Film Line-Up

CineCulture Film Line-Up: Spring 2012

CineCulture is a film series provided as a service to Fresno State students, faculty, staff, and the community, at no charge for campus screenings.

Film Screenings: Fridays 5:30 p.m. Peters Education Center Auditorium (West of the Save-Mart Center in the Student Recreation Center Building)

All films screened on campus are free and open to the public. Parking is relaxed on Fridays after 4 p.m. Use parking lot V.

*Exceptions: (Filmworks: Tower Theater, 815 E. Olive Ave, and March 17 Festival)

January 27: As it is in Heaven (2005)

Discussant: Anna Hamre

As it is in Heaven is the story of Daniel, a successful international conductor who returns to his childhood village in Sweden. Soon thereafter, the local church choir seeks him out to solicit his advice. He can’t refuse, and nothing in the village is the same again. As the amateur choir develops and grows, he is drawn to the people of his old hometown, makes friends and finds love … A beautiful and engaging film, As it is in Heaven is a wonderful story about life and love that is sure to inspire and delight. Nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 2005 Academy Awards. In Swedish with English subtitles, 132 minutes.

February 3: Freedom Riders (2011)

Discussant: Cynthia George          

In 1961, segregation seemed to have an overwhelming grip on American society. Many states violently enforced the policy, while the federal government, under the Kennedy administration, remained indifferent, preoccupied with matters abroad. That is, until an integrated band of college students–many of whom were the first in their families to attend a university–decided, en masse, to risk everything and buy a ticket on a Greyhound bus bound for the Deep South. They called themselves the Freedom Riders, and they managed to bring the president and the entire American public face-to-face with the challenge of correcting civil-rights inequities that plagued the nation. 120 minutes.

*February 10 &12: Fresno Filmworks: Oscar Nominated Short Films 2012

Fresno Filmworks presents the Oscar-Nominated Short Films 2012, at the Tower Theatre, 815 E. Olive Ave. The two evenings will feature five full programs of Academy Award-nominated short movies.

Friday showtimes: live action at 5:30 p.m. and animation at 8:30 p.m.

Sunday showtimes: animation at 3 p.m., documentary at 5:30 p.m., and live action at 8:30 p.m.

Advance tickets cost $10 general and $8 for students and seniors, with a special $15 price good for any two shorts programs. Tickets and details are available online at FresnoFilmworks.org.

February 17: Between Two Worlds (2011)

Discussants: Alan Snitow & Deborahy Kaufman (filmmakers)

Between Two Worlds is a personal essay film telling five riveting stories that go beyond political postures to reveal the passionate debates over identity and generational change inside today’s American Jewish community. Snitow and Kaufman take us on a uniquely personal road-trip that reframes intensely polarized debates over tradition and change, loyalty and dissent inside one American ethnic community. 70 minutes.

February 24: A Crushing Love (2009)

Discussant: Sylvia Morales (filmmaker)

This film honors the achievements of five activist Latinas: labor organizer/farm worker leader Dolores Huerta, author/educator Elizabeth “Betita” Martinez, writer/playwright/educatior Cherrie Moraga, civil rights advocate Alicia Escalante, and historian/writer Martha Cotera. It considers how these single mothers manage to simultaneously be parents and affect broad-based social change. The filmmaker, activists, and their grown children, thoughtfully explore the challenges, adaptations, rewards, and missteps involved in juggling these dual roles. 58 minutes.

March 2: Harimaya Bridge (2009)

Discussants: Katsuyo Howard, Dale, Ikeda, Tomoko, Kozasa, Hiromi Kubo, James Walton

An American father mourning the recent loss of his estranged son travels to rural Japan to claim some important items belonging to his late son. While there, he learns several secrets his son left behind. The story takes place in Kochi Prefecture, a deeply rural part of Japan where traditional customs remain strong. The movie addresses the bond and conflict between father and son, as well as the prejudices that often exist between people of different backgrounds. The feature film debut from writer-director Aaron Woolfolk, stars Bennet Guillory, Saki Takaoka, Misa Shimizu, and Danny Glover. 120 minutes.

*March 9: Fresno Filmworks: Le Havre (2011)

This Finnish comedic drama, which won a prestigious prize at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, paints a warmhearted portrait of a French shoeshine man and a young African refugee he tries to protect. In French, with English subtitles. 93 minutes.

*March 11: The Maltese Falcon (Filmworks Classics)

Fresno Filmworks Classics presents The Maltese Falcon at the Tower Theatre. This 1941 film noir, directed by John Huston, stars Humphrey Bogart as hard-boiled detective Sam Spade and Mary Astor as the femme fatale.

*March 16 & 17 (International Persian & French Film Festival)

Friday March 16: PERSIAN SHORT FILMS (Discussant: Jasamin Rostam-Kolayi)
Location: Peters Education Center (Student Recreation Center west of Save-Mart Center)
5:00 pm: Live Music and Entertainment
5:30 pm: Film Screenings

Saturday March 17: PERSIAN FILMS

Pay Back (2010)
1:00 pm (Location: EDU 170)

Tahmineh Milani directs a true story, based on the lives of four girls in Tehran who act as street girls and when they are picked up by men, they force the men to their hideout where they rob them and take their money. In Persian with English subtitles.

We are Half of Iran’s Population (2009)
3:00 pm (Location: EDU 170)

Rakhshan Bani-E’temaad directs this documentary of the wide women’s coalition formed in Iran, prior to the June 2009 presidential elections, in order to make their demands heard. Among the demands of the women was for Iran to join the U.N.’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. In Persian with English subtitles.

Saturday March 17: FRENCH FILMS

French director Mona Achache’s first feature film, The Hedgehog, is the story of an unexpected encounter between 11-year-old Paloma Josse, Parisian concierge Renée Michel, and the enigmatic Mr. Kakuro Ozu. In French with English subtitles.  100 min.

In French director Julie Lopes-Curval’s third feature film, 30-something Audrey visits her parents and discovers her grandmother Louise’s diary.  Will this diary finally explain Louise’s departure and clear up the terrible silence that still affects the entire family? In French with English subtitles. 105 min.

Les petites couleurs tells the story of Christelle, a hairdresser with a futuristic hair-styling machine.  Director Patricia Plattner, founded her production company, Night Light Production, in 1985, and has written, directed, and produced many films. In French with English subtitles. 90 min.

Sponsored by the French Program, Persian Language Program, Middle East Studies Program, College of Arts & Humanities, Parsa Foundation, Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute, Women’s Studies Program, Department of Modern & Classical Languages & Literatures, and the Department of Mass Communication & Journalism.                    

March 23: Tales of the San Joaquin: A River Restored (2011)

Discussant: Mark Arax

For sixty years, parts of the 350-mile San Joaquin River have been turned into a perpetual desert by water diversion for farming, thus destroying habitat for thousands of migrating salmon. Tales of the San Joaquin tells the story of the river and its restoration through oral histories of those who live and work along the length of the river. After a successful twenty-year lawsuit against the federal government by a coalition of fifteen environmental and fishing organizations, the San Joaquin River has been reborn as shown in the film’s conclusion. A glowing and inspiring portrait of the San Joaquin River from its source in the Sierra Nevada Mountains to its eventual merging with the Sacramento River and onward into San Francisco Bay. The film celebrates Mark Twain’s classic observation that the ” face of the river is an open book, with a new story to tell every day.” 58 minutes.

April 13:  8 ½ (1963)

Discussant: Doug Rice

Guido is a film director, trying to relax after his last big hit. He can’t get a moment’s peace, however, with the people who have worked with him in the past constantly looking for more work. He wrestles with his conscience, but is unable to come up with a new idea. While thinking, he starts to recall major happenings in his life, and all the women he has loved and left. Director Federico Fellini’s semiautobiographical rumination on the joys and rigors of film-making–as well as lovers past and present–won two Oscars: Best Foreign Language Film and Best Costume Design. Black-and-White. Italian, French, German & English with English subtitles. 138 minutes.

 April 20: Oscar and the Lady in Pink (2009)

Discussants: Dr. Rose Marie Kuhn & Shelley Krikorian

Listening in to a conversation between his doctor and parents, 10-year-old Oscar learns what nobody has the courage to tell him. He only has a few weeks to live. Furious, he refuses to speak to anyone except straight-talking Rose, the lady in pink he meets on the hospital stairs. As Christmas approaches, Rose uses her fantastical experiences as a professional wrestler, her imagination, wit and charm to allow Oscar to live life and love to the full, in the company of his friends Pop Corn, Einstein, Bacon and childhood sweetheart Peggy Blue. French with English subtitles. 96 minutes.                                                 

*April 27-29: Fresno Filmworks Festival

This year’s festival will feature exclusive programs of award-winning short and feature-length films from all over the world. Opening night begins Friday at 7 p.m. with the Belgium/French film, The Fairy. Additional selections include the colorized and restored French silent film A Trip to the Moon, the Iranian family drama A Separation, the German dance documentary Pina, and more.

Advance tickets for individual programs cost $10 general and $8 for students and seniors; opening night costs $12 general and $10 for students and seniors; festival passes cost $50. Tickets and passes can be purchased by check or cash at the Tower Theatre box office, 815 E. Olive Ave., or online at FresnoFilmworks.org.

Fresno Filmworks Festival 2012 Line-Up

• Friday 7 pm: The Fairy with short “Lone-Illness”
• Saturday 12:30 pm: Pina with dance performance
• Saturday 3:30 pm: Family-Friendly Shorts
• Saturday 5:30 Panel Discussion with Abel & Burlee Vang
• Saturday 8 pm: A Separation
• Sunday 1 pm: Shorts Program
• Sunday 3:30 pm: Trip to the Moon and The Extraordinary Voyage with short “Grounded”
• Sunday 7 pm: Chico and Rita

May 4: Hero (2002)

Discussant: Ed EmanuEl

Hero stars Jet Li as the assassin known only as “Nameless.” The film tells the story of the attempted assassination of China’s first Emperor, but more importantly, Hero reveals an essential Chinese cultural tenet: no dishonor will go unavenged. Jet Li, who was raised with the story on which Hero is based, waited twenty years to play this role. The Chinese government would not approve a film version of this historical event for both political and social reasons until massive re-writes were made. The result is a magnificent historical epic which delves into the shifting waves of power that characterized ancient China during its wars for unification.  Mandarin with English subtitles. Rated PG 13. 99 minutes.

*May 11: Fresno Filmworks: Footnote

This Israeli family drama was nominated for a 2012 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The movie tells the story of an intense rivalry between a father and son, both eccentric professors and public intellectuals who have dedicated their lives to their work in Talmudic Studies. The father, Eliezer, is a stubborn purist who fears the establishment and has never been recognized for his work. The son, Uriel, is an up-and-coming star who feeds on accolades and endlessly seeks recognition. When Eliezer learns that he is to be awarded the Israel Prize, the country’s most valuable honor for scholarship, Uriel unexpectedly faces a difficult and emotional choice. Director Joseph Cedar won Best Screenplay at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival for the script. In Hebrew, with English subtitles. Screening sponsor: Fresno Jewish Film Series. Tickets cost $10 general and $8 for students and seniors.

*May 13: Fresno Filmworks: Roman Holiday

This beloved 1953 romantic comedy stars Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. Hepburn won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as a princess who escapes her royal duties to experience Rome as an ordinary tourist. Peck plays a reporter who discovers her true identity, but he falls in love with her before his exclusive story about her escapade goes to press. The movie co-stars Eddie Albert, is directed by William Wyler, and was co-written by Dalton Trumbo during his Hollywood blacklist days. Critic Ty Burr of the Boston Globe says, “The film itself is a classic of romantic wish fulfillment, exactly the sort of beautiful lie that Hollywood has always specialized in.” Tickets cost $5 general admission.

CineCulture Club: http://cineculture.csufresno.edu/

MCJ Department: http://mcj.csufresno.edu/news-events/cineculture/

Fresno Filmworks: http://www.fresnofilmworks.org/