MONDAY, DEC. 05 – 8:20 PM
ESTONIA
The Graveyard Keeper’s Daughter
(Surnuaiavahi tütar)
Estonia 2010. Director: Katrin Laur
Cast: Maria Avdjushko, Epp Eespäev, Kertu-Killu Grenman, Ülle Kaljuste,
Eva Klemets
The magical beauty and blessings of pastoral childhood contrast with harsher realities of alcoholism and neglect in Estonian director Katrin Laur’s appealingly complex, lyrical, and humanistic The Graveyard Keeper’s Daughter. Events are related through the eyes of 8-year-old Lucia. Despite the shortcomings of her well-meaning but troubled parents — her father can barely provide for the family, her mother is a drunkard — Lucia manages to live an almost Pippi Longstocking life, enjoying the friendship of her “angel” Jats, a younger girl with Down syndrome. Two events — the arrival of a new teacher concerned about Lucia’s welfare, and an unexpected trip to Finland — may change everything for the family. Critics have praised the honesty and deep sympathy of Laur’s film, and “the stylistic fluidity of the evocative fairy-tale tropes ... Laur and cinematographer Anssi Leino transform Lucia’s graveyard into a secret garden, a magical place of nocturnal mystery and daytime communion” (Ronnie Scheib,Variety). Colour, Blu-Ray, in Estonian, Russian and Finnish with English subtitles. 98 mins.
MONDAY, DEC. 05 – 6:30 PM LITHUANIA
Farewell
(aka The Ballad of a Lucky Man)
(Atsisveikinimas)
Lithuania 2010. Director: Tomas Donela
Cast: Dainius Kazlauskas, Aleksandra Metalnikova, Olga Generalova,
Lina Budzeikaitė,
Vladimiras Jefremovas
“In this haunting tale of mortality and memory, a sailor prepares for his last voyage, but it is not one that he will take by ship. Audrius, a veteran of the merchant marine, knows that he is dying. He disembarks at the Lithuanian port city of Klaipeda and sets out to pay a final visit to the people who have been important in his life: lovers, friends, enemies, relatives, and his divorced wife and their son. Audrius is a complex, fascinating character, and the rich color cinematography beautifully captures the ambience of the docks and the countryside” (Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago). “There is a cheerful atmosphere of rural heartiness here ... With an impressive balance of emotional melancholy and sarcastic humour, writer-director Tomas Donela [in his debut feature] shows that it is possible to bid farewell happily and free of anxiety” (Mannheim I.F.F.). Colour, 35mm, in Lithuanian with English subtitles. 95 mins.
Screenings restricted to 18+.
Pacific Cinémathèque
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