Jake Gyllenhaal, Reese Witherspoon, Alan Arkin, Peter Sarsgaard and Meryl Streep head an all-star ensemble cast in Rendition, a compelling thriller from director Gavin Hood (director of the Academy Award®-winning film, Tsotsi) which takes a provocative look at the complex political issues surrounding the U.S. government’s policy of “extraordinary rendition” - abducting foreign nationals deemed a threat to national security for detention and interrogation in secret overseas prisons.

Spanning two continents, Rendition tracks the lives of Douglas Freeman (Jake Gyllenhaal), a CIA analyst based in North Africa who is forced to question his assignment after he witnesses the brutal and unorthodox interrogation of an Egyptian-American by secret North African police; Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally), the Egyptian-American chemical engineer whose family emigrated to the States when he was a boy, and who is now suspected of a terrorist act; his pregnant wife Isabella El-Ibrahimi (Reese Witherspoon), who does everything in her power to find her missing husband, who has seemingly disappeared during a flight from Cape Town, South Africa to Washington, DC, by enlisting the help of a politically-connected college friend; Alan Smith (Peter Sarsgaard), an aide to Senator Hawkins (Alan Arkin), who uncovers the troubling fact that Anwar has been shipped off, on the orders of the CIA’s head of terrorism; Corrinne Whitman (Meryl Streep) to a third world country for interrogation; and Abasi Fawal (Igal Naor), the head of the secret prison who has personal problems of his own with a rebellious daughter Fatima (Zineb Oukach) and her Islamic fundamentalist boyfriend Khalid (Moa Khouas).

Rendition boldly explores the gray area between left and right and right and wrong and finds no easy answers. Director Gavin Hood, whose film Tsotsi became the first film from South Africa to win an Academy Award®, makes his American motion picture debut directing screenwriter Kelley Sane's multi-layered story.

Tuesday, 16 October 2007

NTU Sociological Society and the Division of Sociology is proud to present our first film screening event!


(click image to view full size)

Date: 25 Oct 2007
Time: 12.30pm - 1.30pm
Venue: LT 18
[UPDATE: Please take note that the venue has changed to LT 18]

This event is open to all NTU students.
No registration required.

The film director Tan Pin Pin will lead a post-film discussion.
So be sure to catch her in-person!

PLUS! Stand a chance to win movie tickets during the event!
So, see you there!

---
About:
Invisible City is a documentary about documenteurs. The director interviews photographers, journalists, archaeologists, people propelled by curiosity to find a City for themselves. The documentary conveys how deeply personal their search is and how fragile histories are, hanging on only through their memories and artefacts. Interwoven with the interviews is never seen before footage and photos of the City culled from their private archives. In Invisible City, you witness the atrophy of memory, you see a City that could have been. Invisible City opened in Singapore on 19 July 2007 and it ran for a sold-out four weeks at The Arts House.
- http://invisiblecity.wordpress.com/about

Labels: events, film screening

Monday, 15 October 2007

Official website:
http://www.lionsforlambsmovie.com/site.html

SYNOPSIS Lions for Lambs begins after two determined students at a West Coast University, Arian (Derek Luke) and Ernest (Michael Pena), follow the inspiration of their idealistic professor, Dr. Malley (Robert Redford), and attempt to do something important with their lives. But when the two make the bold decision to join the battle in Afghanistan, Malley is both moved and distraught. Now, as Arian and Ernest fight for survival in the field, they become the string that binds together two disparate stories on opposite sides of America. In California, an anguished Dr. Malley attempts to reach a privileged but disaffected student (Andrew Garfield) who is the very opposite of Arian and Ernest. Meanwhile, in Washington D.C. the charismatic Presidential hopeful, Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise), is about to give a bombshell story to a probing TV journalist (Meryl Streep) that may affect Arian and Ernest's fates.
Written by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Source:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0891527/plotsummary

Labels: misc

Saturday, 6 October 2007

Awards:

1. 2003 Jury's Choice - Black Maria Film Festival

2. Jury Award Winner -3rd Annual Media That Matters Film Festival


[+/-] See/Hide Awards

"This film was was inspired by a study...(that) measured American attitudes toward Chinese Americans and Asian Americans." And it has certainly raised the questions of what makes up America and what makes up an American.

I would like to think that the issues highlighted in this film can also be applied in our local context. One particular issue would be Singaporean attitudes toward their significant other. And by 'significant other,' we can include at least three groups of people:
- transient workers,
- immigrants and
- highly skilled foreigners

And perhaps to add on a bit further, what are the Singaporean attitudes toward the tourists - in particular, the Ang Moh tourist? The conception is that they get better services. Is this really true? If so, why does it continue to persist?

Hmmm...

Anyway, these are just some thoughts for us to reflect upon.
Hope I haven't bored anyone to sleep.

Alright, till next time,
Cheers!

Labels: social issues