
International Film Club
Once a month we meet and discuss (virtually) the film that is available and free to all PU employees in Kanopy streaming services . This program was born out of the International Cinema Series.
Please make movie suggestions using this form: https://forms.gle/UDByDaTX17ABf57K9
For the next date of our Film Club please check Events Calendar.
Upcoming Film
Past Film
Abrazos
43 min | Documentary | 2014 (American)
Synopsis:
ABRAZOS tells the transformational journey of a group of U.S. Citizen Children, sons and daughters of undocumented immigrants, who travel from Minnesota to Guatemala to meet their grandparents – and in some instances their siblings – for the first time. There are 4.5 million other U.S. citizen children who, like them, have at least one undocumented parent and are part of mixed-status families, ABRAZOS is the story of 14 of them.
This film will be streamed in person on campus – see Calendar for details.
The Assistant
1h 27 min | Drama | 2019 (American)
Synopsis:
“THE ASSISTANT” follows one day in the life of Jane (Julia Garner), a recent college graduate and aspiring film producer, who has recently landed her dream job as a junior assistant to a powerful entertainment mogul. Her day is much like any other assistant‘s – making coffee, changing the paper in the copy machine, ordering lunch, arranging travel, taking phone messages, onboarding a new hire. But as Jane follows her daily routine, she, and we, grow increasingly aware of the abuse that insidiously colors every aspect of her work day, an accumulation of degradations against which Jane decides to take a stand, only to discover the true depth of the system into which she has entered
Official Selection at the Berlin International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and Telluride Film Festival
City of God
Cidade de Deus
2h 13 min | Drama | 2002 (Brazilian, Portuguese/English)
Synopsis:
In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket (Phellipe Haagensen) is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood. José “Zé” Pequeno (Douglas Silva) is an ambitious drug dealer who uses Rocket and his photos as a way to increase his fame as a turf war erupts with his rival, “Knockout Ned” (Leandro Firmino da Hora). The film was shot on location in Rio’s poorest neighborhoods.
City of God (Portuguese: Cidade de Deus) was released in Brazil in 2002 and worldwide in 2003. Bráulio Mantovani adapted the story from the 1997 novel of the same name written by Paulo Lins, but the plot is loosely based on real events. It depicts the growth of organized crime in the Cidade de Deus suburb of Rio de Janeiro, between the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1980s, with the film’s closure depicting the war between the drug dealer Li’l Zé and vigilante-turned-criminal Knockout Ned. The tagline is “If you run, the beast catches you; if you stay, the beast eats you.”
The film received critical acclaim and garnered four nominations at the 76th Academy Awards; Best Cinematography (César Charlone), Best Director (Meirelles), Best Film Editing (Daniel Rezende), and Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (Mantovani). In 2003, it was Brazil’s entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but it did not end up being nominated as one of the five finalists. It is frequently listed by many critics and audiences as one of the greatest films of the 21st century and one of the best films of all time.
In the mood for love
花樣年華 |
1h 38 min | Drama | 2000 (Cantonese)
Synopsis:
Hong Kong, 1962: Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) and Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk) move into neighboring apartments on the same day. Their encounters are formal and polite, until a discovery about their spouses creates an intimate bond between them. At once delicately mannered and visually extravagant, Wong Kar-wai’s IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE is a masterful evocation of romantic longing and fleeting moments. With its aching musical soundtrack and exquisitely abstract cinematography by Christopher Doyle and Mark Lee Ping-bin, this film has been a major stylistic influence on the past decade of cinema, and is a milestone in Wong’s redoubtable career.
About the director: Wong Kar-wai is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films are characterized by nonlinear narratives, atmospheric music, and vivid cinematography involving bold, saturated colors. A pivotal figure of Hong Kong cinema, Wong is considered a contemporary auteur, and ranks third on Sight & Sound’s 2002 poll of the greatest filmmakers of the previous 25 years. His films frequently appear on best-of lists domestically and internationally. Born in Shanghai, Wong emigrated to British Hong Kong as a child with his family. He began a career as a screenwriter for soap operas before transitioning to directing with his debut, the crime drama As Tears Go By (1988). While As Tears Go By was fairly successful in Hong Kong, Wong moved away from the contemporary trend of crime and action movies to embark on more personal filmmaking styles. Days of Being Wild (1990), his first venture in such a direction, did not perform well at the box office. It however received critical acclaim, and won Best Film and Best Director at the 1991 Hong Kong Film Awards. His next film, Ashes of Time (1994), met with a mixed reception because of its vague plot and atypical take on the wuxia genre.
Downfall
Der Untergang
2h 36 min | Drama | 2004 (German)
Downfall is a 2004 German-language historical war drama film. In 1942, young Traudl Junge lands her dream job – secretary to Adolf Hitler at the peak of his power. Three years later, Hitler’s empire is now his underground bunker. The real-life Traudl narrates Hitler’s final days as he rages against imagined betrayers and barks orders to phantom armies, while his mistress, Eva Braun, clucks over his emotional distance, and other infamous Nazis prepare for the end.
As the film is set in and around the Führer’s bunker, Hirschbiegel used eyewitness accounts, survivors’ memoirs, and other historical sources during production to reconstruct the look and atmosphere of 1940s Berlin. The screenplay was based on the books Inside Hitler’s Bunker by historian Joachim Fest and Until the Final Hour by Traudl Junge, one of Hitler’s secretaries, among other accounts of the period.
The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on 14 September 2004. It was controversial with audiences for showing a human side of Hitler, and for its portrayal of members of the Third Reich. It later received a wide theatrical release in Germany under its production company Constantin Film. Critics gave favorable reviews, particularly for Ganz’s performance as Adolf Hitler and Eichinger’s screenplay. It was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 77th Academy Awards.
Double Life of Veronique
La double vie de Véronique
1h 29 min | Drama | 1991 (French)
Bicycle Thieves
Ladri di biciclette
1h 29 min | Drama | 1948 (Italian)
Tomorrow
1h 59 min | Documentary | 2015 (American)
East Side Sushi
1h 46 min | Drama | 2014 (American, English/Spanish/Japanese)
The Farewell
1h 40 min | Drama/Comedy | 2019 (American, Mandarin/English)
Boy
1h 27 min | Drama/Comedy | 2010 (New Zealand, English)
Cold Sweat
1h 29 min | Drama| 2018 (Iran, Farsi)

Afrooz is the captain of the Iranian National Futsal Team, a women’s indoor soccer team. A long-held dream to play the Asian Games final is shattered when Afrooz’ husband imposes a travel restriction on her. Furious, Afrooz stands up against the patriarchal Iranian system. But will she win this battle?
The Women’s Balcony
1h 40 min | Drama/Comedy | 2016 (Israel, Hebrew)

An accident during a bar mitzvah celebration leads to a rift between the men and women in a devout community in Jerusalem in this rousing, good-hearted comedy. Awash with Jerusalem’s distinctive glow, THE WOMEN’S BALCONY is a warm, poignant portrait of a modern community struggling to balance protocol with practical, progressive values – at once rebellious and respectful in spirit.
Nana
1h 15 min | Documentary | 2015 (Dominican Republic, Spanish)

Live-in nannies Leidy, Fina and Clara leave their children in distant towns to be raised by relatives while they move away to the city to care for somebody else’s child. In a love chain, where mother figures are substituted and duplicated, bonds grow strong between kids and their nannies, and between the nannies’ children and the grandmothers or aunts who care for them. Is there just one way of defining motherly love? Going back and forth between urban and rural scenarios in Dominican Republic and Miami, ‘Nana’ goes deep into the conflicts faced by live-in nannies.
About Elly
1h 58 min | Drama | 2015 (Farsi, Persian)

With the return of their friend Ahmad from Germany, a group of old college pals (two married couples and a brother and sister, along with three young kids) decide to reunite for a weekend outing by the Caspian Sea. The fun starts right away as they quickly catch on to the plan of lively Sepideh, who has brought along Elly, her daughter’s kindergarten teacher, in hopes of se
Gather
1h 15 min | Documentary | 2020 (USA)

GATHER follows the stories of natives on the frontlines of a growing movement to reconnect with spiritual and cultural identities that were devastated by genocide. An indigenous chef embarks on a ambitious project to reclaim ancient food ways on the Apache reservation; in South Dakota a gifted Lakota high school student, raised on a buffalo ranch, is proving her tribes native wisdom through her passion for science; and a group of young men of the Yurok tribe in Northern California are struggling to keep their culture alive and rehabilitate the habitat of their sacred salmon. All these stories combine to show how the reclaiming and recovery of ancient food ways is a way forward for native Americans to bring back health and vitality to their people.
Yeelen
1h 45 min | Drama, Fantasy | 1987 (Mali)

Set in the powerful Mali Empire of the 13th century, Yeelen follows the journey of Nianankoro, a young warrior who must battle the powerful Komo cult. Nianankoro’s greatest enemy is his own father, a dangerous and corrupt wizard who uses his dark magic to try and destroy his son. Traveling over the arid Bambara, Fulani and Dogan lands of ancient West Africa, Nianankoro eventually comes face to face with his father in a final fatal showdown. Cisse’s extraordinary use of landscapes and light produces a unique and striking cinematic style.
The Country Doctor
Médecin de campagne
1h 42 min | Comedy, Drama | 2016 (France)

Leona
Leona
1h 34 min | Drama | 2018 (Mexico)

The return
Возвращение
1h 50 min | Drama | 2015 (Russia)

Sweet Bean
An
1h 53 min | Drama | 2015 (Japan)
