‘El Norte’ Starts UCI Film Series

The city’s Intercultural Advisory Committee and the UC Irvine Film Society are sponsoring “Multiculturalism Goes to the Movies!,” a four-film series that starts tonight with Gregory Nava’s acclaimed “El Norte.”

The series, which includes speakers at each screening, aims to bring people of different backgrounds together.

“Can the movies lead to greater understanding? We think so,” said Alice Parsons, one of the organizers.

“In this series,” she said, “film can personalize the debate over illegal immigration; depict irony as hyphenated Americans explore their identity; show Vietnamese culture on its own terms, or use the search for the perfect noodle to shed light on contemporary Japan.”

“El Norte” (1983) follows a Guatemalan brother and sister as they flee their homeland and try to survive in America as illegal immigrants. The speaker will be Maria Herrera-Sobek, director of UCI’s Chicano/Latino Studies program.

Peter Wang’s “A Great Wall” (1986) centers on a San Francisco family and the culture shock they endure when visiting relatives in China. David A. Young, a clinical psychologist in Irvine, will speak at the May 17 screening.

Tran Anh Hung’s “The Scent of Green Papaya” (1994) will be shown May 24. Set in Saigon in 1951, it focuses on a young girl who grows up a servant and eventually falls in love with her wealthy employer. The speaker will be Pham Cao Duong, a UCI lecturer on Vietnamese history and culture.

The series closes May 31 with Juzo Itami’s “Tampopo” (1986), a comedy that mixes noodle-making, a love story and a hero of Clint Eastwood proportions to provide insight into modern Japan. Edward B. Fowler, who teaches East Asian languages and literature at UCI, will speak.

* “El Norte” will be screened at 7 tonight in the Student Center Crystal Cove Auditorium at UC Irvine. $4 general admission ; $2 for students and seniors; $3 for UCI faculty and staff. (714) 724-6884, (714) 824-5588.