DANVILLE, KY—From a tiny Himalayan mountain village to the waning days of the Japanese Shogun period to the war-torn Balkans in the early 1990s, the International Film Series brings a wide range of critically acclaimed international films to the Centre College campus. Now in its third season, the spring showcase begins Monday March 6, and will continue with a new film every week through April 24.

The series, organized by professors Ian Wilson and Ruben Dupertuis, arose out of Wilson's desire "to bring some extraordinary cinema to campus and to help expose the Centre community to intriguing cultural issues in an accessible manner."

The films will show at 7 p.m. in the newly renovated Vahlkamp Theater in the lower level of Crounse. There will be a brief introduction and discussion afterwards for each film.

Monday, March 6: Himalaya
Directed by Eric Valli
Unrated; 108 minutes; 1999
Tibetan with English subtitles
Himalaya tells the story of a generational struggle for the leadership of a tiny mountain village between its proud old chief and a headstrong young caravanner. The balance of power shifts uneasily as they make their annual salt trek across the Himalayas.

Tuesday, March 14: Amores Perros
Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu
Rated R; 153 minutes; 2000
Spanish with English subtitles
From Mexico City's mean streets to posh high-rises, Amores Perros embodies the electric energy of contemporarycity life and character. In this stunning debut, González Iñárritu effortlessly interweaves three complex love storiesand drives this gripping film from Tarantinoesque action into Buñuelian surrealism and back again.

Wednesday, April 5: Twilight Samurai
Directed by Yôji Yamada
Unrated; 129 minutes; 2002
Japanese with English subtitles
Set in the late 19th century as the feudal Shogun period was giving way to the Meiji Restoration, Seibei Iguchi (Hiroyuki Sanada) is a low-ranking samurai of the Unasaka clan in Shonai Province of northeast Japan. His wife has died of tuberculosis, and with two daughters, Kayano and Ito, and an elderly mother to support, he and his family must survive in austerity. The moment his daily work as a clerk is over, he hurries home, refusing to drink or eat with fellow samurai. Behind his back, his fellow samurai teasingly call him "Tasogare Seibei" (Twilight Seibei). The divorce of his childhood friend Tomoe (Rie Miyazawa) leads him into a confrontation with her violent ex-husband, a high-ranking samurai. When word of Seibei's easy victory using only a wooden sword begins to circulate, his reputation for sword-fighting prowess begins to change his colleagues' assessment of him. Just as Seibei begins to dream that, despite his impoverishment he might win the hand of the long loved Tomoe, he is caught in the shifting turmoil of the times and is assigned by his superiors, against his wishes, to kill a renowned warrior on the wrong side of a clan power struggle.

Tuesday, April 11: A Very Long Engagement
Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Rated R; 133 minutes; 2004
French with English subtitles
A group of five desperate men were rumored to have shot themselves to be relieved from the horrifying frontlines during WWI. A court-martial chose to put them in harm's way of the enemy's cross-fire as punishment. They are all declared dead, but a young fianceé receives information that makes her think otherwise, and she embarks on a long painful journey to discover the truth.

Monday, April 24: Before the Rain
Directed by Milcho Manchevski
Unrated; 113 minutes; 1994
Macedonian and Albanian with English subtitles, English
Love and violence are explored in three tales of freedom set in war-torn Macedonia. A monk quits the clergy to which he had devoted most of his life so that he may be with a beautiful refugee; an editor must decide between her husband and her lover; and a photographer returns to his war-torn home town in this unforgettable drama.

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