Here's what we're showing at the 2009 FGC Summer Gathering in Blacksburg, Virginia, including links to film websites, previews and reviews.
The Visitor, Sunday 9:15
Widowed professor Walter Vale discovers an immigrant couple, Tarek and Zainab, squatting in his Manhattan flat and becomes wrapped up in their lives when Tarek is thrown into a detention center. 103 minutes. Rated PG-13 for brief strong language. Reviews.
Stop the Reroute: Taking a Stand on Sacred Land, Monday 1:30
This documentary shows people putting their bodies on the line to preserve one of the last burr oak savannahs along the Mississippi and a 10,000-year-old sacred water source: Coldwater Spring. Q&A to follow film with director Ann Follett
and Quaker Alex Holzinger, who participated in the protests. NOT RATED. Appropriate for all ages. DIRECTOR PRESENT. Trailer
Gracie, Monday 9:15
After her brother dies, 15-year-old Gracie channels her grief into trying to get onto the varsity soccer team. Set in 1978, this film is inspired by a true story of Elisabeth Shue, who plays Gracie’s mother. 95 minutes. Rated PG-13 for brief sexual content, fistfights and strong language.
Shorts Program, Tuesday 3:15
See short films about insects learning important lessons, a couple dealing with Alzheimer’s, a man meeting the perfect mate, dancing prairie chickens, and a family facing cultural clashes and racism. NOT RATED. Appropriate for all ages.
The Grocer’s Son, Tuesday 9:15
When his father suffers a stroke, Antoine reluctantly returns home from the big city to his small French mountain village to help out with the family business, a grocery that makes daily rounds to the town’s elderly inhabitants. 96 minutes. NOT RATED. Reviews.
Wednesday 3:15 REST No film. Take a nap instead.
Jihad for Love, Wednesday 9:15
Documenting the quandary of GLBT Muslims via the perspective of subjects from countries such as India, Iran and Turkey, director Parvez Sharma chronicles their struggles to square their sexual orientation with their faith. 81 minutes.
NOT RATED. Reviews.
The Prep School Negro, Thursday 1:30
This film is a cinematic exploration of identity and how it is affected by and defined for black students at elite white institutions. It tells the story of the director Andre Robert Lee, who graduated from Germantown Friends School, and follows
three students from William Penn Charter. Q&A with director to follow. 53 minutes. NOT RATED. DIRECTOR PRESENT.
Waltz With Bashir, Thursday 9:15
Utilizing vivid black-and-white animation, director Ari Folman documents his quest to explore the memory gaps in his life during his service for the Israeli army in the Lebanese war of the early 1980s. 90 minutes. Rated R for some disturbing images of atricities and strong violence. Reviews.
Once, Friday 3:15
In this charming contemporary musical, a street musician in Dublin, Ireland strikes up a friendship with a migrant street hawker and the duo ends up composing and recording a series of songs over the course of a week. 85 minutes. Rated R for swearing, but otherwise very innocent. Reviews.
Frozen River, Friday 9:15
On a Mohawk reservation on the Canadian border, Ray teams with widowed tribe member Lila to smuggle illegal immigrants into the United States. Although the work provides the women with much-needed money, each trip puts them in danger. 97 minutes. Rated R for strong language, mature themes. Reviews.
