International Film Fest at Oakton College Features 'Slumdog' And More

Travel the globe without leaving your seat during Oakton Community College’s 26th Modern Language Film Fest, April 1 – 4. Enjoy 12 free films from China, Egypt, France, Germany, and more at the College’s campuses in Des Plaines (1600 East Golf Road), and Skokie (7701 North Lincoln Avenue). The movies, presented in their original languages with English subtitles, showcase the wide range of languages offered by the College.

This year’s selections include:

• Slumdog Millionaire (Hindi and Urdu, 2008). Winner of eight Academy Awards, this sleeper hit tells the story of Jamal Malik, a young man from the slums of Mumbai, who appears on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? -- exceeding everyone’s expectations. Flashbacks reveal that the answer to each question is linked to key events in his life.
• Letters to St. Nicholas (Polish, 2011). Five stories of five women and men intertwine in Warsaw on Christmas Eve. Winner of the 2012 Gydnia Film Festival’s “Amber Lion” Award for biggest box office success, this film is a heart-warming, Christmas-themed romantic comedy with an ensemble cast.
• The Matchmaker (Hebrew, 2010). During the summer of 1968, a teenager goes to work for a melancholic man and Holocaust survivor who gives unmarried clients “what they need, not what they want.” Inspired by Amir Gutfreund’s book When Heroes Fly.
• North Face (German, 2008). Based on a true story, this suspenseful film centers around a 1936 competition to climb the most dangerous rock face in the Swiss Alps.

Other scheduled films include: Anna Akhmatova File (Russian, 1989); The Chorus (French, 2004); The Flowers of War (Chinese, 2011); I Wish (Japanese, 2012); Good-Bye Momo (Spanish, 2005); Modern Boy (Korean, 2008); Scherazade, Tell Me a Story (Arabic, 2009); and The Spectator (Italian, 2004).

The 26th Modern Language Film Fest is sponsored by Oakton’s Council of Access, Equity, and Diversity and the Department of Modern Languages.

For more information, including show times, visit www.oakton.edu/newsevents/events/film_fest2013.php or contact Modern Languages Department Chair Marguerite Solari, Ph.D., at (847) 376-7012, or msolari@oakton.edu.