Vol. 18, No. 2	Sept. 10, 1998

International films to include East Coast premiere

The University's 1998 International Film Series, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 20. All of the films will be shown in the Trabant University Theatre.

The series will include the East Coast premiere and first public screening of Push! Push!, a black comedy set in a maternity ward in Korea, on Sunday, Oct. 25.

"The film has been shown in three film festivals-all on the West Coast-but we will be giving the first public, East Coast screening of the film," Peter Feng, English and series coordinator, said. "Push! Push! is an excellent film, by turns poignant and funny, and since this is such a special occasion, the film will be shown twice," he added.

A second highlight of the series will be the Oct. 18 screening of Smoke Signals, voted the audience favorite at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival.

Both of these films will have additional 9:30 p.m. screenings.

Other films in the series include:

Fireworks, on Sunday, Sept. 20, is a 1997 Japanese film by Takeshi Kitano, known for his best-selling books and his eight TV comedy programs. All eight air each week on Japanese TV. In the U.S., he is best known for writing, directing and starring in offbeat, existential gangster movies. Fireworks is his funniest, saddest, most brutal and most tender film yet.

The Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day, on Sunday, Sept. 27, is a 1996 film made in the U.S. With stunning black-and-white images of the Yosemite Valley, this film earned the award for best cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival in 1996. Set in the years following World War II, it tells the story of a young man who undertakes the quixotic task of keeping the Yosemite Valley Railroad running.

Men With Guns, made in the U.S in 1997, will be shown on Sunday, Oct. 4. In an unnamed Central American country, a wealthy doctor journeys into the rain forest to check on the progress of young doctors. He discovers men with guns-sometimes soldiers, sometimes guerillas-have killed many of his students and brutalized the villagers and farmers. He then begins his quest to find a mythical town that men with guns have not visited.

Character, made in the Netherlands in 1997, is the feature on Sunday, Oct. 11. The 1998 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film tells the story of Jacob, who lives in Rotterdam in the 1920s. Jacob's mother has refused to marry his father, who remains a distant mysterious figure in young Jacob's life. As the film opens, Jacob is arrested and interrogated by the police-in connection with his father's murder. Has Jacob succeeded in life despite adversity-or have his father's obstacles built up his character?

Smoke Signals, scheduled on Sunday, Oct. 18, at 7 and 9:30 p.m., was made in the U.S. in 1998. It is billed as the first feature film to be produced by Native Americans. Two young men, Victor and Thomas, venture off an Idaho reservation to retrieve the body of a man-Victor's alcoholic father-who has touched both their lives.

Push! Push! made in Korea in 1997, will be screened at 7 and 9:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 25. Korean director Chui-Soo Park reteams with the stars of the controversial 301/302 for this film set in a maternity ward run by two women who must negotiate changing expectations about motherhood and sexuality in modern Korea. The film ricochets from comic scenes to graphic footage of C-section births. This is a rare opportunity to see the latest film from one of contemporary Korean cinema's most creative filmmakers.

A Taste of Cherry, a 1997 film from Iran, is scheduled on Sunday, Nov. 1. Debuting at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, the film tells the story of a middle-aged man who must find someone to bury him after he commits suicide. Virtually all of the dialogue in director Abbas Kiarostami's film consists of the protagonist's attempts to persuade strangers to assist him.

The International Film Series is sponsored by the Faculty Senate Committee on Cultural Activities and Public Events, the Women's Studies Interdisciplinary Program, East Asian and Honors programs and the Department of English.

For more information, visit the series' web site at <http://www. english.udel.edu/lrussell/filmsfall98. htm> or call 831-4066.

-Beth Thomas