The Forum Film Festival is bringing three award-winning films to St. Thomas.
The first film, “The Salesman,” won this year’s Oscar for Best Foreign Film.
“A Man Called Ove,” an award-winner in Europe, was nominated for an Oscar and “Neruda” made in Chile, was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film.
“The Salesman” is situated in modern day Iran. A couple is participating in a production of “Death of a Salesman,” and the teacher’s wife is assaulted in her new home, which leaves the husband determined to find the perpetrator over his wife’s traumatized objections. This film is directed by Asghar Farhadi. Both of his films, “A Separation” and “The Past” were shown at previous Forum Festivals.
“A Man Called Ove” is about a lovable, old curmudgeon who spends his days enforcing block association rules and visiting his wife’s grave. He has finally given up on life just as an unlikely friendship develops with his boisterous new neighbors. In a way, the film is a message picture, its finale insisting that the best route to cultural continuity is community, not ethnic exclusivity. Good-hearted stuff, to be sure, but mainly of interest to lovers of cinematic comfort food.
“Neruda” from Chilean director Pablo Larrain follows an inspector who hunts down Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda who becomes a fugitive in his home country in the late 1940s for joining the Communist Party. Blending fact with invention, it tells the story of a confrontation between Pablo Neruda and an emerging dictatorship. More generally, it illuminates the endless struggle between political authority and the creative imagination.
All three films will be shown at 7 p.m. at Market Square East:
“The Salesman” – May 17; “A Man Called Ove” – May 24; and “Neruda” – May 31.
Tickets: $10 general admission, $5 students. Available at the door, Frenchtown Deli, Medicine Shoppe, Chelsea Drug Store or online: www.instantseats.com
