This weekend the “Global Glimpses” film festival, only in its second year of operation, will screen all five foreign films nominated this year for an Academy Award. The festival aims to increase awareness of foreign films, which often don’t get adequate distribution in the United States until after they’ve won a major award. But if you wait until then, it’s like listening to M.I.A only because “Paper Planes” was on the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack—it’s just not as cool.
Margie Simkin, the organizer of the series and executive member of the Academy Foreign Language Award committee, wanted to bring some of the best films from around the world to D.C., “a place where a lot of young people who are interested in politics and policy tend to come”, she wrote in an e-mail. “By making it an ‘event’ with a little food and drink,” she wants to show the young folk that “reading subtitles while watching a movie is like texting while you do something else … [it] doesn’t really get in the way of enjoying watching the films after all!”
For those that are of age or for those that have the means to seem so, a complementary wine reception will also be held each day. Tickets are $8 a flick and for the filmophiles it will be $35 for the whole five-film festival. Check out nglive.org or call for tickets, and don’t forget your glasses: subtitles abound.
“Global Glimpses”
Nat’l Geographic HQ
Grosvenor Auditorium
1600 M Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
202-857-7700
Friday, February 13
6 p.m. wine reception
7 p.m. The Bader Meinhof
Complex (Germany)
Saturday, February 14
5 p.m. The Class (France)
7 p.m. wine reception
8 p.m. Departures (Japan)
Sunday, February 15
2 p.m. Revanche (Austria)
4:30 p.m. wine reception
6:30 p.m. Waltz with Bashir
(Israel)
