24 Oct 2009, 4:00 pm
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

2008 | 94 minutes | Directed by Mark Herman | USA | English | PG

Eight-year-old Bruno, son of a high-ranking Nazi official, mistakes a concentration camp near his home for a “farm” and wonders why the people there always wear striped pyjamas. He soon strikes up a friendship with a Jewish boy his own age living on the other side of the fence, but their friendship is about to be tested in an unthinkable way.

This film is based on John Boyne's highly acclaimed novel of the same name.

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25 Oct 2009, 2:00 pm
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Details: 2002 | 110 minutes | Directed by Dai Sijie | France/China | In Mandarin with English subtitles | PG

Two teenage boys are sent to be re-educated in a remote Sichuan village during the Cultural Revolution. There, they come across a collection of translated novels by Western authors. The boys and the beautiful daughter of a local tailor bond over the banned novels and find solace in the books of Balzac.

Dai Sijie, who directed the film adapted from his own novel, went through a similar ordeal in a Sichuan re-education camp. A post-show dialogue hosted by writer and theatre practitioner Lim Jen Erh will follow the screening.

Supported by the Embassy of France in Singapore.

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25 Oct 2009, 5:00 pm
L’Eden et après (Eden and After)

1970 | 93 minutes | Directed by Alain Robbe-Grillet | France | In French with English subtitles | R21

It is May 1968 in Paris, where bored college students spend their time at the Café Eden participating in baroque parlour games. One of them finds her world turned completely upside down when she turns up for a meeting with a stranger, only to find him murdered and then seemingly resurrected as a Dutch sculptor. This masterpiece is equal parts mystery, philosophical pondering and grindhouse fare.

Director Alain Robbe-Grillet also found fame as a novelist, whose most acclaimed book is The Voyeur, which was first published in French in 1955 and translated into English in 1958.

Supported by the Embassy of France in Singapore

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30 Oct 2009, 7:00 pm
Parzania

2007 | 170 minutes | Directed by Rahul Dholakia | India | English | M18

Parzania is the breathtaking untold story of an event that changed the country and the world forever. Set in Gujarat, the film spans actual events, taking the threads of Allen Webbings, an American and Cyrus, a Parsi man he meets.

This film is based on actual events, adapted to film.

A post-show dialogue hosted by National Award winning actress Sarika  will follow the screening.

In collaboration with books@Jacaranda

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31 Oct 2009, 1:00 pm
Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In)

2008 | 115 minutes | Directed by Tomas Alfredson | Sweden | In Swedish with English subtitles | NC16

Oskar, 12, lives in a working-class suburb in Stockholm. He befriends Eli, the new girl who has moved in next door, but soon finds out that she is actually a 200-year-old vampire. Their friendship remains strong despite the odds they have to face, including keeping Oskar's bullies away, albeit with a terrible conclusion.

The title of the film, which is based on John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel, refers to a slice of vampiric folklore, which states that a vampire cannot enter a house unless it is invited. There will be a post-show dialogue with the author, moderated by newspaper columnist Tay Yeak Keak.

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31 Oct 2009, 4:00 pm
The Most Beautiful Times

1999 | 74 min | Directed by Seiko Iyoda | Japan | In Japanese with English subtitles | PG

Yoko has been living on her own since the passing of her husband. Her husband’s sister, Akiko who lives on her own too, lives close by in the same neighborhood. One day, a man by the name of Takeda appears and introduces himself to Yoko. Coincidentally, his wife recently passed on. Upon the discovery of a personal diary, secrets began to unfold as Yoko and Takeda spend time to get to know each other. However, when Akiko finds out they have starting dating, she has her doubts and grows suspicious of this relationship.

Written by one of Japan’s finest screen writers, Taichi Yamada, this brilliant story set in the nineties, lures you in an entanglement of love relationships, tensions in family relationships and debatable taboo social issues.

A post-show dialogue in Japanese with English translation with Taichi Yamada, hosted by Leon Lim, will follow the screening.

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31 Oct 2009, 7:30 pm
Tesis (Thesis)

1996 | 125 minutes | Directed by Alejandro Amenábar | Spain | In Spanish with English subtitles | M18

Ángela, who is researching for her thesis on audio-visual violence, befriends Chema, a fellow film student with a huge collection of violent and pornographic films. When she and Chema watch a videotape belonging to her late professor, they discover that it is a snuff film featuring a girl whom Chema recognises as a former student at their university.

Tesis is the debut feature of acclaimed director Alejandro Amenábar, who went on to direct Open Your Eyes (the original Spanish version of Vanilla Sky), The Others and The Sea Inside.

Supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain

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01 Nov 2009, 11:30 am
Coraline

2009| 100 min | Directed by Henry Selick | United States | English | PG

A young girls stumbles through a hidden door in her new house and comes face to face with a parallel reality which is exactly the same as her current life - only this alternate version is much better. When her adventure starts to get dangerous, and the people in her other world threatens to keep her forever, it is up to Coraline to rely on herself to get back home - and save her family.

Coraline is an animated stop-motion 3-D fantasy film based on Neil Gaiman's 2002 novel of the same name.

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01 Nov 2009, 2:30 pm
Ai Fak

2004 | 110 minutes | Directed by Pantham Thongsangl | Thailand | In Thai with English subtitles | NC16

As young monk Fak returns home after serving the army, he comes across a beautiful woman bathing near a lotus pond on his way home. She turns out to be his new stepmother, who seems to be suffering from mental illness and is prone to running around the village nude. The villagers soon think that she and Fak are having an affair.

The film is based on the novel Khamphiphaksa (The Judgement) by Chart Korbjitti, who won the SEA Write Award in 1981. There will be a post-show dialogue in Thai with English translation, with the author.

Screening end: 4.50pm

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01 Nov 2009, 5:30 pm
La Bête Humaine (The Human Beast)

1938 | 100 minutes | Directed by Jean Renoir | France | In French with English subtitles | PG

When Roubaud discovers that his wife Séverine has been seduced by her godfather, he forces her to help him murder her godfather during a train journey. Shocked by her husband’s actions, Séverine has an affair with his co-worker Lantier, who is hiding a deadly secret of his own.

Translated as The Human Beast, this film is based on the 1890 novel by Émile François Zola. There have been at least five film and television adaptations of this psychological thriller, the most recent of which is Malcolm McKay’s Cruel Train, a 1995 movie made for British television.

Supported by the Embassy of France in Singapore

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