NEWS

Dear Davidson Film Club Members and Friends,

Next month the Davidson Film Club will begin its 20^th series of critically acclaimed international films. This series will include five remarkable films, from Jordan, Brazil, Mexico, Hungary, and the Czech Republic (see brief descriptions below). Each film club event includes the screening of a film in the Armour Street Theatre in Davidson, followed by discussion led by a knowledgeable guest presenter. All of our events are scheduled on a Saturday evening (7 p.m.), once a month.

Memberships are now open for the new series. Members are all those who subscribe to the whole series of five films. We are maintaining our low ticket price for members at $35 for the series, that is, $7 per film.

We are also keeping the walk-in ticket price for individual films at $9. Walk-ins, who are very welcome, will need to continue reserving their seats in advance so that we are sure to be able to accommodate them.

 The Davidson Film Club webpage at www.davidsonfilmclub.com has been updated with the new schedule from July to November and descriptions of all the films.

The PayPal buttons on our home page have been reactivated so that people can subscribe using their credit card. PLEASE NOTE: The button on the LEFT is for a single membership at $35; the button on the RIGHT is for a couple at $70, for your convenience. Easy to confuse the buttons, so please be careful!

For those who prefer to pay by check, you may send a check made out to the “Davidson Film Club” to Davidson Film Club, P.O. Box 32, Davidson, NC 28036.

The number of seats in the Armour Street Theatre is limited, and memberships for a given series are accepted on a first come-first served basis, so it is best to subscribe as early as possible to reserve your seat(s) throughout the series.

Schedule for the 20^th Series at the Davidson Film Club:

July 23: Ferenc Török, 1945 (Hungary, 2017, 1h31).

On a summer day in 1945, an Orthodox man and his grown son return to a village in Hungary while the villagers prepare for the wedding of the town clerk’s son. The townspeople – suspicious, remorseful, fearful, and cunning – expect the worst and behave accordingly. The town clerk fears the men may be heirs of the village’s deported Jews and expects them to demand their illegally acquired property back. Director Ferenc Török paints a complex picture of a society trying to come to terms with the recent horrors they’ve experienced, perpetrated, or just tolerated for personal gain. Discussion leader: Alan Singerman, Prof. Emeritus of French, Davidson College, President, Davidson Film Club

August 27: Lila Avilés, The Chambermaid (Mexico, 2018, 1h42).

A look at the working environment of a young chambermaid in one of Mexico City’s most luxurious hotels. She enrolls in the hotel’s adult education program to help improve her life. Discussion leader: Barbara Randolph, Community Activist

September 17: Jan Sverák, Kolya (Czech Republic, 1996, 1h45).

Franta Louka is a concert cellist in Soviet-occupied Czechoslovakia, a confirmed bachelor and a lady’s man. Having lost his place in the state orchestra, he must make ends meet by playing at funerals and painting tombstones. But he has run up a large debt, and when his friend, the grave-digger Mr. Broz, suggests a scheme for making a lot of money by marrying a Russian woman so that she can get her Czech papers, he reluctantly agrees. She takes advantage of the situation to emigrate to West Germany, to join her lover; and leaves her five-year-old son with his grandmother; when the grandmother dies, Kolya must come and live with his stepfather – Louka. Discussion leader: Prof. Peter Thorsheim, Dept. of History, UNCC

October 15: Walter Salles, Central Station (Brazil, 1998, 1h50).

Bitter former schoolteacher Dora supports herself by taking dictation from illiterate people in Rio de Janeiro who want to write letters to their families and then pocketing their money without ever mailing the envelopes. Josue is a 9-year-old boy who never met his father. His mother is sending letters to his father through Dora. He is left alone when his mother is killed in a bus accident. Reluctantly taking him in, Dora joins the boy on a road trip to find his long-missing father. Discussion leader: Prof. Mauro Botelho, Dept. of Music, Chair of Latin-American Studies, Davidson College

Nov. 12: Ameen Nayfeh, 200 Meters (Jordan, 2020, 1h36).

Mustafa and his wife Salwa come from two Palestinian villages that are only 200 meters apart but separated by the wall. Their unusual living situation is starting to affect their otherwise happy marriage, but the couple does what they can to make it work. Every night, Mustafa flashes a light from his balcony to wish his children on the other side a goodnight, and they signal him back. One day Mustafa gets a call that every parent dreads: his son has been in an accident. He rushes to the checkpoint where he must agonizingly wait in line only to find out there is a problem with his fingerprints and is denied entry. Desperate, Mustafa resorts to hiring a smuggler to bring him across. His once 200-meter journey becomes a 200-kilometer odyssey. Discussion leader: Prof. Rebecca Joubin, Chair of Arab Studies, Davidson College