2nd Sunday Cinema

This month’s 2nd Sunday Cinema movie is

TANTA AGUA

DIRECTED BY ANA GUEVARA AND LETICIA JORGE

Sunday, May 11 at 3:00pm at historic Potter Auditorium

TantaAgua_DVD_lo resURUGUAY / 2013 / SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES / 102 MIN

“Absorbing! Uruguayan filmmaking team Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge’s first feature is graced by a disarming lightness of touch.”  – David RooneyThe Hollywood Reporter

SYNOPSIS (from Film Movement)

“What could be worse than being 14 and on vacation with your father, stuck indoors during a seemingly endless rainstorm? Alberto and his two children, Lucia and Federico, set off to a hot springs resort for a short vacation. Alberto, who doesn’t see his kids much since the divorce, refuses to allow anything to ruin his plans. But the springs are closed until further notice due to heavy rains, and Lucia’s adolescent rebellion clashes against her father’s enthusiastic efforts for family quality time. When she meets friends her age, equally bored at the rained-out resort, Lucia’s vacation starts looking up. But flings can be fleeting, and it’s her father’s reliable insistence they spend time together that proves to be the most meaningful part of their unexpectedly enjoyable getaway.”

“The daughter-father relationship and coming-of-age story is engaging, tender and subtly funny, with extremely sensitive performances from its two leads.” – Vladan Petkovic, Cineuropa

FESTIVALS AND AWARDS

WINNER – Grand Prix and Best Screenplay, Miami International Film Festival

WINNER- Best First Feature, Guadalajara International Film Festival

WINNER – FIPRESCI Award, Cartagena Film Festival

WINNER – Norteado Award, San Sebastian International Film Festival

OFFICIAL SELECTION:

Berlin International Film Festival (Panorama Section)
Seoul International Film Festival (World Cinema)
San Sebastian International Film Festival (Horizontes Latinos)
Montreal International Film Festival
Maine International Film Festival
AFI Latin Film Festival
Vancouver International Film Festival

A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTORS (From Film Movement Press Kit)

There comes a point in life in which the love between parents and their children stops being simple and becomes complex and prone to misunderstandings. TANTA AGUA (So Much Water) is about that point in life.

A tiny, cramped house located in a rainy riverside resort is the setting for the characters’ misadventures. Alberto’s displays of enthusiasm are crushed by his 14-year-old daughter. The time they have spent apart makes them feel confused. A week may appear too short a holiday, yet it may be too much.

Amidst stubborn sprints in the rain for closed-down pools, tantrums, and overreactions, the characters keep getting in each other’s way as if trying to figure out their place in all this. A fling with a local woman, a bike accident, and a teenage unrequited love story, end up bringing them closer, unbeknownst to them.

At the beginning the film focuses on Alberto and his worries, plans and frustrations. Then, it slowly turns to Lucía, and eventually closes in on her, who, as she catches glimpses of the storm that comes her way, knows that sooner or later she will have to stick her head out and breathe.

This brief family adventure about people who are a little clumsy but who love each other, in spite of not understanding each other, aims at showing that, in the long run, things may not be as serious as they seem. Every family is a little ridiculous. What troubles us about our family is the fact that it is ours.

2nd Sunday Cinema is brought to you by the library, Chatfield Center for the Arts, Wits’ End Theatre and the Chatfield Lions.  This monthly event is free, ages 17+ welcome, and concessions are available for purchase. Join us for award-winning foreign or independent films on the 2nd Sunday of each month!

Second Sunday Cinema

This month’s 2nd Sunday Cinema movie is

THE IRAN JOB

Sunday, April 13th at 3:00pm at historic Potter Auditorium

Iran Job image

 A film by Till Schauder

United States, Iran and Germany / Documentary / English and Persian with English subtitles / 93 min.

SYNOPSIS When American basketball player Kevin Sheppard accepts a job to play in one of the world’s most feared countries – Iran – he expects the worst. But what he finds is a country brimming with generosity, acceptance, and sensuality. With a charismatic personality that charms everyone he meets, Kevin forms an unlikely friendship with three outspoken Iranian women who share with him their strong opinions on everything, from politics to religion to gender roles. Kevin’s season in Iran eventually culminates in something much bigger than basketball: the uprising and subsequent suppression of Iran’s reformist Green Movement – a powerful prelude to the sweeping changes currently unfolding across the Middle East in the wake of the Arab Spring.  (Movie synopsis from Film Movement.)

“Sad and hopeful in equal measure, and exceptional in its storytelling.”
—Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times

FESTIVALS AND AWARDS

OFFICIAL SELECTION:
Los Angeles Film Festival
Spokane International Film Festival
San Diego Asian Film Festival
Bahamas International Film Festival
Houston’s Iranian Film Festival
Starz Denver Film Festival

Director Schauder says: I wanted to make a documentary that plays like a movie. No “experts,” no talking heads, no political statements. Instead I wanted action, humor and romance. I did want a film that touches on the issues around Iran (political, religious, etc), but purely through the characters and the real-life drama in front of me, as opposed to high-brow intellectualism. For this approach I needed an exceptional protagonist – someone whose personality would create conflict, allow humor and attract other exceptional characters. It was important that “Iran”– which conjures up all kinds of associations – was the backdrop to the film, not the main character. And I needed a platform that’s not about politics or religion. Sports seemed the perfect medium.

2nd Sunday Cinema is brought to you by the library, Chatfield Center for the Arts, Wits’ End Theatre and the Chatfield Lions.

This monthly event is free, ages 17+ welcome, refreshments will be available for purchase.

Join us for award-winning foreign or independent films on the 2nd Sunday of each month!