Cinemateca March 10–16, 2008

José Luis Pick’n’tip March 7, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

The Picks

First Francophone Film Festival

Starting Wednesday, March 12, Teatro Santa Ana will celebrate the Francophone Film Festival in coordination with other venues in San Miguel. Movies from all over the French-speaking world will be shown. Café Santa Ana features French food and music and the Biblioteca’s gallery will show paintings by Jacques Desgagnes, Le Magicien de L’Energie, during March. El Market Bistro will show very good movies, such as Histoire d’une Rencontre from Algeria, and El Recreo will show movies with Spanish subtitles. So this week get your French wine and baguette and join us for this celebration. 

The Tip: In order to provide the best viewing experience, the show times for some movies may be adjusted to accommodate their length. Be sure to check the schedule carefully. I also want to remind you of our new ticket price: 50 pesos and discount cards buy 12 shows for 450 pesos. Starting Monday, after 11am, buy your tickets in advance for any movie or show of the week. If you have a discount card, collect your pass to secure a seat; don’t take the risk of being locked out…Nos vemos en el Cine…Would you like to receive this info by email? Write to José Luis at alephamour@hotmail.com.  Thank you.


The Movies


Short Film Festival Award Winner
Lost and Found in Mexico
Two shows, Monday, March 10 at 1:30pm and at 5:30pm 
Documentary, English, 53 minutes.
Writer/Director/Producer: Caren Cross.
Proceeds benefit the Mexican kids’ scholarships.

Lost and Found in Mexico explores the question: What lies on the other side of the American dream? This quirky documentary explores the lives of Americans who chose to leave their hard-working, successful and fast-paced lives to live in San Miguel de Allende, where leisurely conversations take place in the main square, burros walk the streets and people find their hearts engaged in living once again. While many Mexicans are leaving families behind and risking their lives to cross the border to a better life, this film focuses on the Americans who have decided to cross in the other direction—for a simpler life. Questions and Answers with the filmmaker following the show.



Francophone Film Festival
Lila dit ca (Lila Says) 2005, France
Wednesday, March 12 at 5:30pm
French with English subtitles, 89 minutes.
Director: Ziad Doueiri. Cast: Vahina Giocante, Mohammed Khouas, Karim Ben Haddou, Edmonde Franchi.

Based on a controversial French novel, Lila Says tells the story of a quiet young poet named Chimo (Mohammed Khouas) who develops a crush on the pretty, blond Lila (Vahina Giacante), a girl who recently moved into his Arab ghetto with her aunt. When the leader of a rival gang also falls for Lila, the ensuing love triangle initiates a journey of sexual discovery—and sets off a chain of devastating events.



Le Placard (The Closet) 2000
Wednesday, March 12 at 7:30pm
French with English subtitles, 85 minutes.
Director: Francis Veber. Cast: Daniel Auteuil, Gérard Depardieu, Thierry Lhermitte, Michele Laroque.

It’s Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener” with a twist when Daniel Auteuil (as a milquetoast accountant) is about to get fired from his job for literally being a bore. At the last minute, a neighbor concocts a “new life” for Auteuil as an out-of-the-closet (read: intriguing) homosexual and suddenly everything changes. Gérard Depardieu co-stars as a homophobic officemate who may be masking a few feelings of his own.


Cleo de 5 a 7 (Cleo from 5 to 7) 1961, France
Thursday, March 13 at noon
French with English subtitles, 90 minutes.
Director: Agnès Varda. Cast: Corinne Marchand, Antoine Bourseiller, Dorothee Blank, Michel Legrand.

A woman delves into the inner depths of her soul and resurfaces transformed in this 1962 film by French director Agnes Varda. Young singer Cleo (Corrine Marchand) strolls along the bustling Paris streets, pondering the meaning of life and her own existence as she awaits the results of her cancer biopsy. Cleo’s observations offer a close look at Paris’s rich street life and desperation turns into hope when Cleo encounters a young soldier.



Ali Zaoua, prince de la rue (Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets) 2000, Morocco
Thursday, March 13 at 5:30pm
French with English subtitles, 98 minutes.
Director: Nabil Ayouch. Cast: Mounim Kbab, Mustapha Hansali, Hicham Moussoune.

Ali, Kwita, Omar and Boukber are a group of urchins living on the hard streets of Casablanca, their everyday lives filled with violence, begging and indifference. To survive, the four youths create a bond of friendship and family among them, but that bond is soon cut short by a senseless tragedy. This highly acclaimed drama from Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch reminds us of the power of hope and dreams even in the harshest of circumstances.



Sans toit ni loi (Vagabond) 1985, France
Friday, March 14 at 2pm
French with English subtitles, 105 minutes.
Director: Agnès Varda. Cast: Sandrine Bonnaire, Macha Meril, Stephane Freiss, Yolande Moreau.

In the south of France one winter, a young woman, Mona, is found frozen to death in a ditch. Through flashbacks and interviews, writer-director Agnes Varda paints a fractured portrait of Mona’s final weeks as she camps alone and falls in with various men and women, many of whom try to give her life direction. Others do not have her best interests at heart, as they project their own needs and problems onto her.



La Grande Seduction (Seducing Doctor Lewis) 2003, Canada
Friday, March 14 at 7pm 
French with English subtitles, 108 minutes.
Director: Jean-Francois Pouliot. Cast: Raymond Bouchard, David Boutin, Benoit Briere, Lucie Laurier.

This comedy follows a small fishing town in Quebec that’s facing tough times as the economy continues to take a hit. The townspeople are thrilled when a major company chooses their locale to build a factory; trouble is, the factory will be built only if the town can convince a full-time doctor to move there. A local man (Raymond Bouchard) organizes a no-holds-barred crusade to bring in a big city doctor (David Boutin).



La Classe de Madame Lise 2005, Canada
Saturday, March 15 Matinee at 11am
French with Spanish subtitles, 89 minutes.

Their names: Rafik, Solace, Rahat, Jessica and Adonay. They are six years old. They live in Parc Extension, a multiethnic neighborhood in downtown Montreal. They are Madame Lise’s students. During a school year, filmmaker Sylvie Groulx watches them learn, watches them live. Sylvie Groulx will present the movie and answer questions afterward. Please note that it has Spanish subtitles only.


Kids Movies: Cartoons
Saturday, March 8 at noon


Sunday Matinee Concerts
Every Sunday at 2:30 pm at Teatro Santa Ana, tickets 50 pesos

Tenor Xavier Hernández and pianists Liliana Gutiérrez and Enrique Prado will perform in the Sunday Matinee Concerts starting March 16 and continuing for four weeks. This series of concerts for tenor voice and piano has two distinct programs: “Love Songs” and “Latin Soul.” Please check article for details. 



Musical Saturdays
Requiem
Saturday, March 15 at 2:30pm, 89 minutes.

The Requiem Mass in D minor (K. 626) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was composed in 1791. The requiem was Mozart’s last composition and is one of his most powerful and recognized works, not only for its music, but also for the debate over how much of the music Mozart managed to complete before his death and how much was composed later by his colleague Franz Xaver Süssmayr.

Despite debate about how much of the music was Mozart’s, the Requiem has taken a prominent place as one of Mozart’s most important works.