You can be physically locked in (in your own body) but your mind doesn’t have to stay idle. Jean-Dominique Bauby led a glamorous life as editor of the French Elle until the day he was hit by a massive stroke, which left him completely paralysed – except for his brain and one good eye. Starting with one blink for “yes” and two for “no”, Bauby gradually developed a communication system with the help of a speech therapist. Using his blinks, he spent over a year dictating his thoughts to an editor, and the result is the novel The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – the basis for Julian Schnabel’s life-affirming, award-winning (Best Director at Cannes) film.
法國France /2007/ 112 mins/ 法語對白，中英文字幕 In French with Chinese and English subtitles
導演Dir: 祖利安斯納貝爾 Julian Schnabel
演員Cast: 馬蒂爾艾馬力 Mathieu Amalric、艾曼妞薛納 Emmanuelle Seigner、安那葛情妮 Anne Consigny
Abbas Kiarostami's film investigates the aftermath of a devastating 1990 earthquake which killed some 50,000 people in Iran. In a self-referential approach, an unnamed director drives back to the village where he filmed the film Where Is the Friend’s House? to look for the two children who were the protagonists. For this journey, he takes his son with him. The roads are difficult and dangerous, but the director persists, just as the ordinary people whom they meet along the way, who are trying to rebuild their lives among the ruins. The film, the second in the Earthquake trilogy, is a metaphoric journey through the process of life and renewal – a meditative and celebratory portrait of perseverance, human dignity, and survival.
伊朗Iran /1991/ 95mins/ 波斯語對白，中英文字幕 In Persian with Chinese and English subtitles
導演Dir: 阿巴斯基阿魯斯達米 Abbas Kiarostami
演員Cast: Farhad Kheradmand, Buba Bayour
Khaled and Said are just two regular car mechanics in the West Bank, drinking tea and having a smoke on a sunny afternoon. But when they're called upon to sacrifice themselves in a revenge attack, they easily comply. Yes, the subject of Hany Abu-Assad’s film is terrorists, but his goal is not to condone terrorist actions. Instead, he is trying to explain why two seemingly "ordinary" men would be willing to sacrifice their lives in an act of mass carnage. Paradise Now is a rare film for its attempt to present events of the Arab/Israeli struggle from the Palestinian side. Told with non-judgmental grace, it was deservedly nominated for an Oscar in 2006.
巴勒斯坦 法國 德國 荷蘭 以色列 Palestine France Germany Netherlands Israel/ 2005/ 90mins/
阿拉伯語對白，中英文字幕 In Arabic with Chinese and English subtitles
導演Dir: 漢尼阿布阿薩德 Hany Abu-Assad
演員Cast: Kais Nashif、Ali Suliman、Lubna Azabal、Amer Hlehel
Persepolis is an animated film, made by Satrapi and fellow cartoonist Vincent Paronnaud, based on Satrapi's autobiographical graphic novels about her childhood and young adulthood in Iran and beyond. This is a first-person tale of the congenitally rebellious Marjane Satrapi, who was 8 years old when the Islamic Revolution transformed her native Teheran. The pleasures of everyday life as well as the horrors of war and state repression are vividly captured in the black-and-white, hand drawn images. Despite simplicity in its presentation, the emotions conveyed are nothing short from stark and powerful. And credits of course also go to the magnificent and dynamic voiceovers done by some of France’s best talents.
法國 美國 France USA/ 2007/ 95mins/ 法語對白
中英文字幕 In French with Chinese and English subtitles
導演Dir: 瑪贊莎塔碧 Marjane Satrapi、雲信柏羅格 Vincent Paronnaud
演員Cast: 齊雅拉馬斯杜安尼 Chiara Mastrtoianni、嘉芙蓮丹露 Catherine Deneuve、丹妞戴麗兒 Danielle Darrieuxa
