Belmont
World Film, the non-profit organization founded in
2002 to celebrate humanity around the world through
the medium of film announces its 2005 series,
Things We Do For Love…and Lust, a select group
of mature feature films from six different countries
that explore the universal language of love.
The foreign film series begins on Saturday, March
12, and runs through Monday, April 11. The
organization’s popular International Family Film
Festival and Documentary Weekend are scheduled for the
weekends of April 16-20, and April 30-May 1,
respectively. All events take place at the Studio
Cinema, Belmont.
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Still from award-winning
author/illustrator Peter
Reynolds' animated film, THE DOT. The film, winner of multiple awards,
including 2nd Prize, Animated Short Film, at the Chicago Int'l
Children's Film Festival, was co-produced by
Watertown based production company,
FableVision, Inc. Photo courtesy of
Scholastic Weston Woods. |
In the four years since it was founded, non-profit Belmont
World Film has seen its original targeted audience of
high-school foreign language students change and
evolve into a new audience of sophisticated adult
filmgoers eager to watch some of the best in foreign
cinema. Such change in Belmont World Film’s audience
is reflected in this year’s slate of films, most of
which address the decidedly grown-up themes of love
and lust. And while not all the films are carnal in
nature, each one approaches the issue of human desire
in its own unique way. According to Naomi
Ellenberg-Dukas, founder and executive director of
Belmont World Film, this shift in programming for the
organization is a good one. “We (BWF) wanted
something that would counter the harsh realities of
the world right now. So we looked for some great
comedies coming out of Europe and Asia, and when we
couldn’t find enough of those, we decided to turn to
the next best thing, which we thought happened to
be…sex. And it soon turned out that we had a
terrific group of films to choose from. It’s
actually pretty amazing to see how different cultures
from around the world deal with the universal themes
of love and lust.”
Something that audiences at this year’s
Belmont World Film series will be soon be able to
discover for
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Still from Caldecott award-winning illustrator Simms Taback's animated film,THIS IS THE
HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT. Photo courtesy of Scholastic/Weston
Woods. |
themselves.
Belmont World Film 2005 starts off with a bang, as the group
presents the Boston-area premiere of award-winning
Italian film DON’T MOVE,
starring Penelope Cruz and Sergio Castellitto.
Directed by Italian star Castellitto and based on the
novel by his wife, Margaret, the film’s story is
told from the point of view of a married surgeon in
mid-life crisis who falls in love with a poor and
lonely woman who experiences true love for the first
time. The film has been compared to Lina
Wertmuller’s classic SWEPT AWAY in capturing a
grown-up love story between two desperate people. The
DON’T MOVE event continues Belmont World Film’s
signature of pairing a film with either a topical
speaker, native musician, or ethnic food particular to
the film’s geographic setting, as the evening’s
filmgoers will be treated to an Italian coffee and
dessert buffet for a truly authentic Italian
experience.
Throughout
its Spring 2005 schedule, the Belmont World Film
series will continue to explore the actions people
take when it comes to matters of the heart on five
successive Monday nights at 7:30 PM. In addition to
DON’T MOVE, this year’s BWF line-up includes:
Mar.
14, TRAVELLERS & MAGICIANS, (Bhutan-not rated),
described as a magical mixture of rustic road movie
and mystical love story, the film was directed by
Khyentse Norbu, one of Himalayan Buddhism’s most
revered lamas. Mar. 21, NOTHING, (Cuba-not rated), A
romantic farce about a bored female postal worker in
Havana who is waiting for her US visa in order to join
her parents in Miami. Mar., 28, UNTOLD SCANDAL
(Korea-not rated), Based on French novel Dangerous
Liaisons, this film about a love wager gone awry is
set in the aristocratic 18th century of
Korea at the end of the Chosun Dynasty. April 4, AE
FOND KISS (Scotland-not rated) The final installment
of director Ken Loach’s “Glasgow Trilogy”
reveals how cultures collide when a Pakistani DJ falls
for a Catholic teacher at his sister’s high school.
April 11, FILANTROPICA (France/Romania-not rated) A
poor literature teacher dreams of becoming a famous
writer, but goes broke trying to impress the
superficial model he falls for.
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Still from THE BOY WHO WANTED TO BE A BEAR by famed Danish animator,
Jannik Hastrup. Music by Bruno Coulais who did the score for WINGED
MIGRATION. Premiering at Belmont World Film's 2005 Family Festival, April 17th.
Photo courtesy of Central Park Media. |
BWF’s
Family Film Festival takes place the weekend of April
16 through the 19th with an
additional screening during school vacation on April
21st. The Family Weekend once again kicks
off with two programs of short animated films based on
children’s books and produced by Scholastic/Weston
Woods Studios. Sunday’s line-up includes the
Boston-area premiere of acclaimed animated feature THE
BOY WHO WANTED TO BE A BEAR by master Danish animator
Jannik Hasstrup. The film was the winner of both the
Adult Jury Award and Children’s Jury Award at the
Chicago Int’l Children’s Film Festival and
received a Special Mention at the Berlin Film
Festival. Sunday’s program also includes an
afternoon screening of new Japanese Anime programmed
by the Boston Anime Society, and a screening of the
Academy Award nominated documentary, THE WEEPING CAMEL
Belmont
World Film 2005 concludes with its Documentary Weekend
April 30 through May 1st.
Among the films shown will be the inspiring
JIMI SIR and THE LITTLE ANGEL FROM COLUMBIA.
As BWF founder Naomi Ellenberg-Dukas says,
“There seems to be a real hunger in the Greater
Boston area not only to view foreign films, but also
for the opportunity to talk about the experiences and
cultures represented. There are so many good foreign
films, but they often don’t get shown in this
country. We at Belmont World Film hope that the
carefully chosen international films we present will
draw out members of the community, stimulate
discussion, and bring people together in a positive
way.”
Belmont
World Film is grateful to Studio Cinema owner Jim
Bramante, who has assisted BWF since its inception,
the Mass Cultural Council through funding of the
Belmont Cultural Council and the law firm of Goodwin
Procter LLP for their support of the series.
For
more information about the series, including full film
descriptions/ticket info, please call 617-484-3980 or
visit www.belmontworldfilm.org.
Rebecca Richards is a former Executive Director of Women in Film and
Video/New England. She also has served as guest editor
of the “Women’s Issue” of IMAGINE since 1999 and
is a frequent contributor. She can be reached at recrich@aol.com
