The Nanovic Institute for European Studies at the University of Notre Dame is pleased to present its new Film Series for 2007-08. Each film is a pristine 35 mm print presented at the highest possible visual and audio standard.

What do recent European films invite us to laugh about? What purposes do their comedies serve? Are there national types of humor? How are the films situated within or against comic traditions? Inviting us to ask these questions are seven films from across Europe, from Greece to Spain. All are skillfully subtitled in English. Each will be introduced by a speaker and followed by discussion for those interested in hearing more.

Please join us in enjoying these films, and consider whether, as Danish comedian Victor Borge once quipped, “laughter is the closest distance between two people.”

All films are shown on Thursday evenings at 7 and 10 pm in the Browning Cinema at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, University of Notre Dame. For ticket information, call the DeBartolo Center Box Office at 574.631.2800 or visit their website at performingarts.nd.edu.

August 30

Seres Queridos (“Only Human”) dir. Dominic Harari and Teresa Pelegri, 2004. Spain. 85 min. Introduced by Prof. Sam Amago.

Leni, a Spanish woman, brings her fiancé, Rafi, home to meet her Jewish family for the first time. Everything goes well until the lovers reveal that Rafi is Muslim, and things get a bit more complicated when he accidentally lets a pot of frozen soup fall out of the window, apparently killing a pedestrian in the street below. Rafi retrieves the soup to find that the victim may be one of the family’s close relatives. Everything goes wrong in this slapstick comedy of manners – how can anything possibly turn out right?

September 13

Directøren for det hele (“Boss of It All”) dir. Lars von Trier, 2006. Denmark. 35 mm print with English subtitles. 99 min. Introduced by Prof. Christine Becker.

For years, an IT firm’s CEO has let his staff believe that the company is run by a fictional boss named Svend. When the director decides to sell the firm, prospective buyers want to deal with Svend in person. Frantically, the CEO hires an impersonator, and hilarity ensues. Fans of The Office will appreciate Von Trier’s mix of caustic wit and slapstick comedy. Film buffs will appreciate its unusual cinematography.

October 11

Karaula (“The Border Post”) dir. Rajko Grlic, 2006. UK / Serbia and Montenegro/ Croatia. 35 mm print with English subtitles. 94 min. Introduced by the director, Rajko Grlic.

The commander of a seemingly carefree border post between Albania and pre-civil war Yugoslavia is undergoing treatment for a sexually-transmitted disease picked up from a prostitute. To keep his wife from finding out, he fabricates news of an impending Albanian invasion, which then turns into an elaborate farce. This is the first film after the bloody break-up of Yugoslavia to be co-produced by all its former republics.

November 8

A fost sau n-a fost? (“12:08 Bucharest”) dir. Corneliu Porumboiu, 2006. Romania. 35 mm print with English subtitles. 89 min.

A TV talk show host wants to commemorate the revolutionary day Romania’s communist dictator fled the country, but he can only find two men in his village to debate what happened that day: the town intellectual and the town drunk. As they discuss the topic, other villagers (even the former secret police) call in to dispute their stories. Was there a revolution? Are they all heroes? Have they all changed? Porumboiu’s gentle and humane satire won last year’s Camera d’Or award at Cannes for best first feature-length film.

January 31

Im Juli (“In July”) dir. Fatih Akin, 2000. Germany. 35 mm print with English subtitles. 99 min.

Free-spirited romantic comedy from Germany! A humdrum high-school physics professor named Daniel buys a ring from a street vendor that he hopes will lead him to his soul mate. The vendor hopes to have him for herself, but Daniel falls in love instead with a beautiful Turkish girl. He agrees to meet her in Istanbul, but the street vendor joins him for the ride. Hilarious detours ensue. What better way to bring warmth to a cold winter’s night than a road-trip through the Mediterranean?

February 21

Tha to metaniossis (“Think it Over”) dir. Katerina Evangelakou, 2002. Greece. 35 mm print with English subtitles. 95 min.

A warm-hearted social comedy about the passions and choices of a gifted woman living in the Greek countryside. When Maraki falls suddenly and lies mysteriously unresponsive in the central town square, the community coheres around her to puzzle it over – only to find Maraki has become more influential than ever. Insightful and amusing, shot with a hand-held digital camera, the film swept the 2002 International Film awards in Thessaloniki and has propelled Evangelakou to the forefront of New Greek Cinema.

April 10

Mrs. Ratcliffe's Revolution dir. Bille Eltringham, 2007. UK. 35 mm print. Producer Leslee Udwin will introduce the film prior to each screening.

Based on a true life story, Mrs. Ratcliffe's Revolution tells the hilarious adventure of one family's journey as they defect from Yorkshire to East Germany in the late 1960s. After their arrival, the family's idealistic Communist dreams are quickly shattered by the stiffling realities of state-controlled life. Mrs. Ratcliffe, a very ordinary British housewife with a very dysfunctional family, starts a bizarre chain of events that helps a young boy escape to the West. She must then rely on her untapped inner strengths to formulate her family's great escape.

April 17

Bride and Prejudice dir. Gurinder Chadha, 2004. UK. 35 mm print with English subtitles for the Hindi and Punjabi. 111 min.

From the director of Bend It Like Beckham comes a rollicking Bollywood musical adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel. Set in India ,UK, and the United States with vibrant, kaleidoscopic cinematography, the high-spirited Indian heroine and stiff English hero clash in classic fashion as cultural sparks fly. Splashy musical numbers add broad hilarity and intelligent kitsch. Not to be missed, and a perfect conclusion to the series.