Belmont World Film presents "Home Is Where..."

Belmont World Film's presents "Home Is Where..."

Belmont
World Film’s 13thth annual international film series, entitled “Home
Is Where…” returns to the Studio Cinema in Belmont with an exceptional line-up
on Mondays at 7:30 PM from March 10-May 5 (except April 14). The series
features eight internationally acclaimed films—including mostly
New England premieres, as well as several countries’ submissions for best
foreign film to this year’s Oscars—that have been culled from the world’s top
film festivals. All events feature either post-film discussions led by notable
experts or culturally-related performances; several feature pre-film dinners
and receptions.

The schedule includes:

Monday,
March 10: Playing Dead by Jean-Paul
Salomé (Belgium/France; in French) New England Premiere

A witty,
Agatha Christie-style whodunit in which an out-of-work former movie
celebrity (Francois Damien, Audrey Tatou’s co-star in Delicacy) is relegated to playing the dead victim in a tangled
crime scene reenactment in the French Alps. The actor’s obsession for dramatic
detail causes sparks to fly with the civil officer investigating the real-life
crime, potentially putting both their lives in danger. It is preceded by a Fabulous Fondue
Party from 6-7 PM (separate admission required).

Monday, March 17: Ilo Ilo directed by Anthony Chen
(Singapore; in Mandarin, Tagalog, English & Hokkien) New England Premiere

The arrival of a Filipino
maid, who has left her own children behind, threatens the already strained
relationships in an upwardly mobile family in Singapore. The maid and the
difficult boy she cares for form a bond, and she soon becomes an unspoken part
of the family. But this is 1997 and the Asian financial crisis is starting to
be felt. The film is Singapore’s submission for best foreign film to this
year’s Oscars.

Speaker: Maria Sacchetti, an immigration reporter at the Boston Globe

Monday,
March 24: GriGris directed by Mahamat-Saleh
Haroun (Chad/France; in French & Arabic) New England premiere

Mahat-Saleh Haroun’s follow up to A Screaming Man (BWF 2012), is about 25
year-old GriGris, who dreams of being a professional dancer, despite a disabled
leg. While making extra cash by performing at a local club he befriends a
beautiful but damaged prostitute. Together they try to start a new life after he
is forced to take a job smuggling oil to pay his stepfather’s hospital bills. The
film won the Vulcan Award at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and was Chad’s
submission for best foreign film to this year’s Oscars.

Speaker: Cliff Odle, a
lecturer at UMass Boston who specializes in Africana on stage, screen, and TV.

Monday, March 31: Only When I Dance directed by Beadie
Finzi (Brazil/UK, documentary, in Portuguese, English & French)

Two black teenagers from
a favela in Rio, Brazil, follow their dreams to become world-class dancers
despite constant prejudice and doubt in an effort to beat the odds and escape
their tough day to day lives.

Speaker: Irlan Silva, one of the dancers featured in the film who is now a member
of the Boston Ballet.

Monday,
April 7: Imagine directed by Andrzej
Jakimowski  (Poland/Portugal/France/UK;
in English, French, Portuguese & German)

A new instructor
at a well-known Lisbon clinic for the visually impaired teaches a controversial
technique to his international group of blind patients. For him, the key to getting around and living a
fulfilling life are the mind and imagination, not sensory perception. But when
he breaks the rules to help a female student rediscover life’s pleasures, he
jeopardizes both her life and his livelihood.

Monday, April 21: An Afghan Love Story directed by Barmak
Akram (Afghanistan/France; in Persian)

An
Afghan father weighs his family's honor against his allegiance to his daughter
after she is seduced and impregnated by a handsome waiter. The film won the
World Cinema Dramatic Screenwriting prize at last year’s Sundance Film Festival
and was Afghanistan’s submission for best foreign film to this year’s Oscars.

Speakers: Wajma Bahar, will speak after the screening by Skype from
France, along with Qais Akbar Omar, who directed her in Love’s Labors Lost in Kabul, the production of which became the
subject of his 2012 book Shakespeare in
Kabul.

Monday, April 28: Rock the Casbah directed by Laïla Marrakchi
(France/Morocco; in French, Arabic & English) New England Premiere

Hiam
Abbass (The Visitor) stars and Omar
Sharif is featured in this bittersweet comedy. Over the three days of mourning called for by
Moroccan tradition, an upper class family gathers in their departed father and
husband’s villa. Secrets come out, throwing the order once maintained by
the patriarch into turmoil. A collective hysteria leads each of the women to
face up to some home truths.

Monday, May 5: The Gilded Cage directed by Ruben Alves
(France; in French, Portuguese & English) New England Premiere

A charming, semi-autobiographical comedy about a
loving, hardworking married couple living in Paris whose long-held dream of
returning to their native Portugal finally comes true–only to be secretly
undermined by their overly dependent friends and neighbors. preceded by an optional Portuguese reception (separate
admission required) hosted by the Portuguese Consulate of Boston.

Speaker: Jose Rui Caroco, Consul General
of the Portuguese Consulate of Boston

Tickets: $11 general admission, $9 for students, seniors, and Belmont World Film
members. The Belmont World Film “Passport” includes eight admissions for $65 and
can be shared with one other person. Tickets to the optional opening fondue party on
March 10 are $29; the optional Portuguesedinner on May 5 is $20. Tickets for films,
passports, the dinner, and reception are available online at http://tinyurl.com/kby8p83
or in person at the Studio Cinema during box office hours. On day of show,
tickets are available at the box office 30 minutes prior to screening.

For more information visit www.belmontworldfilm.org or call 617-484-3980.