Home The Washington Diplomat March 2014 Films – March 2014

Films – March 2014

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Languages

Amharic

Finnish

Hebrew

Polish

Silent

Turkish

Arabic

French

Ibo

Portuguese

Spanish

Yiddish

English

Georgian

Japanese

Russian

Swahili

Farsi

German

Mandarin

Sesotho

Swiss-German

EFF = Environmental Film Festival

WJFF = Washington Jewish Film Festival

NAFF = New African Films Festival

Amharic

Difret
Directed by Zeresenay Mehari
(Ethiopia, 2014, 99 min.)
In 1996 Ethiopia, an empowered lawyer who provides free legal services to poor women and children takes on the case of a 14-year-old girl charged with the murder of her abductor and would-be husband (NAFF).

AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., March 15, 7 p.m.

Arabic

Shadow in Baghdad
Directed by Duki Dror
(Israel/France, 2013, 70 min.)
Jews once played a major role in Iraqi society, and this investigative documentary traces their story, and that of the brutal campaign that eventually drove them out from Baghdad (WJFF; Arabic and Hebrew).
Washington DCJCC
Sat., March 8, 12 p.m.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., March 9, 1:45 p.m.

English

A2-B-C

Directed by Ian Thomas Ash
(Japan, 2013, 71 min.)

Eighteen months after the nuclear meltdown at Fukushima, the children there are suffering from severe nosebleeds and are developing skin rashes and thyroid cysts (EFF; screens with “The Bonobo Connection” (Congo/U.S, 2012, 32 min)).

Georgetown University
Wed., March 26, 7 p.m.

After Winter, Spring

Directed by Judith Lit
(France, 2013, 74 min.)

In an era of mega-farms, the encroachment of suburbia, new European Union rules and reductions of agricultural subsidies, the farmers in the Périgord region of France are forced to confront challenges that threaten the very existence of their small farms (EFF).

AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., March 30, 5:45 p.m.

Antarctica: A Year on Ice

Directed by Anthony Powell
(New Zealand, 2013, 91 min.)

Photographer Anthony Powell spent 10 years chronicling Antarctica, from the 24-hour darkness of winter to desolate, stunning polar vistas and the creatures and humans based there (EFF; screens with “Critical Mass” and Expedition to the End of the World).

National Museum of Natural History
Sun., March 23, 3 p.m.

The Apple

Directed by Menahem Golan
(U.S./W. Germany, 1980, 86 min.)

Menahem Golan’s trippy reinterpretation of the Book of Genesis centers on two budding rockers who fall under the control of a wickedly evil record producer (WJFF).

AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., March 8, 10 p.m.

Beyond the Edge 3D

Directed by Leanne Pooley
(New Zealand, 2013, 90 min.)

Follow Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary on their monumental and historical first ascent of Mt. Everest in 1953 through interviews, photography and original and staged film footage (EFF).

AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., March 22, 7:30 p.m.

Blood Glacier
(Blutgletscher)

Directed by Marvin Kren
(Austria, 2013, 93 min.)

The crew at a climate-research center in the German Alps discovers a mysterious red liquid on a nearby retreating glacier that seems to be turning local wildlife into predatory monstrosities (EFF).

AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., March 22, 10 p.m.

Breathing Earth: Susumu Shingu’s Dream

Directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer
(Germany/U.K., 2012, 95 min.)

Japanese artist Susumu Shingu converses with nature through his sculptures. This film lingers with Shingu at the sides of ponds and bamboo forests, emulating the measured pace of his art (EFF).

National Gallery of Art
Sat., March 22, 4:30 p.m.

Carpe Diem: A Fishy Tale

Directed by Scott Dobson
(Canada, 2013, 52 min.)

This film explores the complicated fight against the Asian Carp, an invasive but impressive species of fish that is really just doing what it does best: surviving (EFF).

Embassy of Canada
Tue., March 18, 6:30 p.m.

Char: No Man’s Land

Directed by Sourav Sarang Coombe
(India, 2013, 88 min.)

A 14-year-old boy smuggling rice from India to Bangladesh dreams of going to his old school in India, but reality forces him to eke out a living on a fragile island formed by the river Ganga, the same river that eroded his home in mainland India (EFF).

National Museum of Natural History
Fri., March 28, 12 p.m.

Critical Mass

Directed by Mike Freedman
(U.K., 2012, 101 min.)

Based on the rodent population experiments to investigate the effects of social overcrowding, Mike Freedman explores the impact of human population growth on physical and psychological needs (EFF; screens with “Antarctica: A Year on Ice” and “Expedition to the End of the World”).

National Museum of Natural History
Sun., March 23, 1 p.m.

Escaping the Flood

Directed by Frans Bromet
(Netherlands, 2006, 50 min.)

Experts predict that Ilpendam, a water village in a Dutch polder, will be gone within 50 years, leaving the director and his family wondering if they should leave and move somewhere else (EFF).

Royal Netherlands Embassy
Tue., March 25, 6:30 p.m.

Expedition to the End of the World

Directed by Daniel Dencik
(Denmark, 2013, 90 min.)

A schooner packed with artists, scientists and ambitions worthy of Noah or Columbus sets off for the end of the world: the rapidly melting massifs of northeast Greenland (EFF; screens with “Critical Mass” and “Antarctica: A Year on Ice”).

National Museum of Natural History
Sun, March 23, 4:30 p.m.

Felix

Directed by Roberta Durrant
(South Africa, 2013, 97 min.)

Thirteen-year-old Felix dreams of becoming a saxophonist like his late father, but his mother Lindiwe thinks jazz is the devil’s music (NAFF).

AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., March 16, 4 p.m.

Fynbos

Directed by Harry Patramanis
(South Africa/Greece/U.S., 2013, 96 min.)

A real estate developer, on the brink of bankruptcy, travels with his wife to a lavish and remote glass house bordering an informal settlement in the Western Cape of South Africa, where his inexplicably goes missing (NAFF).

AFI Silver Theatre
Mon., March 17, 5:15 p.m.,
Tue., March 18, 9:30 p.m.

The Ginger Ninjas Ride Mexico
(Los Ginger Ninjas Rodando Mexico)

Directed by Sergio Morkin
(Mexico, 2012, 78 min.)

A rock band goes on a musical odyssey from northern California to the south of Mexico, cycling from bumpy jungle roads to a crowded Mexico City (EFF).

GALA Hispanic Theatre

Sun., March 30, 12:30 p.m.

Half of a Yellow Sun

Directed by Biyi Bandele
(Nigeria/U.K., 2013, 106 min.)

Nigerian-born British playwright Biyi Bandele translates Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s powerful novel of the same name into an emotional drama that gives voice to personal stories of the indignities and atrocities suffered during the Nigerian Civil War (NAFF opening-night film).

AFI Silver Theatre
Thu., March 13, 7:15 p.m. 

Happiness

Directed by Thomas Balmès and Nina Bernfeld
(France/Finland, 2013, 80 min.)

A dreamy and solitary 8-year-old monk living in a remote village in Bhutan takes a three-day journey to the capital to buy a TV set. Does TV bring happiness or will progress destroy an ancient way of life? (EFF) 

Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Thu., March 27, 7:30 p.m.

Horizontal Beautiful

Directed by Stefan Jäger
(Ethiopia/Switzerland, 2013, 90 min.)

Soccer-industry mogul Franz travels to Addis Ababa on a promotional tour, where he’s kidnapped by a rag-tag group of street kids who secretly plan to serve as his liberator (NAFF; English and Amharic).

AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., March 15, 1 p.m. 

The Human Scale

Directed by Andreas M. Dalsgaard
(Denmark, 2012, 77 min.)

For 40 years, Danish architect Jan Gehl has documented how modern cities repel human interaction and argues that we can build cities in a way that takes human needs for inclusion and intimacy into account (EFF; screens with “Thin Ice”).

National Building Museum
Wed., March 19, 6:30 p.m.

Imbabazi: The Pardon

Directed by Joel Karekezi
(Rwanda, 2013, 73 min.)

In Rwanda in 1994, Manzi and Karemera are best friends who seem to be inseparable, until the inexorable forces of history and violence tear them apart (NAFF).

AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., March 16, 9:30 p.m.,
Tue., March 18, 5:15 p.m. 

It’s All True

Directed by Richard Wilson, Myron Meisel and Bill Krohn
(Brazil/France/U.S., 1993, 85 min.)

Both a documentary and an exercise in film restoration, “It’s All True” tells the complex story of Orson Welles’s ill-fated attempts to make an anthology film about South American life and culture (EFF).

Inter-American Development Bank
Thu., March 27, 6:30 p.m.

The Jungle School

Directed by Riri Riza
(Indonesia, 2013, 90 min.)

This film follows the journey of Time magazine’s “Hero of the Year,” Butet Manurung, from anthropologist to educator to activist as she works with isolated tribes in Indonesia to bring literacy and help save their rainforests (EFF).

National Museum of Women in the Arts
Tue., March 25, 7 p.m.

Kangaroo Dundee

Directed by Andrew Graham-Brown and Tom Mustill
(U.K., 2013, 59 min.)

An extraordinary man named Brogla lives in a shack in the Australian Outback with a mob of orphaned kangaroos (EFF).

Embassy of Australia
Wed., March 26, 6:30 p.m.

The Last Call

Directed by Enrico Cerasuolo
(Italy/Norway, 2013, 90 min.)

Forty years after “The Limits of Growth,” the book showing the consequences of human population growth, a review of the study’s authors seeks to answer the question as to whether the limits have been exceeded or whether there is still time for a final call (EFF).

National Museum of Natural History
Fri., March 28, 6:30 p.m.

The Last Fishing Boat

Directed by Shemu Joyah
(Malawi, 2012, 110 min.)

Yusufu, a once-successful fisherman on Lake Malawi, is now struggling due to the depletion of fish in the lake, while his cultural values are being threatened by the expanding tourist industry (NAFF; English and Chichewa).

AFI Silver Theatre
Wed., March 19, 7:20 p.m. 

The Last Shepherd
(L’ultimo Pastore)

Directed by Marco Bonfanti
(Italy, 2012, 76 min.)

Renato Zucchelli is the last man to tend sheep in the region of Lombardy, an area increasingly overrun by urban sprawl. Although blessed with family and friends, he has a dream: to introduce the children of Milan to the all-but-forgotten joys of his profession (EFF).

Italian Cultural Institute
Mon., March 24, 7 p.m.

The Latin Skyscraper
(El Rascacielos Latino)

Directed by Sebastián Schindel
(Argentina, 2012, 76 min.)

Watch as the mysteries surrounding the mythical Barolo Palace in Buenos Aires and its creator, Italian architect Mario Palanti, are unraveled (EFF).

Embassy of Argentina
Fri., March 28, 6:30 p.m.

The Man Who Plants Trees

Directed by Michal Gálik
(Czech Republic/Slovak Republic, 2013, 52 min.)

Learn about Ernest Vunan, who cares about the future of his country and decides to save the precious mountain rainforests in northwest Cameroon, where his Kedjom-Keku tribe lives (EFF).

Embassy of the Czech Republic
Thu., March 27, 6:30 p.m.

Moon Man

Directed by Stephan Schesch
(France/Germany/Ireland, 2012, 95 min.)

All alone in the sky and bored, the Moon Man hitches a ride to Earth on a passing comet in this animated film. But the world’s children are unable to sleep without seeing the Moon Man, so they must join forces to return him to his rightful place (EFF). 

Avalon Theatre
Sat., March 22, 10:30 a.m.

Ninah’s Dowry

Directed by Victor Viyouh
(Cameroon/U.S., 2012, 95 min.)

Ninah, 20, a veteran wife of seven years and a mother of three, tries to escape her abusive relationship, returning home to run a small restaurant (NAFF; English, Pidgin and Babanki).

AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., March 16, 6 p.m.,
Wed., March 19, 9:30 p.m. 

River and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working With Time

Directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer
(Germany, 2001, 90 min.)

Shot in four countries and across four seasons, this award-winning film works on several levels to capture the unpredictability, brilliance and sheer sensuality of Andy Goldsworthy’s site-specific earthworks (EFF).

National Gallery of Art
Thu., March 20, 12:30 p.m.,
Fri., March 21, 12:30 p.m.

Sand Wars

Directed by Denis Delestrac
(France, 2013, 80 min.)

Is sand an infinite resource? Can the existing supply satisfy a gigantic demand fueled by construction booms? This investigation takes us around the globe to unveil a new gold rush and a disturbing fact: the “sand wars” have begun (EFF).

Carnegie Institution for Science
Thu., March 20, 7 p.m.

Satoyama: Japan’s Secret Forest

Directed by Kikuchi Tetsunori
(Japan, 2008, 51 min.)

In Japan, there are still many places where people quietly live with nature. At the heart of such places are Satoyama, small, forested mountains blessed with rich nature moderately modified by human hand (EFF).

Japan Information and Culture Center
Wed., March 26, 6:30 p.m.

In Secret

Directed by Charlie Stratton
(U.S., 2013, 107 min.)

Set in the lower echelons of 1860s Paris, a sexually repressed beautiful young woman who is trapped in a loveless marriage by her domineering aunt embarks on an affair with her husband’s alluring friend.

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Thin Ice

Directed by David Sington and Simon Lamb
(U.K./New Zealand, 2013, 74 min.)

As the science of climate change has come under increasing attack, “Thin Ice” reveals what’s really going on by showing its human face (EFF; screens with “The Human Scale”).

Edmund Burke School
Wed., March 19, 6:30 p.m.

Tokyo’s Belly

Directed by Reinhild Dettmer-Finke
(Germany, 2013, 70 min.)

The work of fishmongers, cooks, sanitation workers and farmers illustrates the Japanese values of ritual, discipline and belonging to a group (EFF).

Goethe-Institut
Tue., March 25, 6 p.m.

The Venice Syndrome

Directed by Andreas Pichler
(Germany/Austria/Italy, 2013, 80 min.)

According to one study, there will be no more Venetians by the year 2030. Andreas Pichler’s revelatory and compassionate documentary is squarely on the side of the locals as they use humor and heart to cope with unconcerned governments, oblivious day-tourists and the disastrous crumbling of a way of life (EFF).

Goethe-Institut
Tue., March 25, 7:30 p.m.

Visitors

Directed by Godfrey Reggio
(U.S., 2013, 87 min.)

Director Godfrey Reggio reveals humanity’s trance-like relationship with technology, which, when commandeered by extreme emotional states, produces massive effects far beyond the human species.

Landmark’s E Street Cinema 

Watermark

Directed by Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky
(Canada, 2013, 92 min.)

A feature documentary of astonishing beauty, “Watermark” transports us all over the world, revealing the extent to which humanity has shaped water, and how it has shaped us (EFF).

Carnegie Institution for Science

Tue., March 18, 7 p.m.

Farsi

The Rooster Trademark Paper

Directed by Maryam Milani
(Iran, 2012, 93 min.)

A young, aspiring artist in Iran who sells newspapers is eager to enter a visual arts competition; however, to qualify, all entries must be submitted on costly Rooster Trademark paper, so friends, family and community rally around him to support his dream (EFF).

National Gallery of Art
Sat., March 22, 10:30 a.m.,
Sun., March 23, 11:30 a.m.

Finnish

Helsinki Music Centre – Prelude

Directed by Matti Reinikka and Miisa Latikka
(Finland, 2012, 93 min.)

The architects of the Helsinki Music Centre sought to create a building in harmony with its urban surroundings and a concert hall with outstanding acoustics (EFF).

Embassy of Finland
Tue., March 25, 6 p.m.

French

Aya of Yop City

Directed by Clément Oubrerie
(France, 2013, 84 min.)

Surrounded by a loving family, 19-year-old Aya must balance her ambitions to study medicine with her family’s wish that she drop everything and get married.

AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., March 15, 3 p.m.

Burn It Up Djassa
(Le Djassa a pris feu)

Directed by Lonesome Solo
(Ivory Coast, 2012, 70 min.)

One night, hawking cigarettes to eke out a living, Tony joins a game of poker and discovers a fast way of making cash. But he quickly descends into the violent world of the “djassa,” ghetto in Abidjan street slang (NAFF; French and Nouchi).

AFI Silver Theatre
Thu., March 13, 9:30 p.m.,
Thu., March 20, 6 p.m. 

Cousin Jules

Directed by Dominique Benicheti
(France, 1973, 91 min.)

A blend of documentary, cinema vérité and minimal cinema, the restored French masterpiece “Cousin Jules” is a compelling study of the daily life of an elderly French couple whose routines have become their link with life (EFF).

National Gallery of Art
Sun., March 23, 4:30 p.m.

Friends From France

Directed by Anne Weil and Philippe Kotlarski
(France/Germany/Canada/Russia, 2013, 100 min.)

In 1979, a young couple ventures deep behind the Iron Curtain where, by day, they pose as simple tourists, but at night, they secretly rendezvous with “refuseniks,” Jews persecuted by the Soviet regime for wanting to leave the country (WJFF; French, Russian and Hebrew).

AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., March 1, 9:45 p.m.
Washington DCJCC
Sat., March 8, 6:30 p.m.

Grigris

Directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
(Chad/France, 2013, 101 min.)

Despite a bum leg, 25-year-old Grigris has hopes of becoming a professional dancer, but when his stepfather falls critically ill, he’s forced to risk his future by smuggling oil to pay the hospital bills (NAFF; French and Arabic).

AFI Silver Theatre
Mon., March 17, 7:20 p.m. 

The Jewish Cardinal
(Le métis de Dieu)

Directed by Ilan Duran Cohen
(France, 2013, 90 min.)

Based on the amazing true story of Jean-Marchie Lustiger, the son of Polish-Jewish immigrants, maintained his Jewish identity even after converting to Catholicism at a young age and later joining the priesthood (WJFF; French, Latin, and Polish).

Washington DCJCC
Sat., March 1, 6:30 p.m.
JCC of Greater Washington
Sat., March 8, 8:45 p.m.

Once Upon a Forest
(Il était une forêt)

Directed by Luc Jacquet
(France, 2013, 78 min.)

Luc Jacquet takes a spectacular journey with renowned French botanist and ecologist Francis Hallé to the very top of the tropical rainforest canopy, chronicling seven centuries in the life of this “green lung” of the world (EFF).

Embassy of France
Wed., March 19, 7:30 p.m.

Slums: Cities of Tomorrow

Directed by Jean-Nicolas Orhon
(Canada, 2013, 82 min.)

This touching documentary takes you on a revealing journey from Mumbai, India, Asia’s biggest slum, through a suburb of Marseille to a Native American community in the Abitibi region of Quebec, a tent city in New Jersey and, finally, to the heart of a Moroccan slum (EFF; French, English, Arabic and Hindi).

Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Thu., March 27, 6 p.m.

Stranger by the Lake
(L’inconnu du lac)

Directed by Alain Guiraudie
(France, 2013, 97 min.)

Frank falls for an attractive yet darkly mysterious man at a popular cruising spot on the shores of a lake in rural France, becoming ensnared in a passionate affair and a murder mystery.

Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., March 7

Under the Starry Sky

Directed by Dyana Gaye
(Senegal/Belgium/France, 2013, 87 min.)

Set under the skies of three cities — Turin, New York and Dakar — the film follows the fates of three characters connected by destiny (NAFF; French, Wolof, English and Italian).

AFI Silver Theatre
Fri., March 14, 9:30 p.m.,
Mon., March 17, 9:30 p.m.
 

For a Woman

Directed by Diane Kurys
(France, 2013, 110 min.)

After her mother’s death, a mid-30s woman who knows practically nothing of her family’s past discovers old photos and letters that convince her to take a closer look at her parents’ lives (WJFF).

AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., March 2, 1 p.m.
Avalon Theatre
Tue., March 4, 6:30 p.m.

Georgian

Keep Smiling

Directed by Rusudan Chkonia
(Georgia/France/Luxembourg, 2013, 91 min.)

In Tbilisi, 10 mothers compete in a TV competition to elect the “Best Mother of the Year,” doing everything in their power to ensure that they don’t miss out on this chance of a better life, even if means underhanded tricks. The film, which celebrates International Women’s Day, is presented in conjunction with the Embassy of Georgia and will feature a reception with Georgian wine afterward.

Embassy of France

German

Hanna’s Journey

Directed by Julia Von Heinz
(Germany/Israel, 2013, 99 min.)

Hanna’s motives for spending several months in Israel working with disabled youths and elderly Holocaust survivors aren’t noble, but meeting Itay might just change her self-centered ways (WJFF; German and Hebrew).

AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., March 2, 3:30 p.m.
Washington DCJCC

Thu., March 6, 8:30 p.m.

Russendisko

Directed by Oliver Ziegenbalg
(Germany, 2012, 96 min.)

Vladimir and his pals seize their chance to leave Moscow for Berlin after the fall of communism, when Jewish citizens from the Soviet Union where free to immigrate to Germany (WJFF; German and Russian).

Goethe-Institut
Sat., March 1, 9 p.m.
AFI Silver Theatre
Wed., March 5, 7:30 p.m.

Hebrew

Album 61

Directed by Halil Efrat
(Israel, 2013, 70 min.)
Boris Gelfand — the first Israeli to compete for the World Chess Championship — has spent his entire life getting ready for one moment (WJFF; Russian, Hebrew and English).

Washington DCJCC
Sat., March 1, 2 p.m.
American University
Thu., March 6, 8:45 p.m.

Arabani

Directed by Adi Adwan

(Israel, 2013, 82 min.)
Yosef, newly divorced from his Jewish wife, returns to his Druze village, where he attempts to rekindle old friendships and connect with his former bride-to-be (WJFF; Hebrew and Arabic).

AFI Silver Theatre
Mon., March 3, 7:30 p.m.
Washington DCJCC
Thu., March 6, 6:30 p.m.

Before the Revolution

Directed by Dan Shadur
(Israel, 2013, 60 min.)

Hard as it may be to imagine today, Tehran, the capital city of Iran, was once considered a paradise for Israelis. Dan Shadur’s documentary begins as a nostalgic look into his family’s glorious past but quickly morphs into a thrilling ride that offers a new take on the Iranian Revolution (WJFF; Hebrew and Arabic).

JCC of Greater Washington
Sat., March 1, 6:45 p.m.
Washington DCJCC
Sun., March 2, 11:15 a.m.

Bethlehem

Directed by Yuval Adler

(Israel/U.K./Belgium/Germany, 2013, 99 min.)

Israel’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award, “Bethlehem” tells the story of the complex relationship between an Israeli Secret Service officer and his teenage Palestinian informant (WJFF; Hebrew and Arabic).

AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., March 1, 5 p.m.
Avalon Theatre
Tue., March 4, 8:45 p.m.

Cupcakes

Directed by Eytan Fox
(Israel, 2013, 90 min.)

When a group of tightknit friends accidentally enters a Eurovision-style musical contest, their endearing tune — originally written to console a heartbroken buddy — is picked to represent Israel (WJFF closing-night film).

JCC of Greater Washington
Tue., March 4, 7:30 p.m.
Washington DCJCC
Sun., March 9, 7:30 p.m.

Dancing in Jaffa

Directed by Hilla Medalia
(Israel/U.S., 2013, 84 min.)

Renowned ballroom dancer Pierre Dulaine has a burning desire to use dance for social good, teaming Jewish and Palestinian Israeli children as ballroom partners (WJFF; Hebrew and Arabic).

Washington DCJCC
Tue., March 4, 6:30 p.m.

Dove’s Cry

Directed by Ganit Ilouz
(Israel, 2013, 52 min.)

A young charismatic teacher from Wadi Ara teaches Arabic in a Jewish primary school, opening up a cross-cultural dialogue (WJFF; Hebrew and Arabic).

American University
Thu., March 6, 6:45 p.m.
Washington DCJCC
Sun., March 9, 1:30 p.m.

The Garden of Eden

Directed by Ran Tal
(Israel, 2013, 74 min.)

One of the most famous and visited parks in Israel, the Sakhne hot spring serves as an informal melting pot, offering respite for Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Christians alike (WJFF; Hebrew and Arabic).

Goethe-Institut
Sat., March 8, 6:30 p.m.
Washington DCJCC
Sun., March 9, 3:30 p.m.

Handa Handa 4

Directed by David Ofek and Neta Shoshani
(Israel, 2013, 59 min.)

Two young Bukharins living in Israel have been dating for almost three years, rebelling against longstanding tradition that they must marry (WJFF).

Goethe-Institut
Sun., March 2, 2:45 p.m.
Washington DCJCC
Tue., March 4, 8:45 p.m.

Turn Left at the End of the World

Directed by Avi Nesher
(Israel, 2004, 108 min.)

A few Indian families move to a small Israeli town, inhabited by Moroccan immigrants. A culture war ensues: the Moroccans look down on the dark-skinned Indians, while the Indians consider the Moroccans a bunch of uncouth troublemakers (WJFF).

Washington DCJCC
Sun., March 2, 3 p.m.

Ibo

B for Boy

Directed by Chika Anadu
(Nigeria, 2013, 118 min.)

Amaka, maintains a happy marriage, raises a 7-year-old daughter and runs her own successful business, yet her failure to produce a son for her husband makes her a target of derision among family, friends and neighbors (NAFF).

AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., March 15, 9:40 p.m.,
Tue., March 18, 7 p.m.

Japanese

Like Father, Like Son

(Soshite chichi ni naru)

Directed by Hirokazu Kore-Eda
(Japan, 2013, 121min.)

A successful businessman driven by money learns that his biological son was switched with another child after birth and must make a life-changing decision to choose his true son or the boy he raised as his own.

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

The Wind Rises
(Kaze tachinu)

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
(Japan, 2013, 126 min.)

This animated film looks at the life of Jiro Horikoshi, the man who designed Japanese fighter planes during World War II.

Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Mandarin

Beyond Beauty: Taiwan From Above

Directed by Chi Po-Lin
(Taiwan, 2013, 93 min.)

The beauty of Taiwan’s untouched areas contrasts with the ugliness of mountainsides eroded by development and large-scale farming, and of coastlines polluted by industry (EFF).

Freer Gallery of Art
Sun., March 23, 2 p.m.

Polish

Aftermath

Directed by Władysław Pasikowski
(Poland/Netherlands/Russia/Slovakia, 2013, 104 min.)

In this gripping thriller, two brothers who discover a terrible secret are forced to revise their perception of their father, their family, their neighbors, and the history of their nation (WJFF).

AFI Silver Theatre
Tue., March 4, 7:15 p.m.
Washington DCJCC
Sat., March 8, 8:45 p.m.

Ida

Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski
(Poland, 2013, 80 min.)

Anna, an 18-year-old sheltered orphan raised in a convent, is preparing to become a nun when she first meets her only living relative, a Communist Party insider who shocks Anna with the declaration that her her Jewish parents were murdered during the Nazi occupation (WJFF).

AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., March 1, 7:15 p.m.

The Man Who Made Angels Fly

Directed by Wiktoria Szymanska
(Poland/U.K./France, 2013, 68 min.)

Renowned puppeteer Michael Meschke and his family escaped from Nazi Germany to Sweden when he was a young boy, an experience that informed his philosophically rich marionette work (WJFF).

Washington DCJCC
Sat., March 1, 4:15 p.m.
Goethe-Institut
Sun., March 2, 12:45 p.m.

Portuguese

The Great Kilapy
(O Grande Kilapy)

Directed by Zézé Gamboa
(Angola/Portugal/Brazil, 2012, 100 min.)

Set on the eve of Angola’s independence from Portugal, a charming, good-hearted playboy appears to slip into a life of crime to support his affluent lifestyle, becoming a subversive political figure persecuted by the Portuguese dictatorship (NAFF).

AFI Silver Theatre
Thu., March 20, 7:30 p.m.

Russian

Metamorphosen

Directed by Sebastian Mez
(Germany, 2013, 84 min.)

Set in Russia’s south Ural region, this documentary examines what it’s like to live in an area with some of the largest amounts of radioactive contamination in the world (EFF).

AFI Silver Theatre
Thu., March 27, 7:30 p.m.

Stalingrad

Directed by Fedor Bondarchuk
(Russia, 2013, 131 min.)

This IMAX 3D film vividly recreates a pivotal World War II battle in 1942, in which a few Soviet soldiers take refuge in a house to fend off the German army (Russian and German).

Area theaters

Sesotho

The Forgotten Kingdom

Directed by Andrew Mudge
(Lesotho/South Africa/U.S., 2013, 96 min.)

Atang leaves the hustle and bustle of Johannesburg to return to his ancestral land of Lesotho, where he must bury his estranged father in the remote, mountainous village where he was born (NAFF).

AFI Silver Theatre
Fri., March 14, 7:30 p.m.

Silent

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City

Directed by Walter Ruttmann

(Germany, 1927, 72 min.)

Using visual impressions in a semi-documentary style, this silent film portrays Berlin in the early part of the 20th century (EFF).

AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., March 22, 5:30 p.m.

Metropolis

Directed by Fritz Lang
(Germany, 1927, 153 min.)

The futuristic city of Metropolis is sharply divided between the working class and the city planners in this sci-fi epic (EFF).

AFI Silver Theatre
Fri., March 28, 7:30 p.m.,
Sun., March 30, 2 p.m.

Spanish

Calle Lopez

Directed by Gerardo Barroso Alcalá and Lisa Tillinger
(Mexico, 2013, 80 min.)

Two photographers capture the bustling cauldron of everyday life in Calle López, a busy neighborhood in downtown Mexico City (EFF).

AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., March 30, 7:30 p.m.

My German Friend

Directed by Jeanine Meerapfel
(Germany/Argentina, 2013, 110 min.)

In the late 1950s, the daughter of German-Jewish immigrants strikes up a casual friendship with her neighbor, the son of a senior SS officer, in a quiet, affluent section of Buenos Aires (WJFF; Spanish and German).

AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., March 2, 5:45 p.m.
Goethe-Institut
Sat., March 8, 8:45 p.m.

Stop! Rodando El Cambio

Directed by Alba González de Molina Soler and Blanca Ordóñez de Tena
(Spain, 2014, 70 min.)

A road trip takes us along the Spanish countryside and into Portugal and France, making stops along the way to meet individuals and collectives that have chosen to live a simpler life (EFF).

American University
Fri., March 28, 6:45 p.m.

Swahili

Something Necessary

Directed by Judy Kibinge
(Kenya/Germany, 2013, 85 min.)

Anne struggles to rebuild her life after Kenya’s civil unrest killed her husband and left her isolated farm in ruins, while a troubled young gang member who took part in the violence is drawn to her, in search of connection and redemption (NAFF).

AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., March 15, 5 p.m.

Swiss-German

Z’alp

Directed by Thomas Rickenmann
(Switzerland, 2013, 100 min.)

Every year, Swiss farmers embark on an exciting venture — the cattle drive up to the alpine pastures (EFF).

The Embassy of Switzerland
Wed., March 19, 7 p.m.

Turkish

Polluting Paradise (Garbage in the Garden of Eden)

Directed by Fatih Akin
(Germany, 2012, 98 min.)

This compelling tale of bureaucratic arrogance and false promises is an account of environmental devastation inflicted on the once-lovely seaside town of Çamburnu, Turkey (EFF).

AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., March 23, 8:30 p.m.

Yiddish

Mamele

Directed by Joseph Green and Konrad Tom

(Poland/U.S., 1938, 97 min.)

Set in Lodz, this musical comedy embraces the diverse gamut of interwar Jewish life in Poland, with its no-goodniks and the unemployed, nightclubs and gangsters, and religious Jews celebrating Sukkot (WJFF).

Washington DCJCC
Sun., March 2, 5 p.m.
JCC of Greater Washington
Sun., March 9, 1 p.m.

Cari