Dunedin Film Society's Exciting 2011 Program

Hi everyone. Here is a brief description of this year's extremely
exciting Dunedin Film Society programme. Now a registered charity, we
remain the only organisation in town that is dedicated to screening a
broad range of historically and culturally significant films from
around the world. This year's highlights include two films that
showcase the cinematic artistry of the great French actress Isabelle
Huppert, a two film tribute to New Zealand's pioneering indigenous
filmmakers, Merata Mita and Barry Barclay, the only local screening of
one section of the acclaimed Portuguese director Pedro Costa's
Fontainhas trilogy, and several fascinating German and Canadian
documentaries.

Just like last year, a full waged membership (gaining its holder free
admission to all 26 of our 2011 screenings) will cost $65.00
(approximately $2.50 per film), while a student/unwaged membership
will cost just $55.00 (approximately $2.10 per film). There is no
additional screening fee. Full waged and student/unwaged Dunedin Film
Society members will also receive heavily discounted ticket prices at
Rialto, Hoyts and Metro cinemas and at all evening and weekend
sessions of the World Cinema Showcase in May and the International
Film Festival in May. Please see our website for further details:
http://www.dunedinfilmsociety.inzight.co.nz/

If you only want to see a few of this year's films a three-movie pass
($25.00) will also be available.  A three-movie pass may be upgraded
to a full waged or student/unwaged membership without any financial
penalty by simply paying the difference in price.

To join the Dunedin Film Society simply arrive ten minutes before any
of our screenings, fill in a form and pay the chosen membership fee at
the door (payment by cash or cheque only please). You may also post a
cheque payable to the Dunedin Film Society Inc. to The Dunedin Film
Society, P.O. Box 5454, Dunedin 9058. Please enclose a piece of paper
containing your name, postal address, telephone number and e-mail
address along with your cheque and we will mail your membership card
out to you.  Between screenings, you may also purchase a Dunedin Film
Society membership from the reception staff at the OUSA office (near
the corner of Cumberland and Albany Streets) on the main campus of the
University of Otago.

We would like to acknowledge the generous assistance of the Embassy of
France, the Goethe Institut, the National Film Board of Canada,
Creative New Zealand, the Film Archive, the New Zealand Film
Commission, the University of Otago and The Church Cinema and Keyprint
Printing Ltd.

Please help to ensure the survival of this venerable sixty-four year
old Dunedin institution by joining us and by passing this message on
to your friends.

THE DUNEDIN FILM SOCIETY'S 2011 SCHEDULE

All Tuesday screenings will begin at 7:30 pm and take place in The
Church Cinema, located next to The Church Restaurant, 50 Dundas
Street, North Dunedin.

All Wednesday screenings will begin at 7:30 pm and take place in The
Red Lecture Theatre, located near the side entrance of the Scott
building, across the road from the emergency entrance of the Dunedin
Public Hospital on Great King Street.

Due to the non-commercial screening rights, most screenings are for
members or 3-Movie Pass holders only. Please arrive early, since there
is no guaranteed seating. We reluctantly reserve the right to change
the programme if a film does not arrive.

Opening Night
Tuesday 01 March Contemporary World Cinema
7:30 pm LET THE RIGHT ONE IN Låt den rätte  komma in
Tomas Alfredson | Sweden | 2008 | 115 minutes | R16 violence, content
may disturb
A strikingly original vampire movie set in a Swedish junior high
school one winter in the 1980s. Oskar's wish for a friend seems to be
granted when he meets Eli, a pale young girl who only comes out at
night... "Very smart, very sweet, very sick and very special indeed."
- Cinematical

Wednesday 09 March The Big Screen
7:30 pm THE NEW WORLD
Terrence Malick | USA | 2005 | CinemaScope | 135 min | M low level violence
This account of the meeting between European and native cultures in
17th-century America provides a
dazzling assertion of the giant screen’s capacity to celebrate the
splendour of the natural world. “A work of
breathtaking imagination… and in every sense a masterpiece.” – LA Times

STARRING ISABELLE HUPPERT

Intense, lithe, and passionate, Isabelle Huppert is one of cinema’s
greatest actresses. A beguiling shape-shifter, she inhabits her
characters, providing them with a dense, distinctive biography and a
memorable presence. Her ability to make silences revelatory is
astonishing. – Museum of Modern Art, New York

Wednesday 16 March Starring Isabelle Huppert
7:30 pm STORY OF WOMEN Une affair de femmes
Claude Chabrol | France | 1988 | 35mm | 110 min | M
An austere and compelling recreation of the real-life case of a
housewife-turned-abortionist in Nazi-occupied France. “Emotionally
brutal, morally disturbing and probably one of the masterpieces of the
decade.” – New York Times

Wednesday 23 March Starring Isabelle Huppert
7:30 pm CLEAN SLATE Coup de torchon
Bertrand Tavernier | France | 1981 | 35mm | 128 min | R16
Huppert and Philippe Noiret star in Tavernier’s inspired adaptation of
Jim Thompson’s pulp novel Pop. 1280. This striking neo-noir straddles
the line between violence and lyricism with dark humour and visual
elegance. “Tough, smart, and marvellously unpredictable.” – Time

Tuesday 29 March World Cinema Classics
7:30 pm JOURNEY IN ITALY Viaggio in Italia
Roberto Rossellini | Italy | 1953 | DV | 85 min | PG
“A trip to Italy opens up long-festering emotional wounds for a
seemingly happy couple in Rossellini’s
fascinating film, long acclaimed as the key link between Italian
neorealism and the modernist, subjective
cinema of the early sixties.” – Jason Sanders

Wednesday 06 April Contemporary World Cinema
7:30 pm BREACH
Billy Ray | USA | 2007 | 110 minutes
A rookie agent must spy on his intimidating superior in this
suspense-laden thriller set in the headquarters
of the FBI. "Filled with tension, deception and bravura acting, Breach
is a crackling tale of real-life
espionage and a compelling psychological drama." - LA Times

Wednesday 13 April Contemporary World Cinema
7:30 pm TIBET: CRY OF THE SNOW LION
Tom Peosay | USA | 2003 | 35mm | 104 min | M content may disturb
“An impeccably made, often moving account of the captive nation Tibet,
forcibly annexed by China more than 50 years ago… Peosay’s film
functions as both a breathtaking travelogue and a political
provocation…  A more concise and affecting summation would be hard to
imagine.” – New York Times

Wednesday 20 April World Cinema Classics
7:30 pm SANSHO THE BAILIFF Sansho dayu
Mizoguchi Kenji | Japan | 1954 | DV | 123 min | PG violence
“A heart-rending melodrama in which the members of an exiled
governor’s family are forcibly separated, the wife becoming a
courtesan and the children slaves to the ruthless Sansho… Mizoguchi’s
total mastery of composition and movement… make it one of Japanese
cinema’s supreme masterpieces.” – Sight & Sound

Tuesday 26 April Contemporary World Cinema
7:30 pm SÉRAPHINE
Martin Provost | France | 2008 | 125 minutes
A moving dramatised portrait of the French 'naiive' painter Séraphine
de Senlis (1864-1942), a housemaid
whose artistic talents were discovered by an art-critic friend of her
employer. - Winner of seven César
Awards in 2009, including Best Film and Best Actress

Wednesday 4 May French Connections
7:30 pm LE DOULOS The Finger Man
Jean-Pierre Melville | France | 1962 | 35mm | 108 min | M violence,
sexual references, offensive language
Melville’s most influential film, this hard-boiled crime classic stars
Jean-Paul Belmondo, who may or may not be a police informant.
“Terrific performances, and equally terrific camerawork… conjure a
rivetingly treacherous, twilight world.” – Time Out

WORLD CINEMA SHOWCASE, Dunedin 06-18 May

Wednesday 25 May Women's Stories
7:30 pm WENDY AND LUCY
Kelly Reichardt | USA | 2008 | 35mm | 80 min | M offensive language
Michelle Williams stars as a young woman passing through the Pacific
Northwest who loses her way – and her dog – in this deceptively simple
film. “A lucid and melancholy inquiry into the current state of
American society.” – New York Times

PEDRO COSTA

Few movies are as concretely rooted in physical reality or as
profoundly attentive to their social context as Mr Costa’s. Staking
out a radical middle between documentary and fiction, he has invented
a heroic and quite literal form of arte povera, a monumental cinema of
humble means. – New York Times

One of the most important artists on the international film scene
today. – GreenCine

Wednesday 01 June Pedro Costa
7:30 pm COLOSSAL YOUTH Juventude em marcha
Pedro Costa | Portugal | 2006 | 35mm | 155 min | cert tbc
Costa revisits the Lisbon slums for the hypnotic, mysterious final
film in the trilogy in which he follows Ventura, a Cape Verdean
labourer who moves from his dilapidated home to a new housing complex.
“A richer, more daring and compelling work is unimaginable.” –
Cinemathèque Ontario

UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO INTER-SEMESTER BREAK

Wednesday 13 July Documentaries from Canada
7:30 pm McLUHAN'S WAKE
Kevin McMahon | Canada | 2002 | DV | 94 min
Media philosopher Marshall McLuhan was the 1960s’ hippest
intellectual, coining the phrase ‘the medium is the message’ and
inventing the concept of the global village. This elegant and visually
elaborate documentary interrogates his work and investigates its
pertinence for today’s connected world.

NEW ZEALAND

With the unexpected death of the great documentary maker Merata Mita
on 31 May 2010, New Zealand lost the last member of its first
generation of Maori directors. As a tribute to this illustrious group
of motion picture pioneers, we have decided to include two of their
most celebrated works in our 2011 programme, Merata Mita’s Patu! and
Barry Barclay’s Ngati.

Wednesday 20 July New Zealand*
7:30 pm NGATI New Zealand
Barry Barclay | New Zealand | 1987 | 35mm | 93 min | PG coarse language
Barclay’s first feature film was a landmark as the first written and
directed by Maori and is now something of a classic. The film follows
a young doctor who discovers his Kiwi roots on a visit to a tiny Maori
settlement on the East Coast where his father used to practise.
*Casual admission will be possible, in exchange for a small donation.

Tuesday 26 July Documentaries from Canada
7:30 pm THE STRANGEST DREAM
Eric Bednarski | Canada | 2008 | DV | 89 min
A profile of nuclear physicist Joseph Rotblat, the only member of the
Manhattan Project to resign on moral grounds. The film traces
Rotblat’s career as he goes from designing atom bombs to researching
medical uses for radiation and campaigning against nuclear
proliferation.

Wednesday 03 August Germany: Looking East *
7:30 pm THE WOMAN WITH THE FIVE ELEPHANTS Die Frau mit den 5 Elefanten
Vadim Jendreyko | Switzerland/Germany | 2009 | 35mm | 93 min
Eighty-five-year-old Svetlana Geier is perhaps the greatest translator
of Russian literature into German. This erudite documentary about her
passion for literature gracefully unfolds to encompass a great sweep
of history. “Compelling, moving and thought-provoking.” – Hollywood
Reporter
*Casual admission will be possible, in exchange for a small donation.

NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2011, Dunedin 05-21 August

Wednesday 24 August Germany: Looking East *
7:30 pm THE CENTER Die Mitte
Stanislaw Mucha | Germany | 2004 | 35mm | 85 min
“Where exactly is the centre of Europe? Mucha and his crew travel
around the continent examining the conflicting – and often hilarious –
claims of over a dozen towns in half a dozen countries.” – Festival
des
Films du Monde
*Casual admission will be possible, in exchange for a small donation.

Tuesday 30 August Ernst Lubitsch*
7:30 pm WILDCAT
Ernest Lubitsch | Germany | 1921 | 81 minutes
Silent diva Pola Negri stars in this surreally unhinged comedy as the
fierce bandit-princess, Rishka aka the Wildcat. Lubitsch mercilessly
parodies the military in their incompetent attempts to combat Rishka’s
bandits. The Wildcat is probably the closest silent comedy came to the
anarchic spirit of Monty Python.
*Casual admission will be possible, in exchange for a small donation.

Wednesday 07 September Ernst Lubitsch*
7:30 pm ERNST LUBITSCH IN BERLIN
Robert Fischer | Germany | 2006 | DV | 110 min
A documentary about Lubitsch’s early career in Berlin, featuring rare
film clips, photographs, and newsreel footage, along with interviews
with Lubitsch’s daughter, current German comedy directors, and noted
film historians, tracing the genesis of the famous ‘Lubitsch touch’.
*Casual admission will be possible, in exchange for a small donation.

Wednesday 14 September Out of the Vaults-Bonus Lubitsch Classic
7:30 pm THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER
Ernst Lubitsch | USA | 1940 | 35mm | 97 min | PG
Lubitsch applies his elegant ‘touch’ to this classic Hollywood comedy.
Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart play sparring co-workers in a
Budapest emporium who are unwitting lonely-hearts pen pals.

Wednesday 21 September New Zealand*
7:30 pm PATU!
Merata Mita | New Zealand 1983 | 16mm | 113 min | PG
As thousands took to the streets in protest at the 1981 Springbok
Tour, battalions of filmmakers and photographers recorded their
confrontations with police and rugby diehards. Thirty years on, Merata
Mita’s assemblage of this footage remains an incredibly persuasive and
thoroughly essential document.
*Casual admission will be possible, in exchange for a small donation

Tuesday 27 September Contemporary World Cinema
7:30 pm HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
Mike Leigh | UK | 2008 | DV | 110 min | M violence, offensive language
This captivating comedy revolves around Poppy, an irrepressibly
cheerful primary school teacher played by Sally Hawkins. “Leigh and
his actors work mysterious magic…This is a movie about hitting the
groove of everyday life and, nearly miraculously, getting music out of
it.”-Salon

Wednesday 05 October Out of the Vaults
7:30 pm THE COLOUR OF POMEGRANATES Nran gouyne
Sergei Paradjanov | USSR | 1969 | 35mm | 125 min | GA
This extraordinary film traces the life of the 18th-century Armenian
poet Sayat Nova (“The King of Song”) through a series of painterly
images that have been strung together to form tableaux corresponding
to moments of his life. “The result is a stream of religious, poetic
and local iconography which has an arcane and astonishing
beauty.”-2009 Time Out Film Guide

Wednesday 12 October New Zealand*
7:30 pm CAREFUL WITH THOSE KIDS
New Zealand | 2008-2010 | 35mm | 68 min total | PG violence, offensive language
This collection of recent NZ shorts features Kiwi kids who get up to
no good in amusing and disturbing ways. With the award-winning
hilarity of The Six Dollar Fifty Man and the Hitchcockian precision of
the ever-suspenseful Careful… series.
*Casual admission will be possible, in exchange for a small donation

Tuesday 18 October Contemporary World Cinema
7:30 pm MEMORIES OF MURDER Sarin ui chu-eok
Bong Joon-ho | South Korea | 2003 | DV | 127 min | R16 violence,
offensive language, sex scenes
A superb and suspenseful serial killer mystery. "Fundamentally serious
- and achingly moving, especially in its closing scenes - the film is
also grimly funny and quite deeply shocking. A triumph, it places Bong
at the forefront of Korean cinema." - Tony Rayns