2010 International Summer Screenings Program, May 5 - September 8
FREE MOVIES ALL SUMMER LONG!
Cinema/Chicago,
the presenting organization of the Chicago International Film Festival, brings
the best in international cinema to Chicago through its year-round programming
and events. In collaboration with the Chicago Cultural Center and our
international and cultural partners throughout the city, we are pleased to host
FREE public film screenings at our 7th annual International Summer Screenings
Program.
Due to the popularity of this program, we’ve expanded our schedule to include select Saturday matinee screenings. This weekly film series, running May 5 - September 8, showcases nineteen films from around the world.
Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to theater capacity. Films are unrated. Viewer discretion is advised.
We hope you will join us in celebrating international film in Chicago this summer. Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the 46th Chicago International Film Festival, October 7-21!
Venue: Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph Street, 2nd floor, Chicago
Wednesday May 5, 6:30pm
Bandidos
Director: Luis Estrada
1990, 95 minutes, Mexico
It is 1913 and pandemonium
reigns over the Mexican countryside as the revolution wages. When bandits
attack Luis’ boarding school, he is lucky to have escaped. Trying to make his
way home, he encounters a group of young brigands who scavenge places looted by
the older bandits. Believing in strength in numbers, he joins the group and the
four boys soon become fast friends, bound by their shared adventures and their
struggle to survive in the treacherous world of bandidos. In contrast to the
warm sepia tones that bathe the images, Luis Estrada’s evocative tale is a
searing exploration of the loss of boyhood innocence in the face of the
destructive power of violence. Spanish with English subtitles.
Co-presented by the Consulate General of Mexico in Chicago, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Cinema/Chicago.
Wednesday May 12, 6:30pm
Madame
Satã
Director: Karim Ainouz
2002, 100 minutes, Brazil
Prepare to enter the world of 1930s Lapa, the vibrant bohemian quarter of Rio de Janeiro. It is a world with its own rules, laws, and rituals. A world where glamour, misery, and violence collide to create a playfully tragic atmosphere. A world where the myth of Madame Satã reigns supreme. A biopic of transvestite João Francisco dos Santos, a man struggling to find freedom as a black homosexual in the years following the abolition of slavery in Brazil, Madame Satã presents a stirring tale of passion, struggle, vitality, and betrayal. *Mature subject matter. Viewer discretion is advised. Portuguese with English subtitles.
Co-presented by the Consulate General of the Federative Republic of Brazil in Chicago, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Cinema/Chicago.
* immediately
following will be a post-screening discussion led by Richard Knight Jr., Film Editor for Windy City Times.
Wednesday May
19, 6:30pm and Saturday May
22, 2:00pm
Berlin
Is in Germany
Director: Hannes Stöhr
2001, 91 minutes, Germany
In 2001, Martin Schultz is released from the Brandenburg Penitentiary. A resident of East Berlin when he was convicted just before the wall came down in 1989, he must acclimate himself to the sweeping changes of 12 years of German reunification overnight. Martin strives in earnest to get back on his feet, but the Berlin he once knew is a thing of the past; even as he tries to reconnect with his wife and son, they appear nearly as foreign as the city he once called home. Projecting the experience of one individual against the backdrop of one of history’s tectonic shifts, Berlin Is in Germany asks whether or not it is possible to find deliverance from the past. German with English subtitles.
Co-presented by the Goethe-Institut Chicago, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Cinema/Chicago.
*Immediately following will be a post-screening discussion led by Sara Hall, Associate Professor in the Department of Germanic Studies at the University of Illinois Chicago and author of numerous essays on German cinema as well as the forthcoming book "Police Presence: Cinema and the Production of Law and Order in Weimar Germany."
Wednesday May
26, 6:30pm and Saturday May
29, 2:00pm
Dunya
& Desie
Director: Dana Nechushtan
2008, 96 minutes, the Netherlands
Dunya is Moroccan, raised with
daily prayers, Imams, and Ramadan. Desie is as Dutch as cheese, wooden shoes,
and tulips. In spite of their families’ cultural differences, the girls have
grown up the best of friends in Amsterdam. Now at 18, their friendship is
tested when they each travel to Morocco to face the biggest decisions of their
lives. Dunya & Desie
is a heartwarming road movie about friendship, family, tolerance, and
understanding. Dutch and Arabic with English subtitles.
Co-presented by the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Chicago, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Cinema/Chicago.
* immediately
following will be a post-screening discussion led by Allison Cuddy, producer, Chicago Public Radio.
Wednesday June 2, 6:30pm and Saturday June 5, 2:00pm
Cape No. 7
Hái-kak chhit-ho
Director: Wei Te-Sheng
2008, 130 minutes, Taiwan
The highest grossing Taiwanese
film of all time, Cape No. 7
presents an affecting tale of love and mystery, crossing cultures and
time. Aga, the former lead singer of a band in Taipei, returns to his
hometown to take a job as a postman. When a package of long-lost love
letters from World War II to a Taiwanese woman named Tomoko falls into Aga’s
hands, he can’t help but open them. Another Tomoko lives in Taiwan today,
making a living as an interpreter while managing Aga’s new band. Rehearsing
with the band and falling for Tomoko by night, he continues trying to deliver
the letters by day. What is the real connection between Aga, the letters,
and this modern-day Tomoko? Taiwanese with English subtitles.
Co-presented by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Cinema/Chicago.
Wednesday June 9, 6:30pm and Saturday June 12, 2:00pm
Scandal
Makers
Gwasok Scandal
Director: Kang Hyung-chul
2008, 108 minutes, South Korea
In this comedy of
family and fame, a celebrity hanging on to his fading popularity faces an
unimaginable scandal. Nam Hyun-soo was once a popular teen idol with millions
of teenage girl fans. Now in his 30s, he is hanging on as the host of a hit
radio show. When Jung-nam calls in with her heartrending story of her lifelong
wish to meet the father she’s never known, the whole nation becomes riveted,
and the show’s ratings rocket. Thrilled by the prospect of a comeback, Nam
Hyun-soo cannot even begin to imagine the career-jeopardizing impact her story
will have on his life. After all, just one scandal and it’s game over for his
career! Courtesy of M-Line
Distribution. Korean with English subtitles.
Co-presented by the Korean Consulate General in Chicago, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Cinema/Chicago.
Wednesday June 16, 6:30pm and Saturday June 19, 2:00pm
Bye, Bye GDR! To Liberty via Warsaw
Zegnaj DDR! Przez Warszawe ku
Wolnosci
Director: Krzysztof Czajka
2009, 55 minutes, Poland
The documentary Bye, Bye GDR!
To Liberty via Warsaw
recounts the story of the escape of roughly 6,000 East Germans through Warsaw
to West Germany in the autumn of 1989. Twenty years after the
unforgettable events that ended the Cold War, this long veiled story is brought
to light as the former East German refugees and Polish and German politicians
share their memories of a people’s flight from their own country. Once
the refugees arrived in Poland that fateful year, they traveled to Warsaw in
order to reach the West German Embassy and eventually West Berlin. Polish with
English subtitles.
Co-presented by the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Cinema/Chicago.
Wednesday June 23, 6:30pm
MY YEAR WITHOUT
SEX
Director: Sarah
Watt
2009, 108 minutes, Australia
One family. One year. No sex.
What else is there? — Sports, spending, saving, sickness, singing, storage
solutions, spiritual stuff, Santa … My Year without Sex is a kind of a love story. It examines all
the big questions and even more of the little ones. Over one messy year, Ross
and Natalie navigate their children, ticks, housework, birthdays, Christmas,
faith, soccer, job insecurity, and more ticks. And through it all they’re
left wondering what will become of them and whether or not they will ever have
sex again.
Co-presented by the Australian Consulate General in Chicago, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Cinema/Chicago.
Wednesday June 30, 6:30pm and Saturday July 3, 2:00pm
Seducing
Doctor Lewis
La grande séduction
Director: Jean-François Pouliot
2003, 109 minutes, France
The picturesque, if isolated,
fishing community of St. Marie-La-Mauderne must find a village doctor at all
costs. The economic health of their tiny community has long been suffering and
only a doctor can save them—a much-needed factory will not be built without the
guarantee of access to proper medical care. So, the residents will stop
at nothing to convince Dr. Lewis, a swinging urbanite, that village life was
made for him. One month is all that they need, but thirty days proves to
be an astonishingly long time to keep up the charade. Winner of the
Audience Award at Sundance, Seducing Doctor Lewis is an endearing look at the idiosyncrasies
and idylls of small town life. French with English subtitles.
Co-presented by the Consulate General of Canada in Chicago, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Cinema/Chicago.
* immediately
following will be a post-screening discussion
Wednesday July 7, 6:30pm and Saturday July 10, 2:00pm
The
Equation of Love and Death
Li Mi de caixiang
Director: Cao Baoping
2003, 96 minutes, China
Li Mi, a city taxi driver, has
spent the last four years scouring the city looking for her boyfriend, Fang
Wen. She asks every passenger she picks up whether or not they have seen
him. She is obsessed. When a series of events involving two drug traffickers,
a dead poet, and a Fang Wen lookalike collide before her eyes, Li Mi must
confront the danger that lies before her and the pain she has been hoarding
from her past. Mandarin with English subtitles.
Co-Presented by the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Chicago, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Cinema/Chicago.
Wednesday July 14, 6:30pm and Saturday July 17, 2:00pm
Wonderful
Town
Director: Aditya Assarat
2008, 92 minutes, Thailand
Takua Pa, a small town in the
south of Thailand, has a long history of hardship. Most recently, the tsunami
has destroyed their homes and businesses, and tourists are staying away.
There is nothing to do; young people ride motorcycles around in circles while
old people reminisce about good times past. One day a stranger comes to
town. Ton rents a room in a small hotel owned by Na, the town darling.
They begin having a secret affair, but people start to whisper. The town
has found their enemy. Wonderful Town is a film about a love that grows where
there is no more love, like a lotus that blossoms in the mire. And about a town
that tries to destroy all the beauty that it cannot have for itself. Can the
town be wonderful again? Thai with English subtitles.
Co-presented by the Royal Thai Consulate in Chicago, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Cinema/Chicago.
* immediately following will be a post-screening discussion
Wednesday July 21, 6:30pm and Saturday July 24, 2:00pm
Me
and My Sister
Les Sœurs Fâchées
Director: Alexandra Leclère
2004, 93 minutes, France
Louise is a charming woman who is disconcertingly open and, at times, lacking in grace. After all, she’s a beautician from Le Mans. Her sister Martine (Isabelle Huppert) is everything she isn’t: elegant, aloof, and obsessed with decorum. Her life is entrenched in the Parisian bourgeois world. When Louise travels to Paris, the two sisters’ worlds collide as Martine can hardly stand Louise’s exuberance and lust for life. Will the bonds of sisterhood enable them to overcome unforgivable behavior and irreconcilable differences? By turns affecting and honest, Me and My Sister casts a sharp eye on the intricacies of sibling rivalry and the (im)possibility of changing who we are and where we come from. French with English subtitles.
Co-presented by the Consulate General of France in Chicago, CulturesFrance, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Cinema/Chicago.
* immediately following will be a post-screening discussion
Wednesday July 28, 6:30pm and Saturday July 31, 2:00pm
Stones
Avanim
Director: Raphael Nadjari
2004, 110 minutes, Israel
Michale is deeply involved with
her lover, Yoni, but the strain of dividing her time between him, her family,
and her work providing accounting services to religious organizations is
beginning to exhaust her. When Yoni shockingly dies the victim of a
terrorist attack, Michale is profoundly affected. Because of the
secretive nature of their relationship, she is unable to confide in anyone or
mourn publicly. The Stones
is an acutely observed film about the ways in which a modern woman navigates
her religion and culture in the wake of tragedy. Hebrew with English
subtitles.
Co-presented by
the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest, the Chicago Cultural Center,
and Cinema/Chicago.
Wednesday August 4, 6:30pm and Saturday August 7, 2:00pm
The
Signal
La señal
Director: Ricardo Darín, Martin
Hodara
2007, 95 minutes, Argentina
It is 1952, Buenos Aires.
While Eva Perón is lying on her deathbed, Corvalán, a small-time private
detective with a past he’d rather keep hidden, finds himself entangled in a
story of betrayal and greed. Hired by the beautiful and mysterious Gloria, for
what seems to be an ordinary surveillance job, he gradually begins to uncover a
web of violence and revenge. Despite the reluctance of Santana, his friend and
partner at the investigation agency, Corvalán decides to move forward with the
case, knowing that just one wrong decision may lead to a most tragic fate. The
Signal is classic noir at
its best, complete with figures lurking in the shadows, period-perfect dress,
and an unforgettable femme fatale. Spanish with English subtitles.
Co-presented by the Consulate General of the Argentine Republic, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Cinema/Chicago.
Wednesday August 11, 6:30pm and Saturday August 14, 2:00pm
Don’t Think about It
Non pensarci
Director: Gianni Zanasi
2007, 105 minutes
At 36, Stefano Nardini is a
punk rocker living in Rome, still trying to make it. When he returns to his
hometown of Rimini in search of some TLC and a home-cooked meal, he soon
realizes that he’s not the only one in trouble—his sister has dropped out of
college and his brother is running the family business into the ground. They’re
on the verge of losing everything, and only drastic measures will save them.
A multiple award winner at Venice, Don’t Think about It is a dramedy about a family that must learn
how to take care of each other before they all fall apart. Italian with
English subtitles.
Co-presented by the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Chicago, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Cinema/Chicago.
Wednesday August 18, 6:30pm and Saturday August 21, 2:00pm
Small Fish
Kleine Fische
Director: Marco Antoniazzi
2009, 86 minutes, Austria
Kurt and Martin
have never had anything in common. While one played the rebel, the other
remained the faithful son. When they meet after many years at their father’s funeral,
their childhood hostility is still palpable. Presented with the challenge of
saving the family fish shop, the two must find a way to work together to
preserve the family legacy. Will the brothers be able to overcome their
differences? In Small Fish, director Marco Antoniazzi has staged a funny and poignant
observation of the intricacies and incongruities of brotherhood. Courtesy of the Austrian Film Commission.
German with English subtitles.
Co-presented by the Austrian Consulate General in Chicago, the Austrian Film Commission, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Cinema/Chicago.
Wednesday August 25, 6:30pm and Saturday August 28, 2:00pm
Will
You Marry Us?
Die Standesbeamtin
Director: Micha Lewinsky
2009, 90 minutes, Switzerland
Rahel, a registrar in a small Swiss
village in charge of performing civil ceremonies, is frustrated by her own
unhappy marriage to Thomas, who is not so secretly seeing Therese on the side.
One day, Rahel runs into her childhood friend and former band mate Ben,
who is now a famous musician, and she slowly starts to remember what it feels
like to be in love. However, not only is Ben in a relationship with movie star
Tinka Panzer, but he also is asking Rahel to marry them! A romantic
comedy with music as its base line, Will You Marry Us? presents an infectious blend of laughter,
love, and song. German with English subtitles.
Co-presented by the Consulate General of Switzerland in Chicago, Langfilm, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Cinema/Chicago.
* immediately
following will be a post-screening discussion led by Ron Falzone, Film Professor, Columbia College Chicago.
Wednesday September 1, 6:30pm and Saturday September 4, 2:00pm
Castle under Fiery Skies
Katen no shiro
Director: Mitsutoshi Tanaka
2009, 139 minutes, Japan
Gorgeously shot and
magnificently conceived, Castle under Fiery Skies transports us to 1576 Japan, the height of
the Warring States period. Lord Oda Nobunaga, who controls much of the country,
orders temple carpenter Mataemon to build him a five-story castle in three
short years, a desperate measure to maintain a fragile peace. Construction
advances, but persistent obstacles block the path to the castle’s completion.
Will he be able to accomplish his mission and realize Nobunaga’s great
ambition? Japanese with English subtitles.
Co-presented by the Japan Information Center at the Consulate General of Japan in Chicago, TOEI Company and The Castle Under Fiery Skies Production Committee, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Cinema/Chicago.
* immediately following will be a post-screening discussion
Wednesday September 8, 6:30pm
Trip
to the Seaside
El viaje hacia el mar
Director: Guillermo Casanova
2003, 80 minutes, Uruguay
Small town living in the hills
of Uruguay is insular and measured. Everyone knows their place, the local
bar is populated by regulars, and strangers are met with a mixture of curiosity
and caution. When four of the town’s eccentrics are given the chance to take a
trip to the shore in Rodríguez’s red jalopy of a truck, they jump at the
opportunity, stranger in tow. After all, the old men have never even seen the
sea before. A charming road movie, A Trip to the Seaside takes the viewers on a witty, if leisurely,
journey of manners. Spanish with English subtitles.
Co-presented by the Consulate General of Uruguay in Chicago, the Chicago Cultural Center, and Cinema/Chicago.
