Event Details

The Photograph (Indonesia) and Possible Lives (Argentina)
The Magic of Cinema Film Series
Summary: The Photograph from Indonesia portrays the story of a young woman, Sita, who works as a singer and prostitute in a local karaoke bar in order to support her sick mother. Her daughter, meanwhile, lives apart from her in the country. As the story unfolds, we find Sita coming under the influence of an elderly and withdrawn photographer from whom she rents a room. The bond between the two slowly grows, based at first on need—Sita’s to avoid her pimp, and the photographer, who is desperate to find an apprentice he can train to carry on his work before he dies. The unlikely bond that develops is the basis of writer director Nan Achnas's visually brilliant and poignant human drama about the profound effect one life and the fragile world of images can have on another. The film was awarded the Special Jury Prize, Karlovy Vary FF, in 2008. Achnas was among a group of 300 filmmakers in 2007 that successfully protested the Jakarta government’s state control over the film industry. The result was a strong boost to national production from critically acclaimed film directors. The Photograph is her fourth feature film. Her documentary films have been screened at festivals worldwide, and her narrative work includes the FIPRESCI award–winning Whispering Sands and The Flag. She currently teaches Cinema Studies and Directing at the Jakarta Institute of the Arts. Possible Lives from Argentina traces the life of a woman as she desperately searches for her husband, who has mysteriously disappeared during a business trip to Patagonia. During her search, she makes a startling discovery: a man with an uncanny resemblance to her spouse, but with another name and a wife. Convinced the stranger may be her husband, she ignores entreaties to quit her search just as police discover a body that may be the man she seeks. Suffused with vibrant color and sexuality, director Sandra Gugliotta's film is a haunting and suspenseful study of grief and letting go. This is Gugliotta’s second feature film. Gugliotta began her filmmaking career as a producer of independent films and documentaries for television. Her short film, Noches Áticas, was included in the feature Historias Breves I, and her first feature film, A Lucky Day, won the Caligari Film Award at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Contact: Bruce Hattendorf, 360-417-6238 or bhattendorf@pencol.edu
Location: Little Theater (J-16)
Date(s): Friday, October 09, 2009
Time:6:00 PM - 10:00 PM

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