UW News

January 7, 2010

The world on film: See Movies at Kane series offers free international films

UW News

A series of 10 films, each from a different country, will be offered Thursday evenings in Kane Hall from Jan. 14 through March 18. The series is called SMAK, for See Movies At Kane.


The screenings are free and no tickets or ID are required. All showings will be at 7 p.m. in 210 Kane. Each movie will be introduced by a faculty member who specializes in that area.


Felicia Hecker, associate director of the Jackson School’s Middle East Center, organized the film series. Hecker said in an e-mail, “The Jackson School of International Studies has a very strong commitment to public outreach and I felt in this time of economic downturn that we could offer the public free, educational entertainment through a film series using area experts to introduce each movie.”


Hecker said that in selecting the films “I wanted a combination of classics — things that everybody should see like Battle of Algiers and Seven Samurai … along with some more recent offerings such as Like Water for Chocolate and the latest trend toward animation such as Persepolis and Sita Sings the Blues.”


The films, with descriptions from the series Web page, are:

Jan. 14: Bent Familia, Tunisia. A moving story of unique friendships among three educated North African women who, although anxious to live in a modern world, are nevertheless trapped by the limitations of their society. Arabic with English subtitles. This film will be introduced by Hussein Elkhafaifi, associate professor of near eastern languages and civilization.


“I chose Bent Familia’because it is a film by Tunisian filmmaker Nouri Bouzid, who is known for his treatment of controversial issues, that are usually not addressed in typical Arab films,” wrote Elkhafaifi in an e-mail. “I felt that this film was important for its frank discussion of women’s issues in a time when generational and cultural divides are found all across North Africa and the Arab world.”

Jan. 21: Like Water for Chocolate, Mexico, 1997, 105 minutes. A magical romance that tells the story of Tita, who is in love with Pedro, but whose controlling mother forbids her from marrying him. When Pedro instead marries her sister, Tita throws herself into her cooking — and discovers she can transfer her emotions through the food she prepares. Spanish with English subtitles. This film will be introduced by Jose Lucero, assistant professor in the Jackson School.

Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four stars and wrote that “it continues the tradition of magical realism that is central to modern Latin film and literature. It begins with the assumption that magic can change the fabric of the real world, if it is transmitted through the emotions of people in love.”

Jan. 28: Good Bye Lenin!, Germany, 2003, 121 minutes. A boy schemes to keep his mother in good health in this comedy drama. Alex’s socialist mother falls ill and into a coma after his arrest during a protest, and remains sick through the fall of the Berlin Wall. Knowing the slightest shock could prove fatal, Alex strives to keep the news a secret, and their apartment firmly rooted in the past. It works for a while, but soon his mother is ready to get around again. German with English subtitles. This film will be introduced by Eric Ames, associate professor of Germanics.

Feb. 4: Seven Samurai, Japan, 1954, 160 minutes. Akira Kurosawa’s tale of a desperate village that hires seven samurai to protect it from marauders. This film will be introduced by Edward Mack, associate professor of Asian languages and literature. Ebert called it “not only a great film in its own right, but the source of a genre that would flow through the rest of the century.” It’s considered a crown jewel of Japanese cinema and stars the great Toshio Mifune. Japanese with English subtitles.

Feb. 11: Beshkempir, Kyrgyzstan, 1998, 78 minutes. A coming-of-age film that resonates with the clash between modernity and traditional culture. Filmed in black-and-white with occasional explosions of color, the film’s documentary style mirrors the aesthetics of the traditional Kyrgyz patch-work felt rug, the tekemet. Kyrgyz and Russian with English subtitles. This film will be introduced by Scott Radnitz, assistant professor, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies.

Feb. 18: The Battle of Algiers, Italy, 1966, 121 minutes. Commissioned by the Algerian government and originally banned in France, this movie shows the Algerian revolution from both sides. A look at war as a nasty thing that harms and sullies everyone who participates in it. French with English subtitles. This film will be introduced by Ray Jonas, professor of history. Jonas wrote in an e-mail, “This is the movie the Pentagon screened in 2003. Their aim? To understand the complexity of the situation faced by U.S. soldiers in post-Saddam Iraq.” The film, he wrote, “is about colonialism, anticolonialism, and combat in settings where the line separating civilian from combatant is blurred.”

Feb. 25: Persepolis, France, 2007, 96 minutes. An animated film based on Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novels about coming of age against the backdrop of the 1979 Iranian revolution. Roger Ebert wrote that “while so many films about coming of age involve manufactured dilemmas, here is one about a woman who indeed does come of age, and magnificently.”

This film will be introduced by Firoozeh Papan-Matin, assistant professor of near eastern languages and civilization. Papan-Matin wrote of Persepolis, “(T)his film depicts the complexities that are associated in a society that is radically transformed due to war and revolution, and also with the plight of the exiles and immigrants in diaspora.” The film’s protagonist, she said, “brings humor and hope into her narrative as she highlights the crucial moments in her and the life of a generation who closely identifies with her story.”

Mar. 4: Sita Sings the Blues, India, 2008, 82 minutes. Sita is a goddess separated from her beloved Lord and husband Rama; Nina is an animator whose husband moves to India, then dumps her by e-mail. Three hilarious shadow puppets narrate both ancient tragedy and modern comedy in this beautifully animated interpretation of the Indian epic Ramayana.

This film will be introduced by Priti Ramamurthy, professor of women studies. Ramamurthy wrote that the film is “a hilarious, irreverent, brilliant and aesthetically turbocharged movie. A feminist take on the Indian epic, the Ramayana, the film also narrates a parallel story of the filmmaker’s own marriage unraveling.” For his part, Ebert just named Sita as one of the best animated films of 2009.

Mar. 11: Love for Share, Indonesia, 2006, 120 minutes. Polygamy in Indonesia goes under the microscope in this drama about three wives in three different marriages, each from vastly different backgrounds and places. This film will be introduced by Francisco Benitez, assistant professor of comparative literature.

Mar. 18: Breakfast with Scot, Canada, 2007, 94 minutes. A comedy adapted from the novel by Tufts University professor Michael Downing about a gay retired hockey player turned television sportscaster who becomes the legal guardian of his brother’s stepson and faces his reluctance to become a parent. This film will be introduced by Natalie Debray, a lecturer in communications.

For more information about the SMAK film series, visit online here.