[Peace] free films at Parkland Comm College / Global Lens schedule

[Karen Medina]

Global Lens Film Series 2012
A showcase of six critically acclaimed narrative feature films will
screen at Parkland College this fall. Global Lens is an annual,
touring film series launched in 2003 by the Global Film Initiative to
support the distribution of cinematic works from around the world. The
series provides a platform for exceptional storytelling and a window
into our diverse world.

All events are FREE!
Global Lens 2012 films being screened at Parkland College include:

Fat, Bald, Short Man (Gordo, Calvo Y Bajito), dir. Carlos
Thursday, September 6, 6:30PM in Room C118
Synopsis Lonesome, middle-aged virgin Antonio Farfán is picked on and
ridiculed as a matter of course, whether by coworkers or his bullying
mooch of a brother (who only calls when he needs money). An employee
at a notary office, his status improves a bit when his new boss—and
strangely affable doppelgänger—takes an interest in him. But Farfán’s
deep-seated shyness and insecurity are only partly assuaged. And when
he joins a self-improvement group, he slowly confirms what the
undulating lines of this sly, involving rotoscope story suggest:
everything is in motion, and change is inevitable. The question
becomes what use one makes of it. View trailer.

Toll Booth (Gise Memuru), dir. Tolga Karacelik
Thursday, September 20, 6:30PM in Room C118
Synopsis A taciturn tollbooth attendant shuffles between a suffocating
home life with his ailing father and the monotony of the box where he
works. Desperate to resist his father’s attempt to marry him off while
determined to prove his worth by fixing his family’s broken-down car,
he drives himself toward a nervous breakdown. After a reassignment to
a desolate country road, he begins a flirtatious relationship with a
woman who drives by each day. But is this salvation for the aging
bachelor, or the further unraveling of his mind? An expert cast and
keen art direction contribute to this wry, heartbreaking ode to lost
dreams in a sleepwalking world. View trailer.

Amnesty (Amnistia), dir. Bujar Alimani
Tuesday, October 4, 6:30PM in Room C118
Synopsis A new national law allowing conjugal visits for inmates
brings together a man and woman visiting the same prison to meet their
incarcerated spouses. Elsa’s dutiful contact with her husband is part
of a routine consumed with job searching, raising her two sons, and
getting along with her father-in-law. When she meets Spetim, a quiet
man visiting his imprisoned wife in equally passionless encounters,
they slowly find the sympathy and companionship missing from their
lives. A prisoner amnesty, however, soon threatens their fragile bond
in this closely observed, sensual and contemplative drama highlighting
a period of subtle but profound social transformation. View trailer

Craft (Riscado), dir. Gustavo Pizzi
Thursday, October 18, 6:30PM in Room C118
Synopsis Bianca manages a precarious living as a talented but
underemployed actress in Rio de Janeiro, performing for private events
dressed as female movie icons. Troubled by the thought she has missed
her chance at a “big break,” she perseveres with single-minded
dedication to her craft—until an audition leads to a rare opportunity,
and possible redemption for years of social marginality. But her world
may still prove too insecure, even for one as gifted and deserving as
Bianca. Set against rich visuals and a down-to-earth tone, Karine
Teles’s remarkable lead performance drives an enveloping drama of
everyday tragedy in the working world of an artist. View trailer.

The Finger (El Dedo), dir. Sergio Teubal
Thursday, November 1, 6:30PM in Room C118
Synopsis After seven years of dictatorship, a remote village in
Argentina formally becomes a town with the birth of its 501st
inhabitant. Hidalgo, a slick and ingratiating scion, is eager for the
new post of mayor. Smelling a rat, Baldomero (a beloved natural leader
with a habitually tapping digit) opposes him with his own
candidacy—and soon turns up dead.  His shopkeeper brother vows
revenge, keeping Baldomero’s severed finger in a jar, initially as a
remembrance, but eventually as an absurd icon of leadership that spurs
the town to defy crooked elections, interloping powers and Hidalgo to
go its own way. Based on real events, this charming dramatic comedy
pokes fun at small town ways while celebrating true democratic values.
View trailer.

Mourning (Soog), dir. Morteza Farshbaf
Thursday, December 6, 6:30PM in Room C118
Synopsis From a black screen, a man and a woman are heard arguing and
hurrying away from a house. Afterward, the screen radiates brilliant
green countryside, traversed by a small black car. Subtitles relay a
conversation by another man and woman, but now we hear no voices.
Kamran and Sharareh, a deaf couple, are driving Sharareh’s young
nephew, Arshia, back home to Tehran. Something terrible has happened.
But the couple keep the news from Arshia, debating his future in a
language not as private as they believe, and turning a car trip into a
subtly humorous and deeply compassionate meditation on communication
and emotional disability. View trailer.

The Global Lens Co-Sponsored by Parkland Art Gallery and International
Student Services.
Programs at the Parkland Art Gallery are partially supported by a
grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a State agency.