César Award Nominations

40th César Nominations

Academy president Alain Terzian announced the César nominations today. Alain Resnais will get a special tribute. Sean Penn will receive a honorary César. The 40th César Awards ceremony will take place at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on February 20th. Comedian Dany Boon will serve as chairman of the ceremony. Saint Laurent leads with 10 nominations followed by Love at First Fight (Les Combattants) with 9.

Best Film
Les Combattants, dir: Thomas Cailley
Eastern Boys, dir: Robin Campillo
La Famille Bélier, dir: Eric Lartigau
Saint Laurent, dir: Bertrand Bonello
Hippocrate, dir: Thomas Lilti
Sils Maria, dir: Olivier Assayas
Timbuktu, dir: Abderrahmane Sissako

Best Director
Céline Sciamma, Bande de Filles
Thomas Cailley, Les Combattants
Robin Campillo, Eastern Boys
Thomas Lilti, Hippocrate
Bertrand Bonello, Saint Laurent
Olivier Assayas, Sils Maria
Abderrahmane Sissako, Timbuktu

Best Actress
Juliette Binoche, Sils Maria
Catherine Deneuve, Dans la Cour
Marion Cotillard, Deux Jours, Une Nuit
Emilie Dequenne, Pas Son Genre
Adèle Haenel, Les Combattants
Sandrine Kiberlain, Elle l’Adore
Karin Viard, La Famille Bélier

Best Actor
Pierre Niney, Yves Saint Laurent
Romain Duris, Une Nouvelle Amie
Gaspard Ulliel, Saint Laurent
Guillaume Canet, La Prochaine Fois Je Viserai le Coeur
Niels Arestrup, Diplomatie
François Damiens, La Famille Bélier
Vincent Lacoste, Hippocrate

 

Best Supporting Actress

Marianne Denicourt, Hippocrate

Claude Gensac, Lulu Femme Nue
Izïa Higelin, Samba
Charlotte Le Bon, Yves Saint Laurent
Kristen Stewart, Sils Maria

Best Supporting Actor
Eric Elmosnino, La Famille Bélier
Jérémie Renier, Saint Laurent
Guillaume Gallienne, Yves Saint Laurent
Louis Garrel, Saint Laurent
Reda Kateb, Hippocrate

Best Newcomer (Female)
Lou de Laâge, Respire
Joséphine Japy, Respire
Louane Emera, La Famille Bélier
Ariane Labed, Fidelio, L’Odyssée d’Alice
Karidja Touré, Bande de Filles

Best Newcomer (Male)
Kevin Azaïs, Les Combattants
Ahmed Dramé, Les Héritiers
Kirill Emelyanov, Eastern Boys
Pierre Rochefort, Un Beau Dimanche
Marc Zinga, Qu’Allah Bénisse la France

Best Original Screenplay

Les Combattants
La Famille Bélier
Hippocrate
Sils Maria
Timbuktu

Best Adapted Screenplay
La Chambre Bleue
Diplomatie
Pas Son Genre
Lulu Femme Nue
La Prochaine Fois Je Viserai le Coeur

Best Foreign Film
Winter Sleep, dir: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Boyhood, dir: Richard Linklater
12 Years A Slave, dir: Steve McQueen
Deux Jours, Une Nuit, dirs: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Mommy, dir Xavier Dolan
Ida, dir: Pawel Pawlikowski
The Grand Budapest Hotel, dir: Wes Anderson






















Best Debut Feature
Les Combattants
Elle l’Adore
Fidelio, l’Odyssée d’Alice
Party Girl
Qu’Allah Bénisse la France

Best Score
Bande de Filles
Bird People
Les Combattants
Timbuktu
Yves Saint-Laurent






















Best Editing
Les Combattants
Hippocrate
Party Girl
Saint-Laurent
Timbuktu

Best Cinematography
La Belle et la Bête
Saint-Laurent
Sils Maria
Timbuktu
Yves Saint Laurent






















Best Set Design
La Belle et la Bête
La French
Saint-Laurent
Timbuktu
Yves Saint Laurent

Best Costumes
La Belle et la Bête
La French
Saint-Laurent
Une Nouvelle Amie
Yves Saint Laurent

Best Documentary
Caricaturistes – Fantassins de la Démocratie
Les Chèvres de Ma Mère
La Cour de Babel
National Gallery
Salt of the Earth

Best Sound
Bande de Filles
Bird People
Les Combattants
Saint Laurent
Timbuktu

Best Animated Film
Minuscule – La Vallée des Fourmis Perdues, dirs: Thomas Szabo and Hélène Giraud
Jack et la Mécanique du Coeur, dir: Stéphane Berla
Le Chant de la Mer, dir: Tomm Moore

Best Short Film
Aïssa
La Femme de Rio
Inupiluk
Les Jours d’Avant
Où Je Mets Ma Pudeur
La Virée à Paname

Best Animated Short
Bang Bang!
La Bûche de Noël
La Petite Casserole d’Anatole
Les Petits Cailloux

SFFLA2015: Heart of a Lion

Finnish film Heart of a Lion (Leijonasydän) was a huge audience success at SFFLA2015

Peter Franzén and Yusufa Sidibeh in Heart of a Lion (Leijonasydän)

 

Scandinavian Film Festival in Los Angeles screened the Finnish film Heart of a Lion (Leijonasydän) on Sunday, January 18, 2015 at the WGA in Beverly Hills. This powerful Neo-Nazi film was a huge success with the audience. Attending the screening were the film director Dome Karukoski, writer Aleksi Bardy, and actor Jasper Pääkkönen.

 

From left writer Aleksi Bardy, actor Jasper Pääkkönen, festival organizer James Koenig, and director Dome Karukoski.

Following the screening SFFLA director James Koenig conducted a very engaging Q&A with the guests that lasted 45 minutes.

 

 

Neo-Nazi skinhead Teppo (Peter Franzén) after getting out of jail, falls in love with a waitress named Sari (Laura Birn). He later finds out that Sari's son Ramadhani (Yusufa Sidibeh) from a previous marriage is not only bi-racial of African descent but also a Muslim. This leads Teppo to trouble with his fellow Neo-Nazis, and especially with his half-brother Harri (Jasper Pääkkönen). Teppo has to choose between fatherhood and fatherland.

 

Heart of a Lion is the second film that SFFLA screens in Los Angeles from Finland's most awarded filmmaker Dome Karukoski. His 2008 Academy Award submission The Home of Dark Butterflies (Tummien Perhosten Koti) was screened at SFFLA in 2009.

 

Georges Aintablian with Finnish filmmaker Dome Karukoski at SFFLA2015

Georges Aintablian with Finnish actor Jasper Pääkkönen at SFFLA2015

 

Rotterdam 2015

44th Rotterdam International Film Festival Line-Up

The Big Screen Award Nominees

I SWEAR I’LL LEAVE THIS TOWN, Danial Aragão (Brazil) – Bright Future
JAUJA, Lisandro Alonso (Argentina/USA/Netherlands/France/Mexico/Denmark/Germany/Brazil) – Spectrum
KEY HOUSE MIRROR, Michael Noer (Denmark) – Spectrum
THE LESSON, Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Bulgaria/Greece) – Bright Future
MAGICAL GIRL, Carlos Vermut (Spain) – Bright Future
A MATTER OF INTERPRETATION, Lee Kwang-Kuk (South Korea) – Bright Future
THE MOVE, Marat Sarulu (Kyrgyzstan) – Spectrum
SECOND COMING, Debbie Tucker Green (United Kingdom) – Bright Future
UNDULANT FEVER, Ando Hiroshi (Japan) – Spectrum
DAS ZIMMERMÄDCHEN LYNN, Ingo Haeb (Germany) – Spectrum


Hivos Tiger Awards line-up:

ABOVE AND BELOW, Nicolas Steiner (Switzerland/Germany) – International Premiere
ANOTHER TRIP TO THE MOON, Ismail Basbeth (Indonesia) – World Premiere
BRIDGEND, Jeppe Rønde (Denmark) – World Premiere
GLUCKAUF, Remy van Heugten (The Netherlands) – World Premiere
HARUKO’S PARANORMAL LABORATORY, Lisa Takeba (Japan) – World Premiere
IMPRESSIONS OF A DROWNED MAN, Kyros Papavassiliou (Cyprus/Greece/Slovenia) – World Premiere
LA MUJER DE LOS PERROS, Laura Citarella & Verónica Llinás (Argentina) – World Premiere
NORFOLK, Martin Radich (United Kingdom) – World Premiere
LA OBRA DEL SIGLO, Carlos Quintela (Cuba/Argentina/Germany/Switzerland) – World Premiere
PARABELLUM, Lukas Valenta Rinner (Argentina/Austria/Uruguay) – World Premiere
TIRED MOONLIGHT, Britni West (USA) – International Premiere
VANISHING POINT, Jakrawal Nilthamrong (Thailand) – World Premiere
VIDEOPHILIA (AND OTHER VIRAL SYNDROMES), Juan Daniel Fernández Molero (Peru) – World Premiere

Bright Future Premieres Line-up

Word Premieres
BANANA PANCAKES AND THE CHILDREN OF STICKY RICE by Daan Veldhuizen (The Netherlands)
BATTLES by Isabelle Tollenaere (Belgium/The Netherlands)
COSMODRAMA by Philippe Fernandez (France)
CRUMBS by Miguel Llansó (Spain/Ethiopia/Finland)
EL LEGADO by Roberto Anjari-Rossi (Germany/Chile)
ERDOS RIDER by Wang Haolin (China)
HEARTS KNOW * THE RUNAWAY BRIDES by Kris Kristinsson (The Netherlands)
SOLOS by Joanna Lombardi (Peru)
THE BULL by Larissa Figueiredo (Brazil)
THE MAN IN THE WALL by Evgeny Ruman (Israel)
VALEDICTORIAN by Matthew Yeager (USA)
WHITE COAL by Georg Tiller (Austria)

International Premieres
A MATTER OF INTERPRETATION by Lee Kwang-Kuk (South Korea)
CALLING by Marcin Dudziak (Poland, France)
I SWEAR I’LL LEAVE THIS TOWN by Daniel Aragão (Brazil)
TRANSATLANTIQUE by Félix Dufour-Laperrière (Canada)

European Premieres
CHIGASAKI STORY by Misawa Takuya (Japan/Thailand)
FOREVER  by Margarita Manda (Greece)
GOD LOVES THE FIGHTER by Damian Marcano (Trinidad and Tobago)
RIVER OF EXPLODING DURIANS by Edmund Yeo (Malaysia)
SAM KLEMKE’S TIME MACHINE by Matthew Bate (Australia)
SET ME FREE by Kim Tae-Yong (South Korea)
SITI by Eddie Cahyono (Indonesia)
THE INSEMINATOR by Bui Kim Quy (Vietnam)
THINGS OF THE AIMLESS WANDERER by Kivu Ruhorahoza (Rwanda, United Kingdom)

Spectrum Premieres Line-up

Word Premieres
BLACK STONE by Roh Gyeong-Tae  (South Korea/France)
DESAPARADISO by Khavn (The Philippines)
JADE MINERS by Midi Z (Taiwan/ Myanmar)
LA LA LA AT ROCK BOTTOM by Yamashita Nobuhiro (Japan)
LA VIE DE JEAN-MARIE by Peter van Houten (The Netherlands)
LI WEN AT EAST LAKE  by Li Luo (China)
MIJN WITTE HEMD by Dré Didderiëns (The Netherlands)
POET ON A BUSINESS TRIP by Ju Anqi (China)
STINKING HEAVEN by Nathan Silver (USA)
THE WOLF’S LAIR by Catarina Mourao (Portugal)

International Premieres

BRAVE MEN’S BLOOD by Olaf de Fleur Johannesson (Iceland)
KEY HOUSE MIRROR by Michael Noer (Denmark)
LA SCUOLA D’ESTATE by Jacopo Quadri (Italy)
LE PARADIS by Alain Cavalier (France)
THE END OF AN AGE by Bruno Safadi and Ricardo Pretti (Brazil)
UNDULANT FEVER by Ando Hiroshi (Japan)

European Premieres

CORNER OF HEAVEN by Miaoyan Zhang (China/France)
MIDSUMMER’S FANTASIA by Jang Kun-Jae (South Korea/Japan)
THE SECOND LIFE OF THIEVES by Woo Ming Jin (Malaysia)

Bright Future

ALIVE by Park Jung-Bum (South Korea)
APPROACHING THE ELEPHANT by Amanda Rose Wilder (USA)
BUZZARD by Joel Potrykus (USA)
CATCH ME DADDY by Daniel Wolfe (United Kingdom)
CINCO by Adrián Biniez (Argentina)
COURT by Chaitanya Tamhane (India)
FORT BUCHANAN by Benjamin Crotty (France/Tunisia)
JE SUIS LE PEUPLE by Anna Roussillon (France)
LA CREAZIONE DI SIGNIFICATO by Simone Rapisarda Casanova (Canada, Italy)
LA TIRISIA by Jorge Pérez Solano (Mexico)
LABOUR OF LOVE by Aditya Vikram Sengupta (India)
LIMBO by Anna Sofie Hartmann (Germany)
LOS HONGOS by Oscar Ruiz Navia (Colombia/Argentina/France/Germany)
MAGICAL GIRL by Carlos Vermut (Spain)
MAURO by Hernán Rosselli (Argentina)
MEN WHO SAVE THE WORLD by Liew Seng Tat (Malaysia/Netherlands/Germany/France)
NN by Héctor Gálvez Campos (Peru/Colombia/Germany/ France)
SECOND COMING by Debbie Tucker Green (United Kingdom)
SHE COMES BACK ON THURSDAY by André Novais Oliveira (Brazil)
THE LESSON By Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Bulgaria/Greece)
THE MONK by The Maw Naing (Myanmar/Czech Republic)
TITLI by Kanu Behl (India)
UN JEUNE POÈTE by Damien Manivel (France)
WIR SIND JUNG. WIR SIND STARK. by Burhan Qurbani (Germany)

Spectrum

AS THE GODS WILL by Miike Takashi (Japan)
AUGUST WINDS by Gabriel Mascaro (Brazil)
CAVALO DINHEIRO by Pedro Costa  (Portugal)
DAS ZIMMERMÄDCHEN LYNN by Ingo Haeb (Germany)
DIE GELIEBTEN SCHWESTERN by Dominik Graf (Germany)
FATHER AND SONS by Wang Bing (China/France)
FROM WHAT IS BEFORE by Lav Diaz (The Philippines)
GENTLE by Le-Van Kiet (Vietnam/USA)
HEAVEN KNOWS WHAT by Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie (USA/France)
JAUJA by Lisandro Alonso (Argentina/Denmark/USA,/Netherlands/France/Mexico/Germany/Brazil)
LETTERS TO MAX by Eric Baudelaire (France)
NATURAL HISTORY by James Benning (USA)
OVER YOUR DEAD BODY by Miike Takashi (Japan)
SPEED WALKING by Niels Arden Oplev (Denmark)
STORM CHILDREN – BOOK ONE by Lav Diaz (The Philippines)
STRANDED IN CANTON by Måns Månsson (Sweden/Denmark)
THE GOLDEN ERA by Ann Hui (China/Hong Kong)
THE IRON MINISTRY by J.P. Sniadecki (China/USA)
THE MOVE by Marat Sarulu (Kyrgyzstan)
THE REAPER by Zvonimir Juric (Croatia/Slovenia)
THE WORLD OF KANAKO by Nakashima Tetsuya (Japan)
TODAY by Reza Mirkarimi (Iran)
TOKYO TRIBE by Sono Sion (Japan)
TOTO AND HIS SISTERS by Alexander Nanau (Romania)

Academy Awards: BEST PICTURE

87 BEST PICTURE WINNERS

Let's look back at the 87 Best Picture winners.

Here are all the winners by decade followed by my rating:

2010 The King's Speech ★★★★

2011 The Artist ★★★

2012 Argo ★★★★ 

2013 12 Years a Slave ★★★★
2014 Birdman ★★★  




2000 Gladiator ★ 
2001 A Beautiful Mind ★★★★  
2002 Chicago ★★★★ 
2003 The Return of the King ★★★★★ 
2004 Million Dollar Baby ★★  
2005 Crash ★★★  
2006 The Departed ★★★★ 
2007 No Country for Old Men ★★★★★  
2008 Slumdog Millionaire ★★★★  
2009 The Hurt Locker ★★★★


1990 Dances With Wolves ★★★★★ 
1991 The Silence of the Lambs ★★★★★  
1992 Unforgiven ★★★  
1993 Schindler's List ★★★★★  
1994 Forrest Gump ★★★★  
1995 Braveheart ★★  
1996 The English Patient ★★★★★  
1997 Titanic ★★★
1998 Shakespeare in Love ★★★★ 
1999 American Beauty ★★★★  

1980 Ordinary People ★★★★  
1981 Chariots of Fire ★★★ 
1982 Gandhi ★★★ 
1983 Terms of Endearment ★★★★
1984 Amadeus ★★★★★ 
1985 Out of Africa ★★★★★ 
1986 Platoon ★★★★ 
1987 The Last Emperor ★★★★★ 
1988 Rain Man ★★★  
1989 Driving Miss Daisy ★★★★ 

1970 Patton ★★★★ 
1971 The French Connection ★★★★
1972 The Godfather ★★★★★ 
1973 The Sting ★★★
1974 The Godfather Part II ★★★★★
1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest ★★★★★
1976 Rocky ★★★
1977 Annie Hall ★★★★★
1978 The Deer Hunter ★★★★
1979 Kramer vs. Kramer  ★★★★
 

1960 The Apartment ★★★★
1961 West Side Story ★★★★★
1962 Lawrence of Arabia ★★★★★
1963 Tom Jones ★★★★
1964 My Fair Lady ★★★★
1965 The Sound of Music ★★★★
1966 A Man for All Seasons ★★★
1967 In the Heat of the Night ★★★★
1968 Oliver! ★★★
1969 Midnight Cowboy ★★★★★ 

  

 

1950 All About Eve ★★★★★

1951 An American in Paris ★★★
1952 The Greatest Show on Earth ★★★★★
1953 From Here to Eternity ★★★★
1954 On the Waterfront ★★★
1955 Marty ★★★★★
1956 Around the World in 80 Days ★★★
1957 The Bridge on the River Kwai ★★★★★
1958 Gigi ★★★★★        
1959 Ben Hur ★★★★

1940 Rebecca ★★★★★
1941 How Green Was My Valley ★★★
1942 Mrs. Miniver ★★★
1943 Casablanca ★★★★★
1944 Going My Way ★★★★
1945 The Lost Weekend ★★★★★
1946 The Best Years of Our Lives ★★★
1947 Gentleman's Agreement ★★
1948 Hamlet  ★★★★
1949 All the King's Men ★★★

1928 Wings ★★★
1929 The Broadway Melody ★★★
1930 All Quiet on the Western Front ★★★★
1931 Cimarron ★★★
1932 Grand Hotel ★★
1933 Cavalcade ★★★★
1934 It Happened One Night ★★★★★
1935 Mutiny on the Bounty  ★★★
1936 The Great Ziegfeld ★★★★
1937 The Life of Emile Zola ★★★
1938 You Can't Take It With You ★★★★★
1939 Gone with the Wind ★★★★ 
 

Armenian Film Screenings at Hammer

I AM ARMENIAN

A Yearlong Screening Series

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Hammer Museum in Westwood dedicate 2015 to an exploration of multiple facets of Armenian culture, history, and landscape through film. All screenings are FREE.

Upcoming Screenings at the Billy Wilder Theatre:

 

Wednesday JAN. 28 at 7:30pm
CALENDAR (1993) - Atom Egoyan

 

A photographer traveling in Armenia for a calendar project realizes that his wife, an Armenian translator, is falling in love with their driver and unofficial tour guide. The Academy Award–nominated director Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter) reveals the unraveling of a marriage through a series of flash-forwards. 74 min.

 

Q&A with Dr. Carla Garapedian of the Armenian Film Foundation and Robert Lantos, producer of Ararat, following the screening.

 

 

Wednesday FEB. 4 at 7:30pm
THE LARK FARM (2010) - Paolo & Vittorio Taviani

(La masseria delle allodole)

 

An Armenian family becomes caught up in the Ottoman Turkish government’s annihilation of the Armenian people between 1915 and 1923. This Italian film by brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani is adapted from the best-selling novel by Antonia Arslan. 122 min.

Wednesday MARCH 25 at 7:30pm
RAVISHED ARMENIA (1919) - Oscar Apfel

 The 1919 silent film Ravished Armenia tells the incredible story of Aurora Mardiganian, an Armenian girl caught up in the 1915 Armenian Genocide. After witnessing the murder of her family, Aurora was kidnapped, forced to march over fourteen hundred miles, and sold into slavery before finally escaping to Europe and then the U.S.. Her story was the basis for a hugely popular book and film, starring Aurora herself, which was seen by thousands of people around the world. Filmmaker Carla Garapedian, from the Armenian Film Foundation, and Anthony Slide, author of Ravished Armenia and the Story of Aurora Mardiganian and former film historian of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, bring Aurora’s story to life with rare film clips and photos.


Tuesday APRIL 14 at 7:30pm
AGHET - Ein Völkermord (2010) - Eric Friedler

 

The prizewinning film Aghet – Ein Völkermord (Armenian for "the catastrophe") by acclaimed German film maker Eric Friedler tells the story of the Armenian genocide, one of the darkest chapters of the First World War. Though there is an international consensus that up to 1.5 million Armenians died in the Ottoman Turkish Empire the Armenian genocide is still not recognized by Turkey as a historical fact. Aghet – Ein Völkermord deals with the political motives for this continuing silence. This innovative German documentary relies on authentic testimonies by European and American personnel stationed in the Near East at the time and Armenian survivors. Famous German actors give these eyewitnesses finally the opportunity to make their voices heard.  Director Eric Friedler joins us for a discussion following the screening. 90 min.

Q&A with Eric Friedler follows the screening
 

Thursday MAY 14 at 7:30pm
THE RIVER RAN RED (2008) - J. Michael Hagopian

 

 

The River Ran Red is the epic search for survivors of the Armenian genocide of 1915 along the Euphrates River. From his archives of 400 testimonies of survivors and eyewitnesses, the award-winning filmmaker J. Michael Hagopian weaves a compelling story of terrifying intensity, taking the viewer from the highland waters of the river to the burning deserts of Syria. 60 min.

 

Tuesday JUNE 23 at 7:30pm
WITHOUT GORKY (2011) - Cosima Spender

 

 

Without Gorky explores the artistic and personal legacy of artist Arshile Gorky (1904–1948) through interviews with family members, archival photographs, and the artist’s own work. 58 min.

 

A discussion with Kim S. Theriault, author of Rethinking Arshile Gorky, and filmmaker Carla Garapedian follows the screening.

 

Wednesday JULY 1 at 7:30pm
SILK STOCKINGS (1957) - Rouben Mamoulian

 

 

Armenian director Rouben Mamoulian’s (1897-1987) musical retelling of the story of Russian femme fatale Ninotchka features Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, and Peter Lorre with songs by Cole Porter. 117 min.

 

A discussion with David Luhrssen, author of Mamoulian: Life on Stage and Screen, and filmmaker Carla Garapedian follows the screening.

 

 

Thursday AUGUST 27 at 7:30pm

THE LAST TIGHTROPE DANCER IN ARMENIA (2009) - Arman Yeritsyan & Inna Sahakyan

 

 

Once the most celebrated masters of the ancient art of tightrope dancing in Armenia, Zhora and Knyaz—longtime bitter rivals—join forces to train the only student of tightrope dancing left in their country—a 16-year old orphan. 52 min.

 

 

Tuesday SEPTEMBER 22 at 7:30pm
A STORY OF PEOPLE IN WAR AND PEACE (2007) - Vardan Hovhannisyan

 

 

Over the course of five days in 1994, the filmmaker Vardan Hovhannisyan documented a close-range battle of the Karabakh War, in which half the soldiers were wounded and a full third killed. Twelve years later he finds survivors, men with whom he shared a terrifying trench. His intimate conversations with these veterans demonstrate the cost of war and what it is to survive the peace. 69 min. 

 

Wednesday OCTOBER 21 at 7:30pm
HERE (2012) - Braden King

 

 

Will Shepard is an American satellite-mapping engineer contracted to render a survey of Armenia. He’s been doing it on his own, all over the world, but on this trip his measurements are not adding up. Then he meets Gadarine Najarian, an intriguing expatriate Armenian art photographer returning home after making her name abroad. In this beautifully shot film, their relationship enters dimensions and tensions deeper than a flat visual. 126 min.

 

Thursday NOVEMBER 19 at 7:30pm
VODKA LEMON (2003) - Hiner Saleem

 

 

The central character in this comedy set amid a snowy Yazidi Kurdish village in post-Soviet Armenia is Hamo, a widower with three worthless sons. Hamo is so poor that he’s about to sell off his treasured military uniform when he meets Nina, a lovely widow who works at the village’s sparsely attended bar, Vodka Lemon, which is about to close. Selected to play at the Toronto Film Festival and in MoMA’s New Directors / New Films Festival. 88 min.

 

 

 

Tuesday DECEMBER 15 at 7:30pm 

THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES (1968) - Sergei Parajanov

 

 

Restored by Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation, this masterpiece is a can’t-miss for students of film. Its director graduated from the Soviet Russian All-Union State Institute of Cinematography in Moscow in 1951 but during the film’s original release was jailed courtesy of Soviet authorities. A chronicle of the life of Sayat Nova, the revered Armenian troubadour, it is no standard biopic but instead a cinematic poem. 79 min.

 

 

RELATED PROGRAMMING AT HAMMER FORUM:

 

THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: A CENTURY OF DENIAL

Wednesday FEB. 11 at 7:30pm

 

Armenians and human rights advocates around the world commemorate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian genocide, in which 1.5 million Armenian people were killed between 1915 and 1923. Richard Hovannisian, a professor of Armenian and Near Eastern History at UCLA, and David L. Phillips, director of the Peace-building and Rights Program at Columbia University, offer an in-depth look at the Turkish refusal to recognize the genocide and efforts to foster dialogue and reconciliation between Turks and Armenians.