JULY 13 14 SUN 7 P.M., MON 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
BALSEROS
SPAIN 2002
DIRECTORS: CARLES BOSCH AND JOSEP M. DOMENEC In the summer of 1994, a crew of television reporters with unprecedented access filmed and interviewed seven Cubans with their relatives before they set out as economic refugees on homemade rafts headed for US shores. The crew followed the survivors who were rescued at sea and transported to the U.S. military base at Guantánamo, at that time the site of a temporary refugee camp. Seven years later, the tv crew reconnects with their subjects to discover the outcome of their new lives in different regions across the United States. Life in the U.S. and under capitalism is not a fairy tale for these refugees; BALSEROS is a true story about some of the authentic survivors of our times, an epic adventure of castaways caught between two worlds. "Insanely ambitious. The scope and complexity of a novel! About a historic rupture and the quotidian aftermath, year after year, as variously experienced by seven ordinary, fallible, highly determined people. Lovingly crafted."—Stuart Klawans, THE NATION. (120 mins.)

SEPT 18 20 THU 7 P.M., Sat 4:30 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
POWER TRIP
US/REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA 2003
DIRECTOR: PAUL DEVLIN If you think the Enron/PGE power scandals impacted your life, it is nothing compared to the upheaval faced by the people in Tbilisi, capital of the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, when the government-run power company was sold to the American power company AES. Under Soviet communism the cost of electricity was negligible for customers. But in the new global marketplace, users have to pay. Faced with the painful reality that a significant portion of their already meager income now has to go to paying their power bills, the solution is simple—don’t pay. Devlin’s documentary-as-black comedy reveals that most Georgian citizens, large companies and even the Energy Minister chose not to comply, devising ever more clever ways to obtain electricity for free. AES, faced with civil insurrection, decides it must teach its clients a harsh lesson by disconnecting nonpaying customers from their electricity. In an environment of confrontation, hot tempers, street rioting, pervasive corruption, and even assassination, POWER TRIP provides a roller coaster ride as AES struggles to teach the capitalist system to a nation caught in the rubble of socialist economics. “What makes POWER TRIP unusually interesting is the fact that Devlin refuses to take sides. There isn’t a hint of ‘ugly American’ bashing in the film.”—VARIETY. (83 mins.)

SEPT 25 THU 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
SEÑORITA EXTRAVIADA,
MISSING YOUNG WOMAN
US 2001
DIRECTOR: LOURDES PORTILLO Recipient of the Special Jury Documentary Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, Portillo’s haunting film investigates the mysterious murders, rapes and kidnappings of more than 250 women around the U.S.-Mexico border town of Ciudad Juárez. Dubbed the "City of the Future" by pro-NAFTA advocates, Ciudad Juárez has served as an economic and urban model for developing nations throughout Latin American. Yet behind the city's international mystique and high-profile job market, there exists a murky history of grossly underreported human rights abuses and violence against women. Relying on what Portillo comes to see as the most reliable of sources—the testimonies of the families of the victims—SEÑORITA EXTRAVIADA documents a two-year search for the truth in the underbelly of the new global economy. Ariel for Best Mexican Documentary. (74 mins.) In Spanish with English subtitles. Tonight’s screening will benefit the Casa Amiga Rape Crises Center in Ciudad, Juarez.

OCT 2 3 THU 7 P.M., FRI 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
I’M TARANEH, 15
IRAN 2002
DIRECTOR: RASSUL SADR-AMELI After the highly lauded THE GIRL IN THE SNEAKERS, (shown in the 2002 Portland International Film Festival) director Rassul Sadr-Ameli focuses again on a young woman's struggle against dominant norms and values. Like so many girls of her age, Taraneh lives her life by the rules of Iranian society; she studies, works, and is engaged to a young man named Amir she soon hopes to marry. However, her fiancé turns out to be unreliable when he suddenly leaves for Germany and leaves her behind, pregnant. Despite her very difficult circumstances, she is determined to keep the child. Lead actress Taraneh Alidousti won the prize for best actress at the Locarno International Film Festival with her strong and understated performance. Director Sadr-Ameli won the Best Director and Best Screenplay Awards at the Fajr Film Festival. (110 mins.)

OCT 9 THU 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
PINOCHET’S CHILDREN
GERMANY 2002
DIRECTOR: PAULA RODRIGUEZ Alejandro Goic was 16, Enrique Paris,12, and Carolina Tohá, eight years old, when General Pinochet seized power in Chile on September 11, 1973. During the coup Alejandro and Carolina lost their fathers, and all three lost their innocence and their youth. And eventually all went on to become powerful student leaders in the tumultuous’80s. With thoughtful, emotional interviews and rich archival footage, PINOCHET'S CHILDREN is a remarkable film that beautifully renders three people's course of life against the background of the socio-political developments in their homeland. (83 mins.)

OCT 16 THU 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
RANA’S WEDDING
PALESTINE 2002
DIRECTOR: HANY ABU ASSAD Rana wakes up one morning to an ultimatum delivered by her father: she must either choose a husband from a pre-selected list of eligible men or she must accompany her father abroad. RANA'S WEDDING is a romantic drama about a Palestinian girl who wants to get married to the man of her own choice. With only 10 hours to find her boyfriend in occupied Jerusalem, Rana sneaks out of her father's house at daybreak to find her forbidden love, Khalil. Facing barriers and occupation which have become an everyday reality, Rana overcomes her fears and doubts, deciding not to let anyone control her life. Shot entirely on location in East-Jerusalem and Ramallah, RANA’S WEDDING was awarded the Nestor Almendros Prize for courage in filmmaking at the 2003 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival. (90 mins)

OCT 23 THU 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
STATE OF DENIAL
SOUTH AFRICA 2002
DIRECTOR: ELAINE EPSTEIN “Through six intimate and powerful portraits, STATE OF DENIAL takes an unprecedented look at how the citizens of South Africa are living with the AIDS epidemic, given the climate of confusion and neglect perpetuated by President Mbeki's administration. Revealing conversations with dozens of South Africans add context to these portraits, capturing the unbreakable spirit of a people determined to conduct their lives with dignity, grace, and humor. Producer/Director Elaine Epstein, a native South African who has worked extensively in AIDS and public health, offers a unique insider's look at the complex issues affecting the nearly five million South Africans living with HIV and AIDS. A film of quiet outrage that weaves the personal with the political to create an uplifting portrait of ordinary people in an extraordinary struggle to survive.”— Sundance Film Festival (86 mins.)
FOLLOWED BY
WHEN THE WAR IS OVER
SOUTH AFRICA 2002
DIRECTOR: FRANCOIS VERSTER "Killing an enemy is nothing here. I would just do it, go home and sleep peacefully."—Marlon, former BMW militant. WHEN THE WAR IS OVER deals with the after-effects of the South African Struggle against Apartheid, as experienced by survivors from the Bonteheuwel Military Wing (BMW), a militant teenage self-defense unit from the mid-1980s and a guerrilla branch of the ANC. Focusing on two ex-activists, Gori and Marlon, Vester’s powerful film reveals the scars left among what has become the country's lost generation. Gori has become an army captain, Marlon a gang member. Both are having problems finding their path in life: the battle is won against Apartheid, but what now? (52 mins.)
Sponsored by Homowo African Arts and Cultures

OCT 30 THU 7 P.M.
GUILD THEATRE
WELCOME TO HADASSAH HOSPITAL
NETHERLANDS 2002
DIRECTOR: RAMON GIELING Gieling takes a startling, close-up look at the individuals who make up the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. The pulse of the film is found in the charismatic, controversial and bluntly philosophical Dr. Avi Rivkind who, along with his staff, must regularly treat those affected by, and sometimes those involved in the planning of the numerous suicide attacks which take place in the capital of Israel. In a tangible twist of irony, victims and offenders are often treated side by side. The doctors take the situation for granted and make no distinction between their patients. For the patients, the situation is more difficult to swallow. A powerful film about integrity and humanity set against the violence in Israel today. (50 mins.)
FOLLOWED BY
SCENES FROM AN ENDLESS WAR
US2002
DIRECTOR: NORMAN COWIE A humorous and biting experimental documentary on militarism, globalization, and the "war against terrorism, " SCENES is part meditation, part commentary. Employing recontextualized commercial images, rewritten news crawls, and original footage and interviews, Cowie questions received wisdom and common sense assumptions about current American policies. (32 mins.)
Thanks to Nadia Kahl, PSU’s Middle East Studies Center and Homowo African Arts and Cultures for their support with this program.