The St. Pete Film Movement returns after a brief hiatus with two fun and interesting independent foreign films. The U.K. comedy short, Harold the Amazing Contortionist Pig, tracks the success of an extraordinary pig whose ambition takes him beyond the farmyard and into the circus, where his talent is fully realized and gains him instant stardom, not to mention all the pressure that comes with it. In this E! True Hollywood Story-style mockumentary, Harold's story is told from the viewpoints of the people who knew him best. The feature presentation is Hawaii, Oslo, a drama from Norway about a group of individuals whose paths cross in Oslo on the hottest day of the year. Frode and Milla are having their first child, but their joy is overshadowed by grief because the newborn will not live long without undergoing an expensive operation they cannot afford. Bobbie-Pop is a washed-up singer who is contemplating suicide. Institutionalized kleptomaniac Leon is enjoying a taste of freedom in celebration of his birthday, though his prison inmate brother/temporary warden Trygve doesn't know that Leon has no plans to return to his confinement, nor is he aware of a 10-year-old promise of marriage between Leon and his childhood sweetheart, Asa. And Vidar is Leon's best friend/guardian angel and an orderly at the institution who has the power to bring them salvation. Wed., Nov. 28, 8 p.m., The Studio@620, 620 First Ave. S., St. Petersburg, $5, 727-895-6620, thestudioat620.com.
This article appears in Nov 21-27, 2007.