BAMcinématek presents Focus on IFC Films, March 19–21

“…[O]ne of the few remaining distributors willing to take a chance on more
intellectually ambitious fare.” —Dave Kehr, The New York Times

Brooklyn, February 24, 2010—BAMcinématek presents Focus on IFC Films, the third
annual salute to the bold, adventurous independent film distributor, from March 19–21.
The series comprises a selection of IFC Films’ upcoming theatrical and video on demand
releases from its IFC In Theaters and Festival Direct platforms. This year’s Focus on IFC
Films line-up provides a snapshot of the 2009 international film festival circuit to New York
audiences, bringing sneak previews of new films from acclaimed directors including Claire
Denis, Bruno Dumont, Ken Loach, Johnnie To, Christophe Honoré, Elia Suleiman and
more.

Since its first release in 2000, IFC Films has become one of the preeminent distributors of
vital independent, international and documentary film. In the first half of the decade, with
Alfonso Cuarón’s career-defining Y tu mamá también (2001), the phenomenon My Big
Fat Greek Wedding (2002), Hirokazu Kore-eda’s lauded drama Nobody Knows (2004),
and Miranda July’s quirky charmer Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005), IFC
Films quickly made a name for itself as a purveyor of critically and culturally relevant
cinema. In more recent years, IFC Films continues that trend by distributing works like 4
Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days, the searing Romanian 2007 Palme d’Or winner at
Cannes, Matteo Garrone’s penetrating look at the mob in Naples, Gomorrah (2008),
Olivier Assayas’ sublime Summer Hours (2008), Armando Iannucci’s Oscar-nominated In
the Loop (2009), and Steven Soderbergh’s daringly experimental two-part biopic epic Che
(2008). Beyond its impressive theatrical release schedule, IFC Films is at the forefront of
the video on demand movement, setting the standard for building wider audiences for
smaller, previously less-accessible films.

Focus on IFC Films opens on Friday March 19 with the New York premiere of IFC Films’
third release from British social-realist auteur Ken Loach, Looking for Eric (2009), about a
down and out fan and his Manchester United idol, the footballer superstar, Eric Cantona;
followed by The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2009—screening March 20), a “japchae western,” i.e., an audacious Korean-take on the spaghetti western from A Tale of Two Sisters’ helmer Kim Ji-woon; and, screening on March 21, the latest from Hong Kong’s action laureate Johnnie To, Vengeance (2009).

The program also features 2009 festival hits including Claire Denis’ White Material (March 20), starring the inimitable Isabelle Huppert in one of her most daring performances yet; The Time That Remains (March 20), which Time Out New York’s Joshua Rothkopf calls “a decades-spanning autobiography” from Palestinian actor-director Elia Suleiman, a “sad-eyed Buster Keaton with the skills of an ace political satirist;” Hadewijch (March 21), Bruno Dumont’s latest probing philosophical exploration; and Tales from the Golden Age (March 21), an omnibus film of Romanian life during dictator Ceausescu’s regime, spearheaded by Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days).

Finally, on March 20, BAMcinématek is pleased to present director Christophe Honoré and actress
Chiara Mastroianni in person for a Q&A following the screening of their new film, Making Plans for
Lena (2009), the fourth IFC Films release of an Honoré picture. This screening is presented in
collaboration with Unifrance and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, as part of Rendez-Vous with
French Cinema. And preceding Focus on IFC Films on March 13, BAMcinématek will screen Riad
Sattouf’s raunchy teen sex comedy, The French Kissers (2009), followed by a Q&A with the director, also as part of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema.

For press information, please contact
For BAM: Gabriele Caroti at 718.636.4125 x3 / gcaroti@bam.org

FOCUS ON IFC FILM SCHEDULE
Note: all prints are 35mm

Friday, March 19
6:50pm: Looking for Eric
9:15pm: White Material

Saturday, March 20
3pm: The Time That Remains
5:30: Making Plans for Lena, Q&A with Christophe Honoré and Chiara Mastroianni
8:30pm: The Good, The Bad, The Weird

Sunday, March 21
3pm: Hadewijch
5:30pm: Tales from the Golden Age
9pm: Vengeance

Detailed film descriptions for Focus on IFC Films:

The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008) 130min
Directed by Kim Ji-woon
With Kang-ho Song, Byung-hun Lee, Woo-sung Jung
Arguably Korea’s most entertaining filmmaker, Kim Ji-woon (A Tale of Two Sisters) returns with this
spectacular Korean spaghetti western. Visually audacious and with a heart attack-inducing pace, Kim’s film needs to be seen on the big screen for its beautiful widescreen visuals and stylish action setpieces. The plot may not make too much sense, but who cares when you’re having this much fun?!
Opening April 23, 2010.
Sat, Mar 20 at 8:30pm

Hadewijch (2009) 120min
Directed by Bruno Dumont
With Julie Sokolowski, Yassine Salime, David Dewaele
Deeply devout Céline (Sokolowski in a mesmerizing debut) is let go from a convent because of her
too-fervent faith. Forced to explore the outside world, she discards her haute bourgeois upbringing
after meeting Arab boy Yassine (Salime, also in an impressive debut). When Yassine introduces her to his brother, a Muslim fundamentalist zealot, Céline’s ardent Catholicism takes an unusual (and precarious) turn.
Sun, Mar 21 at 3pm

Looking for Eric (2009) 116min NEW YORK PREMIERE
Directed by Ken Loach
With Steve Evets, Eric Cantona, Stephanie Bishop
After a failed second marriage and with a mid-life crisis looming, postman and soccer supporter Eric
(played with brio by rocker-turned-actor Steve Evets), is searching for inspiration—and who better to turn to than Man U football legend Eric Cantona—famous for his philosophizing on and off the pitch. This is Play It Again, Sam for the Brit working-class footy fan via English auteur Loach. Opening May 14, 2010.
Fri, Mar 19 at 6:50pm

Making Plans for Lena (Non ma fille, tu n’iras pas danser) (2009) 105min
Directed by Christophe Honoré
With Chiara Mastroianni, Marina Foïs, Marie-Christine Barrault
Honoré (Love Songs) returns with a sharply observed holiday family drama à la Desplechin. After
splitting with her husband, single mom Mastroianni (in one of her best performances) escapes Paris
for her parents’ home in Brittany with two kids in tow. But what to expect when her ex comes
knocking? Features a cameo by Louis Garrel and XTC on the soundtrack.
Sat, Mar 20 at 5:30pm
*Q&A with Christophe Honoré and Chiara Mastroianni

Tales from the Golden Age (Amintiri din Epoca de Aur) (2009) 155min
Directed by Hanno Höfer, Razvan Marculescu, Cristian Mungiu, Constantin Popescu, Ioana Uricaru
Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days) conceived, produced, and wrote this darkly funny
portmanteau anthology of five different stories (by five different directors, including Mungiu himself)— urban myths from life under the last years of Romanian dictator Ceausescu’s regime.
Sun, Mar 21 at 5:30pm

The Time That Remains (2009) 109min
Directed by Elia Suleiman
With Ali Suliman, Elia Suleiman, Saleh Bakri
The director of Divine Intervention returns with another personal and episodic feature about Arab life in Israel, adapted from his mother’s letters and his father’s diaries, written while his father was a scruffy Palestinian resistance fighter in 1948. Hearkening both Keaton and Tati, Suleiman’s idiosyncratic film is both a deadpan comedy and a poignant exploration of Palestinian identity over the last six decades.
Sat, Mar 20 at 3pm

Vengeance (2009) 108min
Directed by Johnnie To
With Johnny Hallyday, Sylvie Testud, Anthony Wong Chau-Sang
HK action auteur To (alongside long-time collaborator/screenwriter Wai Ka-Fai) helms a revenge
fantasy starring aging Gallic rocker Hallyday as “Costello,” an ex-hitman turned chef who travels to
Asia to avenge his daughter (Testud) and her husband. “With his ruined face and pale snake eyes Mr. Hallyday holds the screen while Mr. To shakes it up.” —Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
Sun, Mar 21 at 9pm

White Material (2009) 100min
Directed by Claire Denis
With Isabelle Huppert, Isaach De Bankolé, Christopher Lambert
The latest from living legend Claire Denis (35 Shots of Rum, Beau Travail) is as richly textured, freeflowing, and multisensory an experience as audiences have come to expect from her. The director returns to her homeland of Africa for this story about a relentlessly unyielding woman (Isabelle Huppert) who refuses to abandon her coffee plantation even as violence and civil war erupt around her and her family. An evocative examination of post-colonial African political strife that resists easy answers and opts for a far more personal, philosophical approach to a complex subject.
Fri, Mar 19 at 9:15pm

BAM Rose Cinemas (30 Lafayette Ave.)
Tickets: $11 per screening for adults; $8 for seniors 65 and over,
children under twelve, and $8 for students 25 and under with valid I.D.
Monday–Thursday, except holidays; $7 BAM Cinema Club members
Tickets available by phone at 718.777.FILM
Call 718.636.4100 or visit BAM.org

BAMcinématek
BAM Rose Cinemas “offers one of the most civilized movie–going experiences in the city”
—The New York Times

The four-screen BAM Rose Cinemas (BRC) opened in 1998 to offer Brooklyn audiences alternative
and independent films that might not play in the borough otherwise, making BAM the only performing arts center in the country with two mainstage theaters and a multiplex cinema. In July of 1999, beginning with a series celebrating the work of Spike Lee, BAMcinématek was born as Brooklyn’s only daily year-round repertory film program. BAMcinématek presents new and rarely seen contemporary films, classics from cinema history, work by local artists, and festivals of films from around the world, often with special appearances by directors, actors, and other guests.
Entering its 10th year, BAMcinématek has not only presented major retrospectives by well-known
filmmakers such as Michelangelo Antonioni, Shohei Imamura, Manoel de Oliveira, and Luchino
Visconti, but it has also introduced New York audiences to contemporary artists such as Nuri Bilge
Ceylan, Arnaud Desplechin, and Hong Sang-soo. BAMcinématek has also featured innumerable
guests during this period, including Gena Rowlands, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, Robert Altman, Jim
Jarmusch, Milos Forman, David Byrne, Jonathan Demme, Isabella Rossellini, Paul Thomas Anderson, Peter Bogdanovich, Larry Clark, D.A. Pennebaker, and many more.
Credits Leadership support for BAMcinématek is provided by The Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Charitable Trust.

BAM Rose Cinemas are named in recognition of a major gift in honor of Jonathan F.P. and Diana Calthorpe Rose. BAM Rose Cinemas would also like to acknowledge the generous support of The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, The Estate of Richard B. Fisher, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Delegation of the New York City Council, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, Bloomberg, and Time Warner Inc. Additional support for BAMcinématek is provided by The Cultural Heritage Preservation Fund, The Grodzins Fund, and The Liman Foundation.

Special thanks to Ryan Werner, Courtney Ott, and Dan Goldberg/IFC Films and Susan Norget.

General Information
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM Rose Cinemas, BAMcafé, and Brownstone Books at BAM are located in the Peter Jay Sharp building at 30 Lafayette Avenue (between St Felix Street and Ashland Place) in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn. BAM Harvey Theater is located two blocks from the main building at 651 Fulton Street (between Ashland and Rockwell Places). BAM Rose Cinemas is Brooklyn’s only movie house dedicated to first-run independent and foreign film and repertory programming. BAMcafé, operated by Great Performances, is open for dining prior to Howard Gilman Opera House performances. BAMcafé also features an eclectic mix of spoken word and live music for BAMcafé Live on Friday nights with a special BAMcafé Live menu
available starting at 8pm.

Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5, Q, B to Atlantic Avenue;
D, M, N, R to Pacific Street; G to Fulton Street; C to Lafayette Avenue
Train: Long Island Railroad to Flatbush Avenue
Bus: B25, B26, B41, B45, B52, B63, B67 all stop within three blocks of BAM
Car: Commercial parking lots are located adjacent to BAM

For ticket and BAMbus information, call BAM Ticket Services at 718.636.4100, or visit BAM.org.