WESTCHESTER COMMUNITY COLLEGE PRESENTS FALL FILM SERIES

Westchester Community College’s Fall 2009 season of the Friday Night Film Series features six outstanding films. It includes a brief introduction to each film, program notes, and discussions. Performances begin at 8:00 p.m. in the Classroom Building, Room 200. A season subscription costs only $54; for Westchester Community College students, staff, and seniors over 60, the cost is $48. A single admission, when available, is $11 ($10 for seniors). Professor Bill Costanzo is your host. For further information, call 914-606-6700. Infrared listening devices are available at the box office. For campus closings due to weather, see the web site (sunywcc.edu) or call 914-606-6900.

ALEXANDRA (Russia, 2007) on September 11. At age 81, the celebrated opera diva Galina Vishnevskaya takes on the role of a Russian woman who pays a visit to her grandson in occupied Chechnya. Civilians are not allowed; but that does not stop her from pushing her luggage amid tanks and armored vehicles with dogged determination. Russian and Chechen, with English subtitles (95 minutes)

TELL NO ONE (France, 2007) on September 25. After a romantic swim on a secluded lake, a couple’s life is suddenly changed forever. Knocked unconscious by a mysterious hand, the husband wakes to find himself suspected of his wife’s brutal murder. Guillaume Canet’s ingenious whodunit is perfectly paced and powerfully performed.
French, with English subtitles (125 minutes)

THE EDGE OF HEAVEN (Germany, 2007) on October 2. Young Turkish-German director/writer/actor Faith Akin has astonished audiences with striking films like In July (2000) and Head-On (2004), both movies about countrymen caught between two cultures. In this film, a retired widower chooses a prostitute for his housemate. A mishap sends the man’s son to Turkey in search of the woman’s daughter, starting a chain of escalating encounters with profoundly personal and political resonance.
German, Turkish, and English, with English subtitles (122 minutes)

TULPAN (Kazakhstan, 2008) on October 9. Sergey Dvortsevoy’s first feature is set in the wilderness of Kazakhstan. Asa, a romantic young sailor just back from military service, dreams of making his home here, which means finding a wife among the few eligible women. The lovely Tulpan is the key to his dream, but her heart is locked. A winner at Cannes, Tulpan is a “visually stunning coming-of-age drama.” (Spirituality and Practice)
Kasakh and Russian, with English subtitles (100 minutes)

THE LINGUISTS (USA, 2008) on October 16. Every two weeks, one of the world’s
7,000 spoken languages is lost to colonialism and globalization. David Harrison and Gregory Anderson, two young linguists who speak 25 languages between them, want to change that. These professors traveled to Siberia, Bolivia and India to rescue dying tongues. At this special showing, director Jeremy Newberger will speak about the making of the film.
Spanish, Russian, Hindi, Chemehuevi, Sora, Quecha and English, with English subtitles (64 minutes)

PERSEPOLIS (Iran/France/USA, 2007) on October 23. Based on Marjane Satrapi’s much admired graphic novel, Persepolis recounts her story of growing up in 1970’s Iran. Political realities like the Shah’s repressive regime, the Islamic revolution, and the rise of a fundamentalist theocracy are seen from a very personal perspective using the creative arts of hand-drawn animation to capture a child’s experience of a complex world.
Persian, French, German, and English, with English subtitles (96 minutes)