International films offered at Elizabethtown College

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ELIZABETHTOWN, PA (01/10/2014)(readMedia)-- From forbidden books in China to an orphaned baby in South African and a school of cosmetology in Kabul to the tale of two brothers on opposite sides of the conflict in Rwanda, Elizabethtown College's International Film Festival presents stories inspired by transformation. Throughout the winter and spring, the films, sponsored by the Office of International Student Services and the College's High Library, will be presented in their respective languages with English subtitles at 7 p.m. in the College's Gibble Auditorium.

"The International Film Festival was envisioned as a medium through which the campus community could gain exposure to, and increase awareness of diverse cultures, worldviews, histories and faith traditions, thus enhancing campus internationalization, cross-cultural awareness and inclusive excellence," said Kristi Syrdahl, director in the Office of International Student Services. "The films were specifically chosen to present viewers with stories inspired by transformation, defined as a marked change for the greater good and to offer an unfiltered view into the lives of others.

The final film in the series, "Sometimes in April," features a visit with Joseph Sebarenzi, a Rwandan who survived the genocide that killed most of his family. He will speak on "Peace, Conflict Transformation and Restorative Justice" and will answer questions after the film.

Admission to the films and the talk by Sebarenzi are free. Contact: Kristi Syrdahl at syrdahlk@etown.edu or 717-361-1594.

Thursday, January 16

International Film Festival – "Balzac & the Little Chinese Seamstress"

An enchanting tale, capturing the magic of reading and the wonder of romantic awakening. The film tells the story of two hapless city boys exiled to a remote mountain village for re-education during China's Cultural Revolution. The two friends meet the daughter of the local tailor and discover a hidden stash of Western classics in Chinese translation. The friends find escape from their grim surroundings to worlds they never imagined when they read the banned works.

Thursday, February 13

International Film Festival – "Tsotsi"

An amoral teenager develops an unexpected paternal side in this powerful South African drama. Tsotsi is the street name used by a young Johannesburg delinquent who has taken to a life of crime in order to support himself. He comes from a blighted upbringing -- his mother died slowly from AIDS-related illnesses, and his father was torturously abusive. He developed a talent for violence borne of necessity as well as taking strange pleasure in hurting other people. Tsotsi shoots a woman while stealing her car, and only later discovers that her infant son is in the back seat. Uncertain of what to do with the baby, Tsotsi takes the boy home and tries to care for it -- going so far as to force a nearby single mother to nurse the baby. In time, Tsotsi learns the basics of child care, and the presence of the baby awakens a sense of humanity in him that life on the street had stripped away.

Thursday, March 13

International Film Festival – "The Beauty Academy of Kabul"

The documentary tells of a team of women that attempts to bring American way of life to war-torn Afghanistan. Sponsored by U.S.-based manufacturers of hair-care products and cosmetics, a group of American volunteers traveled to Afghanistan to start the nation's first Western-styled school of cosmetology after the collapse of the Taliban. Eager to offer Afghan women a different way of looking at themselves and others, the friendly but often gregarious Americans occasionally find themselves at odds with their Afghan students, who still possess deeply ingrained notions of modesty and gender inequality as they learn to style hair and apply makeup as they do in the West.

Thursday, April 10

International Film Festival – "Sometimes in April"

The Office of International Student Services is also co-sponsoring an event with the International Studies Minor, Peace and Conflict Minor, Residence Life and Center for Global Understanding and Peacemaking to remember the 20th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda that took the lives of nearly 100,000 in just over 3 months.

Joseph Sebarenzi is a Rwandan who survived the genocide that killed most of his family will give a presentation on Peace, Conflict Transformation and Restorative Justice prior to the screening of 'Sometimes in April'. A Q&A with Sebarenzi will take place after the film.

The film centers on when the Hutu nationalists raised arms against their Tutsi countrymen in the African nation of Rwanda in April of 1994. The violent uprising marked the beginning of one of the darkest times in African history. Over the course of the next 100 days, brother would turn against brother, tearing families apart and resulting in the death of almost 800,000 people. Based on actual events that occurred during the uprising, this war drama tells the tale of two brothers, whose differing loyalties found them on opposing sides of the conflict, and whose lives would never be the same following this tragic turn of events.

Elizabethtown College, located in historic Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is a private coed institution offering more than four dozen liberal arts, fine and performing arts, science and engineering, business, communications and education degrees. Learn more: http://www.etown.edu/about/

Media Contact:

Elizabeth Harvey

Communications Manager

Marketing and Communications

Elizabethtown College

harveye@etown.edu

717-361-6412 (o)

717-371-2631 (c)

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