel's (Pierre Arditi) vile, ailing father at night. Thierry (André Dussollier), a coworker of Charlotte's, is showing apartments to Nicole (Laura Morante) and Dan (Lambert Wilson), an engaged couple who can't agree on anything. And Gaëlle (Isabelle Carré), who lives with Thierry, her older brother, is looking for love through the personal ads but instead keeps coming home alone. In French with English subtitles.
Sept 30 –Egyptian– The Yacoubian Building
The Yacoubian Building (Egypt, 2006 Marwan Ahmed, Director) - The complex, corrupt, and beautiful stories of the residents of central Cairo who live in the crumbling, once-decadent Yacoubian Building are interwoven in this roman à clef, which paints a merciless and haunting picture of Egypt. This film (Omaret yakobean) was an official selection of the Berlin International Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival.
Oct 14 –Mexican– The Violin
The Violin (Mexico, 2005, Francisco Vargas, Director) –Mexican director Francisco Vargas Quevedo presents the story of Don Plutarco, an elderly farmer and violinist; the aged patriarch of a musical family who has fashioned an ingenious way of smuggling ammunition beneath the noses of government troops. Shot simply and starkly in Black & White this mood-driven character exploration of familial love, duty, conflict and innocence is set in rural Mexico during the peasant revolts of the 1970s. El Violin is a captivating and beautifully presented tale with a strong sense of social justice. This movie has received 24 awards around the world. –In Spanish with English subtitles.
Nov 18 –Japanese– Who’s Camus Anyway
In celebration of International Education Week. Who’s Camus Anyway (Japan, 2005, Mitsuo Yanagimachi, Director) –The story is set on the campus of a university in Tokyo. Students from the literature department's "film workshop" are about to start shooting their movie The Bored Murderer, part of their course curriculum. Everyone is in a rush to prepare for the shoot, but the lead actor drops out suddenly, and the team is forced to search for a replacement at the last minute. Matsukawa, the director, and Hisada, the first assistant, and other members of the team have their own personal problems with life and love, and the story unfolds "just like in the movies". –In Japanese with English subtitles.
Jan 27 –Chinese– Still Life
Still Life | Sti Sanxia Haoren (China, 2006, Jia Zhang Ke, Director) -- Fengjie’s old town is already under water, but its new neighborhood hadn’t been finished yet. There are things to salvage and there are things to leave. Han Sanming, a coal miner, travels to Fengjie to look for his ex-wife, whom he has not seen in 16 years. Seeing each other the the Yangtze River, they decide to rematty. Shen Hong, a nurse, travels to Fengjie to look for her husband who hasn’t come home in two year. They hug in front of the Three Gorges Dam. Despite a dance, they sadly call it quits and decide to divorce. The old township has been submerged, while a new town has to be built. Life persists in the Three Gorges - what should be taken up is taken up, what should be cast off is cast off. In Celebration of UAB Community Week.
Feb 17 –Senegalese– Guelwaar
In celebration Black History Month. Guelwaar (Senegal, 1992, Ousmane Sembene, Director) –The burial of a Christian political activist in a Muslim cemetary forces a conflict imbued with religious fervor. A satiric portrayal of religion and politics in Africa, sometimes humorous, sometimes deadly serious.
–In French and Wolof with English subtitles.
March 31–Italian– Days and Clouds
Days and Clouds – Giorni e nuvole (Italia, 2008, Silvio Soldini, Director) Well-to-do, sophisticated couple, Elsa and Michele, have a 20 year-old daughter, Alice, and enough money for Elsa to leave her job and fulfill an old dream of studying art history. After she graduates, however, their lives change. Michele confesses he hasn't worked in two months and was fired by the company he founded years ago. Elsa overcomes her initial shock by pouring extra energy into facing the crisis while Michele, exhausted by an unsuccessful job hunt, lets himself go, alternating between vivacity and apathy. The growing distance between them eventually leads to a break-up. Only when they apart will they realize that they risk losing their most precious possession: the love that binds them.
April 7 –Cuban– Suite Habana
Suite Habana (Cuba, 2003, Fernando Pérez, Director) Dawn in Havana, Cuba. The city wakes up and a new day and the film begin. A poetic homage to the city of Havana, this haunting and delightful film follows 10 ordinary Habaneros over a 24-hour period as they go about their daily routines. Weaves a unique and intimate picture of a city full of contradictions and contrasts. In Spanish with English subtitles.
April 21 –German/Turkish– The Edge of Heaven - Auf der anderen Seite
The Edge of Heaven (Germany/Turkey, 2007, Fatih Akin, Director) - Retired widower Ali sees a solution to his loneliness when he meets prostitute Yeter, and he proposes that his fellow Turkish native live with him in exchange for a low rent. At first Ali’s German Professor son Nejat seems disapproving about his father’s choice, but the young professor quickly grows fond of kind Yeter, especially upon discovering most of her hard-earned money is sent home to Turkey for her daughter’s university studies. The accidental death of Yeter further distances father and son, both emotionally and physically. Nejat then decides to travel to Istanbul to begin an organized search for Yeter’s daughter Ayten. In German and Turkish with English subtitles.
Each synopsis comes from the Internet Movie Database IMDb (http://www.imdb.com)