MARCH 16
SUN 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
THE BENCH
DENMARK 2000
DIRECTOR: PER FLY Winner of numerous best film, director and actor awards in Scandinavia, Fly's feature debut is a gritty, gripping drama about a middle-aged alcoholic on a serious downward spiral. Kaj, once a chef of some repute, lives as a lush in a claustrophobic Copenhagen apartment. When a young mother on the run from an abusive husband rents a room nearby, Kaj recognizes her as the daughter he has not seen in 19 years. At first fearful of reconciliation, his eventual attempt goes badly. Drinking himself to death seems the best option, but fate offers the opportunity for redemption. "An involving story and a powerful performance by lead actor Jesper Christensen whom manages to convey both the self loathing of this once dignified man and the stubborness and pride that even years of hard drinking have not been able to erase."
-VARIETY. (93 mins.)

MARCH 18
TUE 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
THE BRICKLAYER
SWEDEN 2002
DIRECTOR: STEFAN JARL In LIFE AT ANY COST, Stefan Jarl's 1998 documentary on Swedish director Bo Widerberg, actor Thommy Berggren was the narrator and supplied entertaining anecdotes about working not only with Widerberg on some of his best-known films (RAVEN'S END, ELVIRA MADIGAN, JOE HILL), but also with Ingmar Bergman and other directors. In THE BRICKLAYER, Jarl focusses on Berggren himself, and the noted Swedish actor talks about his life and his career. Born in Mölndal in 1937, Berggren was raised in a political household. His father was active in the workers' movement and was apparently a bright man with radical ideas whose life was ruined by alcoholism. Berggren traces the roots of his ambition to become an actor to his relationship with his father. Much of his acting has been influenced by his sympathy for the underdog, even when playing royalty. He recounts working with Ingmar Bergman on a stage production of Eugene O'Neill, when, in rehearsal, he played all of the play's parts and poked fun at his director. Winner of the European Film Award Best Documentary. (95 mins.)

MARCH 20
THU 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
KITES OVER HELSINKI
FINLAND 2001
DIRECTOR: PETER LINDHOLM KITES OVER HELSINKI chronicles the growth of the Bexar family, from the harmonious family life of the '70s to the total chaos of the '90s. Riku Bexar has lost his older brother Dani in a violent car crash that was a suicide. Dani, whose dream was to be a rock star and whose struggle was to escape family expectation, was his idol. Traumatized by sorrow and rage, Riku leaves his wife and child and embarks on a chaotic trip triggered by a bizarre dialogue with his dead big brother, who bellows like a reckless disc jockey bringing forth both good and bad memories of their childhood and teenage years. These include the wishes of Henrik, their father, whose inability to accept either of them for what they are casts the family's collective fate. Excellent performances bring to life a moving family saga. (100 mins.)

MARCH 21
FRI 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
DETECTOR
NORWAY 2000
DIRECTOR: PAL JACKMAN 30-year-old psycholgist Daniel, whose father died before he was born, still lives at home with his domineering mother. In between his counselling sessions and dealing with her, he indulges in a rather odd hobby: he and his comic buddy Ronny scour the countryside with metal detectors. One day they find a braclet with the name "Janne." Daniel sets out to find the owner. When he finally does, Janne turns out to be a beautiful woman with a secret. . . . Part mystery, part psychological profile, DETECTOR is an engaging journey through one man's search to put together the missing pieces of the puzzle of his life. Best First Film Prize at the Norwegian International Film Festival. (102 mins.)

MARCH 22
SAT 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
THE ICELANDIC DREAM
ICELAND 2000
DIRECTOR: ROBERT I. DOUGLAS Reykjavic rock video director Douglas' wry debut film is a fine, funny, slacker mockumentary. An unseen film crew documents the life of Toti (Tórhallur Sverrisson), a gangly, problem plagued 30-year-old soccer fanatic whose schemes for overnight success are foiled at every turn. His very ex-wife and eight-year-old daughter live with an American, of all insults; his 18-year-old girlfriend couldn't care less about soccer; and his momentarily thriving business of importing Bulgarian Opal cigarettes hits the skids when they are banned for containing a narcotic. But the unkindest cut of all? Valur, his beloved soocer team, is demoted to second division. Pursuing his destiny with a peculiar Icelandic arrogance and ineptitude, Toti's romantic quest for the Icelandic (and American) dream provides an engaging journey. (92 mins.)

APRIL 4
FRI 7:30 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
ALL ABOUT MY FATHER
NORWAY 2002
DIRECTOR: EVEN BENESTAD Voted Best Documentary at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival, ALL ABOUT MY FATHER is a highly personal film about Esben Benestad, a well respected doctor-who also happens to be a transvestite-from a small, very close-minded christian town in Norway. The film was directed by the one person most likely to convey the story with truth, warmth, humour and irony: Even Benestad, his son. "Contrary to my father's idea that this film would promote him as a colourful character who uses all his time to combat conservative bureaucracy," states the director, "I wanted to make a portrait of him where his transvestism and strong self-realisation forms the basis of the film. I could not compromise-personal confrontation was paramount in making this a genuine film." Benestad's documentary is a candid, moving work exploring the two extremes of his dynamic dad's life as a doctor, author and politician, juxtaposed with his identity as the exotic Esther Pirelli, sexual therapist and occasional actress. (77 mins.)

APRIL 5
SAT 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
FAMILY
DENMARK 2001
DIRECTORS: SAMI SAIF, PHIE AMBO "How can you miss someone you've never met? This nimble, expressive film beautifully captures both the weighty obligation and the sweet lightness of family lost and regained. Following the death of his mother and the tragic loss of his brother, Danish filmmaker Sami Saif and co-director and cinematographer Phie Ambo (also Saif's partner at the time) decide to search for Sami's father,who abandoned his family when Sami was a child. He has been meaning to find his father for four years, but has readily deferred to more pleasant pursuits-going to the beach, for instance. Launching with a tour-de-force segment-a series of raw, evasive and startling phone calls in which Sami traces his father to Yemen-his journey is, as one relative quietly suggests it will be, 'a nice surprise.' Indeed, the storytelling here is terrific, suspenseful but unforced and, pushing beyond the personal to the universal, this absorbing documentary strikes complex and contradictory emotional chords."-TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL. (90 mins.)

APRIL 6
SUN 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
TANGO CABARET
FINLAND 2001
DIRECTOR: PEKKA LEHTO Finnish icon, dancer and member of Parliament, Aira Samulin wants to perform a revue which will tell her life story; a sleazy producer wants to produce a money-making cabaret. The dance between the two provides Pekka Lehto the opportunity to fashion a Fellini-esque mixture of documentary and musical revue. This fictionalized life of Aira Samulin, former Finnish beauty queen, tango dancer, and pop-culture treasure. After 50 years in the limelight and a reputation as an ambassador of joy, Aira, now a dance teacher in her 90s, is still a long-legged, hip-hop lady with the spirit and beauty of a teenager. She just wants to share some of the tragedy of her life as a war refuge and a victim of violence, not to become a mere night-club spectacle. (90 mins.)

APRIL 9
WED 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
WINGS OF GLASS
SWEDEN 2000
DIRECTOR REZA BAGHER Nazli is 18 and has grown up in Sweden with her Iranian parents. She desperately wants to be Swedish (she even calls herself Sara in order to be so) and independent, often arguing with her tradition-bound father Abbas. Abbas wants Nazil and her sister Mahin to marry and finds two men for them: Hassan for Mahin and Hamid for Nazli. Mahin likes Hassan, but Nazli objects to Hamid and starts seeing Johan, a Swedish boy. The situation gets more complicated when Hamid offers Nazli a job in his video store, where he gets more and more frustrated until one night he attacks her. When Mahin marries Hassan, Hamid turns up for the party. . . Bagher's wonderfully observing film, full of comic and bittersweet moments, weeps with the emotion of truth. (105 mins.)

APRIL 12
SAT 7:30 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
FIASCO
ICELAND 2000
DIRECTOR: RAGNAR BRAGASON "A good, mordant Icelandic comedy in the style of Aki Kaurismäki, Ragnar Bragason's FIASCO follows the misfortunes of three relatives living in the same Reykjavik household. Karl (Róbert Arnfinnsson) is smitten with an elderly actress who's as batty as she is alluring. Granddaughter Julia (Silja Hauksdóttir) can't choose between her two lovers or even decide whether or not she's pregnant. And middle-aged mother Steingerour (Margrét Akadóttir) has the unenviable task of having to clean up after a hellraising, hot-tubbing priest. Despite the impassive faces of FIASCO's cast and the empty, snowy streets, there's a torrent of lust and madness just below the frigid surfaces."
- THE EYE, Toronto. (92 mins.)

APRIL 13
SUN 7 P.M.
WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
THE GREATEST THING
NORWAY 2001
DIRECTOR: THOMAS ROBSAHM
This adaptation of Nobel Prize winner Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's short novel "The Fisherman's Daughter" is a charming romantic comedy about discovering who you want to be. Set in1860, the story centers on the fatherless and fearless young Petra. In a cross between romantic infatuation and struggle for freedom, she suddenly finds herself engaged to no less than three of her home town's most eligible young men. The only thing to do is flee. Setting off for Copenhagen, she ends up at a vicarage high up in the mountains, where a widowed Danish priest has sought his vocation together with his daughter Signe. Through charm and reckless deception she wheedles her way into this little family, and a profound friendship develops between the two girls. But this friendship is put to its ultimate test when it becomes clear that they have found love in the same man. (110 mins.)