Tenth Film Festival - The World in Kitchener

Films are listed in order of screening dates and times.

The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany, 2008) Screening Date: Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010 Director: Uli Edel Rating: R Awards: Nominated for an Oscar. Another 2 wins & 11 nominations.

Germany in the 1970s: Murderous bomb attacks, the threat of terrorism and the fear of the enemy inside are rocking the very foundations of the yet fragile German democracy. The radicalised children of the Nazi generation are fighting a violent war against what they perceive as the new face of fascism: American imperialism supported by the German establishment. Their aim is to create a more human society, but by employing inhuman means they not only spread terror and bloodshed, they also lose their own humanity. The man who understands this group is also their hunter: the head of the German police force.

Departures (Japan, 2008) Screening Date: Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 Director: Yojiro Takita Rating: PG-13 Awards: Won an Oscar. Another 32 wins & 6 nominations.

Daigo Kobayashi is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved. He moves back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled “Departures” thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a “Nokanshi,” a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of “Nokanshi,” acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and their families.

The Class (France, 2008) Screening Date: Thursday, June 24th, 2010 Director: Laurent Cantet Rating: PG-13 Awards: Nominated for an Oscar. Another 9 wins & 13 nominations.

Teacher Francois Marin and his colleagues are preparing for another school year teaching at a racially mixed inner city high school in Paris. The teachers collectively want to inspire their students, but each teacher is an individual who will do things in his or her own way. The administration of the school tries to be as fair and includes having student representatives sit on the student evaluation committee. Marin’s class of fourteen and fifteen year olds is no different than previous years, although the names and faces have changed. Marin tries to get through to his students, sometimes with success and sometimes resulting in utter failure.

12 (Russia, 2007) Screening Date: Friday, June 25th, 2010 Director: Nikita Mikhalkov Rating: 14A Awards: Nominated for an Oscar. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination.

A loose remake of “12 Angry Men” (1957), set in a Russian school. 12 jurors are struggling to decide the fate of a Chechen teenager who allegedly killed his Russian stepfather who took the teenager to live with him in Moscow during the Chechen War in which teenager lost his parents. The jurors: a racist taxi-driver, a suspicious doctor, a vacillating TV producer, a Holocaust survivor, a flamboyant musician, a cemetery manager, and others represent the fragmented society of modern day Russia.

Days of Glory (Algeria, 2006) Screening Date: Saturday, June 26th, 2010 Director: Rachid Bouchareb Rating: 14A Awards: Nominated for an Oscar. Another 6 wins & 12 nominations.

In World War II, Muslims from French colonies enlist to fight for their motherland, France. In the 7th battalion commanded by Sergeant Roger Martinez, soldier Abdelkader has leadership with the troops and seeks promotion and recognition; Said Otmari is a servile and illiterate private; Messaoud Souni is the sniper of the group who has fallen in love with a French woman; and Yassir is fighting together with his brother to raise some money. Through their campaign, they realize that French soldiers are promoted, have better food and are given leave to visit their families, while Arab soldiers are heavily discriminated against.

Revanche (Austria, 2008) Screening Date: Sunday, June 27th, 2010 Director: Gotz Spielmann Rating: R Awards: Nominated for an Oscar. Another 10 wins & 2 nominations.

Alex and Tamara are lovers, but they have to keep it a secret in their nightlife where most people have jobs that barely let them scrape by. They want to escape this life, but they need money first. Alex devises a plan to rob a bank in a little village out in the countryside. Tamara wants to come along, and he reluctantly agrees. Everything is going exactly as planned until a policeman happens to walk up...

This event was sponsored by:

• City of Kitchener
• Social Planning Council of Kitchener-Waterloo
• Waterloo Regional Arts Council
• Generation X Alternative Video and Media