International Showcase
Features

EVIL Sweden, 2003, 109 min directed by Mikael Hafstrom In Swedish with English Subtitles

Friday, March 12 9:30 PM, at Regal

Sunday, March 14 5:30 PM at Regal

Evil

Erik Ponti’s home life is a nightmare. His abusive stepfather subjects him to systematic beatings while his terrified mother turns a blind eye. When Erik (Andreas Wilson, with the charisma of a young Brando) is expelled from school for pummeling an innocent boy, he is sent to an elite boarding school that seems the picture of tranquility. But the school is run by a brutal group of upperclassmen who routinely beat and humiliate weaker students. Erik’s goal is to steer clear of trouble, but with his swimming skills and good looks, he soon attracts the attention of ringleader Otto. Suddenly he finds himself the unwitting center of an uneasy rebellion and must choose whether or not to meet his enemies’ brutality with his own. Stylishly shot and nominated for this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, Evil is a gripping schoolboy drama set in the 1950s about the origins and manifestations of male violence. Back to top.

GAZ BAR BLUES Canada, 2003, 115 min directed by Louis Belanger In French with English Subtitles

Friday, March 12 6:30 PM, at Regal

Saturday, March 13 5:00 PM, at Regal

Gaz Bar Blues

In a small town in Quebec, Mr. Brochu, respectfully known as "The Boss," has been running the family-owned gas station that has served as its social gathering place for years. Despite the onset of Parkinson’s disease, the loss of his wife, and repeated robberies, The Boss has been running the business along with his three sons Rejean, Guy, and Alain, to the best of his ability. However, his sons have grown tired of working the gas pump and want to seek their passions elsewhere. Rejean, an aspiring photographer, hopes to head off to Germany to witness the fall of the Berlin Wall. Meanwhile, Guy plays harmonica in a bar band, and Alain, the youngest of the three, wanders the store constantly pitching imaginary baseballs. With the world changing around them, it becomes increasingly difficult for the family to keep their gas station and life, as they know it, intact. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2003 Montreal World Film Festival, Gaz Bar Blues is a loving and humorous portrait of a family struggling to keep up with change.  Back to top.

INTERVIEW Netherlands, 2003, 89 min directed by Theo Van Gogh In Dutch with English Subtitles US Premiere

Monday, March 8 9:15 PM, at Regal

Friday, March 12 9:00 PM, at Regal

Interview

Pierre (Pierre Bokma), a political journalist, has his world turned upside down when he is assigned to interview soap opera/B-movie starlet, Katja (Dutch pop icon Katja Schurrman) the same night the government is due to fall. As the conversation begins to build from a simple Q&A session into a maelstrom of passionate issues covering the gamut of sex and politics, the two find themselves having more in common, both physically and emotionally, than they would care to admit. Using a minimal approach with a simple setting (Katja’s apartment) and delicate camerawork, director Theo Van Gogh wrings out a mesmerizing look at a platonic relationship that becomes a dangerous duel of wits with each side refusing to back down. Featuring award-winning performances and explosive chemistry between Bokma and Schurrman, Interview is a fascinating and humorous battle of the sexes that looks at the caustic relationship between current politics and pop culture. Back to top.

VIBRATOR Japan, 2003, 95 min directed by Ryuichi Hiroki

Friday, March 12 4:45 PM, at Regal

Vibrator

If you’ve ever hitchhiked, you’ll remember the physical sensations of the vibrations of a speeding big semi, the warmth of a small cab, the vast expanse of open road, and the view from high up. Author Mari Akasaka surely does, as does director/editor Hiroki, whose spare and simple approach conveys an intimacy that will resonate with audience members. Lonely and anxiety-ridden thirty-something free-lance writer Rei (Shinobu Terajima) has her problems. She hears voices, is bulimic, and likes to drink too much. On Valentine’s Day, she by chance encounters long distance truck driver Takatoshi (Nao Ohmori, Ichi the Killer). Their momentary touch begins an unusual road movie you’ll not soon forget, full of real honesty and tenderness between two people. And sex. And conversation. And music by Pat Boone and Happy End. Hiroki uses inter-titles and voiceovers to get us into Rei’s head, while the camerawork shows us gorgeous scenery along the way. Rei and Takatoshi connect in deeply personal and unexpected ways. While he can’t solve her problems, when she smiles, all’s beautiful. Back to top.

International Showcase
Shorts Program
Total Running Time 112 Min
Sunday, March 14
4:15 PM at Enzian

Welcome to the International Shorts program. This year’s collection of cinema from around the world is the longest we’ve ever presented, simply because we couldn’t bear to leave any of these exceptional films out. The usual mix of amazing animation, outrageous comedies, and powerful dramas are all here, with some new wrinkles for 2004. We are proud to present three films making their US, North American, and World Premieres in this program, along with the latest bit of cheeky comic brilliance from the British studio that brought us Wallace and Gromit, our first ever film from Palestine, and one of this year’s Academy Award nominees for Best Animated Short.

CREATURE COMFORTS: CATS OR DOGS? Southeast Premiere

Creature Comforts:
Cats or Dogs?
UK, 2003, 9 min
directed by Richard Goleszowski

What’s your preference? The two most popular pets go head to head in this droll documentary from the twisted minds at Aardman Animation.

TIM TOM East Coast Premiere

Tim Tom
France, 2002, 4 min
directed by Christel Pougeoise and Romain Segaud

Two animated characters want to meet, but their creator gets in the way again and again and again to the tune of Django Reinhardt.

WHY THE ANDERSON CHILDREN DIDN'T COME TO DINNER East Coast Premiere

Why the Anderson Children Didn't Come to Dinner
Canada, 2003, 16 min
directed by Jamie Travis

Three disturbed children endure the culinary atrocities of their even more twisted mother – until pushed one brown egg too far. . .

NIBBLES Florida Premiere

Nibbles
Canada, 2003, 4 min
directed by Chris Hinton

Chris Hinton (Flux, FFF 2003) returns with this hilarious short about a bunch of hillbillies with a VERY big appetite. Nominated for this year’s Academy Award for Best Animated Short, Nibbles was inspired by Hinton’s real-life family fishing trip to northern Quebec.

HOW TO TELL WHEN A RELATIONSHIP IS OVER US Premiere

How to Tell When a Relationship is Over
UK, 2003, 6 min
directed by Tony Roche

All the cruel, nasty, lying, scheming and soul wrenching parts of a relationship packed into 15 hilarious vignettes. The truth hurts.

ALL OVER BRAZIL East Coast Premiere

All Over Brazil
Scotland, 2003, 10 min
directed by David Andrew Ward

It’s the summer of 1974, Scotland is in the World Cup and 13-year old Stephen is deep into the glam sounds of Bowie, Slade, and The Sweet. Can a teenage boy experimenting with lipstick find common ground with his football-mad Dad?

LIKE TWENTY IMPOSSIBLES Southeast Premiere

Like Twenty Impossibles
Palestine, 2003, 16 min
directed by Annemarie Jacir
In Arabic, English, and Hebrew with English Subtitles

On a trip to Jerusalem, a Palestinian film crew opts to bypass a closed checkpoint by taking a remote side road. They find themselves face to face with the tense realities of a military occupation.

WATERLOO DENTURES North American Premiere

Waterloo Dentures
Ireland, 2003, 4 min
directed by Rachael Moriarty and Peter Murphy

An epic love story of high passion and low dentistry that reveals a forgotten by-product from the Battle of Waterloo.

mRs. mEiTLemelHr

mRs. mEiTLemelHr
UK, 2003, 30 min
directed by Graham Rose

What if Hitler didn’t die in the bunker with Eva Braun? What if he spent the post-war years hiding in London, dreaming of escape to South America and disguised…as a woman? This audacious black comedy starts with some of the greatest “What ifs?” and climaxes with one old man getting more than he bargained while another gets everything he deserved.

INVASION OF THE PLANET EARTH World Premiere

Invasion of the Planet Earth
Germany, 2003, 13 min
directed by Moritz Langer

SURRENDER EARTHLINGS! An alien soldier lands in a forest clearing and mistakes the trees for a massive army. He subdues them with the universe’s meanest weaponry, but for some reason, this invasion doesn’t feel as satisfying as usual. Back to top.