March 25, 2004
INFORMATION: John McElwain or John Green, (661) 362-3494 or 3684
College Film Festival Focuses on Women in Cinema
SANTA CLARITA College of the Canyons’ Annual International Film Festival this year focuses on award-winning foreign-language films from Spain, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, India and the United Kingdom. The public is welcome, and admission is free.
“Images of Women in Cinema,” which began on March 17, features screenings on selected Wednesdays and Thursdays through April 29. A discussion follows the screenings, which are presented in Room M-318 of the Media & Fine Arts Building.
Upcoming films include:
“Earth”
Written and directed by Deepa Mehta, India, 1998, English subtitles, 95 minutes
4 p.m. Wednesday, March 31
Presenter: Pamela Williams-Paez, Sociology Department
“Earth” is an intelligent and deeply moving personal account of the partition of India. At least 11 million people Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and others caught on the wrong side of the dividing lines were driven from their homes. Some reports put the death toll from communalist pogroms and rioting at 1 million. Mehta’s film, based on Bapsi Sidhwa’s novel “Cracking India,” portrays this disaster through the eyes of an 8-year-old crippled child from Lahore, the Punjabi city that saw some of the bloodiest pogroms. The experiences, hopes and fears of this young girl provide an intense portrait of the period.
“Lola Rennt!” (Run, Lola, Run!)
Written and directed by Tom Tykwe, Germany, 1999, English subtitles, 81 minutes
3 p.m. Wednesday, April 14
Presenter: Lisa Wallace, English Department
In “Lola Rennt!,” Lola (Franke Potente), with her wildly colorful punk style and glass-shattering scream, has 20 minutes to raise and deliver 100,000 Deutsche marks to save the life of her courier boyfriend Mannie (Moritz Bleibtreu) after he ineptly loses a bag of drug money on the subway. A pounding techno beat accompanies her mad dash across Berlin while a kaleidoscopic array of visual effects heightens the action: split-screen shots, instant replays, slow-motion footage, animation and shifts from 35mm to video. In a metaphysical musing on the vagaries of fate, Tykwe, who also co-composed the film’s electronic score, twice replays Lola’s frantic mission, each time with slight alterations in timing that lead to vastly different consequences. This original, heart-pounding, popular film “hit the ground sprinting,” as one critic noted, in its debut at the Venice Film Festival.
“Heavenly Creatures”
Directed by Peter Jackson, New Zealand, 1994, 108 minutes
4 p.m. Wednesday, April 21
Presenter: Ron Karlin, Library Department
“Heavenly Creatures” is a groundbreaking film and the first important work by the now-famous but then-obscure director Peter Jackson of “Lord of the Rings” fame. It’s the first film of the now-famous actress Kate Winslett (“Titanic”). And, it’s the first film that dealt unsparingly with the most notorious crime story in the history of New Zealand: the Parker-Hulme murder of the 1950s, a case that involved teenage perpetrators, matricide and lesbianism. From this event, Jackson created a work that far transcends the run-of-the-mill exploitation film that lesser talents might have made. It is a movie that allows viewers to look inside the complexity of the girls’ relationship with one another, eliciting not sympathy for the protagonists but rather very strong empathy. The film is challenging, riveting and unforgettable.
“Jules et Jim” (Jules and Jim)
Directed by Francois Truffaut, France, 1962, English subtitles, 105 minutes
4 p.m. Wednesday, April 28
Presenter: Donna Davidson, Cinema Department
“Jules et Jim” pits the importance of male friendship against the mysterious allure of the female. Truffaut’s claim that “monogamy is impossible, but anything else is worse” is depicted through two very good friends, Jim, a Frenchman, and Jules, an Austrian, who fall in love with the same woman, Catherine. World War I separates the two men, who fight for their respective countries. But the war pales in comparison to the turmoil that Catherine wreaks on their lives. Played by screen legend Jeanne Moreau, Catherine remains one of the most enigmatic and frustrating female protagonists in film history. Truffaut employs the concepts of the French New Wave in this less-than-idyllic romantic film.
“Carmen”
Directed by Carlos Saura, Spain, 1983, English subtitles, 102 minutes
4 p.m. Thursday, April 29
Presenter: Pierre Etienne, Foreign Languages Department
Finally! The only “Carmen” since Dorothy Dandridge who looks and acts like the sultry femme fatale that she is. This dazzling, Oscar-nominated interpretation of this classic will set your soul and feet on fire. A master dancer decides to produce a spectacle in which the myth of Carmen is retold through flamenco music and dance. As the dancers consume the stage with their pyrotechnics, a passion simmers in the wings, mimicking the plot of the original tragedy. The film is inspired by a novella (Merimee), an opera (Bizet) and an Edith Piaf song. Framed by the music of virtuoso guitarist Paco de Lucia and the breathtaking dancing of Laura del Sol, Antonio Gades and Cristina Hoya, this film will send you running to the COC Dance Department’s flamenco course and to Cobras & Matadors for tapas and manzanilla.
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