Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

New Greek Cinema

Triumphing over sparse production resources, contemporary filmmaking in features the work of artists who represent different generations and styles. Included in this brief survey are the two most popular Greek films of the past year, alongside dramas whose stories range from the impact of contemporary politics on individuals to character studies of some unique personalities.

The series is courtesy of the Greek Film Centre in Athens, Voula Georgakakou, director. Additional thanks to Bo Smith and Jim Singletary at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston; Alyssa Simon at The Film Center, Chicago; and Consul General Panayotis Stournaras from the Consulate of Greece in Houston.

On the Edge

The MFAH presents premieres of two critically praised new films that consider the same subject ñ alienated youth-- and alienation in markedly different ways. From Russia comes Brother, called by The New York Times "a terrifically striking gangster film." The Life of Jesus, a Neo-Realist drama set in a provincial French town, follows the shiftless Freddy and his friends as their uneventful lives are jolted by a series of unwelcome changes.

Jewish Film Festival

The biennial Jewish Worlds film series, founded in the mid-1980s, is now expanded and transformed for 1999 into the Jewish Film Festival, with screenings at the museum in February and at the Jewish Community Center and Rice Media Center in March. The festival opens with a Valentineís Weekend tribute to matchmakers, continues with an engaging story from Norway in the tradition of My Life as a Dog, and concludes with two films exploring the intersection of Judaism and Asian culture. This showcase is presented in cooperation with the Holocaust Museum Houston and the Consulate General of Israel in Houston.

Directed by Olga Malea
(Greece, 1997, 90 min., subtitled)

Friday, January 8, 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

This high-spirited comedy focuses on sexy country girls Christina and Athansia. Brought up on romantic notions of love and marriage as well as the traditional taboos regarding sex, the teenagers are caught between what they want for themselves and what their parents have planned. A commercial and critical success upon its release, The Cow's Orgasm set new box office records in Greece. --Alyssa Simon, The Film Center, Chicag

Directed by Sotiris Goristsas
(Greece, 1997, 97 min., subtitled)

Saturday, January 9, 7:30 p.m.

A road movie that provides "a revealing glimpse into contemporary Balkan attitudes." --Variety
Two fortysomething fellows decide to double their money by exchanging dollars for Bulgarian currency. Their elaborate plan becomes an adventure that leads to each man to knowing himself better.

Directed by Sotiris Goristsas
(Greece, 1993, 90 min., subtitled)

Saturday, January 9, 9:15 p.m.

In Sotiris Goristsasís (Balkanisateur) first full-length feature film, two refugees from Northern Epirus cross the Albanian border into Greece, the land of their dreams. The two men have brought with them a boy whose mother was killed; their journey leads to the very heart of Greece, learning its strengths and weaknesses.

Directed by Pantelis Voulgaris
(Greece, 1998, 118 min., subtitled)

Sunday, January 10, 5:00 p.m.

Three stories present individuals at turning points in their lives. In "A Silver Coin on the Lips," an archaeologist reflects on his relationship with his son who committed suicide. A gamewarden leads a group of birdwatchers tracing the migration of the lesser white-fronted goose in "The Last of the Lesser Whites." In "Vietnam," a middle-aged factory owner takes out his frustrations at the local bar after his wife leaves him.

Directed by Christos Voupouras and Giorgos Korras
(Greece, 1997, 125 min., subtitled)

Friday, January 15, 7:30 p.m.

Christos is a 35-year-old history professor whose life is enriched by a group of illegal Albanian immigrants. This sudden invasion of Albanians into his life reaffirms Christos's political beliefs, enhances his spirituality, and gradually makes him realize the double standard in his life.

Directed by Alexis Bisticas
(Greece, 1994, 110 min., subtitled)

Saturday, January 16, 7:30 p.m.

Emotional upheavals of love, betrayal, and forgiveness, plus a lively musical track, make Dawn a surefire crowd pleaser. Vasso, the manager of a high-fashion clothing store, becomes involved with a well-known performer named Nikos. Before long they are living together and she is singing back-up during his act at the Dawn nightclub. But when Nikos proves less than honorable, Vasso discovers her true talent. --Alyssa Simon, The Film Center, Chicago

Directed by Iannis Smaragdis
(Greece, 1996, 85 min., subtitled)

Saturday, January 16, 9:30 p.m.
Sunday, January 17, 5:00 p.m.

In chronicling the life of C. P. Cavafy (1863-1933), the great Greek poet whose intensely homoerotic imagery heavily influenced author Lawrence Durell's The Alexandria Quartet and the work of painter David Hockney . . . Iannis Smaragdis, a master biographer of literary figures, captures the ardor of [Cavafy's experiences] with a deeply lyrical style, interweaving verse and memory. Dimitri Eipides, Toronto International Film Festival

Directed by Alexeï Balabanov
(Russia, 1997, 96 min., subtitled)

Friday, January 22, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, January 23, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, January 24, 7:00 p.m.

The most popular Russian film of 1997, Brother is "a two-fisted travelogue through the vast thieves' market of the former Soviet Union." --J. Hoberman, Village Voice. Danila (Sergei Bodrov, Jr., Prisoner of the Mountains) is a veteran of the war in Chechnya who arrives in St. Petersburg from the provinces and, with surprisingly little difficulty, becomes a professional killer. Making his way through a world of hustling club kids, tourists, and mafiosi, Danila continues his career as a petty vigilante until his brother hires him to kill a Chechen gangster who has muscled in on one of the city's outdoor markets.

Directed by Bruno Dumont
(France, 1998, 96 min., subtitled)

Friday, January 29, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, January 30, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, January 31, 7:00 p.m.

This remarkable debut feature by a former philosophy professor was a hit on the film festival circuit. Focusing on French slackers, Bruno Dumont presents a study of small-town boredom and desperation, with a cast of nonprofessionals from his hometown in northern France. Freddy - unemployed and epileptic - passes time with his equally aimless friends, zooming around recklessly on motorbikes while finding some solace and passion with his girlfriend, Marie, a pretty supermarket cashier. When Kader, an Arab teenager, arrives and expresses interest in Marie, Freddy and his friends react in a way that dramatically changes all of their lives.

Directed by Paul Devlin
(USA, 1998, 91 min.)

Friday, February 5, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 6, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 7, 7:00 p.m.

"Bristles with passion and drama! Even those who donít like poetry canít help but be riveted." ñLeonard Lopate, WNYC Radio Slamnation chronicles the National Poetry Slam, the Olympics of verse, where spoken-word artists compete fiercely in a battle poetic. This film follows New York Cityís novice team on its journey to join 27 other city teams in Portland, Oregon; it also features some of the greatest performance poets in the country and explores the dramatic tension that arises during competition.

Directed by Mark Wexler
(USA, 1996, 55 min.)

Saturday, February 13, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 14, 3:00 p.m.

What happens when a single, half-Jewish filmmaker sets out to make a documentary about a Jewish matchmaker in Chicago? First she tries to convert him. Then she sets him up with some of her clients, but soon realizes none of them are good enough for him. As documentarian and subject grow closer to each other, the film sheds new light on the meaning of friendship and romance.

Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
(USA, 1940, 87 min., subtitled)

Saturday, February 13, 8:45 p.m.
Sunday, February 14, 4:15 p.m.

Leo Fuchs, the Yiddish Fred Astaire, stars in this musical comedy as Nat Silver, a confirmed bachelor who establishes an updated version of the traditional matchmaker. Though not a schadchen himself, he provides the same service working with a team of professionals in plush offices. To no oneís surprise, the undertaking introduces a solution to Nat's own problem.

Directed by Lisa Lewenz
(USA, 1997, 64 min.)

Saturday, February 20, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 21, 3:00 p.m.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Ella Arnhold Lewenz documented German life with some of the earliest available color film. Her footage recorded the carefree life of a wealthy family, providing a fascinating glimpse into the German-Jewish aristocracy. She also recorded the elaborate spectacles the Nazis staged during the rapid takeover of Germany. Lewenzís films sat in an attic until 1981, when her filmmaker granddaughter, Lisa, discovered them and assembled this complex juxtaposition of two historical periods and cultures.

Directed by Alexander Rosler
(Norway, 1997, 98 min., subtitled)

Saturday, February 20, 8:45 p.m.
Sunday, February 21, 4:15 p.m.

Norway received a small quota of homeless Jews after World War II. Mendel is the funny, bittersweet story of how one 9-year-old German boy comes to grips with his new environment in a remote Norwegian town. By focusing on the young boy, whose parents refuse to talk about the past with him yet secretly discuss it amongst themselves, Alexander Rosler is able to portray the effects of the Holocaust on children of the survivors. Rosler portrays the psychological scars that mark these children as they struggle to grow up and come to terms with the history of their people.

Directed by Bari Pearlman and Phyllis Heller
(USA, 1998, 27 min.)

Saturday, February 27, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 28, 3:00 p.m.

Mah-jongg has been played in China since the time of Confucius. In 1930s America, Jewish women in immigrant neighborhoods adopted the ancient game. Mah-jongg: The Tiles that Bind provides a humorous look at how two cultures, seemingly unrelated converge.

Directed by Laurel Chiten
(USA, 1998, 60 min.)

Saturday, February 27, 8:15 p.m.
Sunday, February 28, 4:15 p.m.

The connection between Judaism and Buddhism is explored in this eloquent documentary based on Roger Kamenetzís book about his 1990 journey to meet the Dalai Lama in India. Kamenetz was invited to accompany a group of Jewish delegates who had been asked to share the Jewish "secret of spiritual survival in exile" with the Tibetan leader. Confronted in India by overwhelming poverty and the impact of the Tibetan Diaspora, Kamenetz was struck by the compassion with which the Buddhists faced their situation. The awakening he experienced during this journey enabled Kamenetz to find his way out of cynicism and back to his faith in Judasim.

Directed by Ellen Spiro
(USA, 1997, 56 min.)

SPECIAL APPEARANCE BY MEDIA ARTIST ELLEN SPIRO

Friday, February 19, 7:30 p.m.

Ellen Spiro, an award-winning video artist and faculty member at The University of Texas, heads west with her dog Sam, in a vintage Airstream trailer in search of elderly citizens who have dropped out of society and into roadside communities. Using humor as its primary device, Roam Sweet Home takes the myths about growing old and turns them upside down. Spiro and Sam join an adventurous group of aging roamers and loners on wheels who live on the road full time ñ by economic necessity, for pleasure, or both. Ellen Spiro also presents a sneak preview of her work in progress, The Shampoo King from Dripping Springs. Then join her tomorrow night at The Aurora Picture Show (800 Aurora in the Heights; 713-868-2101) as she hosts a night of videos by Austin filmmakers.

January

February