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

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)

"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)

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)

"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)

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)

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)

 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)

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)

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)

'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