Four Eyes Film Series INDEPENDENT . INTERNATIONAL . ILLUMINATING . IMAGINATIVE
Four Eyes screens notable independent, Canadian and world films not typically available on the big screen in Lacombe and area. The film series is organized by a group of staff at Mary C. Moore Public Library. We acknowledge and appreciate our partnership with Toronto international Film Festival Film Circuit and Lacombe City Cinemas.
Films show on the third Wednesday evening of each month (except July and August) at 7pm, at Lacombe City Cinemas. Advance tickets are available on the first of each month at the library for $9 each. Door tickets, when available, are $10 each.
Winter 2024 Season
May 15: ONE LIFE
directed by James Hawes
United Kingdom | 110m | English
In 1938, Nicholas Winton was a mild-mannered British stockbroker who became increasingly unsettled by the news of what was happening in continental Europe. After a spur-of-the-moment decision to join friends in Prague to help a growing number of refugees, his life — and the lives of hundreds of Jewish children facing the threat of Hitler’s regime — changed forever. Resolving to take whatever action he could, Winton returned to London and conscripted his indefatigable mother, Babette (Helena Bonham Carter) for what would become years of fundraising and fighting bureaucracy in order to begin transporting children to safety in the UK.
June 19: KIMITACHI WA DO IKIRUKA (THE BOY AND THE HERON)
directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Japan | 124m | Japanese with English subtitles
Already acclaimed as a masterpiece in Japan, Hayao Miyazaki’s new film begins as a simple story of loss and love, and rises to a staggering work of imagination. As a boy, Miyazaki read Genzaburo Yoshino’s novel How Do You Live? and embraced it as his favourite. This film was initially announced as an adaptation of that book, but Miyazaki uses it instead as one of many layers in a dazzling tapestry that draws even more upon his own youth. During the Second World War, young Mahito Maki (Soma Santoki) suffers a heartbreaking family tragedy and must move immediately to the countryside, where his father (Takuya Kimura) works for a family making planes for Japan’s military, as Miyazaki’s own father did. Isolated, Mahito begins exploring the mysterious landscapes and encounters a grey heron, persistent in its presence. The boy also happens upon an abandoned tower. Curious, he enters. From there, The Boy and the Heron expands into a wondrous, often-startling phantasmagoria.
In addition to our film series at Lacombe City Cinemas, our library has an extensive collection of independent, international, and other non-mainstream movies. Request a dvd from our online catalogue, or email miranda.cl@prl.ab.ca to arrange a pick up of a specially selected film to view at home.
PREVIOUS FILMS
April 17: RU
directed by Charles-Olivier Michaud
Canada | 116m | French, Vietnamese with English subtitles
Based on the Governor General’s Award–winning novel by Kim Thúy, Ru is the story of the arduous journey of a wealthy family fleeing from Vietnam in 1975 after the fall of Saigon, then spending time at a refugee camp in Malaysia, before landing in Quebec.
This film adaptation, directed by Charles-Olivier Michaud, tracks the events through the eyes of the daughter of the family, Nguyen An Tinh. She’s trying to make sense of her new French-speaking life while also fully aware of the horrors that she and her family have escaped.
March 20: KAIBUTSU (MONSTER)
directed by Kore-eda Hirokazu
Japan | 126m | Japanese with English subtitles
Quiet and reserved Minato (Sōya Kurokawa) — no longer a kid, but not yet an adolescent — lost his father when he was a young child and lives with his mother (Sakura Andō). When he starts behaving strangely, obsessed with the idea his brain has been switched with a pig’s, the mother suspects his teacher Hori (Eita Nagayama) and calls a meeting with the school principal (Tanaka Yūko) only to face a wall of silence and stiff apologies. Someone must have put that idea in Minato’s head, but something doesn’t add up. Is Minato telling the truth, or is his professor innocent?
February 21: SCRAPPER
directed by Charlotte Regan
United Kingdom | 84m | English
Set in London, the 12-year-old protagonist, Georgie (Lola Campbell), makes a living off a lucrative bike theft business to pay the rent while living on her own. When Georgie’s absentee father (Harris Dickinson) suddenly reappears due to the untimely death of her mother, she must learn to confront reality and open up again. Regan crafts a creatively charged coming-of-age story that’s both side-splittingly funny and truthfully tragic. This quick-witted comedy will strike your heart only to rebuild it again.
January 17: KUOLLEET LEHDET (FALLEN LEAVES)
directed by Aki Kaurismäki
Finland, Germany | 81m | Finnish with English subtitles
In modern-day Helsinki, two lonely souls in search of love meet by chance in a local karaoke bar. The pair’s path to happiness is beset by numerous obstacles - from lost numbers to mistaken addresses, alcoholism, and a charming stray dog.
