Modern Language Film Fest

Join Oakton for its 26th Modern Language Film Festival. Travel the globe without leaving your seat through a dozen fascinating, highlyrated films that showcase the wide range of languages offered by the College! All screenings are free and open to the public. Sponsored by the Department of Modern Languages and the Office of Access, Equity, and Diversity.

Films are presented in their original languages with English subtitles. Most foreign movies aren’t rated by the Motion Picture Association of America and may be appropriate for mature audiences only.

ARABIC
Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story (2009)
This “bold and brave” (Variety) drama from Egyptian filmmaker Yousry Nasrallah follows the fortunes of Hebba, who produces a successful TV political talk show, and her husband Karim, deputy editor-in-chief of a government-controlled newspaper. When his promotion is threatened by Hebba’s program, Karim sweet-talks her into avoiding controversy by devoting the show to other topics. She begins a series about women’s issues, revealing the stories of strong, resilient women who, like Scheherazade in One Thousand and One Nights, tell their tales in order to stay alive. (134 mins.)
Thursday, April 4, 4:30 p.m., Room A145/152, Skokie

CHINESE
The Flowers of War (2011)
Set in 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Zhang Yimou’s melodrama stars Christian Bale as American drifter John Miller, the unwilling guardian of a group of Catholic school girls and prostitutes who have taken shelter in Nanjing’s cathedral during a brutal massacre that leaves 250,000 dead. Based on the book The 13 Women of Nanjing by Geling Yan, the film is a deeply moving account of a handful of people trying to survive an apocalypse. The Chinese submission for the Academy Awards, The Flowers of War is an epic wartime drama of heroism and self-sacrifice. (146 minutes)
Thursday, April 4, 6:30 p.m., Room 1608, Des Plaines

FRENCH
The Chorus (2004)
When former music teacher Clément Mathieu arrives at a boarding school for boys in the French countryside in 1949, he finds himself surrounded by prepubescent thieves, inveterate liars, unapologetic rebels, and lost souls beyond reach. Or are they? When Mathieu introduces these supposedly hard-core delinquents to something they’ve never experienced before—the freedom and joy of music—he discovers there is far more to these children than anyone dared believe. Directed by Christophe Barratier. (95 minutes)
Wednesday, April 3, 6 p.m., Room A145/152, Skokie

GERMAN
North Face (2008)
Based on a true story, North Face is a suspenseful adventure film about a competition to climb the most dangerous rock face in the Swiss Alps. Set in 1936, as Nazi propaganda urges the nation’s Alpinists to conquer the unclimbed north face of the Eiger, two reluctant Germans begin their daring ascent. Directed by Philipp Stölzl and starring Benno Fürmann, Florian Lukas, Johanna Wokalek, and Ulrich Tukur. (126 minutes)
Thursday, April 4, 11 a.m., Room 1606, Des Plaines

HEBREW
The Matchmaker (2010)
During the summer of 1968, teenage Arik (Tuval Shafir) goes to work for matchmaker Yankele (Adir Miller), a melancholic man and Holocaust survivor who gives his unmarried clients “what they need, not what they want.” Written and directed by Avi Nesher, this charming yet somber film chronicles Arik’s coming of age, as the personalities he encounters along the way express the hopes and fears of a country awash in unsettling history. Inspired by Amir Gutfreund’s book When Heroes Fly.
Wednesday, April 3, 6 p.m., Room 1604, Des Plaines

HINDI AND URDU
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Directed by Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire is the story of Jamal Malik, a young man from the slums of Mumbai who appears on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?—exceeding everyone’s expectations and arousing suspicions of cheating. Flashbacks reveal how he knows the answers to the questions, each one linked to a key event in his life. Based on the novel Q & A by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup, this eight-time Oscar winner features an original score by A.R. Rahman. (120 minutes)
Wednesday, April 3, 2:30 p.m., Room A145/152, Skokie
Thursday, April 4, 3:30 p.m., Room 1606, Des Plaines

ITALIAN
The Spectator (2004)
Casual voyeurism grows into an obsession in this stunning debut feature film from writer/director Paolo Franchi. Valeria (Barbora Bobulova), a detached, lonely interpreter in Turin, finds herself spying on her neighbor Massimo (Andrea Renzi) as he goes about his daily business. Her curiosity begins to evolve into something deeper when Massimo knocks on her door, hoping she can help him with his sick dog. When Massimo moves to Rome, Valeria follows him, striking up a friendship with his girlfriend Flavia. As Massimo begins to develop a deeper interest in Valeria, it leads to a strange emotional triangle. (98 minutes)
Wednesday, April 3, 4:30 p.m., Room P103, Skokie

JAPANESE
I Wish (2012)
Separated by their parents’ divorce, 12-year-old Koichi lives with his mother and retired grandparents while his younger brother, Ryunosuke, lives with their father. When Koichi learns that a new bullet train line will link the towns where he and his brother live, he comes to believe that a miracle will take place the moment these new trains first pass each other at top speed. With help from the adults who love him, Koichi sets out on a journey with a group of friends, all hoping to witness this marvelous event. Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. (128 minutes) 
Wednesday, April 3, 4:30 p.m., Room 1606, Des Plaines

KOREAN
Modern Boy (2008)
Korean director Jeong Ji-woo’s romantic period drama stars Park Hae-il as Lee Hae-myeong, a dapper playboy who waltzes his days away in the dancehalls of 1930s Seoul, where he meets femme fatale Cho Nan-shil (Kim Hye-soo). Lee falls in love, but when Cho takes him for all he’s worth, he will stop at nothing to track her down, leaving viewers wondering whether he wants retribution or a relationship. (121 minutes)
Thursday, April 4, 7:30 p.m., A145,152, Skokie

RUSSIAN
Anna Akhmatova File (1989)
A moving portrait of the extraordinary Soviet poet Anna Akhmatova, whose work was banned and went unpublished for 17 years. Despite this censorship, her poem “Requiem,“ written in the late 1930s and dedicated to the memory of Stalin’s victims, became the underground anthem for the millions who suffered under his reign. Through personal diary entries, rare film footage, and revealing interviews, director Semyon Aranovich fashions a compelling portrait of Akhmatova, one of extreme courage and conviction. An Official Selection at Sundance and the Seattle International Film Festival. (65 minutes)
Thursday, April 4, 6 p.m., Room P104, Skokie

SPANISH
Good-Bye Momo (2005)
In the tradition of magical realism, Leonardo Ricagni’s A Dios Momo transports viewers to an enchanted time and place where reality and dreams collide. Obdulio, an illiterate 11-year-old Afro-Uruguayan, lives with his grandmother and supports them both by selling newspapers. One evening, he discovers that the night watchman at the newspaper’s office is a magical “Maestro.” This charismatic mentor introduces the boy to the power of literacy and the meaning of life through the lyrics of irreverent, provocative Uruguayan Carnival songs. (100 minutes)
Wednesday, April 3, 6 p.m., Room 1608, Des Plaines
Thursday, April 4, 11 a.m., Room A145/152, Skokie
Thursday, April 4, 12:30 p.m., Room 1604, Des Plaines

For information, contact Modern Languages Department Chair Marguerite Solari, Ph.D., at 847.376.7012 or msolari@oakton.edu.