Bozeman Film Society is proud to join ASMSU Films, MSU Foreign Language Department and the MSU Office of International Programs to bring two 2015 acclaimed foreign films to MSU’s Procrastinator Theater this November as part of the Can the Griz food drive, a fundraiser for the Gallatin Valley Food Bank.
Screening on Tuesday, November 4th at 9PM is the spellbinding mystery Phoenix. A noirish thriller of identity, illusion, and deception, Phoenix unfolds against the turmoil of post-World War II Germany in this stunning new film from acclaimed director Christian Petzold (Barbara, Jerichow). Nelly (Nina Hoss), a German-Jewish nightclub singer, has survived a concentration camp, but with her face disfigured by a bullet wound. After undergoing reconstructive surgery, Nelly emerges with a new face, one similar but different enough that her former husband, Johnny (Ronald Zehrfeld), doesn’t recognize her. Rather than reveal herself, Nelly walks into a dangerous game of duplicity and disguise as she tries to figure out if the man she loves may have been the one who betrayed her to the Nazis. Evoking the shadows and haunted mood of post-war Berlin, Phoenix weaves a complex tale of a nation’s tragedy and a woman’s search for answers as it builds towards an unforgettable, heart-stopping climax. Winner of Best Actress at Seattle International Film Festival, the Guardian’s Ryan Gilbey calls it “A complex mystery of disguise and deceit. Nina Hoss is astonishing.” Rated PG13, the film runs 99 minutes. In German with English subtitles. 99% Rotten Tomatoes.
Tuesday, November 17th at 7PM brings The Second Mother. An excitingly fresh take on some classic themes and ideas, The Second Mother centers around Val, a hard-working live-in housekeeper in modern day Sao Paulo. Val is perfectly content to take care of every one of her wealthy employers’ needs, from cooking and cleaning to being a surrogate mother to their teenage son, who she has raised since he was a toddler. But when Val’s estranged daughter Jessica suddenly shows up the unspoken but intrinsic class barriers that exist within the home are thrown into disarray. Jessica is smart, confident, and ambitious, and refuses to accept the upstairs/downstairs dynamic, testing relationships and loyalties and forcing everyone to reconsider what family really means. Indiewire film critic, Sidney LevIn calls it “One of the most accomplished, sure-handed films of the 2015 Sundance Film festival.” In Portuguese with subtitles, The Second Mother runs 114 minutes. Rated R.
Rotten Tomatoe Score 95%. Admission to Procrastinator films is $2.00; $1.00 with a food donation to Can the Griz food drive. Parking is South of the SUB on the corner of 7th and Grant. For more information and previews for both film visit www.bozemanfilmsociety.org. “Keep ‘Em Flickering!” •
