Green Mountain Film Festival 2008

Avenue Montaigne

• Saturday, March 17 11:30 am
• Sunday, March 18 6:15 pm
• Monday, March 19 12:00 pm
• Tuesday, March 20 4:00 pm

Savoy Theater
SATURDAY 17 SOLD OUT!
SUNDAY 18 SOLD OUT!
TUESDAY 20 SOLD OUT!
The French candidate for this year’s Best Foreign Film Oscar (also called “Orchestra Seats”) stars the delightful Cecile de France as the starry-eyed Jessica, a recent arrival to Paris who waits tables in a café frequented by artists and musicians. She becomes involved with the crises facing actress Catherine, pianist Jean-Francois and art collector Jacques. The Hollywood Reporter said “Daniele Thompson directs the multicharacter comedy with such smooth assurance that the movie glows with infectious cheerfulness.” Sponsored by The Lazy Pear Gallery. Rated PG-13, 108 minutes, in French with subtitles. Review

Beauty in Trouble

• Wednesday, March 21 8:45 pm
• Thursday, March 22 6:45 pm
• Saturday, March 24 11:45 am

Savoy Theater
The Robert Graves poem of the same title inspired Jan Hrebek and Petr Jarchovsky (DIVIDED WE FALL) to tell the romantic and tragicomic story of a young woman (Ana Gieslerova, in a stunning performance) dealing with the dilemma of loving two men at once, a dilemma between sexual dependence and assuring a future for her children, and a dilemma in her relationship to her mother and thorny stepfather. Set in the aftermath of the 2002 floods that swept through Prague, the film is “a masterful multicharacter drama about fate, love and redemption… It will be in demand where moving, human dramas are valued.” (Variety) Rated R, 110 minutes, in Czech with subtitles. Film Website

Been Rich All My Life

• Friday, March 16 6:15 pm
• Monday, March 19 6:30 pm
• Tuesday, March 20 2:00 pm
• Friday, March 23 9:00 pm

City Hall Arts Center
FRIDAY 16 SOLD OUT!
MONDAY 19 SOLD OUT!
Heather Lyn MacDonald’s film follows an unlikely troupe of dancing divas - The Silver Belles, five former showgirls now aged 84 to 96, still performing and still opinionated and brash. They met during Harlem’s 1930s heyday, dancing in the chorus line at the Apollo Theater, the Cotton Club, and Small’s Paradise to the music of Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington. When the big-band era ended, they found other work — but in 1985, they put their dancing shoes back on and have been dancing ever since. They have rich stories to tell about the history they made during the Harlem Renaissance, illuminated by a treasure trove of archival film and photos. Also showing: WHY THE IRISH DANCE THAT WAY by Nick Kelly (5 minutes). Post-film event: Filmmaker Heather Lyn MacDonald will discuss the film at the Friday, March 16 show. Sponsored by Vermont Women’s Fund. Community Partners: School of Contemporary Dance, Montpelier Senior Activity Center, Central Vermont Council on Aging. Rated PG, 81 minutes. Film Website

Black Gold

• Tuesday, March 20 8:30 pm
• Saturday, March 24 10:00 am

City Hall Arts Center
TUESDAY 20 SOLD OUT!
Globally, about 2 billion cups of coffee are consumed a day, 400 million of those in the United States. That grande latte might not taste quite the same after Nick and Mark Francis’ eye-opening documentary about the business of coffee — from the meticulously hand-picked Ethiopian bean to the $3 cup. The film connects the dots of our global economy, putting a human face on a systemic problem largely hidden from the caffeinated consumer. Stephen Holden, The New York Times: “ The heroic little guy who is the focus of the film is Tadesse Meskela, who represents the Oromia Coffee Farmers’ Union, which encompasses 74 cooperatives in southern Ethiopia… Mr. Meskela devotes himself tirelessly to traveling the world looking for buyers who will pay a fair price for the beans harvested by the country’s 70,000 coffee farmers.” Post-film event: Mark Pendergrast, author of Uncommon Grounds, will discuss the film after the Tuesday 8:30 pm show. Mané Alves, founder of Vermont Artisan Coffee and Tea Company in Waterbury, and Bob Watson, proprietor of Capitol Grounds, will talk about the film after the Saturday show. Sponsored by Hunger Mountain Coop. Community Partners: Institute for Social Ecology, Peace and Justice Center. No rating, 77 minutes. Film Website

El Carro

• Saturday, March 17 6:15 pm
• Monday, March 19 2:00 pm

Savoy Theater
SAT 17 SOLD OUT!

ADDITIONAL SCREENING -
EL CARRO will also be shown on TUESDAY, MARCH 20 at noon

The Velez family of Bogota, Colombia, think they are forever doomed to take public transportation. But when their neighbors win a brand new car in a raffle, the family is presented with an opportunity to buy the neighbors’ old one: a bright red ’50s Chevrolet convertible. This “winning and consistently funny comedy” (Variety), narrated by adolescent daughter Paola (the brains of the clan), shows how the car quickly becomes an integral part of their lives and conveys them through several years of life’s small dramas. Sponsored by New England Culinary Institute. Rated PG-13, 90 minutes, in Spanish with subtitles. Review

The Cave of the Yellow Dog

• Sunday, March 18 10:00 am
• Monday, March 19 4:00 pm
• Wednesday, March 21 6:45 pm
• Saturday, March 24 9:45 am

Savoy Theater
MONDAY 19 SOLD OUT!
WEDNESDAY 21 SOLD OUT!
Writer-director Byambasuren Daava follows up her hit THE STORY OF THE WEEPING CAMEL with another skillful blend of drama and documentary, an engaging portrait of life in a Mongolian nomad family, set in the northwest province of Altai. The film hinges on the conflict between sheep-tending father Urjindorj and his six-year-old daughter Nansal over a puppy she discovers in the wild. BBC: “What’s especially rewarding is Daava’s focus on the specific details of the hardworking family’s everyday life, who tirelessly adapt to nature.” Sponsored by Christa Lancaster. Rated G, 93 minutes, in Mongolian with subtitles. Film Website

Climates

• Sunday, March 18 4:00 pm
• Tuesday, March 20 6:30 pm
• Wednesday, March 21 12:00 pm

Savoy Theater
SUNDAY 18 SOLD OUT!
Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s film won acclaim at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival for its poetic use of landscape and its incisive, exquisitely visual rendering of loneliness and loss. During a summer vacation on the Aegean coast, the relationship between middle-aged professor Isa (played by director Ceylan) and his girlfriend Behar (Ebru Ceylan, the director’s real-life wife) brutally implodes. Back in Istanbul that fall, Isa rekindles an affair with a previous lover, but when he finds out that Behar has left the city for a job in the snowy East, he follows her there. The New York Times: “CLIMATES is a gorgeous rumination on the fragility and complexity of human relationships.” Sponsored by Terry Doran and Deborah Richter. Rated R, 101 minutes, in Turkish with subtitles. Film Website

A conversation with Kenneth Turan

• Saturday, March 24 10:00 am

Unitarian Church vestry
The insightful and entertaining Kenneth Turan is a film critic for National Public Radio, and has been reviewing films for the Los Angeles Times for more than ten years. He is also the author of several books, including From Sundance to Sarajevo and Never Coming to a Theater Near You. He will be joined by GMFF Programmer Rick Winston for an informal and wide-ranging movie conversation. Sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council.

NOTE - this is a free event but tickets are strongly recommended to ensure a seat.

You can hear an interview with Kenneth Turan on the Friday edition of All Things Considered on Vermont Public Radio beginning at 4 o’clock.

C.R.A.Z.Y.

• Friday, March 16 8:45 pm
• Saturday, March 17 1:45 pm
• Wednesday, March 21 2:00 pm
• Friday, March 23 9:00 pm

Savoy Theater
Set in suburban (and very Catholic) Quebec of the 1960s and ‘70s, Jean-Marc Vallee’s energetic and poignant coming-of-age story covers 20 years in the life of Zac, born on Christmas Day 1960. Despite his father Gervais’ attempts to raise a straight son, he’s unable to sway Zac’s interest in playing with baby carriages and dressing up with Mom’s pearls. When Zac’s teen years collide with the changing culture of the ‘70s, Zac and the loving but uncomprehending Gervais engage in a ferocious battle of wills, with sympathetic Mom in the middle. Seattle Film Festival: “Zac’s story is a triumphant one, about an ordinary family, parental love, outsiders struggling to find their place in the world and the challenges of being different.” Sponsored by Buch Spieler. Community Partners: Outright Vermont, RU12? Rated R, 128 minutes, in French with subtitles. Read more

Documentary Crossroads: Vermont Filmmakers Forum

• Saturday, March 17 2:00 pm

Hayes Room, Kellogg-Hubbard Library
With the advent of digital video technologies, webcasting and the commercial box office success of several broadly distributed works in recent years, documentary filmmaking is undergoing a renaissance. This has provided opportunities and challenges to documentary filmmakers: they must still find provocative subjects, gain the trust of the people they film and shape the film through editing, but now must also select an screening showcase - or target an audience - with the plethora of venues made possible by the internet and new media. Four filmmakers discuss contemporary documentary filmmaking in this panel hosted by Kenneth Peck (host of Vermont Public Television’s Reel Independents) and sponsored by the Vermont Film Commission as part of the annual Filmmakers Forum series.

Family Law

• Thursday, March 22 12:00 pm
• Friday, March 23 2:15 pm
• Saturday, March 24 7:00 pm

Savoy Theater
SATURDAY 24 SOLD OUT!
“Perelman Jr.,” as he’s known, is a lawyer turned teacher, a loyal husband and a new dad who lives his life under the long shadow cast by his father. “Perelman Sr.,” his widowed father, is a kindly, wise lawyer who is at the center of the Buenos Aires Jewish community and a tough act to follow. Film Society of Lincoln Center: “Argentine writer-director Daniel Burman’s film is one of the warmest and most humane films of the year, a delightful, refreshingly understated comedy-drama, thick with the flavor of Buenos Aires street life, and an enviable sense of community.” Sponsored by National Life Group. Community Partner: Beth Jacob Synagogue. Rated PG-13, 102 minutes, in Spanish with subtitles. Review

Flock of Dodos

• Monday, March 19 4:00 pm
• Wednesday, March 21 6:30 pm

City Hall Arts Center
WEDNESDAY 21 SOLD OUT!
From the Margaret Mead Traveling Film Festival. Who are the dodos in the current debate over evolution versus intelligent design? Dr. Randy Olson, marine biologist turned documentary filmmaker, takes an informative, often hilarious and always potent look at the “Teach the Controversy” backdoor effort to introduce the theory of intelligent design to school children. He explores why the Intelligent Design movement has been accepted in many places and why the scientific community is losing ground. Cinematical.com: “A rare, evenhanded look at a hot-button issue, and it deserves to be widely seen.” Also showing: HUNGER ANGER LOVE PLAY by Ron Mortara (8 minutes). Post-film event: Local science teachers will discuss the film after the Wednesday 6:30 show. Sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council. No rating, 83 minutes. Read more

Following Sean

• Saturday, March 17 8:30 pm
• Sunday, March 18 12:30 pm
• Wednesday, March 21 12:00 pm

City Hall Arts Center
In the late 1960s, aspiring filmmaker Ralph Arlyck rented a dirt-cheap apartment in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. He befriended the family upstairs and shot a 15-minute short about 4-year-old Sean, who cheerfully boasted of “smoking grass” and talked about the “pigs busting heads.” Recently, Arlyck sought to discover what happened to Sean and his family, and the result is a “tender and levelheaded rumination on the legacy of the ‘60s and the mysteries of everyday life” (The New York Times). Prompted by the search for Sean, now a family man and working-class electrician, the film is also a touching essay-autobiography, sifting through several decades of Arlyck’s 16-millimeter memories. Also showing: RIDE by Art Bell (10 minutes). Post-film event: Filmmaker Ralph Arlyck will discuss the film after the Saturday 8:30 show. Sponsored by Casey Family Services. Ralph Arlyck’s appearance is made possible by the Vermont Humanities Council. No rating, 88 minutes. Film Website

Gimme Shelter

• Friday, March 16 10:15 pm
• Saturday, March 24 9:15 pm

City Hall Arts Center
SATURDAY 24 SOLD OUT!
Albert Maysles was one of the filmmakers on hand to record the tragically ill-fated Rolling Stones free concert at Altamont Speedway on December 6, 1969. Only four months earlier, Woodstock defined the Love Generation; now it lay in ruins on a desolate racetrack six miles outside of San Francisco. Over 300,000 people attended, and the organizers put Hell’s Angels in charge of security around the stage, with disastrous results. The Hollywood Reporter said on the film’s release in 1970: “A stunning film, a sensational piece of filmmaking, a landmark.” Post-film event: Filmmaker Albert Maysles will discuss the film after the Saturday 9:15 show. Sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council. Rated R, 91 minutes. Film Website

Gobi Women’s Song

• Sunday, March 18 7:15 pm
• Monday, March 19 12:00 pm

City Hall Arts Center
SUNDAY 18 SOLD OUT!
Set against a background of barren expanses, this film by Middlebury filmmaker and health worker Sas Carey immerses the viewer in a different world. Five nomadic women share their lives in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert. These are women whose lives are much the same as their ancestors’ of 3000 years ago—as the filmmaker describes them, “women who still hum with the song of the soul passed down from their grandmothers.” Through interviews that span four years, the film captures the rhythms of the harsh daily life of Gobi women and their families. Life here depends on connection—connection with the environment, community and family. Also showing: I WAS A DANCER by Jason Whiton (5 minutes). Post-film event: Filmmaker Sas Carey will discuss the film after both shows. Sponsored by Union Institute and University. Community Partner: Vermont Commission on Women. No rating, 70 minutes. Read more

Grey Gardens

• Saturday, March 24 4:15 pm

City Hall Arts Center
SOLD OUT!
In 1976, filmmakers Albert and David Maysles told the unbelievable but true story of Mrs. Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edie, the aunt and first cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Mother and daughter lived in a world of their own behind the towering privets that surrounded their decaying 28-room East Hampton mansion known as Grey Gardens. Together they descended into a strange life of dependence and eccentricity that no one had ever known about until the Maysles brothers arrived with their camera and tape recorder in hand. Post-film event: Filmmaker Albert Maysles will discuss the film. Sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council. No rating, 94 minutes. Film Website

Gypsy Caravan

• Thursday, March 22 8:50 pm
• Friday, March 23 12:00 pm
• Saturday, March 24 9:15 pm
• Sunday, March 25 10:00 am

Savoy Theater
SATURDAY 24 SOLD OUT!
SUNDAY 25 SOLD OUT!
Jasmine Dellal’s film (shot by cinematographer Albert Maysles) is a dazzling display of the musical world of the Roma, as musicians from Romania, India, Spain and Macedonia perform on a five-week “Gypsy Caravan” tour of the United States and Canada. This rich feature documentary celebrates the luscious music of top international Gypsy performers (many of whom were featured in the documentary LATCHO DROM) and interweaves stirring real-life tales of their home life and social background. Vancouver Film Festival: “The film is a gorgeous surround-sound celebration of misery and oppression turned into music.” Post-film event: Cinematographer Albert Maysles will discuss the film after the Sunday 10:00 AM show. Sponsored by Sarducci’s Restaurant. Community Partners: Vermont Public Radio, Events for Tom. Rated PG, 110 minutes, in English and several other languages with subtitles. Film Website

Holding Our Own

• Saturday, March 17 4:15 pm

City Hall Arts Center
SOLD OUT!
Burlington filmmaker Camilla Rockwell awakens heart and mind to the transformative gifts found at the end of life. Author Ira Byock, M.D., artist Deidre Scherer and the hospice chorus Hallowell provide creative insights in a powerful yet tender treatment of life’s final passage. With its unique and upbeat approach, the film breaks through our cultural denial of death and inspires discussion about a reality all too often ignored. Post-film event: Camilla Rockwell and members of the Hallowell chorus (Brattleboro) and the Noyana Singers (Burlington) will discuss the film and sing. Sponsored by Vermont Film Commission. Community Partner: Vermont Home Health and Hospice Association. 60 minutes. Read more

The Host

• Saturday, March 17 10:15 pm
• Tuesday, March 20 8:30 pm
• Thursday, March 22 4:15 pm

Savoy Theater
TUESDAY 20 SOLD OUT!
In Bong Joon-Ho’s gleeful subversion of the monster movie genre, several jars of formaldehyde dumped into a sink at a U.S. Army base create a mutant tadpole that emerges from Korea’s Han River. An ordinary family that runs a riverside snack caravan is threatened and must rise to the occasion. Film Threat: “THE HOST is not just a monster movie, it’s a movie about family, and it’s a movie about the lengths we’ll go to to save our loved ones. Joon-Ho’s epic is a masterpiece of monster cinema that’s intelligent, innovative, and reaches down to the basic core of family unity to propel its story beyond mere conventions of science fiction.” LATEST - see also Anthony Lane’s review in The New Yorker dated March 12, 2007: “All I can say … is that I have seen THE HOST twice and have every intention of watching it again.” Sponsored by Nutty Steph’s Granola. Rated R, 118 minutes, in Korean with subtitles.

Into Great Silence

• Sunday, March 25 7:15 pm

Savoy Theater
SUNDAY 25 SOLD OUT!
As a novice filmmaker, Philip Groening asked the Carthusian monks of the Grande Chartreuse monastery in the French Alps for permission to make a film about them. Sixteen years later, they were ready, and Groening was invited, without crew and artificial lighting, to record their daily prayers, rituals and rare outdoor excursions. Groening’s film is a delicate chronicle of a year in and around the monastery, where gardening, cooking, barbering, tailoring and other monastic activities reveal the monks’ silent communication with God. Variety: “Exhilarating… Groening takes the viewer deep into this cloistered world.” Sponsored by Figrig Web Crafters. No rating, 162 minutes, in French and Latin with subtitles. (INTO GREAT SILENCE will continue at the Savoy Theater from Monday, March 26 through Thursday, March 29; tickets will be available at the GMFF Ticket Office). Film Website

Jonestown

• Friday, March 16 8:30 pm
• Monday, March 19 2:00 pm
• Tuesday, March 20 12:00 pm
• Friday, March 23 4:15 pm

City Hall Arts Center
JONESTOWN traces the rise and fall of Peoples Temple and its charismatic founder, Jim Jones, who convinced hundreds of his followers in Jonestown, Guyana, to participate in a mass suicide on November 18, 1978. More than 900 people, including more than 200 children, died in the utopian community they had tried to create in the jungles of South America. Director Stanley Nelson interviewed former members of Peoples Temple, including many whose family members perished in Jonestown. How was it possible for such a horrific end to come from such a hopeful beginning? Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: “This riveting documentary comes as close as we are going to get to answering that question… This calm and thorough film has just the right attitude and tone to deal with a most incendiary story.” Sponsored by Goddard College. Community Partner: Peace and Justice Center. Rated R, 92 minutes. Film Website

Land Mines: A Love Story

• Wednesday, March 21 4:30 pm

City Hall Arts Center
From the Margaret Mead Traveling Film Festival. The Australian filmmaker Dennis O’Rourke’s moving film is about Afghanistan, land mines, survival and love. It chronicles the love story of Habiba and Shah, two victims of land mines living together in Kabul and struggling to make ends meet. Part observational film and part essay, this is an anti-war film set in a country whose name has become synonymous with conflict. Sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council. Community Partner: Peace and Justice Center. In Dari with subtitles, 73 minutes. Film Website

The Light Ahead

• Saturday, March 24 4:00 pm

Savoy Theater
SATURDAY DAY 24 SOLD OUT!
Edgar Ulmer’s rarely seen 1939 film is “one of the most emotionally satisfying of all Yiddish films,” says Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times film critic. Based on Mendele Mocher Seforim’s classic short stories, the film, which was shot with the New Jersey countryside standing in for the “Old Country,” details the touching romance between a blind girl (Helen Beverly) and a lame beggar (David Opatoshu). Post-film event: Discussion with Kenneth Turan. Sponsored by Washington Electric Coop and the Vermont Humanities Council. Community Partner: Beth Jacob Synagogue. No rating, 92 minutes.

Living on the Fault Line

• Friday, March 23 6:30 pm
• Saturday, March 24 12:00 pm

City Hall Arts Center
Jeff Farber’s new film explores the intersection of family dignity and racial injustice in the experiences of Vermont’s transracial families. Says Farber, “LIVING ON THE FAULT LINE reveals what it’s like raising and being raised in such a family while examining racial identity development, the habituated misconceptions of ‘color’ and the damaging effects of racial stereotyping.” Octavio Warnock-Graham’s SILENCES (20 minutes), about his experience growing up as a bi-racial son, will be shown at the Friday show only. Sponsored by Vermont Film Commission. Community Partners: American Friends Service Committe of Vermont, Peace and Justice Center. Post-film event: Jeff Farber will discuss the film after each show. Approxiately 75 minutes.

Men at Work

• Sunday, March 18 9:00 pm
• Thursday, March 22 2:00 pm
• Sunday, March 25 2:45 pm

City Hall Arts Center - March 18, March 22
Savoy Theater - March 25
SAVOY SCREENING SUNDAY 25 SOLD OUT!
This Iranian comedy tells the story of four old friends driving back from a ski trip who encounter a strange and enormous rock on the side of a mountain road. The men’s frivolous attempt to dislodge the rock gradually becomes a tale of betrayal, defeat and renewed hope. The film presents a picture of Iran rarely seen by American audiences, as its protagonists are well-to-do doctors, engineers and businessmen in the throes of mid-life crises. Variety: “Sophisticated audiences will enjoy this thoroughly modern spoof on masculine fixations, played out in frank, realistic dialogue.” Also showing: OFF THE BEATEN TRACK by Leo Bridle (4 minutes). Post-film event: Vermont Public Radio journalist Steve Zind will discuss the film after the Thursday and Sunday, March 25 shows. Sponsored by Vermont State Employees Credit Union. No rating, in Farsi with subtitles, 80 minutes. Film Website

Meredith Holch’s Homegrown Animation

• Saturday, March 17 10:00 am

City Hall Arts Center
Vermont filmmaker Meredith Holch will show some of her colorful and captivating animated shorts and will demonstrate stop-motion animation techniques. In the featured 28-minute film NO PLACE LIKE HOME, images made from translucent, layered tissue paper accompany the voices of refugees as they relate their experiences of resettling in Vermont. PICTURE PERFECT (8 minutes) is an inventive and poignant look at Vermont’s changing landscape. Sponsored by The Black Door Bar & Bistro. Total program length: approximately 90 minutes.

Molly’s Way

• Saturday, March 17 12:00 pm
• Wednesday, March 21 8:45 pm
• Sunday, March 25 1:00 pm

City Hall Arts Center - March 17, March 21
Savoy Theater - March 25
SUNDAY 25 SOLD OUT!
Molly, a young Irish woman, travels to a small Polish town to find the man with whom she’d had a memorable one-night stand several months before. With little to go on aside from his last name and that he “works in coal,” she finds refuge at a hotel swarming with friendly prostitutes, then goes on her search. Writer/director Emily Atef’s perceptive drama is anchored by Mairead McKinley´s sensitive performance as Molly. Seattle Weekly: “Many established filmmakers could learn from first-time director Emily Atef… This quiet, unassuming, performance-driven little movie accomplishes much in its compact running time.” Also showing: STILL LIFE WITH FLOWERS by Leo Bridle (4 minutes). Sponsored by Artisans Hand. Rated R, 80 minutes, in English and Polish with subtitles. Film Website

Our Daily Bread

• Monday, March 19 8:15 pm
• Wednesday, March 21 2:00 pm

City Hall Arts Center
MONDAY 19 SOLD OUT!
In choosing this film as one of the Ten Best of 2006, Manohla Dargis of The New York Times wrote, “The Austrian filmmaker Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s superb documentary is an unblinking, often disturbing look at industrial food production from field to factory. Mr. Geyrhalter has said that he is fascinated by ‘zones and areas people normally don’t see.’ His fascination is our gain. OUR DAILY BREAD can be extremely difficult to watch, but the film’s formal elegance, moral underpinning and intellectually stimulating point of view also make it essential. You are what you eat; as it happens, you are also what you dare to watch.” Sponsored by Vermont Compost Company. Community Partners: Peace and Justice Center, Rural Vermont, Institute for Social Ecology. No rating, 92 minutes (no dialogue). Film Website

El Perro

• Saturday, March 17 8:15 pm
• Sunday, March 18 2:10 pm
• Monday, March 19 8:30 pm

Savoy Theater
ALL THREE SHOWS SOLD OUT!
Set in the wind-swept plains of Patagonia, Carlos Sorin’s gently humorous film is a “lovely, rugged fable” (The New York Times) about a man and a dog. Juan, an unemployed mechanic, ends up taking odd jobs. One customer pays him not with cash but with an Argentine Dogo, a large, white, ferocious-looking dog called Bonbon Le Chien. Bonbon is actually meek and accommodating, and as Juan soon learns, has the pedigree to win international shows as well as the capability to earn a handsome stud fee. Sponsored by Sarducci’s Restaurant. Rated PG, 90 minutes, in Spanish with subtitles. Review

The Refugee All-Stars

• Saturday, March 17 1:45 pm
• Thursday, March 22 8:45 pm

City Hall Arts Center
Banker White and Zach Niles’ inspiring documentary takes place largely in Sembakounya in the Republic of Guinea and follows the remarkable story of a group of musicians who have come together after fleeing their native Sierra Leone to bring hope to their fellow countrymen. With members ranging from an orphaned 15-year-old rapper to a guitarist in his 50s, the band blends traditional West African music with reggae and R&B. Post-film event: Kenyan musician Omar Mohammed will discuss the film after the Saturday 1:45 show. Sponsored by Figrig Web Crafters. Community Partners: Peace and Justice Center, Association of Africans Living in Vermont, Vermont Refugee Assistance. No rating, 78 minutes, in English and Krio with subtitles. Film Website

Rick Winston on What Makes a Classic?

• Thursday, March 22 6:30 pm

City Hall Arts Center
Why do so many old films fail the test of time while a few are rediscovered by each generation of moviegoers? GMFF programmer Rick Winston will discuss some of the elements of those classics from Hollywood’s “Golden Age” - writing, acting, direction, cinematography - and illustrate with clips from some favorites. He’ll explore the silent genius of Buster Keaton, the grace of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, the technical bravura of Orson Welles, the wit of Preston Sturges, and more. Sponsored by The Black Door Bar & Bistro. Approximately 105 minutes.

The Ritchie Boys

• Saturday, March 17 6:00 pm
• Sunday, March 18 10:00 am
• Thursday, March 22 12:00 pm

City Hall Arts Center
During World War II, the United States formed an elite intelligence unit — mostly German Jewish academics who were recent U.S. arrivals — at Camp Ritchie, Maryland. Though many were not exactly natural fighters, they were still desperate to enlist and help liberate their homelands. Tasked with devising ways to break the morale of the German SS, these men are often credited with bringing an early end to the war in Europe. Some of these heroes, who are now in their 80s, finally get to tell their little-known story in Christian Bauer’s film. Village Voice: “The horror of war gets gently upstaged by the wit and wisdom of the veterans interviewed in this powerful film.” Post-film event: “Ritchie Boy” Hans Loeser will discuss the film after the Saturday 6:00 and Sunday NOON shows. Sponsored by Union Institute and University. Community Partners: Peace and Justice Center, Beth Jacob Synagogue, Montpelier Senior Activity Center, Central Vermont Agency on Aging. No rating, in English and German with subtitles, 92 minutes. Film Website

The Rules of the Game

• Wednesday, March 21 4:30 pm
• Thursday, March 22 2:00 pm
• Friday, March 23 6:15 pm

Savoy Theater
WEDNESDAY 21 SOLD OUT!
FRIDAY 23 SOLD OUT!
In Jean Renoir’s classic 1938 film, a famed aviator has fallen in love with the wife of a marquis, who’s got mistress troubles of his own. It’s complicated enough when in Paris, but then the marquis invites all to a shooting party at his chateau–with the gamekeeper, a local poacher and the wife’s maid adding their own below-stairs triangle. We are pleased to be showing the restored print recently featured at the New York Film Festival. Playing with the lightest of touches yet stinging like the greatest of tragedies, THE RULES OF THE GAME has come to be regarded as one of the finest movies ever made. Post-film event: Film critic Kenneth Turan will discuss the film after the Friday 6:15 show. Sponsored by Johnson State College. Community Partner: Chronique Francophone. No rating, 110 minutes, in French with subtitles. Review

Salesman

• Saturday, March 24 1:45 pm

City Hall Arts Center
In 1968, in one of the first classics of “direct cinema,” filmmakers Albert and David Maysles followed four employees of a company that made expensive, ornate, illustrated bibles as they attempt to sell the items door-to-door to less-than-interested customers, who are mainly poor or lower-middle-class Catholics with little money to spend on pretty bibles. Vincent Canby, The New York Times: “I was spellbound. I’ve seen SALESMAN three times and each time I’ve been more impressed. Fascinating, very funny, unforgettable.” Post-film event: Filmmaker Albert Maysles will discuss the film. No rating, 90 minutes. Film Website

Shakespeare Behind Bars

• Sunday, March 18 5:00 pm
• Tuesday, March 20 4:00 pm
• Friday, March 23 12:00 pm

City Hall Arts Center
Hank Rogerson’s moving film is a study of 20 male inmates who form the Shakespeare Behind Bars theater troupe, an acting company based in a Kentucky high security prison, as they prepare their performance of Shakespeare’s final play, The Tempest. The inmates’ individual stories are interwoven with the plot of The Tempest as the actors delve deeply into the characters they portray while confronting their personal demons. Post-film event: Actor and Shakespeare teacher Peter Gould will discuss the film after the Sunday 5:00 show. Sponsored by Richard Jenney. Community Partners: Peace and Justice Center, Phantom Theater. Rated R, 93 minutes. Film Website

Silents are Golden: The Forgotten Art of Silent Film Acting with Rob Mermin

• Tuesday, March 20 6:30 pm

City Hall Arts Center
In a unique program, specially devised for this year’s festival, Rob Mermin, an accomplished mime and founder of Circus Smirkus, traces the development of pantomime acting in silent movies from histrionic melodrama to emotionally sophisticated dramatics, from knockabout slapstick to superbly subtle comedy. Rob has complied “a dazzling array of film clips” featuring the great silent stars: Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, Rudolph Valentino, Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Ramon Navarro and many more, including rarely seen clips from European silent cinema. Approximately 105 minutes.

Sisters in Law

• Sunday, March 18 2:30 pm
• Thursday, March 22 4:00 pm

City Hall Arts Center
From the Margaret Mead Traveling Film Festival. Six-year-old Manka has run away from home, fleeing her abusive aunt. Sonita has daringly accused her neighbor of rape. Amina has decided to end her brutal marriage by taking her husband to court. This chronicle, set in Kumba, a small town in southwest Cameroon, follows two women, a state counsel and a court president in Kumba as they courageously work to put an end their community’s tacit acceptance of child abuse, wife beating and rape. Toronto Eye Weekly: “Filmmakers Kim Longinotto and Florence Ayisi deliver a vital message in an utterly involving manner.” Post-film event: After the Sunday show, a panel including domestic abuse activists will discuss the issues rised by the film. Sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council. Community Partner: Vermont Commission on Women. No rating, 104 minutes, in Pidgin with subtitles. Read more

Suite Habana

• Friday, March 23 4:30 pm
• Saturday, March 24 2:00 pm
• Sunday, March 25 5:15 pm

Savoy Theater
FRIDAY 23 SOLD OUT!
SATURDAY 24 SOLD OUT!
SUNDAY 25 SOLD OUT!
A lyrical homage to the city of Havana, Fernando Perez’ film is a one-of-a-kind work. Winner of many international awards, the film follows 10 ordinary Habañeros as they go about their daily routine. The characters range from ages 10 to 97 and represent the diverse groups that form the city’s social fabric. We follow their transformations as the workday ends and they prepare for the night, which brings about the daily renewal of this exceptional and fascinating city. Variety: “A lyrical and meticulously-crafted homage to the battered but resilient inhabitants of a battered but resilient city… It makes its point with poetic evocation.” Sponsored by Burlington College. Community Partner: Peace and Justice Center. Rated PG, 83 minutes, no dialogue. Review

Ten Canoes

• Saturday, March 17 4:20 pm
• Sunday, March 18 8:30 pm
• Monday, March 19 6:30 pm
• Tuesday, March 20 2:00 pm

Savoy Theater
SATURDAY 17 SOLD OUT!
The first feature film made in an Australian aboriginal language, Rolf de Heer’s film was shot in the crocodile-infested Arafura swamplands of northern Australia. It is set in the distant past: Dayindi (played by Jamie Gulpilil, whose father, the great aboriginal actor David Gulpilil, narrates the film) covets one of the wives of his older brother. To teach him the proper way, an elder tells him a story from an even more distant past, a story of unrequited love, kidnapping, sorcery, bungling, mayhem and revenge gone wrong. Jennifer Fallon, ABC: “Quirky, funny, yet strangely moving.” Also showing; BLACK FLY by Christopher Hinton. Sponsored by Concept2 Inc. Rated R, 91 minutes, with English narration and in Ylongu with subtitles. Film Website

Today’s Man

• Friday, March 23 2:00 pm
• Saturday, March 24 7:00 pm

City Hall Arts Center
From the Margaret Mead Traveling Film Festival. Nicky Gottlieb is a young man with Asperger Syndrome, struggling to leave the comfort and safety of his parents’ home and find his place in the world. This loving portrait by his filmmaker sister is both a personal exploration of one family’s journey and a broader effort to understand this mysterious disorder. The film will be shown with A MAP WITH GAPS, a surreal and comic account of a journey made by director Alice Gordon’s father through Soviet Russia in the early 1970s. Post-film event: TODAY’S MAN director Lizzie Gottlieb will discuss the film after the Saturday 7:00 show. Sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council. No rating, total running time 75 minutes. Read more

Wondrous Oblivion

• Friday, March 16 6:15 pm
• Saturday, March 17 9:30 am
• Sunday, March 18 12:00 pm

Savoy Theater
FRIDAY 16 SOLD OUT!
SUNDAY 18 SOLD OUT!
The Wisemans are a Jewish family living in south London in the 1960s. Eleven-year-old David dreams of becoming a cricket star but is ridiculed by his classmates for his lack of skill. Enter the Samuels, the lively Jamaican family that moves in next door. Dennis Samuels (Delroy Lindo) erects a cricket net in their backyard and soon takes David under his wing and teaches him the game. But the new arrivals are not welcomed by all, and the Wisemans are forced to choose between aligning with the prejudices of the neighborhood and sticking by their new friends. The Observer: “Paul Morrison’s film is charming and moving.” Sponsored by Onion River Sports. Community Partner: Beth Jacob Synagogue. Rated PG, 106 minutes. Review