WINTER-SPRING 2026 DAVIDSON FILM CLUB SCREENINGS
JANUARY 17 THE ZONE OF INTEREST
Directed by Jonathan Glazer (UK, in German w/English subtitles, 2023, 1h45). With Sandra Hüller, star of Anatomy of a Fall.
German-occupied Poland, summer of 1943. The commandant of Auschwitz, SS officer Rudolf Höss, and his wife strive to build a dream life for their family in a house next to the camp. As the oblivious life of the commandant’s wife unravels in cloudless bliss, Rudolf finds himself swamped with work, saddled with overseeing the installation of a highly effective non-stop incineration oven system. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine that just a hair’s breadth away from the peaceful and idyllic Höss household, the unimaginable horrors of the Final Solution were unfolding in full swing. And as noisome fumes and muffled blood-curdling noises blemish Hedwig’s verdant utopia, a question emerges: When evil becomes banal, what separates man from beast?
Discussion leader: Scott Denham, Dana Professor of German Studies, Davidson College. Holocaust specialist.
February 14: Boris Lojkine, Souleymane’s Story (France, in French and Fulah w/English subtitles, 2024, 1h33)
A Paris food delivery cyclist and asylum seeker from Guinea named Souleymane has two days to prepare his story for a make-or-break interview to secure legal residency. As he pedals through the streets of Paris to deliver meals, Souleymane rehearses his story. The film revolves around the exploitation of the undocumented, often by fellow Africans, one a fellow immigrant from northern Guinea who coaches asylum applicants to recite false stories of political persecution at their hearings in return for payment and another who lends Souleymane a food delivery account but then takes half of his earnings every week.
Discussion Leader: Professor Emeritus of French, Carole Kruger, Dept. of French and Francophone Studies, Davidson College.
MARCH 14: LIVING THE LAND
Directed by Meng Huo (China, in Chinese w/English subtitles, 2023, 1h40)
As China transforms, a family is caught between the weight of tradition and the pull of progress. In 1991, as China undergoes sweeping socio-economic changes that drive many to leave their rural villages in pursuit of work in the cities, 10-year-old Chuang, the third child of his family, must remain in his grandmother’s home in Bawangtai Village due to family plans. Against the backdrop of modernization, as the advent of technology reshapes their traditional way of life, cycles of births, deaths, marriages, and funerals, as well as spring plantings and autumn harvests, reveal the enduring weight of tradition and the pressures of balancing familial responsibilities with a rapidly changing world.
Discussion Leader: Dr. Qian Wang, native of China, Senior New Product Development Engineer for Ingersoll-Rand.
APRIL 4: BAGDAD CAFE
Directed by Percy Adlon (Germany, in English, 1987, 1h35)
German tourist Jasmin Munchgstettner argues with her husband along a dusty highway in the American Southwest. Fuming, she storms off and travels by foot to the nearest outpost of civilization—the Bagdad Café, the most desolate motel on Earth. Upon arriving, she incurs the suspicion of the perpetually angry owner but decides to make the place brighter. What begins as a few days’ respite becomes a prolonged stay as Jasmine finds her niche within this eccentric truck-stop community. A whimsical story that gives the bleak, arid Southwest an almost fairytale-like beauty.
Discussion Leader: Lawrence Toppman, former arts critic at The Charlotte Observer where he reviewed film for nearly 30 years. North Carolina Press Association Critic of the Year three times.
MAY 16: HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE
Directed by Tika Waititi (New Zealand, in English, 2016, 1h41)
Reclusive country folk Bella and Hector become foster parents to Ricky, a problem child from the city. After some adjustments, things go reasonably well. However, Bella’s death means that Hector must now look after Ricky himself, and they haven’t been getting along. Her death causes Child Services to decide to send Ricky back to the orphanage. Ricky refuses to go back and runs away, ultimately sparking a national manhunt for him and Hector in the wild New Zealand bush. Coming-of-age comedy.
Discussion Leader: Matt Cramer, film critic at the on-line blog Y’All Weekly.
JUNE 13: LOCAL FILMMAKERS SHOWCASE–Angus MacLachlan presents his film A Little Prayer, followed by Q&A.