Archive: 2002 New Directors/New Films Program REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES USA, 2002 This buoyant and spirited film heralds the arrival of two very promising talents -- Patricia Cardoso, the Colombian-born L.A. filmmaker, and l7-year-old America Ferrera, who plays Ana, a bright, strong-willed first-generation Mexican-American who lives in East L.A. but goes to school in Beverly Hills. Ana's teacher helps her obtain a full scholarship to Columbia University but her overbearing mother insists that she join her as an employee in her sister's "factory," a sweatshop that makes small-size formal gowns for Bloomingdales. It is here that discussions of labor practices and body types get mixed in with the chisme (gossip) to create the film's liberating and exuberant centerpiece. Winner of the Audience Award at Sundance. An HBO Films Release. 93 minutes Short: THE BALL Mozambique, 2001. 6 minutes Director: Orlando Mesquita. A soccer ball, improvised. Friday, March 22 at 6PM and Saturday, March 23 at 3:30PM TAKE CARE OF MY CAT Go-yang-i-rul Boo-tak-hae South Korea, 2001 In the port city of Inchon, five young women, fresh out of high school, try to get ahead and forge lasting bonds at the same time. This is not so easy when the future is still a work-in-progress. But these are twenty-first-century gals - witness the hi-tech way they celebrate a birthday - and their friendships ebb and flow. When the glamorous and selfish brokerage house assistant picks up and moves to Seoul, her closest friend, the introverted artist, becomes close to the dropout who has nothing better to do than keep the group together. Rounding out this girlz-II-women gang is a pair of wacky half-Chinese twins. What really keeps them connected is the ubiquitous cell phone, and the stray cat for whom they share custody. Jeong Jae-eun, in her feature film debut, gives us a refreshing look at young women on the verge. 112 minutes Short: SITE USA, 2001. 7 minutes Images by Jason Kliot. Friday, March 22 at 9PM and Saturday, March 23 at 12:30PM DAUGHTER FROM DANANG USA, 2002 As the Vietnam War was ending in l975, thousands of Amerasian children were brought to safety in the U.S. as part of Operation Babylift. One of these was Mai Thi Hiep, who grew up Heidi Bub in Pulaski, Tennessee (the birthplace of the KKK). Heidi has grown up l0l% American and is referred to as "an American with a tan." She returns to Vietnam 22 years later to meet her Vietnamese family and the mother who gave her up when she was seven. Cultural differences and painful misunderstandings complicate the initially joyful reunion and result in an unexpected and heart-wrenching twist toward the end of Heidi's visit. This well-crafted and beautifully shot documentary by directors Gail Dolgin and Vicente Franco won this year's Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. Running time: 80 minutes Saturday, March 23 at 6:30PM and Sunday, March 24 at 4PM THE MARS CANON Japan, 200l Though she'd like a whole lot more, 29-year-old Kinuko sees her married lover, a 43-year-old office worker, only once a week, on Tuesdays. One day Kinuko makes some new friends -- Manabe, a street poet, and Hijiri, a cheerful, ebullient woman who advises Kinuko to break off her affair. Hijiri energetically nurses Kinuko through a bad cold and it soon becomes apparent that there is a more poignant and personal reason for her persistent advice. Director Shiori Kazama realistically and sensitively portrays the love lives of ordinary people in Tokyo with the help of some accomplished and well-known Japanese actors. Through these romantic entanglements we are reminded that sex in the city of Tokyo can be as interesting and complicated as sex in this city. Running time: l2l minutes Saturday, March 23 at 9PM and Sunday, March 24 at 1PM THE NEW COUNTRY Det Nya Landet Sweden, 2000 Facing deportation, two refugees from an asylum camp in southern Sweden - Ali, a young Somalian boy, and Massoud, a fortyish Iranian man - escape in an old car and embark on a journey through the country they hope will be their new homeland. At their first stop, enthusiastic Swedophile Ali falls in love with Louise, "Miss Sweden" of not exactly yesterday, and the unlikely threesome find themselves involved in at times hilarious, at times chilling, interactions with an assortment of types they meet along the way. In Geir Hansteen Jörgensen's clever satire of the proverbial land of milk and honey, the theme of friendship becomes the major focus as the exquisitely realized characters reveal themselves. Running time: 137 minutes Monday, March 25 at 6PM and Tuesday, March 26 at 8:15PM TIRANA YEAR ZERO Tirana an zero Albania/France, 2001 Niku is 23 and struggling to survive and prosper in the chaos that is contemporary Albania. Everyone else, it seems, wants to leave - his girlfriend Klara wants to go to Paris, and his neighbor gets herself married to an Italian. Niku uses the only asset he has - a pickup truck - to make a living. The odd jobs he takes on are odd indeed: a German tourist who has bought a bunker as a war souvenir wants to transport it home; Niku has to move an enormous statue of Stalin. Random shootings seem the order of the day. But the spirit of his neighbors gives Niku optimism, puts things in perspective, and sharpens the "should I stay or should I go" dilemma of a generation. Drawing on the country's cultural wealth and beautiful landscapes and the dry humor of its people, Fatmir Koçi, directing his second feature, paints an affectionate, surreal, and comic portrait of his homeland Running time: 89 minutes Monday, March 25 at 9:15PM and Wednesday, March 27 at 6PM A DOG'S DAY Pattiyude Divasam India, 2001 In a colorful rural province in India, happy citizens are granted democracy by the governing Lord, who gives away his royal dog, Apu, to his former servant. But when Apu bites a duck, and then a child, peace is destroyed, for the dog has rabies. Villagers come to believe the Lord has the worst of intentions, and as they turn against him the province becomes divided, its future uncertain. A political fairy tale with the insight and universal appeal of his previous Throne of Death (1999), Murali Nair's second feature continues his witty, delicately layered and sharply penetrating look at south India, with the rich beauty of its natural surroundings, its beloved music, and its vibrant people, played by non-professionals in splendid costumes. Running time: 74 minutes Tuesday, March 26 at 6PM and Wednesday, March 27 at 9PM GOD'S CHILDREN Philippines/Japan, 2001 Smoky Mountain, just outside Manila, is the euphemistic name for Payatas, one of the largest garbage dumps in the world. Thousands of families earn a living finding something to sell from the tons of waste trucked there daily. Japanese-born filmmaker Hiroshi Shinomiya, who completed an earlier documentary about children who scavenge, began filming in Payatas a day before a typhoon brought such heavy rains that the mountain of garbage collapsed in a hellish avalanche. The dump was closed shortly thereafter, and the squatters, deprived of their livelihood, protested. Shinomiya records the graphic horrors of the catastrophe, the plight and resilience of the survivors, and the sense of triumph when 'normalcy' is restored. In its focus on children and families making do valiantly, the film is both alarming and affirming Running time: 105 minutes Thursday, March 28 at 6PM and Saturday, March 30 at 2:30PM TRULY HUMAN Et rigtigt menneske Denmark, 2001 Seven-year-old Lisa, whose parents are way too busy to deal with her, has an imaginary friend who resides in the walls of her house. Her parents are amused at the concept, but when the building is torn down, "P" as he is known, is forced from a fantasy world to reality. He is, in fact, a blank slate and has to learn everything from the ground up. Like Herzog's Kaspar Hauser, P's naiveté is amusing at first, but when he tries to live life as a real person, innocence and cruel reality lock horns. Åke Sandgren's story of virtue coping with the ways of the world is a Dogma film, and the rules of Dogma - no special effects, only natural lighting, etc. - are a perfect fit with the story and the characters. As much as grown-ups may have a dangerous effect on P, he has some truths to teach others. Running time: 90 minutes Thursday, March 28 at 9PM and Sunday, March 31 at 6PM MY WIFE IS AN ACTRESS Ma femme est une actrice France, 2001 Pity poor Yvan. He's a successful sports writer married to a popular movie star with whom he's madly in love. The problem is that everyone else in Paris seems to be in love with her too. A role in a new movie opposite a suave international star is enough to send Yvan over the edge, devising all kinds of schemes to prove his wife's fidelity. There are overtones of screwball comedy and Woody Allen in actor Yvan Attal's impressive debut as a director. This sharply observed comedy, featuring Attal, his real-life wife Charlotte Gainsbourg and Terence Stamp takes a perceptive look at a peculiar form of male hysteria. A Sony Pictures Classics Release Running time: 93 minutes Friday, March 29 at 6PM and Saturday, March 30 at 12 NOON THE SLAUGHTER RULE USA, 2002 Days after his father's death, Roy is cut from the high school football team. Both events carry equally tragic weight for him in the rugged, lonely terrain of Montana, where football is more than a game. Roy finds a way out when Gideon, a loner who hangs around the edges of life, enlists him in his rough, outsider football team. Here, there are only six men to a side and the rules are few. Gideon sees a spark in Roy, and the two begin pushing limits and breaking boundaries. Ryan Gosling's Roy is tender and confused, but also angry and out of control. David Morse gives a stunning performance as Gideon, a kind man with rage simmering below the surface. What does he want from Roy anyway? Twin filmmakers Alex and Andrew Smith hint at the feelings bottled up inside these complex characters, and the rich cinematography brings a stark beauty to the western landscape. Running time: 115 minutes Friday, March 29 at 9PM and Sunday, March 31 at 8:30PM DELBARAN Iran/Japan, 2001 Set on the dusty, end-of-the-world frontier between Iran and Afghanistan, DELBARAN is the story of Kaim, a 14-year-old Afghan refugee working in a small cafe and gas station frequented by truckers, smugglers and opium addicts. The police stop by to check on the flow of refugees; news trickles in of new fighting and more deaths. But Kaim himself never stops moving, a flurry of activity that nevertheless is going nowhere. The power of Abolfazl Jalili´s beautiful film is how it not only celebrates Kaim's resilience but also how it simultaneously mourns the price paid by a boy forced to become an adult too quickly. Running time: 96 minutes Saturday, March 30 at 5:30PM and Sunday, March 31 at 3:30PM THE FAST RUNNER (ATANARJUAT) Canada, 2001 Director Zacharias Kunuk's powerful and universal story is based on an ancient Inuit legend set in the Arctic at the dawn of the first millennium. Shot in the breathtaking northern region of Canada, the film features an all-Inuit cast of professional and non-professional actors. Evil in the form of an unknown shaman divides the small community of nomadic Inuit, upsetting its balance and spirit. Twenty years later two brothers emerge to challenge the evil order. The small group is pitted one against the other until finally the cycle of vengeance is broken and balance is restored. This first feature in the Inuktitut language is a thrilling visualization of an ancient oral tale in which land, sea and sky all seem to meet, illuminated by the ever-shifting Arctic light. A Lot 47 Films Release. Running time: 172 minutes Saturday, March 30 at 8PM and Sunday, March 31 at 11:30AM THE INNER TOUR Israel/Palestine, 2001 What should be ordinary - a group of tourists visiting their homeland - becomes extraordinary when these tourists are Palestinians from the West Bank visiting Israel on a three-day bus trip. Photographed in 2000, months before the escalating violence closed the borders, The Inner Tour describes Israel through Palestinian eyes. To the tourists, deeply conflicted, the country is at once familiar and foreign, threatening and thrilling. Jerusalem-born filmmaker Ra'anan Alexandrowicz, whose documentary Martin was shown in ND/NF 2000, began this Israeli/Palestinian collaboration in the hope of beginning a dialogue between two alienated peoples. When hostilities resumed Alexandrowicz realized that his film "might help people understand why reconciliation is not necessarily possible, right here, right now." Running time: 94 minutes Monday, April 1 at 6PM and Tuesday, April 2 at 9PM DOG DAYS Hundstage Austria, 2001 The title of this first fiction film by Ulrich Seidl refers to that time of the summer when a combination of heat, glare, humidity and listlessness robs people of their social defenses and leaves them emotionally raw and exposed. Through a series of vignettes involving half a dozen characters in and around a Vienna suburb, Seidl - known for his documentaries - creates a devastating portrait of contemporary life. At times we might want to look away, but the sheer power of his images (not to mention their beauty) forces us to keep watching until we discover the common threads of humanity we share with his characters. Not for the faint-hearted, but not to be missed. Running time: 120 minutes Monday, April 1 at 9PM and Tuesday, April 2 at 6PM THE WHITE SOUND Das Weisse Rauschen Germany, 2001 Lukas, 21 years old, moves to the city to start life as an adult. He moves into an apartment with his sister, goes to great parties and meets cool people. But some things are amiss: he goes ballistic when he gets the time wrong for a movie, and after taking psychedelic mushrooms, he starts hearing voices and jumps out a window. Soon enough he discovers that what he thought was a drug reaction is a full-blown case of schizophrenia. Director Hans Weingartner has taken on a formidable subject for his first film. He did three years of research to make sure he got it right and the result is a touching study of one man's struggle to contain his demons. The moving performance of Daniel Brühl as Lukas enables us to understand the wars that are waged inside one's own head. Running time: 106 minutes Wednesday, April 3 at 6PM and Thursday, April 4 at 9PM JEUNESSE DORÉE France, 2001 Two young girls win a grant from their local Youth Services club and set out in a boyfriend's car to photograph real people in their real houses around France. At first an excuse for teenagers with dreams of their own to get out of the dreary humdrum of family life in a nondescript city near Paris, the project and the journey become a passionate endeavor. The beautifully textured film is full of the happenstance of everyday life and the wonders of chance encounters. A hybrid of fiction and nonfiction, Zaïda Ghorab-Volta's film enchants, mystifies and reveals in equal measures, as the intrepid travelers meet life head on and confront their own expectations and limitations. Running time: 85 minutes Short: WAX HURTS(Shaava Ze Koev) Israel, 2001. 23 minutes Director: By Maya Dreifuss She wants to go to the movies but Mother says stay home and keep an eye on the bathroom. Wednesday, April 3 at 9PM and Thursday, April 4 at 6PM PARADOX LAKE USA/Poland, 2002 Summer camp in upstate New York provides the "actual" setting for this stunningly innovative tale of autistic children and their earnest counselors, including the sensitive and insightful Matt Wolf, whose personal journey takes unexpected turns. The other setting is in the mind, as Matt begins to communicate with the imaginative Jessica, a 12-year-old trapped in a personal universe, at times revealed as slyly playful, yet with a seductive hold on her caretakers. Intentionally ambiguous, scenes breathtakingly shift from verité to fantasy under the direction of Polish-born Przemyslaw "Shemie" Reut, who also wrote, photographed, and edited video footage, working in New York and Warsaw. Journalist and filmmaker Reut trained as a counselor to gain the trust of his performers, who play themselves with unaffected energy. Running time: 92 minutes Friday, April 5 at 6PM and Sunday, April 7 at 8:30PM EL BOLA Spain, 2000 Pablo, a young boy, is known as El Bola (Pellet) because of the good-luck stone he carries in his pocket. The charm is powerless, however, in the face of the violent and abusive environment in which he lives. Pablo's primary social activity seems to be playing chicken on the railroad tracks with similarly disaffected children. Fortunately, a new student, Alfredo, arrives at Pablo's school and the two become fast friends. Alfredo's family is warm, protective and colorful -- his father is a tattoo artist -- and Pablo's life is changed, as he is welcomed into a very different environment from the one he has known. Director Achero Mañas' first feature is an accomplished and beautifully realized portrayal of the extreme spectrums of family life - from abuse and contempt on the one hand to friendship and compassion on the other. Winner of the European Film Academy's Fassbinder Prize for Discovery of the Year. Running time: 88 minutes Friday, April 5 at 9PM and Saturday, April 6 at 1PM THE ORPHAN OF ANYANG China, 2001 Wang Chao is the director of this simple, tough and deeply affecting tale of three characters whose fates cross paths in the ancient city of Anyang. A desperate young prostitute from the northeast pays an out-of-work factory worker to look after her baby, and this uneasy but oddly touching relationship develops into something akin to a family, until the young girl's pimp gets the idea that he is the baby's father. A low-class thug who has just been told he has cancer and thus wants an heir, he tracks them down and upsets the precarious balance of their lives. The film has a devastating emotional impact, announcing a director of great talent and maturity. Running time: 84 minutes Saturday, April 6 at 3:30PM and Sunday, April 7 at 6PM KIRA'S REASON - A LOVE STORY En kærligheds - historie Denmark, 2001 The beautiful Kira has been away for some time, recovering from a breakdown. When a doctor asks the reason for it, she replies that she was just too sad. Her husband, Mads, breaks off an affair and brings her home, and gradually, in this tough yet delicately told love story, we are let in on Kira's struggle to cope with herself, her family and friends. Her determination leads to interesting confrontations and tellings of truths, along the way to a recognition of how she must live her life. Danish director Ole Christian Madsen, a member of the Dogma group of filmmakers, infuses his story with a subtle empathy, perception and intimacy. A First Run Features Release 94 minutes Short: LIVING WITH HAPPINESS. Australia, 2001. 6 minutes Director: Sarah Watt A mother imagines disaster everywhere, until she is taught an important lesson by an adolescent surfer. Saturday, April 6 at 6PM and Sunday, April 7 at 12 NOON LATE MARRIAGE Hatouna Mehuheret Israel/France, 2001 Zaza, a handsome, thirtyish Tel Aviv bachelor, is the despair of his mother, Lily, who wants to find him a wife. Lily has brought Old World customs with her from Soviet Georgia to Israel, and the most pressing of these is finding a virgin bride to marry into the family. The trouble is that Zaza is already involved passionately with someone who has several strikes against her. Such is the domestic situation in this ribald, dark and subversive comedy that pits tradition against modernity. In his debut feature Dover Kosashvili, a Georgian-born Israeli, casts his own mother as the determined and formidable woman who forces her very reluctant son to make a choice he would rather avoid. A Magnolia Pictures Release Running time: 100 minutes Saturday, April 6 at 9PM and Sunday, April 7 at 3PM About New Directors/New Films