Foreign Film Friday: Tortilla Soup
Tortilla Soup, 102min, Spanish, 2001 Comedy by Ripoll, 2 wins, 7 Nom.
Classic movies from around the world every Friday!
Three grown sisters, Maribel (Tamara Mello), Leticia (Elizabeth Peña) and Carmen (Jacqueline Obradors) try to cope and live with their father Martin (Héctor Elizondo) ; a veteran chef who is slowly losing his sense of taste. Martin has one simple rule: be at home for Sunday dinner and attendance is both mandatory and non-negotiable. A rift in the family develops when the sisters develop relationships and an obnoxious woman (Raquel Welch) sets her sights on Martin’s affections.
Donation-based admission. Light refreshments available.
Flood Gallery Fine Art Center
Centrally located just off I-240 Exit 8; River Ridge Business Center, Suite 1200, 802 Fairview Rd, Asheville 28803 (behind Hamrick’s and Sun Soo Martial Arts, next to Hot Yoga Asheville and Asheville Dance Theater)
Foreign Film Friday: Babette’s Feast
Babette’s Feast, 103 min, Danish/French,
1988, Drama by Axel, Oscar, 11 wins, 9 Nom.
Classic movies from around the world every Friday!
Denmark, 1871. Having fled France, cook Babette Hersant arrives in West Jutland and soon becomes a housekeeper for two unmarried sisters. But when Babette wins the lottery, she decides to spend the money on a sumptuous meal for these melancholic and frugal people.
Donation-based admission. Light refreshments available.
Centrally located just off I-240 Exit 8; River Ridge Business Center, Suite 1200, 802 Fairview Rd, Asheville 28803 (behind Hamrick’s and Sun Soo Martial Arts, next to Hot Yoga Asheville and Asheville Dance Theater)
Foreign Film Friday: Weeping Camel
Weeping Camel, 93 min, Mongolian, Drama 2003, Drama by Davaa & Falorni, 10 wins 9 Nom.
Classic movies from around the world every Friday!
Mongolian docudrama about a nomadic family in the Gobi Desert attempting to save a rare white camel calf rejected by its mother after a difficult birth. The family journeys to find a solution to compel the mother to accept her calf.
Donation-based admission. Light refreshments available.
Flood Gallery Fine Art Center
Centrally located just off I-240 Exit 8; River Ridge Business Center, Suite 1200, 802 Fairview Rd, Asheville 28803 (behind Hamrick’s and Sun Soo Martial Arts, next to Hot Yoga Asheville and Asheville Dance Theater)
Foreign Film Friday: The City of Lost Children
The City of Lost Children, 116min, French, Fantasy, 1995 by Caro & Jeunet, 5 wins, 14 Nom.
Classic movies from around the world every Friday!
Donation-based admission. Light refreshments available.
Foreign Film Friday: “Blow-up” by Antonioni
(1966, 1h 51m, United Kingdom, Thriller/Mystery by Michelangelo Antonioni)
Classic movies from around the world every Friday!
Donation-based admission. Light refreshments available.
A successful mod photographer in London whose world is bounded by fashion, pop music, marijuana, and easy sex, feels his life is boring and despairing. But in the course of a single day he unknowingly captures a death on film.
In 1966, Michelangelo Antonioni transplanted his existentialist ennui to the streets of swinging London for this international sensation, the Italian filmmaker’s first English-language feature. A countercultural masterpiece about the act of seeing and the art of image making, Blow-Up takes the form of a psychological mystery, starring David Hemmings as a fashion photographer who unknowingly captures a death on film after following two lovers in a park. Antonioni’s meticulous aesthetic control and intoxicating color palette breathe life into every frame, and the jazzy sounds of Herbie Hancock, a beautifully evasive performance by Vanessa Redgrave, and a cameo by the Yardbirds make the film a transporting time capsule from a bygone era. Blow-Up is a seductive immersion into creative passion, and a brilliant film by one of cinema’s greatest artists.
Cannes Film Festival: won the Palme d’Or
Academy Awards: nominated for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
The film was also nominated for three BAFTA Awards, including Outstanding British Film.
Foreign Film Friday: “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Oplev
(2009, 2h 33m, Sweden, Thriller/Crime by Niels Arden Oplev)
Classic movies from around the world every Friday!
Donation-based admission. Light refreshments available.
Swedish thriller based on Stieg Larsson’s novel about disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) and genius hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) who investigate the 40-year-old disappearance of Harriet Vanger from her wealthy, dysfunctional family. They uncover a dark history of serial murders, neo-Nazism, and sexual violence, ultimately solving the cold case while Salander seeks vengeance against her own abusive guardian.
BAFTA Awards: Won Best Film Not in the English Language.
Empire Awards: Won Best Actress (Noomi Rapace) and Best Thriller.
Satellite Awards: Won Best Motion Picture, Foreign Language Film.
Foreign Film Friday: “Life is Beautiful” (La vita è bella) by Benigni
(“La vita è bella”) (1997, 1h 58m, Italy, War/Comedy by Roberto Benigni)
Classic movies from around the world every Friday!
Donation-based admission. Light refreshments available.
When an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.
A gentle Jewish-Italian waiter, Guido Orefice (Roberto Benigni), meets Dora (Nicoletta Braschi), a pretty schoolteacher, and wins her over with his charm and humor. Eventually they marry and have a son, Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini). Their happiness is abruptly halted, however, when Guido and Giosue are separated from Dora and taken to a concentration camp. Determined to shelter his son from the horrors of his surroundings, Guido convinces Giosue that their time in the camp is merely a game.
Academy Awards (Oscars) – 1999
The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won three:
Best Actor: Roberto Benigni
Best Foreign Language Film: Italy
Best Original Dramatic Score: Nicola Piovani
Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Roberto Benigni), Best Original Screenplay (Vincenzo Cerami, Roberto Benigni), and Film Editing.
Cannes Film Festival – 1998
Grand Prix (Grand Jury Prize): Roberto Benigni
David di Donatello Awards (Italy) – 1998
Best Film
Best Director: Roberto Benigni
Best Actor: Roberto Benigni
Best Script: Roberto Benigni, Vincenzo Cerami
Best Producer: Elda Ferri, Gianluigi Braschi
Best Production Design: Danilo Donati
Best Costumes: Danilo Donati
Best Cinematography: Tonino Delli Colli
Best Editing: Simona Paggi
Other Major Awards
BAFTA Awards (1999): Best Actor (Roberto Benigni)
European Film Awards (1998): Best Film, Best Actor (Roberto Benigni)
Nastro d’Argento (Italy – 1999): Best Director, Best Actor, Best Script
César Awards (France – 1999): Best Foreign Film
Golden Ciak Awards (1998): Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress (Nicoletta Braschi)
Critics’ Choice Movie Awards (1999): Best Foreign Language Film
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Foreign Film Friday: “A Pact with the Devil” by Jozef Zachar
(1967, 1h 27m, Czech Republic, Comedy by Jozef Zachar)
Five high-school senior girls, who because of a prank, are falsely accused of signing a pact with the devil to lose their virginity before they graduate.
Classic movies from around the world every Friday!
Donation-based admission. Light refreshments available.
Foreign Film Friday: “Like Water for Chocolate” by Alfonso Arau
(Year, 1h 45m, Mexico, Romantic Drama by Alfonso Arau)
Based on the novel by Laura Esquivel, this magical realist film portrays the youngest daughter in her family, the beautiful Tita (Lumi Cavazos), who is forbidden to marry her true love, Pedro (Marco Leonardi). Since tradition dictates that Tita must care for her mother, Pedro weds her older sister, Rosaura (Yareli Arizmendi), though he still loves Tita. The situation creates much tension in the family, and Tita’s powerful emotions begin to surface in fantastical ways.
27 awards and 14 nominations
Classic movies from around the world every Friday!
Donation-based admission. Light refreshments available.
Foreign Film Friday: “The White Ribbon” by Michael Haneke
(2009, 2h 24m, Germany, Mystery/Thriller by Michael Haneke)
Set in a village in Protestant northern Germany on the eve of World War I, THE WHITE RIBBON delineates a microcosm of society: the schoolteacher, the pastor, the local aristocracy, the steward, the doctor, the midwife, the tenant farmers, and their extended families. Increasingly frequent bizarre incidents gradually take on the character of a punishment ritual. Who is responsible? Haneke’s apocalyptic vision takes on classic dimensions in this elegant, black and white drama, likened to the most mesmerizing films of Carl Dreyer.
Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes and nominated for two Academy Awards
Classic movies from around the world every Friday!
Donation-based admission. Light refreshments available.
