Wagner College is pleased to announce its first Foreign Language Film Festival, with screenings scheduled for Oct. 19-22 in the Manzulli Boardroom, located in Wagner College’s Foundation Hall, and a coffeehouse concert on Oct. 28. The public is invited to attend the entire festival. All events are free.
On Monday, Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m., the first night of the festival features a program of short Italian-language films curated by Francesca Coppola. Coppola’s recent short film, “Flamingos,” premiered at MoMa and Lincoln Center as part of New Directors/New Films 2013. Set during the fall of the Berlin Wall, it tells the story of Alice, a 9-year-old girl who spends one last day in the park with her father. The story develops around the delicate and uneasy relationship between a lost father and a daughter on the verge of understanding the difficult dynamics of her family. Coppola’s film will screen along with five other short films by Italian directors. Pizza will be provided by the Italian Club following this event.
On Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 7:30 p.m., a screening of “Jean Gentil” will be followed by talk back with director Laura Amelia Guzmán. Premiered at Venice Film Festival, “Jean Gentil” follows the journey of Haitian immigrant Jean Remy Genty, a French teacher looking for work in the Dominican Republic. This journey takes him from the urban bustle to the jungle. This is a stunningly photographed and poignant film, especially in light of the Dominican Republic’s immigration debate, which in many ways mirrors our own.
On Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m., a screening of “Forbidden Films” will be followed by talk back with director Felix Moeller. More than 1,200 feature films were made in Germany’s Third Reich. According to experts, some 100 of these were blatant Nazi propaganda. Nearly 70 years after the end of the Nazi regime, more than 40 of these films remain under lock and key. Director Felix Moeller interviews German film historians, archivists and filmgoers in an investigation of the power and potential danger of cinema when used for ideological purposes.
On Thursday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m., actress Irène Jacob will introduce the film “Red,” followed by talk back with Jacob. Acclaimed actress Irène Jacob has appeared in more than 50 films. She won international recognition while working with Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski in “Red” (1994), part of his highly praised “Three Colors” series. She was awarded Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival for her performance in Kieślowski’s “The Double Life of Veronique” (1991). (Note that this event was previously scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Lycée Français in Manhattan.)
The final event of the Foreign Language Film Festival will be a concert appearance on Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. in the Reynolds House Coffeehouse at Wagner College by Irène Jacob, her brother Francis Jacob and their band. In addition to her work as an actress, Irène Jacob is a singer-songwriter. Francis Jacob has been working as a professional musician based in New York City for the past 20 years. Along with a small, intimate, multicultural band, the siblings will present a mix of songs from their last album, “Je Sais Nager” (2013), and their forthcoming album, “En Bas De Chez Moi,” to be released in January.
The Wagner College Foreign Language Film Festival is organized and sponsored by the college’s Department of Art and Art History and Film/Media Studies, the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures, the Film and Media Initiatives program, and the Academic and Cultural Enrichment program.