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

"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)

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)

"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)

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)

"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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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.