The Hope College Knickerbocker Theatre has announced its Spring Film Series featuring new independent and foreign films.
The series will show the Scottish film “Whisky Galore” on May 15-20; the Japanese film “After the Storm” on May 22-26; the Brazilian film “Nise: The Heart of Madness” on May 30-June 3; and the Israeli comedy “The Women’s Balcony” on June 5-10. All films are at 7:30 p.m.
“Whisky Galore,” running Monday-Saturday, May 15-20, is a remake of a 1949 comedy based on a novel by Sir Compton Mackenzie. It tells the true story of what happens on a small Scottish island which has run out of “whisky” due to rationing during World War Two. When a ship carrying more than 264,000 bottles of malt whisky runs aground nearby, the local citizens work to outsmart an English officer tasked with accounting for all bottles. The film is not rated and is in English.
On Monday-Friday, May 22-26, the series will feature the Japanese light-hearted drama “After the Storm,” directed by Hirokazu Koreeda (“Our Little Sister”). The film focuses on Ryota (Hiroshi Abe), a prize-winning writer who cannot repeat his success and tries to make ends meet as a private detective. After his father dies, Ryota wants to reconnect with his mother, ex-wife and young son, but everyone is wary of him given his past history. In the midst of a stormy life and a stormy night, Ryota begins to find a way to reconnect and move forward. The film is not rated and is in Japanese with English subtitles.
The series will then turn to “Nise: The Heart of Madness,” showing Tuesday-Saturday, May 30-June 3. The film is based on the real-life story of Nise de Silveira (Gloria Pires), and focuses on her work in the 1940s at a Rio de Janeiro psychiatric hospital where she overcame prejudices against her as a woman to demand and develop humane ways of dealing with the mentally ill. The New York Times has called it “mesmerizing,” and the film gathered awards at both the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival and the Tokyo International Film Festival. The film is not rated and is in Portuguese with English subtitles.
The series will end with the comedy “The Women’s Balcony,” showing Monday-Saturday, June 5-10. A major success in Israel, the film follows the challenges within an Orthodox Jewish community after a disaster forces its rabbi to take time off. A young rabbi arrives to help, and his fundamentalist leanings splits the close-knit community. It is a battle of the sexes that is both funny and insightful. The film is not rated and is in Hebrew with English subtitles.
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 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at (616) 395-7890.
The Knickerbocker Theatre is located in downtown Holland at 86 E. Eighth St