Movie recommendations by SLCL staff as part of the SLCL Foreign Film Series 2017-2019. The Foreign Film Series was introduced and organised by Dr Manu Braganca.
Intouchables
Original language: French
Available in: English and French with subtitles
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Suggested by: Manu Braganca
After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caregiver (IMdb).
Sin Nombre
Original language: Spanish
Available in: Spanish with subtitles
Genre: Crime, Drama
Suggested by: Pascale Baker
A Honduran young girl and a Mexican gangster are united in a journey across the American border (IMdb).
Gegen die Wand
Original language: German
Available in: German with English subtitles
Genre: Drama, Romance
Suggested by: Joseph Twist
With the intention to break free from the strict familial restrictions, a suicidal young woman sets up a marriage of convenience with a forty-year-old addict, an act that will lead to an outburst of envious love (IMdb).
A Touch of Sin
Original language: Chinese
Available in: Chinese with English subtitles
Genre: Action, Drama
Suggested by: Phil Entwistle
Four independent stories set in modern China about random acts of violence (IMdb).
Benvenuti al Sud
Original language: Italian
Available in: Italian with English subtitles
Genre: Comedy
Suggested by:
Overwhelmed by his wife, a postal worker from Northern Italy feigns disability to request a transfer to Milan. When he’s unmasked, he is sent to a tiny village near Naples for two years (IMdb).
O Pátio das Cantigas
Original language: Portuguese
Available in: Portuguese with English subtitles
Genre: Comedy
Suggested by: Eliana Palma
A New age remake of a Portuguese classic, Pátio das Cantigas shows the lives of a neighbourhood in the Old Lisbon, including their desires, happiness and sadness, always with a good humour (IMdb).
The Teacher
Original language: Slovak
Available in: Slovak with English subtitles
Genre: Comedy, Drama
The arrival of Maria Drazdechova, associated with the Communist party, to a school in Bratislava in 1983 worries parents, students and colleagues (IMdb).
The event was sponsored by the Czech & Slovakian Ambassadors.
Shoot the Piano Player
Original language: French
Available in: French with English subtitles
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Suggested by: Douglas Smith
Charlie is approached by his crook brother Chico, who is chased by two gangsters. Charlie helps him to escape, but he upsets the criminals, so when his brother Fido is kidnapped, Charlie has to take an attitude with tragic consequences (IMdb).
Das finstere Tal / The Dark Valley
Original language: German/Austrian
Available in: English and German with English subtitles
Genre: Action, Drama, Western
Suggested by: Anneliese Rieger
Through a hidden path a lone rider reaches a little town high up in the Alps. Nobody knows where the stranger comes from, nor what he wants there. But everyone knows that they don’t want him to stay (IMdb).
After a 2-year break the SLCL Foreign Film Series continued on 5th October 2022 with the screening of ‘La Pasión de Javier’, a movie by Peruvian filmmaker Eduardo Guillot. The screening was sponsored by the Peruvian Embassy Dublin and was followed by an interview with the movie director and a reception.
La Pasión de Javier
Original language: Spanish
Available in: Spanish with English subtitles
Genre: Drama
Suggested by: Peruvian Embassy Dublin
In the early 60s, a time defined by the effervescence of the Cuban revolution, Javier Heraud, an outstanding student and young poet, goes on a controversial quest, defying the expectations society had for him by joining a guerrilla movement (IMdb).
As part of ‘ La settimana della lingua italiana nel mondo’ the School and the IIC Dublino organised the screening of ‘Welcome Venice’ on 19th November at the UCD Cinema.
Welcome Venice
Original language: Italian
Available in: Italian with English subtitles
Genre: Drama
Suggested by: IIC Dublino
Pietro and Alvise come from a long line of fishing families from Giudecca, Venice’s most ‘working-class’ island. But they don’t see eye to eye on the seemingly unstoppable transformation of the lives of the Venetians and the city’s very identity. Indeed, the far-reaching impact of global tourism has changed the relationship between Venice and its residents, and the pandemic has only thrown this critical situation into relief. Pietro would just like to keep fishing the typical crabs found in the Lagoon, lonely as that lifestyle is, while Alvise believes their home on the Giudecca itself is the ticket to joining the elite managing the city’s real estate assets, hence running Venice. This clash of views will involve the entire family, in an ensemble film about how our world is changing (IMdb).
The screening took place on 22nd November. The screening was sponsored by the Portuguese embassy and was followed by a conversation with the film-maker Miguel Gonçalves Mendes.
José and Pilar
Original language: Portuguese
Available in: Portuguese with English subtitles
Genre: Documentary
Suggested by: Portuguese Embassy Dublin
“José and Pilar”, a documentary by Miguel Gonçalves Mendes, is a deeply moving story about love, loss and literature. It follows the days of José Saramago, the Nobel-laureate Portuguese novelist, and his beloved wife, Pilar del Rio (IMdb).