International Film Series

film series

Films are shown at 4pm and 7pm in the Library Auditorium

 

Aug. 29 Young Goethe in Love; Germany (102 min.) 2010

Germany 1772 - the young and tumultuous Johann Goethe aspires to be a poet; but after failing his law exams, he is sent by his father to a sleepy provincial court to mend his ways. Unsure of his talent and eager to prove himself, Goethe soon wins the praise and friendship of his superior. But then Lotte enters his life and nothing is the same as before. But the young lovers are unaware that her father has already promised Lotte's hand to another man. In German with English subtitles. Not Rated

 

Sept. 5 In a Better World; Denmark (119 min.) 2010

A provocative film that explores the difficult choices between revenge and forgiveness, In A Better World follows two Danish families and the unusual and dangerous friendship that develops between them. Bullied at school, Elias is defended by Christian, a boy greatly troubled over his mother's death. When the two boys become involved in an act of revenge with potentially tragic consequences, it's their parents who are left to help them come to terms with the complexity of human emotions. Winner of both the 2010 Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film. In Danish with English subtitles. Rated R

 

Sept. 12 Outside the Law; Algeria (138 min.) 2010

Three brothers. One destiny. Freedom at all costs. Nominated for the 2010 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award, the film is the story of three brothers fighting for Algeria's independence from France after World War II. In Arabic and French with English subtitles.
Not Rated

 

Oct. 3 Fatso; Norway (90 min.) 2008

Rino loves women. He loves how they look and how they smell and how they feel. Or, at least he's confident that he would love how they smell and feel if he ever got close enough to find out. Overweight, clumsy and socially awkward, Rino has never worked up the nerve to actually talk to any of them. When his parents decide to rent out the guest room he finally meets the girl of his dreams and embarks on a path of self-discovery to conquer his fears of the opposite sex. Dubbed in English. Not Rated

 

Oct.10 The Flowers of War; China (146 min.) 2011

From internationally celebrated director Zhang Yimou comes a deeply moving story of love and war. A flock of shell-shocked schoolchildren, a dozen seductive courtesans, and a renegade American posing as a priest (Christian Bale) are thrown together, all seeking safety behind a walled cathedral. While trapped for several days by marauding soldiers, the prejudices of these disparate groups fall away as they unite around a last-ditch plan to protect the children from impending catastrophe. In English and Mandarin. Rated R

 

Nov. 7 3 Idiots; India (170 min.) 2009

A staid Indian engineering college is turned upside down by the arrival of a brilliant, rule-breaking student, named Rancho. Joined by two like-minded classmates and fellow "idiots," Rancho manages to rile the school's uptight dean while wooing the dean's pretty daughter in this lively farce. Bollywood's biggest box-office hit. In English. Rated PG-13

 

Nov. 14 Seven Minutes in Heaven; Israel (94 min.) 2009

This is the story of Galia as she tries to rebuild her life in the aftermath of a terrorist bombing. She is badly burned and scarred in the explosion of a Jerusalem city bus. Her boyfriend, Oren, dies after spending days in a coma. With large chunks of memory impaired, Galia tries to reconstruct that day and understand just what happened. With the assistance of a possible new romantic interest, she starts to unravel the clues that eventually help her fully comprehend her own survivor's guilt and try, somehow, to get past it. In Hebrew with English subtitles. Not Rated

 

Jan. 16 Revanche; Austria (121 min.) 2008

In a ragged section of Vienna, a hardened ex-con works as an assistant in a brothel, where he falls for a Ukrainian hooker. Their desperate plan for escape unexpectedly intersects with the lives of a rural cop and his seemingly content wife. With meticulous, elegant direction, Götz Spielmann creates a tense, existential, and surprising portrait of vengeance and redemption. In German with English subtitles. Not Rated

 

Jan. 23 The Secrets in Their Eyes; Argentina

(129 min.) 2010

An Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, this film is part cold-case mystery, part long-lost love story, and part thriller set both in the present and in 1970s Argentina, under the tight control of its infamous military dictatorship.
In Spanish with English subtitles. Rated R

 

Feb. 6 Making Plans for Lena; France (107 min.) 2009

A sprawling family saga that veers from painful to funny to painfully funny and expertly captures all the feints and digs that pass for conversation when loved ones reunite. Recently liberated from her job and husband, Lena heads home to Brittany with her two children to escape the chaos of Paris. But from the moment she arrives she is confronted with unwanted advice, character analysis (that borders on character assassination) and a few other unexpected surprises. In French with English subtitles. Not Rated

 

Feb. 13 Incendies; Canada (130 min.) 2011

In the highly-acclaimed suspense thriller Incendies, a mother's dying wish creates a painful puzzle her children are forced to solve. At the reading of their mother's will, twins Jeanne and Simon are given instructions to locate the father they believed was dead and the brother neither knew existed. They travel to the Middle East, to piece together the story of the woman who brought them into the world, where they make a shocking discovery. In French with English subtitles. Rated R

 

Mar. 6 The Secret of Kells; Ireland (75 min.) 2010

This story, rendered in warm, personal, and compelling traditional animation, is set in the eighth century, a perilous time when Viking raiders threatened to destroy Irish civilization. Since his parents were killed by Vikings, 12-year-old Brendan has lived within the walled monastery of Kells under the stern eye of his uncle, Abbot Cellach. But his life changes when Brother Aidan arrives at Kells with a wondrously beautiful but unfinished illuminated manuscript. Brendan realizes he wants to become an illuminator and complete the book, despite his uncle's opposition. The visuals in The Secret of Kells were inspired by the eighth-century manuscript the Book of Kells, which has been preserved in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. In English. Not Rated

 

Mar. 20 Like Stars On Earth; India (165 min.) 2007

Ishaa Ishaan is an 8 year old who just cannot seem to get anything right in school. He is interested in things that adults don't seem to care about, who focus instead on completing homework and being neat. When he gets into more trouble than his parents can handle, he is packed off to a boarding school to be disciplined. Things are no different at his new school and it takes a new art teacher with an unconventional approach to learning to help Ishaa find himself..Dubbed in English. Rated PG

 

Apr. 3 In Darkness; Poland (145 min.) 2011

Based on a true story, Leopold Socha is a sewer worker and petty thief living in Lvov, a Nazi-occupied city in Poland in 1943. One day he encounters a group of Jews trying to escape the liquidation of the ghetto. He hides them for money in the labyrinth of the city's sewers. But what starts as a cynical business arrangement changes into something very unexpected as the enterprise sinks deep into Socha's conscience. In Polish with English subtitles. Rated R

 

Apr. 10 Bullhead; Belgium (124 min.) 2011

Domineering cattle farmer Jacky, constantly pumped on steroids and hormones, initiates a shady deal with a notorious mafioso meat trader. When an investigating federal agent is assassinated and a woman from his past resurfaces, Jacky must confront far-reaching consequences and determine whether the real meaning of manhood is hormonal or emotional. Acclaimed at festivals worldwide, this award-winning film is a visceral saga bursting with rage that TwitchFilm calls "one of the most original crime films in recent memory." In Dutch and French with English subtitles. Rated R

 

May 1 Monsieur Lazhar; France (94 min.) 2012

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, Monsieur Lazhar tells the moving and poignant story of a Montreal middle school class shaken by the death of their well-liked teacher, and the 55-year old Algerian immigrant who offers his services as a substitute teacher and aids the process of collective healing. In French with English subtitles. Rated PG-13

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