Home The Washington Diplomat June 2013 Films – June 2013

Films – June 2013

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Languages

Cantonese

Haitian Creole

Korean

Spanish

English

Hebrew

Mandarin

Finnish

Indonesian

Norwegian

French

Italian

Russian

 

Cantonese

Cold War
Directed by Leung Longman and Sunny Lok
(Hong Kong, 2012, 102 min.)
The kidnapping of five officers right under the nose of the police department’s surveillance system sets off a search for a mole and a power struggle between the co-directors of Police Affairs.
Freer Gallery of Art
Fri., June 28, 7 p.m.,
Sun., June 30, 2 p.m.

Motorway
(Che sau)
Directed by Soi Cheang
(Hong Kong, 2012, 90 min.)
Shawn Yue plays a hotshot rookie cop who’s a member of the Stealth Riders, a secret police unit in charge of hunting down illegal auto racers and fugitives on the run.
Freer Gallery of Art
Fri., June 21, 7 p.m.,
Sun., June 23, 2 p.m.

Vulgaria
Directed by Pang Ho-Cheung
(Hong Kong, 2012, 92 min.)
Funnyman Chapman To is a movie producer desperate to score a hit who secures backing from a crazed mainland gangster in this spectacularly raunchy send-up of the Hong Kong film industry.
Freer Gallery of Art
Fri., June 14, 7 p.m.,
Sun., June 16, 2 p.m.

English

Akwantu: The Journey
Directed by Roy T. Anderson
(U.S./Jamaica, 2012, 96 min.)
Jamaican-born director Roy T. Anderson examines his heroic ancestors, the Maroons, who were often referred to as the Spartacus of their time. Poorly armed and outgunned, these brave warriors engaged the mighty British superpower over an 80-year period and were victorious.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., June 1, 3 p.m.

Before Midnight
Directed by Richard Linklater
(U.S., 2013, 108 min.)
Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) first met in their 20s in “Before Sunrise,” reunited in their 30s in “Before Sunset,” and now, in “Before Midnight,” they face the past, present and future.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Between Friends
Directed by Omari Jackson
(Trinidad and Tobago, 2012, 95 min.)
Hailing from Trinidad and Tobago, this film is a kaleidoscopic portrait of a group of young friends during a sexually charged summer of exploration, revelation and change.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., June 1, 7:20 p.m.

Boarding Gate
Directed by Olivier Assayas
(France/Luxembourg, 2007, 106 min.)
A woman whose resume includes prostitution, industrial espionage, drug-dealing, Web entrepreneurship and, in time, assassination, has an obsessive and violent sexual relationship with her former employer and a duplicitous one with her current boss (English, French and Cantonese).
AFI Silver Theatre
Fri., June 28, 9:15 p.m.,
Sun., June 30, 9:20 p.m.

Clean
Directed by Olivier Assayas
(France/Canada/U.K., 2004, 90 min.)
After her British rock-star boyfriend dies from a heroin overdose, fellow junkie Emily Wang faces a stint in prison, public condemnation, the loss of custody of the couple’s 6-year-old son, and the arduous journey of putting her life back together
(English, French and Cantonese).
AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., June 29, 5:10 p.m.,
Mon., July 1, 7:10 p.m.

Demonlover
Directed by Olivier Assayas
(France, 2002, 116 min.)
Jet-setting business executives pursue a lucrative deal with a Japanese company that specializes in pornography Web sites, whose 3D imaging software is light-years ahead of the competition (English, French and Japanese).
AFI Silver Theatre
June 15 to 18

Dirty Wars
Directed by Rick Rowley
(Multiple countries, 2013, 86 min.)
Part political thriller and part detective story, this documentary follows investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill, author of the bestseller “Blackwater,” on a gripping journey into the heart of America’s covert wars, from Afghanistan to Yemen, Somalia and beyond (English, Pushto, Somali and Dari).
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., June 7

God Loves Uganda
Directed by Roger Ross Williams
(U.S., 2013)
This powerful documentary explores the evangelical campaign to infuse African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right.
AFI Silver Docs
Theater and time TBD

Holding on to Jah
Directed by Roger Landon Hall
(U.S./Jamaica, 2011, 98 min.)
Candid interviews with some of reggae’s greatest singers and musicians tell a collective story of hard times that were endured and overcome thanks to their great faith.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., June 1, 9:30 p.m.

Inequality for All
Directed by Jacob Kornbluth
(U.S., 2013)
In this documentary, U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich tries to raise awareness of the country’s widening economic gap.
AFI Silver Docs
Theater and time TBD

Let the Fire Burn
Directed by Jason Osder
(U.S., 2013, 88 min.)
On May 13, 1985, Philadelphia police dropped two pounds of military explosives onto a city row house occupied by the radical group MOVE, resulting in one of the largest fires in the city’s history. This dramatic tragedy of intolerance and fear unfolds through an extraordinary visual record previously withheld from the public.
AFI Silver Docs
Theater and time TBD

Our Nixon
Directed by Penny Lane
(U.S., 2013, 84 min.)
Never-before-seen Super 8 home movies filmed by Richard Nixon’s closest aides — and convicted Watergate conspirators — offer a surprising and intimate new look into his presidency.
AFI Silver Docs
Theater and time TBD

Pandora’s Promise
Directed by Robert Stone
(U.S., 2013, 87 min.)
This documentary asks whether the one technology we fear most — nuclear power — could save our planet from a climate catastrophe, while providing the energy needed to lift billions of people in the developing world out of poverty.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., June 14

Shadow Dancer
Directed by James Marsh
(U.K./Ireland, 2012, 101 min.)
A single mother and Republican living in Belfast with her mother and hard-line IRA brothers is arrested for her part in an aborted IRA bomb plot in London, and an MI5 officer offers her a choice: lose everything and go to prison or return to Belfast to spy on her own family.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., June 7

Sightseers
Directed by Ben Wheatley
(U.K., 2012, 89 min.)
In this hilarious dark comedy, Chris wants to show Tina his world, and he wants to do it his way — on a journey through the British Isles in his beloved Abbey Oxford Caravan, but it doesn’t take long for reality to interrupt his dream journey.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Silent Music
Directed by Melissa A. Gomez
(U.S./Antigua and Barbuda, 2012, 70 min.)
Melissa, the youngest of three hearing children born to two deaf parents, sets out to uncover her family’s secrets in this searingly personal documentary.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., June 2, 3 p.m.

Somers Town
Directed by Shane Meadows
(U.K., 2008, 71 min.)
Newly arrived in London from Nottingham, a teen runaway befriends a Polish immigrant, hiding out in his bedroom as the two embark on a summer-long series of adventures (English, Polish and French).
AFI Silver Theatre
Fri., June 7, 12:20 a.m.,
Tue., June 11, 5:15 p.m.

Wish You Were Here
Directed by Kieran Darcy-Smith
(Australia, 2012, 93 min.)
In this intriguing mystery, four friends indulge in a carefree Southeast Asian holiday, but their sun-soaked retreat quickly takes a horrific turn when one of the travelers disappears.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., June 7

World War Z
Directed by Marc Forster
(U.S./Malta, 2013)
United Nations employee Gerry Lane traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, and threatening to decimate humanity itself.
Area theaters
Opens Fri., June 21

Finnish

Mother of Mine
(Äideistä parhain)
Directed by Klaus Härö
(Finland/Sweden, 2005, 111 min.)
In World War II, 9-year-old Eero is sent by his beloved mother to live on a remote farm in Sweden, where his surrogate father is welcoming and warm, but his surrogate mother is cold, and even cruel (Finnish and Swedish).
AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., June 2, 11 a.m.

French

Good Bye, Children
(Au Revoir Les Enfants)
Directed by Louis Malle
(France/West Germany/Italy, 1987, 104 min.)
A French boarding school run by priests seems to be a haven from World War II — until a new student arrives.
Goethe-Institut
Mon., June 24, 6:30 p.m.

Les Destinées
(Les destinées sentimentales)
Directed by Olivier Assayas
(France/Switzerland, 2000, 180 min.)
This film spans three decades, beginning at the turn of the 20th century, to tell the story of a Protestant minister who leaves his wife, daughter, vocation and his small community in France for a younger wife and more idyllic, unrestricted life in the Swiss Alps.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., June 8, 4:05 p.m.,
Sun., June 9, 6 p.m.

Les Invisibles
Directed by Sébastien Lifshitz
(France, 2012, 115 min.)
Several elderly homosexual men and women speak frankly about their pioneering lives and their fearless decision to live openly in France at a time when society rejected them.
AFI Silver Docs
Theater and time TBD

Jaguar
Directed by Jean Rouch
(France, 1955/67, 88 min.)
A writer, shepherd and fisherman leave their village to try their luck on the fabled Gold Coast, otherwise known as modern-day Ghana (preceded by “Les Maîtres fous” (France, 1954, 28 min.), which documents a Hauka ritual in which participants become possessed and transform into their colonial powers).
National Gallery of Art
Sat., June 15, 2 p.m.

Petit à petit
(Little by Little)
Directed by Jean Rouch
(France, 1970, 96 min.)
Director Jean Rouch’s collaborators Damouré Zika and Lam Ibrahim Dia travel to Paris — following up on plans to expand their company, Petit a Petit, formed at the conclusion of “Jaguar.”
National Gallery of Art
Sat., June 15, 4:30 p.m.

Renoir
Directed by Gilles Bourdos
(France, 2012, 111 min.)
Set on the French Riviera in the summer of 1915, Jean Renoir, son of the impressionist painter, returns home to convalesce after being wounded in World War I. Meanwhile, the elder Renoir is filled with a new, wholly unexpected energy when a young girl miraculously enters his world.
The Avalon Theatre

A Screaming Man
(Un homme qui crie)
Directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
(France/Belgium/Chad, 2010, 92 min.)
A pool attendant is forced to give up his job, leaving him humiliated and resentful, while back home, his country is in the throes of a civil war, with rebel forces attacking the government and the authorities demanding that people contribute to the “war effort” with money.
AFI Silver Theatre
Tue., June 4, 7:15 p.m.,
Wed., June 5, 9 p.m.

Something in the Air
(Après mai)
Directed by Olivier Assayas
(France, 2012, 121 min.)
At the beginning of the 1970s, a high school student in Paris is swept up in the political fever of the time, though his real dream is to paint and make films.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Summer Hours
(L’heure d’été)
Directed by Olivier Assayas
(France, 2008, 103 min.)
After their mother dies, three very different, distant siblings reunite to settle her estate, including the dispersal of the valuable art collection that crowds her country house.
AFI Silver Theatre
June 15 to 18

Swann in Love
(Eine Liebe von Swann)
Directed by Volker Schlöndorff
(France/West Germany, 1984, 110 min.)
An elegant and educated bachelor, Charles Swann moves in fashionable circles of Paris in the 1890s, but when he falls in love with a courtesan, his friends warn him against marriage (French and German).
Goethe-Institut
Mon., June 3, 6:30 p.m.

Toussaint Louverture
Directed by Philippe Niang
(France/Haiti, 2012, 195 min.)
This long-awaited, action-packed historical epic (presented in two 90-min segments with an intermission) depicts the life of the titular Haitian freedom fighter, portrayed by celebrated Haitian actor Jimmy Jean-Louis (French and Haitian Creole).
AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., June 2, 5:15 p.m.

Hatian Creole

Three Kids
(Twa timoun)
Directed by Jonas D’Adesky
(Belgium/Haiti, 2012, 81 min.)
Three orphan boys make plans to run away from their orphanage home in Port-au-Prince. But after the 2010 earthquake strikes, there’s no longer a home to run away from.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., June 1, 5:30 p.m.

Hebrew

Fill the Void
(Lemale et ha’halal)
Directed by Rama Burshtein
(Israel, 2012, 90 min.)
A devout 18-year-old Israeli woman is pressured to marry the husband of her late sister in Tel Aviv’s ultra-Orthodox Hasidic community.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Indonesian

The Act of Killing
Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer
(Denmark/Norway/U.K./Sweden/Finland, 2012, 115 min.)
This documentary challenges former Indonesian death squad leaders to reenact their real-life mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers (Indonesian and English).
AFI Silver Docs
Theater and time TBD

Italian

Shun Li and the Poet
(Io sono Li)
Directed by Andrea Segre
(Italy/France, 2011, 92 min.)
An indentured servant indebted to the snakehead who brought her from China to Italy, Shun Li is sent from her factory job outside of Rome to work in a pub in a small town along the Venetian Lagoon, where she strikes up an unlikely friendship with a Slavic refugee.
AFI Silver Theatre
June 30 to July 2

Korean

Camp 14: Total Control Zone
Directed by Marc Wiese
(Germany/South Korea, 2012, 104 min.)
Shin Dong-Huyk was born political prisoner in a North Korean re-education (i.e. death) camp, the child of two prisoners who had been married by order of the wardens. He spent his entire youth in the camp until the age of 23, when he managed to escape — entering a world that was completely foreign to him (Korean and English).
AFI Silver Docs
Theater and time TBD

Mandarin

The Bullet Vanishes
(Xiao shi de zi dan)
Directed by Law Chi-leung
(Hong Kong/China, 2012, 108 min.)
In this moody mystery set in the 1920s, a munitions factory worker accused of stealing a box of bullets dies in a game of Russian roulette that was rigged by her corrupt boss. Soon afterward, a murder occurs at the factory and the bullet mysteriously disappears from the scene, with the workers believing their dead colleague’s ghost is seeking revenge.
Freer Gallery of Art
Fri., June 7, 7 p.m.,
Sun., June 9, 2 p.m.

Norwegian

King of Devil’s Island
(Kongen av Bastøy)
Directed by Marius Holst
(Norway/France/Sweden/Poland, 2010, 116 min.)
Based on a true story, in 1915 Norway, juvenile offenders who suffer under the cruel and exploitative rule of the prison guards at the Bastøy Boys Home plot an escape, setting events in motion for a violent conflict (Norwegian and Swedish).
AFI Silver Theatre
Fri., June 28, 11:30 a.m.,
Sat., June 29, 11 a.m.

Russian

How I Ended This Summer
(Как я провёл этим летом)
Directed by Alexei Popogrebsky
(Russia, 2010, 130 min.)
On a desolate island in the Arctic Circle, two men work at a small meteorological station: the gruff and imposing Sergei and his inexperienced new partner Pavel. One day, Pavel receives terrible news intended for Sergei and when the truth comes out, the consequences explode against a chilling backdrop of the merciless Arctic Sea.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., June 1, 11 a.m.,
Mon., June 3, 9:05 p.m.

Spanish

The Condemned
(Los condenados)
Directed by Roberto Busó-García
(Puerto Rico, 2012, 95 min.)
In this haunting psychological thriller, dark and terrible secrets hidden in an old mansion stir to life when the original owner of the house returns.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., June 2, 9 p.m.

XXY
Directed by Lucía Puenzo
(Argentina/Spain/France, 2007, 86 min.)
Although raised as a girl, 15-year-old Alex was born with both male and female sex organs, and on the verge of adulthood must make a defining choice.
AFI Silver Theatre
June 9 to 13

Cari