10th Annual Foreign Language Film Festival
The Fall 2012 Bruyette Athenaeum Performing Arts Series in conjunction with the University of Saint Joseph department of Foreign Languages will present the 10th Annual Foreign Language Film Festival – Youth, Politics, and Displacement. The series will showcase three featured films on Monday, September 24, Monday, October 22, and Monday, October 29 (see program details, below). Remarks for all films begin at 7:00 p.m. To buy tickets, contact the Frances Driscoll Box Office at 860.231.5555 or order online at http://tickets.usj.edu. Free parking. General Seating – Tickets $10 Adult, $8 Senior Citizen, Members Complimentary. All films are shown in The Bruyette Athenaeum’s Hoffman Auditorium, located on the University’s West Hartford campus at 1678 Asylum Avenue.
Monday, October 22: A Better Life (English, 2011); Rated PG-13. Remarks by Dr. Diana P. Valencia, Professor of Spanish, University of Saint Joseph
Carlos Galindo works as a gardener with Blasco Martinez. Blasco wants to return to Mexico and continually tries to persuade Carlos to purchase his business from him. Carlos' son Luis is in high school and is dating Ruthie Valdez, the niece of a local gang leader. Luis regularly goes to her house after school where gang members congregate. Luis is embarrassed by his father and, although he does not wish to follow in his footsteps, has a hard time committing himself to his education. However, his relationship with Ruthie and his friendship with Facundo pushes him toward becoming a gang member.
Monday, October 29: Machuca (Spanish, 2004); (Not Rated) Remarks by Dr. Roger A. Zapata, Montclair State University
Set in 1973 Santiago during Salvador Allende's socialist government and shortly before General Augusto Pinochet's military coup in 1973, the film tells the story of two friends, one of them the very poor Pedro Machuca, who is integrated into the elite school of his friend, Gonzalo Infante. The film is not intended to provide an overview of this period in Chilean history. Rather, it shows the perspective of Gonzalo Infante, a privileged boy who catches a glimpse of the world of the lower class. This is at the same time the upper middle class, including Gonzalo's own family, grow fearful of the growing socialist movement and plot against the country's elected president, Salvador Allende. Infante's sympathies, however, clearly lie with the poor based on what he has seen.
