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Synopsis

Anak	Breaking The Silence	Chac
Departure	From Opium to Chrysanthemums	Gaea Girls
Himalaya	IL Mare	Nang Nak

Anak

Philippines/2000/120 min./color

English Subtitles

Director: Rory Quintos

After living 10 years abroad in Hong Kong as a domestic helper in order to support her family, Josie returns to Manila with the somewhat naïve hope that everything will be as she left it. She finds, however, that her son is failing school, her oldest daughter consistently comes home late, or not at all, and her youngest doesn’t even remember who she is. After losing all of her savings in a failed business venture, Josie has to decide whether she should stay in Manila with the hope of piecing together the broken fragments of her family, or return to Hong Kong in an attempt to regain her financial independence. An incredibly emotional film that addresses a major concern in the Philippines today—whether

the separation of a mother from her children is truly worth the monetary stability created by her absence.

Breaking The Silence

China/1999/90 min./color

English Subtitles

Director: Sun Zhou

Breaking The Silence is a moving and poignant portrayal of a single mother’s attempt to raise her hearing impaired son on her own. Sun Liying’s (Gong Li) husband leaves her when he finds out his son is deaf, which forces Liying to quit her successful career and take a morning job delivering newspapers in order to be home with her son during the day. When the boy’s hearing aid is smashed in a conflict at school, Liying must find a way to raise 5,000 yuan for a new one. Her eventual salvation comes from an unexpected place, but it does not come without a price.

Chac

USA/Vietnam/2000/72 min./color

English Subtitles

Director: Kim-Chi Tyler

In 1975 Kim-Chi Tyler fled Saigon with her mother, brother and adoptive father, a U.S. serviceman, for the United States. Five years after officially becoming U.S. citizens Kim-Chi’s mother died of a brain tumor. When her stepfather Earl passes away several years later, Kim-Chi decides to return to Vietnam and find her natural father, a man who was seldom discussed while she was growing up. What she finds is a man who has no desire to examine the past and feels no need to help his daughter dig up, what for him, are painful memories. Chac is a poignant tale of one woman’s physical and emotional journey back to Vietnam in order to discover, not only her family, but her history.

In Person: Kim-Chi Tyler

Departure

Japan/2001/80 min./color

English Subtitles

Director: Yosuke Nakagawa

Departure takes place over the course of one night as three friends prepare to split up and pursue separate dreams after graduating from high school. Kazuya is moving on to university in Tokyo, Syusuke is going to London in an attempt to become a famous fashion designer, while Masaru seems content to stay in Okinawa where he spends most evenings alone, running a Karaoke bar. Their last night together does not turn out at all as they thought it would. Director Yosuke Nakagawa says Departure is an "attempt to take a snapshot of {today’s} young generation," without falling into the stereotypical violence and restlessness that is often portrayed in films as being the sole character traits of the youth of today.

North American Premiere

From Opium to Chrysanthemums

Sweden/2000/75 min./color

English Subtitles

Directors: PeÅ Holmquist, Suzanne Khardalian

The Golden Triangle on the borders of Thailand, Laos and Burma is well known for its cultivation of opium, but when Swiss filmmaker PeÅ Holmquist returns to the area 30 years after first visiting he finds that many of the fields are now planted with Chrysanthemums. Holmquist visits the Hmong villages he knew more than three decades ago to find out what made them change from the extremely profitable opium fields, to the selling of flowers. From Opium to Chrysanthemums explores the difficulties in attempting to preserve the traditional Hmong culture in Southeast Asia, while coping with the economic and political changes that have influenced many of the villagers to leave the area and immigrate to other countries.

Gaea Girls

England/Japan/2000/106 min./color

English Subtitles

Directors: Kim Longinotto, Jano Williams

This extraordinary documentary chronicles the training of a group of women determined to become "Gaea Girls"—Japan’s version of the World Wrestling Federation. Professional wrestling is often seen as showmanship and stage act as opposed to true sport, but the intense training and real violence depicted in this film should dispel any preconceived notions the viewer might have as to the reality of what happens inside the ring. An incredible juxtaposition on the traditional values of honor and restraint, Gaea Girls allows us behind the scenes of a world that very few people could ever imagine.

Himalaya

France/Nepal/1999/104 min./color

English Subtitles

Director: Eric Valli

High in the Himalayas, a small village that relies heavily on its yearly caravan of Yaks to journey through the mountains and trade salt for grain is thrown into turmoil when the young leader of the caravan is killed. The village becomes divided as to who should lead the caravan on the next trek. Tinle, one of the village elders, and the father of the young man who has died, insists he should be the leader. Karma, the head of the younger generation in the village challenges Tinle and sets out on the journey himself, well before the scheduled date of departure which is set by ancient tradition. Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2000 Academy Awards, Himalaya follows the journey that becomes an ancestral duel as well as a struggle between man and nature.

In Person: Actress Lhakpa Tsamchoe

IL Mare

Korea/2000/90 min./color

English Subtitles

Director: LEE Hyun-seung

A young woman who is moving out of her seaside house (named Il Mare) leaves a note in the mailbox asking the new occupant to forward all of her mail to a new address. Sang-hyun, the first, and only occupant of Il Mare as far as he knows, receives the letter in his mailbox and is puzzled to find the note dated two years in the future. A correspondence begins between the occupants of Il Mare, who realize that although they live in different times, they can communicate by leaving letters in the mailbox that sits outside the house. After falling in love through their letters, the two attempt to find a way to meet, but for Sang-hyun, her tomorrow is more than two years away.

North American Premiere

Nang Nak

Thailand/1999/100 min./color

English Subtitles

Director: Nonzee Nimibutr

When Mak is summoned to fight in the Chiang Toong War he is forced to leave his pregnant wife at home, but promises to return soon. After being seriously injured in battle though, Mak spends several months recovering in a far away temple, while back at home his wife dies during childbirth. When Mak returns to the village he finds his wife and newborn son waiting for him at home, and no matter what the rest of the village says, he won’t believe that his family has died and turned into ghosts. Based on a Thai legend, Nang Nak spins the traditional ghost story in a new direction and questions whether love can indeed triumph over all things.