arts / 8

theotherpress.ca

Douglas screening digs deep into meaning of ‘Tlliterate’

» Director shares film’s inspiration with students

, Cheryl Minns
& Arts Editor

M arts
@theotherpress.ca

 

hat would you do if

you couldn't read a
newspaper? How would you
figure out when the bus was
coming if you couldn't read the :
schedule? The modern world is :
designed for literacy, making it :
difficult for those who lack the
ability to read or write. Chilean
director Moisés Septlveda
explores the idea of a woman
in her 50s struggling to get by
without the ability to read, in
his directorial debut Illiterate.

At Douglas College, about
100 students and members of
the community came together
on September 4 to see the
film at the New Westminster
campus as part of the 12th
Vancouver Latin American
Film Festival (VLAFF).

It tells the story of Ximena, :
an older woman who has gone
through life illiterate, and her
friend’s daughter, Jackeline,

a young woman who yearns

to be a teacher and convinces
Ximena to let her teach Ximena :
to read. The older woman
reluctantly agrees to the
lessons in order to finally be
able to read a letter her father
left for her many years ago that :
she held onto all this time.

As an added bonus, the
director was in attendance
to answer questions after the
screening. The unique thing
about this question period
was that Sepulveda would
only answer the questions
in his native language,
Spanish. Many of the viewers
were fluent in Spanish and
asked their questions in that
language. The immersion into
a Spanish-only environment
created an authentic setting

: for the Spanish film with

: English subtitles. However,

: to accommodate English

: speakers, Margarita Sewerin,

: the Spanish coordinator at

: Douglas College, attended the
: screening as a translator for the :
event.

“This movie is based on

: a play by the same name. The
: same actors who played the

: roles in the play played the

: roles in the movie,” Sepulveda
: said in Spanish, which was

: translated by Sewerin. “He

: watched the play and he liked
: it and he decided to adapt it.

: The play touched him. He

: felt that the play was intimate
: and, at the same time, also
cinematographic.”

One audience member

: asked why the Spanish title for
: the film, Les analfabetas (the

: illiterates), was pluralized and
: the English version was not.

: Sepulveda explained that was

: because “illiterate” does not

: have a gender in English and

: suggested the film could have
: been called “The Two Illiterate
: Women” instead to emphasize
: how “the movie plays with

: the idea that everybody

: learns differently and they are
: illiterate in different areas.”

Sepulveda also examined

: the film’s deeper messages

: about the current state of

: Chile today based on its past.

: Ximena’s desire to read the

: letter from her past motivates
: her to learn to read and write,
: so she can shape her future by
: figuring out her past.

“The film can be read asa

: metaphor for Chile today. In
: a way, it’s reading its past to
: rethink its future,” he said.

Sepulveda described a

: scene from the film where

: Ximena starts learning to read
: and begins to understand

: what has been spray-painted

: ona wall near her home: “Y

: la alegria” (meaning: “And

: what of happiness?”). He

: said the words reflect what

: happened to Chile after a 1980s
: political campaign promised,

: “Happiness is coming,” but

: failed to deliver what it

: promised.

: of all the meaning in this

: writing, but the hope is that

: the audience will be aware and
: make that connection with

: the slogan from 1989 and all

: the promises that were not

: fulfilled,” Sepulveda said.

part in VLAFF for the past

: three years, screening a Latin
: American film on campus

: during the festival’s run for

: students and members of the
: community.

where students or a young

: population somehow feel

: engaged,” explained Ruth

: Mandujano-Lopez, the Modern
: Languages instructor who is

: part of the team that brought

: the VLAFF screening to

: Douglas College.

the college’s screening this
: year because of its themes

: in learning and teaching,

: which college students and
: instructors can relate to.

Chilean director
Moisés Sepulveda
explores the idea
of a woman in her
50s struggling to
get by without

the ability to read,
in his directorial
debut Illiterate.

“She probably wasn’t aware

Douglas College has taken

“I normally ask for a film

Illiterate was chosen as

 

 

Do movies even need an explanation?

» ‘The Captive’ film review

: don’t. The Captive is definitely
: one of those predictable

: stories. This Canadian film

: stars Ryan Reynolds asa

: loving father whose daughter
: mysteriously disappears.

The storyline moves back
& ir) i) fr) Yr) : and forth throughout an
: eight-year period. I enjoyed
: the way it was done because
: it let the audience discover
: the plot points at the same

: time that the characters did.
: It was more interesting than

  

Steven Cayer
Senior Columnist

ovies about kidnapping

have always been pre-
dictable to me: either they
find the victim alive or dead
and get the bad guy, or they

: just a straight path. Sadly,

: my favourite part comes

: in the first-quarter of the

: movie, namely the dialogue

: between father and daughter.

For the rest of it, the script

falls flat. There were a few

: moments where one line just
: didn’t fit, making an intense
: moment unintentionally

: goofy; that in turn made

; emotional scenes unbeliev-

: able. It’s like The Captive is

: trying to be too many things

: at once. I noticed plots bla-

: tantly just fall to the wayside,
: which was distracting. I was

: also distracted by waiting to

: find out the reason behind

: the kidnapping itself.

job conveying the message

: that a kidnapping spiritually
: involves everyone it comes

: in contact with though, from
:; the parents to the detectives.
: This movie has a lot of flaws,
: but it’s worth a rental.

The director did a good