A series of six foreign films will be presented at Coastal Carolina University during the spring 2004 semester. All the films in the series will be screened in Coastal’s Wall Auditorium at 7 p.m. with free admission.

The series is sponsored by Coastal’s Office of Student Activities and the International Student Club. For more information, call 349-2301.

January 26 – “Talk to Her”

• Directed by Pedro Almodóvar

Almodóvar’s latest film is a story of friendship between two men, about loneliness and the long convalescence of wounds provoked by passion. Past and present flow together and everything seems touched by magic. Funny, melodramatic and moving, the film was chosen by many critics as the best film of 2002.

Spanish • 2002 • 112 minutes • in Spanish with English subtitles

February 9 – “Happenstance”

• Directed by Laurent Firode

A cleverly constructed comedy about how a subtle twist of fate can affect the lives of total strangers, “Happenstance” ingeniously tracks a group of seemingly unconnected individuals during the course of one day. As the characters interact with one another randomly, every chance encounter bears a consequence that will later become significant.

French • 2001 • 97 minutes • in French with English subtitles

February 23 – “La Vidaes Silbar” (“Life Is To Whistle”)

• Directed by Fernando Perez

A love letter from a Cuban director to his own country, this film blends visual flair, absurdist humor, mystical realism and the pulsating music of Bola de Nieve and Benny Moré. The narrator, 18-year-old Bebé, guides us through the romantic mishaps of three characters whose lives intersect on the Day of Santa Bárbara, at the end of the century.

Cuban and Spanish • 1998 • 106 minutes • in Spanish with English subtitles

March 22 – “Run Lola Run”

• Directed by Tom Tykwer

Lola, a flame-headed Berlin hipster, has 20 minutes to race through the city and get her hands on 100,000 German marks, or her boyfriend will be murdered. She experiences three alternate destinies triggered by split-second differences in the chain of cause and effect.

German • 1999 • 81 minutes • in German with English subtitles

April 5 – “Fire”

• Directed by Deepa Mehta

Banned in India, “Fire” is the first film to confront lesbianism in a culture that adamantly denies its existence. Shabana Azmi shines in this taboo-breaking portrayal of contemporary India.

Indian • 1998 • 104 minutes • in English

April 19 – “Shower”

• Directed by Zhang Yang

This insightful, bittersweet comedy set in Beijing concerns an aging father, Liu, who runs a strictly traditional bathhouse for a mostly elderly clientele. Liu’s thoroughly modern son learns the hard way how progress and the loss of centuries-old culture can threaten a family.

Chinese • 1999 • 92 minutes • in Mandarin with English subtitles ###