i-squared film series in full swing!
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008by Andrew Chappelle, Communications Intern
i-squared, the young friends network of the International Institute of St. Louis, is attending a number of films this month that are part of the 17th Annual St. Louis International Film Festival. The first film, Amal, was shown this past Sunday and I absolutely loved it.
From the Cinema St. Louis website:
In this multilayered portrait of modern India, auto-rickshaw driver Amal is content with the small but vital role he serves: driving customers around New Delhi as quickly and safely as possible. But his simple life is upended when an eccentric, aging billionaire, moved by the driver’s humility, bequeaths Amal his entire estate before passing away. Amal now must cope with an array of challenges, from a young injured beggar girl and a lovely store merchant to the old man’s inheritance-seeking upper-caste friends and siblings.
It was a special treat to be able to hear directly from director Richie Mehta after the screening.
After having such a great experience, I decided to make it a double feature and immediately purchased another $8 student ticket for Sous les Bombes (Under the Bombs). The film was shot entirely in war-torn Lebanon during the 2006 war with Israel and was a vivid, gripping account of a woman’s quest to find her son under the most difficult of circumstances.
The next films in the i-squared film series are:
Wonderful Town, Tuesday November 18th, 7:15 pm @ Plaza Frontenac. Meet in front of theater at 7:00pm
Ton, a soulful young architect, arrives at a Thai coastal town to supervise the construction of a beach resort adjacent to a site severely ravaged by the 2004 tsunami. When Ton rents a room in a small hotel owned by Na, they slowly fall into a secret love affair. The winner of the prestigious Tiger Award at the Rotterdam Film Festival, “Wonderful Town” recalls the lyrical work of director Apichatpong Weerasethakul (“Tropical Malady”). Salon’s Andrew O’Hehir, who describes the film as “delicate, delightful and nearly note-perfect,” calls Assarad “a patient and a surprising director, alive to the most intimate details of everyday life – folding laundry, changing sheets, drinking coffee – and also to the dreams people hold closest to their hearts, the ones they can barely admit to themselves, let alone their lovers.” Languages: Thai w/ English subtitles
El Baño del Papa (The Pope’s Toilet), Wednesday November 19th, 7:00pm @ Tivoli. Meet in lobby at 6:45
It’s 1988, and Melo, a Uruguayan town on the Brazilian border, awaits the visit of Pope John Paul II. More than 50,000 people are expected to attend, and the locals believe that selling food and drink to the gathered multitudes will make them rich. But petty smuggler Beto thinks he has the best idea of all: He decides he will build a public toilet in front of his house and charge for its use. His efforts bring about unexpected consequences, and the final results will surprise everyone. An official selection of both the Cannes and Toronto film festivals, “The Pope’s Toilet” gleefully mixes the sacred and the profane, with the Village Voice calling the film an “alternately heartbreaking and hilarious satire” that “bawdily conveys the complex Latin-American relationship to God – and the means by which authoritarian institutions take a dump on the lives of the impoverished.” Languages: Spanish w/ English subtitles
Zarim (Strangers), Thursday November 20th, 7:00pm @ Plaza Frontenac. Meet in front of theater at 6:45
A 2008 Sundance selection, “Strangers” chronicles six days in the lives of Eyal, an Israeli living in a kibbutz, and Rana, a Palestinian living in Paris, who accidentally meet in the Berlin subway during the World Cup finals. Eyal, who came to meet his girlfriend, and Rana, who came to cheer the French team, are forced to share an apartment and, as the final match approaches, they fall in love – a relationship seriously complicated when war breaks out between Israel and Lebanon. Variety writes that although “gem-hard in its political realism, ‘Strangers’ is generous enough to suggest love may actually triumph – and as such will win a lot of hearts.” Languages: Hebrew w/ English subtitles
Come on out as i-squared supports the St. Louis International Film Festival!
