Cornell Cinema presents the Ithaca premiere of "Promises," a new documentary about conflict in the Middle East, as seen through the eyes of children. The film is part of the series "Towards Peace, Justice & Understanding: Films for Reflection," and it will be shown Wednesday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre. Ross Brann, the M.R. Konvitz Professor Judeo-Islamic Studies and chair of Cornell's Department of Near Eastern Studies, will introduce the screening and lead a discussion afterward. Admission to the event is $4.50 general/$4 students and seniors. The film is in Arabic, Hebrew and English with English subtitles.
Rather than focusing on hard news and political events, this award-winning film looks at the Israel-Palestinian conflict and prospects for peace by drawing viewers into the hearts and minds of Jerusalem's children. Between 1997 and the summer of 2000, the filmmakers followed the daily lives of seven children ages 9 to 13, some living in West Jerusalem, others living in the Deheishe Palestinian refugee camp. While the locations are just a 15-minute drive apart, the divide between the two and their residents is much greater.
The film is co-sponsored with the Department of Near Eastern Studies, the Einaudi Center for International Studies and the Peace Studies Program.
Cornell Cinema also offers big-screen showings of two nominees for this year's Best Foreign Film Oscar. All screenings are in Willard Straight Theatre. Admission is $4.50 general/$4 students and seniors.
"Amores Perros," the debut feature from Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, borrows some of its style from "Pulp Fiction" and earlier noirs. The title, roughly translated, means "Love's a Bitch," and dogs connect all the tales. A Rottweiler wounded after a dogfight, a Lhasa apso who's trapped beneath the floorboards of his invalid owner's apartment, a pack of dogs owned by a homeless revolutionary: The fates of the animals and their owners become entwined in this complex, visually supercharged meditation on passion and redemption. "Amores Perros" will be shown Friday, Nov. 30, at 9:25 p.m., and Saturday, Dec. 1, at 7:15 p.m.
Cornell Cinema also will screen Czech director Jan Hrebejk's "Divided We Fall," a Holocaust film that combines pathos and comedy in the tradition of "Life Is Beautiful."
Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times had this to say about the film: "Poignant, humanistic and irresistibly comic, 'Divided' has that characteristic national ability to distill laughter from painful situations, to maintain a delicate, razor's edge balance of humor, pathos and potential tragedy. ... And in a year without 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,' it might well have won."
"Divided We Fall" will be shown Friday, Dec. 7, at 7:15 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 8, at 9:30 p.m.
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