Foreign Film Series 2012

The Department of Modern Foreign Languages will offer a FOREIGN FILM
SERIES beginning in February. Six films will be shown in Dodd Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. They are open to the public without charge and have English subtitles.

January 23: Cinema Paradiso (Italian)

A famous film director remembers his childhood at the Cinema Paradiso where Alfredo, the projectionist, first brought about his love of films. He returns home to his Sicilian village for the first time after almost 30 years and is reminded of his first love, Elena, who disappeared from his life before he left for Rome.

January 30: Infernal Affairs (Chinese)

Chan Wing Yan, a young police officer, has been sent undercover as a mole in the local mafia. Lau Kin Ming, a young mafia member, infiltrates the police force. Years later, their older counterparts, Chen Wing Yan and Inspector Lau Kin Ming, respectively, race against time to expose the mole within their midst.

 February 6: Beyond Silence (German)

Since the earliest days in her childhood Lara has had a difficult but important task. Both her parents are deaf-mute and Lara has to translate from sign-language to the spoken word and vice versa when her parents want to communicate with other people. Getting older and more mature, she becomes interested in music and starts to play clarinet very successfully.  Eventually, the day comes when Lara has to decide between her parents and her own ambitions.  

February 13: The Orphanage (Spanish)

Laura, a former orphan, raises her adopted son Simón together with her husband Carlos in an old house and former orphanage where she was raised. While at the orphanage, Simón tells Laura that he has five invisible friends which she believes are a product of his active imagination. Laura decides to reopen the orphanage to cater for disabled children, and soon begins to feel the presence of other people in the house.  

February 20: Amreeka (Arabic)

Muna, a single mother in Ramallah, has applied for a visa to the US. When it comes, her son Fadi, an excellent student, convinces her they should go. It’s Spring 2003, and the US invades Iraq. While friends come from unlikely places, Fadi meets prejudice at school. How will he respond to it and to American youth culture?  Will theirs be a story of tragedy or of hope? 

February 27: The Chorus (French)

Fond de l’Etang is a boarding school for troubled boys located in the French countryside.  January 15, 1949 marks the arrival to the school of the new supervisor, M. Clément Mathieu, a middle-aged man who is grasping at finding his place in life after a series of failed endeavors, and who works to positively effect the students’ lives through music.

Plot summaries and images courtesy of:  imdb.com; timmymovie.blogspot.com; movie-list.com; wikipedia.com; impawards.com)