Special Double Bill!

Thursday, December 18, 2003 – 7:30pm

The Laughing Club of India

USA/India, 1999. Director: Mira Nair

Is Laughter the best Medicine? Although the scientific evidence is mixed and confusing, Dr. Madan Kataria, a Bombay physician, clearly believes in laughter’s therapeutic effect. In 1995, Kataria started the first laughing club in Bombay with a group of friends. Less than ten years later, there are now over 1500 laughter clubs worldwide, with over 450 in Bombay alone. Mira Nair’s short documentary of several of these laughing clubs in India, as well as one in New York, captures not only the “power of laughter” within the clubs but also their strong sense of community. With the interspersed stories of “serious laughers”, the wonderful images of the members collectively going through their laughing exercises results in a captivating and inspiring portrait. Nair’s extensive filmography includes Missisippi Masala, the Oscar-nominated Salaam Bombay, and Monsoon Wedding. Shot in digital video, The Laughing Club of India was awarded The Special Jury Prize in the Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels 2000. Colour, Video, 36 mins.

And – just for ‘therapeutic’ benefit – The Laughing Club of India will be immediately followed by:

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

USA, 1986. Director: John Hughes

The definitive teen comedy and emerging cult classic. This warm-hearted romp stars Mathew Broderick as Ferris, a bright high school senior who feigns an illness so he can spend a day in down town Chicago with his girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara), his best friend Cameron (Alan Ruck), and a shiny red Ferrari. The wonderful supporting cast includes Jennifer Grey (his disapproving sister), Jeffrey Jones (the truant-hating, bumbling high-school principal), Ben Stein (the most boring history teacher in the world – “Anyone? Anyone?”), and a drug-addled Charlie Sheen in an extremely funny cameo. And – exclusive to tonight’s screening – don’t miss a special live musical accompaniment to Ferris’s rousing parade-stopping performances of Danke Schoen and Twist and Shout. Classified PG-13. Colour, 35 mm,102 mins.

Evening moderated by:
Dr. Harry Karlinsky Director of Continuing Medical Education and Professional Development, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia.

Co-sponsored by the Mood Disorders Association of BC