Marjorie Prime stars the great character actress Lois Smith. (You might not recognize her name, but you've seen her in dozens of movies going back to East of Eden - how many actors working today can say they appeared opposite James Dean?)
France,1943 during the German occupation. Every night, guitarist and composer Django Reinhardt delights Parisian audiences with his witty, life-affirming ‘gypsy swing’ music. While many other Romany people find themselves the target of racist persecution, Django believes himself to be safe – until agents of the Nazi propaganda machine demand that he go on tour to Germany in order to counteract the influence of ‘negro music’ from the USA.
A small-town Canadian librarian searches for her elderly Aunt Martha in the City of Lights. She is aided by a vaguely disreputable Parisian vagabond. Lost in Paris is the new comic collaboration by the married filmmaking duo, Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon.
Dom works the night shift in a small hotel near the industrial seaport of Le Havre. One night, a woman named Fiona arrives, with no luggage and no shoes. She tells Dom that she is a fairy, and grants him three wishes. Husband and wife filmmakers Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon delighted Ryder audiences in October with their film, Lost in Paris.
Wounded Galaxies is hosting a festival in early February in which scholars, artists and activists will explore and celebrate the cultural and political legacy of 1968 on it's 50th anniversary. There are also selected events, on and off campus, in January and this is one of them: two films at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater that reflect the the political/cultural climate of 1968.
The Grand Prix winner at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, BPM (Beats Per Minute) is a cinematic memoir about ACT UP that transcends the facts of history. It is fictional film based on real life events in France in the early 90s The beauty of this passionate French drama lies in its refusal to pretend that the personal isn't also political and vice versa. -LA Times
Christian is the respected curator of a contemporary art museum, a devoted father of two who drives an electric car and supports good causes. His next show is The Square, an installation in the museum’s courtyard: a small square, set amid the cobblestones, and intended as a sanctuary where all rights are to be respected. But sometimes it's difficult to live up to your own ideals
Five of the bravest international filmmakers working today tell thoughtful, compelling stories in this year's documentary short film program.
Beginning Feb 9th, for four consecutive weekends, we are screening the 15 Oscar nominees for Best Short Film. This year’s assortment of Animated, Live Action and Documentary short Oscar contenders promises to be a celebration of intimate, personal storytelling. Every filmmaker leaves his or her fingerprints on the material, making it a rich collection of stories, all of which have something profound to say, whether big and bold or small and modest.
One of the most entertaining categories at the Academy Awards -- and one of the least heralded -- is for the Best Animated Short Subject. We are screening the five nominees in that category along with three films short-listed for a nomination.
Many Hollywood movies are like impersonal multi-national corporations; they have unimaginable budgets and nothing creative at stake. This year's Live-Action nominees are small in scope, very personal, and meticulously made.
For nearly ten years, filmmaker Jonathan Olshefski befriended and filmed the Rainey family in their North Philadelphia home. Simultaneously sweeping and intimate, Quest uses one family's experiences to offer trenchant, wide-ranging observations about modern American life. I’ve rarely seen a movie about citizenship as quietly eloquent as Quest. - A.O. Scott, The New York Times
Jane Goodall’s observations of chimpanzees in the wild challenged conventional wisdom about what made humans exceptional. Jane is the story of how Jane Goodall became Jane Goodall.
Sandwiched somewhere between This Is Spinal Tap and Sunset Boulevard, this unique biopic is the story of one of the greatest Hollywood directors that you've never heard of -- Oskar Knight.
Based on letters Anna Magdalena Bach wrote to her husband, this film "revolutionized the musical biography. " -
The New York Times
Arab-Israeli filmmaker Maysaloun Hamoud's debut film is a sparkling story of three young Palestinian women living in Israel. Lalia, Salma and Nur share an apartment in the vibrant heart of Tel Aviv. Lalia, a criminal lawyer with a wicked wit, loves to burn off her workday stress in the underground club scene.
The Great Silence is a revisionist spaghetti western that was filmed in 1968 but never screened in the States. It will get its long-overdue theatrical release on March 30th. Inspired by the recent deaths of Che Guevara and Malcolm X, writer/director Sergio Corbucci’s film is notable for its radical politics, an audacious performance by Kinski, and a haunting score by Ennio Morriconi.
This is the new film by Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro). At the age of 26, Karl Marx embarks with his wife Jenny on the road to exile. In 1844 Paris they meet young Friedrich Engels, a rebellious rich kid writing about the poor conditions of the working class.
Loving Vincent is a mystery based on the life and shadowy death of Vincent Van Gogh. This is a true labor of love. Every frame was hand-painted over in oil paint in the style of Van Gogh.
Western follows a group of German construction workers installing a hydroelectric plant in remote rural Bulgaria. The foreign land awakens the men’s sense of adventure, but tensions mount when, Meinhard, the strong, silent and newcomer to the group, starts mixing with the local villagers. The two sides speak different languages and share a troubled history. Can they learn to trust each other...
“In 1946, my great-grandfather murdered a black man named Bill Spann and got away with it.” So begins Travis Wilkerson’s critically acclaimed documentary, which takes us on a journey through the American South to uncover the truth behind a long-ago crime and the societal mores that allowed it to happen.
A young woman falls in love with her psychoanalyst and moves in with him, but soon discovers that her lover has a secret identity. Double Lover is Double Lover is a deliriously uninhibited thriller directed by French filmmaker Francois Ozon.
Tall traces the experiments of the early skyscraper architects, especially Louis Sullivan, the Chicago architect (and mentor of Frank Lloyd Wright) who pioneered a new skyscraper form. "Tall is a profoundly beautiful film. You leave the theater with an awakened intellect and wide-open eyes." - The New York Times
Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Beart and John Malkovich star in Time Regained, Chilean filmmaker Raoul Ruiz’s adaptation Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time.
A mischievous eight-year-old Jewish boy must hide his identity in French filmmaker Claude Berri's autobiographical coming-of-age film.
