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Global Lens Film Series 2012 
A showcase of six critically acclaimed narrative feature films will screen at Parkland College this fall. Global Lens is an annual, touring film series launched in 2003 by the Global Film Initiative to support the distribution of cinematic works from around the world. The series provides a platform for exceptional storytelling and a window into our diverse world. The 2012 film series is co-sponsored by the Center for Global Studies at UIUC with partial funding from the Title VI Program of the U.S. Department of Education. To learn more, visit www.globalfilm.org. Please note our new location with theater-style seating and updated audio-visual equipment!
All events are FREE!
Global Lens 2012 films being screened at Parkland College include:
Fat, Bald, Short Man (Gordo, Calvo Y Bajito), dir. Carlos
Thursday, September 6, 6:30PM in Room C118
Synopsis Lonesome, middle-aged virgin Antonio Farfán is picked on and ridiculed as a matter of course, whether by coworkers or his bullying mooch of a brother (who only calls when he needs money). An employee at a notary office, his status improves a bit when his new boss—and strangely affable doppelgänger—takes an interest in him. But Farfán’s deep-seated shyness and insecurity are only partly assuaged. And when he joins a self-improvement group, he slowly confirms what the undulating lines of this sly, involving rotoscope story suggest: everything is in motion, and change is inevitable. The question becomes what use one makes of it. View trailer.
Toll Booth (Gise Memuru), dir. Tolga Karacelik
Thursday, September 20, 6:30PM in Room C118
Synopsis A taciturn tollbooth attendant shuffles between a suffocating home life with his ailing father and the monotony of the box where he works. Desperate to resist his father’s attempt to marry him off while determined to prove his worth by fixing his family’s broken-down car, he drives himself toward a nervous breakdown. After a reassignment to a desolate country road, he begins a flirtatious relationship with a woman who drives by each day. But is this salvation for the aging bachelor, or the further unraveling of his mind? An expert cast and keen art direction contribute to this wry, heartbreaking ode to lost dreams in a sleepwalking world. View trailer.
Amnesty (Amnistia), dir. Bujar Alimani
Thursday, October 4, 6:30PM in Room C118
Synopsis A new national law allowing conjugal visits for inmates brings together a man and woman visiting the same prison to meet their incarcerated spouses. Elsa’s dutiful contact with her husband is part of a routine consumed with job searching, raising her two sons, and getting along with her father-in-law. When she meets Spetim, a quiet man visiting his imprisoned wife in equally passionless encounters, they slowly find the sympathy and companionship missing from their lives. A prisoner amnesty, however, soon threatens their fragile bond in this closely observed, sensual and contemplative drama highlighting a period of subtle but profound social transformation. View trailer
Craft (Riscado), dir. Gustavo Pizzi
Thursday, October 18, 6:30PM in Room C118
Synopsis Bianca manages a precarious living as a talented but underemployed actress in Rio de Janeiro, performing for private events dressed as female movie icons. Troubled by the thought she has missed her chance at a “big break,” she perseveres with single-minded dedication to her craft—until an audition leads to a rare opportunity, and possible redemption for years of social marginality. But her world may still prove too insecure, even for one as gifted and deserving as Bianca. Set against rich visuals and a down-to-earth tone, Karine Teles’s remarkable lead performance drives an enveloping drama of everyday tragedy in the working world of an artist. View trailer.
The Finger (El Dedo), dir. Sergio Teubal
Thursday, November 1, 6:30PM in Room C118
Synopsis After seven years of dictatorship, a remote village in Argentina formally becomes a town with the birth of its 501st inhabitant. Hidalgo, a slick and ingratiating scion, is eager for the new post of mayor. Smelling a rat, Baldomero (a beloved natural leader with a habitually tapping digit) opposes him with his own candidacy—and soon turns up dead. His shopkeeper brother vows revenge, keeping Baldomero’s severed finger in a jar, initially as a remembrance, but eventually as an absurd icon of leadership that spurs the town to defy crooked elections, interloping powers and Hidalgo to go its own way. Based on real events, this charming dramatic comedy pokes fun at small town ways while celebrating true democratic values. View trailer.
Mourning (Soog), dir. Morteza Farshbaf
Thursday, December 6, 6:30PM in Room C118
Synopsis From a black screen, a man and a woman are heard arguing and hurrying away from a house. Afterward, the screen radiates brilliant green countryside, traversed by a small black car. Subtitles relay a conversation by another man and woman, but now we hear no voices. Kamran and Sharareh, a deaf couple, are driving Sharareh’s young nephew, Arshia, back home to Tehran. Something terrible has happened. But the couple keep the news from Arshia, debating his future in a language not as private as they believe, and turning a car trip into a subtly humorous and deeply compassionate meditation on communication and emotional disability. View trailer.
The Global Lens Co-Sponsored by Parkland Art Gallery and International Student Services.
Programs at the Parkland Art Gallery are partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a State agency.