Cinema International
Each semester, Cinema International presents films of every genre by the best and brightest directors from around the world. Admission is free and open to the public, and all shows begin at 7:30 (please see the schedule below for specific dates).
If you have any questions about Cinema International, please contact Dr. Thérèse Saint Paul.
Please consider making donations to Cinema International by contacting the Office of Development. You may also make a secure online gift to Cinema International by selecting "Other" as the gift designation and indicating "Cinema International" in the comment section. Give Cinema International
Fall 2021 Schedule
Per Murray State policy, all patrons--vaccinated and unvaccinated--must wear masks at all times in the Curris Center.
Minari
Date/Location: Thursday, August 26 (Barkley Room) and Saturday, Aug. 28 (Curris Center Theater)
Country/Year: USA/Korea, 2020
Description: Dir. Lee Isaac Chung
With Steven Yeun,Yeri Han,Alan Kim,Noel Kate Cho, Scott Haze
115 mins. NR.
A semi-autobiographical take on Chung’s upbringing during the 1980s. A tender and
sweeping story about what roots us, Minari follows a Korean-American family that moves
to an Arkansas farm in search of their own American Dream. The family home changes
completely with the arrival of their sly, foul-mouthed, but incredibly loving grandmother.
Amidst the instability and challenges of this new life in the rugged Ozarks, Minari
shows the undeniable resilience of family and what really makes a home.
Grand Jury Prize at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
Ema
Date/Location: Thursday, September 9 (Barkley Room) and Saturday, September 11 (Curris Center Theater)
Country/Year: Chile, 2019
Description: Dir. Pablo Larraín.
With Mariana Do Girolamo and Gael Garcia Bernal.
Spanish with English subtitles.
102 minutes. R.
From famed director Pablo Larrain (NO, Neruda) comes Ema. A reggaeton dancer sets
out on an odyssey of personal liberation, in this incendiary drama about art, desire,
and the tearing of the conventions of patriarchy and bourgeois family structures.
Ema stands as a harbinger for the 2019 spirit of revolution. Beautifully filmed and
powerfully acted, Ema puts a thoroughly distinctive spin on its story of emotional
trauma and self-discovery.
Bliss
Date/Location: Thursday, September 16 (Barkley Room) and Saturday, September 18 (Curris Center Theater)
Country/Year: Turkey, 2007
Description: Dir. Abdullah Oguz
Featuring Talat Bulut, Özgü Namal and Murat Han.
Turkish w/English subtitles.
105 minutes. NR.
Based on the acclaimed novel by Zülfü Livaneli and set amidst Turkey’s natural wonders,
Bliss is a riveting tale about love, honor, freedom and redemption. 17-year-old girl,
Meryem, has been raped and to uphold the family honor her parents turn to an ancient
moral code that condemns Meryem to death. A distant cousin, Cemal, is ordered to carry
out the task. Instead, Meryem and Cemal embark on a surprising journey across traditional
and modern-day Turkey in this unforgettable film. Winner of 12 Awards in Festivals
Worldwide. "Critic’s Pick! Gripping and supremely engaging.” - New York Magazine.
Public Trust | The Fight for America's Public Lands
Date/Location: Thursday, September 23 (Barkley Room) and Saturday, September 25 (Curris Center Theater)
Country/Year: USA, 2020
Description: Documentary Sponsored by MSU/ BHA in honor of Public Lands Day
Dir. David Byars
Produced by Jeremy Rubingh.
Executive Producers Yvon Chouinard and Robert Redford
96 mins. NR.
A feature-length documentary about America’s system of public lands and the fight
to protect them. Despite support from voters across the political spectrum, our public
lands and waters face unprecedented threat s from extractive industries and the politicians
in their pockets. Part love letter, part political exposé, Public Trust investigates
how we arrived at this precarious moment through three heated conflicts—a national
monument in the Utah desert, a mine in the Boundary Waters and oil drilling in the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge—and makes a case for their continued protection. Take
action to protect our public lands. Text DEFEND to 71333.
Gemma Bovery
Date/Location: Thursday, September 30 (Barkley Room) and Saturday, October 2 (Curris Center Theater)
Country/Year: France, 2014
Description: Dir. Anne Fontaine
With Fabrice Luchini, Gemma Arterton, Jason Flemyng
In French with English subtitles. 99 mins. R.
Anne Fontaine’s film is a vibrant seriocomic re-imagining of Gustave Flaubert’s literary
classic Madame Bovary, and a clever adaptation of Posy Simmonds’ graphic novel Gemma
Bovery. Life imitates art in uncanny ways when British Gemma Bovery and her husband
Charles move to a charming old French farmhouse in the very same Norman village where
the novel was written 156 years earlier. Their welcoming neighbor, local baker and
Flaubert expert Martin Joubert becomes entranced with Gemma and sets out to be her
guide to her new surroundings. As reality sets in on the dream life in rural France,
the Boverys’ marriage begins to fray, and Gemma catches the eye of a handsome playboy,
which seems to be fulfilling Joubert’ s worst fears that her destiny is replicating
that of Flaubert’s doomed heroine. This movie is at once a cheeky literary mash-up,
a sensuous romance, a witty feminist commentary and a heady celebration of French
provincial life.
Retablo
Date/Location: Thursday, October 14 (Barkley Room) and Saturday, October 16 (Curris Center Theater)
Country/Year: Peru, 2017
Description: Dir. Alvaro Delgado Aparicio
With Magaly Solier, Junior Béjar Roca, Amiel Cayo
In Quechua & Spanish w/ English subtitles.
101 min. NR.
The film follows Segundo (Junior Bejar Roca), a young boy in Ayacucho in rural Peru
whose father Noé (Amiel Cayo) is training him in the family tradition of designing
and building religious retablos, but whose secret homosexuality shatters Segundo’s
world. “Aparicio examines societal notions of masculinity, and how an artistic temperament
can be both a vulnerability and a lifeline in a harsh world.” – Chicago Reader
Caravaggio
Date/Location: Thursday, October 21 (Barkley Room) and Saturday, October 23 (Curris Center Theater)
Country/Year: UK, 1986
Description: Dir. Derek Jarman,
With Nigel Terry, Tilda Swinton and Sean Bean
In English/Italian. 90 min. R.
Stunning movie telling the life of the celebrated 17th-century painter (1571-1610)
through his brilliant paintings and his flirtations with the underworld. While his
paintings reflected an increasingly profound and original religious awareness, his
private life was fraught with brawls, duels, arrests culminating in 1606 in murder.
Jarman incorporates the painter’s precise aesthetic for “chiaro-oscuro” (light/darkness)
into the movie’s own visuals, and recreates many of Caravaggio’s foremost paintings
(cf. Head of the Medusa) in fleeting scenes of the movie! He also intentionally includes
several anachronisms in the film that do not fit with life in the 16th century. Caravaggio
is perhaps Derek Jarman’s most profound reflection on art, sexuality and identity,
touching on all of his major concerns: history, homosexuality, violence and the relationship
between painting and film.
More than Honey
Date/Location: Thursday, October 28 (Barkley Room) and Saturday, October 30 (Curris Center Theater)
Country/Year: Switzerland/Germany/Austria, 2013
Description: Award winning documentary
Dir. Markus Imhoof
In English and German w/English subtitles.
91 mins. NR.
Oscar-nominated director Markus Imhoof tackles the urgent issue of why bees, worldwide,
are facing extinction and investigates this global phenomenon, from California to
Switzerland, China and Australia. Exquisite macro-photography of the bees (reminiscent
of Microcosmos) in flight and in their hives reveals a fascinating, complex world
in crisis. Imhoof’ s camera’s magnifying power renders the life of the bees in sci-fi
terms, reminiscent of David Cronenberg’s The Fly. (Eric Kohn, Indiewire) This is a
strangely moving film that raises questions of species survival in cosmic as well
as apiary terms. “If you are expecting some run-of-the- mill nature doc, think again.
This is the Citizen Kane of bee documentaries.” – (Ain’t It Cool News)
The Secret World of Arrietty
Date/Location: Thursday, November 4 (Barkley Room) and Saturday, November 6 (Curris Center Theater)
Country/Year: Japan, 2010
Description: Dir. by Hiromasa Yonebayashi.
In Japanese with English subtitles.
94 mins. NR.
This fantasy film tells the story of four-inch-tall people, the Clock family, who
lives secretly in the walls and floors of a typical household, borrowing items from
humans to survive, trying to avoid being detected. Life changes for the Clocks when
their teenage daughter Arrietty, is discovered. Adapted from the 1952 novel The Borrowers
by Mary Norton, an English author of children’s books, the film received several awards,
with a screenplay by famous Hayao Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa.The soundtrack album won
“Best Original Soundtrack Album” at the 2011 Japan Gold Disc Awards. It also became
a RIAJ-certified gold record in Japan.
Tangerines
Date/Location: Thursday, November 11 (Barkley Room) and Saturday, November 13 (Curris Center Theater)
Country/Year: Estonia, 2014
Description: Dir. Zaza Urushadze
In Estonian, Russian & Georgian w/ English subtitles.
87 minutes. NR.
A story of awakening humanity in the midst of violence, told with intimacy and elegance
by writer/director Zaza Urushadze, Tangerines is the spare, yet haunting tale of an
older Estonian man who cares for two wounded soldiers from opposite sides of the 1990s-era
war in Georgia. The film reveals compassion to be the ultimate response to centuries
of political, cultural and ethnic conflict, a compelling and relevant message for
contemporary audiences. “Director Zaza Urushadze has performed a small miracle by
presenting the insanity of war in such a compact form. Tangerines’ insights might
not be of the grandiose sort found in Hollywood’s massive battle epics. But they are
perhaps even more affecting because of the film’s intimate scale.” - RogerEbert.com.
Academy Award & Golden Globe Award Nominee for Best Foreign Language Film in 2015.
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Thérèse Saint Paul
Director of Cinema International