29th of April "Water" (2005 India)

"Water" is a very different movie from India, based on real and historical events by Deepa Mehta. It is nominated for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year at Oscar 2007 and won many other prizes.
Plot: The year is 1938, India is ruled by the British, and it is around this time that Mohandas K. Gandhi has arrived from Africa to begin his tryst with the British, as well as battle the traditions that bind the Hindus. Not yet in her teens, Chuyia is married to a much older and sickly male, who shortly after the marriage, passes away. Chuyia is returned unceremoniously to her parents' house, and from there she is taken to the holy city of Banaras and left in the care of a wide assortment of widows who live at "the widows' house," shunned by the rest of the community. Chuyia believes that her mother will come to take her home. Here she meets several elderly women, including the head of the house, Madhumati; a quiet, confident woman named Shakuntala; and a gorgeous young woman named Kalyani -- all widows. Chuyia does not know that according to Holy Hindu Scriptures she has been destined to live here for the rest of her life, for when a woman's husband dies', she has three options: One, to marry her husband's younger brother, if his family permits; two, to kill herself on his funeral pyre; three, to live a life of celibacy, discipline, and solitude amongst her own kind. A new law in India which permits a widow to re-marry is not popular, and it is these customs and openly welcoming the lower castes that will pit Gandhiji against his very own people, apart from struggling with the British to leave India. Kalyani meets and falls in love with young Narayan, a follower of Mahatma Gandhi, who wants to marry her, despite his mother's protests. For more click here.

22nd of April "Land and Freedom" (Britain, 1995)

The film's narrative unfolds in a long flashback. David Carr has died at an old age and his granddaughter discovers old letters, newspapers and other documents in his room: what we see in the film is what he had lived.

Plot: Spring 1936, a young unemployed communist, David, leaves his hometown Liverpool to join the fight against fascism in Spain. He joins an international group of Militia-men and women, the POUM (Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista). After being wounded he goes to Barcelona, where he decides to join another group of fighters. They remain in Barcelona and end up fighting other anti-fascist groups. David is disappointed and decides to go back to his old band. For more click here.

The movie won the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.

Thursday 15th of April: Tokyo Sonata [Japan, 2008]

This film was directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa in 2008 and won un certain regard jury award in Cannes International Film Festival and also grand jury prize at Chicago International Film Festival. Mr Kurosawa seems to have become popular internationally by his 1997 film 'Cure', a psychological thriller and had been well known as a director in the horror genre.

In this film, however, he moved away from the horror genre and described an ordinally family trapped by difficulties. Yet, this film has been considered as the best film directed by him. The story starts with the father of a family losing a senior post of a prestigious firm. The film is in some way comical even though depicting dipressing situations the family went through. For more about the plot press here.

This night will be jointly hosted by the International
Cinema Club and the Film Group which was organised
by Atsuko Betchaku who is hoping to set up the
Japanese Institute of Scotland (see the website:
http://japaneseinstitute.jimdo.com/).

8th of April: "The Edukators" Germany 2004

Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei or The Edukators (2004)
Advertisement Berlin student Jule is hoplessly indebted due to an accident she caused, uninsuredly hitting a rich businessman's limousine. Evicted from her flat she moves in with her boyfriend Peter and soon learns that Peter and his flatmate, Jan, are breaking into luxurious mansions at night. Instead of stealing or vandalizing, though, they carefully and ornately rearrange furniture and valulables and leave obscure messages. Jule convinces Jan, who has a crush on her, to pay a visit to the villa of her creditor. Written by Armin Ortmann