International House Philadelphia: Program Guide Fall 2013 | Page 30

Eleanor’s Secret Saturday, November 23 at 2pm Family matinee Eleanor’s Secret dir. Dominique Monféry, France, 2009, digital, 80 min. Kes Saturday, November 23 at 5pm BIRDWATCHING Kes dir. Ken Loach, UK, 1969, 35mm, 110 min. From Academy Award nominated director Dominique Monféry comes Eleanor’s Secret, a beautifully designed, rollicking adventure in which a boy’s new found ability to read not only sets his imagination free, but saves the day! Nat has fond memories of his eccentric Aunt Eleanor reading to him from her enormous collection of storybooks but is frustrated by his inability to read the books himself. So he is less than thrilled when he learns that his aunt has left him the keys to her attic library as a gift. However, just as Nat’s parents are selling the collection to a shady antiques dealer, Nat discovers that the library is magical – the books are all original first editions of history’s most popular fairy tales, and the famous characters come to life! Now with the help of Alice in Wonderland, the Ogre, Peter Pan and others, he must find a way to get back the books and learn to read an ancient spell to keep the characters alive for future generations of children. Special discounted ticket price: $5 for everyone! Director Ken Loach received international acclaim for this enormously moving tale of a lonely working-class Yorkshire boy, who turns from a life of comic books and shoplifting when he finds a baby kestrel and decides to raise and train it. Aviary dir. Rudy Burckhardt/Joseph Cornell, US, 1955, 16mm, 5 min. “Rudy Burckhardt photographed this impression of New York’s Union Square under Joseph Cornell’s direction. This location held a particular fascination for Cornell who wanted to establish a foundation for artists and art therapy there. In the film he treats the park as an outdoor aviary.” –P. Adams Sitney ihousephilly.org