All screenings will be held at 7:00 PM on Thursdays and Fridays in the Admissions Multimedia Room, Rotunda, Student Center.
Colleagues in all fields are encouraged to request screenings for academic purposes. Please address suggestions for next semester to Daniela Melis (x2610) or Ivette Romero (x2807), co-directors of the Foreign Film Program, Department of Modern Languages and Cultures. The Foreign Film Program is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Office of College Activities and the Office of the Academic Vice-President.
Jan. 24, 25 The Mission
[England, 1986, Dir. Roland Joffé] PG DVD 126 mins.
Father Gabriel is a Spanish Jesuit who goes into the South American wilderness to build a mission
in the hope of converting the Indians of the region. Mendoza, a slaver, kills his brother in a fit
of rage, and only Fr. Gabriel's guidance prevents his suicide. Gabriel brings Mendoza to work at his mission
with the natives, where he finds peace and asks to become a priest. The church,
under pressure, cedes the land to the Portuguese which will allow slavers in again.
Mendoza breaks his vows and organizes the natives to resist while Gabriel warns him to help them as a priest.
In English
Jan. 31, Feb. 1 Die Weiße Rose (The White Rose)
[Germany, 1982, Dir. Michael Verhoeven] NR DVD 108 mins.
During World War II, a small group of students at Munich University begin to question the decisions and sanity
of Germany's Nazi government. The students form a resistance cell which they name
the "White Rose" after a newsletter that is secretly distributed to the student body. At first small in numbers
and fearful of discovery, the White Rose begins to gain massive support. The matter is taken over by the German
Gestapo agents, who pledge to hunt down and destroy the members of the White Rose.
In German with English subtitles.
Feb. 7, 8 La battaglia di Algeri (The Battle of Algiers)
[Italy/Algeria, 1966, Dir.Gillo Pontecorvo] NR DVD 121 mins.
This political film about the Algerian struggle for independence from France presents the memories of Ali,
a leading member of the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN), when finally captured
by the French in 1957. Three years earlier, Ali was a petty thief who joined the organization in order to
help rid the Casbah of vice associated with the colonial government. The film traces the
rebels' struggle and the increasingly extreme measures taken by the French government to quell what soon becomes
a nationwide revolt. After the flashback, Ali and the last of the FLN leaders are
killed, and the film takes on a more general focus, leading to the declaration of Algerian independence in 1962.
In Arabic, French, and Italian with English subtitles.
Feb. 14, 15 Ricordati di me (Remember Me, My Love)
[Italy/France, 2003, Dir. Gabriele Mucchino] R DVD 125 mins.
Carlo and Giulia are a married couple who have each given up their aspirations in order to live an average life.
Their 19-year-old son, Paolo, is having trouble finding an identity, while their
18-year-old daughter, Valentina, has already figured out how to use sex to her advantage.
The family goes through a crisis when Carlo begins having an affair, Giulia attempt to seduce the director of a local
stage production she is in, and Valentina does what she does best to land an audition for a TV show.
The plot follows up on the lives of the characters in L'ultimo bacio.
In Italian with English subtitles.
Feb. 21, 22 El laberinto del fauno (Pan's Labyrinth)
[Mexico/Spain/US, 2006, Dir. Guillermo del Toro] R DVD 112 mins.
In 1944 fascist Spain, a girl, fascinated with fairy-tales, is sent along with her pregnant mother
to live with her new stepfather, a ruthless captain of the Spanish army. During the night, she
meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she's a princess,
but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks. If she fails, she will never
prove herself to be the true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again.
In Spanish with English subtitles.
Feb. 28, 29 Io non ho paura (I Am Not Afraid)
[Italy/Spain, 2003, Dir. Gabriele Salvatores] R DVD 108 mins.
While playing outside one day, nine-year-old Michele discovers Filippo, who is chained to the ground
at the bottom of a hole. Michele witnesses town baddie Felice nearby and he suspects foul
play. He is unsure whom he should tell about his discovery but he eventually tells his closest friend.
Michele's parents learn of his discovery and warn him to forget whatever he saw.
In Italian with English subtitles.
Mar. 6, 7 Garage Olimpo
[France/Italy/Argentina 1999, Dir. Marco Bechis] R DVD 98 mins.
Set during a painful chapter in Argentine history, this film follows the trajectory of Maria - a young
Italian-Argentinian teacher who is politically active and is thus kidnapped in front of her
mother and taken to the Garage Olimpo, a decrepit garage beneath which lie torture cells - and the
love-hate relationship she develops with Felix, her torturer. Although no actual violations or
torture are shown, one is confronted by scene after scene of low-key horror. Because you are left to fill in the gaps,
you find yourself imagining what grim thoughts seize political prisoners and what motivates their brutal captors.
In Spanish with English subtitles.
Mar. 13 Queimada (Burn!)
[Italy/France, 1970, Dir. Gillo Pontecorvo] R DVD 112 mins.
The professional mercenary Sir William Walker instigates a slave revolt on the Caribbean island of Queimada
in order to help improve the British sugar trade. Years later he is sent again to deal
with the same rebels that he built up because they have seized too much power that now threatens British sugar interests.
English and Portuguese dialogue.
Mar. 27, 28 The Magdalene Sisters
[Scotland /Ireland, 2002, Dir. Peter Mullan] R DVD 119 mins.
Four women are given into the custody of the Madgalene sisterhood asylum to correct their more or
less sinful behavior: Crispina and Rose have given birth to a premarital child, Margaret was raped
by her cousin, and the orphan Bernadette had been repeatedly caught flirting with boys. All have to work
in a laundry under the strict supervision of the nuns, who break their wills through sadistic
punishments. Some of the inmates develop countermeasures, while others perish under the treatment.
English dialogue.
Apr. 3, 4 Le fate ignoranti (His Secret Life)
[Italy/France, Dir. Ferzan Ozpetec] R DVD 106 mins.
Antonia's husband is killed by a car. She gets depressed until she learns he had been cheating on her with a man.
Following her newly born curiosity for life, she goes to see her husband's lover, Michele, and finds a huge apartment
that he shares with gay and trans-gendered friends, including a Turkish immigrant and a prostitute.
Antonia is reluctant to tell these people of her relationship to the dead man, but needs prompting to move on to a new phase of her life.
Italian and Turkish dialogue with English subtitles.
Apr. 10, 11 Das Boot is voll (The Boat is Full)
[Switzerland/Germany/Austria 1981, Dir. Markus Imhoof] NR DVD 101 mins.
During World War II, Switzerland severely limited refugees: "Our boat is full." A train from Germany
halts briefly in an isolated corner of Switzerland. Six people jump off seeking asylum: four Jews, a French child, and a German soldier.
They seek temporary refuge with a couple who run a village inn by posing as a family. The fabrication unravels through chance and the local constable's
exact investigation. Whom will the Swiss allow to stay? Who will get deported?
In German with English subtitles.
Apr. 17, 18 Osama
[Afghanistan/Netherlands, 2003, Dir.Siddiq Barmak] PG-13 DVD 83 mins.
A 12-year-old Afghan girl and her mother lose their jobs when the Taliban closes the hospital where they work.
The Taliban have also forbidden women to leave their houses without a male "legal companion." With her husband and brother dead,
killed in battle, there is no one left to support the family. The mother is left with nowhere to turn,
so she disguises her daughter as a boy. Now called Osama, the girl embarks on a terrifying and confusing journey
as she tries to keep people from finding out her true identity.
Pashtu, English, and Dari dialogue with English subtitles.
Apr. 24, 25 Lakposhtha hâm parvaz mikonand (Turtles Can Fly)
[Iran/France/Iraq, 2004, Dir. Bahman Ghobadi] PG-13 DVD 98 mins.
Set in Ghobadi's native Kurdistan, close to the Turkey-Iran border, this films centers on Soran, a 13-year-old boy
who orders other children around as he installs an antenna for villagers keen to hear of Saddam's fall. Eventually,
he falls for Agrin but is disturbed by her brother, Henkov, who was left armless after he stepped on a landmine and
who can now seemingly predict the future.
In Kurdish with English subtitles.
