Skip to main content

MCC Daily Tribune Archive

Don't Miss The Fall 2007 Foreign Film Fest This Week


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

Tuesday, October 30
"Volver (To Return)," Spain, 2006. 121 minutes. Drama in Spanish. Rated R.  Raimunda, played by Penélope Cruz, lives in Madrid with her daughter Paula and her husband Paco, who is always drunk. Her sister, Sole, is separated and works clandestinely as a hairstylist for women. The two sisters lost their parents in a fire in their birth village, years ago. Their aunt, Paula, still lives in the village and continues to speak about her sister Irene, mother of the two sisters, as if she were still alive. When the old aunt dies the situation changes and the past returns (Volver) in a twist of mystery and suspense. Another hit by the Spanish Director Pedro Almodóvar.

"Bon Voyage," France, 2003. 114 minutes. Drama in French. Rated PG-13.  At the start of World War II, the fate of the free world hangs in the balance at the posh Hotel Splendide in Bordeaux. Cabinet members, journalists, physicists, and spies of all persuasions gather in order to escape the Nazi occupation of Paris. High society socialites hobnob with jailbirds. Murderous intrigues, scientific secrets and love affairs flourish.

Wednesday, October 31
"Respiro," Italy, 2002. 95 minutes. Drama in Italian. Rated PG-13.  In this Cannes award-winner based on a Sicilian fable, Grazia, a beautiful young mother living on a small island in the Mediterranean excites the disapproval of her fellow villagers with her carefree behavior. When her relatives suggest that she needs psychiatric treatment, her son must help her escape the condemnation of the town.

"The Curse of the Golden Flower," China, 2006. 114 minutes. Drama in Mandarin. Rated R. China, Later Tang Dynasty, 10th Century. This lavish film from landmark director Yimou Zhang follows the romantic intrigue and political machinations in the house of the Emperor Ping and his ailing wife. Even their children are swept into their secret passions and schemes to power, but will their reign end in a bloody coup? Sumptuous costumes and dazzling martial arts form the backdrop for this complex tale of loyalty and deception, love and betrayal.

Thursday, November 1
"Children of Heaven," Iran, 1997. 89 minutes. Drama in Farsi. Rated PG.  A delightful Iranian movie about a boy who accidentally loses his sister's shoes and must share his own sneakers with her in a sort of relay while each attends school at different times during the day. Finally, the boy enters a much-publicized foot race, hoping to place third. The prize: a new pair of sneakers. Directed by respected filmmaker Majid Majidi, Children of Heaven is just that -- heavenly.

"The Lives of Others," Germany, 2006. 137 minutes. Drama in German. Rated R. This Oscar-winning movie focuses on the horrifying, sometimes unintentionally funny system of observation in the former East Germany. In the early 1980s, the successful dramatist Georg Dreyman and his longtime companion Christa-Maria Sieland, a popular actress, are big intellectual stars in the socialist state, although they secretly don't always think loyal to the party line. One day, the Minister of Culture becomes interested in Christa, so the secret service agent Wiesler is instructed to observe and sound out the couple, but their life fascinates him more and more... A film not to be missed.

All films will be screened at the Warshof Conference Center, Flynn Campus Center (Monroe A and B) in the Brighton Campus. Arrive at 6:00 p.m. to mingle and enjoy some ethnic nibbles. The films will be introduced at 6:30 p.m. Two films will be shown concurrently on each of the specified dates. All films have English subtitles. The Foreign Film Fest is free and open to the public.

 

Louis Silvers
ESOL & Foreign Languages
10/29/2007