The Welcoming CinemaClub

The proposition (Australia, 2005). 100`. 16/02/2012

2012-02-14T16:41:00.000-08:00

Directed by John Hillcoat, the film is set in Outback Australia of the 1880s, the movie follows the turn of events after the horrific rape and murder of a settler family by Charlie and his brothers. Guy Pearce stars as Charlie Burns who is offered a proposition by Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone), whereby he and his younger brother Mikey can go scot-free of the crime they have committed if Charlie kills his older brother Arthur, an outlaw that Captain Stanley is intent on bringing to justice. If Charlie fails to comply, Mikey will be hanged on Christmas Day. Rural Australia in the late nineteenth century: Capt. Stanley and his men capture two of the four Burns brothers, Charlie and Mike. Their gang is held responsible for attacking the Hopkins farm and and murdering the whole family. Arthur Burns, the eldest brother and the gangs mastermind, remains at large has and has retreated to a mountain hideout. Capt. Stanleys proposition to Charlie is to gain pardon and - more importantly - save his beloved younger brother Mike from the gallows by finding and killing Arthur within nine days.

The film was presented in the Toronto Film Festival (2005) and Sundance Film Festival (2006), its aesthetic has stuned public and press.
"This Australian western, written by the darkly moody musician and author Nick Cave, tells a story of murder in the outback that is as cruel as it is aesthetically flamboyant." Manohla Dargis. New York Times. 4/05/2006.
"Why do you want to see this movie? Perhaps you don't. Perhaps, like Bloom, it will take you more than one try to face the carnage. But the director John Hillcoat, working from a screenplay by Nick Cave, has made a movie you cannot turn away from; it is so pitiless and uncompromising, so filled with pathos and disregarded innocence, that it is a record of those things we pray to be delivered from." Roger Ebert. Chicago Sun-Times. 19/05/2006.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7V-CW_SUos

Waltz with Bashir (Israel, 2008). 87´. 09-02-2012

2012-02-07T16:59:00.000-08:00

The film is based on the true story of the director Ari Folman, an Israeli army veteran who realises he can´t remember nothing of the 1982 Lebanon War in which he fought, the film charts his journey to uncover the secrets of the past. As he delves deep into the mystery, fragments of memory creep up in surreal images as the truth of what happened begins to unravel.

This movie has been nominated and won a lot of awards, among them the Golden Globe Award for the Best Foreign Language Film. It has also received good reviews.
"The animated documentary Waltz With Bashir is a memoir, a history lesson, a combat picture, a piece of investigative journalism and an altogether amazing film." A.O. Scott. New York Time (29-12-2008).
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylzO9vbEpPg.

KAMIKAZE GIRLS (2004, Japan). 103´ 2/02/2012

2012-01-30T09:31:00.000-08:00

Directed by Tetsuya Nakashima, the film tells the story of Momoko, a self-absorbed dreamer who fantasizes about fleeing her backcountry home and living life in 18th century Versailles. When she unexpectedly meets a rebellious Ichigo, a rough-and-tumble biker chick, the two misfits from a unique friendship. The fact they are so different makes them an unlikely alliance, but friends they become.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvTxyok0j2o

RIO (2011. United States) 92´

2012-01-26T05:08:00.000-08:00

A misfit macaw named Blu (voice of Jesse Eisenberg) takes flight from his Minnesota home and soars south on a quest to explore Rio de Janeiro in this animated adventure for the entire family. Along the way, he meets the last female blue macaw (voice of Anne Hathaway), and discovers what an amazing adventure life can truly be. RIO also features the voices of Leslie Mann, Jamie Foxx, George Lopez, will.i.am, and Rodrigo Santoro.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf6zeRwk5LE

In the realm of the senses. (Japan/France. 1976). 105´. 19/01/2012

2012-01-18T16:49:00.000-08:00

In 1936, in the midst of rising Japanese militarization, a former prostitute, Sada, goes to work as a maid in a brothel. The handsome owner of the house, Kichizo, soon begins to court her, and Sada eagerly returns his attentions. Their subsequent affair and constant lovemaking grow more and more intense, and their sexual obsession threatens to destroy them both.
Directed by Nagisa Oshima, the film has explicit sex scenes. It was edited and registered in France in order to avoid the strict Japanese censorship regulations. Despite this, some scenes were cut in Japan.

12/1/2012 Route Irish (2010)

2012-01-11T02:38:00.000-08:00

Route Irish (2010) 109 min A film directed by Ken Loach that tells the story of an ex-security contractor (euphemism for mercenary) who rejects the official version of his friend’s death and sets out to discover the truth by whatever means. Like all previous Ken Loach’s films, this work has also generated great controversy by illustrating how private security firms run amok in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, while making fortunes. After receiving legal immunity privileges that effectively allowed them to shoot first and neglect to ask questions later, these private firms are known to have committed a great amount of abuse against both the Iraqi people and their own employees.

Loach rejects the supercharged style of film-making that a Hollywood kind of director might have employed. The keynotes are clarity and simplicity, even shouting confrontations and violence are shot in a calm, detached way. The film explore moral and ethical issues such as the wide use of torture by Iraq occupying armies and whether it is right that warfare should be gradually privatised without public debate which would mean those at the heart of warfare are only answerable to shareholders rather than a government.

More:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1528312/

5th of January "The Social Network" (USA, 2010) 120 minutes

2012-01-04T08:46:00.000-08:00

The Social Network is a 2010 American drama film directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin. Adapted from Ben Mezrich's 2009 book The Accidental Billionaires, the film portrays the founding of social networking website Facebook and the resulting lawsuits. It stars Jesse Eisenberg as founder Mark Zuckerberg, along with Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake as the other principals involved in the website's creation. Neither Zuckerberg nor any other Facebook staff were involved with the project, although Eduardo Saverin was a consultant for Mezrich's book.[3] The film was released in the United States by Columbia Pictures on October 1, 2010.
The film received widespread acclaim, with critics praising it for its editing, acting, score and screenplay. Some people, including Zuckerberg himself, criticized the film for its many inaccuracies. The Social Network appeared on 78 critics' top 10 list for 2010; of those critics 22 had the film in their number one spot. Rolling Stone's Peter Travers said "The Social Network is the movie of the year. But Fincher and Sorkin triumph by taking it further. Lacing their scathing wit with an aching sadness, they define the dark irony of the past decade." It received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director (Fincher), and Best Actor (Eisenberg) and won three for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Film Editing. It also won the Best Motion Picture – Drama Golden Globe at the 68th Golden Globe Awards. The film also won Golden Globe awards for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Original Score, making it the film with the most wins of the night.

More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Social_Network
http://www.thesocialnetwork-movie.com/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1285016/

22nd of December "The Town" (USA, 2010)

2011-12-20T10:47:00.000-08:00

After the heist of the Cambridge Merchants Bank, the four thieves blindfold and kidnap the manager Claire Keesey. They take her driver license; release her at an empty beach; and head to Charlestown, Boston. Later, the friends Doug MacRay, James Coughlin, Albert 'Gloansy' Magloan and Desmond Elden find that Claire also lives in Charlestown and they decide to monitor her steps. Doug MacRay gets close to Claire to know what she might have told to the FBI and they fall in love with each other. Meanwhile, the FBI Special Agent Adam Frawley is assigned to investigate the heists to armored trucks and banks in Charlestown and he concludes that the thieves are the four friends. He joins his team and keeps Doug and his friends under surveillance. Doug decides to move to Florida with Claire and begin a new life; however, the dwellers are trapped in Charlestown and they do not have any way out but dead. For more click here.

Director: Ben Affleck
Writers: Peter Craig, Ben Affleck (screenplay) &Aaron Stockard (screenplay)
Chuck Hogan (novel "Prince of Thieves")
Stars: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall and Jon Hamm

15th of December "Tickets" (Italy, 2005)

2011-12-14T06:07:00.000-08:00

"Tickets" is comdey drama directed by three legendary directors, Ermanno Olmi, Abbas Kiarostami and Ken Loach.
A train travels across Italy toward Rome. On board is a professor who daydreams a conversation with a love that never was, a family of Albanian refugees who switch trains and steal a ticket, three brash Scottish soccer fans en route to a match, and a complaining widow traveling to a memorial service for her late husband who's accompanied by a community-service volunteer who's assisting her. Interactions among these Europeans turn on class and nationalism, courtesy and rudeness, and opportunities for kindness.

1st of December "12 Monkeys" (USA, 1995)

2011-11-28T10:13:00.000-08:00

12 Monkeys is a 1995 science fiction film shot mostly in Philadelphia and Baltimore, where the story was set.

An unknown and lethal virus has wiped out five billion people in 1996. Only 1% of the population has survived by the year 2035, and is forced to live underground. A convict (James Cole) reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to 1996 to gather information about the origin of the epidemic (who he's told was spread by a mysterious "Army of the Twelve Monkeys") and locate the virus before it mutates so that scientists can study it. Unfortunately Cole is mistakenly sent to 1990, six years earlier than expected, and is arrested and locked up in a mental institution, where he meets Dr. Kathryn Railly, a psychiatrist, and Jeffrey Goines, the insane son of a famous scientist and virus expert.
The film was released to critical praise and grossed approximately $168.4 million worldwide.
Director: Terry Gilliam
Writers: Chris Marker (film La Jetée), David Webb Peoples(screenplay)
Stars: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe and Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and won a Golden Globe for his performance. The film also won and was nominated for various categories at the Saturn Awards.

For more information about this film click here.

28th of Novemeber "Kandehar" (Iran, 2001)

2011-11-22T08:10:00.000-08:00

"Kandahar" or "Kandahar Journey" [Safar-e Ghandehar in Farsi] is a 2001 Iranian film directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, set in Afghanistan during the rule of the Taliban. After an Afghanistan-born woman who lives in Canada receives a letter from her suicidal sister, she takes a perilous journey through Afghanistan to try to find her. This journey takes us to Afghanistan's situation before 9/ll. Time magazine selected this film as one of top 100 films of all time.

Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Writer: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Stars: Nelofer Pazira, Hassan Tantai and Ike Ogut

18th of November "Metropolis" (Germany, 1927)

2011-11-15T16:27:00.000-08:00

In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class, who live in poor conditions but are the basic force for the city's work, and the upper class, which is mainly integrated by the city planners and their families, two persons from each class fall in love with each other. One of them is a working class prohet, a woman who gives hope to the city's workers. She predicts the coming of a savior, a savior who will mediate the differences between the social groups and give the city the start of new era. The other is the son of the city's mastermind. But the prophet is kidnapped by a crazy inventor, who wants to use her to make a robot work. The robot is given the same physical appearence the prophet has. Following orders from the crazy inventor, the robot creates a lot of problems for the working class. The son of the city's mastermind and the prophet will have to stop the robot and its crazy inventor for creating more problems for Metropolis, and achieve the goal of making Metropolis an harmonius place. for more click here.

Director: Fritz Lang
Writers: Thea von Harbou (screenplay), Thea von Harbou(novel)
Stars: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel and Gustav Fröhlich

3rd of November "In Cold Blood" (America, 1967)

2011-11-01T04:48:00.000-07:00

In Cold Blood is a 1967 film based on Truman Capote's book of the same name. It pictures after a botched robbery results in the brutal murder of a rural family, two drifters elude police, in the end coming to terms with their own mortality and the repercussions of their vile atrocity.

Director: Richard Brooks
Writers: Truman Capote (based on the book by), Richard Brooks (written for the screen by)
Stars: Robert Blake, Scott Wilson and John Forsythe

This was also the first commercially released film in the US to use the word 'shit'. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards: Director, Original Score, Cinematography and Adapted Screenplay.

In 2008, In Cold Blood was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

27th of October "Little Miss Sunshine" (USA, 2006)

2011-10-26T09:36:00.000-07:00

Little Miss Sunshine is the story of Olive, a little girl with a dream: winning the Little Miss Sunshine contest. Her family wants her dream to come true, but they are so burdened with their own quirks, neuroses, and problems that they can barely make it through a day without some disaster befalling them. Olive's father Richard is a flop as a motivational speaker, and is barely on speaking terms with her mother. Olive's uncle Frank, a renowned Proust scholar, has attempted suicide following an unsuccessful romance with a male graduate student. Her brother Dwayne, a fanatical follower of Nietzsche, has taken a vow of silence, which allows him to escape somewhat from the family whose very presence torments him. And Olive's grandfather is a ne'er-do-well with a drug habit, but at least he enthusiastically coaches Olive in her contest talent routine. Circumstances conspire to put the entire family on the road together with the goal of getting Olive to the Little Miss Sunshine contest in far off California. For more information about this film click here.

Directors: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
Writer: Michael Arndt
Stars: Steve Carell, Toni Collette and Greg Kinnear

The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won two: Best Original Screenplay for Michael Arndt and Best Supporting Actor for Alan Arkin. It also won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature and received numerous other accolades.

20th of October "Lilya 4 Ever" (Sweden, Denmark, Russia, 2002)

2011-10-16T09:47:00.000-07:00

'Lilya 4 Ever' is a story of a 16 year old Lilya who lives in a poor suburb in the former Soveit Union, dreaming of a better life somewhere waiting for her. Abandoned, along and adrift ina brutal and unforgining city. Lilya befriends 11 year old Volodya, himself an outast. HBt their shared hopes and dreams are torn apart by the dawning reality of the world in which they live.

Director: Lukas Moodysson
Writer: Lukas Moodysson
Stars: Oksana Akinshina, Artyom Bogucharskiy and Pavel Ponomaryov
Together with the accompanying short film by UNICEF 'More precious than Gold' about people trafficking.

13th of October "South of the Border" (America, 2009)

2011-10-11T11:54:00.000-07:00

South of the Border is a 2009 documentary film directed by Oliver Stone.
There’s a revolution underway in South America, but most of the world doesn’t know it. Oliver Stone sets out on a road trip across five countries to explore the social and political movements as well as the mainstream media’s misrepresentation of South America while interviewing seven of its elected presidents.Oliver Stone interviews eminent intellectual Tariq Ali, and some serving Latin-American presidents attempting to break away from America's dominance. The aim of this documentary is to counter the western media’s portrayal of Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez (pictured) and fellow ‘Bolivarians’, such as Bolivia’s Evo Morales and Ecuador’s Rafael Correa, as mad, bad and dangerous. After a survey of some of the wilder TV reports and a recap of Chávez’s rise, Stone hotfoots it around South America, interviewing seven leaders on the fly, with exposed cameras, wires and lights lending a guerilla feel. Critics claim the film is unbalanced, and, yes, Stone’s film is a president’s-eye view of their countries – but when that same view is so routinely distorted or ignored elsewhere, there’s a need for this film, and anyone who doesn’t clock where Stone’s sympathies lie is not concentrating (the triumphant music is a giveaway). Watch, enjoy and start paying attention to the region. This is a spirited and necessary primer, not the last word on its subject.

Director: Oliver Stone
Writers: Mark Weisbrot, Tariq Ali
Stars: Tariq Ali, Raúl Castro and Hugo Chávez

6th of October "Butterfly's Tongue" (Spain,1999)

2011-10-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

For Moncho, it's an idyllic year: he starts school, he has a wonderful teacher, he makes a friend in Roque, he begins to figure out some of the mysteries of Eros, and, with his older brother, a budding saxophone player, he makes a trip with the band from their town in Galicia. But it's also the year that the Spanish Republic comes under fire from Fascist rebels. Moncho's father is a Republican as is the aging teacher, Don Gregorio. As sides are drawn and power falls clearly to one side, the forces of fear, violence, and betrayal alter profoundly what should be the pleasure of coming of age.

Butterfly's Tongue received some critical acclaim. It was nominated for the 2000 Goya Award for "Best Picture" and it won the Goya Award for "Best Adapted Screenplay." Butterfly also has a 96% rating on RottenTomatoes.com.

Director: José Luis Cuerda
Writers: Rafael Azcona and José Luis Cuerda
Stars: Manuel Lozano, Fernando Fernán Gómez and Uxía Blanco

For more information click here.

29th of Septmeber "Dogtooth" (Greece, 2009)

2011-09-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

Dogtooth (Greek: Κυνόδοντας, translit. Kynodontas) is a 2009 film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. Three teenagers are confined to an isolated country estate that could very well be on another planet. The trio spend their days listening to endless homemade tapes that teach them a whole new vocabulary. Any word that comes from beyond their family abode is instantly assigned a new meaning. Hence 'the sea' refers to a large armchair and 'zombies' are little yellow flowers. Having invented a brother whom they claim to have ostracized for his disobedience, the über-controlling parents terrorize their offspring into submission. The father is the only family member who can leave the manicured lawns of their self-inflicted exile, earning their keep by managing a nearby factory, while the only outsider allowed on the premises is his colleague Christina, who is paid to relieve the son of his male urges. Tired of these dutiful acts of carnality, Christina disturbs the domestic balance.

Director: Giorgos Lanthimos
Writers: Giorgos Lanthimos, Efthymis Filippou
Stars:Christos Stergioglou, Michele Valley and Aggeliki Papoulia
The film won the Prix Un Certain Regard at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards. For more click here.

15th of September "Days of Being Wild" (Hong Kong, 1990)

2011-09-13T16:15:00.000-07:00

"Days of Being Wild" forms the first part of an informal trilogy, together with In the Mood for Love (released in 2000) and 2046 (released in 2004). Wong Ka Wai became an internationally renowned director for his visually unique, highly stylized films. 'Days of Being Wild' was his second movie and first of its genre. The story is about youth in the 60s. It centres on the love relationships of playboy named Yuddy. It's a film with complex layers and ambiguity. Yuddy realises that the drunken ex-prostitute who raised him is not his real mother. Hoping to hold onto him, she refuses to divulge the name of his real birth mother. The revelation shakes Yuddy to his very core, unleashing a cascade of conflicting emotions. Two women have the bad luck to fall for Yuddy. One is a quiet lass named Su Lizhen who works at a sports arena, while the other is a glitzy showgirl named Mimi. Perhaps due to his unresolved Oedipal issues, he passively lets the two compete for him, unable or unwilling to make a choice. As Lizhen slowly confides her frustration to a cop named Tide, he falls for her. The same is true for Yuddy's friend Zeb, who falls for Mimi. Later, Yuddy learns of his birth mother's whereabouts and heads out to the Philippines.

Director: Kar Wai Wong
Writers: Jeffrey Lau, Kar Wai Wong
Stars: Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung and Andy Lau

For more information click here.

8th of September "Mountain Patrol" (China, 2004)

2011-09-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

This week we are planning to show a film from China called 'Mountain Patrol' (Kekexili) directed by Lu Chuan. It's about a volunteer mountain patrol team in Tibet who defend their land against illegal antelopes poachers. The movie is based on a true story.

Director: Chuan Lu
Writer: Chuan Lu
Stars:Zhang Lei, Duobuji and Liang Qi
For more detail click here.

1st of September "Betty Blue" (France, 1986)

2011-08-31T04:53:00.000-07:00

"Betty Blue" with the original French title of 37°2 le matin, which means "37.2°C in the Morning" is a social drama of a couple. Zorg is a handyman working at in France, maintaining and looking after the bungalows. He lives a quiet and peaceful life, working diligently and writing in his spare time. One day Betty walks into his life, a young woman who is as beautiful as she is wild and unpredictable. After a dispute with Zorg's boss they leave and Betty manages to get a job at a restaurant. She persuades Zorg to try and get one of his books published but it is rejected which makes Betty fly into a rage. Suddenly Betty's wild manners starts to get out of control. Zorg sees the woman he loves slowly going insane. Can his love prevail even if it comes to the worst?

The film received both a BAFTA and Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film in 1986, as well as winning a César Award for Best Poster. In 1992 it was awarded the Golden Space Needle of the Seattle International Film Festival.
Director: Jean-Jacques Beineix
Writers: Philippe Djian (novel), Jean-Jacques Beineix
Stars: Jean-Hugues Anglade, Béatrice Dalle and Gérard Darmo

25th of August "Princess Mononke" (Japan, 1997)

2011-08-23T12:46:00.000-07:00

Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime) was directed by Japan's world renowned animation director Hayao Miyazaki. It was released in 1997 to widespread critical acclaim.

Set in Japan's Muromachi period (1336-1573), the film's central dynamic revolves around the relationships between: Ashitaka, a prince from a small indigenous tribe; San, a forest dwelling young woman who was been raised by a wolf god; and Lady Eboshi, the leader of an iron smelting town. Ashitaka's role is as an intermediary between the natural world of the forest, championed by San, and the encroaching world of man, championed by Lady Eboshi.
By the end of the film, the viewer is left to reflect on what it is like to live as an individual in a world that is morally ambiguous, with no positions being clearly differentiated as 'right' or 'wrong'.
This film will be hosted by The Japanese Institute of Scotland Film Group and is part of the coming event, "Cheer Up Japan", on 27th of August. For more information check here.

18th of August "Carlos the Jackal" (France/Germany 2011)

2011-08-16T14:07:00.000-07:00

The story of Venezuelan revolutionary Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, who founded a worldwide terrorist organization and raided the 1975 OPEC meeting. He is better known as Carlos the Jackal (born on October 12, 1949), a Venezuelan convicted of murder in France who has worked with and for causes associated with communists, Arab nationalists and Islamists. He is serving a life sentence in prison.

11th of August "The Triplets of Belleville" (France, 2003)

2011-08-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

The Triplets of Belleville (French: Les Triplettes de Belleville) is a 2003 animated adventure film written and directed by Sylvain Chomet. It was released as Belleville Rendez-vous in the United Kingdom. The film is Chomet's first feature film and was an international co-production between companies in France, the United Kingdom, United States, Belgium and Canada.

The story focuses on Madame Souza, an elderly woman raising her young grandson, Champion. Souza notices her grandson is sad and lonely so she buys him a puppy named Bruno to cheer him up. Although he is initially happy, he quickly becomes melancholic once again. After discovering that Champion has a keen interest in road bicycle racing, because it is implied that Champion's deceased parents were bicyclists, she buys him a tricycle. Years later, Champion becomes a professional cyclist with Souza as his coach.
Eventually, Champion enters the Tour de France but during the race, he and two other riders are kidnapped by two French mafia henchmen and brought to a bustling metropolis in North America ...

Director: Sylvain Chomet
Writer: Sylvain Chomet
Stars:Michèle Caucheteux, Jean-Claude Donda and Michel Robin
For more information click here.

4th of August "The Wedding'' (Poland, 2004)

2011-08-01T11:46:00.000-07:00

Director Wojciech Smarzowski's nutty black comedy The Wedding plunges into shenanigans that transpire when two Poles,groom Janusz and bride Kaska, decide to tie the knot.The day is beset with outrageous and occasionally violent complications,including fingers chopped off, exploding toilets, illicit sexual encounters, and several deaths. It is then capped off by an even more absurd and over-the-top event, when Kaska's well-to-do father gives the bride and groom a new Audi as a wedding present-that just happens to come with a few messy strings.

Director: Wojciech Smarzowski
Writer: Wojciech Smarzowski
Stars:Tamara Arciuch, Andrzej Beja-Zaborski and Iwona Bielska

The director won the Eagle at the Polish Film Awards, the East of West Award - Special Mention at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the Youth Jury Award - Special Mention at Locarno International Film Festival, while as writer he won the Best Script award at the Warsaw International Film Festival. Marian Dziedziel (Wojnar) won the Audience Award and the Eagle at the Polish Film Awards.
For more click here.

28th of July "The Twilight Samurai" (Japan, 2002)

2011-07-25T09:27:00.000-07:00

The twilight Samurai (129 minutes) is the first in a trilogy of samurai dramas directed by Yoji Yamada, better known for the much loved Tora-san movies of which he made 48. The Twilight Samurai follows the life of a poor low-ranking samurai in the 19th-century and focuses on his everyday struggles with financial hardship and conflicted emotions and loyalty. There is still some action and violence but with more realism than chanbara style samurai dramas and there is something more profound in the story. Hiroyuki Sonada, better known to Western audiences as Ujio in the Hollywood movie The Last Samurai, plays the lead role.

For more click here.

This film night will be cohosted with the Film Group set up by Atsuko Betchaku.
For this please visit http://japaneseinstitute.jimdo.com/ (see Film Group).
Director:Yôji Yamada
Writers: Shûhei Fujisawa (novel), Yôji Yamada(screenplay)
Stars: Hiroyuki Sanada, Rie Miyazawa and Nenji Kobayashi

21st of August "Nicaragua: No Pasaran" (Austria, 1984)

2011-07-19T02:48:00.000-07:00

'No Pasaran' will be hosted by the Nicaragua Learning Exchange, as part of a project funded by the European Commission's Youth in Action Programme.

'No Pasaran' (74 mins)

In 1979 the Nicaraguan Revolution triumphed, ending the 43-year rule of the corrupt Somoza dictatorship and giving hope to national liberation movements around the world. Ex-members of Somoza's feared National Guard regrouped, and began a guerrilla campaign to overthrow the new Sandinista-led Popular Front government. The United States saw the revolution as the spread of Communism on the American continent, and began supporting the so-called 'Contras' in their fight against the Sandinistas.

Developments in the 'Contra War' were reported internationally, and the United States launched a huge information campaign to justify its involvement. In 1984, Australian filmmaker David Bradbury spent six months in Nicaragua researching the Sandinista movement and the role of the United States in a war that went on to last the entire decade, claiming an estimated 30,000 lives.

Further information: http://www.frontlinefilms.com.au/videos/nicaragua.htm

"Of Gods and Men" (Algeria/Frence, 2010)

2011-07-13T08:12:00.000-07:00

Of Gods and Men is a 2010 French drama film directed by Xavier Beauvois, starring Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale. Its original French title is Des hommes et des dieux, which means "Of Men and of Gods" and refers to a motto from the Bible shown at the beginning of the film. It centers on the monastery of Tibhirine, where nine Trappist monks lived in harmony with the largely Muslim population of Algeria, until seven of them were kidnapped and assassinated in 1996 during the Algerian Civil War.

Largely a tale of a peaceful situation between local Christians and Muslims before becoming a lethal one due to external forces, the screenplay focuses on the preceding chain of events in decay of government, expansion of terrorism and the monks' confrontation with both the terrorists and the government authorities that led up to their deaths. Principal photography took place at an abandoned monastery in Morocco, with careful attention to authenticity.

The film premiered at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Grand Prix, the festival's second most prestigious award. It became a big critical and commercial success in its domestic market. It won both the Lumière Award and César Award for Best Film.

For more information about the film click here.

Director: Xavier Beauvois

Writers: Xavier Beauvois (adaptation) (dialogue), Etienne Comar (scenario)
Stars:Lambert Wilson, Michael Lonsdale and Olivier Rabourdin
This film is suggested and will be hosted by Nicola.

7th of July "Tampopo" (Japan, 1985)

2011-07-05T06:05:00.000-07:00

In this humorous paean to the joys of food, the main story is about trucker Goro who rides into town like a modern Shane to help Tampopo set up the perfect fast-food noodle restaurant. Woven into this main story are a number of smaller stories about the importance of food, ranging from a gangster who mixes hot sex with food to an old lady terrorizing a shopkeeper by compulsive squeezing of his wares.

Director:

Jûzô Itami

Writer:

Jûzô Itami

Stars:

Ken Watanabe, Tsutomu Yamazaki and Nobuko Miyamoto

This film will be hosted by Atsuko Betchaku from Japanese Institute of Scotland.

Find more about this film here.

30th of June "DIRTY OIL" (2010)

2011-06-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

"Dirty Oil" (running time 73 minutes) is one of the trilogy on toxic fuels presented by The Co-operative and powerfully illustrates the devastating impact that Albertan tar sands developments are having on the environment and local First Nation communities. This film is directed by Leslie Iwerks and narrated by Neve Campbell.
"H2Oil" and "Petropolis" are the two other episodes in these series.

‘There is no such thing as dirty oil’

Mel Knight, Alberta Energy Minister

‘Tar sands constitute one of our planet’s greatest threats’
Jim Hansen, Climate Scientist, NASA

For more information visit www.toxicfuels.com

Edinburgh Active Citizenship Group will be hosting this film for the Welcoming Cinema Club.

23rd of June "Dirty Pretty Things" (UK, 2002)

2011-06-17T16:23:00.000-07:00

Celebrating the Refugee Week in Britain, we are proud of having an especial event on 23rd of June.

This week in our cinema club besides our regular screening we will have a small party with food and drinks from 6:15 to 10:30.

"Dirty Pretty Things" with a relevant topic has been chosen for this night. It is about an illegal Nigerian immigrant who discovers the unpleasant side of London life. Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a Nigerian man who drives a cab in London during the day and works at the front desk of a hotel at night — chewing khat (a stimulant) to keep awake. Okwe was formerly a doctor in Nigeria. In London he is pressed into giving medical treatment to other poor immigrants. Everything is normal until he meets Juliette a prostitute in the hotel ...

Director: Stephen Frears

Writer: Steven Knight
Stars:Chiwetel Ejiofor, Audrey Tautou and Sophie Okonedo

16th of June "No man’s Land" (Serbia, 2001)

2011-06-10T16:19:00.000-07:00

"No Man's Land" happens in Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1993 at the time of the heaviest fighting between the two warring sides. Two soldiers from opposing sides in the conflict, Nino and Ciki, become trapped in no man's land, whilst a third soldier becomes a living booby trap.

Director: Danis Tanovic
Writer: Danis Tanovic
Stars:Branko Djuric, Rene Bitorajac and Filip Sovagovic

No Man's Land won Prix du scénario at the Cannes Film Festival, followed by numerous awards, including the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2001, while in competition with French Amélie and the Indian blockbuster Lagaan. Tanović was presented the Oscar by John Travolta and Sharon Stone. Briefly after, Tanović thanked everyone who worked with him on the film and supported its creation. He ended his acceptance speech by saying, "This is for my country".

9th of June "Hamoun" (Iran, 1990)

2011-06-07T06:19:00.000-07:00

Hamoun is a 1990 psychological drama movie directed by Dariush Mehrjui. The movie tells the story of a middle-class Iranian – Hamid Hamoun, played by Khosro Shakibai – and his struggle after his wife demands a divorce from him.

Due to its dream like sequences and the treatment, Hamoun has often been described as having a Fellini touch.

It is believed that Mehrjui was under influence of "Fear and Trembling" by Søren Kierkegaard and his argument on "Love", "Feith" and "Anxiety" specially in the story of "Abraham" and sacrificing his son, Issac.

The movie was received very well in Iran by critics and young generation at the time and still it is in the list of the best ten films in the history of Iranian cinema.

Director:

Dariush Mehrjui

Writer:

Dariush Mehrjui

Stars:

Ezzatolah Entezami, Bita Farahi and Sedigheh Kianfar

2nd of June "The Secret in Their Eyes" (Argantin/Spain, 2009)

2011-05-31T09:29:00.000-07:00

"The secret in their eyes" is a story of Benjamin Espósito a retired Argentinian federal justice agent who is writing a novel. The novel is based on a real case involved the brutal rape and murder of Liliana Coloto. In addition to seeing the extreme grief of the victim's husband Ricardo Morales, Benjamín, his assistant Pablo Sandoval, and newly hired department chief Irene Menéndez-Hastings were personally affected by the case as Benjamín and Pablo tracked the killer, hence the reason why the unsatisfactory ending to the case has always bothered him. Despite the department already having two other suspects, Benjamín and Pablo ultimately were certain that a man named Isidoro Gómez is the real killer. Although he is aware that historical accuracy is not paramount for the novel, the process of revisiting the case is more an issue of closure for him. He tries to speak to the key players in the case, most specifically Irene. For more information click here.

Director: Juan José Campanella
Writers: Eduardo Sacheri, Juan José Campanella
Stars: Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil and Pablo Rago

26th of May "Three Colours: White" (France/Poland, 1994)

2011-05-24T09:59:00.000-07:00

Synopsis: The second feature in filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski's "Three Colors" trilogy, the black comedy White features Zbigniew Zamachowski as Karol Karol, an expatriate Polish hairdresser whose French wife (the breathtaking Julie Delpy) divorces him after just six months of marriage because of his impotency. Penniless and devoid of his passport, Karol must journey back to Poland by hiding in a trunk. Upon his return, he slowly begins amassing a considerable fortune, ultimately hatching a perverse plot for revenge. Often unjustly dismissed as the weak link in the trilogy, White grows in strength upon repeated viewings. An allegory about equality, the film is mordantly witty, a cynical look at power, marriage and capitalism.

Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski
Writers: Krzysztof Kieslowski (scenario), Krzysztof Piesiewicz (scenario)
Stars:Zbigniew Zamachowski, Julie Delpy and Janusz Gajos
For more information check here.

19th of May "The Dancer Upstairs" (Spain, 2002)

2011-05-17T09:56:00.001-07:00

This week cinema club will be hosted by Nicaraguan group with a film from Spain.

The Dancer Upstairs is the story of a detective Agustín Rejas (Bardem) who is tracking the self-styled President Ezequiel (Abel Folk), a Marxist-influenced guerrilla waging a brutal terrorist campaign against the corrupt-yet-democratic government of an unnamed Latin American country. Contrasting with the violence and death in his professional life, Rejas begins to fall for Yolanda (Laura Morante) - his daughter's beautiful ballet teacher. But she may not be all she appears, and his growing attraction to her brings him in direct conflict with his prey.

Director: John Malkovich

Writers: Nicholas Shakespeare (novel), Nicholas Shakespeare (screenplay)

Stars:Javier Bardem, Laura Morante and Juan Diego Botto

You can find more here.

12th of May "Machuca" (2004, Chile)

2011-05-10T06:27:00.000-07:00

This week we will watch Machuca which is part of The Smallest Latin American Festival and taken place in May all over the world.
Plot: Santiago, Chile, 1973: Pedro Machuca (Ariel Mateluna) is a poor boy of tribal descent, brought into an upper class private school during Chile’s brief socialist era. Gonzalo (Matias Quer), the well-to-do boy seated a row ahead, befriends Pedro against the bullying will of his classmates. In so doing, he discovers a raw, thrilling but wildly complicated world outside his own previously sheltered homelife. Pedro’s fierce, attractive young neighbor Silvana (Manuela Martelli) by turns mocks Gonzalo’s pampered background, only to fondly lead both boys in a number of kissing games. All around them, Chile drifts toward civil war. Protest marches fill the Santiago streets with zealots of the right and left. At school, their humane headmaster Father McEnroe (Ernesto Malbran) comes under an hysteria-driven attack by parents for his charity toward poor students.
...

Director:

Andrés Wood

Writers:

Mamoun Hassan, Andrés Wood

Stars:

Matías Quer, Ariel Mateluna and Manuela Martelli

28th of April "Gregory's Girl" (Scotland, 1981)

2011-04-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

Gregory's Girl is a 1981 Scottish coming-of-age romantic comedy film written and directed by Bill Forsyth. It is set in Scotland.

Sixteen year old Gregory is an awkward, gangly Scottish lad who is in the midst of the throngs of puberty. The object of his affection is Dorothy, despite or in part because she is a talented striker who took his place on the school's boys' football team, he now demoted to distracted goalkeeper. Gregory tries to insinuate himself as much as possible in her life through her interests, such as learning the Italian language, without ever directly coming out and telling her that he likes her. Gregory's male friends are of no help in advising him on how to get into a relationship with Dorothy. The only person with whom he confides that provides any constructive advice is his ten-year old sister, Madeline. When Gregory finally gets the nerve to ask Dorothy out on a date, the outcome of the question is not quite what he expects. He learns that Dorothy talks to her girlfriends about such issues as much as Gregory does with his friends, each side strategizing to their own desired end.

Director: Bill Forsyth

Writer: Bill Forsyth
Stars:John Gordon Sinclair, Dee Hepburn and Jake D'Arcy

For more information check here.

21st of April: Short films from students in Edinburgh Napier University

2011-04-21T07:18:00.000-07:00

This thurday, we will enjoy wacthing shortfilms made by students of Napier University. It will be an experimetal evening where we'll have the chance to explore the new cinema.

HOW MACBETH IS BEEN TAGHT by Pollyana Davison and Karel Dolak
WOMAN'S CASE by Nelisa Alcalde. It's about a special woman's dream

CLICHE by nelisa alcalde, Jessi Salomen, Sophie Turnet and Katri Vantahalao. With this film we want to say to all these women who are afraid to love:let it go.....

OLD LAND by Nick Gibbon.
TWO GALLANTS by David Borbas (12 min)
EXILE ON CANVAS by Edgar Wittek (10 min)

14th of April "Latcho Drom" (France, 1993)

2011-04-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

Latcho Drom (rom for "safe journey") describes the travels, singing and dancing of Romany groups from Rajahstan (India), Egypt, Turkey, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, France, and Spain. Some scenes are acted, but there is no dialogue or narration--only partial translation of some songs. The film illustrates the variety of conditions in which the Romany people live--earthbound nomads in the hot deserts of Asia, ironsmiths and abjectly poor tree-dwellers in the frozen plains of Eastern Europe, and craftspeople and traders in the hills and seasides of north Africa and western Europe. It also illustrates the similarities in travel habits, musical tones (spoons, open drums, and string-based rhythms) and song themes (celebration of travel and perceived rejection by sedentary locals).

07th of April "Run Lola Run" (1998, Germany)

2011-04-06T08:35:00.000-07:00

"Run Lola Run" is a German crime thriller. The f ilm begins with Lola (Franka Potente) receiving a phone call from her distraught boyfriend, Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu). He is a small-time criminal and has lost 100,000 marks belonging to his boss by accidentally leaving it on a train (Lola was supposed to pick him up, but her moped was stolen while she was buying cigarettes). After the doors of the train closed, he saw a homeless man pick up the bag of money but he was unable to get back onto the train before it left the station. Upon not seeing any trace of his money or the homeless man at the next station, Manni assumes the money is long gone.

Manni has to get the money within 20 minutes before his boss finds out, and plans to rob a nearby supermarket. Lola urges him to wait and tells him she will sort out the money. She decides to ask her father (Herbert Knaup), who is a bank manager.

The main part of the film is divided in three "runs". Each run starts from the same situation but develops differently and has a different outcome. Each run contains various flash-forward sequences, showing how the lives of the people that Lola bumps into develop after the encounter. In each run, those people are affected in different ways.

for more click here.

31st of March "the Dinner Game" (France,1998)

2011-03-31T03:01:00.000-07:00

"Le Diner de Cons" or the dinner game is the story of Pierre Brochant, a Parisian publisher, attends a weekly "idiots' dinner", where guests, who are prominent Parisian businessmen, must bring along an "idiot" who the other guests can ridicule. At the end of the dinner, the evening's champion idiot is selected.
With the help of an "idiot scout", Brochant manages to find a "gem", François Pignon, a Finance Ministry employee whose passion is building replicas of landmarks with matchsticks. When Brochant starts to suffer from a bad back, his wife, Christine, leaves him shortly before Pignon arrives at his apartment. Brochant initially wants Pignon to leave, but instead becomes reliant on him, because of his back problem and his need to resolve his relationship problems.
He solicits Pignon's assistance in making a series of telephone calls to locate his wife, but Pignon gaffes each time, including revealing the existence of Brochant's mistress, Marlene Sasseur, to his wife Christine and inviting Lucien Cheval, a tax inspector, to Brochant's house where, in an attempt to disguise his tax evasion, Brochant is forced to quickly hide most of his valuables.
In the meantime, Brochant is able to make amends with an old friend, Just LeBlanc, from whom he stole Christine, and through the evening's events is forced to reassess his mistakes.

Director: Francis Veber

Writer: Francis Veber

Stars:Thierry Lhermitte, Jacques Villeret and Francis Huster

24th of March "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966, USA)

2011-03-23T06:03:00.000-07:00

"Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is about a bitter aging couple with the help of alcohol, use a young couple to fuel anguish and emotional pain towards each other.

This is the only film to be nominated in every eligible category at the Academy Awards. Each of the four actors was nominated for an Oscar but only Elizabeth Taylor and Sandy Dennis won, for Best Actress and Supporting Actress, respectively. The film also won the Black and White Cinematography award for Haskell Wexler's stark, black-and-white camera work (it was the last film to win before the category was eliminated) and for Best Art Direction (Richard Sylbert, George James Hopkins). It was the first film to have its entire credited cast be nominated for acting Oscars, a feat only accomplished twice more with Sleuth in 1972 and Give 'em Hell, Harry! in 1975.

The film received the BAFTA Award for Best Film from any Source.
In AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ranked #67.

Director: Mike Nichols
Writers: Edward Albee (play), Ernest Lehman (screenplay)
Stars:Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and George Segal
For more information click here.

17th of March "Ju Duo" (China, 1990)

2011-03-15T10:17:00.000-07:00

Ju Dou takes place in the early 20th century in rural China. The story begins as Yang Tianqing (the regular Zhang collaborator Li Baotian) is returning from a trek to sell silk for his adoptive uncle, Yang Jinshan (Li Wei). Jinshan, whose trade is dyeing fabrics, is known for his cruelty and treats Tianqing with much scorn. Upon returning, Tianqing learns that Jinshan has just recently purchased a new wife, having beaten two previous wives to death after they failed to produce a son, the cruel irony being that Jinshan is in fact impotent.

Directors: Fengliang Yang, Yimou Zhang
Writer: Heng Liu
Stars:Li Gong, Wei Li and Baotian Li
For more information click here.

10th of March "Fire" (India, 1996)

2011-03-09T06:21:00.000-08:00

Fire is the first in the thriology of Fire (1996), Earth (1998), and Water (2005).
Plot: Ashok runs a family business that sells takeout food that also has a video rental store at the side. Ashok's extended family includes his wife Radha, his brother Jatin, their ailing mother Biji and their manservant Mundu, all living under the same roof. Jatin, at the insistence of Ashok and their mother, Biji, agrees to marry the beautiful Sita in an arranged marriage, although he is actually in love with Julie, a Chinese-Indian. At first glance, you see a happy middle-class family going through the normal paces of everyday life. However, as the layers are slowly peeled back, we find a simmering cauldron of discontent within the family, with almost every family member living a lie. Both marriages in the family turn out to be emotionally empty, without love or passion. While Ashok is an ascetic who has taken a vow of celibacy, Jatin is a handsome ladies' man who is still openly seeing Julie even after his marriage to Sita. Ashok has pledged his total devotion to a religious holy man, a swami, in order to purge his life of worldly desires and temptations. Radha, bound by her sense of duty to her husband, agrees to go along with his wishes. As you can imagine, with both husbands ignoring their spouses' emotional and sexual needs (albeit with reasons that are totally opposite from each other), it is only a matter of time before Radha and Sita look to one another for comfort and to satisfy their own passions. In this environment, it is only natural that Sita and Radha become fast friends, and, in time, much more than that. But their love is not without its share of painful obstacles.

Director: Deepa Mehta

Writer: Deepa Mehta
Stars:Shabana Azmi, Nandita Das and Karishma Jhalani

3rd of March "Red Sorghum" (China, 1988)

2011-03-01T16:50:00.000-08:00

"Red Sorghum" marked the directorial debut of internationally acclaimed filmmaker Zhang Yimou, and the acting debut of film star Gong Li. With its lush and lusty portrayal of peasant life, it immediately vaulted Zhang to the forefront of the Fifth Generation directors.

In the 1930s China, an old leper who owned a remote sorghum winery dies. Jiu'er, the wife bought by the leper, and her lover, identified only as "my Grandpa" by the narrator, take over the winery and set up an idealized quasi-matriarchal community headed by Jiu'er. When the Japanese invaders subject the area to their rule and cut down the sorghum to make way for a road, the community rises up and resists as the sorghum grows a new.

For more about the plot click here.

Director: Yimou Zhang
Writers: Jianyu Chen, Yan Mo
Stars: Li Gong, Wen Jiang and Rujun Ten

Hosted by Zhuozhi.

24th of Fabruary "Lives of Others" (Germany, 2006)

2011-03-01T16:38:00.000-08:00

The Lives of Others (German: Das Leben der Anderen) is a 2006 German drama film, marking the feature film debut of filmmaker Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.

The Lives of Others won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The film had earlier won seven Deutscher Filmpreis awards – including best film, best director, best screenplay, best actor, and best supporting actor – after having set a new record with 11 nominations. It was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 64th Golden Globe Awards. The Lives of Others cost 2 million USD and grossed more than 77 million USD worldwide as of November 2007

.In 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police, conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover, finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.

For more about the plot click here.

Director:

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Writer:

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Stars:

Ulrich Mühe, Martina Gedeck and Sebastian Koch

17th of February "Samson and Delilah" (2009, Australia)

2011-02-11T09:47:00.000-08:00

Samson and Delilah are two 14-year-olds who live in an Aboriginal community near Alice Springs. Samson sniffs petrol every morning before he starts his day and, as something of a routine, plays his brother's guitar on his way out of the house. He becomes interested in Delilah, another local girl who lives with her grandmother. He attempts to move in with Delilah, even though she is clearly uninterested in him. Delilah's grandmother passed away. Samson steals the community car and takes Delilah with him as she sleeps. When Delilah wakes up she realises what has happened, and attempts to get away from Samson, though she comes to realise that he took away out of fear for her safety.
For reading the rest of the plot click here.

Director: Warwick Thornton
Writer: Warwick Thornton
Stars:Rowan McNamara, Marissa Gibson and Mitjili Napanangka Gibson

10th of February "Network" (US, 1976)

2011-02-08T09:25:00.000-08:00

"I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" This is the famous statement by Howard Beale (Peter Finch) the fictional character from the movie Network (1976). He who is a long time anchor of the UBS Evening News, learns that he has just two more weeks on the air because of declining ratings. Weary from misfortunes and sorrowful, he is treated to a night of drinking with his boss and friend, Max Schumacher, followed by mention of his desire to kill himself. The following night, he actually announces on live television that he will commit suicide by shooting himself in the head during next Tuesday's broadcast. UBS fires him after this incident, but — after some persuasion from UBS News' old guard president and Beale's best friend, Max (William Holden) — lets him back on the air, ostensibly for a dignified farewell. But ...

Director:

Sidney Lumet

Writer:

Paddy Chayefsky

Stars:

Faye Dunaway, William Holden and Peter Finch

http://matttrailer.com/network_1976

For more information click here.

February 3th “A Prophet” (2009, France )

2011-02-02T04:18:00.000-08:00

"A Prophet" is the story of Malik (the young protagonist, played by Tahar Rahim) who is neither a hardened criminal (though he is imprisoned at the start), nor does he seem to harbour any secrets in his past, artistic or otherwise. When he is committed to brutal French prison, he is a blank slate waiting to be filled. Malik is not without talents: in fact, he turns out to be supremely capable. His advantage is the fact that he is a middle-man in every respect, belonging neither to the gang of Corsican hoods who adopt him as a gofer, nor the Muslim brotherhood who, given his north-African origins, expect his allegiance. What ensues is both thrilling and – in its cold indictment of the French prison system – terrifying.

Director: Jacques Audiard
Writers: Thomas Bidegain (screenplay), Jacques Audiard (screenplay),
Stars:Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup and Adel Bencherif
For more click here.

Suggested and hosted by Jen.

27th of January "Letting Go Movie" (US)

2011-01-25T03:47:00.000-08:00

Letting Go Movie is a documentary about happiness and how Sodona method helps us to reach this state.
Here is an introduction to the movie by the movie makers:

Why We Made Letting Go Movie
You may be wondering why we even made this film. I sometimes wonder that myself because it’s been such a big project and it’s been so much has happened to allow this to come to fruition. But the bottom line is we made this film for you. We made this film so that people all over the world can start to benefit from letting go.
In just an hour and eight minutes, you can learn how to let go of the stress, the tension, the anxiety. All the things that have been holding you back from having, being, and doing whatever you want in life. And that’s just the beginning.

As you work with letting go, as you explore the Sedona Method, you’ll discover that everything opens up for you and it’s not just for you. What you’ll discover is as you watch the film, each time you watch it, you’ll get more out of it. Plus, as you watch the film, you want to share it with others just naturally because it’s really fun. It’s really fun to watch other people let go. It’s really fun to view the movie in a group. We’ve done that already, with just a few people and the benefits they got from watching it with their friends as opposed to just watching it by themselves have been astounding. That’s also why we do seminars.
So basically, the film is a mobile seminar that you can put on yourself to help everyone that you care about. So we created this film also for the very simple reason that the world right now really needs a way to let go of all this excess pressure that’s been building up inside of all of us, that’s causing all these chaos in the world. And we feel that if enough of us start to let go, we’ll start to take more constructive action and then the inner pressure, the inner chaos that’s causing all the external chaos will start to subside and we have a chance of really doing something really positive for each other in the planet. So I highly encourage you to go to www.lettinggo.tv and please comment below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpoTppJFULU

January 20th "Cafe Transit" [Border Cafe] (Iran, 2005)

2011-01-17T08:47:00.000-08:00

"Cafe Transit" depicts an independent-minded widow who bucks tradition to run her dead husband's truck stop café.

Throughout the film you are traveling with her on her journey to try to get what for us would be her rightful place in life. She just wants to take care of her family and earn a living at what she loves to do. In her society she is suppose to move in with her brother in-law and allow him to take care of her but she doesn't like him and cannot live under the same roof with him and his family.

Director: Kambuzia Partovi
Writer: Kambuzia Partovi
Stars:Fereshteh Sadre Orafaiy, Parviz Parastui and Nikos Papadopoulos
For more information click here.

January 13th "Happiness of the Katakuris" (2001, Japan)

2011-01-10T03:04:00.000-08:00

After watching a master piece from Japan last month, we are going to screen another Japanese movie by Takashi Miike.

"Happiness of The Katakuris" is about a family hotel in Japan which accidently find four of its guests dead.
Story begins when a pioneer of a man convinces his family to take advantage of news of a road soon to be built through an area of the country that can be had for next to nothing. He, his aging, but wise father, his loving and loyal wife, along with a slow-to-persuade son and a divorced daughter with toddler in hand who also happens to be the narrator, bravely move out to this new space and open a bed and breakfast. They make the place everything anyone could want, as they have so much time to work on it, since no one is making reservations to stay there. Eventually, the customers come...but each one dies while in their room and the family is trying to get rid of the evidence a.s.a.p so as not to ruin their reputation before they even get up and running. One thing leads to another and the bodies have to be moved.

Director: Takashi Miike
Writers: Ai Kennedy (translation), Kikumi Yamagishi (screenplay)
Stars:Kenji Sawada, Keiko Matsuzaka and Shinji Takeda

For more information click here.

December 23rd "Rashomon" (Japan, 1950)

2010-12-19T07:04:00.000-08:00

"Rashomon" is a master piece in the history of cinema, directed by the legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa and awarded many prizes.
The film depicts the rape of a woman and the murder of her samurai husband, through the widely differing accounts of four witnesses, including the bandit/rapist, the wife, the dead man speaking through a medium (Fumiko Honma), and lastly the narrator, the one witness that seems the most objective and least biased. While the stories are mutually contradictory only the final version is unmotivated by other factors. Accepting the final version as the truth (the now common technique of film and TV of only explaining the truth last was not a universal approach at that time) explains why in each other version "the truth" was worse than admitting to the killing, and it is precisely this assessment which gives the film its power, and this theme which is echoed in other works.

The story unfolds in flashback as the four characters—the bandit Tajōmaru (Toshirō Mifune), the samurai's wife (Machiko Kyō), the murdered samurai (Masayuki Mori), and the nameless woodcutter (Takashi Shimura)—recount the events of one afternoon in a grove. The first three versions are told by the priest (Minoru Chiaki), who was present at the trial as a witness, having bumped into the couple on the road just prior to the events. Each of these versions has a response of "lies" from the woodcutter. The final version comes direct from the woodcutter, as the only witness (but he did not admit this to the court). All versions are told to a ribald commoner (Kichijiro Ueda) as they wait out a rainstorm in a ruined gatehouse identified by a sign as Rashōmon.

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Ryûnosuke Akutagawa (stories), Akira Kurosawa

Stars:

Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyô and Masayuki Mori

December 16th "Monster's Ball" (US, 2001)

2010-12-19T06:46:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately we were not able to screen "A Prophet", instead we screened "Monster's Ball" from United States.

After a family tragedy, a racist prison guard reexamines his attitudes while falling in love with the African American wife of the last prisoner he executed.

Director:

Marc Forster

Writers:

Milo Addica, Will Rokos

Stars:

Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry and Taylor Simpson

for more see imdb.

We had a very fruitful discussion after the movie. The topics we have discussed are as follow:

examples of humanity and brutality in the movie
story of a man with a long life struggle and ignorance who finally achieved success
three different generations in a single family and their attitudes towards black people
death penalty and its impact on the society through the characters of the film

further question you can ask and discuss

What significance does the line from the film 'it truly takes a human being to really see a human being' hold for the film in general?
Discuss the central themes (racial segregation, family relationships, self reflection and deep loss)

Thanks to Jen for suggesting this movie and providing us with these good questions.

December 9th 2010 "The Return" (Russia, 2003)

2010-12-07T12:23:00.000-08:00

"The Return" happens in the remote Russian wilderness where two brothers face a range of new, conflicting emotions when their father--a man they only know through a single photograph--resurfaces.

Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev
Writers: Vladimir Moiseyenko, Aleksandr Novototsky
Stars:Vladimir Garin, Ivan Dobronravov and Konstantin Lavronenko
For more information click here.

December 2nd “Thirst” (2009, South Korea)

2010-11-28T09:43:00.000-08:00

Thirst is the story of Sang-hyun, a priest working for a hospital, selflessly volunteers for a secret vaccine development project intended to eradicate a deadly virus. However, the virus eventually takes over the priest. He nearly dies, but makes a miraculous recovery by an accidental transfusion of vampire blood. He realizes his sole reason for living: the pleasures of the flesh.

Director: Chan-wook Park

Writers: Seo-Gyeong Jeong (screenplay), Chan-wook Park (screenplay)
Stars:Kang-ho Song, Ok-bin Kim and Hae-sook Kim
For more information click here.

Suggested and hosted by Roman

November 25th “LAS ESTRELLAS DE LA LÍNEA” (RAILROAD ALL-STARS) (2006, Spain/ Guatemala)

2010-11-22T05:42:00.000-08:00

November 25th “LAS ESTRELLAS DE LA LÍNEA” (RAILROAD ALL-STARS) (2006, Spain/ Guatemala)

A documentary on Guatemalan sex workers who formed a soccer team in 2004 and joined their local five-a-side league. The league's organizer expelled them when their profession was revealed, bringing about a media frenzy.

Director: Chema Rodríguez
Writer: Chema Rodríguez
Stars:José Ramón de la Morena

November 18th “Milk” (2009, US)

2010-11-15T11:32:00.000-08:00

Milk is the story of Harvey Milk, and his struggles as an American gay activist who fought for gay rights and became California's first openly gay elected official.

Using flashbacks from a statement recorded late in life and archival footage for atmosphere, this film traces Harvey Milk's career from his 40th birthday to his death. He leaves the closet and New York, opens a camera shop that becomes the salon for San Francisco's growing gay community, and organizes gays' purchasing power to build political alliances. He runs for office with lover Scott Smith as his campaign manager. Victory finally comes on the same day Dan White wins in the city's conservative district. The rest of the film sketches Milk's relationship with White and the 1978 fight against a statewide initiative to bar gays and their supporters from public school jobs. This film is a beautiful and stylish portrait of a leading light in the gay equality rights movement, both inspirational and moving it charts the real sacrifices that a few have made for many.

Milk received widespread acclaim from film critics. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 94% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on a sample of 209, with an average score of 8.0/10. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 84, based on 39 reviews.
Suggested and hosted by Jen

November 11th “Head-on” (Gegen die Wand) (2004, Germany)

2010-11-05T05:38:00.000-07:00

German-born Turkish filmmaker Fatih Akin writes and directs the drama "Gegen die Wand" (Head-On). Set in a working-class Hamburg.

neighborhood, the story follows two Turkish immigrants who get together in a marriage of convenience. Cahit Tomruk is a heavy drinker and a fighter who crashes his car into a wall. While visiting his psychiatrist, he meets fellow patient Sibel Guner. She's desperate to get away from her restrictive family, so she asks Cahit to marry her. Wanting to change his life anyway, Cahit agrees to the arrangement. After their wedding, Sibel celebrates her freedom by drinking, dancing, and having one-night stands. Meanwhile, Cahit carries on an intimate relationship with hair stylist Maren. Eventually, Cahit and Sibel learn to care for one another after a climactic trip to Istanbul.

Suggested and hosted by Benny.

4th of Novemeber "Castle in the Sky" (Japan, 1989)

2010-11-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

Tenku no shiro Laputa (Castle in the Sky) was made in 1986 and directed by Mr Hayao Miyazaki.

This is the first animation made by the Studio Ghibli in 1986. This story is supposed to have been set in late nineteenth century Britain. This film has been repeatedly shown in a popular TV film road show for more than 20 years in Japan.
The main character is a boy and he meets a girl who fell from the sky. This brings him an adventure and gives him a chance to become a hero in his own life. This film night will be jointly hosted by both the International Cinema Club and the Film Group which is organised by Atsuko Betchaku (see http://www.japaneseinstitute.jimdo.com/).

the Japanese Singing Group will sing the theme song of the film 'Castle in the Sky' before watching the film. It would take for 5 minutes or so including the explanation of the lyrics.

28th of October "This film is not yet rated" (UK, 2006)

2010-10-25T07:11:00.000-07:00

This Film is Not Yet Rated is a 2006 independent documentary film about the Motion Picture Association of America's rating system and its effect on American culture, directed by Kirby Dick and produced by Eddie Schmidt. It premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and was released limited on September 1, 2006. The Independent Film Channel, the film's producer, aired the film later that year. The independent documentary film on TV was rated TV-14 in the United States.

The MPAA gave the original cut of the film an NC-17 rating for "some graphic sexual content" – scenes that illustrated the content a film could include to garner an NC-17 rating. Kirby Dick appealed, and descriptions of the ratings deliberations and appeal were included in the documentary. The new version of the film is not rated.

The film discusses disparities the filmmaker sees in ratings and feedback: between Hollywood and independent films, between homosexual and heterosexual sexual situations, between male and female sexual depictions, and between violence and sexual content. For more click here.

20th of October "Sweet Sixteen" (UK, 2002)

2010-10-17T04:24:00.000-07:00

"Sweet Sixteen" directed by Ken Louch in 2002.

In a few weeks, Liam is going to be sixteen. He and his friends do not attend school anymore. Instead, they prefer to sell cigarettes and defy the police all day long. They are completely left behind in a society which does little to alleviate the bad situation in which they live. Liam's mother is currently in prison, for a crime she did not commit. She will be released in a few weeks, in time for her son's sixteenth birthday. Liam loves his mother very much and his only goal is to save her from her brutal boyfriend, Stan, who deals drugs with Liam’s grandfather. For more click here.

14th of October "La Yuma (2009, Nicaragua)

2010-10-13T02:32:00.001-07:00

"La Yuma (Nicaragua)

Directed by Florence Jaugey, this film is the story of Yuma a strong-willed and
rebellious girl from the poor neighborhoods of Managua who dreams of being a
boxer.

Yuma wants to be a boxer. In her poor neighborhood, gangs fight for control of the
street. In her home, lovelessness is the name of the game. She dreams of the ring,
energy and agile feet and hands. They are also her only options.

A street, a theft, a chance encounter: Yuma meets Ernesto, a journalism student from
the other side of the city. Despite their differences, they fall in love, attracted to each
other by their shared desire to find their own space in the world.

Yuma's story is a slice of life deeply rooted in Nicaragua, today. A daily Nicaragua
and unknown, which contrasts with the image of the country that is channeled abroad,
essentially related to natural disasters, revolutions and wars.

The strength, determination and cunning of the main character reflects the attitude of
a population facing adversity and inequality. La Yuma is a movie which mixes the
genres, because life is so made; beating and hunches, laughter and drama. We are in
the action rather than reflection. Imagination grows with the need and every day is a
challenge to those who have nothing upfront.

This film is also a challenge. This is the first feature film produced in Nicaragua for
20 years. It was filmed on the urgency and precariousness and carried out thanks to
the enthusiasm of a team motivated by the idea of creating a precedent in a nascent
film industry, and giving a face to a reality not widely known in Nicaragua and the
world.

7th of October "Torremolinos 73" (Spain, 2003)

2010-10-06T04:21:00.000-07:00

"Torremolinos 73" is a Spanish movie directed by Pablo Berger in 2003.

Alfredo Lopez is a tired encyclopedia salesman, and Carmen is his faithful wife. The lives of this married couple change forever when the Montoya publishing house, in which Alfredo works, makes a proposal to them to make erotic films that will sold in the Scandinavian countries, under the guise of being a false encyclopedia about reproduction. Unknown to them both, Carmen has become an adult film star in the Northern countries, and a Danish crew flies in to help Alfredo make an Ingmar Bergman inspired feature film called "Torremolinos 73." Instead of a career in show business, Carmen is eager to have a baby, and the tension between the artist and his muse grows'. For more please click here.

30th of September "Heavy metal in Baghdad" (2007, Iraq)

2010-09-24T17:22:00.000-07:00

Heavy Metal in Baghdad is a critically-acclaimed 2007 rockumentary film following filmmakers Moretti and Alvi as they track down the heavy metal Iraqi band Acrassicauda amidst the Iraq War.

In the late summer of 2006, in the middle of the insurgency, filmmakers Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi traveled to Baghdad to meet and interview the only heavy metal band in Iraq, Acrassicauda. "Heavy Metal in Baghdad" is the story of the band and its members, young Iraqis whose lives have been distorted and displaced by years of continual warfare in their homeland. The filmmakers have collected glimpses into the struggles of Acrassicauda as they try to stay together and stay alive. Their struggle is the untold story of the hopes and dreams of an entire generation of young Iraqis. For more info click here. Will be hosted by Esra.

23rd of September "Tehran has no more pomegranates" (2007, Iran)

2010-09-17T02:14:00.000-07:00

"Tehran Has No More Pomegranates!" (Persian: تهران انار ندارد) is a 2006 musical - Comedy Iranian Crystal Simorgh award winning film produced, directed and written by Massoud Bakhshi.

This is the story of Tehran from the Qajar time (middle of 19th century) to today. Tehran has become a metropolis from a small village, now a developed city with many social problems. For more information click here.

16th of September "Broken Embraces" (2009, Spain)

2010-09-11T17:21:00.000-07:00

"Broken Embraces" by the Spain director Pedro Almodóvar.

The film centers on a four-way tale of dangerous love, and was shot in the style of a hard-boiled 1950s American film noir[2], or its descendant, the neo-noir genre. Many themes include noir references such as film posters in sets, angular, high contrast lighting and the characters' struggle with their illicit passions. However, like most Almodovar films, it is filmed in bright color rather than the black-and-white emblematic of noire. The cast includes many Almodóvar regulars such as Ángela Molina, Lola Dueñas and Penélope Cruz (her fourth film with the director). The film's soundtrack includes Cat Power, Uffie, and Can.

Passion, obsession, wealth, jealousy, family, guilt, and creativity. In Madrid, Harry Caine is a blind screenwriter, assisted by Judit and her son Diego. The past comes rushing in when Harry learns of the death of Ernesto Martel, a wealthy businessman, and Ernesto's son pays Harry a visit. In a series of flashbacks to the 1990s, we see Harry, who was then Mateo Blanco, a director; he falls in love with Ernesto's mistress, Lena, and casts her in a film, which Ernesto finances. Ernesto is jealous and obsessive, sending his son to film the making of the movie, to follow Lena and Mateo, and to give him the daily footage. Judit doesn't like Lena. It's a collision course. For more info click here.

2nd of September "A time for drunken hourses"

2010-09-11T17:02:00.000-07:00

"A time for drunken hourses" by Bahman Ghobadi, from Iran

After their father dies, a family of five are forced to survive on their own in a Kurdish village on the border of Iran and Iraq. Matters are made worse when 12 year old Ayoub, the new head of the family, is told that his handicapped brother, Madi, needs an immediate operation in order to remain alive. This heartbreaking tale shows the lengths to which a family will go in order to survive in the harshest of conditions, where even the horses are fed liquor in order to work. For more information click here. Hosted by Bahareh

26th Aug "Mediterraneo" (1991, Italy)

2010-08-20T05:21:00.000-07:00

In 1941, one year after Italy joined Germany against the Allies in World War II, a small group of misfit Italian soldiers is sent to a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea for four months of lookout duty. The soldiers include a lieutenant who likes art, a macho sergeant, a farmer accompanied by his beloved donkey Silvana, and other quirky people. They are not very good soldiers, but a cross section of average, independent men.

The soldiers anticipate attack from outside and on the island and take all sorts of inept precautions. They find a small town with no people. They see bombing on the horizon and realize that the ship that would pick them up has been destroyed. Then mysteriously, people reappear in the village: the villagers say they hid because the Germans had taken all the men. They have decided to accommodate the Italians. It isn't long before everyone's sunny nature appears. The Italian soldiers are absorbed into the life, heat and landscape of the idyllic island.

The local priest asks the lieutenant, a Sunday painter, to restore the murals in his church. Two soldiers, who are brothers, befriend a lovely young woman, a shepherdess, who believes that three is the perfect number for an affair of pure sexual fun. The sergeant takes up folk dancing and the shyest of the soldiers falls profoundly in love with the island's single, very overworked, prostitute. Click here for more info.

19th of August: "The Divine Bell and the Butterfly " (2007, French/ American)

2010-08-13T03:39:00.000-07:00

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (French: Le scaphandre et le papillon) is a French/American biopic/drama film based on the memoir of the same name by Jean-Dominique Bauby. The film depicts Bauby's life after suffering a massive stroke, on 8th December 1995, at the age of 42, which left him with a condition known as locked-in syndrome. The condition paralyzed him from the neck down. Although both eyes work, doctors decide to sew up his right eye as it is not irrigating correctly and they fear it will become infected. He is left with only his left eye, and thereafter communicates only by blinking his left eyelid. The film was directed by Julian Schnabel, written by Ronald Harwood, and stars Mathieu Amalric as Bauby. It won awards at theCannes Film Festival, the Golden Globes and the BAFTA Awards, as well as four Academy Award nominations.

Will be hosted by Kathleen

12th of August: "Goodbye Lenin" (2003, Germany)

2010-08-09T03:37:00.000-07:00

Plot: Two traumatic events affect the life of East Berliner, Christiane Kerner. First, in 1978, her husband, Robert, runs off to freedom and another woman in the west, leaving her to take care of their two adolescent children, Ariane and Alex, by herself. Always a good Socialist, Christiane devotes her life to the cause as a symbol of anger toward her husband. And second, in 1989, she sees a now grown Alex marching in an anti-Berlin Wall demonstration and being hauled off by police. As a result, she suffers a heart attack and goes into a coma. While Christiane is in her coma, Germany drastically changes with the Wall coming down and the imminent official reunification of East and West into one. The Kerner's personal life also changes with all aspects of the new found capitalist world infiltrating their home. When Christiane emerges from her coma eight months later, her health situation is still tenuous. Any shock she experiences could possibly lead to another heart attack and certain death. To protect his mother, Alex decides not to tell her of the new Germany in which they live. He feels he can better protect her at home, where he can control to what she is exposed. Although most around him don't support the idea - including Ariane and Lara (Alex's Russian immigrant girlfriend who is also Christiane's nurse) - they go along with the extreme measures Alex goes to to recreate East Germany in their home. How long can they keep up the ruse?

5th of August: "Divine Intervention" (2002, Palestine)

2010-07-30T10:14:00.000-07:00

"Divine Intervention" (2002, Palestine) is directed by Elia Suleiman

Language Arabic and Hebrew with subtitles.

The film is made up of a series of interlinked sketches of everyday life which portray the devestating effects of the Israeli occupation on the lives of West Bank Palestinains.

The central character, a Jerusalemite played by Suleiman himself, is involved in a love affair with a woman from a neighbouring city Ramallah - made difficult by Israeli movement restrictions.

A surreal, black comedy - we are shown the absudity, anger, rage, and despair of Palestinains but also their stength of spirit. The film ends with a wonderful, suprising specticale of resistance.

There isnt a great deal of dialogue - feelings and emotions are expressed in gesture, facial expression, ideas and the state of affairs using symbol, metaphor and magical realism. For more information press here.

Will be hosted by Nicola

29th of July "Das Experiment" (2001, Germany)

2010-07-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

"The Experiment" is directed by the German film-maker Oliver Hirschbiegel.

The movie is based on the infamous "Stanford Prison Experiment" conducted in 1971. A makeshift prison is set up in a research lab, complete with cells, bars and surveillance cameras. For two weeks 20 male participants are hired to play prisoners and guards. The 'prisoners' are locked up and have to follow seemingly mild rules, and the 'guards' are told simply to retain order without using physical violence. Everybody is free to quit at any time, thereby forfeiting payment. In the beginning the mood between both groups is insecure and rather emphatic. But soon quarrels arise and the wardens employ ever more drastic sanctions to confirm their authority.

Will be hosted by Christopher

22nd of July: Control [Kontroll] (2001, Hungery)

2010-07-22T09:38:00.000-07:00

"Kontroll" is written and directored by the most famous Hungurian director Nimród Antal. It won the Gold Hugo Award at the Chicago International Film Festival and was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival

Plot: Ghost trains and ghostly characters, figuratively speaking of course, are what run through the perpetual night of this fictitious underground (metro) system. Bulcsú's (Sándor Csányi) life that once was, on the surface, where the real people go home after work, who go to the movies or a fine restaurant is now replaced by the dark, cold and solitude arena of his new dwellings. Him, and his motley crew of ragtag metro ticket Kontrollers must patrol the trains that run these City dwellers back and forth and with daily ritual, check that no one dare come down into their world for a free ride. With indifferent passengers, a possible love interest, a regime set on competition and to top it all a mysterious serial killer at large, Kontroll is a dark and bleak comedy of the world of the ticket inspector, who, in the end must keep this Metro system running. If not, what would be the worst that could happen, if they ever lost control? Dare you ride here for free, too?

Will be hosted by Aliz

15th of July: "Spirited away" (2001, Japan)

2010-07-15T09:27:00.000-07:00

Spirited Away (Sento Chihirono Kamikakushi) Japanese film in 2001. This film was made by the Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki in 2001 and won in 2002 the Academy Award for the Best Animated Feature and one of the two Golden Bear awards in the Berlin International Film Festival.

The film is about a ten years old girl’s experience in a wonderland. It depicts relationships between human beings and nature, cultural decay in excessive economy and to be grown up. This has been the best sold film in Japan so far.
This session is jointly hosted by the Welcoming International Cinema Club and the Film Group which Atsuko Betchaku has organised (see ‘Film Group’ in http://japaneseinstitute.jimdo.com/)

8th of July: "Amores Perros" [Love’s a bithch] (2000, Mexico)

2010-07-02T02:17:00.000-07:00

Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu

Three interconnected stories about the different strata of life in Mexico City all resolve with a fatal car accident. Octavio is trying to raise enough money to run away with his sister-in-law, and decides to enter his dog Cofi into the world of dogfighting. After a dogfight goes bad, Octavio flees in his car, running a red light and causing the accident. Daniel and Valeria's new-found bliss is prematurely ended when she loses her leg in the accident. El Chivo is a homeless man who cares for stray dogs and is there to witness the collision.

Will be Hosted by Kathleen

1st of July "Blame it on Fidel" (original French title: La Faute à Fidel) 2006, France &Italy

2010-06-25T03:37:00.000-07:00

Blame it on Fidel (original French title: La Faute à Fidel) is a 2006 French drama film directed by Julie Gavras
This movie will be introduced and hosted by Regis on 1st of July in the Welcoming Cinema Club.

Hello, my name is Anna and I am nine years old. I wish you had known me before - I mean before my aunt Marga and my cousin Pilar came to my parents'house -, I was such a happy little girl. Before their coming life was a bed of roses. Of course my little brother could be a pain in the neck - little brothers always are, aren't they? - but there was that wonderful big house, there was my Cuban-born nanny who cooked so well, there was the bath before dinner, not to mention this wonderful catechism class at the catholic school. But they did come, those Spanish intruders. And now never heard before names like "Franco", "Allende", "Women's Lib", "abortion", the lot, have got into my life. Daddy and Mummy have suddenly become "communists", although this a term that Bon Papa and Bonne Maman (my grandparents from Bordeaux, in fact) just hate. Because of the intruders not only did we move to a tiny apartment but the place is invaded day and night by "barbudos" (bearded men). No more bath before dinner and no more catechism class. How long will I be able to tolerate such a scandal? for more click here.

24th of June, international short movies

2010-06-25T03:30:00.000-07:00

We had a short meeting on planning next season programme. we have watched some short movies from Spain, New Zealand, France, etc.
and shared food and drink followed by informal chats.

17th of June "In This World" (2003) UK

2010-06-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

Jamal and Enayatullah are Afghan refugees in a camp in Peshawar, Pakistan. They travel to Quetta, and thence to Taftan on the Iranian border. They pay people smugglers to assist them over the border; on their first attempt they are stopped by Iranian police and returned to Pakistan, but their second attempt is successful. They travel to Tehran and then to Maku, in the Kurdish part of Iran, from where they cross a mountain range on foot to Turkey. In Istanbul they meet a group of other migrants, and they are taken to Italy inside a shipping container. The container is not ventilated, and most of the refugees, including Enayatullah, are suffocated to death. Jamal survives and lives in Italy for a time. He then steals a woman's purse and buys a rail ticket to Paris. From there, he goes to the Sangatte asylum seekers camp and with a new friend, Yusef, he crosses the channel by stowing away on a lorry. Finally, he arrives in London, where he calls his uncle to say he has arrived but that Enyatullah is "not in this world". The film ends with images of the Peshawar refugees.

For more information click here.

Thursday 10th of June: Brazil [UK, 1985]

2010-06-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

Directed by Terry Gilliam. The film centers on Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce), a young man trying to find a woman who appears in his dreams while he is working in a mind-numbing job and living a life in a small apartment, set in a dystopian world in which there is an over-reliance on poorly maintained (and rather whimsical) machines. Brazil's bureaucratic, totalitarian government is reminiscent of the government depicted in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, except that it has a buffoonish, slap-stick quality and lacks a 'Big Brother' figure.

Thursday 3th of June:‘Beynelmilel’ in English“The International” [Turkey, 2006]

2010-05-31T08:05:00.000-07:00

"The International" Directed by Muharrem Gulmez and Sirri Sureyya Onder, Written by Sirri Sureyaa Onder (Screenplay)

The movie is one of the example of a genre recently began to be seen more and more in Turkish cinema telling the traumatic events of 12 september 1980 military coup, in a tragi-comic way.
The story takes place in a small town in Turkey in 1982, under the influence of the oppressive regime of the coup, where the local military head made a local musical band, a gevende, to play for the arrival of their chief.
The band supposed to prepare a repertoire of military, nationalist marches for the performance at the event day which will give them the permission to open a pavilion (a low key pub-club thing). The events begin to unfold along this axis.

The genre that Beynelmilel fits into is, another BKM (a film production company) production, that isssues the coup d'etat that has not been shown, talked, represented till recently. The genre has been criticisized heavily by some, of being too reductionist and caricaturising the traumatic events of the time and appreciated by others as an attempt to make those times accessible to younger generations.
This session is hosted by Esra Oslay.

27th of May: "Dekalog" (1989)

2010-05-26T04:44:00.000-07:00

This is a series of ten shorts created for Polish Television, with plots loosely based upon the Ten Commandments, directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski. Two of these, Dekalog 5 and 6, are shorter cuts from the feature-length films--Krotki film o zabijaniu (A Short Film About Killing) and Krotki film o milosci (A Short Film About Love), respectively. They deal with the emotional turmoil suffered by humanity, when instinctual acts and societal morality conflict. Written by Tad Dibbern
This week we are going to watch two episodes of these series.

20th of May: "Son of the Bride" (Spanish: El hijo de la novia) (2001)

2010-05-18T10:39:00.000-07:00

The film tells of Rafael Belvedere (Ricardo Darín), a 42-year-old divorced restaurateur, with a young daughter named Vicki (Gimena Nóbile) he has joint custody of. Rafael lives a very hectic lifestyle.

His mother Norma (Norma Aleandro) suffers from Alzheimer's disease and he has not seen her in a year. Rafael sees his father Nino (Héctor Alterio) frequently but his friends rarely. He's fielding offers to sell the restaurant he runs in Buenos Aires, but changes his mind because it was started by his mother and father and has been in the family for years.
His childhood friend Juan Carlos (Eduardo Blanco), who he has not seen for twenty years, drops by the restaurant and renews their old friendship, demonstrating the fact that he has become an actor.
One day, Rafael suddenly suffers a heart attack and, as he recovers in the intensive care unit, he is forced to reevaluate his life and decide his priorities. He now wants to sell the restaurant and move to southern Mexico and raise horses. At the same time his father wants to remarry his wife because they were never married in the Catholic Church. Rafael is opposed to the renewal of vows because his ailing mother will not be much of a participant.
As part of his new life, he tells his much-younger girlfriend Nati that he wants some space and some freedom. At first she is hurt and tells him that he is no Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, or even Dick Watson. (Rafael is puzzled about the identity of Dick Watson and we find out at the middle of the end credits that it refers to a character in a porno film.) Although Rafael tries to get her to understand his perspective, she ultimately breaks off their relationship. Rafael tries to deal with his struggles with this relationships and the fact that the Church is unsupportive, and ends up selling the restaurant and having Juan Carlos act the role of a priest at his parents' second wedding.

The film ends after the wedding, with Rafael opening a new restaurant and apologizing to Nati; she joyously forgives him and there are strong hints that their relationship will revive.

13th of May: Delta [Hungary, 2008]

2010-05-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

A quiet young man returns to the wild, isolated landscape of the Delta. It is a labyrinth of waterways, small islands and over-grown vegetation, where the villagers are cut off from the outside world. The young man, who has been away since early childhood, is introduced to a sister he never knew he had. She is frail and timid, but resolute when she decides to join him in his run-down hut on the shore. They eventually become lovers, with rejection by the family and ridicule from the coarse villagers leading to tragedy.

Together they build a house on stilts in the middle of the river, far away from everyone else. One day, they invite the villagers over to share a meal together, but it becomes apparent that the coarse locals do not accept their “unnatural” relationship.

29th of April "Water" (2005 India)

2010-04-23T05:34:00.000-07:00

"Water" is a very different movie from India, based on real and historical events by Deepa Mehta. It is nominated for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year at Oscar 2007 and won many other prizes.
Plot: The year is 1938, India is ruled by the British, and it is around this time that Mohandas K. Gandhi has arrived from Africa to begin his tryst with the British, as well as battle the traditions that bind the Hindus. Not yet in her teens, Chuyia is married to a much older and sickly male, who shortly after the marriage, passes away. Chuyia is returned unceremoniously to her parents' house, and from there she is taken to the holy city of Banaras and left in the care of a wide assortment of widows who live at "the widows' house," shunned by the rest of the community. Chuyia believes that her mother will come to take her home. Here she meets several elderly women, including the head of the house, Madhumati; a quiet, confident woman named Shakuntala; and a gorgeous young woman named Kalyani -- all widows. Chuyia does not know that according to Holy Hindu Scriptures she has been destined to live here for the rest of her life, for when a woman's husband dies', she has three options: One, to marry her husband's younger brother, if his family permits; two, to kill herself on his funeral pyre; three, to live a life of celibacy, discipline, and solitude amongst her own kind. A new law in India which permits a widow to re-marry is not popular, and it is these customs and openly welcoming the lower castes that will pit Gandhiji against his very own people, apart from struggling with the British to leave India. Kalyani meets and falls in love with young Narayan, a follower of Mahatma Gandhi, who wants to marry her, despite his mother's protests. For more click here.

22nd of April "Land and Freedom" (Britain, 1995)

2010-04-19T07:50:00.001-07:00

The film's narrative unfolds in a long flashback. David Carr has died at an old age and his granddaughter discovers old letters, newspapers and other documents in his room: what we see in the film is what he had lived.

Plot: Spring 1936, a young unemployed communist, David, leaves his hometown Liverpool to join the fight against fascism in Spain. He joins an international group of Militia-men and women, the POUM (Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista). After being wounded he goes to Barcelona, where he decides to join another group of fighters. They remain in Barcelona and end up fighting other anti-fascist groups. David is disappointed and decides to go back to his old band. For more click here.

The movie won the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.

Thursday 15th of April: Tokyo Sonata [Japan, 2008]

2010-04-12T05:08:00.001-07:00

This film was directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa in 2008 and won un certain regard jury award in Cannes International Film Festival and also grand jury prize at Chicago International Film Festival. Mr Kurosawa seems to have become popular internationally by his 1997 film 'Cure', a psychological thriller and had been well known as a director in the horror genre.

In this film, however, he moved away from the horror genre and described an ordinally family trapped by difficulties. Yet, this film has been considered as the best film directed by him. The story starts with the father of a family losing a senior post of a prestigious firm. The film is in some way comical even though depicting dipressing situations the family went through. For more about the plot press here.

This night will be jointly hosted by the International
Cinema Club and the Film Group which was organised
by Atsuko Betchaku who is hoping to set up the
Japanese Institute of Scotland (see the website:
http://japaneseinstitute.jimdo.com/).

8th of April: "The Edukators" Germany 2004

2010-04-07T06:11:00.000-07:00

Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei or The Edukators (2004)
Advertisement Berlin student Jule is hoplessly indebted due to an accident she caused, uninsuredly hitting a rich businessman's limousine. Evicted from her flat she moves in with her boyfriend Peter and soon learns that Peter and his flatmate, Jan, are breaking into luxurious mansions at night. Instead of stealing or vandalizing, though, they carefully and ornately rearrange furniture and valulables and leave obscure messages. Jule convinces Jan, who has a crush on her, to pay a visit to the villa of her creditor. Written by Armin Ortmann

1st of April: Under the Moonlight [Iran, 2001]

2010-03-29T09:14:00.000-07:00

“Under the Moonlight” is an Iranian film directed and written by Reza Mir-Karimi.

Plot: Seyyed Hassan, a young seminary student, is preparing to don the clerical attire. While the other students are also busy with similar preparations, Seyyed Hassan's supplies are stolen by a small boy. To identify the culprit, Seyyed Hassan sets out for the suburban area where he meets people who have never met a cleric and know nothing about the clerical profession. Under such unfamiliar circumstances, Seyyed Hassan acquires a new understanding of society and human beings.

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2188942592/tt0278159

25th of March "Memories of Underdevelopment"

2010-03-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

Memorias del subdesarrollo (1968) [Memories of Underdevelopment]
Plot: Sergio, a wealthy bourgeois aspiring writer, decides to stay in Cuba even though his wife and friends flee to Miami. Sergio looks back over the changes in Cuba from the Castro revolution to the Cuban missile crisis, the effect of living in an underdeveloped country, and his relations with his girlfriends Elena and Hanna.

March 18. Forklitf Driver Klaus, Attack on the Bakery and Lift

2010-03-23T17:57:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, March 18, we had a session dedicated to preparing the program for the next season, watching some short films and having some food.
Thanks to all the people that brought food and thanks to all the people that stayed after the films and enjoyed it with us.
The program of films for the next few weeks is nearly ready. Beatriz will shortly be emailing it to everybody in the newsgroup. We are very impressed with the interest of our regulars in the suggestion of films and their willingness in hosting future sessions for them. It's all good!!

The short films watched last Thursday were:

Forklift Driver Klaus by Jorg Wagner and Stefan Prehn. Germany 2000.
A mix between a gore/horror movie and a health & safety training video (in German!) that delivered both laughter and perplexity between our audience, who, no wonder, is not quite used to this kind of cinematic genre.

Attack on a Bakery by Naoto Yamakawa. Japan 1982
Two hungry and pennyless flatmates intoxicated by existentialist and post-modernist thoughts decide to take their angst and craving on the local bakery, only to find that they can eat all the pies if they are prepared to listen to a whole opera of Wagner. A pretty bizarre, quixotesque, satirical piece of japanese 80s cinema, or whatever that means (?!).
By the way do not try this at Greggs unless you can cope with musicals.

Lift by Mark Isaacs. UK 2001
A wannabe film maker gets himself in the lift of a highflat somewhere in the 78th ring of London and records the ups and downs of its neighbors. Not surprisingly he encounters a myriad of interesting characters who are more than willing to tell him all sorts of staff, from the most mundane to the most private and from the most lucid to the most...
All in all a good depiction of the recipient's of life in the cosmopolitan and glamorous suburbs of the Republic of London. It must be said that the film is clearly embedded with reminiscences of Victorian anthropology, isn't it?

18th of March "Lift"

2010-03-16T04:54:00.000-07:00

This week we have an exclusive programme. We are going to watch a short film from Britain. "Lift" for 25 minutes.

Marc Isaacs / UK / 2001 Filmmaker Marc Isaacs sets himself up in a London tower block lift. The residents come to trust him and reveal the things that matter to them ...

Earlier on I mean from 5'30 we will make the new programme for next months, so bring your ideas and suggestions!

6'30: We will be showing the short film and having a chat at the end

8'00: snack! so please bring some food and drinks to share!

11th of March "Whiskey"

2010-03-10T07:55:00.000-08:00

Whiskey is an Argentine-German-Spanish-Uruguayan tragicomedy film directed by Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll and released in 2004. The film stars Andrés Pazos, Mirella Pascual, Jorge Bolani, Ana Katz, and Daniel Hendler. It has very sparse dialogue and the three principal actors play very straight roles showing little emotion. It was premiered at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival where it won a Regard Original Award.

Plot: On the first anniversary of his mother's death, Jacobo (Andres Pazos), the owner of a small and struggling sock factory, asks one of his attentive employees, Marta (Mirella Pascual), to spend a few days at his home pretending to be his wife because his brother, Herman (Jorge Bolani), is arriving for a visit.

Jacobo and Marta's lives are very dull and repetitious. It takes some time to realize that Jacobo asks Marta because he has no one else to ask. Why Marta agrees is another matter.
Jacobo is aware that his brother has become more successful since moving away and possibly resents the time that he had to devote to nursing their dying mother, rather than working on his own business.
Herman's visit is initially an uneasy time for the two brothers who clearly have little in common, however, shortly before he is due to return home, Herman asks Jacobo and Marta to accompany him on a visit to a resort where they spent time as children with their parents. Marta is keen to go and Jacobo reluctantly agrees.
During the holiday Marta and Herman become closer and the suggestion develops that they may actually have feelings for each other. Jacobo remains cold and unemotional towards both the other characters and seems keen for the experience to end.
Just before he is due to go home Herman gives Jacobo a sum of money as compensation for the time that he lost by having to care for their mother. Jacobo is initially unwilling to accept it, but takes the money after witnessing Herman sing a love song towards Marta in a Karaoke restaurant that the three visit.
Later that night Jacobo goes alone to a casino, placing all the money on Black 24 in a game of roulette and wins. He keeps some of the money, but wraps the larger part up as a present.
As they say goodbye to Herman, Marta presses a note into his hand telling him to read it on the plane. When they get back home, Jacobo calls a taxi for Marta and gives her the cash present which she is last seen holding in the back of the cab. The following morning she does not turn up for work, although Jacobo goes through the same routine as always.

4th of March "Tony Takitani" from Japan

2010-02-26T06:59:00.000-08:00

Tony Takitani (2004) Japanese movie directed by Jun Ichikawa.

Summery: Due to his Western name, Tony was shunned by other kids and spent a solitary childhood. Though gifted as an artist, his drawings lacked feeling, so as an adult, he carved a career as a technical illustrator. Then in middle age, Tony suddenly falls for a pretty young woman, Eiko Konuma, who visits him one day on business. Eiko is like an angel in Tony's daily existence, and for the first time in his life, he feels connected to the outside world. However, Eiko does have one fault: she's a clothing shopaholic. Confusion also begins to develop when it appears that Eiko has a double. Written by Sujit R. Varma

25th of Febuary "Man of Aran"

2010-02-18T15:07:00.000-08:00

Man of Aran by Robert J. Felaherty (1934) Black and White

For the last 200 years the Aran Islands have exercised a powerfully romantic fascination on the outside world which is without equal anywhere else in the country. They were believed to contain the essence of the ancient Irish life, represented by a pure uncorrupted peasant existence centred around the struggle between man and his hostile but magnificent surroundings. This myth, strengthened by the writings of Yeats and especially Synge was hugely expanded by the release in 1934 of Man of Aran, a documentary on the life of the Island people. This film won international acclaim and explained in no small way why so many different nationalities walk the surface of Aran in their thousands between May and October each year.

The film was made by renowned American director Robert Flaherty who was already established at the time as having virtually founded the documentary film form. In 1923 he screened his Nanook of the North which was a portrait of the lives of the Eskimo peoples of the Belcher Islands off Canada. This film celebrated the primeval duel between man and Nature which was the central motif in all his later work. Find more ...

18th of Febuary 2010 "When Father was Away on Business"

2010-02-15T08:10:00.000-08:00

When Father was Away on Business (1985) Tito's break-up with Stalin in 1948 marked the beginning of not only confusing, but also very dangerous years for many hard-core Yugoslav communists. A careless remark about the newspaper cartoon is enough for Mesha to join many arrested unfortunates. His family is now forced to cope with the situation and wait for his release from prison. The story is told from the perspective of Malik, his young son who believes the mother's story about father being "away on business". Written by Dragan Antulov

The main topics of discussion tonight were:

When Father was away ... is a typical Kusurica film: Rich music, wedding party and dinning table, drinking, love affair, politics, religion, fly and ...
How their Islamic traditions survived in a communist society.
How Muslim and Orthodox had been living together in former Yugoslavia with peace and even they could get married.
Story was narrated by a small boy and through his innocent eyes without any bias.
The charater of Masa, as the father.

11th of Febuary 2010 "Central Station" from Brazil

2010-02-15T08:03:00.000-08:00

Central Station (1998)
Dora, a dour old woman, works at a Rio de Janeiro central station, writing letters for customers and mailing them. She hates customers and calls them 'trash'. Josue is a 9-year-old boy who never met his father. His mother is sending letters to his father through Dora. When she dies in a car accident, Dora takes Josue and takes a trip with him to find his father.

We had a very interesting discussion after the film, especially by attendance of a Brazilian guy who was familiar with the socio-cultural background of the story. The main topics of debates were as followed:

Caring for others
Being positive and see the half full of the glass rather than to be negative and cynical
The relationship of being poor and religion
Comparing Brazil Central Station to Mumbei Rail Road

04 Febuary 2010 "Jean de Florette"

2010-02-04T09:05:00.000-08:00

"Jean de Florette" is a 1986 French historical drama film directed by Claude Berri, based on a novel by Marcel Pagnol. It is part of a duology, and is followed by Manon des Sources. The film takes place in rural Provence, where two local farmers scheme to trick a newcomer out of his newly inherited property. The movie starred three of France's most prominent actors – Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, who won a BAFTA award for his performance, and Yves Montand in one of the last roles before his death.

28th January 2010 "La pelota vasca: la piel contra la piedra"

2010-01-28T09:05:00.000-08:00

English: The Basque Ball: Skin Against Stone; Basque: Euskal pilota: larrua harriaren kontra

La pelota vasca: la piel contra la piedrais a 2003 documentary film written and directed by Spanish filmmaker Julio Médem. The film's purported intention is to create a bridge between the different political positions that coexist, sometimes violently, in the Basque Country. In order to do so, Medem edits the interviews giving a sense of dialogue between parties that refused to sit down and talk.

The Welcoming CinemaClub

The proposition (Australia, 2005). 100`. 16/02/2012

Waltz with Bashir (Israel, 2008). 87´. 09-02-2012

KAMIKAZE GIRLS (2004, Japan). 103´ 2/02/2012

RIO (2011. United States) 92´

In the realm of the senses. (Japan/France. 1976). 105´. 19/01/2012

12/1/2012 Route Irish (2010)

5th of January "The Social Network" (USA, 2010) 120 minutes

22nd of December "The Town" (USA, 2010)

15th of December "Tickets" (Italy, 2005)

1st of December "12 Monkeys" (USA, 1995)

28th of Novemeber "Kandehar" (Iran, 2001)

18th of November "Metropolis" (Germany, 1927)

3rd of November "In Cold Blood" (America, 1967)

27th of October "Little Miss Sunshine" (USA, 2006)

20th of October "Lilya 4 Ever" (Sweden, Denmark, Russia, 2002)

13th of October "South of the Border" (America, 2009)

6th of October "Butterfly's Tongue" (Spain,1999)

29th of Septmeber "Dogtooth" (Greece, 2009)

15th of September "Days of Being Wild" (Hong Kong, 1990)

8th of September "Mountain Patrol" (China, 2004)

1st of September "Betty Blue" (France, 1986)

25th of August "Princess Mononke" (Japan, 1997)

18th of August "Carlos the Jackal" (France/Germany 2011)

11th of August "The Triplets of Belleville" (France, 2003)

4th of August "The Wedding'' (Poland, 2004)

28th of July "The Twilight Samurai" (Japan, 2002)

21st of August "Nicaragua: No Pasaran" (Austria, 1984)

"Of Gods and Men" (Algeria/Frence, 2010)

7th of July "Tampopo" (Japan, 1985)

Director:

Writer:

Stars:

30th of June "DIRTY OIL" (2010)

23rd of June "Dirty Pretty Things" (UK, 2002)

16th of June "No man’s Land" (Serbia, 2001)

9th of June "Hamoun" (Iran, 1990)

Director:

Writer:

Stars:

2nd of June "The Secret in Their Eyes" (Argantin/Spain, 2009)

26th of May "Three Colours: White" (France/Poland, 1994)

19th of May "The Dancer Upstairs" (Spain, 2002)

12th of May "Machuca" (2004, Chile)

Director:

Writers:

Stars:

28th of April "Gregory's Girl" (Scotland, 1981)

21st of April: Short films from students in Edinburgh Napier University

14th of April "Latcho Drom" (France, 1993)

Latcho Drom is a French documentary film directed and written by Tony Gatlif. The movie is about the Romani people's journey from north-west India to Spain, consisting primarily of music. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.

07th of April "Run Lola Run" (1998, Germany)

Director:

Writer:

Stars:

31st of March "the Dinner Game" (France,1998)

Director: Francis Veber

Writer: Francis Veber

Stars:Thierry Lhermitte, Jacques Villeret and Francis Huster

24th of March "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966, USA)

17th of March "Ju Duo" (China, 1990)

10th of March "Fire" (India, 1996)

3rd of March "Red Sorghum" (China, 1988)

24th of Fabruary "Lives of Others" (Germany, 2006)

Director:

Writer:

Stars:

17th of February "Samson and Delilah" (2009, Australia)

10th of February "Network" (US, 1976)

Director:

Writer:

Stars:

February 3th “A Prophet” (2009, France )

27th of January "Letting Go Movie" (US)

January 20th "Cafe Transit" [Border Cafe] (Iran, 2005)

January 13th "Happiness of the Katakuris" (2001, Japan)

December 23rd "Rashomon" (Japan, 1950)

Director:

Writers:

Stars: