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Columbia University's latest offering in its World Leaders Forum program is "Seen from Abroad," a film series and panel discussion on the tremendous impact of American cinema on world wide culture, March 22-24.
Co-sponsored by Columbia's School of the Arts and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the three-day series of events will feature four full-length foreign films and a panel discussion with major international film critics moderated by David Denby, film critic for The New Yorker magazine. The critics will each present clips of recent U.S. films, discuss their influence on their countries, and showcase films from Brazil, Egypt, India and Italy.
Film screenings will be held on March 22 and 23 at 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. in the Roone Arledge Cinema of Alfred Lerner Hall. The panel discussion will meet on Friday, March 24, at 6:00 p.m. in the Low Library Rotunda.
Registration is required for all events and is available at http://worldleaders.columbia.edu. All events are free and open to the public.
Schedule of Events
Wednesday, March 22
Roone Arledge Cinema, Alfred Lerner Hall
6:00 p.m.
In un Altro Paese / In Another Country
Marco Turco, 2005, Italy, 92m
Written by Vania Del Borgo and Marco Turco, in collaboration with U.S. journalist and Columbia University Sao Paolo Professor of International Journalism Alexander Stille (author of the book Excellent Cadavers: The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic), the documentary examines the battle between the Sicilian mafia and Italian politics. The film follows the tragic story of the mega-trial in Palermo and two justices who made it possible: Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.
9:00 p.m.
Terra Estrangeira / Foreign Land
Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas, 1995, Brazil, 100m
The film is about a generation in crisis, lost in a country which is, itself, unsure of his identity. The story starts just after the election of Collor de Mello in Brazil and the economic policy of the new government (the freezing of bank deposits, among other measures) and follows Paco (Fernando Alves Pinto), a young man in his early twenties, the son of a Spanish immigrant, and Alex (Fernanda Torres), a young Brazilian woman, "an economic émigré" living in Lisbon facing the crude reality of life in another country. Jumping back and forth between the stories of Paco in São Paulo and Alex and in Lisbon the film shows the deepening of their personal crisis until their destinies finally converge in a desperate attempt to find happiness.
Thursday, March 23
Roone Arledge Cinema, Alfred Lerner Hall
6:00 p.m.
Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi / A Thousand Dreams Such as These
Sudhir Mishra, 2004 , India , 120m
An intense love story set against the backdrop of political turmoil during the Emergency period in the late 1960s and 1970s in India. "Hazaaron Kwaishein Aisi" is the story of a romantic triangle between Siddharth Tyabji (KayKay Menon), Geeta Rao (Chitrangda Singh) and Vikram Malhorta (Roshan Ahuja). Geeta is in love with Siddharth but politics is Siddharth's first love. Vikram, however, is madly in love with Geeta.
9:00 p.m.
Muwatin, wa Mukhbir, wa Harami / A Citizen, a Detective and a Thief
Dawoud Abdel-Sayyed, 2001 , Egypt , 135m
In 1980, a series of events brings an aspiring novelist in contact with a detective and a thief. They begin a relationship of interdependency.
Friday, March 24, 2006 , 6:00 PM
Rotunda, Low Memorial Library
Seen from Abroad: International Film Critics Look at American Film Today
Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger hosts a panel discussion with moderator David Denby, film critic and staff writer, The New Yorker.
Participants:
- Irene Bignardi, film and culture critic for La Repubblica and former director of the Locarno International Film Festival, Italy
- José Carlos Avellar, noted Brazilian film scholar and critic for the Jornal do Brasil, Brazil
- Mohamed El-Assyouti, film critic for Al-Ahram Weekly and film teacher at the American University in Cairo, Egypt
- Pritish Nandy, chief film critic for The Times of India and founder of Pritish Nandy Communications, India
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