This Week at the Library: Two Heartwarming Family Films

We’ve got not one but two films for you this week. First up is our monthly Independent Film Night offering: Foreign Letters – a film by Elia Thier – Thursday, December 13th @ 6:30pm. A bittersweet coming of age story set in the 1980’s tells the story of an unlikely friendship between an Israeli girl, Ellie, who is newly arrived to the US and Thuy a Vietnamese refugee of her age. The story is based on the filmmaker’s own story of emigration—and she plays Ellie’s mother in the film.

U.S. | 2012 | Drama | 99 min. | English, Hebrew, & Vietnamese w/ English subtitles. Please note: independent films are not rated by the MPAA and should be considered for mature audiences. Independent film night occurs on the 2nd Thursday of every month.

Then on Saturday, December 15th @ 1PM we’ve got a matinee of the modern holiday classic, Elf — Starring Will Ferrel as the precocious Buddy—a human raised as an elf who makes a big trek to NYC to find his father, James Caan. Along the way he gets a job at Macy’s and befriends his mellifluous coworker Zooey Deschanel.

Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart, Zooey Deschanel. New Line Cinema; Directed by Jon Favreau. Rated PG; 95 minutes; 2003