Film: The Name of the Rose
(Dir. Jean-Jacques Arnaud, 124 min., color,
English) Based on Umberto Eco's award-winning best setter by the same title,
it is a chilling tale of dark deeds and murderous mayhem within the shadowy
cloisters and forbidding battlements of a medieval monastery. One monk
has fallen to his death. Or was he pushed? Another is discovered in a pool
of pig's blood. The lifeless body of a third is found in his bath. Is it
the work of the Devil… or some more earthly assassin? Al-Bireh, Monday
06 September, Sunday 12 September, 19:30, Popular Art Center.
Film: Good Will Hunting
(Dir. Gus Van Zant, 121 min., color, English)
The most brilliant mind at America's top university isn't a professor…
he's Will Hunting, a headstrong, penniless guy failing the lessons of life
and love with a wealthy girlfriend. Facing a jail sentence after one too
many run-ins with the law, Will's fate is in the hands of his therapist,
who might be the only man able to help him see his true potential. Al-Bireh,
Saturday 04 September, 11 September, 19:30, Popular Art Center.
Film: The Sweet Hereafter
(Dir. Atom Egoyan, 113 min., color, English)
Following a tragic school bus accident, high profile lawyer Mitchell Stephens
descends upon a small town. With promises of retribution and a class-action
lawsuit filed on behalf of the grieving community, Stephens begins his
investigation into the details of the crash. But beneath the town's calm,
he uncovers a tangled web of lies, deceit, and forbidden desires that mirrors
his own troubled personal life. Gradually, we learn that Stephens has his
own agenda, and that everyone has secrets to keep. Al-Bireh, Monday 13
September, 19:30, Popular Art Center.
Film: Romeo and Juliet
(USA 1997, Dir. Baz Luhrmann, 115 min., colour,
English) Baz Luhrmann's dazzling and unconventional adaptation of William
Shakespeare's classic love story is spellbinding. Leonardo di Caprio and
Claire Danes portray Romeo and Juliet, the youthful star-crossed lovers
of the past. But the setting has been moved from its Elizabethan origins
to futuristic urban backdrop of Verona beach. Al-Bireh, Sunday 05 September,
and Wednesday 15 September, 19:30, Popular Art Center.
Film: The Champ
(USA 1979, Dir. Franco Zeffirelli, 118 min.,
color, Eng.) The Champ is an incisive deeply moving exploration into the
arena of the greatest conflict - the human heart. The story concerns a
broken marriage and inevitable effect on a mother, a father, and a child.
Jon Voight is magnificent as Billy, an ex-boxing champion, managing to
support his son and continually train for the comeback that never quite
comes off. His son T.J. anxiously awaits the day when the Camp will once
again dominate the ring. The custody struggle with the ex-wife, Annie,
sparks a battle that continues until the champ finally returns to the ring,
where he wins and loses. Al-Bireh, Tuesday 07 September, 19:30, Popular
Art Center.
Film: Some Mother's Son
(UK 1996, Dir. Terry George, 107 min., color,
English) A widowed teacher and life-long pacifist, Kathleen Quigley is
shaken out of her comfortable existence when her son is captured after
a shoot-out with the British Army. Along with Annie Higgins, mother of
another prisoner, Kathleen finds herself suddenly brought into the middle
of Northern Ireland's political conflict, forced to the center of an epic
struggle when their sons are prepared to die for their beliefs… are mothers
prepared to just stand by and watch? Al-Bireh, Wednesday September and
Tuesday 14 September, 19:30, Popular Art Center.
Film: Coming Home/ Kuala Lampur
The bittersweet tale of a senile and confused
elderly English expatriate living in Malaysia who wants to recapture modern
Malaysia. His motive? He dreams that Queen Victoria will install him as
"British Maharajah of Malaya" if he succeeds. Ben Puteh, the director,
will give a paper entitled "Muslim Cinema as an Antithesis to Hollywood."
Ramallah, Saturday 18 September 20:00, Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center.
Film: The Seventh Child
Osman is a fisherman. He is experiencing a
mid-life crisis and neglects his family. His wife, Ros, has to work the
land even though she is in her seventh pregnancy, in order to feed their
four children. Osman's family reflects the plight of people of the third
world who want to modernize from an agrarian society. Ramallah, Sunday
19 September 20:00, Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center.
Film: The Lost Hero
Osman is a successful ad executive. He decides
to write his autobiography by using the old Malay language and the story-telling
form of the old Malay "hikayat" in order to better understand his family
and society. Ramallah, Monday 20 September 20:00, Khalil Sakakini Cultural
Center.
Film: Kuala Lampur
This documentary is divided into five parts:
Gombak River, Mesjid Jamek, Independence Square, City of Smiles, and Kuala
Lampur Orchestra. Ramallah, Tuesday 21 September 20:00, Khalil Sakakini
Cultural Center.
Film: Naim and Wadia
(Palestine 1999, Dir. Najwa Najjar, documentary)
This is the first documentary film by Palestinian filmmaker Najwa Najjar.
It is a documentary on Jaffa before 1948, and explores the social life
in the city through a Palestinian couple and the effect the Nekba and exile
had on them. A debate with the director will follow its premiere screening.
Ramallah, Thursday 30 September 20:00, Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center.
Iranian Film Week at the Popular
Art Center
The Cyclist
(Iran 1989, Dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 75 min.,
Farsi with English subtitles) Director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, in this film,
embroiders his regular themes of man's exploration of man and the inequities
between rich and poor. The cyclist of the title is Nassim, an Afghan refugee
in need of money to pay for his wife's medical expenses. With work difficult
to come by, a sleazy promoter suggests he undertake a bicycle marathon.
Al-Bireh, Saturday 25 September 19:30, Popular Art Center.
Film: The Peddler
(Iran 1986, Dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 95 min.,
Farsi with English subtitles) A couple searching for someone to adopt their
daughter, a mentally unstable man who lives with his invalid mother, and
a peddler suspected of betraying his friends find their way into this intriguing
collection of tales. Inventive, surprising, and brutally honest, these
stories take a daring look at the social and economic problems at Tehran's
post-Shah era. Al-Bireh, Sunday 26 September 19:30, Popular Art Center.
Film: Where is the Friend's Home?
(Iran 1989, Dir. Abbas Liarostami, 90 min.,
Farsi with English subtitles.) When Ahmad prepares to do his homework,
he finds that he has accidentally picked up his friend Mohammad's notebook.
Fearing that his friend will be expelled if he doesn't submit his homework
the next day, Ahmad defies his parents and sets out to find his friend's
home in the neighboring village. Based on a poem by the popular poet/philosopher
Sohrab Sepehri, Where is the Friend's Home? Is a lyrical tale about a young
boy who suddenly finds himself on an unusual journey through places and
moments of great beauty and wonder. Al-Bireh, Monday 27 September 19:30,
Popular Art Center.
Film: The Need
(Iran 1991, Dir. Alirez Davudrezhad, 80 min.,
Farsi with English subtitles) This film is a coming of age story about
boys competing for a job as an apprentice at a print shop. Their fierce
competition triggers incidents of workplace sabotage and fighting eventually
clearing the way for priceless friendship Al-Bireh, Tuesday 28 September
19:30, Popular Art Center.
Film: Life and Nothing More
(Iran 1992, Dir. Abbas Liarostami, 91 min.,
Farsi with English subtitles) Abbas Kiarostami's stunning inquiry into
the aftermath of a devastating 1990 earthquake which killed some 50,000
people in northern Iran. A father and son travel a long way to meet earthquake
survivors who desperately and valiantly work to reconstruct their lives.
Al-Bireh, Wednesday 29 September 19:30, Popular Art Center.
Film: The Key
(Iran 1986, Dir. Ebrahim Forouzesh, 76 min.,
Farsi with English subtitles) A charmingly suspenseful tale about a four-year-old
and his toddler brother left home alone. When the smell of burnt food attracts
a neighbor, it's up to Amir Mohammad to find the extra set of keys to let
her in. Tension mounts as the pot boils over dousing flame on the gas range.
Al-Bireh, Thursday 30 September 19:30, Popular Art Center. Spanish Film
Week at the Palestinian National Theatre
Film: Bwana
A taxi driver called Antonio decides to make
the most of a winter Sunday and visit a remote beach with his family. While
they are looking for shellfish, his youngest daughter sees a black man
and runs to tell her parents. The man, Ombasi, follows the girl asking
for help in his own language, but Antonio doesn't understand him and thinks
that his family is in danger. A series of circumstances make them spend
the night together at the beach. The next morning hostilities flare with
disastrous conse- quences for everyone involved. Jerusalem, Tuesday 28
September at 20:00 and Wednesday 29 September at 17:00, Palestinian National
Theatre.
Film: Letters from Alou
After a dramatic crossing a group of Africans
land secretly on the south coast of Spain. Among them is Alou, a 28 year
old Senegalese. His friend Mulai has encouraged him to emigrate with the
promise of offering him a good job in almerta. With each job Alou takes
there is an adventure, a fleeting relationship, and the learning of some
basic Spanish which he needs in order to survive. Jerusalem, Sunday 26
September at 17:00 and Wednesday 29 September at 20:00, Palestinian National
Theatre.
Film: The Red Squirrel
One summer night, in the town of San Sebastian,
Jota is banging himself against the railings of the pier, trying to find
the strength to throw himself off. Beneath him, the sea is crashing against
the rocks. All of a sudden a motorcycle hits the far end of the railing
and he sees the rider fall onto the sand. When he goes to help he finds
himself looking into the brown eyes of a girl who has lost her memory.
Jerusalem , Saturday 25 September and Thursday 30 September at 20:00 and
Tuesday 28 September at 17:00, Palestinian National Theatre.
Film: The Intruder
Luisa, Angel and Ramiro have been close friends
since they were teenagers. Luisa marries Angel although she later discovers
that Ramiro is her true love. Angel understands and decides to disappear
out of their lives. Ramiro and Luisa have two children, and are happy.
Fifteen years later, Angel returns to their lives and the story unfolds
with the couple finding that they have taken an intruder into their home.
Jerusalem, Sunday 26 September at 20:00 and Thursday 30 September at 17:00,
Palestinian National Theatre.