VTIFF Program-Guide 2023 - Flipbook - Page 15
FILMS A TO Z
FALLEN LEAVES (KUOLLEET LEHDET)
FREMONT
THE FUTURE
Directed by Aki Kaurismaki
Finland | 2023 | Fiction | 80 min | Finnish w/subtitles
Directed by Babak Jalali
USA | 2023 | Fiction | 91 min | English, Dari, Cantonese w/
subtitles
Directed by Noam Kaplan
Israel | 2023 | Fiction | 80 min | Hebrew, Arabic w/subtitles
Film Source: Mubi
Sponsored by: Kevin Meehan
SHOWTIMES
TUESDAY, OCT 24 | 7 PM | FH
Aki Kaurismäki (Le Havre; The Other Side of Hope)
presents a playful working-class love story where
companionship is the only respite from the grimness of life.
Ansa (Alma Pöysti) and Holappa (Jussi Vatanen) both have
their troubles keeping down a job. Holappa takes to the
bottle on and off work; Ansa relaxes at home as her radio
reports on the latest atrocities happening in Kiev. A chance
meeting between the two loners leads to a romance
deferred, again and again and again. In the quiet space of
their longing and connection, Kaurismäki slips in a steady
stream of deadpan gags, always finding levity in the
heaviness, reprieve in the burden, for a kind of barebones
romantic comedy that sneaks up on you with its heart and
humor. ~TW
*** Preceded by the newly restored 1927 classic Laurel
and Hardy 17 minute short The Battle of the Century undoubtedly the best pie fight you will ever see ***
Film Source: Music Box
Sponsored by: Bridget & Nick Meyer
Film Source: Menemsha
Sponsored by: Burlington-Bethlehem-Arad Sister City
Program
SHOWTIMES
TUESDAY, OCT 24 | 4:30 PM | FH
SHOWTIMES
SUNDAY, OCT 22 | 4:30 PM | BB
This modest B&W film packs quite a punch. Donya (Anaita
Wali Zada) is a 20-something Afghan immigrant living in
the “Little Kabul” of Fremont, California. She’s having
trouble sleeping and her solitary existence finds her
working at a fortune-cookie company and watching soap
operas as she dines alone at a local restaurant. Director
Babak Jalali infuses his tale with warmth and humor, and
he’s helped by newcomer Zada, herself an Afghan
immigrant, who anchors the film with her note-perfect
performance. Populated by a cast of quirky, unique
characters – including The Bear himself, Jeremy Allen
White – Fremont is an ode to the curious beauty of building
a new life in a strange land. ~SM
When Israel’s Minister of Space and Tourism is murdered
in the lead-up to the country’s first mission to the moon,
Yaffa (Samar Qupty, Junction ‘48), a young Palestinian
university student from the occupied West Bank, confesses
to the murder. Scientist Nurit (Reymond Amsalem) asks for
permission to interview the assassin as the pioneer of “The
Future Project,” an algorithm-based program meant to
predict acts of terrorism if you’re Israeli, or resistance if
you’re Palestinian. Nurit is convinced that the unrepentant
Yaffa is withholding her whole motivation. The two women
face off, determined to give nothing away, over a
potentially fraught series of encounters. As the truth is
exposed – and the spacecraft carrying a nation’s dreams
nears its destination – an increasingly disillusioned Nurit
inches towards a profoundly troubling realization. This taut,
engrossing drama pares the struggle for liberation down to
its essence. Suffused with a potent irony, and powered by
two riveting performances, The Future balances sympathy
for its main characters with a lucid, unsentimental grasp of
the issues at stake. ~OY
“Showing humor in situations that are bleak doesn’t
underplay the seriousness or depth of a story but, rather, it
can add layers to the sense of realism. As the saying goes:
‘He who cries only has one pain. But he who laughs has a
thousand and one pains’…” – director Babak Jalali.
Stay connected with VTIFF
@VERMONTFILM
VTIFF.ORG | VERMONT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2023
Support and become a member
VTIFF.ORG/MEMBERSHIP
15
