Film & Media Culture

A retired orchestra conductor (Michael Caine) is on holiday with his film director friend (Harvey Keitel) in the Alps when he receives an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to perform for Prince Philip’s birthday. “[Director] Sorrentino, an Oscar winner for The Great Beauty, fills every frame with ravishing images that evoke his idol, Fellini”––Peter Travers, Rolling Stone. Sponsored by the Hirschfield International Film Series. (Paolo Sorrentino, Italy, 2014, 10 minutes) Free

(Damian Szifron, Argentina, 2014, 122 minutes) Vulnerable in the face of a reality that suddenly shifts and becomes unpredictable, the characters cross the thin line that divides civilization and barbarism. A lover’s betrayal, a return to a repressed past and the violence woven into everyday life drive the characters to madness as they cede to the undeniable pleasure of losing control. “If everyone behaved the way the characters in Wild Tales behave, civilization would crumble”––Bruce Ingram, Chicago Sun-Times. In Spanish with English subtitles.

A documentary examination of disgraced New York Congressman Anthony Weiner’s second fall from grace - during his 2013 mayoral campaign - amid today’s political landscape and the relentless contemporary media. “The best documentary about a political campaign ever made” - Eric Kohn, Indiewire. Sponsored by the Hirschfield International Film Series. (Josh Kriegman & Elyse Steinberg, USA, 2016, 96 minutes) Free

(Dardennes Brother, France, 2014, 95 minutes) Sandra works at a solar-panel plant and finds out that her co-workers have voted against her medical leave to preserve their bonuses. She is granted a vote by her boss, and has one weekend to persuade the other sixteen workers to change their minds. “Cotillard gets so persuasively inside Sandra’s skin that it’s not at all surprising that this performance has earned her another Oscar nomination”––Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In French with English subtitles. Sponsored by the French Department.

(Alejandro F. Almendras, Chile, 2014, 82 minutes) Jorge is a tranquil, middle-class family man whose neighborhood has become overrun by a fringe class of street thugs. His comparatively fortunate existence makes him the target of their intimidation one night, and a hulking outlaw robs him of his insulin needle. “A grim, fat-free revenge thriller that extracts an impressive degree of moral equivocation from its exceedingly simple premise.”––Guy Lodge, Variety. In Spanish with English subtitles.

(Abderrahmane Sissako, Mauritania, 2014, 97 minutes) Not far from Timbuktu, now ruled by the religious fundamentalists, Kidane lives peacefully in the dunes with his family. In town, the people suffer, powerless, from the regime of terror imposed by the Jihadists determined to control their faith. Everything changes when Kidane accidentally kills Amadou, the fisherman who slaughtered his beloved cow. “Each scene is breathtaking, such as the unforgettable soccer game played with no ball”––Farran Smith Nehme, New York Post. In French and Arabic with English subtitles.

In an Ottoman province during World War I, a Bedouin boy experiences a greatly hastened coming-of-age as he embarks on a perilous desert journey to guide a British officer to his secret destination. “Theeb exhibits the composure, bravery and cunning of a little savage driven by animal instinct”––Stephen Holden, New York Times. In Arabic with English subtitles. Sponsored by the Hirschfield International Film Series. (Naji Abu Nowar, Jordan, 2015, 100 minutes) Free

(Hayao Miyazaki, Japan, 2013, 126 minutes) Academy Award winner Hayao Miyazaki, one of the greatest animators and directors of Japan, draws his final feature with magnificence. It is inspired by the life of second world war Zero fighter plane designer Jiro Horikoshi, encompassing the great Kanto earthquake of 1923. “Miyazaki is at the peak of his visual craftsmanship here”––Scott Foundas,Variety. In Japanese with English subtitles.

(Stephane Brize, France, 2015, 93 minutes) An unemployed factory worker struggles to keep his family afloat and maintain his dignity in this powerful social drama. How much will this ordinary working man compromise his integrity to make ends meet? The lead performance by Vincent Lindon “is a veritable master class in understated humanism”––Scott Foundas, Variety. In French with English subtitles. Sponsored by the Department of French.

The Hirschfield International Film series presents Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look of Silence. The Look of Silence is Joshua Oppenheimer’s powerful companion piece to the Oscar nominated The Act of Killing. Through Oppenheimer’s footage of perpetrators of the 1965 Indonesian genocide, a family of survivors discovers how their son was murdered, as well as the identities of the killers. Sponsored by the Hirschfield International Film Series in association with The Vermont International Film Foundation.