Notes From The Program Director | Week of March 15th, 2024

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Notes From The Program Director

Week of March 15th, 2024

Melissa Tamminga

Rich Text

March 15-21, 2024

Hello, everyone!

This week, Dune: Part 2 and American Fiction -- fresh off its Oscar win for Best Adapted Screenplay -- continue their runs with us, and we’ve also been able to add additional showings of the Oscar-nominated Short Films -- Animated Shorts, Live Action Shorts, and Documentary Shorts -- as well as one last showing of Origin.

And new to us this week is the Oscar-nominated Io Capitano, Italy’s submission to this year’s competition. The Zone of Interest ultimately won the Oscar for Best International Film this past Sunday, of course, but it was an all-round incredible line-up in the international category -- The Zone of Interest, Perfect Days, The Teachers' Lounge, Society of Snow, and Io Capitano -- and any one of them could have justifiably taken the Oscar home, including Io Capitano.

Directed by Matteo Garrone, Io Capitano (roughly translated, "Me Captain," representing the speech of someone who is not a fluent Italian speaker) follows the story of two teenage cousins from Dakar, Senegal, who decide to make the desperate trip to Europe in hopes of a better life for themselves and for their beloved families. Their trip, while fictionalized, represents the harrowing journey so many other Senegalese refugees have made, as reported by organizations like Human Rights Watch: across the Sahara desert (partly on foot), through Libya, across the Mediterranean in rickety boats, braving the perils of human smuggling and ruthless kidnappers along the way.

At many points in the film, it is a tough watch -- that so many human beings, whether teenage boys, or pregnant mothers, or mothers of small children, make such a trip is stunning to grasp -- and the film does not spare us the difficulties of such a trip. But in spite of the toughness, the film is also suffused with the hope and courage of the two boys: their buoyant hope that they can make such an impossible journey and find a European dream catches at the heart, and their tenderness and devoted love for one another, as well as for the other migrants on the journey, is a powerful testament to the resilience of the human spirit. The lead, too, is played by Seydou Sarr, a breathtakingly good first time actor, whose emotions are so fully present on his face that it is impossible to not immediately love and root for him.

Io Capitano is, in essence, a terrific film (also praised here, in the New York Times, with Manohla Dargis's excellent review), and I am so grateful to have found a well-deserving spot for it on our screens. Through its singular story of two Senegalese cousins, it implicitly but powerfully also illuminates the humanity and stories of so many around the globe -- including those on this continent and on our own borders -- those who brave so much to gain basic human rights, those who fight for the chance of a better life and a life free from fear and want.

In addition to our theatrical-run films, we also have one very special event this week: the annual Bellingham Children’s Film Festival. Programmed by our very own Susie Purves, PFC’s Executive Director and longtime aficionado of children’s films, this year’s festival includes two collections of delightful short films, specifically made for children, Warm and Fuzzy (Saturday 11:45 am; Sunday 10 am) and Surrounded by Symphonies (Saturday 10 am), as well as the beloved classic, Mary Poppins, the sing-along version (Sunday, 11:30 am). We’re grateful to Fairhaven Pediatrics for their sponsorship of this year’s festival, and we’re glad to welcome Bellingham High School’s vocal ensemble the Showstoppers to lead the Mary Poppins sing-along. The wonderful Bellingham Play Library will also be with us on Saturday and Sunday morning in our lobby with their collection of community toys and a dedicated play space. Movies, and songs, and toys! What could be better?