NAU
International Film Series
Fall 2013:
Global Issues – Personal Consequences
All films will be shown at 7 p.m. in Liberal Arts
120.
Free and open to the public.
The films are unrated, viewer discretion is advised
September 4
The film
will be preceded by an introductory lecture by the filmmaker, Weimin Zhang, entitled
"International Documentary Filmmaking."
Missing Home
Directed by Weimin Zhang (China, USA, 2012)
Beijing's Hutongs, the traditional city structure
with a unique ancient architectural style dating back to the Yuan dynasty
(1206-1341), have been fading into the shade and greatly destroyed after
massive demolishing under the rapid economic boom in China. Missing Home explores the complexities
of modernization and development in urban environments, and the effect it has
on individual lives. 77 minutes. In English.
September
18
Videocracy
Directed by Erik Gandini (Italy, Sweden, 2009)
In Silvio Berlusconi's Italy, if you're not on
television, you're nobody. In Videocracy,
director Erik Gandini reveals the seedy underbelly of the country's high-glitz,
lowbrow, celebrity-obsessed culture promulgated by the near-monopoly of
Berlusconi's media empire. Gandini gains unparalleled access to the halls of
power, following a fascistic TV agent, narcissistic paparazzi, glassy-eyed
reality "stars," and the young men and scantily-clad women
auditioning to debase themselves on camera. All yearn to be FOB (friends of
Berlusconi), from the "Italian Van Damme" to whit-suited
billionaires, eager to please the president by actively shaping public opinion
to his financial and political benefit. Utilizing a wide variety of damning
footage, including a trivia show striptease, local TV girl auditions (they
dance but are not allowed to talk), and a garish election campaign video
("Thank God for Silvio"), Gandini proves that Italy invests new
meaning in the term "boob tube." 85 minutes. In Italian with English
subtitles.
September
25
Violeta Went
to Heaven
Directed by Andrés Wood (Argentina, Brazil, Chile,
2011)
Violeta Went
to Heaven tells the story of famed
Chilean singer and folklorist Violeta Parra, tracing her evolution from
impoverished child to international sensation and Chile's national hero, while
capturing the swirling intensity of her inner contradictions, fallibilities,
and passions. From the marquee that she built in Santiago, Chile, Violeta Parra
is visited by people who shaped her life. We gradually find out her secrets,
fears, frustrations and joys, not only through performances of her multiple
works but also through her memories, her loves, and her hopes. Her achievements
are suspended in a passionate journey with the characters who made her dream,
laugh and cry. "Write as you like, use the rhythms that come out, try
different instruments, sit at the piano, destroy the metric, shout instead of
singing, blow your guitar and ring the horn. Hate mathematics, and love eddies.
Creation is a bird without a flight plan, that will never fly in a straight
line" - Violeta Parra. 110 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles.
October 2
Manhattan
Short Film Festival
http://www.msfilmfest.com/
October 16
Sushi: The
Global Catch
Directed by Mark Hall (Australia, Japan, Poland,
U.S., 2011)
In this meticulously researched documentary,
filmmaker Mark Hall traces the origins of sushi in Japan to its status today as
a cuisine that has spawned a lucrative worldwide industry. This explosion in
demand for sushi over the past 30 years has brought with it problems of its
own, as fish stocks have steadily depleted, threatening the balance of the
ocean’s ecosystems. Through extensive interviews with prominent industry
representatives and environmental activists, Hall carefully presents the
various solutions being proposed to the vexing issue of overfishing. Winner of
the Special Jury Prize at the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival, Sushi: The Global Catch raises some
pressing questions that all sushi lovers should seek to address. 75 minutes. In
English.
October 23
If I Were
You
Directed by Joan Carr-Wiggin (Canada, 2013)
Madelyn (Marcia Gay Harden) is a successful,
self-possessed, middle-aged businesswoman - until she finds out that her
husband's late nights at work are actually intimate dinners with a sexy young
aspiring actress, Lucy (Leonor Watling). When Madelyn starts stalking this new
mistress, she witnesses what she thinks might be the beginnings of a suicide
attempt and ends up talking her down. While Lucy is ignorant of Madelyn's true
identity, the two form a bizarre pact with unforeseen consequences. Matters are
complicated further by an amorous coworker and an encounter with a handsome
stranger (the ever delectable Aidan Quinn). 115 minutes. In English.
October 30
In Another
Country
Directed by Hong Sang-soo (France, South Korea, 2012)
Legendary French actress Isabelle Huppert stars in
the first English-language film from South Korean master Hong Sang-soo,
"the love child Antonioni and Hou Hsiao-hsien never had" (Village
Voice). In a triptych of overlapping stories, three different French women (a
filmmaker, an adulterer and a divorcée - Huppert, Huppert and...Huppert) visit
a small Korean resort town and encounter a flirtatious director, a lovestruck
lifeguard and far too much soju. Hong's latest tale of love, lust and
misunderstanding, In Another Country is
an effortless, laugh-out-loud comedy that plays like a lost French New Wave
classic. 89 minutes. In English and Korean with English subtitles.
November 6
5 Broken
Cameras
Directed by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi (France,
Israel, Palestine, 2011)
ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE - BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
An extraordinary work of both cinematic and political
activism, 5 Broken Cameras is a
deeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil'in, a West
Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements. Shot almost
entirely by Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat, who bought his first camera in 2005
to record the birth of his youngest son, the footage was later turned into a
galvanizing cinematic experience by co-directors Guy Davidi and Burnat. Structured
around the violent destruction of a succession of Burnat's video cameras, the
filmmakers' collaboration follows one family's evolution over five years of
village turmoil. Burnat watches from behind the lens as olive trees are
bulldozed, protests intensify, and lives are lost. "I feel like the camera
protects me," he says, "but it's an illusion." 90 minutes. In
Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles.
November 20
All Together
Directed by Stéphane Robelin (France, Germany, 2012)
Five aging friends decide to ditch assisted living
and move in with each other in the crowd-pleasing comedy All Together, starring screen legend Jane Fonda. When elderly
lothario Claude (Claude Rich, The Bride
Wore Black) is put into an old folks home, his friends bust him out and
start a cranky commune together, thinking they can care for each other better
than anyone else. Fonda heads the brilliant cast that also includes Geraldine
Chaplin (Doctor Zhivago), Pierre
Richard (La Chevre) and humorist Guy
Bedos. The group is joined by a young graduate student (Daniel Brühl) who films
their experiment for his research project, while also acting as a de facto
caretaker. They all discover the joys of communal living, at least until old
jealousies and the infirmities of age begin to pull the group apart. 96
minutes. In French and German with English subtitles.
December 4
Breathing
Directed by Karl Markovics (Austria, 2011)
In Breathing,
nineteen-year-old Roman Kogler (newcomer Thomas Schubert) is serving time in a
juvenile detention center. He has already served half of his sentence, and
could be released on probation, but his chances are poor: he doesn't have a
family, and seems incapable of coping with society. After many failed attempts,
Roman finds a probation job at the municipal morgue in Vienna. One day, Roman
is faced with a dead woman who bears his family name. Even though it soon turns
out that she is not his mother, Roman wonders about his past for the first time
and starts looking for her. The acclaimed directorial debut from veteran Austrian
actor Karl Markovics (star of the Academy Award-winning The Counterfeiters), Breathing
is an eloquent, affecting portrait of an incarcerated teenager. 93 minutes. In
German with English subtitles.