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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

ESFL Department Spring 2007 Foreign Film Fest


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, starting on Monday, April 23, 2007.

PROGRAM:

Monday, April 23 at the Damon City Campus, Room 4013
"Un rey en La Habana (A King in Havana)," Cuba and Spain, 2005. 102 minutes. Comedy in Spanish. Not rated, it contains brief nudity and adult themes. Mr. Arturo, an old rich Spanishman who arrives to Havana to marry Yoli, dies suddenly in bed. Yoli's family, afraid of losing all the money, convinces her ex-boyfriend Papito to go to Spain and get the money. Papito will have to be clever enough to deceive everybody and succeed in Spain.

"I Love You (Ai Rabu Yû)" Japan, 1999. 111 minutes. Drama in Japanese and Japanese Sign Language. Not rated. To encourage a positive attitude towards the deaf and hard-of-hearing, hearing-impaired mother Asako 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.


Tuesday, April 24, in Monroe A and B, Warshof Conference Center, Flynn Campus Center, Brighton Campus
"Joyeux Noël (Merry Christmas)," France, Germany and UK, 2005. 116 minutes. Drama in French, German and English. Rated PG-13 for war scenes and some sexuality. In 1914, World War I, the bloodiest war ever at that time in human history, was well underway. However, on Christmas Eve, numerous sections of the Western Front called an informal —and unauthorized— truce where the various front-line soldiers of the conflict peacefully met each other in No Man's Land to share a precious pause in the carnage with a fleeting brotherhood. This film dramatizes one such section as the French, British and German sides partake in the unique event, even though they are aware that their superiors will not tolerate its occurrence.

"I Love You (Ai Rabu Yû)" Japan, 1999. 111 minutes. Drama in Japanese and Japanese Sign Language. Not rated. 

See description above


Wednesday, April 25, in Monroe A and B, Warshof Conference Center, Flynn Campus Center, Brighton Campus
"Un rey en La Habana (A King in Havana)," Cuba and Spain, 2005. 102 minutes. Comedy in Spanish. Not rated.

See description above

"Mostly Martha (Bella Martha)," Germany, 2002. 105 minutes. Comedy in German. Rated PG. In a German restaurant, Chef Martha is the undisputed supreme ruler of the kitchen staff and woe to any customer who would dare criticize her cooking. Her life is firmly centered around cooking, taken to an obsessive level with stubborn single mindedness. All that changes when her sister dies in a car accident, leaving her 8 year old daughter, Lina. Martha takes her niece in and while making enquiries for her estranged father, she struggles to care for this stubbornly headstrong child. Tensions mount, until a new Italian chef named Mario arrives to lighten the mood.


Thursday, April 26, at the Warshof Conference Center, Flynn Campus Center (Monroe A and B), Brighton Campus
"Fearless (Huo Yuan Jia)," China, 2006. 103 minutes. Drama in Chinese. Rated PG-13 for violence. Jet Li portrays martial arts legend Huo Yuan Jia, who became the most famous fighter in all of China at the turn of the 20th century. Huo faced incredible personal tragedy but ultimately fought his way out of darkness and into history, forever defining the true spirit of martial arts. His self-discovery, and the choices he made, inspired his nation. The son of a great fighter who did not wish for his child to follow in his footsteps, the bullied Huo Yuan Jia resolves to teach himself how to fight - and win. Years of training enable him to ace match after match in his home region of Tianjin. But as his fame as a martial arts master grows, so does his pride.

"Ciao Professore (Good-bye Professor)," Italy, 1993. 91 minutes. Comedy in Italian. Not rated. Professore Marco Sperelli, a priggish upper-class teacher from northern Italy, is assigned by mistake to teach a group of street-smart southern Italian village kids. But there's a problem: First, he'll have to find them and bring them to school. Before long, the tables are turned and the teacher becomes the pupil as he learns about the children's hard-knocks lives. A delightful comedy, the film accurately captures the region and local dialect and customs.


Arrive at 6:00 p.m. to mingle and enjoy some ethnic nibbles and food sampling. 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.

Jorge Alas
ESFL
04/23/2007