Film festival kicks
off at local libraries
BY BRYAN SABELLA
Staff Writer
The Spring 2004 International Film Festival, a joint effort between a dozen public libraries in the region, will get under way in Edison and Metuchen this month.
Three acclaimed foreign films will be featured.
The first, "Rabbit-Proof Fence" (2002), is an Australian film that takes place in the 1930s and deals with the social policy that forced half-caste children—born of one white parent and one Aborigine parent—into state institutions, where they would be groomed to enter white society and take menial jobs.
The second, "Whale Rider" (2002), comes from New Zealand. It tells the story of a 12-year-old Maori girl who must battle daunting odds to convince her tribe that she should be chief of her people.
The film’s star, Keisha Castle-Hughes, who was 11 years old when the film was shot, became the youngest person ever nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award this year.
The third and final film is the 2002 Brazilian effort "City of God," a gritty look at the violent and troubling lives of young people in the ghettos of Rio De Janeiro.
Its director, Fernando Meirelles, was nominated for an Academy Award this year.
John McBride, adult services librarian at the Metuchen library, said the spring festival, as well as a fall festival, grew out of the overwhelming popularity of the summer version several years ago.
Once a year, representatives from each of the libraries involved get together to select the films, McBride said.
This spring’s offerings are fairly unique as only "City of God" is actually in a foreign language — Portuguese — with subtitles.
"Rabbit-Proof Fence" will be shown at libraries in both Edison and Metuchen this month.
"Whale Rider" will be shown in April and "City of God" will be shown in May.