hey, where’s everybody going? The world’s most beloved radiation-spewing monster returns in Shin Godzilla, an award-winning Japanese film screening in November at UW-Eau Claire’s Woodland Theatre.

Each semester, in the Woodland Theatre inside UW-Eau Claire’s Davies Center, a select few international films are screened within the roster of films chosen by the International Film Society and the University Activities Commission. Below is a brief synopsis of the fall semester’s foreign films with a few highlights and reasons you may enjoy them.

“A Man Called Ove” (ORIGINAL TITLE: “En man som heter Ove”)
PG-13 • Sweden • Sept. 22-24

Nominated for the Academy Award for Foreign Language Film in 2017, and winner of a European Film Award for Best European Comedy in 2016, A Man Called Ove is a book-to-film adaptation, the story of an ornery widower in a small Swedish town. Heartwarming humor unfolds as a friendly, young family moves in next door to him, and the friendship that follows reveals the loves and losses Ove has experienced, as well as showcases how each fit into their quirky surrounding community. Extraordinary ticket sales have made it the fifth most-popular film in Swedish cinema history.

“My Life as a Zucchini” (ORIGINAL TITLE: “Ma vie de Courgette”)
PG-13 • Switzerland + France • Oct. 6-8

This mature animated film portrays a blue-haired orphan boy who is taken into a group home following the death of his alcoholic mom. With three high-profile nominations – including European Film Award, César Award, and Academy Award for Best Animated Film – this film has wit and sophistication. My Life as a Zucchini manages to tell a heartbreaking story in a way that doesn’t condescend to younger viewers and opens up for discussion tough lessons on life and death.

“Shin Godzilla” (ORIGINAL TITLE: “Shin Gojira”)
not rated • Japan • Nov. 10-12

A comment on the evolution of the Godzilla legacy, Shin Godzilla sets the sea-monster as a catalyst for political reactions from the Japanese military. He has been sustained by feeding off nuclear waste dumped by the Americans and is roused in anger by an earthquake, a transparent reference to the earthquake and tsunami, and concurrent government response, that occurred in 2011. It speaks to the collaboration of local and worldwide efforts to hold back the sea monster. An Asian Film Award winner for Best Visual Effects 2017, as well as the recipient of numerous Japanese Academy Awards for cast and crew, Shin Godzilla is a fresh take on a traditional story with modern, worldly and civic-driven narrative woven in.

Films screen at 7pm Fridays and Saturdays and 2pm Saturdays and Sundays. Admission is free with a Blugold Card or Campus Films Pass. To get your pass, go to the Service Center in the east lobby of Davies Center (or call (715) 836-3727). Campus Films Passes are valid throughout the academic year and cost $7 for an individual and $14 for a family. See a full schedule.