Sept. 14-Nov. 23: International films
Department of English to present International Film Series Sundays at Trabant
7:52 a.m., Sept. 2, 2014--A fall semester International Film Series, sponsored by the University of Delaware Department of English, will offer screenings at 7 p.m., Sundays, Sept. 14 through Nov. 23, in the Trabant University Center Theatre.
Admission is free and the films are open to the public. All foreign-language films will have subtitles.
Global Stories
Fulbright awards
Peace Corps plans
The films to be presented are as follows:
Sept. 14: The Great Beauty (2012, Italy, in Italian) The 2014 Oscar Winner for Best Foreign Film follows Jep, a journalist whose 65th birthday prompts him to take stock of his life in Rome’s high society. Despite a sense of disillusionment, he still seeks the beauty that he believes lies just underneath the superficiality of modern life. Beautifully filmed and thoroughly enthralling, The Great Beauty is reminiscent of the classic films of Fellini.
Sept. 21: Locke (2013, United Kingdom, in English) Can a film that consists almost entirely of a man driving a car while talking on his cellphone work as cinema? The answer will amaze viewers in this tour-de-force performance by British actor Tom Hardy (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises), who plays Ivan Locke, a man whose well-ordered life spins entirely out of control in one night.
Sept. 28: The Lunch Box (2013, India, in Hindi and English) When the lunchbox prepared by an Indian housewife gets delivered to the wrong office, everyone’s lives are changed in unpredictable ways. This charming, keenly observed drama offers a glimpse inside the Mumbai lunch delivery system, and provides what Colin Covert calls a “feast of delights… about the connection between food and love.”
Oct. 5: Coffee in Berlin (2013, in German) Jan Ole Gerster's wry and vibrant feature debut swept the 2013 German Film Awards. Viewers observe a day in the life of Niko, a 20-something college dropout going nowhere fast. Shot in timeless black and white and enriched with a snappy jazz soundtrack, this slacker dramedy is a love letter to Berlin and the Generation Y experience.
Oct. 12: Like Father, Like Son (2013, Japan, in Japanese) Two families discover that their six-year-old sons were switched at birth. Viewers follow their joys and heartaches as they confront the difficult choices of returning each boy to his biological family or keeping the son they have come to love as their own. From master director Hirokazu Koreeda (After Life, Nobody Knows).
Oct. 26: The Patience Stone (2012 Afghanistan, in Persian) During wartime, a young wife remains beside her older husband, wounded and near death, as everyone else abandons them. She takes this opportunity to tell him all her pent-up thoughts and feelings, revealing to the audience the hidden truths about women’s real lives in this unnamed Middle Eastern country. Afghan nominee for Best Foreign Language Film.
Nov. 2: Hannah Arendt (2012 Germany, in German, English, French, Hebrew and Latin) The latest film from director Margarethe von Trotta (Vision) is a biopic about German-Jewish philosopher Hannah Arendt, centering on her coverage of the 1961 Eichmann trial for The New Yorker. This quietly gripping recreation of one woman’s experiences illustrates her struggle as she confronts “the banality of evil.”
Nov. 9: Metro Manilla (2013, British/Philippines In Tagalog) Oscar Ramirez and his family flee their impoverished life in the northern Philippines to seek a brighter future in the megacity capital of Manila. Oscar believes he’s caught a lucky break when he's offered work with an armored truck company, but he soon comes to realize the dangers of his new job. Infusing thriller tropes with a searing glimpse of modern-day corruption, Metro Manila is as gripping as any action blockbuster -- and twice as thought-provoking.
Nov. 23: Ilo, Ilo (Singapore, in Chinese English and Tagalog) Set in Singapore during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Ilo Ilo chronicles the relationship between a family of three and their newly arrived Filipina domestic helper, Teresa, who has come, like many other Filipinas, in search of a better life. This character-driven drama was awarded the Camera d'Or award at Cannes.
The International Film Series is made possible by the generous support of the UD Faculty Senate Committee on Cultural Activities and Public Events (CAPE).