COD's Global Flicks Film Festival Begins Feb. 4

Global Flicks, a festival of eight award-winning international films, will be presented on Wednesdays, Feb. 4 to March 25, in the Belushi Performance Hall of the McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd., in Glen Ellyn.

Global Flicks is co-sponsored by the COD Field and Experiential Leading, Study Abroad and Global Education programs and the McAninch Arts Center.

The films will be shown at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. Films are shown in their original language with English subtitles, and each screening concludes with a moderated discussion of the film and its subject matter.

Additionally, Waterleaf, the fine-dining restaurant at COD's Glen Ellyn campus, will provide a pre-show themed prix fixe menu at 5 p.m. In addition, the College's Continuing Education program will offer a themed lunch and casual film discussion at Wheat Café, the student-operated restaurant, at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 18, ("Waste Land") and Wednesday, March 4 ("La Vita E Bella").

For more information, call the MAC Ticket Office at (630) 942-4000 or click here.

"Omar" (Palestine) - Feb. 4

Directed by Hany Abu-Assad

Academy Award Nominee 2014 for Best Foreign Language Film, "Omar" is a gripping thriller about betrayal, suspected and real, in the Occupied Territories. Omar is a Palestinian baker by day who climbs over the separation wall to visit his girl Nadja. By night, he risks his life with friends to strike at the Israeli military. Arrested after the killing of an Israeli soldier, Omar becomes an informant beginning a dangerous game. Palestinian filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad has made a dynamic, action-packed drama about the insoluble moral dilemmas and choices facing those on the frontlines of a conflict that shows no sign of letting up. (97 min.)

Vivir es facil con los ojos cerrados (Living is easy with eyes closed)" (Spain) - Feb. 11

Directed by David Trueba

It is 1966 in Spain. English teacher and die-hard Beatles fan Antonio resolves to go on a road trip to Almería to meet John Lennon, who is shooting a film there. On the journey, he picks up two young runaways: Bethlehem - a pregnant girl fleeing a convent, and Juanjo - a boy escaping a dictatorial father. 'Living is easy with eyes closed,' from Lennon's "Strawberry Fields Forever," evokes the spirit of the 60s while reflecting on a time in Spanish history when dreams seemed impossible. (108 min.)

"Waste Land" (Brazil) - Feb. 18

Directed by Lucy Walker

Filmed over three years, "Waste Land" documents renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from Brooklyn, to his native Brazil and the world's largest garbage dump located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. He photographs an eclectic band of "catadores," self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. With collaboration from these inspiring characters, Muniz creates photographic images using garbage that reveal the dignity and despair of the catadores, who begin to re-imagine their life. This documentary shows the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit. (99 min.)

"Wadjda" (Saudi Arabia) - Feb. 25

Directed by Haifaa al-Mansour

Wadjda, a 10-year old Saudi girl living in Riyadh, dreams of owing a green bicycle that she passes every day. She wants to race against Abdullah but riding bikes is frowned upon for girls and Wadjda's mother refuses to buy the bike. Wadjda raises the money herself by entering a Koran competition at school. She wins, but is told that the money will instead be donated to Palestine on her behalf. This is the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia and the first feature-length film by a female Saudi director. Wadjda presents a vivid window into a corner of the globe where cinema has been all but silenced. (98 min.)

"La Vita e bella (Life is Beautiful)" (Italy) - March 4

Directed by Roberto Benigni

In 1930s Italy, a carefree Jewish book keeper named Guido has a perfect life marrying a lovely woman from a nearby city. They have a son and live happily together until the occupation of Italy by German forces. In an attempt to hold his family together and help his son survive the horrors of a Jewish Concentration Camp, Guido imagines that the Holocaust is a game and that the grand prize for winning is a tank. (116 min.)

"Brat (Brother)" (Russia) - March 11

Directed by Aleksei Balabanov

Danila Bagrov returns home after serving in the Russian Army. Not satisfied in the small town, he moves to St. Petersburg to be with his older brother and start a new life. He discovers his brother is a contract killer and gangster, and is forced into the criminal world. This gangster film depicts the problems of Russia in the 1990s: crime, poverty, disaffection of the Russian youth and failing families brought about in the aftermath of the Soviet collapse. (99 min.)

"The Wind that Shakes the Barley" (Ireland) - March 18

Directed by Ken Loach

Set in rural Ireland in the 1920s, this war drama tells the fictional story of two County Cork brothers Damien and Teddy O'Donovan who join the Irish Republican Army to fight for Irish independence from the United Kingdom. While one brother started as a socialist and changes to adopt the ways of war, the other brother mellows after experiencing the endless suffering of war. The brothers oppose each other during the Irish Civil War just years later. (127 min.)

"The Lady" (Burma) - March 25

Directed by Luc Besson

Based on the true story of Aung San Suu Kyi (Nobel Peace Prize, 1991), the Lady is an epic love story about Suu Kui and her husband Michael Aris, and their extraordinary sacrifice of family happiness for a higher cause. Despite distance, long separations and a dangerously hostile regime, their love endured. "The Lady" follows the peaceful quest for democracy in Burma by Suu Kyi who was held under house arrest for more than fifteen years by military junta.(132 min.)