Louisville Film Society
The Global Lens film series was launched by the Global Film Initiative in 2003 to support the distribution of unique and critically acclaimed cinematic works from around the world. Since its founding, the series has provided a platform for exceptional storytelling and opened a window into the diverse world in which we live. Now in its sixth year, Global Lens continues to attract dynamic new audiences and discover extraordinary new films. For more information about the Global Lens film series and Global Film Initiative programs, please visit: http://www.globalfilm.org.
I Am From Titov Veles
(Jas Sum Od Titov Veles)
Sunday October 4th @ 1pm
Sunday October 11th @ 3pm
Directed by Teona Strugar Mitevska
Macedonian, with subtitles in English
Macedonia, 2007, 102 minutes
Set in the quaint but scarred town of Veles, three sisters long to escape the suffocating environment of their dying community. Burdened by memories of their late father, each chooses a different path: Sapho struggles to secure a visa to Greece, Slavica desperately searches for a rich husband, and Afrodita harbors hopes for love and children. In this contemporary story of urban decay, director Teona Strugar Mitevska blends stark realism with memorable performances to create a vivid landscape of life and longing in post-communist Macedonia.
Song From The Southern Seas
(Pesn’ Juzhnykh Morej)
Sunday October 4th @ 3pm
Sunday October 11th @ 1pm
Directed by Marat Sarulu
Russian, with subtitles in English
Kazakhstan, 2008, 80 minutes
Two couples, one Russian and one Kazakh, live side by side in relative harmony in a beautiful yet semi-desolate region of the Great Steppe. But when the fair-skinned Russians give birth to a boy of decidedly darker skin, fifteen years of suspicion and acrimony arises between them, and can only be resolved by an ironic twist of family and fate. At times darkly somber, at other times tender and wistful—and buoyed throughout by a soundtrack of folk-inspired melodies—writer director Marat Sarulu draws on Kazakhstan’s epic history to create a gritty and deeply compassionate tale of humor and cultural insight.
My Time Will Come
(Cuando Me Toque A Mi)
Sunday October 18th @ 3pm
Sunday October 25th @ 1pm
Directed by Víctor Arregui
Spanish, with subtitles in English
Ecuador, 2008, 90 minutes
A predawn murder sets in motion a series of interlocking tragedies that eventually find their way to the city morgue’s brooding Dr. Arturo Fernandez. Physically and emotionally isolated from the world around him, Arturo develops an oddly intimate relationship with the personal lives of his cases, gradually forcing him to confront his connection to the living, and the dead. Adapted from the novel De Que Nada Se Sabe, director Víctor Arregui’s serpentine tale is a dark but sympathetic portrait of one man’s solitude set against a richly textured rendering of Quito, Ecuador’s capital city.
What A Wonderful World
Sunday October 18th @ 3pm
Sunday October 25th @ 1pm
Directed by Faouzi Bensaïdi
French and Arabic, with subtitles in English
Morocco, 2006, 94 minutes
Souad is a prostitute whose best friend is Kenza, a tough traffic cop. Kamel is a stony-eyed contract killer who receives his hit orders via the Internet; he is also Souad’s favorite customer. When Kenza falls in love with Kamel, the two begin a bizarre courtship doomed by their disparate lines of work, and a persistent cyber-snooping hacker who stumbles upon the site where Kamel receives his murderous contracts. Moroccan actor-director Faouzi Bensaïdi’s promiscuously stylish film is a new vision of an old culture, unveiling an uncommon Casablanca caught in a world wide web of associations and consequences.
Possible Lives
(Las Vidas Posibles)
Sunday November 1th @ 1pm
Sunday November 8th @ 3pm
Directed by Sandra Gugliotta
Spanish, with subtitles in English
Argentina, 2007, 80 minutes
After her husband mysteriously disappears during a business trip to Patagonia, Clara embarks on a desperate mission to find him. During her search, she makes a startling discovery: a man with an uncanny resemblance to her spouse, but with another name and a wife. Convinced the stranger may be her husband, she ignores entreaties to quit her search just as police discover a body that may be the real man she seeks. Shot amid majestic vistas and suffused with vibrant color and sexuality, director Sandra Gugliotta’s
feature is a haunting and suspenseful study of grief and letting go.
Sunday November 8th @ 3pm
Directed by Sandra Gugliotta
Spanish, with subtitles in English
Argentina, 2007, 80 minutes
After her husband mysteriously disappears during a business trip to Patagonia, Clara embarks on a desperate mission to find him. During her search, she makes a startling discovery: a man with an uncanny resemblance to her spouse, but with another name and a wife. Convinced the stranger may be her husband, she ignores entreaties to quit her search just as police discover a body that may be the real man she seeks. Shot amid majestic vistas and suffused with vibrant color and sexuality, director Sandra Gugliotta’s
feature is a haunting and suspenseful study of grief and letting go.
Mutum
Sunday November 1th @ 3pm
Sunday November 8th @ 1pm
Directed by Sandra Kogut
Portuguese, with subtitles in English
Brazil, 2007, 86 minutes
Thiago is a sensitive and imaginative boy living on a small, hardscrabble farm in a remote region of Brazil. His life is filled not only with curiosity and youthful discovery, but also the reality of his parent’s unhappy marriage and his father’s abuse – all of which are one day changed by a chance encounter and unexpected gift. Director Sandra Kogut, in her poetic adaptation of the Brazilian short story Campo Geral, focuses on minute details of rural life to tell a bittersweet story of one boy’s coming-of-age amidst events both great and small.
Sunday November 8th @ 1pm
Directed by Sandra Kogut
Portuguese, with subtitles in English
Brazil, 2007, 86 minutes
Thiago is a sensitive and imaginative boy living on a small, hardscrabble farm in a remote region of Brazil. His life is filled not only with curiosity and youthful discovery, but also the reality of his parent’s unhappy marriage and his father’s abuse – all of which are one day changed by a chance encounter and unexpected gift. Director Sandra Kogut, in her poetic adaptation of the Brazilian short story Campo Geral, focuses on minute details of rural life to tell a bittersweet story of one boy’s coming-of-age amidst events both great and small.
The Photograph
Sunday November 15th @ 1pm
Sunday November 22nd @ 3pm
Directed by Nan Achnas
Indonesian, with subtitles in English
Indonesia, 2007, 98 minutes
Sita is a spirited young woman working to support her family as a singer and prostitute in a local brothel. Always short of funds and bullied by her pimp, she convinces an elderly portrait photographer, Mr. Johan, to rent her a room; in failing health, Mr. Johan is desperate to find an apprentice to carry on his work before he dies. The unlikely bond that develops between Sita and Mr. Johan is the basis of writer-director Nan Achnas’s visually brilliant and poignant human drama about the profound effect one life can have on another.
Sunday November 22nd @ 3pm
Directed by Nan Achnas
Indonesian, with subtitles in English
Indonesia, 2007, 98 minutes
Sita is a spirited young woman working to support her family as a singer and prostitute in a local brothel. Always short of funds and bullied by her pimp, she convinces an elderly portrait photographer, Mr. Johan, to rent her a room; in failing health, Mr. Johan is desperate to find an apprentice to carry on his work before he dies. The unlikely bond that develops between Sita and Mr. Johan is the basis of writer-director Nan Achnas’s visually brilliant and poignant human drama about the profound effect one life can have on another.
Those Three
(An Seh)
Sunday November 15th @ 3pm
Sunday November 22nd @ 1pm
Directed by Naghi Nemati
Farsi and Turkish, with subtitles in English
Iran, 2007, 80 minutes
Just one day from completing their military training, three conscripts desert their camp and escape into the frozen wilderness of Northern Iran. Travel through this mountainous, snowbound region is dangerous, but “those three” opt for the independence it promises and must now forge their way through an uncertain landscape, with only friendship to see them through. In this austere and mesmerizing debut feature, director Naghi Nemati’s attention to the minutiae of human relationships is a quiet and deliberate meditation on the value of responsibility, connection and sacrifice.
Sunday November 22nd @ 1pm
Directed by Naghi Nemati
Farsi and Turkish, with subtitles in English
Iran, 2007, 80 minutes
Just one day from completing their military training, three conscripts desert their camp and escape into the frozen wilderness of Northern Iran. Travel through this mountainous, snowbound region is dangerous, but “those three” opt for the independence it promises and must now forge their way through an uncertain landscape, with only friendship to see them through. In this austere and mesmerizing debut feature, director Naghi Nemati’s attention to the minutiae of human relationships is a quiet and deliberate meditation on the value of responsibility, connection and sacrifice.
Sleepwalking Land
(Terra Sonâmbula)
Sunday November 29th @ 1pm
Sunday December 6th @ 3pm
Directed by Teresa Prata
Portuguese, with subtitles in English
Mozambique, 2007, 97 minutes
In the midst of Mozambique’s devastating civil war, Muidinga, an orphaned refugee, wanders the countryside in search of his mother. His only companion is an elderly storyteller, and the only guide to finding his mother is a dead man’s diary. Together, the storyteller and diary lead him on a magical, and sometimes macabre, journey across war-torn landscapes to find the family he lost. Based on Mia Coutou’s acclaimed Portuguese novel of the same name, Teresa Prata’s transporting drama underscores the power of imagination in surviving, and ultimately overcoming, the catastrophe of war.
Sunday December 6th @ 3pm
Directed by Teresa Prata
Portuguese, with subtitles in English
Mozambique, 2007, 97 minutes
In the midst of Mozambique’s devastating civil war, Muidinga, an orphaned refugee, wanders the countryside in search of his mother. His only companion is an elderly storyteller, and the only guide to finding his mother is a dead man’s diary. Together, the storyteller and diary lead him on a magical, and sometimes macabre, journey across war-torn landscapes to find the family he lost. Based on Mia Coutou’s acclaimed Portuguese novel of the same name, Teresa Prata’s transporting drama underscores the power of imagination in surviving, and ultimately overcoming, the catastrophe of war.
Getting Home
(Luo Ye Gui Gen)
Sunday November 29th @ 3pm
Sunday December 6th @ 1pm
Directed by Zhang Yang
Mandarin, with subtitles in English
China, 2007, 101 minutes
In this soulful and humane comedy, Zhao, a middle-aged construction worker, struggles to fulfill a dying co-worker’s last wish to be buried in China’s Three Gorges region. Setting out with his colleague’s body in tow, Zhao travels hundreds of miles across extraordinary countryside, encountering a number of colorful adventures and characters—and even discovering love in some unlikely quarters. Director Zhang Yang’s humorous and moving tale of friendship offers a powerful, and sometimes slapstick, commentary on the value of community and human connectivity in modern China.
Sunday December 6th @ 1pm
Directed by Zhang Yang
Mandarin, with subtitles in English
China, 2007, 101 minutes
In this soulful and humane comedy, Zhao, a middle-aged construction worker, struggles to fulfill a dying co-worker’s last wish to be buried in China’s Three Gorges region. Setting out with his colleague’s body in tow, Zhao travels hundreds of miles across extraordinary countryside, encountering a number of colorful adventures and characters—and even discovering love in some unlikely quarters. Director Zhang Yang’s humorous and moving tale of friendship offers a powerful, and sometimes slapstick, commentary on the value of community and human connectivity in modern China.