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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

Announcing the Spring 2011 Foreign Film Fest


The ESOL and Foreign Languages Department and the Global Union International Students Organization invite students, staff and members of the Rochester community to attend the screening of five foreign language films, as follows:

Monday, May 2nd, 6:00 pm
Help, I’m a Boy (Hilfe, ich bin ein Junge) - Comedy. Germany, 2002. 95 min. Unrated. In German with English subtitles.
In Hamburg, an aged sorcerer is searching for a replacement. Freddy, who's about 12, finds the wizard's book of spells and knows enough to read a few lines to his friend Emma. She repeats the lines adding exasperation about Mickey, a boy who's often mean to her. Freddy, Emma, and Mickey must work together to search out a solution, while making discoveries about sex roles, courage, friendship, and each other.

I Love You - Drama. Japan, 1999. 111 minutes. Not rated. In Japanese and Japanese Sign Language with English subtitles.

To encourage a positive attitude towards the deaf and hard-of-hearing, Asako —a young deaf mother— joins a theatrical troupe with her daughter Ai. Problems arise during rehearsals between the deaf and the hearing, but they learn to work together. On performance day, Ai learns the cause of her mother’s deafness. A delightful story and a fascinating look at life in Japan.

Wednesday, May 4th, 6:00 pm
Molière - Comedy. France, 2007. 120 min. Unrated. In French with English subtitles.
The story begins with Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, aka Molière, is frantically trying to decide if he is to do a tragedy for his next play in front of the royal family despite the fact that they desperately want a comedy. The film flashes back thirteen years earlier to when Poquelin has been thrown into jail because he could not pay a debt. While in jail, Monsieur Jourdain seeks out Molière's theatrical talents. Molière is whisked away to the Jourdain estate in disguise where he must help Jourdain win the love of a desired mistress, while keeping this all hidden from the eyes of Madame Jourdain. In exchange for his services, Molière's debt will be paid and forgiven. Bits and pieces of the rest of story seem familiar to anyone who's read Molière's plays, as this film sets the stage that these events inspire Molière to be the comedy writer that he became.

Departures (Okuribito) – Drama. Japan, 2008. 130 min. Unrated. In Japanese with English subtitles.
Daigo Kobayashi is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and now finds himself without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled "Departures" thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency, only to discover that the job is actually for a "Nokanshi" or "encoffineer," a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living.

Thursday, May 5th, 6:00 pm
Amexicano - Drama. U.S.A., 2007. 84 min, Rated PG-13. In English and subtitled Spanish.
The friendship that forms the center of "Amexicano," is, at its face, between Bruno (portrayed by Carmine Famiglietti, who also wrote the script), an Italian-American blue collar worker, and Ignacio, an illegal Mexican day worker. But really, it is about New Yorkers and the worlds that live often right across a street, a highway, or borough, and how chance encounters sometimes change lives. Bruno’s opportunities in a tough economy have dried up, and an offer to build a fence for a guy he knows comes with a problem: he can’t do it by himself. So he hires Ignacio, a day laborer who, along with other immigrants, stands at a corner of Northern Boulevard in Queens, looking for work.

In celebration of the Cinco de Mayo festivities, the film “Amexicano” will be preceded by a folk dance performance. After the screening, community guests will lead a question & answer and discussion session about the human side of immigration.

These films will be screened at the Warshof Conference Center, Flynn Campus Center (Monroe A and B) in the Brighton Campus. Two films will be shown concurrently on May 2 and May 4. All the films will be introduced to the audience at 6:00 p.m. Arrive early to enjoy international candy and nibbles sold by the Global Union Students. All films have English subtitles. The Foreign Film Fest is free and open to the public.

Louis Silvers
ESOL and Foreign Languages
04/13/2011