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The Hope College Knickerbocker Theatre in downtown Holland will show four films in its fall film series beginning Monday, Aug. 17.

The Hope College Knickerbocker Theatre in downtown Holland will show four films in its fall film series beginning Monday, Aug. 17.

The series continues the Knickerbocker Theatre’s tradition of showing new independent and foreign films for the West Michigan community.  It will open with “3 Hearts” on Monday-Saturday, Aug. 17-22, and continue with “Phoenix” on Monday-Saturday, Sept. 21-26. Two films that will be announced later in the season will be shown on Monday-Saturday, Oct. 12-17, and Monday-Saturday, Nov. 30-Dec. 5.

A touching and tense drama about destiny, connections and passion, “3 Hearts” presents a new look at a classic love triangle. One night in provincial France, Marc (Benoît Poelvoorde) meets Sylvie (Charlotte Gainsbourg) after missing his train back to Paris. Instantly and intensely drawn to one another, they wander through the streets until morning in rare, almost choreographed, harmony. A thwarted plan for a second meeting sends each in a separate direction: Sylvie reunites with her ex-boyfriend and leaves France; Marc falls in love and marries. What neither knows is that Marc’s new bride is Sylvie’s sister, Sophie (Chiara Mastroianni). Upon Sylvie’s return to France, the spark between her and Marc is reignited in ways that will forever alter the relationships between sister to sister and husband to wife. The “New York Times” has called the film “A touching, impeccably controlled drama.” The film is in French with English subtitles and is rated PG-13.

A mystery of identity, illusion and deception unfolds against the turmoil of post-World War II Germany in “Phoenix,” the new film from director Christian Petzold (“Barbara,” “Jerichow”). Nelly (Nina Hoss), a German-Jewish nightclub singer, has survived a concentration camp, but with her face disfigured by a bullet wound. After undergoing reconstructive surgery, Nelly emerges with a new face, one similar but different enough that her former husband, Johnny (Ronald Zehrfeld), doesn’t recognize her. Rather than reveal herself, Nelly walks into a dangerous game of duplicity and disguise as she tries to figure out if the man she loves may have been the one who betrayed her to the Nazis. Evoking the shadows and haunted mood of post-war Berlin, “Phoenix” weaves a complex tale of a nation’s tragedy and a woman’s search for answers as it builds towards an unforgettable, heart-stopping climax.  “The cinematic equivalent of a page-turner...the ending is a legitimate corker,” “The New Yorker” has said. The film is in German with English subtitles and is rated PG-13.

More information, including trailers, can be found by visiting the Knickerbocker website at hope.edu/knick.

Tickets for the individual films are $7 for regular admission and $6 for senior citizens, Hope College faculty and children.  Tickets will be sold at the door but are also available in advance at the Events and Conferences Office located downtown in the Anderson-Werkman Financial Center (100 E. Eighth St.). The office is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be reached at 616-395-7890.

The Knickerbocker Theatre is located at 86 E. Eighth St.