Monday Night Foreign Film Series
VIRTUAL CINEMA
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This month we Commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with a screening of the Oscar nominated documentary DARK CIRCLE sponsored by Veterans for Peace Ventura County Chapter #112. Stream from your iphone, ipad or computer to your Big Screen. Fourteen films with unlimited viewing for 3 to 7 days for $4.99/$12 per film. Click on link below or go to: www.oxnardfilmsociety.org – Thanks and stay safe.
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NOW STREAMING ($10)
Dark Circle
1982 USA 1hr 28min
Documentary NR
In English
It’s been 75 years this month since the start of the Atomic Age, with the U.S. nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing hundreds of thousands of civilians, but its trail of destruction has never ended.
Dark Circle covers both the period’s beginnings and its aftermath, providing a scientific primer on the catastrophic power of nuclear energy while also relating tragic human stories detailing the devastating toll radioactive toxicity has taken on people and livestock—focusing in large part on Rocky Flats, Colorado, whose plutonium processing facility infamously contaminated the surrounding area.
Documentary Grand Prize winner at Sundance, Academy shortlisted for Best Documentary, and Emmy winner, Dark Circle is no less potent today than it was 40 years ago.
Film Sponsor: Veterans for Peace – Ventura County Chapter #112
Reviews
“One of the most horrifying films I’ve seen, and also sometimes one of the funniest (if you can laugh at the same things in real life that you found amusing in Dr. Strangelove). Using powers granted by the Freedom of Information Act, and sleuthing that turned up government film the government didn’t even know it had, the producers of this film have created a mosaic of the Atomic Age. It is a tribute to the power of the material, and to the relentless digging of the droppable-1597986185621filmmakers, that the movie is completely riveting. Four Stars!” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Click on Link for Dark Circle:
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NOW STREAMING ($12)
A Thousand Cuts
2020 USA 1hr 38min
Documentary NR
In English and Tagalog with English Subtitles
Nowhere is the worldwide erosion of democracy, fueled by social media disinformation
campaigns, more starkly evident than in the authoritarian regime of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. Journalist Maria Ressa places the tools of the free press—and her freedom—on the line in defense of truth and democracy. Produced, written and directed by Ramona S. Diaz (IMELDA, MOTHERLAND).
Reviews
“A gripping film profiling a remarkable journalist.’- Los Angeles Times
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Click on Link to A Thousand Cuts:
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NOW STREAMING ($12)
John Lewis: Good Trouble
2020 USA 1hr 39min
Documentary PG(for thematic material including some racial epithets/violence, and for smoking)
In English
Using interviews and rare archival footage, JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE chronicles Lewis’ 60-plus years of social activism and legislative action on civil rights, voting rights, gun control, health-care reform and immigration. Using present-day interviews with Lewis, now 80 years old, Porter explores his childhood experiences, his inspiring family and his fateful meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1957. In addition to her interviews with Lewis and his family, Porter’s primarily cinéma verité film also includes interviews with political leaders, Congressional colleagues, and other people who figure prominently in his life.
Reviews
“There’s a lot to glean from the battleground Lewis has stood on for six decades while demanding fairness, a hope, and dream, of every American. Good Trouble is of importance now more than ever.” – Priscilla Ward, Salon.com
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Click on Link to John Lewis: Good Trouble
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NOW STREAMING ($10)
Ai Weiwei: Truly Yours
2019 USA 1hr 19min
Documentary NR
In English, Mandarin and Arabic, with English Subtitles
Human rights become profoundly personal when Ai Weiwei, China’s most famous artist, transforms Alcatraz Island into an astonishing expression of socially-engaged art focused on the plight of the unjustly incarcerated. At the core of the monumental installation were portraits of prisoners of conscience made with Lego blocks, coupled with the opportunity to send letters to prisoners and their families. In her impassioned and powerful film, Cheryl Haines captures the exhibit from conception to opening, and also visits current and former political prisoners including American whistleblower Chelsea Manning.
Reviews
“One of the great films of the year! A near-perfect look at Weiwei’s art installation that took place on Alcatraz Island. Truly magical…a must-see!”
-Steve Kopian, Unseen films
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Click on Link to Ai Weiwei: Truly Yours
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Now Streaming ($10)
A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps
2019 USA 1hr 46min
Documentary NR
In English
A Towering Task tells the remarkable story of the Peace Corps and takes viewers on a journey of what it means to be a global citizen.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave young Americans the opportunity to serve their country in a new way by forming the Peace Corps. Since then, more than 200,000 of them have traveled to more than 140 countries to carry out the organization’s mission of international cooperation.
Directed by Alana DeJoseph and narrated by Annette Bening, the documentary features indelible interviews of current and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, current and former staff, scholars and journalists, community members and leaders around the world (including Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf). Remarkable archival materials and stunning footage from around the globe by cinematographer Vanessa Carr bring to life an agency that represents to the world the American idea. By expertly weaving together personal volunteer experiences with the political machinations of the time, screenwriter Shana Kelly provides viewers with a visceral experience of Kennedy’s words “what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
Nearly 60 years later, Americans – young and old alike – still want to serve their country and understand their place in the world; current volunteers work at the forefront of some of the most pressing issues facing the global community.
Film Sponsor: Lauraine Effress
Review:
“Enlightening and uplifting. A Towering Task puts a human face on the Peace Corps – and makes sense of its history of idealism, improvisation, politics. It is a most coherent and satisfying documentary.”- Paul Theroux,Travel Writer & Novelist
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Click on Link for A Towering Task
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The Audition
2020 Germany 1hr 39min
Drama NR
In German and French with English Subtitles
Anna Bronsky is a violin teacher at a music-focused high school. Despite the opposition of all other teachers, Anna drives through the admission of a student, Alexander, in whom she detects a remarkable talent. Committed, she prepares him for the intermediate exam and neglects her family – her son Jonas, whom she brings into competition with her new student, and her husband Philippe. Her colleague Christian, with whom she has an affair, persuades her to join a quintet. When she fails during their joint concert, the pressure mounts and she focuses all her attention on her student Alexander. Come the day of the exam, events take a tragic turn.
Reviews
“A treat that becomes a chilling enthrallment, one of those closely observed dramas you love — for its intimacy, calm authority and mystery — even before you begin to get what it’s really about.” – – Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
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Click on Link to The Audition
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House of Hummingbird
2020 South Korea 2hr 18min
Drama NR
In Korean with English Subtitles
Set against the backdrop of a rapidly expanding Seoul in 1994, a lonely 14-year-old Eun-hee moves through life like a hummingbird searching for a taste of sweetness wherever she may find it. Deprived of attention from her family, she roams the neighborhood with her best friend, attempts romantic relationships with both girls and boys alike and is sent to the hospital with an unclear diagnosis. When Young-ji, a new teacher, arrives, she becomes the first adult Eun-hee feels really understands her.
Reviews
“Sensitive and lived-in and strong in ways that a more forceful version of this story could never have been, Bora’s debut sketches a portrait of a girl coming into her own strength.” – David Ehrlich, indieWire
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Click on Link to House of Hummingbird
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NOW STREAMING ($12)
Hill of Freedom
2014 South Korea 1hr 7min
Drama NR
In English, Korean and Japanese with English Subtitles
Kwon (Seo Young-hwa) returns to Seoul from a restorative stay in the mountains. She is given a packet of letters left by Mori (Ryo Kase, Like Someone In Love), who has come back from Japan to propose to her. As she walks down a flight of stairs, Kwon drops and scatters the letters, all of which are undated. When she reads them, she has to make sense of the chronology… and so must we. Shot in the narrow alleys, petite cafes and beautiful hanok inns of Seoul’s historic Jong-ro district, a favorite Hong location, Hill of Freedom is a masterful, alternately funny and haunting, tale of love and longing from the great director.
Review:
“Critic’s Pick! Hong Sang-soo’s film, structured as a letter with the pages out of order, is one of his most daring gambits… The ingenuity of the movie’s structure is stimulating and delightful.” — Glenn Kenny, The New York Times
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Click on Link for Hill of Freedom
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Shanghai Triad
1995 China/France 1hr 48min
Drama/Crime Rated R (for some language and images of violence)
In Mandarin with English Subtitles
Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee, SHANGHAI TRIAD is a thrilling and sumptuously stylized potboiler about the Chinese criminal underworld of the 1930’s from legendary director Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern, House of Flying Daggers).
Hired to be a servant to pampered nightclub singer and mob moll Xiao Jinbao (Gong Li, Ju Dou, Farewell My Concubine), naive teenager Shuisheng (Wang Xiaoxiao) is thrust into the glamorous and deadly demimonde of Shanghai’s crime syndicates. Over the course of seven days, Shuisheng observes mounting tensions as triad boss Tang begins to suspect traitors amongst his ranks and rivals for Xiao Jinbao’s affections.
Reviews
“It has impeccable flow and balance. And Gong Li’s performance – a portrait of a capricious and indulgent woman who gains depth as we watch her – is one of her finest.” –Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
“Some of the most stunning screen images ever.”
–Jack Matthews, Newsday
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Click on Link for Shanghai Triad
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NOW STREAMING ($12)
Beats
2020 Scotland 1hr 35min
Drama/Comedy/Music
NR (profanity)
In English with English Subtitles
A universal story of friendship, rebellion, and the irresistible power of music set against the backdrop of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994, which banned unlicensed raves across the UK, BEATS follows best friends and polar opposites Johnno and Spanner who, realizing they are destined for different futures, sneak out to an illegal party in pursuit of one last crazy night together.
A look at Scottish youth in 1994 raving it up in marvelous Black and White. These Scots do swear a lot so be ready. George
Reviews
“Euphoric Brit Grit. Infectiously enjoyable” – Neil Young, The Hollywood Reporter
“Terrific! A druggy, mind-blowing, eye-opening, open-air, law-defying rave” – Amy Taubin, Film Comment
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Diana Kennedy
Nothing Fancy
2020 USA 1hr 21min
Documentary NR
In Spanish and English with English Subtitles
Nothing Fancy: Diana Kennedy is an intimate, candid perspective into the curious world of 95-year-old cookbook author and British ex-patriot Diana Kennedy, widely regarded as the world’s academic expert on Mexican cuisine. Standing barely five feet tall with a thick English accent, Diana is a formidable critic of anyone who doesn’t agree with her views on Mexican culinary traditions, or, God forbid, doesn’t recycle. The author of nine acclaimed cookbooks, Diana has spent nearly seventy years exploring Mexico (typically solo in her truck), and researching the country’s varied and complex cuisines. A two-time James Beard Award winner, Diana was decorated with an Order of the Aztec Eagle from the Mexican government in 1982 and became a Member of the Order of the British Empire from the UK in 2002. Despite her notable achievements, Diana is difficult to categorize; often referred to as the “Julia Child of Mexico”. Given her ediger style, however, Diana prefers a different title: “The Mick Jagger of Mexican Cuisine”.
Reviews
“What remains is a lively and uncritical portrait of a woman as passionate about composting as chilaquiles, one who will pitch a fit if you put garlic in your guacamole.” – Jeannette Catsoulis,The New York Times
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Click on Link for DIANA KENNEDY: Nothing Fancy
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Beanpole
2020 Russia 2hr 19min
Drama NR
In Russian with English Subtitles
2020 Academy Awards® Best International Feature Film – Official Selection of Russia
In post-WWII Leningrad, two women, Iya and Masha (astonishing newcomers Viktoria Miroshnichenko and Vasilisa Perelygina), intensely bonded after fighting side by side as anti-aircraft gunners, attempt to readjust to a haunted world. As the film begins, Iya, long and slender and towering over everyone—hence the film’s title—works as a nurse in a shell-shocked hospital, presiding over traumatized soldiers. A shocking accident brings them closer and also seals their fates. The 28-year-old Russian director Kantemir Balagov won Un Certain Regard’s Best Director prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for this richly burnished, occasionally harrowing rendering of the persistent scars of war.
Reviews
“Critic’s Pick. Dazzling… a brilliantly told, deeply moving story about love… from the sensationally talented Russian director Kantemir Balagov.”
– Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
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Bacurau
2019 Brazil 2hr 11min
Drama/Sci-Fi/Action NR
In Portugese and English with English Subtitles
A few years from now… Bacurau, a small village in the Brazilian sertão, mourns the loss of its matriarch, Carmelita, who lived to be 94. Days later, its inhabitants (among them Sônia Braga) notice that their village has literally vanished from online maps and a UFO-shaped drone is seen flying overhead. There are forces that want to expel them from their homes, and soon, in a genre-bending twist, a band of armed mercenaries led by Udo Kier arrive in town picking off the inhabitants one by one. A fierce confrontation takes place when the townspeople turn the tables on the villainous outsiders, banding together by any means necessary to protect and maintain their remote community. The mercenaries just may have met their match in the fed-up, resourceful denizens of little Bacurau.
“Critic’s Pick! Exhilarating. A heart-thumping political allegory that tips its hat to masters like John Carpenter.” – Manohla Dargis, The NYTimes
“A genre-busting entertainment that is at once a portrait of a community, a horror thriller and a timely piece of political filmmaking. Bacurau is one of those movies like Parasite… where you’re never quite sure which way it’s heading.” – John Powers, NPR
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Mephisto
1981 Hungary 2hr 26min
Drama NR
In German and Hungarian with English Subtitles
The 1981 Academy Award-winning (Best Foreign Language Film)
Mephisto concerns a passionate, but struggling actor (Klaus Maria Brandauer) who remains in Germany during the Nazi regime and reaps the rewards of this Faustian pact by finally achieving the stardom he has long craved.
“This film is a work of art. The film transmits its messages so forcefully that no one can remain unaffected.” – Ingmar Bergman
“One of the greatest movie performances I’ve ever seen. A performance of electrifying power.” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
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George J. Sandoval, Executive Director
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The Oxnard Film Society is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. (#20-5734347)
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