MJCPL International Film Festival
Join us to celebrate National Library Week on Friday, April 18, and Saturday, April 19, for the first ever International Film Festival at the Madison-Jefferson County Public Library.
We’ll show four award-winning movies from the four corners of the earth and enjoy some popcorn courtesy of the Ohio Theatre.
The movies have been shown and won awards at renown film festivals from around the world, from the famous Sundance Film Festival to Indiana’s own Heartland Film Festival (with Berlin, Sydney, Cairo and Toronto in between). Click the movie poster of each film for information and reviews on the films.
Note that these films are unrated in the United States, thus we encourage parental guidance. As we selected the movies, we reviewed ratings from other nations and chose films that might have the equivalent of PG-13 for Friday and PG on Saturday. With each movie we will note these international ratings.
Friday, April 18
1 p.m. :: Mother of Mine
During World War II, more than 70,000 Finnish children were evacuated to neutral Sweden to avoid the conflict. “Mother of Mine,” tackles that painful patch of history through the eyes of 9-year-old Eero, a child who increasingly feels abandoned by his biological Finnish mother and yet not attached to his Swedish surrogate mom. When he is returned to Finland, his confusion intensifies.
Running time: 1:51. Languages: Finnish and Swedish with English subtitles. Ratings: Argentina:13 / Finland:K-11 / Singapore:PG / Sweden:11 (ratings translate as suitable for these ages and up)
3 p.m. :: Arranged
In this American drama, two women, one an Orthodox Jew and the other a Muslim of Syrian descent, both teach in the Brooklyn schools. As the school year progresses, they realize they share much in common, not least of which is that they are both going through what the outside world calls “arranged marriages.” As their friendship deepens, they are exposed to their respective worlds, discuss commonalities and differences and develop a friendship that transcends their insular Brooklyn communities and the religions that seem so at odds in the broader world.
Running time: 1:29. Languages: English. Ratings: Unrated.
Saturday, April 19
1 p.m. :: Long Life, Happiness and Prosperity
12-year old Mindy Ho tries ancient Taoist magic to fix her single mother’s financial troubles and seemingly hopeless romantic prospects. Set in the Chinese Canadian community, the movie is a story of hope and the importance of keeping faith in this sometimes difficult world.
Running time: 1:31. Languages English and Cantonese with English subtitles. Ratings: Rated G general audience in Canada.
3 p.m. :: The Great Match
This global comedy tells the adventurous story of three heroes, none of whom have ever met, but have two things in common: firstly, they all live in the farthest-flung corners of the planet and, secondly, they are all determined to see on TV the championship game of the 2002 World Cup soccer tournament between Germany and Brazil. Our heroes include a family of Mongolian nomads, a camel caravan of Tuareg in the Sahara, and a group of Indios in the Amazon. They all live more than 300 miles from the next town – and the next television – making their task especially daunting.
Running time: 1:28. Languages: Kazajo (Mongolia), Tameshek (Niger), Tupi (Brasil) with English subtitles. Ratings: General audiences in Italy and Germany, ages 7 and up in Switzerland.
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