NCI-F Employee Diversity Team: Diversity Cafe

Diversity Cafe 2008 "Exploring Diversity Through Cinema"

Now Showing: The Visitor [ December 2008 ]
Event Details: 12:00 p.m. Thursday 18th in the Auditorium & Friday 19th in Building 549, Conference Room "A"
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Starring:Richard Jenkins, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Gurira, Hiam Abbass, Marian Seldes

In a world of six billion people, it only takes one to change your life. Sixty-two-year-old Walter Vale is sleepwalking through his life. Having lost his passion for teaching and writing, he fills the void by unsuccessfully trying to learn to play classical piano. When his college sends him to Manhattan to attend a conference, Walter is surprised to find a young couple has taken up residence in his apartment. Victims of a real estate scam, Tarek, a Syrian man, and Zainab, his Senegalese girlfriend, have nowhere else to go. In the first of a series of tests of the heart, Walter reluctantly allows the couple to stay with him. Touched by his kindness, Tarek, a talented musician, insists on teaching the aging academic to play the African drum. The instrument's exuberant rhythms revitalize Walter's faltering spirit and open his eyes to a vibrant world of local jazz clubs and Central Park drum circles. As the friendship between the two men deepens, the differences in culture, age and temperament fall away. After being stopped by police in the subway, Tarek is arrested as an undocumented citizen and held for deportation. As his situation turns desperate, Walter finds himself compelled to help his new friend with a passion he thought he had long ago lost. When Tarek's beautiful mother Mouna arrives unexpectedly in search of her son, the professor's personal commitment develops into an unlikely romance. And it's through these new found connections with these virtual strangers that Walter is awakened to a new world and a new life.

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Now Showing: Four Sheets to the Wind [ November 2008 ]
Event Details: Thursday 20th in the Auditorium &
Friday 21st in Conference Room "A"
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Starring: Cody Lightning, Tamara Podemski, Jeri Arredondo, Robert Guthrie , Laura Bailey

An endearing, comic and eternally universal love and death story set among the modern traditions of the Oklahoma Indian. Starring Cody Lightning as Cufe Smallhill who finds his usually silent father even quieter than usual... dead from an overdose of medication. Without fanfare or hesitation, Cufe sinks his father's body in a pond according to his father's wishes. Without an autopsy or funeral, Cufe's deed creates a crisis in his family as he tries to understand who is father was and what kind of man he himself wants to become. It seems that only one girl really undestands Cufe and may hold the key to understanding the bonds holding a family together.

Now Showing: Imagine Me & You [ October 2008 ]
Event Details: Thursday 23rd in the Auditorium &
Friday 24th in Building 549 Conference Room "A"
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Starring: Piper Perabo, Matthew Goode, Lena Headey, Celia Imrie, Anthony Head

Heck and Rachel are a happy young couple about to embark on life together. But at the church, Rachel catches the eye of an unexpected guest. In that moment, she realizes that maybe Heck isn't the one for her. What follows is the romantic, humorous and sometimes poignant journey familiar to anyone who's ever been lucky (or unlucky) enough to be under love's spell

Now Showing: Raising Victor Vargas [ September 2008 ]
Event Details: Thursday 18th in the Auditorium &
Friday 19th in Executive Board Room
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Starring: Victor Rasuk, Judy Marte

Riding high on a wave of unanimous critical acclaim, Raising Victor Vargas emerged as one of the best independent films of 2003. It fits neatly into that most familiar of categories--the coming-of-age comedy--but transcends that label to become something altogether fresh and endearing, beginning with the awkward swagger of its title character, played by Victor Rasuk. He's a Dominican kid raised amidst the poverty of New York's Lower East Side, and his hormones--like those of any 16-year-old--are ablaze with unbridled lust. Under the vigilant eye of his grandmother (who's hilariously convinced the good-boy Victor is doomed to a life of sin), Victor manages to woo the defiant girl of his dreams (Judy Marte--like the rest of this fine cast, a non-professional actor), and director Peter Sollett (expanding his earlier short Five Feet High and Rising) guides them to a delicate place of genuine affection and mutual understanding. It's a summertime fantasy, of sorts, but so simple and sincere that it achieves a state of idealized realism. First love never looked better. --Jeff Shannon

Now Showing: Under The Same Moon [ August 2008 ]
Event Details: Thursday 21st in Building 549 Auditorium & Friday 22nd in Building 549 Conference Room "A"
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Starring: America Ferrera, Adrian Alonso, Jesse Garcia, Kate Del Castillo, Eugenio Derbez

Director Patricia Riggen delivers a heartwarming debut with UNDER THE SAME MOON. The story of the enduring bond between mother and son, the film stars Kate del Castillo as Rosario, a mother struggling to support her family in Mexico while living illegally in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, her son, Carlitos (Adrian Alonso), is left under the care of his grandmother. But when she dies, nine-year-old Carlitos embarks on a colorful and arduous journey across the border in search of his mother. The script has Carlitos narrowly escaping kidnapping, drug addicts, and Border Patrol workers, aided by the unlikely friendships he forges along the way. As we watch Rosario grapple with life as an illegal immigrant in Los Angeles, Carlitos's optimism and strength of spirit gain him a migrant worker (Eugenio Derbez) as a traveling companion. Riggen keeps a potentially depressing topic surprisingly light by including frequent musical interludes, and cinematographer Checco Varese takes care to create a visual journey that's stunning throughout. America Ferrera (UGLY BETTY, REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES) appears in a small role, but it is 13-year-old Alonso who steals the show as the brave, funny, and precocious Carlitos. Apart from the subtitles, the film offers family viewing for parents and children alike. While it touches on timely and pressing issues concerning immigration and discrimination, the film, which won a standing ovation at the Sundance Film Festival, works on a simpler level as well by focusing primarily on the sweet relationship between a mother and her son.

Now Showing: American Pastime [ July 2008 ]
Event Details: 12:00pm Thursday 24th & Friday 22th in Building 549, Conference Room "B"
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Starring:Gary Cole, Aaron Yoo, John Gries, and Judy Ongg

Gary Cole, Aaron Yoo, John Gries, and Judy Ongg star in an inspirational small town drama exploring the lingering effects of World War II on Japanese-American citizens struggling to overcome lingering hostilities and be accepted in country they now call home. The Nomuras are a typical American family who just happen to be of Japanese heritage. When World War II breaks out and the Nomuras are ushered into the Topaz internment camp, teenage son Lyle (Yoo) becomes the target of harassment to camp guard and frustrated minor league catcher Billy Burrell. Lyle is a star pitcher who had been accepted into college on a baseball scholarship, but was subsequently forced to abandon his dreams when his family was interned. Billy's daughter is a musical instructor at the camp, and when she and Lyle strike up a tenuous romance, tensions quickly come to a head between the two families. Hoping that the two families will be able to find a common ground due to their mutual love of baseball, Lyle's father proposes a goodwill game between Burrell's team and the internees. As the two teams take to the diamond for a game organized to unite them all, the small town's tolerance will be put to the ultimate test in a match that reveals the true spirit of American culture. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Now Showing: Shall We Dance [ May 2008 ]
Event Details: 12:00pm Thursday May 29th in the Auditorium and 11:30am Friday May 30th in the Executive Board Room
Time: Ganguli 12:00 p.m. / 11:30am (see above)
Starring:ork, they embark upon a lifelong balancing act to meld into a new world without forgetting the old. Though parents Ashoke and Ashima long for the family and culture that enveloped them in India, they take great pride in the opportunities their sacrifices have afforded their children. Paradoxically, their son Gogol is torn between finding his own unique identity without losing his heritage. Even Gogol's name represents the family's journey into the unknown.

Now Showing: Khadak [ April 2008 ]
Event Details: Thursday April 17th in the Auditorium &
Friday April 18th in Conference Room "A"
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Starring:Khayankhyarvaa Batzul, Byamba Tsetsegee

Bagi and his grandparents live a nomadic life herding sheep in the frozen hills of Mongolia. Their pristine world is disrupted when a military convoy arrives, letting Bagi's family and others know that a plague has struck the animals in their region and they must relocate to a mining town, complete with high-rise apartments. In their first fiction film, documentary filmmakers Jessica Woodworth and Peter Brosens apply a distinctly impressionistic style to an original story with haunting themes. Capitalism is expanding into the most remote of regions and creates ongoing tensions between the past and the future, creation and destruction, and accepting or denying one's fate. Featuring remarkably meditative performances by Batzul Khayankhyarvaa as Bagi and Tserendarizav Dashnyam as the shamaness, Khadak starkly contrasts the richness of nomadic Mongolian life against the imposed modern city life that Bagi and his family must adjust to. But in the midst of that stark transition, Bagi begins to accept his fate and starts traveling between the natural world and a larger spirit world, as he was meant to. In its filmic eloquence, Khadak is itself raw material for a potential personal experience and a reminder of the harsh laws of the universe that many of us seem to forget.

Now Showing: The Namesake [ March 2008 ]
Event Details: Thursday March 20 & Friday March 21 in the Executive Board Room
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Starring:Kal Penn, Jacinda Barrett, Irrfan Khan, Zuleikha Robinson, Tabu, Sahira Nair

When the the Ganguli family moves from Calcutta to New York, they embark upon a lifelong balancing act to meld into a new world without forgetting the old. Though parents Ashoke and Ashima long for the family and culture that enveloped them in India, they take great pride in the opportunities their sacrifices have afforded their children. Paradoxically, their son Gogol is torn between finding his own unique identity without losing his heritage. Even Gogol's name represents the family's journey into the unknown.

Now Showing: Akeelah and the Bee [ February 2008 ]
Event Details: Thursday February 21 in Conference Room B & Friday February 22 in the Conference Room A
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Starring:Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne

Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) is an 11-year-old girl in south Los Angeles, with a love for words. Spelling words was a way for her to connect to her father who was killed when she was six. Akeelah is a bright student, but she has been skipping class and is barely passing. Akeelah's principal is about to put her in detention when he persuades her to enter the Crenshaw school's spelling bee. Akeelah wins the spelling-bee and now she can go to the state contest. Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne), a college professor and former national spelling-bee contestant, enters the picture. The principal has asked Dr. Larabee to help coach Akeelah. At first, Akeelah is stubborn and hardheaded that she doesn't need any help to win the next spelling-bee. However, Dr. Larabee shows Akeelah that she doesn't know all the words to win. During the summer, Dr. Larabee is a tough taskmaster teaching Akeelah as much as he can. He then gives her 5,000 new words to learn and tells her to do it on her own. With the help of the whole neighborhood, Akeelah learns all the words, and makes it to the national spelling-bee in Washington D.C.

Now Showing: Double Happiness [ January 2008 ]
Event Details: Thursday January 17th & Friday January 18th in the Building 549 Executive Board Room
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Starring:Sandra Oh, Alannah Ong, Stephen Chang, Frances You, Johnny Mah

Jade Li is a twenty-two-year-old aspiring actress struggling to balance the traditional expectations of her Chinese family with the realities of living in the Western world. Jade is an irreverent, cheeky Chinese-Canadian still living at home with her parents and younger sister. When her family decides she's old enough to date, the matchmaking begins and Jade is set up with Andrew, a handsome Chinese lawyer. Afraid of being disowned by her father, Jade agrees to this arrangement, especially if it means that her family will leave her alone to pursue her passion for acting. But complications arise when she meets Mark, a white university student. As their relationship grows, Jade struggles to keep Mark at arm's length, trying to walk a line between her two worlds. She must answer the question she's been trying to avoid: you've got one life to live, what's it gonna be?

2007 Diversity Cafe Movies
2006 Diversity Cafe Movies