Global Lens Film Series visits WMU
by Tonya Durlach
April 8, 2011 | WMU News
"I am From Titov Veles"
KALAMAZOO--The Academy Award-winning Global Lens Film Series, featuring eight films from around the world, will visit Western Michigan University Friday through Sunday, April 15-17.
Show times are 7 and 9 p.m. Friday; 5, 7 and 9 p.m. Saturday; and 3, 5 and 7 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5 and free to all current WMU students with a valid Bronco Card. All screenings take place in Room 1720 of the Chemistry Building and include free popcorn.
Global Lens Film Series
Friday, April 15
- 7 p.m.--"Masquerades" (Mascarades, Algeria)--After working for much of his life as a gardener in his dusty Algerian village, Mounir dreams of improving his family's fortune and gaining a measure of respect by marrying off his narcoleptic sister, Rym, to a "real gentleman." However, Rym has other plans--she dreams of marrying Mounir's best friend, Khliffa, who has secretly courted her for years. When Mounir lashes out at village gossip with a fib that he has promised Rym to a wealthy outsider, she comes out of her sleepy stupor to embrace the rumor and press her real betrothed into action. Directed by Lyes Salem, the 2008 film is shown in Arabic with English subtitles. It has a run time of 92 minutes.
- 9 p.m.--"Fine Dead Girls" (Fine Mertve Djevojke, Croatia)--A report of a kidnapped child triggers an investigation that uncovers nightmarish conditions in a seedy apartment building in Zagreb. None of the residents are as they seem, and when they learn the truth about each other, the pervasive climate of mistrust in the building explodes into violence. The hostility and misery of the characters' lives project vivid echoes of Croatia's recent past, as the country slowly emerges from years of ethnic violence during the Balkans War. Directed by Dalibor Matanic, the 2002 film is shown in Croatian with English subtitles. It has a run time of 77 minutes.
Saturday, April 16
- 5 p.m.--"Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures" (Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus, Brazil)--In 1942 in the middle of Northeastern Brazil, two very different men meet along the road: Johan, an aspiring salesman avoiding the German draft, and Ranulpho, a rural Brazilian seeking escape from the drought. Although their personalities and lives are worlds apart, the two men develop a deep friendship as Johan, in an effort to provide him with job skills, teaches Ranulpho to run the film projector and drive a truck. This deliberately paced road film reminds us that war is as close as Johan's radio, broadcasting its relentless warnings that all lives are changed when the world is in conflict. Directed by Marcelo Gomes Brazil, the 2005 film is shown in Portuguese and German with English subtitles. It has a run time of 99 minutes.
- 7 p.m.--"Whisky" (Uruguay)--In this beautifully assured tragic comedy, Jacobo is a 60-year-old owner of a small, outdated sock factory, whose life is illuminated with deadpan, repetitive and monotonous detail. When his successful younger brother is expected for a visit, Jacobo asks Marta, his humble, loyal assistant, to pose as his wife. The brother, lively, inquisitive and open, spontaneously suggests a seaside trip during which the three characters begin to reveal themselves in situations where farce, jealousy and betrayal lead to places of no return. Directed by Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll, the 2004 film is shown in Spanish with English subtitles. It has a run time of 94 minutes.
- 9 p.m.--"Border Cafe" (Cafe Transit, Iran)--In a small Iranian village near the Turkish border, Reyhan, a young woman with two children, faces a difficult choice when her husband dies. Instead of agreeing to marry her brother-in-law, as required by traditional law, she chooses to support her family by re-opening her late husband's restaurant. Reyhan struggles for self-sufficiency in a rigidly traditional environment, and is continuously pressured to move into her brother-in-law's home and become his second wife. Directed by Kambozia Partovi, the 2005 film is shown in Farsi, Greek, Turkish and Russian with English subtitles. It has a run time of 105 minutes.
Sunday, April 17
- 3 p.m.--"Kite" (Le Cerf-Volant, Lebanon)--In this fairytale for troubled times, 16-year-old Lamia must cross a border checkpoint between Lebanon and Israel to marry a man she has never met. Neither she nor her betrothed are eager to consummate a marriage to a stranger--a matter further complicated by Lamia's surprising admission that she is in love with the Israeli soldier guarding the border. This enchanting drama about marriage and tradition is underscored by delicate symbolism and artful references to politics of Lebanon's annexed territories. Directed by Randa Chahal Sabbag, the 2003 film is shown in Arabic with English subtitles. It has a run time of 80 minutes.
- 5 p.m.--"Buffalo Boy" (Vietnam)--Set in the lowlands of southern Vietnam, this powerful coming-of-age tale is a richly textured and stunningly visual reflection of the rhythms of daily life and culture determined by water. The flooded landscape serves to tell the story of the relationship between a father and son, the cycles of life and its inescapable flow. When young Kim, out of necessity, joins the nomadic life of the buffalo herders he is exposed to a complex, brutal existence. He must find his own way and sense of self in this male world of endurance, betrayal and uncertainty, which can also offer friendship and independence. Directed by Nguyen-Vo Nghiem-Minh, the 2004 film is shown in Vietnamese with English subtitles. It has a run time of 102 minutes.
- 7 p.m.--"I am From Titov Veles" (Jas Sum Od Titov Veles, Macedonia)--Set in the quaint but scarred town of Veles, three sisters long to escape the suffocating environment of their dying community. Burdened by memories of their late father, each chooses a different path. Sapho struggles to secure a visa to Greece, Slavica desperately searches for a rich husband, and Afrodita harbors hopes for love and children. In this contemporary story of urban decay, stark realism is blended with memorable performances to create a vivid landscape of life and longing in post-communist Macedonia. Directed by Teona Strugar Mitevska, the 2007 film is shown in Macedonian with English subtitles. It has a run time of 102 minutes.
Global Lens Film Series at WMU is sponsored by the Foreign Film Club, a registered student organization.
For more information, visit the WMU Foreign Film Club online or contact Allison Buller at allison.e.buller@wmich.edu or (269) 823-3634.