Pantaleón y las visitadoras [Captain Pantoja and the Special Services]

(2002)/Peru | Spain/Spanish/ 137 min

Director: Francisco J. Lombardi

Plot Summary:

The Peruvian army captain Pantaleon Pantoja, a very serious and efficient officer, is chosen by his superiors to set up a special service of 'visitors' to satisfy the sexual needs of the soldiers posted on remote jungle outposts. At first unhappy about this assignment, he nonetheless puts his remarkable organizational skills in action and in a short time has his 'unit' running smoothly. In the home front things get complicated though; his wife dislikes his long hours and the secrecy surrounding his work, and he, despite being a dedicated husband, feels tempted by one of his "subordinates".

1] Cartagena Film Festival: Golden India Catalina Award, 2000: Best Actor, Best Film.

2] Cinema Brazil Grand Prize, 2003: Nominated: Best Foreign Language Film.

3] Festróia - Tróia International Film Festival, 2000: Silver Dolphin Award: Best Actor.

Nominated: Golden Dolphin Award: Best Film.

4] Goya Awards, 2000: Audience Award: Best Latin Film, Best Actor, Best Director.

Golden Kikito Award: Best Editing, Best Film, Best Screenplay.

Kikito Critics Prize: Francisco J. Lombardi.

5] Gramado Film Festival, 2000: Audience Award: Best Latin Film, Best Actor, Best Director.

Golden Kikito Award: Best Editing, Best Film, Best Screenplay.

Kikito Critics Prize: Francisco J. Lombardi.

6] Viña del Mar Film Festival, 2000: Audience Award: Francisco J. Lombardi.

The Dreamers
2003/ 115 min/ France | UK | Italy/ English | French
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci.

Plot Summary:

Paris, spring 1968. While most students take the lead in the May 'revolution', a French poet's twin son Theo and daughter Isabelle enjoy the good life in his grand Paris home. As film buffs they meet and 'adopt' modest, conservatively educated Californian student Matthew. With their parents away for a month, they drag him into an orgy of indulgence of all senses, losing all of his and the last of their innocence. A sexual threesome shakes their rapport, yet only the outside reality will break it up. Written by KGF Vissers
The tumultuous political landscape of Paris in 1968 serves as the backdrop for a tale about three young cineastes who are drawn together through their passion for film. Matthew, an American exchange student, pursuing his education abroad in Paris, becomes friends with a French brother and sister duo, named Theo and Isabelle, who share a common love of the cinema. While the May 1968 Paris student riots--which eventually shut down most of the French government--are happening around them, the three friends develop a relationship unlike anything Matthew has ever experienced, or will ever encounter again.
Awards:
1] David di Donatello Awards, 2004: Nominated: Best Editing.
2] European Film Awards, 2004: Nominated: Audience Award: Best Actress, Best Director.
3] Golden Trailer Awards, 2004: Nominated: Golden Trailer: Best Foreign Film
4] Goya Awards, 2004: Nominated: Best European Film.
5] Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists, 2004: Nominated: Silver Ribbon: Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Editing.

Halfaouine: Boy of the Terraces.

1990/ Arabic

98 min/Tunisia | France | Italy/

Director: Férid Boughedir.

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Plot Summary

A coming-of-age comedy/drama set in Tunisia. Twelve-year-old Noura is an impressionable boy who must learn to reconcile two conflicting worlds - the loving world of Moslem women and the vastly different, harsher world of men - while also dealing with his own budding sexuality.

Awards:

1] Carthage Film Festival, 1990: Tanit d'Or: Férid Boughedir.

2] César Awards, France, 1991: Nominated: César: Best First Work: Férid Boughedir.

3] Valencia Festival of Mediterranean Cinema, 1990: Golden Palm:
Férid Boughedir.

4] Würzburg International Filmweekend, 1991: Audience Award:
Férid Boughedir.

As Bodas de Deus
[Portuguese] (1999)
150 min/France | Portugal/French | Portuguese
Director:João César Monteiro

A crook named Joao de Deus receives a suitcase stuffed with money from a messenger of God. The messanger disappears and as Joao counts his money he hears something large plunge into the river beside him. He witnesses a young girl drowning and jumps into the river to save her. Will his money be there when he returns?

Plot Summary:
The eccentric Portuguese director Joao_Cesar_Monteiro is also the screenwriter and the main character of this film, which continues his cynical observations about God and religion. Two shadow-like figures meet in an old, icy park when all seems lost. They are Deus and a Messenger from God. The Messenger gives the Crook (which is the temporary state of poor Joao de Deus) a suitcase full of money. Having accomplished his mission, he disappears. While Joao is busy counting his fortune, a heavy object plunges into the nearby lake, disturbing its tranquility. Joao goes to see what is happening and sees a young girl drowning. He plunges into the water to save her and carries the unconscious girl off to a convent. When he returns to the park, the suitcase full of money is still there waiting for him. Providence or sheer luck? With Monteiro, the answer is evident.

Awards:
1] 52nd Cannes Film Festival 1999: Un Certain regard.

Satyricon.

(1969)

128 min./Italy | France/Latin | Italian

Director: Federico Fellini.

Plot Summary:

In first century Rome, two student friends, Encolpio and Ascilto, argue about ownership of the boy Gitone, divide their belongings and split up. The boy, allowed to choose who he goes with, chooses Ascilto. Only a sudden earthquake saves Encolpio from suicide. We follow Encolpio through a series of adventures, where he is eventually reunited with Ascilto, and which culminates in them helping a man kidnap a hermaphrodite demi-god from a temple. The god dies, and as punishment Encolpio becomes impotent. We then follow them in search of a cure. The film is loosely based on the book Satyricon by Gaius Petronius Arbiter, the "Arbiter of Elegance" in the court of Nero. The book has only survived in fragments, and the film reflects this by being very fragmentary itself, even stopping in mid-sentence.

Awards:

1] Academy Awards, USA, 1971: Nominated:Oscar:Best Director.

2] Golden Globes, USA, 1970: Nominated:Golden Globe Best Foreign-Language Foreign Film

3] Laurel Awards, 1971: 2nd place Golden Laurel: Best Foreign Film.

4] Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists, 1970: Silver Ribbon: Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Supporting Actor.