SATURDAY, NOV. 26 – 8:20 PM
SWEDEN
Miss Kicki
Sweden/Taiwan 2009. Director: Hakon Liu
Cast: Pernilla August, Ludwig Palmell, Huang Ho, Eric Tsang, Britta Andersson
A Swedish mother and son get reacquainted on a trip to Taiwan in Norway-born, Taiwan-raised director Hakon Liu’s cross-cultural debut feature, a Taiwanese-Swedish co-production. Aging good-time girl Kicki (Pernilla August) abandoned her son Victor (Ludwig Palmell) to the care of his grandmother years ago. Now, seeking to reconnect with the emotionally distant teenager, she invites him to join her on vacation in Taiwan. But Kicki also has a hidden agenda: hooking up with Taipei businessman Chang (Eric Tsang), with whom she’s been having an online romance. Liu’s emotionally intricate, visually expressive film, winner of the Fassbinder Prize at the Mannheim-Heidelberg Festival, has been widely praised for August’s superb performance. (The actress also played Darth Vader’s mother in the most recent Star Wars films!) “Strong performances carryKicki ... Liu directs confidently ... The film recalls early Wim Wenders with its meandering tone and revealing searches across alien landscapes” (Russell Edwards, Variety). Colour, 35mm, in English, Swedish, and Mandarin with English subtitles. 88 mins.
Saturday, Nov 26 – 6:30 pm UNITED KINGDOM
In Our Name
United Kingdom 2010. Director: Brian Welsh
Cast: Joanne Froggatt, Mel Raido, Chloe Jayne Wilkinson, Andrew Knott,
Janine Leigh
British filmmaker Brian Welsh’s strongly acted sophomore feature puts a fresh spin on the coming-home story of an Iraq War veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder. The protagonist is a female soldier. What’s more, her husband is also a soldier suffering from PTSD. Suzy (the terrific Joanne Froggatt), a private in the British Army, returns home to Newcastle inwardly haunted by the death of an Iraqi child. She begins to obsess over the safety of her own young daughter, and frequently clashes with her volatile, jealous husband Mark (Mel Raido). Froggatt won a British Independent Film Award (“most promising newcomer”) for her powerful, persuasive performance. “The unfussy shooting style [and] the dramatization of hot-button social issues all recall the films of Ken Loach ... Welsh, who directs his own script, offers a series of tense scenes and proves himself a name to watch” (Dave Calhoun, Time Out). Colour, 35mm. 92 mins.
Screenings restricted to 18+.
Pacific Cinémathèque
membership required unless
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