Free Summer Film Series

Global Lens 2008

10 Weeks on Thursday Nights, 6 p.m., Annenberg Theater

The films presented in this annual collaboration are part of the touring film exhibition Global Lens, a project conceived by The Global Film Initiative (GFI) to encourage filmmaking in countries with developing film communities.

The City of Palm Springs is the presenting Sponsor of this film series. Additional funding was provided by a grant from the James Irvine Foundation.

	June 26: ALL FOR FREE Antonio Nuic, Croatia, 2006 After his friends are killed in a bizarre, bar room argument, Goran devises an unusual plan to deal with the loss: he will sell his house, buy a mobile tavern and travel from town to town, giving away free drinks to everyone he meets. But for everyone except Goran, the idea is strangely suspicious, and a bit absurd, in director Antonio Nuić's darkly humorous tale of loss and reconciliation, told as a metaphor for Bosnia's gradual rediscovery of its shared humanity, lost during the war. View Film Trailer
	July 3: THE BET COLLECTOR Jeffrey Jeturian, Philippines, 2006 Amy, the family matriarch, makes ends meet by running a small convenience store out of her home. But in a struggling economy customers are scarce, and without the help of her husband or pregnant daughter, she is forced to supplement the family income by collecting bets for an illegal numbers game. In this starkly realistic narrative, director Jeffrey Jeturian presents a captivating portrait of a once-proud woman, haunted by memories of a dead son and hounded by the police, and her fragile and lonely life as a kubrador (bet collector) on the streets of Manila. View Film Trailer
	July 10: BUNNY CHOW John Barker, South Africa, 2006 In director John Barker's debut feature, up-and-coming comedians Kags, Joey and Dave make clear that life in the ‘new’ Johannesburg is not just about hardship and townships. It's also about finding humor in relationships, hanging out with friends and celebrating life on a raucous roadtrip to Oppi Koppi—South Africa's largest music festival. Shot in a cinema vérité style and using the street food ‘bunny chow’ as a metaphor for contemporary Johannesburg's mix of races, cultures and attitudes, Barker's edgy, urban comedy asks us to envision a nation through the eyes of its future, rather than the tragedy of its past. View Film Trailer
	July 17: THE CUSTODIAN Rodrigo Moreno, Argentina, 2006 As a bodyguard for a high profile politician, Ruben is reduced to a mere shadow of a man: every action in his life is regulated by a series of mundane routines, and everywhere his boss goes he must follow, watching but never speaking. Resigned to his invisibility, his life is a series of days without meaning, punctuated only by visits to a prostitute, in this compelling chronicle by first-time director Rodrigo Moreno of a man without any true identity or connection to the world in which he lives. View Film Trailer
	July 24: THE FISH FALL IN LOVE Ali Raffi, Iran, 2006 Atieh’s singular passion is food, and her small but popular restaurant on the sleepy Caspian coast is her pride and joy. But when Aziz, her former fiancé, appears after a twenty-year absence, the women believe he has intentions of closing the restaurant, so Atieh prepares his favorite dishes, one after the other, in a desperate effort to convince him otherwise. Loosely based on the Persian fable of Shahrazad and the Thousand Myths (A Thousand and One Nights), director Ali Raffi uses the language of food to paint a richly textured portrait of life and love on the northern coast of Iran. View Film Trailer
	July 31: KEPT & DREAMLESS Vera Fogwill and Martín Desalvo, Argentina, 2005 During Argentina's economic crisis of the '90s, nine year-old Eugenia and her mother, Florencia, live a seemingly colorful life surrounded by eclectic neighbors and an offbeat collection of family. But for Eugenia, who must deal with her mother's dysfunctional and drug-addled lifestyle, life is anything but pleasant in this darkly inspiring story of expectation, acceptance and nontraditional family, led by standout performances from director Vera Fogwill and young actress Lucía Snieg. View Film Trailer
	August 7: THE KITE Randa Chahal Sabbag, Lebanon, 2004 In director Randa Chahal Sabbag's ‘fairytale for troubled times,’ sixteen-year old Lamia must cross a border checkpoint between Lebanon and Israel to marry a man she has never met. But on her wedding day, neither she nor her betrothed are eager to consummate a marriage to a stranger—a matter further complicated by Lamia's surprising admission that she is in love with the Israeli soldier guarding the checkpoint. Sabbag's enchanting drama about marriage and tradition is underscored by delicate symbolism and artful references to politics of Lebanon's annexed territories. View Film Trailer
	August 14: LET THE WIND BLOW Partho Sen-Gupta, India, 2004 At the height of nuclear tensions between India and Pakistan, Arjun and his best friend, Chabia, weigh their options for the future against the reality of life on the streets of Mumbai. Enticed by the promise of wealth and opportunity in the Persian Gulf, Chabia is eager to leave his job as a mechanic. But for Arjun, who must finish college and care for his mother, the decision is not so easy in director Partho Sen-Gupta's gritty, apocalyptic interpretation of Krishna's counsel to Arjuna, from the Bhagavad Gita. View Film Trailer
	August 21: LUXURY CAR Wang Chao, China, 2006 In this emotionally taut narrative, Li Qi Ming travels from his small village to the city of Wuhan, determined to fulfill his wife's last wish of seeing her son. But instead of finding his son, he discovers his daughter working as a karaoke bar escort, forcing him to come to terms with their long-estranged relationship and the tenuous future of his family. Director Wang Chao uses Li Qi Ming to represent the painful reality of thousands of parents who have lost contact with their children through rural exodus and political upheaval in China. View Film Trailer
	August 28: OPERA JAWA Garin Nugroho, Indonesia, 2006 Setyo and Siti live a peaceful life as husband and wife, selling earthenware in their village. But when Setyo is called away on business, a flirtatious butcher, Ludiro, takes advantage of Siti's loneliness to seduce her. Tempted by song and dance, Siti initially refuses his advances but acquiesces in a moment of weakness, setting the stage for an epic battle between the two men. Located in lush forests and on pristine beaches of Java, director Garin Nugroho bases his deeply imagistic and dazzling visual narrative on the “The Abduction of Sita,” from the Hindu epic, The Ramayana. View Film Trailer