Film Society [ 2009-2010 ]
The Washington Grove 10th Film Series
Sundays in McCathran Hall.
Films start at 7:00 p.m.
Purchase the 5-film subscription series
Send a check for $20, payable to the Town of Washington Grove, to Birgit Henninger, Box 355. Tickets at the door will cost $7. Please support the series and save $3 per ticket by subscribing. A discussion will follow each film.
Flexible Ticketing
If you miss a film, you can still use the ticket. Bring a guest to a subsequent film this season.
Persepolis
October 4, 2009imdb
Directed by Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi, 2007, France, subtitled, 96 minutes.
Persepolis is based on an autobiographical graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi. In stylized black-and-white animation, it portrays her life after the Iranian revolution in 1979. She struggles with religious oppression in Iran as a child, outsider alienation as a teenager in Vienna, and marriage on her return to Tehran. This "cartoon" packs an emotional punch. Ms. Satrapi is a brilliant social satirist, filling Persepolis with pointed jokes and lighthearted charm while demonstrating that, at heart, we are all much the same.
Golden Door (Nuovomondo)
November 8, 2009imdb
Directed by Emanuele Crialese, 2006, Italy, subtitled, 118 minutes.
Golden Door traces the emigration of a peasant family from Sicily to the U.S. in the early 20th century. The film interweaves gritty realism and dreamlike sequences as the Mancuso family makes the hard decision to leave home, braves a treacherous voyage, and copes with mystifying rites of passage in Ellis Island. Understated acting, spirited music, and exquisite photography result in unforgettable scenes and images.
Munyurangabo
January 10, 2010imdb
Directed by Lee Isaac Chung, 2007, Rwanda/USA, subtitled, 97 minutes.
Twelve years after the 1994 Rwandan genocide, two youths, one Hutu and one Tutsi, travel together by foot from Kigali to the countryside. Munyurangabo is unhurried, giving it a meditative but intense and sometimes surrealistic quality. Rwandan first-time actors and crew, working with an American director, helped shape and script a profound film, the first produced in the native language specifically for a Rwandan audience.
Local Hero
February 21, 2010imdb
Directed by Bill Forsyth, 1983, UK, 111 minutes.
Please note: In response to audience requests, English language films are shown with English subtitles.
A materialistic oil executive from Texas is sent to a small seaside village in the north of Scotland with the purpose of buying it as a site for an oil refinery. Out of touch with nature and his own soul, he journeys toward self-discovery, aided by the eccentric locals and the unique charms of the place itself -- town, beach, sea, and sky. A captivating film of off-beat humor and great moments that stay with you long after.
Divided We Fall (Musíme si pomáhat)
March 21, 2010imdb
Directed by Jan Hrebejk, 2000, Czech Republic, subtitled, 117 minutes.
What do normal people do in horrifying times? In a Nazi-occupied Czech town, Josef and his wife Marie yearn for a baby. Circumstances bring them instead a refugee from the death camps, whom they hide in their storeroom. Complications ensue--some comical, some fearful. Divided We Fall has tension, humor, style, strong characterizations, and even hope.
The Washington Grove Film Society purchases public performance rights from movie distributors for all of our screenings. The film series is supported by your subscription purchases and by the Town of Washington Grove Recreation Committee.
