March25
From moments of upheaval to transformative experiences, the films in Belmont World Film’s 22nd International Film Series delve into the complexities of human existence with depth, compassion, insight—and even humor. In these remarkable stories from around the globe, we invite you to immerse yourself in the narratives of individuals and groups confronting the unexpected twists and turns that life presents, helping us gain a deeper understanding of resilience, adaptation, and the universal truths that bind us.
In June we will once again observe World Refugee Awareness Month with two films that spotlight the resilience and courage of displaced individuals. Through these powerful stories, we honor the strength and determination of refugees worldwide, inviting audiences to deepen their understanding and empathy for those forced to leave behind everything they know in search of safety and a brighter future.
A few stats about this year’s International Film Series and World Refugee Awareness Month observance:
• An equal number of films are directed by women and men, highlighting a commitment to gender parity in filmmaking.
• Films are in a record-breaking ten languages besides English, including, Croatian, French, Italian, Kabuverdianu, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Swedish, Swiss-German, Turkish, and Urdu.
• Three films are their country’s submissions for the Best International Feature Film Oscar and most films in the series premiered at the world’s top international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, and Berlin.
• Only two films are available for screening online: Traces and Bonjour Switzerland
We are grateful to the Mass Cultural Council and the Consulate of Sweden for their financial support of this year’s series. Belmont World Film is supported by generous grant from the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
All screenings take place on Mondays at 7:30 PM and are followed by discussions. Schedule subject to change without notice. Please consult our Facebook page for up-to-date information about films and events.
Film Date Location
The Queen of My Dreams (Canada, Pakistan)
The Old Oak (UK)
Traces (Croatia)
Hesitation Wound (Turkey)
Green Tide (France)
Ama Gloria (France, Cape Verde)
City of Wind (Mongolia)
Bonjour Switzerland (Switzerland)
World Refugee Awareness Month
Opponent (Sweden, Norway)
Striking the Palace (France)
March 25 Apple Cinemas
April 1 Apple Cinemas
April 8 Apple Cinemas (Also available virtually)
April 15 Embassy Theater Waltham
April 29 Embassy Theater Waltham
May 6 West Newton Cinema
May 13 West Newton Cinema
May 20 West Newton Cinema (Also available virtually)
June 3 West Newton Cinema
June 10 West Newton Cinema
Cambridge Apple Cinemas, 168 Alewife Brook Parkway
Embassy Theater Waltham, 16 Pine Street
West Newton Cinema: 1296 Washington Street
Available at www.belmontworldfilm.org
In-person screenings: $12 | Virtual screenings: $16
“Passports”: $80 for eight films (can be shared with one other person) EBT, WIC & ConnectorCare Cardholders tickets & passes: ½ price
Membership includes: tickets or “passports” and acknowledgement in both the 2024 International Film Series and the 2025 Family Festival programs. Become a member at www.belmontworldfilm.org/membership/. Contact info@belmontworldfilm.org for info.
The Consulate of Sweden is pleased to support the screening of OPPONENT, Sweden’s submission for the Best International Feature Film Oscar.
All screenings take place in person on Mondays at 7:30 PM and are followed by discussions. Traces and Bonjour Swizerland are also available for online viewing. Schedule subject to change.
Join our mailing list or consult our Facebook page for up to the minute information.
Monday, March 25, 7:30 PM @ Apple Cinemas
Canada | Urdu & English with subtitles | 2023 | 97 min
Directed by Fawzia Mirza | East Coast premiere
Preceded by a dinner reception at the theater from 6:00-7:00 PM featuring Indian and Canadian food.
Against the backdrop of a shared obsession with Bollywood fantasy film Aradhana, a Pakistani Muslim woman and her Canadian-born daughter come of age in two different eras in this entertainingly funny drama. Stars Amrit Kaur, of Mindy Kaling’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls.” Speaker: The film’s director Fawzia Mirza, via Zoom..
Monday, April 1, 7:30 PM @ Apple Cinemas
UK | English & Arabic with subtitless | 2023 | 113 min.
Directed by Ken Loach | New England premiere
Multi-award-winning director Ken Loach (Sorry We Missed You, BWF 2020) and screenwriter Paul Laverty (The Olive Tree, BWF 2017) team up for the last time in this heartfelt film about community. In a previously thriving mining town in Northern England the owner of The Old Oak pub struggles to hold onto his establishment. When Syrian refugees are placed in empty houses, the townspeople become divided on their presence. Like premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Speaker: TBD.
In-person: Monday, April 8, 7:30 PM @ Apple Cinemas
Online: April 16, 7:30 PM – April 21, 11:59 PM
Croatia | Croatian with subtitles | 2023 | 98 min.
Directed by Dubravka Turic | New England premiere
Croatia’s submission for the Best International Feature Film Oscar and Turic’s acclaimed feature debut. While grappling with loneliness, loss and an uncertain future, an anthropologist spends her time researching an ancient burial ritual called “Mirila,” (meaning measuring), a practice in the mountains of Croatia in which exposed stones in a burial area would mark the length of a deceased person’s body, and therefore leaves a sign—a trace—of the life that had been lived.
Speaker: Ellen Elias-Bursać, a scholar known for her translations of fiction and nonfiction books by Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian writers. .
Monday, April 15, 7:30 PM @ Embassy Theater
Turkey | Turkish with subtitles | 2023 | 84 min.
Directed by Selman Nacar | New England premiere
A criminal lawyer divides her time between the courthouse and her mother’s hospital bed. The plot turns on the moral choices she has to make that will affect the lives of her mother, the judge, and her murder suspect client. The film premiered at the 2023 Venice Film Festival. Speaker: Roberta Micaleff, Professor of the Practice in Middle Eastern Literatures and Coordinator of the Turkish Language Program at Boston University.
Monday, April 29, 7:30 PM @ Embassy Theater
France | French with subtitles | 2023 | 107 min.
Directed by Pierre Jolivet | New England premiere
Join us at 7:00 PM for complimentary Far Breton courtesy of Sophie Launay Hansell, a who grew up near the Bay of St. Brieuc, where events depicted in the film take place. Following the deaths of several locals on Brittany beaches a freelance reporter comes to investigate the mystery surrounding algae that may be the cause. Through her challenging encounters with whistleblowers, scientists, farmers and politicians, she sheds light on half a century of silence.
Speaker: TBD
Monday, May 6, 7:30 PM @ West Newton Cinema
France, Cape Verde | Kabuverdianu, French & Portuguese with subtitles | 2023 | 88 min.
Directed by Marie Amachoukeli-Barsacq East Coast premiere
Depicts the precious bond between a six-year-old French girl and her Cape Verdean nanny, who spend one last summer together on the Cape Verdean islands. The film captures themes of family, separation, and the ties that bind from the point of view of its captivating young star. .
Speaker: Alirio Pereira, a native of Cape Verde and Chief Program Officer of the Massachusetts Association of Portuguese Speakers
Monday, May 13, 7:30 PM @ West Newton Cinema
Mongolia | Mongolian with subtitles | 2023 | 104 min.
Directed by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir New England premiere
Mongolia’s submission for the Best International Feature Film Oscar is a coming of age drama about a 17 year-old shaman who is trying to juggle and reconcile his spiritual responsibilities while attending high school in modern day Ulaanbaatar.
Speaker: Manduhai Buyandelger, an anthropologist of religion, gender, and politics at MIT, with regional expertise in Mongolia and shamans.
Monday, May 20, 7:30 PM @ West Newton Cinema
Online May 21 @ 7:30 PM—May 26, 11:59 PM
Switzerland | French, Swiss German & Italian with subtitles
2023 | 88 min. | Directed by Peter Luisi | East Coast premiere
Preceded by a dinner reception at the theater from 6:00-7:00 PM featuring French, Swiss and Italian food.
From the team behind Streaker (BWF 2018) comes another side-splitting satire that was an even bigger box office hit in Switzerland! When a referendum in Switzerland leaves the country with French as the only national language, it precipitates a crisis among the German and Italian speakers (think Woody Allen’s Bananas)
Speaker: TBD.
West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street
Monday, June 3, 7:30 PM @ Apple Cinemas
Sweden & Norway | Swedish & Persian with subtitles
2023 | 119 min.
Directed by Milad Alami | New England premiere
Sweden’s submission for the Best International Feature Film Oscar stars Payman Maadi (the star of the Oscar-winning A Separation) as a wrestler from Iran who has moved to Sweden as a refugee with his wife and their daughters.
Speaker: Dr. Kasra Tabatabaei, a native of Shahreza, Isfahan, Iran, and a post-doctoral scientist of biophysics and quantitative biology.
Sponsored by the Consulate of Sweden
Co-presented by the Iranian Association of Boston
Monday, June 10, 7:30 PM @ Apple Cinemas
France | French with subtitles | 2023 | 87 min.
Directed by Nessim Chikhaoui | New England premiere
Based on a true story about a team of chambermaids, mostly immigrants, at one of Paris’s finest palace hotels, who work tirelessly to keep the hotel’s high standards, where one night can cost as much as one’s entire annual salary. Many are not even employed by the hotel directly but by sub-contractors, making them particularly vulnerable. While on strike against the hotel’s poor working conditions, they come up with a plan to disrupt Paris’s famous “Fashion Week” with their own original fashion show.
Speaker: TBD.
This program is supported by a generous grant from the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, as well as the Arlington Commission on Arts & Culture, Belmont Cultural Council, Cambridge Arts Council, and Newton Cultural Council.
Province Sponsor
Consulate General of Sweden
In-Kind Sponsors
Belmont Media Center
Cambridge Reprographics
INDIVIDUAL Partial list as of March 4, 2024
Explorer ($500+)
Anonymous
Sue & Henry Bass
Goldie Eder
Adventurer ($250+)
Betsy Cabot
Sarah Delaney
Robin Gilbert & Jim McAuliffe
Ellen Glanz
Elissa Grad & Narayan Kaimal
Paul Santos & Anne Stuart
Alan Spatrick & Kaj Wilson
THANK YOU
Apple Cinemas: Jegan Gomangalam
Belmont Media Center: Jeffrey Hansell
Voyager ($150+)
Phyllis Birnbaum
Danielle & Marty Bodley
Kathryn Bonfiglio & Barry Kaye
Meg Clough & Barry Katz
Nora Huvelle & David Lubin
Donald Ross
Catherine & Alex Valentin
Hayat & Joe Weiss
Fran Yuan
Nomad ($60+)
Carolina Abuelo
Irene Bocella
Ellen & Russell Cohen
Peter & Sue Grilli
Tom & Cori Hannaford
Peter Katzin
Lorenzo Klein
Janet Liddell
Cate McGrail
Arlyn & Bill Roffman
Embassy Theater Waltham: Tim Nasson
Cambridge Media Arts Studio: Joshua Aravelo
Consulate of Canada in Boston: Matthew Wong
Community Partners
Iranian Association of Boston
Croatian School of Boston
Traveler ($32+)
Jane Barrell
Sue C. Kelman
Robert Ormond
Daphne Politis
Odette Termine
Nancy Twombly
Family Festival Sponsor ($80)
Courtney Queen
Consulate of Sweden: Aviva Neuman
Croatian School of Boston
Iranian Association of Boston: Kasru Tabatabei
West Newton Cinema: David Bramante
Belmont World Film Film is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes cross-cultural understanding through the screening of award-winning feature films, documentaries, animation, and shorts from around the world. Screenings are followed by in-depth discussions led by film makers and critics, expert speakers, and other notables, as well as cultural performances and cuisine.
Each year we present a Family Film Festival during Martin Luther King Day weekend, a weekly international film series from March through May, an observance of World Refugee Awareness Month in June, and other special events throughout the year, working with local and international organizations in an effort to heighten awareness of global issues and to encourage people of all ages to make a difference.
Ellen Gitelman, Executive Director
Maria Carvalho, Director of Volunteers & Secretary
Naomi Ellenberg-Dukas, Founder and Chair
Margarete Wells, Treasurer
Jennifer Fuchel, Graphic Design
Cate McGrail, Special Events
visit www.belmontworldfilm.org email info@belmontworldfilm.org call 617-484-3980 mail PO Box 104, Belmont, MA 02478
This program is supported by a generous grant from the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, as well as the Arlington Commission on Arts & Culture, Belmont Cultural Council, Cambridge Arts Council, and Newton Cultural Council.
visit www.belmontworldfilm.org | email info@belmontworldfilm.org call 617-484-3980 | mail P.O. Box 104, Belmont, MA 02478
