JOUEUSE
Comedy
France 2009
Language: French with Ukr and Eng subtitles
Sat, Oct. 22 at 7:10 p.m., Kyiv cinema
Set in idyllic Corsica, this film is about an addiction.
A young French chambermaid picks up an unusual hobby for a woman – chess and won’t stop short of impressing just her family.
An American expatriate doctor who lives a reclusive life on the same stunning island becomes her partner. Dreamy, romantic and intellectually sophisticated, their game will be more than black and white.
LA CEREMONIE
Thriller/drama
France 1995
Language: French with Ukr and Eng subtitles
Sat, Oct. 22 at 9 p.m., Kyiv cinema
In a secluded mansion in Brittany, a family of four hires a maid to help them around the house. Sophie works out as a very considerate, hard-working and pleasant helper. She is illiterate, however, and is very ashamed of it.
Throughout the film, she tries to mask her shortcoming by refusing to take driving lessons, buying fake eye glasses and washing dishes by hand, because she can’t read the instructions on a dishwasher.
Sophie makes friends with Jeanne, an opinionated and forceful woman who works in the post office. Together they fall out of favor with the Lelievre family, which leads to a series of dramatic events.
SEX & DRUGS & ROCK & ROLL
Biography/drama
U.K. 2010
Language: Eng with Ukr subtitles
Sat, Oct. 22 at 9:40 p.m., Kyiv cinema
Ian Dury was a legend in late 1970’s England. And it wasn’t only for his acting and singing. The rock and roll star first rose to prominence in his boarding school where he – a child with polio – was encouraging other ill kids not to give up.
The biopic is about Dury’s everlasting energy, fantasies, wild parties and difficult relationships. It is widely believed that he defined the punk-rock scene in the U.K. Superbly edited, with graphics and stunning images like a band playing under water, the film is a personal story of a chaotic, yet inspiring music legend.
CURLING
Drama
Canada 2010
Language: French with Ukr and Eng subtitles
Sun, Oct. 23 at 9:35 p.m., Zhovten cinema
In a dreary and very cold part of Canada, a father and his 12-year-old daughter struggle with monotonous and lonely lives. Living together, they seem connected only by physical space and some unhappiness.
The father is scared of letting his child outside much, to school or even watch TV. He locks her up at home whilst working in a hotel or a bowling alley. There’s no explicit drama, and for some people it may not be enough. But for art house fans, figuring out the source of a sophisticated pain will be enticing.
ELOKUU
Drama
Finland 2011
Language: Finnish with Eng and Ukr subtitles
Mon, Oct. 24 at 7:10 p.m., Kyiv cinema
Tue, Oct. 25 at 9:30 p.m. Kyivska Rus cinema
In a blissful, enigmatic Scandinavian summer, Aku graduates and is left to his own devices since his family and long time girlfriend leave the city. Coming from a well-off family, Aku can imagine his future with a comfortable job, a big house and a Christmas tree when December breaks.
But meeting a free-spirited young woman he begins to doubt if it really is what he wants. They set out on a romantic adventure through the east of Finland trying out everything they want to be but cannot – just yet.
JODAEIYE NADER AZ SIMIN
Drama
Iran 2011
Language: Farsi with Eng and Ukr subtitles
Thur, Oct. 27 at 9:20 p.m., Kyiv cinema
Sat, Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m., Zhovten cinema
“Separation” won the Golden Bear, best actor and best actress awards at Berlin earlier this year. It’s a moving personal story of one family bereaved by an illness.
The mother wants to leave Iran to provide better care for their only daughter but the father insists on staying as he feels a responsibility for his ageing father, who has Alzheimer’s. The importance and pressure of the Koran in this story is palpable. Tension mounts as the mother decides to get a divorce.
