18th of March "Lift"

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"

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

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"

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"

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

11th of Febuary 2010 "Central Station" from Brazil

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"

"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"

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.

21st January "Still Life"

"Still Life" (Chinese: 三峡好人; pinyin: Sānxiá hǎorén; literally "Good people of the Three Gorges") is a 2006 Chinese film directed by Jia Zhangke. Shot in the old village of Fengjie, a small town on the Yangtze River which is slowly being destroyed by the building of the Three Gorges Dam, Still Life tells the story of two people in search of their spouses. Still Life is a co-production between the Shanghai Film Studio and Hong Kong-based Pictures. The film premiered at the 2006 Venice Film Festival and was a surprise winner of the Golden Lion Award for Best Film.[2] The film premiered at a handful of other film festivals, and received a limited commercial release in the United States on January 18, 2008 in New York City. Like The World, Jia Zhangke's previous film, Still Life was accepted by Chinese authorities and was shown uncensored in both mainland China and abroad.

10th of December "Blackboards" by Samira Makhmalbaf (2000)

“Blackboards” is Samira Makhmalbaf’s second movie which is well received by critics and awarded many prizes in 2000. The screenplay was written by Samira Makhmalbaf and her father Mohsen Makhmalbaf who is also a director.

The story is about two journeys of two teachers in the remote areas of Iran borders with Iraq (Kurdestan) who are desperately searching to find some students. They carry their blackboards on their shoulders and during the way the use them as shelter, splint, stretcher, camouflage and as shields from gunfire.

The life situation, fear and hardship of the people they have met show the irrelevance of education.

you can find more information in:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackboards

http://www.artificial-eye.com/film.php?dvd=ART198DVD&plugs&qt=false&wm=true



The topics we have discussed on 10th of December:

• The life situation of Kurds in Iran, Iraq and Turkey
• Looking for homeland and nationality
• Surviving needs and poverty
• Fictions and realities in the movie