May 23, 2013
WAR WITCH
Directed by Kim Nguyen
Not Rated | 90 min. | 2012 | Canada
Presented in French and Lingala with English subtitles.
Komona is only 12 years old when she is kidnapped by rebel soldiers and enslaved to a life of guerrilla warfare in the African jungle. Forced to commit unspeakable acts of brutality, she finds hope for survival in protective, ghost-like visions, and in a tender relationship with a fellow soldier named Magicien. Together, they manage to escape the rebels’ clutches, and a normal life finally seems within reach. But after their freedom proves short-lived, Komona realizes she must find a way to bury the ghosts of her past.
Nominee – Best Foreign Language Film, 2013 Academy Awards; Nominee – Best International Film, 2013 Independent Spirit Award. Winner: Best Actress – 2012 Berlin International Film Festival; Winner; Best Narrative Feature and Best Actress – 2012 Tribeca Film Festival
June 10, 2013
WILL
Directed by Ellen Perry
105 min | 2011 | UK/Turkey
Recommended Ages: 9 and up
Eleven-year-old Will Brennan is Liverpool FC’s biggest fan. At his boys’ school in England, Will’s love and knowledge of The Beautiful Game even outshines his football-obsessed mates. But life is turned upside down when his long-absent father, Gareth, reappears with tickets to the 2005 Champions League Final in Istanbul.
But before the two can start anew, Gareth dies suddenly, impossibly — this time leaving Will forever. Searching for a sliver of meaning in a world that seems to have abandoned him, Will runs away to Turkey to honour his father’s memory and to be with his beloved Liverpool F.C.
En route, and needing help, Will befriends Alek, a former Bosnian football star who abandoned the game after a tragic event during his country’s civil war. Despite his initial reluctance, Alek finds himself inspired by Will’s heroic journey and agrees to take him to Istanbul. And thus this unlikely pair of underdogs takes to the road, battling fate and fortune in a desperate bid to prove to themselves that it’s never too late to dream.
June 20, 2013
MOONRISE KINGDOM
Directed by Wes Anderson
PG-13 | 94 min. | 2012 | U.S.A.
MOONRISE KINGDOM is the latest movie directed by two-time Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Rushmore). Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, Moonrise Kingdom tells the story of two 12-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness. As various authorities try to hunt them down, a violent storm is brewing offshore – and the peaceful island community is turned upside down in every which way.
Nominated – Best Writing-Original Screenplay, 2013 Academy Awards; Winner of 23 Awards
July 8, 2013
CHICKEN RUN
Directed by Nick Park and Peter Lord
Rated G | 84 min. | 2000 | U.S.A.
From the Academy Award-winning team behind the popular “Wallace and Gromit” shorts comes a feature-length animated adventure set at Tweedy’s chicken farm, where any chicken who doesn’t make her egg quota can meet a “fowl” fate. The action turns on the characters of Rocky (an American rooster) and Ginger (a British chicken) who, along with their fellow flock, are determined to break out from the sinister farm before they can be fried, filleted or fricasseed.
July 25, 2013
BROOKLYN CASTLE
Directed by Katie Dellamaggiore
Not Rated | 102 min. | 2012 | USA
At Intermediate School 318 in Brooklyn, New York, the team students want to belong to – is the chess team. IS 318 has won a record 26 national chess championships, a remarkable achievement for any school, let alone one where the majority of the students are living near the poverty line. Follow the students of the IS 318 chess club as they try to earn another national title. Along the way they show us that success comes from dedication, hard work and supporting each other and that playing chess is about much more than winning or losing – it is what helps them overcome the challenges in their lives.
