MEDIA CONTACT: Judy Moore at 847-491-4819 or jkm229@northwestern.edu

March 31, 2005

May 2005 Film Calendar

This May, Block Cinema, a collaboration of the Northwestern University School of Communication and the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston campus, will present films directed by Samuel Fuller and Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, as well as nature films and films from Africa.

Two special events -- Northwestern’s annual collegiate Flicker Film Festival (May 7 and 8) and “Sonic Celluloid” (May 13), an evening of live musical accompaniment by Chicago bands to short films of all varieties (from silent to experimental) -- also are scheduled.

Admission is $6 for the general public and $4 for Northwestern faculty, staff and students, or as noted below. A spring season pass is $20. Special events are $10.

For more information, call the Block Cinema Hotline at (847) 491-4000 or go to the Block Cinema Web site at http://www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/blockcinema.

African, “Forgiveness,” 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 4 (Ian Gabriel, 2004, South Africa, 112 minutes, 35 mm). Offering perspectives on truth and reconciliation in South Africa, “Forgiveness” is a tale of mourning and revenge. Tertius Coetzee (Arnold Vosloo) is so haunted by his role in the vicious torture and murder of the young Daniel Grootboom that he makes the long journey to Paternoster, a dying fishing village, to beg the forgiveness of the boy’s family. His intrusion into their lives unleashes years of suppressed emotions and the resulting shockwaves are uncontrollable.

Bergman, “Wild Strawberries,” 8 p.m. Thursday, May 5, Ingmar Bergman, 1957, Sweden, 91 minutes, 35 mm). During his long journey to Lund University for an honorary degree, aging Professor Isak Borg (Victor Sjostrom) is forced to come to terms with his past and his mortality, which, in the world of director Ingmar Bergman, means a series of strange, sobering hallucinations. It’s one of Bergman’s most existential films and a tale about the final accounting that happens within the self.

Fuller, “The Crimson Kimono,” 8 p.m. Friday, May 6 (Samuel Fuller, 1959, United States, 82 minutes, 35 mm). When a stripper is murdered, a pair of Korean War army buddies, now working as Los Angeles homicide detectives -- must track down the killer. Despite their racial differences -- one is white and the other Japanese -- they are good friends and loyal partners. But when the investigation leads them to a beautiful artist, they both become smitten with her, threatening their friendship and jeopardizing the investigation. The film presents a complex look at racism and sexuality in post-war America.

(Free) Flicker Film Festival, 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 7, and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 8. Northwestern’s annual collegiate film festival showcases dozens of student-made movies from all over the world in five categories: comedy, drama, experimental, documentary and animation. More information is available at studio22.org.

African, “Agogo Eewo,” 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 11 (Tunde Kelani, 2002, Nigeria, 100 minutes, BetaSP). The death of Lagata, the military usurper of the Jogbo throne, allows the corrupt chiefs to install their own leader. They choose Adebosipo, a retired police officer whom they trust will not rock the boat. To their surprise, he does. Director Tunde Kelani won the top prize at the Nigerian National Film Festival with this critical allegory of Nigerian politics.

Fuller, “Underworld U.S.A.,” 8 p.m. Thursday, May 12 (Samuel Fuller, 1961, United States, 99 minutes, 35 mm). As a young boy, Tolly Devlin (Cliff Robertson) saw his father viciously murdered by gangsters. Years later in prison, he discovers the identities of the four killers, learns that they are rapidly rising in the ranks of the criminal hierarchy, and sets out for revenge.

Special Event, “Sonic Celluloid,” 8 p.m. Friday, May 13. In partnership with WNUR-FM (89.3 FM), Block Cinema will present an evening of live musical accompaniment by Chicago bands to short films of all varieties -- experimental to silent. For more information, visit www.wnur.org/soniccelluloid/.

(Free) Nature Films, (Titles to be announced), 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, May 14, and 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, May 15. Block Cinema will screen some of the best wildlife films from Wyoming’s Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival.

Bergman, “Fanny and Alexander,” 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 18 (Ingmar Bergman, 1982, Sweden, 188 minutes, 35 mm). Ten-year-old Alexander lives in a big house with his family. His life changes dramatically when his father dies unexpectedly, forcing him and his sister Fanny to live with their mother’s repellent new husband. Merging fantasy with bleak reality, the film is a study of familial collapse.

African, “Soldiers of the Rock,” 8 p.m. Thursday, May 19 (Norman Maake, 2003, South Africa, 94 minutes, 35 mm). To experience the world in which his father died, Vuyo takes a break from his business studies to join a Johannesburg crew of deep level miners working long shifts far underground.  Intense manual labor alternates with the efforts of the ex-con Suto to organize the purchase of their own mine.

Fuller, “Shock Corridor,” 8 p.m. Friday, May 20 (Samuel Fuller, 1963, United States, 101 minutes, 35 mm). An ambitious journalist hatches a plan he believes will guarantee him a Pulitzer Prize. He infiltrates a mental hospital by posing as a patient in order to solve a murder.  He plays his part so well, he is subjected to severe treatment for his “madness,” triggering a genuine mental breakdown. Jeffrey Sconce, associate professor of radio, television and film at Northwestern, will introduce the film and lead a discussion after the screening.

Double Feature: Bergman, “The Virgin Spring,” 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 25 (Ingmar Bergman, 1959 Sweden, 88 minutes, 35 mm). Set in medieval Sweden, this film is the story of a violent crime of rape and murder violently revenged. It also has been interpreted as a religious allegory on Christian forgiveness. Starring Max von Sydow and Birgitta Valberg, as the parents of the young girl who was killed on her way to church, it was the first Bergman film to win an Academy Award. “Cries and Whispers, 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 25 (Ingmar Bergman, 1972, Sweden, 91 minutes, 35 mm). Set in a 19th century Swedish manor house on the grounds of a large estate, four women  -- sisters Maria, Karin and Agnes and the servant Anna -- share a dark past. One of the sisters (Agnes) is dying. The others gather to wait for her demise. Beneath all the pain, there is a colorful beauty, shown by Bergman’s long-time cinematographer Sven Nykvist.

African, “Moolaadé,” 8 p.m. Thursday, May 26 (Ousmane Sembene, 2004, Senegal, 124 minutes, 35 mm). “Moolaadé” presents a feminist critique of patriarchy and the continued practice of female genital mutilation. When several girls flee from a village’s traditional “purification” ritual, Collé, a woman from a neighboring village, takes them into her home and calls upon another tradition -- the “moolaadé” (which translates as “protection.”) Collé’s action sets off a chain of events that change her village forever. “Moolaadé” was one of the most heralded films at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

Fuller, “The Naked Kiss,” 8 p.m. Friday, May 27 (Samuel Fuller, 1964, United States, 91 minutes, 35 mm). Mixing bald prostitutes, crippled children, playboy-feigning pedophiles and bizarre violence, “The Naked Kiss” represents a peak in director Samuel Fuller’s cinematic delirium. The film opens as a hairless Constance Towers, the film’s heroine, mercilessly beats her pimp with a purse and a shoe. She embarks on a quest for redemption, only to discover that the good life of suburban society is twice as corrupt as her shady past.