St. Louis Park Community Education

Join fellow film fans in the Little Theater at Lenox to watch and discuss engaging and thought-provoking foreign films. We'll view the movie and then have time for focused discussion led by Lisa Kjellander from the SLP Library. Sponsored by Friends of the St. Louis Park Library. 

The movies in May:

May 13: Apples (2022) Greece
Amidst a worldwide pandemic that causes sudden amnesia, middle-aged Aris finds himself enrolled in a recovery program designed to help unclaimed patients build new identities. Prescribed daily tasks on cassette tapes so he can create new memories and document them on camera, Aris slides back into ordinary life, meeting Anna, a woman who is also in recovery. Through images deadpan, strange and surreal, Greek writer-director Christos Nikou posits a beguiling reflection on memory, identity, and loss, exploring how a society might handle an irreversible epidemic through one man’s story of self-discovery. Are we the sum of the images we compile and display of ourselves, or are we something richer, and deeper?

May 20: The Kid With A Bike (2012) Belguim
When Cyril's father abandons him, he obsessively searches for his bicycle - placing his last bit of hope in this symbol of their relationship. Almost by accident, he becomes the ward of a kind hairdresser, who seems surprised to find herself so determined to help him.

May 27: Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster: Ebirah-Horror of the Deep! (1966) Japan
A young man steals a boat to find his brother, but he and his shipmates become shipwrecked on a mysterious Letchi Island, where a terrorist organization developing nuclear weapons have enslaved the natives of Infant Island and command monstrous crustacean named Ebirah and a slumbering Godzilla.

June 3: Rams (2015) Iceland
In a secluded valley in Iceland, Gummi and Kiddi live side by side, tending to their sheep. Their ancestral sheep-stock is considered one of the country's best and the two brothers are repeatedly awarded for their prized rams who carry an ancient lineage. Although they share the land and a way of life, Gummi and Kiddi have not spoken to each other in four decades. When a lethal disease suddenly infects Kiddi's sheep, the entire valley comes under threat.

The movies in August:

August 19: Genevieve (1953) United Kingdom
Two young couples participate in the Vintage Car Rally, a yearly race from London to Brighton. The title "character" is the 1904 Darracq automobile. At first treating the race as a lark, the two couples become increasingly--and hilariously--competitive as they near the finishing line.

August 26: Force Majeure (2015) France
An idyllic family skiing vacation takes a stunning turn when an avalanche threatens the ski lodge restaurant, sending people fleeing and demanding quick decisions that change the course of the family dynamics and trust.

September 2: Night of the Kings (2020) Côte d'Ivoire
A young man is sent to "La Maca", a prison of Ivory Coast in the middle of the forest ruled by its prisoners. With the red moon rising, he is designated by the Boss to be the new "Roman" and must tell a story to the other prisoners. Learning what fate awaits him, he begins to narrate the mystical life of a legendary outlaw and has no choice but to make his story last until dawn.

September 9: Phoenix (2016) Germany
German-Jewish cabaret singer Nelly survived Auschwitz but had to undergo reconstructive surgery as her face was disfigured. Without recognizing Nelly, her former husband Johnny asks her to help him claim his wife’s inheritance. To see if he betrayed her, she agrees, becoming her own doppelganger.