 WHISKY
URUGUAY 2004 DIRECTOR: JUAN PABLO REBELLA & PABLO STOLL
APRIL 1 2 16 FRI 7 PM, SAT 7 PM, SAT
9:30 PM WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
When his successful younger brother is expected for a visit,
Jacobo, a sock factory-owner, asks Marta, his humble, long-standing
employee, to pose as his wife. The brother, lively, inquisitive,
and open, spontaneously suggests a seaside trip during which
the three characters begin to reveal themselves in situations
where farce, jealousy and betrayal lead to places of no return.
A highly praised comedy and winner of the International Critics'
prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. (99 mins.)
with
EL SIGUIENTE (As
Follows)
URUGUAY 2004 DIRECTOR: FEDERICO VEIROJ
With Rafael Bregman. An adolescent boy gets ready to celebrate
his Bar Mitzvah. In Spanish, English subtitles. (13 mins.)
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TODAY
AND TOMORROW
ARGENTINA 2003 DIRECTOR: ALEJANDRO CHOMSKI
APRIL 3 7 SUN 7 PM, THUR 7 PM WHITSELL
AUDITORIUM
One of Argentina's hottest new directors Alejandro
Chomski was a former assistant to Jim Jarmusch and Emir Kusturica.
TODAY AND TOMORROW is a stylish cautionary tale of would-be
actress Paula, who when faced with two days to collect three
months rent, disillusion and emotional turmoil leads her to
the darker corners of Buenos Aires' prostitution nightlife.
Set in a single day, Paula has many obstacles to surmount
in her struggle for economic survival. (87 mins.)
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 LILI'S
APRON
ARGENTINA 2004 DIRECTOR: MARIANO GALPERIN
APRIL 7 16 THUR 7 PM, SAT 7 PM GUILD
THEATRE
Galperin’s comedic love story is inspired by Argentina's
ongoing economic crisis. Lili and Ramón are a normal
married couple who, for a variety of strange reasons, lose
their jobs. As the couple struggle to pay their mortgage,
their belongings are repossessed and Lili's depression and
eventual breakdown become more than Ramón can handle
on his own. He sends Lili and their children to stay with
his family in the countryside and he is pushed to take a job
never meant for him. Wearing Lili's wig and pretending to
be a woman, Ramón becomes a live-in maid for a wealthy
family. Figuring out how to keep his job is no small feat.
(90 mins.)
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 BUFFALO
BOY
VIETNAM 2004 DIRECTOR: MINH NGUYEN-VÔ
APRIL 8 14 FRI 7 PM, THU 7 PM GUILD
THEATRE
Set in the lowlands of South Vietnam in 1940, Buffalo Boy
tells a powerful coming-of-age story involving independence,
survival, and man’s battle with and dependence on nature.
As a first test of his manhood, 15-year-old Kim’s aging
father entrusts him to herd the family’s water buffaloes
to the high pastures of the surrounding mountains to escape
the severe floods of the six-month rainy season. During his
perilous journey, Kim discovers the world of the buffalo keepers—a
harsh, male world fueled by alcohol, and fraught with violence
and betrayal, but also friendship and independence. Drawn
to this nomadic life, Kim must choose between freedom and
family. (102 mins.)
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 DAUGHTER
OF KELTOUM
ALGERIA 2001 DIRECTOR: MEHDI CHAREF
APR 9 SAT 7 PM WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
APR 13 WED 10.30 AM GUILD THEATRE
A 19-year-old woman, Rallia, raised in Switzerland, travels
to an isolated and barren Berber settlement located in the
Atlas Mountains of Algeria. Rallia's journey is one of multiple
discoveries in terms of her relationship to her extended family,
traditional Berber culture, and her desperate need to locate
her biological mother. Rallia has repeatedly said that when
she meets her mother, she will first ask her why she gave
her up for adoption, and then will kill her. Through her eyes,
the viewer is immersed in a world virtually untouched by contemporary
society—clinging to tribal mores and strict religious
codes of conduct that accompany Rallia on her peculiar search
for truth. (101 mins.)
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FUSE
BOSNIA/HERZEGOVINA 2003 DIRECTOR: PJER ZALICA
APRIL 9 15 17 SAT 7 PM, FRI 9 PM, SUN
5 PM, GUILD THEATRE
In a small rustic village in Bosnia, two years after the civil
war has officially ended, Serbs and Muslims are trying to
live and work together. FUSE follows the mounting turmoil
as this opportunistic town awaits a visit from President Bill
Clinton. Times are tough indeed, and everyone has to make
his or her living in some sort of illegal way. An unflinchingly
honest and darkly funny depiction of a poor, corrupt community
struggling to hide its unlawful activities, unhappy alliances,
amidst an attempt to establish some sort of democracy. (105
mins.)
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 KABALA
MALI 2002 DIRECTOR: ASSANE KOUYATE
APRIL 10 21 SUN 5 PM, THUR 7 PM GUILD
THEATRE
Kabala is a small West African village suffering from a terrible
drought. The only source of water is a holy well that shows
signs of contamination. A young man returns to this village
after a shameful banishment only to find local traditions
in conflict with the advancements of modern ways. He tries
to convince the village elders of the necessity to drill within
the sacred well, but his suggestions are considered a desecration
of the village's spiritual symbol and despite the threat of
an epidemic, the villagers resist all attempts to convince
them of the need to purify the water. (112 mins.)
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 WHAT'S
A HUMAN ANYWAY?
TURKEY 2004 DIRECTOR: REHA ERDEM
APRIL 10 20 SUN 7 PM GUILD THEATRE
WED 7 PM WHITSELL AUDITORIUM
Set in an urban apartment building where neighbors, friends
and family are living in close quarters, Erdem’s film
focuses on 35-year-old Ali, through whom the three phases
of stepping into manhood in Turkish society are explored.
In this circus-like environment, there is a little boy who
refuses to be circumcised, a young man who refuses to do his
military service, a 30-year-old man refusing to leave home,
and Ali, suffering from temporary amnesia—all metaphors
for the chaos of modern-day Turkey. Winner of the International
Critics' prize at the 2004 Istanbul Film Festival. (128 mins.)
16th International Ankara Film
Festival (3-13 March 2005)
> Best Director ----- Reha Erdem
> Best Screenplay ----- Reha Erdem
- Nilüfer Güngörmüs¸
> Best Actor ----- Ali Düs¸enkalkar
> Best Supporting Actress -----
Is¸zıl Yücesoy
> Best Supporting Actor ----- Köksal
Engür
> Best New Actor ----- Ozan
Çolak
10th Nürnberg Turkey-Germany
Film Festival (9 - 20 March 2005)
> Best Actor ----- Ali Düs¸enkalkar
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 HOLLOW
CITY
ANGOLA 2002 DIRECTOR: MARIA-JOÃO GANGA
APR 13 14 15, WED 4 PM, THU 1PM, FRI
7 PM GUILD THEATRE
Set in the aftermath of the Angolan revolution, this film
chronicles N'Dala, orphaned at age 11, who arrives in Luanda
on a military transport plane filled with other children in
the same situation. After running away from the missionary
nun, he begins his journey through the unfamiliar and unwelcoming
city. With only a sack on his back and a toy car made of wire,
N'dala navigates the bewildering sights and sounds of the
giant city. After meeting an older boy, N'Dala begins to drift
among the Luanda homeless, and is tragically pulled into their
existence of survival. An abrupt and tragic end to yet another
of the Hollow City's short and innocent lives—a touching
portrait of a country destroyed perpetual warfare. (88 mins.)
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 UNIFORM
CHINA 2003 DIRECTOR: DIAO YI'NAN
APR 17 20 SUN 7:30PM, WED 10:30AM
GUILD THEATRE
Uniform perfectly illustrates a Chinese saying, “the
clothes enter before the person”. A young tailor, Wang
Xiaojian, finds his life improving in a variety of ways when
he—innocently at first—starts wearing a policeman's
uniform left unclaimed in his family's laundry shop. The uniform
gives him power, authority and the ability to get money. As
he develops confidence, he sets out on two missions —to
woo the young woman in the video shop and to pay for his father's
health care. On the verge of being caught Wang Xiaojian is
ready to shed his facade, but the damage has been done and
the truth is too late. A devastating portrait of what decent
people will do when desperate for money. (92 mins.)
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 RACHIDA
ALGERIA 2002 DIRECTOR: YAMINA BACHIR-CHOUIKH
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20 1PM GUILD
THEATRE
RACHIDA, a beautiful and vivacious young schoolteacher in
Algiers, survives a cold-blooded shooting by terrorist youths.
She retreats with her mother to the countryside, but they
soon discover that there are no safe havens in Algeria. The
first feature written and directed by film editor Yamina Bachir-Chouikh,
RACHIDA is a moving story about a community-particularly its
women-under the threat of terror, as well as a courageous
film about the possible price of speaking out against injustice.
In Arabic and French with English subtitles. (100 mins.)
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