Friday, March 21 / 6:30 pm / ByTowne Cinema

Program: <bridge the gap>, The Penguin Lessons

Feature presentation \

Based on a true story, The Penguin Lessons is the engaging, poignant story of a British school teacher named Tom Michell (Steve Coogan) who arrives for a teaching job in Argentina in 1976. Set against a darkening political crisis of repression and violence, the film follows Tom’s awkward attempts to fit in with his new surroundings, deal with a crotchety headmaster (played by Jonathan Price), and confront his own shadowy past. When a coup d’état happens, the school closes and Tom heads to Uruguay for a brief holiday. Trying to impress a date, he rescues a penguin from an oil-slicked beach. Smuggling the bird into Argentina, intending to donate it to a zoo, he slowly discovers new dimensions about himself thanks to his oddly amiable flightless bird companion. As the political situation grows ever more threatening for those around him, Tom chooses a new and surprising direction for his life. Directed by Peter Cattaneo (of Full Monty fame), The Penguin Lessons offers humour and gravity in a fine balance, and Steve Coogan reveals new depths as Tom, a man undergoing a personal and political awakening.

- Tom McSorley

Short film \

<bridge the gap>

2024 / 6 minutes / Ontario
Director: Luca Fiore
Language: English

Dan’s everyday life becomes the focus of a documentary crew that only he can see.