Melbourne Filmoteca 2014 Program
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MELBOURNE FILMOTECA 2014 PROGRAM February 4th 2014 7pm ACMI Cinemas 1. Chinese Takeaway- Un Cuento Chino Director: Sebastián Borensztein Year: 2011 Country: Argentina Duration: 95 minutes Roberto, an Argentinean, and Jun, a Chinese who has just arrived in Buenos Aires meet each other randomly after Jun has just been robbed and kicked out of a cab in the street. Jun is looking for his only family member alive, his uncle. Roberto decides to play the hero in this story. How will they start to communicate and cohabit with each other if neither they both speak Spanish or Chinese? March 4th 2014 7pm ACMI Cinemas *Free Screening, first in-best dressed based 2. Son of Clouds Director: Alvaro Longoria Year: 2012 Country: Spain Duration: 80 min Alvaro Longoria partners with Academy Award® winner Javier Bardem for his directorial debut, Sons of the Clouds: The Last Colony. This compelling documentary brings to light the political and human rights issues facing the people of the Western Sahara, and the responsibility of Western powers to restore peace to the region. The film examines the current political turmoil and the failed policies, namely realpolitik, which have generated tremendous instabilities in the region. A personal journey for Bardem, the film focuses on the bleak reality of the Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony that is now occupied, in part, by Morocco, and has resulted in almost 200,000 refugees living in camps in the desert. www.melbournefilmoteca.org April 1st 2014 7pm ACMI Cinemas 3. Mondays in the Sun- Los Lunes al sol Director: Fernando Leon de Aranoa Year: 2002 Country: Spain Duration: 113 min The closing of a shipyard in the city of Vigo (northern Spain) has left six men at a loose end, and now they treat each day as if it was a Sunday; philosophizing, reminiscing and sharing their disappointments. Passing most of their time at a bar one of them opened after the shipyard’s demise, the films examines the ways in which each of the men deals with the harsh realities of life without a job. May 6th 2014 7pm ACMI Cinemas 1. Mexican Suitcase- La Maleta Mexicana Director: Trisha Ziff Year: 2011 Country: Mexico /Spain Duration: 86 min In 2007, an American filmmaker living in Mexico accidentally came into possession of three thin, delicate and cracking old suitcases. Contained inside were about 4,500 negatives that had been shot during the Spanish Civil War by brave photographers David “Chim” Seymour, Gerda Taro and Robert Capa, who pioneered a type of photojournalism from within the war zone. It was rumoured that all the negatives had travelled in a single suitcase, with archivists hunting it for years. Through their images, and expert interviews, director Trisha Ziff focuses in particular on the many thousands of defeated Republicans who at war’s end fled Franco’s advancing forces and ended up emigrating from Spain by the boatload to Mexico. June 3rd 2014 7pm ACMI Cinemas 2. Hollywood Talkies Director: Mia de Ribot, Oscar Perez Year: 2011 Country: Spain Duration: 61 min www.melbournefilmoteca.org Regarded as an even lower class than Hollywood studio extras – Spanish actors who were called to perform in alternative versions during the transition to sound films remain as a curious margin note in film history. Even when they starred in big budget films the very studios that made them seem uninterested in remembering. And that’s precisely what Pérez and De Ribot’s documentary tries to rescue from oblivion: the lives of all those actors and actresses who crossed over the Atlantic to work almost invisibly in the 30’s American film industry. Hollywood Talkies is a portrait of a generation of artists alienated by the promise of a life just like the ones stars used to live. July 1st 2014 7pm ACMI Cinemas 3. Milk Of Sorrow- La Teta Asustada Director: Claudia Llosa Year: 2009 Country: Peru Duration: 95 min Fausta is ill with a disease contracted from her mother’s breast milk known as “the milk of sorrow”. This is not a sickness caused by bacteria or infection: it is a condition that only affects those women in Peru who were abused or raped during years of terrorist struggle. Although this horrific period is now history, Fausta is nonetheless a living reminder of this time. Her sickness is called fear – and it has robbed her of her soul. However, her mother’s sudden death unleashes unexpected events that change Fausta’s life dramatically, as she sets out on a journey – a journey that will lead her out of her fear and into freedom. September 2nd 2014 7pm ACMI Cinemas 4. Postcards from Leningrad- POSTALES DE LENINGRADO Director: Mariana Rondón Year: 2007 Country: Venezuela Duration: 90 min Being the daughter of a guerrilla fighter in 1960s Venezuela isn’t easy: just ask la Niña, narrator of Postales de Leningrado. Together with her cousin Teo, she copes with her clandestine life by reinventing it as a game of childish make-believe and super- heroes. However, sometimes reality impinges, and la Niña’s fantasy world is threatened by uncertainty and fear. www.melbournefilmoteca.org October 7th 2014 7pm ACMI Cinemas 5. The Colours of the Mountain- Los Colores de La Montaña Director: Carlos César Arbeláez Year: 2010 Country: Colombia Duration: 93 min In the midst of civil war in a village of the Colombian Andes, Manuel, 9, has an old ball with which he plays football every day. He dreams of becoming a great goalkeeper and his wishes seem set to come true when Ernest, his father, gives him a new ball. But an unexpected accident sends the ball flying into a minefield. Despite the danger, Manuel refuses to abandon his treasure and he convinces Julián and Poca Luz, his two friends, to rescue it with him. Amid the adventures and kids' games, the signs of armed conflict start to appear in the lives of the inhabitants of "La Pradera". November 4th 2014 7pm ACMI Cinemas 6. The Secret in their eyes- El Secreto de Sus Ojos Year: 2009 Director: Juán José Campanella Country: Argentina Duration: 129 min Benjamin Esposito has spent his entire working life as a criminal court employee. Recently retired, and with time on his hands, he decides to write a novel. He does not decide to make up a story, as there is no need to. He can draw on his own past as a civil servant for a true, moving and tragic story in which he was once very directly involved. In 1974 his court was assigned an investigation into the rape and murder of a beautiful young woman, leading to unforeseen consequences. December 2nd 2014 7pm ACMI Cinemas 7. Chico and Rita Director: Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal Year: 2010 Country: Spain / United Kingdom Duration: 94 min www.melbournefilmoteca.org A beautifully animated film depicting Chico a young piano player with big dreams, and Rita a sensual singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and romantic desire unites them, but their journey – in the tradition of the Latin ballad, the bolero – brings heartache and torment. From Havana to New York and Paris to Hollywood, Chico and Rita battle music, love and each other. www.melbournefilmoteca.org .