"Return to Life"

April 17, Saturday, 1pm onwards

(Free Admission)

Departures (Okuribito) (Japan, 2008)

Director: Yôjirô Takita

Writer: Kundo Koyama

Running Time: 131 minutes, in Japanese with English subtitles

Cast: Masahiro Motoki, Ryoko Hirosue, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kimiko Yo, Kazuko Yoshiyuki and Takashi Sasano

Synopsis: Daigo Kobayashi is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and now finds himself without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled "Departures" thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a "Nokanshi" or "encoffineer," a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of "Nokanshi," acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living.

Awards/Nominations: 81st Academy Awards: Best Foreign Language Film; 3rd Asian Film Awards: Best Actor (Masahiro Motoki); 3rd Asia Pacific Screen Awards: Best Performance by an Actor (Masahiro Motoki); 17th Golden Rooster Award :Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor (Masahiro Motoki); 28th Hawaii International Film Festival: Audience Choice Award; 32nd Montreal World Film Festival: Grand Prix des Amériques; 20th Palm Springs International Film Festival: Mercedes-Benz Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature; 51st Blue Ribbon Awards: Best Actor (Masahiro Motoki); 33rd Hochi Film Awards: Best Film; 32nd Japan Academy Prize Best Film, Best Director (Yojiro Takita), Best writing (Kundo Koyama), Best Actor (Masahiro Motoki), Best Supporting Actor (Tsutomu Yamazaki), Best Supporting Actress (Kimiko Yo), Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Lightings; 82nd Kinema Junpo Awards: Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor (Masahiro Motoki); 63rd Mainichi Film Award: Best Japanese Film, Best Sound Mixing; 21st Nikkan Sports Film Award: Best Film and Best Director; 2008 Trailer ZEN Festival: Grand Prix; 30th Yokohama Film Festival: Best Film, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress (Kimiko Yo, Ryoko Hirosue)

Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin) (Germany, 1987)  

Director:  Wim Wenders

Writers:  Peter Handke and Wim Wenders

Running Time: 127 minutes in German, English, French and Italian with English subtitles

Cast:  Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander, Curt Bois and Peter Falk

Synopsis: Wings of Desire is a film by the German director Wim Wenders. Its original German title is Der Himmel über Berlin, which can be translated as The Sky (or Heaven) over Berlin. Rainer Maria Rilke's poetry partially inspired the movie; Wenders claimed angels seemed to dwell in Rilke's poetry. The director also employed Peter Handke, who wrote much of the dialogue, the poetic narrations, and the film's recurring poem "Song of Childhood." The film was followed by a sequel, Faraway, So Close!

The film centers around the story of two angels wandering in a mixture of post-war and modern Berlin. Invisible to humans, they nevertheless give their help and comfort to all the lonely and depressed souls they meet. Finally, after many centuries, one of the angels becomes unhappy with his immortal state and wishes to become human in order to experience the joys of everyday life. He meets a circus acrobat and finds in her the fufillment of all his mortal desires. He also discovers that he is not alone in making this cross over, and that a purely spiritual experience is not enough to satisfy anyone.

Wenders dedicated this movie to Japanese film director Yasujiro Ozu, François Truffaut and Andrei Tarkovsky.

Wings of Desire received "Two Thumbs Up" from Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert on Siskel & Ebert & The Movies.

Leslie James of 680 News Toronto claims it is one of the best movies of all time.

Awards/Nominations: BAFTA Film Award - Best Film not in the English Language
(Nominee); 1988 Bavarian Film Awards - Best Direction (Regiepreis) Wim Wenders; 1989 Blue Ribbon Awards - Best Foreign Language Film; 1987 Cannes Film Festival - Best Director Wim Wenders; Golden Palm (Nominee); 1988 César Awards, France - César Best Foreign Film (Meilleur film étranger) Wim Wenders (Nominee);
1988 European Film Awards - Best Director Wim Wenders, Best Supporting Actor Curt Bois, Best Camera (Nominee), Best Film (Nominee); 1988 French Syndicate of Cinema Critics - Critics Award     Best Foreign Film; 1989 German Film Awards - Special Film Award '40th Anniversary of the Federal Republic of Germany' Wim Wenders (Nominee), Film Award in Gold, Outstanding Feature Film, Outstanding Individual Achievement: Cinematography; 1989 Guild of German Art House Cinemas - Guild Film Award - Silver German Film (Deutscher Film) Wim Wenders; 1989 Independent Spirit Award - Best Foreign Film; 1988 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards - LAFCA Award Best Cinematography, Best Foreign Film; 1989
National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA - NSFC Award Best Cinematography; 1988 New York Film Critics Circle Awards - NYFCC Award     Best Cinematographer Henri Alekan; 1988  São Paulo International Film Festival - Audience Award Best Feature

Last Life in the Universe (Ruang rak noi nid mahasan) (Thailand, 2003)

Director:  Pen-Ek Ratanaruang

Writers:  Pen-Ek Ratanaruang and Prabda Yoon

Running Time: 112 minutes in Thai, Japanese, English with English subtitles

Cast:  Tadanobu Asano,Sinitta Boonyasak and Laila Boonyasak

Synopsis: An obsessive-compulsive Japanese librarian living in Bangkok spends most of his empty days contemplating suicide alone in his lifeless apartment. His life completely changes when he witnesses the death of Nid seconds before he was about to jump off a bridge. This pivotal event paired the lost Japanese with Nid's elder sister Noi as these two lost and lonely souls help each other find the meaning to their meaningless existences.

Awards/Nominations: Last Life in the Universe was awarded in Thailand two times by the Thailand National Film Association Awards and the FIPRESCI Prize (Bangkok International Film Festival). For his role as Kenji, Tadanobu Asano received the Upstream Prize for Best Actor at the 2003 Venice Film Festival. The film received the AQCC Award and Jury Prize at the Fant-Asia Film Festival. It was also chosen to be Thailand's official submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2003.

sources: wikipedia.org, imdb.com

Where to find us:

The Titus Brandsma Center is located at St. Elijah Hall, 26 Acacia St. Brgy. Mariana, New Manila, Quezon City. For inquiries and confirmation, please call or text Ms. Bituin Quinto at 726-6054 or 09174759244.
Email: pelikula_titusbrandsma-owner@yahoogroups.com, tbcmedia@yahoo. com or pelikula.tbc@ gmail.com

DETAILED DIRECTIONS:

E.Rodriguez Avenue Route:
(from España, Manila)

>E.Rodriguez - Right to New York St. - Right to Lantana St. - Left to Rosario Drive - Right to Acacia st. (see map below)
Landmarks: Immaculate Conception Church (Lantana), Boston Gallery (going to Rosario Drive)

Aurora Boulevard Route:
(from Cubao to Manila-Legarda side)

>Aurora Blvd./Cubao - Betty Go Belmonte St. (Valley Road) - Rosario Drive - Acacia St.
Landmarks: X'tian Academy School, Caltex & Landbank (Betty Go), Teresa of Avila Bldg. (corner Rosario & Acacia)

*Take Stop & Shop, Divisoria jeepney
Note: Tricycle stations are found both in Lantana and Betty Go Belmonte Sts.

Comments

For any comments and suggestions or should you have any film suggestions in the future, email us at:
pelikula@official.ws