Any movie-goer who enjoys seeing quality foreign films won't want to miss Die Herbstzeitlosen, (The Latebloomers), a heart-warming comedy film from Switzerland.

Since her husband's death nine months ago, Martha has found it difficult to see any meaning in her life. Even the weekly card games with her old friends Lisi, Hanna and Frieda have lost their spark. One night Martha lies down in her bed and prepares to die. But God appears to have other plans for her, and she awakes in the morning, late for the Sunday service. Even a trifle such as this can cause a scandal in the little village of Trueb, where the local minister also happens to be Martha's own son Walter. Her friends work out a plan to revive Martha's zest for life. They convince the 80-year-old former dressmaker to make her life-long dream come true: Martha opens a lingerie shop featuring her own designs. This turns all of their lives upside down. The "lingerie ladies" cause a major stir in the Emmental Valley, and the pillars of this conservative village, where change is not appreciated, feel the need to intervene. However, the high-spirited old girls are not so easily thwarted.

Actress Stephanie Glaser, who plays Martha, was born in 1920 in Neuchâtel and currently lives in Zürich, now age 88. The “Great Lady” of Swiss Comedy, who has been acting for seven decades, first trained in acting at the renowned Vienna’s Reinhardt Seminar, after which she appeared in theatres in Switzerland and in Germany.

She became a member of the music hall & cabaret companies Floigefänger and Fédéraland. Since then, Stephanie Glaser has become one of Switzerland’s greatest popular actresses. Die Herbstzeitlosen was her first leading role in a film.

A hit movie in Switzerland in 2006, Die Herbstzeitlosen was Switzerland's official 2008 Academy Awards entry in the category of Best Foreign Film. In 2007, Stephanie Glaser was nominated for the Swiss Film Prize's Best Performance in a Leading Role, and in 2006, received a special Léopard Award at the Locarno International Film Festival.

While the film is suitable for all ages, it is primarily in Swiss-German and English subtitles require reading ability. Although there is no admission fee, free-will donations will be accepted. Movie popcorn and beverages will also be available.

More information on other programs and events of Turner Hall's 2009 Swiss Heritage Series is available here.