(Posted September 16, 2002)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Throughout the 2002-2003 academic year, Juniata College's International Studies Program will present a series of six films from Russia, Mexico, Germany, Croatia, Vietnam and France. Sponsored by the International Studies Department, this marks the second year Juniata has offered the World Film Series.

All films will be shown in the auditorium of the William J. von Liebig Center for Science on the Juniata College campus. All screenings are free and open to the public. For more information please contact Kati Csoman at (814) 641-3184.
The series opens with the Mexican film "Amores Perros," Sept. 18 at 8:15 p.m. The film, directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, uses dogs as a symbol of the interconnections between several people whose lives come together in Mexico City in the aftermath of a car accident. The movie received the Best Foreign Language Picture at the 2001 British Academy Film Awards.

On Oct. 19, the Serbo-Croatian film "Underground" will be shown at 8:15 p.m. The movie is visually stunning and won the Best Film Award at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Emir Kusturica, the film covers Yugoslavia's history in the post-World War II era. The movie depicts an eclectic group of artists, partisans and musicians who take shelter in a massive basement during a WW II air raid. The group remains hidden even after the war ends, eventually emerging to find they face new problems.
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The 2000 French film "Human Resources" will be shown at 7 p.m. Nov. 14, with a discussion period following the movie. The movie, directed by Laurent Cantet, follows the meteoric business career of a Parisian business school student. When the student takes an internship in the human resources department of a French factory, his efforts to streamline the factory results in the downsizing of many employees, including his father.

The film series starts the new year with a Feb. 14 showing of "Aimee and Jaguar" at 8:15 p.m. This German film, directed by Max Farberbock, follows the illicit romance between two women in 1943 Nazi Germany. The two women face hurdles in that gay relationships are forbidden in the Third Reich, but their relationship is further complicated by the fact that one woman is married to a Nazi officer and the other woman is Jewish and is a member of the underground.

The Russian film "Anna 6:18" is set for 8:15 p.m. March 12. The documentary film directed by Nikita Mikhalkov focuses on the director's daughter Anna. Through Anna?s eyes the audience sees the end of the Soviet empire and the struggle for Russia to attain and maintain democracy. Mikhalkov received the 1994 Best Foreign language Film Academy Award for his film "Burnt By the Sun." The film shows the evolution of recent Russian and Soviet history through the experiences of a single family, particularly a young girl who ages from 6 to 18 during the filming.

The final film in the series, Vietnam?s "The Scent of Green Papaya," will show at 8:15 p.m. April 3. An Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language film in 1993, "Scent of Green Papaya" is set in 1950s Saigon. The story centers on a young girl who works as a servant for a well-to-do family. As she grows, the family treats her as though she were a family member. As the family's fortune wanes, she is sent to work for a family friend, a young man who the servant girl secretly loves.

The International Studies Program at Juniata College offers students the opportunity to add an international component to their education. The program facilitates students' ability to expand their cultural horizons by endorsing study abroad through the Center for International Education and promoting foreign language study in courses of the World Languages and Cultures Department.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.