December 11, 2009

205-934-4652 or www.uab.edu/foreignlang/Foreign-Film-Series-2009-10.html

Jan. 26

The UAB Foreign Film Series presents "Drifters" at 8 p.m. in the UAB Mary Culp Hulsey Recital Hall, 950 13th St. South. The UAB Foreign Film Series, sponsored by the UAB Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, is free and open to the public. Call 205-934-4652 for more details. Xiaoshuai Wang directed this 2007 Chinese film. Er Di is the town's celebrity, but only for the none-too-exceptional feat of being a stowaway and a multiple failure at that. In his hometown he spends his days as a slacker, busy doing nothing. There is just one person on his mind: Xiao Nu from a travelling Shanghai opera troupe, another lonely soul leading a listless life. A romance develops. but they don't see any meaningful things happening in their lives. The film is in Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles.

Feb. 16

The UAB Foreign Film Series presents "Dreams of Dust" at 8 p.m. in the UAB Mary Culp Hulsey Recital Hall, 950 13th St. South. The UAB Foreign Film Series, sponsored by the UAB Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, is free and open to the public. Call 205-934-4652 for more details. Laurent Salgues directed this 2006 film. Mocktar, a Nigerian peasant, comes looking for work in Essakane, a dusty gold mine in Northeast Burkino Faso, Africa, where he hopes to forget the past that haunts him. In Essakane, he quickly finds out, the gold rush ended 20 years before and the inhabitants of this wasteland exist simply from force of habit. The beautiful Coumba, however, is still courageously struggling to raise her daughter after the death of her family. Mocktar will soon fight not only for his survival, but also to provide a better future for this mother and child. "Dreams of Dust" is in French and Wolof with English subtitles.

March 9

The UAB Foreign Film Series presents "Life is Beautiful" at 8 p.m. in the UAB Mary Culp Hulsey Recital Hall, 950 13th St. South. The UAB Foreign Film Series, sponsored by the UAB Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, is free and open to the public. Call 205-934-4652 for more details. Roberto Benigni directed this 2000 film. In 1930s Italy, a carefree Jewish bookkeeper named Guido lives a fairy tale life, courting and marrying a lovely woman from a nearby city. Guido and his wife have a son and live happily until the occupation of Italy by German forces. In an attempt to help his son survive the horrors of a Jewish concentration camp, Guido creates an imaginary world in which the Holocaust is a game and the grand prize for winning is a tank. The film is in Italian with English subtitles.

March 30

The UAB Foreign Film Series presents "Al Otro Lado" at 8 p.m. in the UAB Mary Culp Hulsey Recital Hall, 950 13th St. South. The UAB Foreign Film Series, sponsored by the UAB Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, is free and open to the public. Call 205-934-4652 for more details. Natalia Almada directed this 2005 Mexican film that tells the story of an aspiring composer facing two life-changing choices - traffic drugs or unlawfully cross the border into the United States. The film is in Spanish with English subtitles.

April 13

The UAB Foreign Film Series presents "The Princess and the Warrior" at 8 p.m. in the UAB Mary Culp Hulsey Recital Hall, 950 13th St. South. The UAB Foreign Film Series, sponsored by the UAB Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, is free and open to the public. Call 205-934-4652 for more details. In this German film, a young nurse, Sissi, lives a secluded life, seemingly entirely devoted to her patients at Birkenhof asylum. She encounters an ex-soldier and drifter, Bodo, who causes an accident that leaves her lying under a truck, unable to breathe. While he provides life-saving first aid, mesmerized Sissi wonders if he is the man of her dreams. But when she tracks him down weeks later, her affection is rejected, as Bodo finds himself stuck between a traumatic past and a criminal future. The film is in German with English subtitles.

About the UAB Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures offers a full range of language, culture, literature and civilization courses that are designed to help students to understand the diverse global challenges of today.