The Washington Diplomat

**Unless specific times are listed, please check the theater for times. Theater locations are subject to change.

Bengali

The Namesake
Directed by Mira Nair
(India/U.S., 2006, 122 min.)
American-born Gogol, the son of Indian immigrants, wants to fit in among his fellow Bostonians, despite his family’s unwillingness to let go of their traditional ways (Bengali, Hindi and English).
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., March 23
Theater TBA
Opens Fri., March 16

Cantonese

Infernal Affairs Trilogy
(Mou Gaan Dou)
Directed by Wai Keung Lau and Siu Fai Mak
(Hong Kong, 2002-03)
This trilogy screening boasts the mega-talents of director-writer-superstar Andy Lau as the dirty cop and superstar Tony Leung as the undercover cop in too deep with the Triad (Cantonese, Thai and English).
AFI Silver Theatre
March 9 to 15

Czech

Holiday Maker
(Ucastnici Zajezdu)
Directed by Jiri Vejdelek
(Czech Republic, 2006, 113 min.)
Unexpected friendships develop among a motley group of vacationers in this spicy Czech comedy.
Freer Gallery of Art
Tue., March 6, 7 p.m.

Source
(Zdroj)
Directed by Martin Marecek
(Czech Republic, 2005, 75 min.)
Filming the surrealist Soviet-era oil fields around Baku, with locals oblivious to the environmental dangers around them, this documentary reveals the price paid by ordinary people for Azerbaijan’s exports.
Embassy of the Czech Republic
Wed., March 21, 7 p.m.

Year of the Devil
(Rok Dabla)
Directed by Petr Zelenka
A Czech folk star, a band of funeral musicians and a Dutch filmmaker stumble toward enlightenment on a remarkable musical tour (Czech Republic, 2002, 88 min.)
(Czech, English and Dutch).
The Avalon Theatre
Wed., March 14, 8 p.m.

English

Amazing Grace
Directed by Michael Apted
(U.K./U.S., 2006, 117 min.)
The idealist William Wilberforce maneuvers his way through Parliament in 18th-century England, endeavoring to end slavery in the empire.
Various area theaters

Apocalypse Now
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
(U.S., 1979, 153 min.)
During the Vietnam War, Capt. Willard is sent into the Cambodian jungle to assassinate Col. Kurtz (Marlon Brando), who has become insane and runs his own fiefdom.
Goethe-Institut
Mon., March 26, 6:30 p.m.

Away From Her
Directed by Sarah Polley
(Canada, 2007, 110 min.)
When a middle-age woman develops a memory-impairing disease that threatens to take her away from her husband, her desire to live makes her fall in love all over again.
Freer Gallery of Art
Tue., March 27, 7 p.m.

Becket
Directed by Peter Glenville
(U.K./U.S., 1964, 150 min.)
Peter O’Toole stars as the lusty and powerful King Henry II in 12th-century England, with Richard Burton as his best friend and close advisor.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., March 2

Beyond the Gates
Directed by Michael Caton-Jones
(U.K./Germany, 2005, 94 min.)
Based on real events, a teacher finds himself in the middle of the genocide in Rwanda, struggling to protect his brightest pupil and the thousands of refugees who have fled to his school.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., March 9
Theater TBA
Opens Fri., March 16

Black Gold
Directed by Marc and Nick Francis
(U.K., 2006, 82 min.)
From Ethiopian bean to Starbucks cup, this film tells the fascinating and disturbing story of coffee production and consumption around the world.
Edmund Burke School
Tue., March 20, 7 p.m.

Breaking and Entering
Directed by Anthony Minghella
(U.K./U.S., 2006, 119 min.)
A successful landscape architect in a seedy part of London befriends the Serbian mother of the troubled teen who has been repeatedly breaking into his state-of-the-art offices, resulting in a closer relationship with his own girlfriend and her mentally challenged daughter.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Various area theaters

Children of Men
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
(U.K./U.S., 2006, 109 min.)
In 2027 Britain, where society has been torn apart by the humans’ inability to procreate, an activist endeavors to help a miraculously pregnant woman escape the island where her child’s birth could lead scientists to save humanity (Italian, Romanian, English and Spanish).
Various area theaters

Chimes at Midnight
(Campanadas a Medianoche)
Directed by Orson Welles
(France/Spain/Switzerland, 1965, 115 min.)
The career of Shakespeare’s Sir John Falstaff as a roistering companion to young Prince Hal is portrayed circa 1400 to 1413.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., March 10, 3 p.m.

A Clockwork Orange
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
(U.K., 1971, 136 min.)
Initially sparking copycat crimes across Britain and withdrawn from British distribution until after Stanley Kubrick’s death, “A Clockwork Orange” stars Malcolm McDowell as the Beethoven-loving ringleader of a band of thugs who seeks payback after being subject to extreme behavior modification treatment by the government.
AFI Silver Theatre
Thu., March 1, 9:15 p.m.

Color Me Kubrick
Directed by Brian W. Cook
(U.K./France, 2005, 86 min.)
In this true story, a man poses as director Stanley Kubrick during the production of Kubrick’s last film, “Eyes Wide Shut,” despite knowing very little about his work and looking nothing like him.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., March 23

A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash
Directed by Basil Gelpke
(Switzerland, 2006, 85 min.)
According to this frightening documentary, not only are Western economies bound inextricably to a rapidly diminishing global oil supply—but those very suppliers might have seriously overestimated their own reserves.
Embassy of Switzerland
Tue., March 20, 6 and 8 p.m.

Factory Girl
Directed by George Hickenlooper
(U.S., 2006, 90 min.)
Sienna Miller stars as Edie Sedgwick, whose life changes forever when she meets Andy Warhol in 1960s New York (English and Polish).
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Gambit
Directed by Sabine Gisiger
(Switzerland, 2005, 107 min.)
An energetic and idealistic technical director of a Swiss conglomerate is accused of a massive explosion at a chemicals factory that triggers a devastating dioxin disaster.
Embassy of Switzerland
Thu., March 22, 6 and 8 p.m.

Hannibal Rising
Directed by Peter Webber
(U.S./U.K./France, 2007, 117 min.)
This addition to the famed cannibal series tells the story of teenage Hannibal and Mischa Lecter after their parents are killed in World War II.
Various area theaters

Humoresque
Directed by Jean Negulesco
(U.S., 1946, 124 min.)
A neurotic society woman sets her sights on an ambitious young violinist, but tragedy ensues when she cannot abide being of secondary importance in his life.
Goethe-Institut
Mon., March 19, 6:30 p.m.

The Last King of Scotland
Directed by Kevin Macdonald
(U.K., 2006, 121 min.)
Kevin Macdonald takes a frightening look at the events of brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin’s regime as seen by his personal physician during the 1970s.
Various area theaters

Manufactured Landscapes
Directed by Jennifer Baichwal
(Canada, 2006, 90 min.)
The aesthetic, social and spiritual dimensions of industrialization and globalization are explored in this portrait of celebrated Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky.
National Gallery of Art
Sat., March 17, 3 p.m.

Notes on a Scandal
Directed by Richard Eyre
(U.K., 2006, 91 min.)
When a young, free-spirited art teacher lands in a British prep school, Barbara Covett (Judi Dench) is intrigued—then obsessed when she finds the young teacher is having an affair with a student.
Various area theaters

Opal Dream
Directed by Peter Cattaneo
(Australia/U.S., 2005, 85 min.)
A young girl’s relationship with her imaginary friends resonates throughout her town in the Australian Outback.
Cineplex Odeon Dupont Circle

The Painted Veil
Directed by John Curran
(U.S., 2006, 125 min.)
A 1920s doctor drags his unhappy and unfaithful wife to Shanghai to aid in a cholera epidemic, where the experience becomes one of the most enriching of her life (Mandarin and English).
Various area theaters

Puccini for Beginners
Directed by Maria Maggenti
(U.S., 2006, 82 min.)
A recently singled New York writer finds herself in two surprising and complicated relationships in this screwball sex comedy.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., March 23

The Queen
Directed by Stephen Frears
(U.K./France/Italy, 2006, 99 min.)
“The Queen” is an intimate, behind-the-scenes glimpse at the interaction between Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair during their struggle following the death of Princess Diana.
Various area theaters

Rain in a Dry Land
Directed by Anne Makepeace
(U.S., 2006, 82 min.)
In this documentary, two war-torn Somali Bantu families who leave a legacy of oppression in Africa face new challenges in the United States.
National Museum of Women in the Art
Wed., March 21, 7 p.m.

The Rape of Europa
Directed by Richard Berge, Bonni Cohen and Nicole Newnham
(U.S., 2005, 120 min.)
Joan Allen narrates this epic journey through seven countries as the Nazi regime threatens to wipe out Europe’s artistic heritage.
National Gallery of Art
Sun., March 4, 4:30 p.m.

Rare Bird
Directed by Lucinda Spurling
(Bermuda, 2006, 80 min.)
In this true story, a 15-year-old boy helps find the Cahow bird, believed to be extinct for more than 300 years, and solves the mystery of its existence.
National Zoological Park
Thu., March 15, 7 p.m.

Richard III
Directed by Richard Loncraine
(U.K./U.S., 1995, 104 min.)
The classic Shakespearean play about a murderously scheming king is staged in an alternative fascist England setting.
AFI Silver Theatre
March 17 to 22

The Scarlett Empress
Directed by Josef von Sternberg
(U.S., 1934, 104 min.)
Young Princess Sophia of Germany is taken to Russia to marry the half-wit Grand Duke Peter, dutifully producing a son of questionable fatherhood, engineering a coup d’etat, and becoming Catherine the Great.
Goethe-Institut
Mon., March 5, 6:30 p.m.

Sharkwater
Directed by Rob Stewart
(Canada, 2006, 89 min.)
Gifted underwater photographer Rob Stewart patrols long-line fishermen to combat illegal shark exploitation, culminating in a thrilling chase that ends up with the culprits charged with attempted murder in a Costa Rican court.
AFI Silver Theatre
Mon., March 19, 7 p.m.

Smokin’ Aces
Directed by Joe Carnahan
(U.S./U.K./France, 2006, 107 min.)
When a Las Vegas performer-turned-snitch named Buddy Israel decides to turn state’s evidence and testify against the mob, it seems that a whole lot of people would like to make sure he’s no longer breathing.
Theater TBA

Starter for Ten
Directed by Tom Vaughn
(U.K./U.S., 2006, 92 min.)
Set in 1985, working-class student Brian Jackson navigates his first year at Bristol University.
Theater TBA
Opens Fri., March 9

Titus
Directed by Julie Taymor
(Italy/U.S., 1999, 162 min.)
Shakespeare’s bloodiest play becomes a wildly imaginative and visually audacious mash-up, mixing elements of Ancient Rome, Fascist Italy and modern-day pulp.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sun., March 11, 1 p.m.

The Uninvited
Directed by Lewis Allen
(U.S., 1944, 99 min.)
A brother and sister move into a haunted seaside house on the English coast, where they feel compelled to solve the mystery of the haunting.
Goethe-Institut
Mon., March 12, 6:30 p.m.

An Unreasonable Man
Directed by Henriette Mantel and Steve Skrovan
(U.S., 2006, 122 min.)
The undisputed leader of the modern Consumer Movement, Ralph Nader built a legislative record that rivals any contemporary president, all without ever holding public office—yet today, when most people hear his name, they think of the man who cost the Democrats the Presidential election.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Venus
Directed by Roger Michell
(U.K., 2006, 91 min.)
The daily lives of Maurice and Ian, two veteran actors, are drastically changed by the arrival of Ian’s teenage daughter, who reminds them how much more there is to learn, even at the end of life.
Cinema Arts Theatre
Landmark’s Bethesda Row Cinema
Loews Shirlington

We Feed the World
Directed by Erwin Wagenhofer
(Austria, 2005, 96 min.)
With powerful images, the film provides insight into the production of our food and answers the question of what world hunger has to do with us.
Embassy of Austria
Mon., March 19, 8 p.m.

Young Rebels
(Jóvenes Rebeldes)
Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
(U.S./Cuba, 2005, 70 min.)
This informative documentary follows young Cuban musicians with few hopes of commercial success who embrace rap music (English and Spanish).
AFI Silver Theatre
March 3 to 7

French

Avenue Montaigne
(Fauteuils d’Orchestre)
Directed by Daniele Thompson
(France, 2006, 106 min.)
A beautiful, spirited young woman from the provinces comes to Paris to experience life, landing a job waiting tables at a chic bistro on the fabled Avenue Montaigne.
The Avalon Theatre
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., March 2

Days of Glory
(Indigenes)
Directed by Rachid Bouchareb
(France/Morocco/Algeria, Belgium, 2006, 120 min.)
Set in 1943 during World War II, a group of North African soldiers who join the French in their fight against the Nazis must passionately battle to defend the “fatherland,” a place they’ve never seen, as they face inequality and daily humiliation within the French army (French and Arabic).
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Delwende
Directed by Pierre Yameogo
(Burkina Faso/France/Switzerland, 2005, 89 min.)
In Burkina Faso, where age-old customs are often law in a land battling misery and the obligations of tradition, “soul-eating” women are blamed for unexplained deaths.
Hirshhorn Museum
Tue., March 13, 7 p.m.

The Gang of Four
(La Band des Quatre)
Directed by Jacques Rivette
(France, 1988, 160 min.)
Four aspiring young actresses and their seasoned coach are pulled into a fantasy-realm plots that involves national terrorism.

Into Great Silence
Directed by Philip Groening
(Germany, 2005, 164 min.)
For nearly six months, the filmmaker lived in the monastery of the Grande Chartreuse in the French Alps, where Carthusian monks live in much greater solitude than other orders.
Goethe-Institut
Thu., March 22, 6:30 p.m.

The Mysteries of Clipperton
(Les Mystères de Clipperton)
Directed by Brigitte Delahaie and Luc Marescot
(France, 2005, 60 min.)
Clipperton, a tiny French territory off the coast of Mexico, remains a scientific mystery, with forms of life existing there that can be found nowhere else on earth.
La Maison Française
Sun., March 18, 6 p.m.

Nina’s Home
Directed by Richard Dembo
(France, 2005, 113 min.)
Nina runs her “House of Hope”—a home for Jewish children displaced by World War II—with the perfect blend of fair-minded discipline and maternal affection for her young charges.
DCJCC
Mon., March 19, 7:30 p.m.

La Nuit des Publivores
This compilation of commercials aired on television channels and movie theaters of more than 60 French-speaking nations offer a glimpse into the francophone culture.
Hirshhorn Museum
Tue., March 20, 7 p.m.

La Petit Jerusalem
Directed by Karin Albou
(France, 2005, 96 min.)
A beautiful Jewish young woman still living with her orthodox family in a Parisian suburb falls in love with a Muslim coworker (French, Arabic and Hebrew).
Cinema Art Bethesda
Sun., March 4, 10 a.m.

Le Petit Lieutenant
Directed by Xavier Beauvois
(France, 2005, 110 min.)
When the body of a drifter is found murdered along the Seine, a seemingly routine investigation suddenly turns violent and forever changes the lives of an ambitious young cop from the provinces and his veteran policewoman superior (French, Polish and Russian).
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Playtime
Directed by Jacques Tati
(France, 1967, 124 min.)
This classic film thrusts the endearing, clumsy, resolutely old-fashioned Monsieur Hulot, with a host of other lost souls, into a bafflingly modernist Paris.
AFI Silver Theatre
Sat., March 24, 1 p.m.

The Spirit of Places
(L’Esprit des Lieux)
Directed by Catherine Martin
(Canada, 2006, 84 min.)
Documenting the decline of rural, homegrown culture in Quebec’s Charlevoix region, the people are determined to hang on to the old ways but entirely cognizant of the fact that their lifestyle is doomed.
National Gallery of Art
Sat., March 17, 4:30 p.m.

Viva Algeria!
(Viva Laldjérie)
Directed by Nadir Moknèche
(France, 2004, 113 min.)
A mother, her daughter and a prostitute live in a hotel and resolutely refuse to give up the fight amid the violence in Algiers in 2003.
La Maison Française
Wed., March 14, 7 p.m.

Ganalbingu

Ten Canoes
Directed by Rolf de Heer
(Australia, 2006, 92 min.)
Featuring an all-Aboriginal cast from Australia’s Northern Territory, the film encompasses two stories, the first taking place 1,000 years ago and the second near the dawn of time.
Embassy of Australia
Mon., March 19, 6:30 p.m.

German

Aguirre: The Wrath of God
(Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes)
Directed by Werner Herzog
(W. Germany, 1972, 100 min.)
Werner Herzog’s 1972 cult classic is a nightmarish tale of a mutinous Spanish conquistador (Klaus Kinski) wielding a psychotic charisma in his doomed quest to find a city of gold in the Peruvian jungle.
AFI Silver Theatre
March 2 to 8

The Lives of Others
(Das Leben der Anderen)
Directed by Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck
(Germany, 2006, 137 min.)
In East Berlin, five years before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Capt. Gerd Wiesler of the secret Stasi police is given a mission to spy on a celebrated writer-and-actress couple, but his loyalty begins to erode as his immersion makes him acutely aware of the shortfalls of his own existence.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

Water for Canitoga
(Wasser fur Canitoga)
Directed by Herbert Selpin
(Germany, 1939, 119 min.)
Set in 1905 Canada, an engineer laying pipes to supply water to a remote outpost must clear his name after shooting a saboteur in self-defense.
Capitol Hill Arts Workshop
Wed., March 28, 7 p.m.

Guarani

Hamaca Paraguaya
Directed by Paz Encina
(Argentina/Paraguay/Netherlands/Austria/France/Germany, 2006, 78 min.)
Set in 1935, an aging, poor, rural couple wait for news of their son, who is fighting in the Chaco war (screens with “Safari” (2006, 17 min.)).
Hirshhorn Museum
Thu., March 22, 8 p.m.

Hindi

Water
Directed by Deepa Mehta
(Canada/India, 2005, 117 min.)
In the temple where widows are forced to live out the rest of their days in 1938 India, one of the women tries to escape the social restrictions placed on widows, falling in love with a man from a lower caste and a follower of Mahatma Gandhi.
Cinema Art Bethesda
Sun., March 25, 10 a.m.

Hungarian

Damnation
(Karhozat)
Directed by Bela Tarr
(Hungary, 1988, 116 min.)
A recluse falls hopelessly in love with a cabaret singer and gets her husband involved in a smuggling scheme in this visually stunning depiction of humanity’s darkness.
National Gallery of Art
Sun., March 18, 4 p.m.

Werckmeister Harmonies
Directed by Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky
(Hungary/Italy/Germany/France, 2000, 145 min.)
A village eccentric anchors this stunning, surrealistic black-and-white panorama.
National Gallery of Art
Sun., March 25, 4 p.m.

Italian

Mafioso
Directed by Alberto Lattuada
(Italy, 1962, 105 min.)
Successful Antonio returns to Sicily to introduce his wife and children to his humble but proud family, also paying a visit to the village Mafia notable to whom Antonio is indebted for making his new life in Milan possible.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., March 16

The Wind Blows Round
(Il Vento Fa Il Suo Giro)
Directed by Giorgio Diritti
(Italy, 2005, 110 min.)
Into a small aging mountain village that is gradually dying out comes a French shepherd, bringing his young family, his goats and his entrepreneurial skills as a cheesemaker (Italian and French).
Italian Cultural Institute
Fri., March 23, 6:30 p.m.

Japanese

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
(Kaze no tani no Naushika)
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
(Japan, 1984, 116 min.)
One thousand years after the “Seven Days of Fire,” an event that destroyed human civilization and most of the Earth’s original ecosystem, scattered human settlements survive.
Japan Information and Cultural Center
Thu., March 15, 6 p.m.

Letters From Iwo Jima
Directed by Clint Eastwood
(U.S., 2006, 140 min.)
The companion piece to Clint Eastwood’s film “Flags of Our Fathers” shows the battle of Iwo Jima from the Japanese perspective.
Various area theaters

Korean

The Host
(Gwoemul)
Directed by Bong Joon-ho
(South Korea, 2006, 119 min.)
A mutant emerges from Seoul’s Han River and focuses its attention on attacking people, forcing a food-stand worker to infiltrate the Forbidden Zone near the river to rescue his daughter (Korean and English).
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., March 9

Welcome to Dongmakgol
Directed by Kwang-Hyun Park
(South Korea, 2005, 133 min.)
Soldiers from both sides of the Korean divide live among villagers who know nothing of the war.
George Mason Public Library
Wed., March 21

Mongolian

The Cave of the Yellow Dog
Directed by Byambasuren Davaa
(Mongolia, 2005, 93 min.)
Six-year-old Nansal, the oldest daughter of a Mongolian nomad family, finds a small dog in a cave, but her father, afraid the puppy will bring bad luck and attract wolves, orders her to leave it behind.
Freer Gallery of Art
Fri., March 23, 7 p.m.

Khadak
Directed by Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth
(Belgium/Germany/The Netherlands, 2006, 104 min.)
A family of nomadic herders on the frozen steppes of Mongolia is forced by the government to relocate to a town.
National Gallery of Art
Sat., March 24, 4:30 p.m.

The Story of the Weeping Camel
Directed by Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni
(Germany/Mongolia, 2003, 93 min.)
Set in the vast, beautiful landscape of the Gobi Desert, this documentary spotlights the relationship between a mother and baby camel while providing a unique glimpse into the lives of nomadic Mongolian shepherds.
Freer Gallery of Art
Sun., March 25, 2 p.m.

Spanish

Family Law
(Derecho de Familia)
Directed by Daniel Burman
(Argentina/Italy/Spain/France, 2006, 102 min.)
This funny and tender story of fathers and sons spans three generations of a Jewish Argentinean family.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema

The Magic Gloves
(Los Guantes Mágicos)
Directed by Martín Rejtman
(Argentina/France/Germany/ Netherlands, 2003, 90 min.)
In this absurdist comedy, legendary Argentine director Martín Rejtman once again gives life to endearingly obsessive characters and offers a unique and unromanticized view of Buenos Aires.
AFI Silver Theatre
March 10 to 13

Pan’s Labyrinth
(El Laberinto del Fauno)
Directed by Guillermo del Toro
(Mexico/Spain/U.S., 2006, 112 min.)
An imaginative girl moves to Spain in 1944, where she must come to terms with the subsequent Fascist repression through a fable of her own creation.
Various area theaters

Viva Cuba
Directed by Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti
(France/Cuba, 2005, 86 min.)
The friendship between two children in Cuba is threatened by their parents’ differences in a tale similar to “Romeo and Juliet.”
The Avalon Theatre
Sat., March 24, 10 a.m.

Volver
Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
(Spain, 2006, 121 min.)
In Pedro Almodóvar’s new comedy, three generations of women survive wind, fire and even death, thanks to goodness, audacity and a limitless vitality.
Various area theaters

Swedish

Wild Strawberries
(Smultronstället)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
(Sweden, 1957, 91 min.)
After living a life marked by coldness, an aging professor is forced to confront the emptiness of his existence.
House of Sweden
Wed., March 7, 7 p.m.

Thai

Tears of the Black Tiger
(Fah Talai Jone)
Directed by Wisit Sasanatieng
(Thailand, 2000, 81 min.)
In this Thai cult film, a girl falls in love with “Black Tiger,” the most feared bandit in the country, but when she is forced to marry another, the Black Tiger is determined to get her back.
Landmark’s E Street Cinema
Opens Fri., March 9

Various Languages

Babel
Directed by Alejandro Gonzàlez Inàrritu
(U.S., 2006, 142 min.)
Four families in four different countries deal with moments of crisis as each struggle with miscommunication and discrimination.
Various area theaters