THREE KINGS (UK Premiere - Opening Night)
David O. Russell - US - 1999 - 115 minutes - 35mm - drama.
In English
A small group of adventurous American soldiers in Iraq at the end of the Gulf War is determined to steal a huge cache of gold reputed to be hidden somewhere near their desert base. Finding a map they believe will take them to the gold, the soldiers embark on a journey that leads to unexpected discoveries, enabling them to rise to a heroic challenge. As they encounter the kinds of action several of them had anticipated eagerly, they learn that the human face of politics changes everything. (Courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures)
CABARET BALKAN
Goran Paskaljevic - Yugoslavia - 1998 - 100 minutes - 35mm - drama
Filmed entirely at night by renowned Serbian director Goran Paskaljevic, CABARET BALKAN explores the violent and absurd reality of everyday life in Belgrade following the break-up of Yugoslavia. The film ricochets from black comedy to heightened realism, reminiscent in style to Quentin Tarantino's PULP FICTION. A young couple in the midst of a quarrel, rediscover their love for each other when local mobsters take them hostage. In a nearby gymnasium, a middle-aged boxer discovers the extent to which the past 10 years of his life have been a charade in which both his best friend and wife betrayed him. By examining individuals' experiences and framing their stories with a cabaret master's commentary, Paskaljevic convincingly illustrates how each of these disparate citizens is affected by the politics which continue to splinter this once unified country. International Critics Prize for Best Film, Venice Film Festival 1998; European Film Critics' Award - Prix FIPRESCI for Best Film 1998; Academy Awards' Best Foreign Language Film category nominee 1998 (Courtesy of UIP) A CIVILISED PEOPLE (CIVILISÉES) (UK Premiere)
Randa Chahal Sabbag - Lebanon - 1999 - 97 minutes - 35 mm - drama
In Arabic and French with English subtitles
Randa Chahal Sabbag was 20 years old when the civil war in Lebanon began and 40 when it ended. Her experience of that time, painful as it was, has formed the basis for a powerful and eloquent film. During the civil war in Lebanon, many Lebanese citizens fled to Europe - abandoning their large apartments, their sumptuous villas, and the servants whom they had imported by the thousands.
A CIVILISED PEOPLE, Chahal Sabbag's stunning dramatic debut, weaves together a broad spectrum of colorful characters to create an unforgettable tapestry of Lebanon's civil war. Currently, the Lebanese government has asked Chahal Sabbag to cut 47 minutes of this film, claiming that these sections are offensive. We will show the film in its entirety. A CRY FROM THE GRAVE
Leslie Woodhead - UK - 1999 - 104 minutes - 35 mm - documentary
In Serbo-Croatian with English subtitles
A CRY FROM THE GRAVE is an unique commentary on how ethnic wars are conducted at the end of the 20th century, and it succeeds in giving a human face to the harrowing statistics by retracing the stories of those who survived Europe's worst massacre since World War II - the massacre of over 7,000 Muslim men in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in July 1995. With first-hand witness interviews and previously unknown archives, Woodhead tells the story of a brutal 72 hours in the life and death of the Muslim refugees supposedly under the protection of the United Nations' safe areas. The film unflinchingly documents Western guilt and the United Nations' final, bloody capitulation. The film also tells of the aftermath of the massacre, of the women who continue to search for their men in vain, and of the major effort by the International War Crimes Tribunal to find and prosecute the perpetrators. Winner of the Special Jury Award - Amsterdam International Documentary Festival 1999 A FORCE MORE POWERFUL (UK Premiere)
Steve York - US - 1999 - 110 minutes - 35 mm - documentary
Using stunning archival footage, some never before seen, A FORCE MORE POWERFUL is a testimony to the millions who chose to battle basic human rights abuses with nonviolence - and won. In 1906, Gandhi roused the Indian minority in South Africa to march with him across the country to the sea to mine salt, an act completely prohibited by British rule. Gandhi then went on to lead the Indian struggle for independence by convincing his countrymen that refusal to co-operate with injustice is the best way to defeat it. In the 1960s, the Rev. James Lawson led a group of black college students in Nashville, Tennessee, to desegregate the city's lunch counters through the use of non-violent Ôsit-ins'. Their successful desegregation in only five months made them a model for American civil rights activists of the time. And in 1985, South African activist Mkhuseli Jack and his comrades launched a broad citizens' movement, based on nonviolent mass action and consumer boycott, which led to the government's agreement to negotiate a transition to majority rule. GARAGE OLIMPO (UK Premiere)
Marco Bechis - Argentina - 1999 - 98 minutes - 35 mm - drama
In Spanish with English subtitles
Buenos Aires during the military dictatorship. Maria lives with her mother and Felix, a shy, young boarder in love with her. Felix appears to be without a past or family. He works as a watchman at a garage. Maria works teaching reading and writing in a slum and is active in a small organisation which opposes the military dictatorship. One morning, a squad of plainclothes soldiers seize Maria and take her to the GARAGE OLIMPO - one of the numerous torture chambers used by the military, situated in the very heart of Buenos Aires, whose atrocities remain invisible to the people who pass by. Quickly Maria realises that GARAGE OLIMPO is the garage where Felix works- supervising and sometimes performing tortures on those kidnapped by the military. Felix's obsession with Maria becomes her only weapon against the nightmarish world surrounding her. Official Selection "Un Certain Regard" - Cannes Film Festival 1999; Best Film and Best Director - Festival de Cine Iberoamericano-Huelva 1999 THE HURRICANE (UK Premiere - Closing Night)
Norman Jewison - US - 1999 - 120 minutes - 35mm - drama
In English Academy Award winner Denzel Washington (Glory, Malcolm X) is Rubin ÔHurricane' Carter, a man whose dreams of winning the middleweight boxing title were destroyed when he was arrested along with another man for the murders of three people in a New Jersey bar. Wrongfully accused, Carter and John Artis were convicted and sentenced to three life terms in prison, where Carter decided to channel his frustration and despair by writing his own story from his cell. Although his autobiography The Sixteenth Round did get published, Carter remained behind bars, finding inner peace by withdrawing from the outer world and the national interest which surrounded his case (including impassioned pleas from Bob Dylan and Muhammad Ali, among others.) Years later, an alienated American youth living in Canada, Lesra Martin (Vicellous Reon Shannon), found direction and purpose for the first time in his life after reading Carter's book, and began corresponding with him. Convinced of his innocence, the teenager enlisted his social activist guardians: Terry Swinton (John Hannah), Lisa Peters (Deborah Kara Unger) and Sam Chaiton (Liev Schreiber) to mount a full-time campaign to get Carter released. Initially reluctant to join forces with these well-meaning strangers, Carter was soon won over by their extraordinary passion and selfless commitment to his cause, proclaiming "Hate put me in prison, love is gonna bust me out." (Courtesy of Buena Vista International UK Ltd.) KAFI'S STORY
Arthur Howes - UK - 1989 - 53 minutes - video - documentary
In Nubian with English subtitles
Kafi, a young man from the Nuba Mountains in Sudan, travels north to Khartoum to find a job so that he can buy a wedding dress for his second wife, Tete. During his time away from home, he confides his feelings and impressions to a small tape recorder, which he carries with him. This monologue provides the soundtrack for the film and allows the audience to penetrate the inner world of this young Sudanese man, sharing his worries and hearing Ôfrom within' the story of his double marriage. The backdrop for his monologue is, of course, the mountain villages of Sudan and the impending civil war. Joris Ivens Award - Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival 1990; BBC Documentary Award 1990
Shown with:
NUBA CONVERSATIONS (UK Premiere)
Arthur Howes - UK - 1999 - 55 minutes - video - documentary
In English and Nubian with English subtitles
Ten years ago, Arthur Howes, the director of KAFI'S STORY, promised that he would return to show his films, but because of a continued civil war, bureaucratic mismanagement and no visa, his return was delayed until 1999. Howes, returning to Sudan to show his film and reconnect with his Nuba friends, initially narrates NUBA CONVERSATIONS. Then, through a series of clandestine encounters in Khartoum, the film reveals a labyrinth of racial and religious persecution as the Nuba begin to tell their own story. MURDER IN PURDAH
Reporter:Olenka Frenkiel , Producer:Giselle Portenier
U.K .- 1998 - 45 minutes - video - documentary
In Urdu with English subtitles
In Pakistan, men kill their wives with impunity while women wait on death row for killing their husbands. Away from the city elites, many women live as prisoners, forbidden to make decisions about their lives. MURDER IN PURDAH reveals that those who rebel - who choose to marry for love - face violent reprisals. Burned, tortured and murdered in the name of Islam, women even suspected of sex outside marriage are justifiably killed by their own fathers, brothers, and sons - in defence of their honour. In Pakistan, there is no escape. Reporter Olenka Frenkiel and producer Giselle Portenier travel across Pakistan to reveal this systematic abuse of women's human rights, perpetrated in the name of Islam as a matter of honour.
Shown with:
LICENCE TO KILL (World Premiere)
Reporter : Olenka Frenkiel , Producer :Giselle Portenier
UK - 1999 - 45 minutes - video - documentary
In Urdu with English subtitles
In the follow up to MURDER IN PURDAH, Olenka Frenkiel and Giselle Portenier return to Pakistan to investigate the State's "endorsement" of the murder of women in the name of honour. This documentary investigates three cases which show the extreme erosion of the justice system, the immense inequality within the system and the impunity of the perpetrators - all made possible through the manipulation of Islam. Frenkiel investigates the investigations: the Samia Imran case, where it is widely believed that her well-educated parents are her murderers; the Sabra Khan case, where the victim's case was dismissed because her testimony was worth only half that of her husband under Islamic law; and the Kisass case, where a local feud was transformed into an honour killing after the brutal murder of a woman. Through the manipulation of Islam, the climate of impunity has reached new heights in Pakistan, and LICENCE TO KILL asks where it will end. (Courtesy of BBC TV) Man-Keneen-Ki
Marina Sersale - UK/Senegal - 1999 - 26 minutes - video - documentary
In English, French and Wolof with English subtitles
A moving portrait of young Senegalese boys exploring creative alternatives to life on the street.
Shown with:
LONG NIGHT'S JOURNEY INTO DAY (UK Premiere)
Frances Reid and Deborah Hoffman
US - 1999 - 95 minutes - 35mm - documentary
In English, Afrikaans, and Xhosa with English subtitles
In our times, when many nations remain haunted by a history of state-sponsored terror and oppression, LONG NIGHT'S JOURNEY INTO DAY is a particularly inspiring portrait of a wounded society attempting to humanise itself by taking seriously the importance of conscience and by reaping the redemptive benefits of uncovering the truth. Following four dramatically different cases that came before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) over the course of two-and-a-half years, filmmakers' Reid and Hoffman show South Africa's quest for restorative justice. From the point of view of American exchange student Amy Biehl's parents, who meet their daughter's murderer, to the point of view of the wives of the slain activists known as the Craddock Four who meet the policemen that killed their husbands, we, too, are asked would we or could we embrace truth and reconciliation? Winner Best Documentary, Sundance Film Festival 2000. NOT ONE LESS (Special Screening)
Zhang Yimou - China - 1998 - 106 minutes - 35 mm - drama
In Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles
Zhang Yimou, acclaimed director of such films as JU DOU and RAISE THE RED LANTERN, now turns his lens on the plight of children in a poor village in China's countryside. Swinging between comedy and drama, Zhang Yimou follows the unpredictable adventures of Wei Minzhi - a gawky, barely literate, 13-year-old tomboy left in charge of the villages star (and only) teacher's class when Teacher Gao must go away to care for his ailing mother. Wei Minzhi immediately is more concerned about her 50 yuan pay then keeping all 28 students in their seats, let alone even considering teaching them something. Minzhi literally sits outside the classroom with her back against the door so that no kids can escape. Quickly the classroom turns to chaos, students are screaming, throwing anything in sight, and the school bully is controlling everyone. If that's not enough, Minzhi must find money and means to go to the city in search of one of her children who fled the village in hopes of finding a job and supporting his family. Her trip to the city, followed by her dealings with the individuals she encounters there, serves to highlight her determination and stubbornness - virtues which seem essential to survival. Wei's sheer force of will wins her battles, yet, the film clearly implies that this happy ending is the exception - not the rule. Winner of the Golden Lion, Venice Film Festival 1999 (Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics) THE SPECIALIST
Eyal Sivan - Israel - 1999 - 128 minutes - 35 mm - documentary
In Hebrew, German, and French with English subtitles
In 1961, American filmmaker Leo Hurwitz was invited by Israeli government television to document the 350-hour trial of Adolf Eichmann, the man responsible for the transport of Ôracial deportees' to the Nazi death camps between 1941 and 1945. This footage was never broadcast on Israeli television. In 1995, Eyal Sivan found these 350 hours of unreleased videotape in a Jerusalem university film archive. Using these archival images as raw material and inspiration, Sivan and his partner Rony Brauman made the film THE SPECIALIST. Sivan then utilised digital technologies to enhance the images and sound in the film, giving the viewer a better sense of the trial by emphasizing the feeling of a direct encounter with Eichmann. Through a selection of thirteen scenes, the filmmakers produce a stunning portrait of this Ôspecialist in problem solving,' this ordinary man who became an instrument of extraordinary evil. (Courtesy of Downtown Pictures) WELL-FOUNDED FEAR (UK Premiere)
Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini
US - 1999 - 119 minutes - 35mm - documentary
In English and various other languages with English subtitles
WELL-FOUNDED FEAR is a stirring, evocative, and utterly unforgettable documentary about the American political asylum system : who is deemed worthy and who decides. Marking the first and probably only time a film crew has ever been privy to these proceedings, the camera takes us behind the bulletproof window of the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), where bureaucrats ponder the sometimes life-or-death fate of immigrants seeking asylum. Robertson and Camerini's compassionate but shocking portrait of the system is marked by exquisite production values and a striking intelligence. The filmmakers have dedicated themselves to an evenhanded critique of both officials and refugees, emphasizing that any process where life becomes a story, man becomes a god, and justice becomes a lottery is an imperfect one. Selected for Documentary Competition, Sundance Film Festival 2000 THE WOUNDS
Srdjan Dragojevic - Serbia - 1998 - 103 minutes - 35mm - drama
In Serbo-Croatian with English subtitles
Present day Belgrade, a city of moral and spiritual upheaval following the break up of Yugoslavia. A society whose youth can no longer distinguish the violence that they see in American gangster movies and that which they see daily in their own backyard. Pinki and Kraut, 2 teenage boys quickly become obsessed with their neighbour, a flashy, two-bit hustler/criminal living on the edge. Pinki and Kraut will do anything that he tells them to do, no matter how outrageous and illegal, anything to get his praise. Despite their horrible deeds, the boys are not presented as one-dimensional killers; they become a frightening hybrid of childish innocence and unbridled evil, laughing at both silly pranks and heinous crimes. The wounds in the title become both literal and figurative, as Pinki and Kraut turn on each other while the country turns on itself. Paralleling the destruction of individual and country, Dragojevic draws a lush, complex portrait of an all too real world. |
