44th ANNUAL
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu.
The winner of the International Critics’ Week Grand Prize at Cannes in 2000, the film weaves together three stories about life and love on the streets of Mexico City. MPAA: Rated R for violence/gore, language and sexuality.

Sept. 21 (Wednesday)
In the Country Where Nothing Happens
(En el país de no pasa nada)
(Mexico, 1999)

Directed by María del Carmen Lara.
The most awarded film at the Guadalajara Film Festival of 2000, this comedy is a crafted satire of Mexican politics centered around the kidnapping of a businessman with a double life. Not rated.

Oct. 5 (Wednesday)
All the Power
(Todo el poder)
(Mexico, 2000)

Directed by Fernando Sariñana.
A black humor story about crime, violence, corruption and power in Mexico City, this highly entertaining film has been the country’s clear favorite at the box office in the last five years. MPAA: Rated R for language and some violence.

Oct. 19 (Wednesday)
The Crime of Father Amaro
(El crimen del padre Amaro)
(Mexico, 2002)

Directed by Carlos Carrera.
Without any doubt, this is the most talked about and controversial movie of the last decade in Mexico. This story about religion and politics in a small Mexican town is an adaptation of the 19th Century novel by the Portuguese writer Eça de Queiros. MPAA: Rated R for sexuality, language and some disturbing images.

Nov. 2 (Wednesday)
Herod's Law
(La ley de Herodes)
(Mexico, 1999)

Directed by Luis Estrada.
A re-creation of life in a small village in the 1940s, the movie is a dark satire about the corruption of power and the nature of politics in Mexico. MPAA: Rated R for violence, sexuality and language.

Nov. 16 (Wednesday)
Sex, Shame and Tears
(Sexo, pudor y lágrimas)
(Mexico, 1998)

Directed by Antonio Serrano.
A romantic comedy that explores the battle of the sexes, this acclaimed film and box office success has been credited with starting the new wave of Mexican cinema. MPAA: Rated R for strong sexual content, language and some drug use.

Feb. 14, 2006
Do You Remember Dolly Bell?
(Sjecas li se, Dolly Bell)
(Yugoslavia, 1981)

Emir Kusturica’s first feature is the tale of a young man’s entry into adulthood. Set in Sarajevo during the early 1960s, Kusturica gives an honest account of the reality of intrusive cultures, when Western influences such as fashion and rock and roll and the promise of European socialism threatened to roll over traditional customs. Bergan and Karney’s Foreign Film Guide noted that “...the film is a beautifully perceptive, bitter-sweet comedy full of delightful eccentric touches.”

Feb. 28, 2006
25 Fireman's Street
(Tüzoltó utca 25)
(Hungary, 1973)

This is Istvan Szabo’s chronicle of Hungary’s post-war history, told through the memories, dreams and nightmares of the inhabitants of an old house in Budapest on the eve of its demolition. Through the long, hot summer night they re-experience moments of happiness and tragedy from the previous four decades. An intricate flashback structure in the style of Alain Resnais was used by Szabo for exploring change across history.

March 14, 2006
Momma Roma
(Italy, 1962)

This marvelous discovery is perhaps the least known of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s features but is also likely to be one of his very best. Anna Magnani, in the title role, gives a terrific performance as a former Roman prostitute who desperately wants a good, respectable life for her teenage son. J. Hoberman of Village Voice wrote: “It’s instant over-the-top. Thirty seconds into the movie, Mount Magnani is sputtering, singing, screaming, and otherwise spewing lava... As a movie actress, Magnani stands alone... As always, Pasolini can toss off an image of startling poetry.”

March 28, 2006
Golden Marie (Casque d'Or)
(France, 1952)

Jacques Becker’s “elegant masterwork is a glowingly nostalgic evocation of the Paris of the Impressionists.” Set in the underworld at the turn of the century, this beautifully stylized film is based on the tragic love story of a famous gigolette, Marie, with golden hair. It is a haunting and evocative mood piece which recreates both the decorative charm of its period and a world of terror and violence. Simone Signoret received the British Film Academy’s “Oscar” for her superb performance as Marie.

April 11, 2006
Man on the Tracks
(Czlowiek na torze)
(Poland, 1956)

Andrzej Munk’s classic of anti-Stalinism examines the mystery surrounding the death of a veteran train engineer who lost his job through forced retirement. He is subsequently remembered, through flashbacks, by different characters who investigate his death and relate to their own interpretation in a manner which recalls Citizen Kane and Rashomon. The film won Munk the Best Director Award at the 1957 Karlovy Vary festival and the “Warsaw Siren” Polish Film Critics Prize.

May 2, 2006
New Babylon
(Novyi Vavilon)
(Russia, 1929)

This rediscovered masterpiece of the late silent era, co-directed by Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg, follows the events of the doomed “forgotten revolution” of the Paris Commune of 1871. It dramatizes the fight of the communards through the story of its heroine, Louise, a salesgirl in the New Babylon department store who is caught up in the class struggle against the bourgeoisie. Includes Dmitri Shostakovich’s first film score (opus 18).