“Fighter is an affecting girl-power fable set amid the Turkish émigré community in Copenhagen. Natasha Arthy’s film centers on Aicha, a spirited high school senior whose conservative parents expect her to become a doctor — but this girl dreams in kung fu. Aicha secretly enrolls in an elite co-ed kung fu school, where she meets and falls for Emil, the sweet and challenging Dane assigned to her as a training partner. When her older brother becomes engaged to the daughter of a wealthy — and very traditional — Turkish clan, Aicha is forced to decide between the family she loves and the passion for fighting she can't live without. Fighter opens on Aicha’s recurring fantasy of a fight against a masked opponent — the first of the movie's many thrilling hand-to-hand battles choreographed by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon actor and trainer Xian Gao (who also plays the kung fu school's teacher) — and from there on out, the pace never slackens” (David Kwok, Tribeca Film Festival). “A fresh spin on cross-cultural romance . . . Boasts an appealingly feisty heroine and high-energy martial arts action . . . The first Danish action film to employ international stunt and wire specialists” (Alissa Simon, Variety). Colour, 35mm, in Danish and Turkish with English subtitles. 100 mins.
All Ages Welcome! Warning: May not be suitable for preteens. Admission for minors (under 18) is $8.00 – no membership required. Regular admission/membership requirements in effect for adults 18+.
Bulgarian director Andrey Slabakov has invoked Buñuel’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and Fellini’s dreamlike style as reference points for Hindemith, his satirical assault on nouveau-riche values and mindless consumerism. When two very similar families buy identical houses in a prestigious, prefab new neighbourhood, their efforts to maintain friendly relations with each other are undermined by their determination to be different from one another. Because their ideas of “being different” are also identical, the harder they try to assert their distinctiveness, the more alike they become — leading to all-out neighbourly war. Ernestina Shinova, director Slabakov’s wife, has a double role as the wife in both households, each of whom spends her days watching TV commercials and buying the latest products of the ubiquitous Hindemith brand. Deyan Donkov, also in a double role, plays both husbands. Colour, 35mm, in Bulgarian with English subtitles. 100 mins.
BOX OFFICE · CASH ONLY Tickets go on sale 30 minutes before the first screening of the evening.
ADVANCE TICKETS
Available for credit card purchase on this website until 4pm the day of screening.
Screenings restricted to 18+ and require a Pacific Cinémathèque membership unless otherwise indicated.
SUNDAY, NOV. 29 – 6:30 PM
