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The 2005 Season of the Town Hall Feature Film Seminar
 The 2005 season opened on November 29, 2004 with THE ARYAN COUPLE
Occupied Hungary 1944. Hans and Ingrid Vassman are the perfect Aryan couple. Young, married, in love and expecting their first child, they work as valet and maid for an elderly Jewish couple, the Krauzenbergs, in their magnificent palace in the Hungarian Countryside. They have everything to look forward to - or so they would have you believe. Hitler's 'Final Solution' is sweeping through Europe. Himmler, the Fuhrer's second-incommand, has instigated 'The Europe Plan', offering rich Jewish families the chance to emigrate and avoid the concentration camp and certain death in exchange for everything they own. The Wealthy Krauzenbergs, desperate to save their family, make a deal and the Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler has decided to visit them in person to guarantee them safe passage and ensure the smooth transfer of all they own to his possession. They will be joined at a dinner by 'the devil himself', none other than Adolph Eichmann, in charge of the death camps, to ensure all goes smoothly. But first, a detailed security check is to take place on all employees, and Vassman and Ingrid, the two Aryans, are coming under close scrutiny... Vassman and Ingrid are not Aryan at all, but Jewish and working for the local resistance. The web is closing in. Will they try to escape to Palestine with the Krauzenberg family for the sake of their unborn child? Or perhaps they seize the opportunity at the dinner to poison two of the most evil mass murderers in modern times - and change the course of history forever...? Studio: Celebration Pictures. Starring: Caroline Carver, Kenny Doughty, Martin Landau, Austen Palmer, Steven Mackintosh Written by: John Daly, Peter Beale Directed by: John Daly Rated: PG 13 Running Time: 118 minutes.
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Subsequent films were:
December 13th - THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
 One of the immortal bard's most frequently performed works gets a first-rate cinematic treatment here, via director Michael Radford. Al Pacino is virtually unrecognizable as Shylock, bringing an old-world gravitas to the role and clearly inspiring the rest of the cast to match his intensity. They succeed, and the result is riveting, rousing entertainment. Even if one is familiar with the play in advance, this is white-knuckle suspense and swooning romance all the way through. A 16th-century Venetian sea merchant (Jeremy Irons), devoted to a young lord (Joseph Fiennes), owes a debt for "a pound of flesh" to the anguished Jewish moneylender Shylock. Lovingly filmed in Venice, the film looks great, with settings and costumes all sporting a dusky, lived-in look that matches the subdued, naturalistic interpretation of the dialogue. Lynn Collins is excellent and ethereal as Portia, and her love scenes with Fiennes have an alchemical power that lifts them to dizzyingly mythic romantic heights. Vague homoerotic content and the grim realities of Jewish oppression are not shied away from here, which lends the film further richness and complexity. With the play's rich array of dramatic and comedic elements all perfectly in tune, Merchant of Venice earns its place as the first truly great Shakespeare film of the 21st century. Studio: Sony Pictures Classics. Starring: Al Pacino, Joseph Fiennes, Zuleikha Robinson, Lynn Collins, Charlie Cox Written by: William Shakespeare. Directed by: Michael Radford Rated R. Running time 138 minutes
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F ebruary 14th IN MY COUNTRY
Romance blossoms in the late 1990s between a married American Washington Post journalist (Jackson) and an Afrikaner poet/radio journalist (Binoche) who meet while covering the proceedings of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu). The TRC was established to encourage apologies for the human rights crimes committed under Apartheid by those who committed them, directly to their victims, as a way of obtaining amnesty. As the duo listens intently to the testimonies of both sides detailing the horrors of rape, torture and murder, the intense emotions the journalists are driven to feel draws them closer together.Studio - Sony Pictures Classics. starring: Juliette Binoche, Samuel L. Jackson, Sam Ngakane, Brendan Gleeson and Menzi 'Ngubs' Ngubane. Screenwriter: Ann Peacock, Director: John Boorman. MPAA Rating: R - Running Time: 1 hr. 44 min |
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February 28th MADISON
 The independent feature film Madison is a father-son action/drama based on the inspiring true story of the tiny river town of Madison, Indiana and its legendary efforts during the hydroplane racing season of 1971. In addition to the thrills of 180-mph flat-bottomed boat racing, the picture captures the spirit of a small American River town struggling to stay alive as water transportation has virtually disappeared. Studio -MGM. Starring: Jim Caviezel, Jake Lloyd, Mary McCormack, Bruce Dern, Paul Dooley and Brent Briscoe. Screenwriters: William Bindlye & Scott Bindley. Director: William Bindley MPAA Rating: PG Running Time: 94 minutes |
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 March 14th -
THE BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE
1986. Jack (Daniel Day-Lewis) lives on the site of his abandoned island commune with his 16-year-old daughter Rose (Camilla Belle). Since the breakup of the commune, Jack has sheltered Rose completely from the influences of the outside world, but now his fatal illness and Rose's emerging womanhood pose troubling questions about the days ahead. When Jack inviteshis girlfriend Kathleen (Catherine Keener) and her sons Rodney (Ryan McDonald) and Thaddius (Paul Dano) to live with them, Rose feels betrayed and the situation quickly becomes precarious. -- © IFC Films Studio: IFC Films. Screenwriters: Rebecca Miller, Michael Rohatyn Director: Rebecca Miller MPAA Rating: R. Running Time: 1hr 51min |
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March 28th - WINTER SOLSTICE
Landscape gardener Jim Winters is a quiet craftsman, a soft-spoken man who prefers an orderly life. His family, however, is anything but orderly.  Older son Gabe is planning his escape to Florida, leaving behind any shot at a stable future with his girlfriend. Younger son Pete has retreated into a private world of anger, drift and disappointment. Jim struggles watching his sons make choices he views as disastrous compromises. It is only when he meets his new neighbor, Molly, that Jim finds a way to deal with his own life and his family's future. Studio: Paramount Classics. Starring: Allison Janney, Anthony LaPaglia, Aaron Stanford, Mark Webber, Ron Livingston Written and Directed by: Josh Sternfeld MPPA Rating: R Running Time: 1 hour 33 minutes |
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A pril 11th - HOUSE OF D
An American artist living a bohemian existence in Paris, Tom Warshaw (David Duchovny) is trying to make sense of his troubled adult life by reflecting upon his extraordinary childhood...The year is 1973, and thirteen-year-old Greenwich Village native Tommy Warshaw (Anton Yelchin) is on the brink of becoming a man. While his bereaved single mother (Téa Leoni) continues to mourn the death of his father, Tommy escapes his own grief by causing trouble at school and making afternoon meat deliveries with his best friend Pappas (Robin Williams), a mentally challenged janitor. Following the romantic advice offered by Lady (Erykah Badu) - incarcerated in the infamous Greenwich Village Women's House of Detention for shadowy reasons - Tommy even experiences his first taste of love. Yet when an unexpected tragedy radically alters his world, Tommy must make a life-defining choice - one that will compel the adult Tom Warshaw, thirty years later, to confront his unfinished past. Studio: Lions Gate Films. Starring: Robin Williams, Erykah Badu, David Duchovny, Gideon Jacobs, Orlando Jones, Frank Langella, Adam LeFevre, Téa Leoni, Mark Margolis, Stephen Spinella, Anton Yelchin. Written/Directed by David Duchovny. MPAA Rating: PG-13 . Running Time: 1 hr. 33 minutes |
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April 28th - CATERINA VA IN CITTA (CATHERINE IN THE BIG CITY)
A charming coming-of-age story as well as a clever satire of contemporary Italian politics, this seamless comedy-drama follows a 13-year-old and her parents who have relocated to Rome from the provinces. Acclimating to her new school and its well-connected students, Caterina is tugged in two directions: toward the brooding bohemian crowd led by Margherita, the daughter of left-wing intellectuals, and to the clique of rich preppies dominated by Daniela, whose father is a right-wing government minister. Adapting easily to each successive milieu, Caterina is stymied only by her own excitable dad and his obsession with social status, regardless of political extremes. This delightful film was an unexpected Italian box office smash hit and should not be missed! Empire Pictures Starring: Alice Teghil, Sergio Castellito, Carolina Iaquaniello, Federica Sbrenna Screenwriters: Francesco Bruni and Paolo Virzi Director: Paolo Virzi Runtime: 106 minutes Rating: NR Language: Italian (with English subtitles)
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May 9th -  HEIGHTS
Heights follows five characters over twenty-four hours on a fall day in New York City. Isabel (Elizabeth Banks), a photographer, is having second thoughts about her upcoming marriage to Jonathan (James Marsden), a lawyer. On the same day, Isabel's mother Diana (Glenn Close) learns that her husband has a new lover, and begins to re-think her life choices and her open marriage. Diana and Isabel's paths cross with Alec (Jesse Bradford), a young actor, and with Peter (John Light), a journalist. As the interrelated stories proceed, the connections between the lives of the five characters begin to reveal themselves and their stories unravel, so that Isabel, Jonathan, Diana, Alec, and Peter must choose what kind of lives they will lead before the sun comes up on the next day. -- © Sony Pictures Classics Sony Pictures Classics presents A Merchant Ivory Film Starring: Glenn Close, Elizabeth Banks, James Marsden, Jesse Bradford, George Segal Screenwriters: Amy Fox and Chris Terrio Director: Chris Terrio Runtime: 93 minutes Rating: R
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May 23rd - THE NINTH DAY
Abbé Kremer is released from a living hell in the Dachau co ncentration camp and sent home to Luxembourg. Upon his arrival, he soon learns that this is not a reprieve or a pardon of his crime - voicing opposition to the Nazis' racial laws - but that he has nine days to convince the bishop of Luxembourg to work with the Nazi occupiers. Gestapo Untersturmführer Gebhardt is under pressure from his superior to have the Abbé succeed in creating a rift between the Luxembourg church and the Vatican - or be transferred to duty in the death camps in the East. Gebhardt, a former Catholic seminarian, uses theological arguments to bring the Abbé around but when they don't work he resorts to more draconian measures. The Abbé is torn between his conscience and his horror of returning to Dachau... Starring: Ulrich Matthes, August Diehl, Hilmar Thate, Bibiana Beglau, Germain Wagner Screenwriters: Eberhard Görner & Andreas Pflüger Director: Volker Schlödorff Runtime: 98 minutes German with English Subtitles
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June  6th - THE GREAT WATER
The Great Water is a feature film based on the famous Macedonian novel of the same name written by Zivko Cingo and published in the early 70's, at the peak of the Communist regime in former Yugoslavia. The Great Water begins when Lem Nikodinoski, an elderly Macedonian politician, suffers a heart attack and is rushed to the hospital. As doctors frantically treat him, Lems's mind travels back in time to when he was a twelve year-old growing up in a Macedonian orphanage... World War II has just ended, and like so many of his peers, Lem wanders the war-torn countryside aimlessly, only to be picked up by communist soldiers and taken to a children's orphanage for ideological "reprogramming." With few friends, Lem looks to Isaac, a mysterious 13-year-old boy who has the courage to question the harsh communist authoritarians who run the orphanage, and the strength to endure the brutal consequences of such actions. With organized religion prohibited and no higher power to look to for guidance, both boys know their survival rests on each other's strength. Macedonia's Entry for Best Foriegn Language Picture in this year's Academy Awards Studio: Picture This! Entertainment Based on the novel by Zhivko Chingo Screenplay by Vladimir Blazevski Directed by Ivo Trajkov Starring: Saso Kekenovski, Maja Stankovska, Mitko Apostolovski, Verica Nedeska, Risto Gogovski, Nikolina Kujaca, Meto Jovanovski, Aleksandar Ribak Running Time: 90 minutes
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June 20th - JUNEBUG
 Newlyweds Madeline and George go on a road trip from North Carolina to Chicago so that Madeline, a sophisticated gallery owner, can close a deal with an eccentric southern painter. While there, they decide to stop in to visit George's family. George has tried to distance himself from his family, even going so far as to not invite them to his wedding six months earlier. His brother Johnny still harbors anger towards George, but Ashley, Johnny's pregnant young wife, is instantly in awe of Madeline. Sony Pictures Classics & Epoch Films. Starring: Embeth Davidtz, Alessandro Nivola, Benjamin McKenzie, Amy Adams, Amy Barefoot, Matt Besser, Beth Bostic. Screenwriter: Angus MacLachlan, Directer: Phil Morrison (II). Running Time 1 hr. 42 min. |
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