Celebrate Archives Month 2012!
From Tumult to Triumph: New Mexico’s Paths to Statehood.

Selections from the Kahn Family Films at the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives (NMSRCA).

Part of the New Mexico Jewish Historical Society Collection at the NMSRCA, these home movies provide a hand held glimpse of family life, vacations, and Walter Kahn’s passion for cars and car shows during the 1960s and early 1970s. Walter Kahn owned and operated the Kahn Shoe Store on the Plaza for over 50 years, and came from one of New Mexico’s pioneer Jewish merchant families. Walter’s father Gustav Kahn emigrated to New Mexico from Germany in 1907. The Kahn family lived in Gallup, where Walter was born, and moved to Santa Fe when he was a child.

Walter Kahn was one of the founders of the New Mexico Jewish Historical Society, Temple Beth Shalom, and Congregation Beit Tikva. He received the Dr. Alan Hurst Award for distinguished leadership to New Mexico Jewry. He was also president of the New Mexico chapter of the Classic Car Club of America.

This film screening is co-sponsored by the New Mexico Jewish Historical Society and the Center for Contemporary Arts. Please note that the films are silent and will be screened on DVD. Light refreshments will be provided, and popcorn and other concessions will be on sale at the CCA box office.

The event is free, but please call 476-7948 to confirm attendance, as seating is limited!

7:00pm Thursday, October 25

Brooklyn Castle

“The most optimistic, inspiring and downright thrilling movie released all year.” –Salon
75 percent of the kids live below the poverty line. The state government is cutting their budget. And still, the most improbable high-school success story jumps along. Brooklyn’s I.S. 318 middle school has won dozens of national championships—they are the New York Yankees of chess. This fantastically moving and upbeat tale follows terrific subjects: Rochelle, who, at 15, has become the highest-rated African-American female player of all time; Pobo, the team's charismatic leader; the dreadlocked Justus, one of the world’s youngest masters; and Alexis, an immigrant child who uses the game to open his career possibilities. (U.S., 2012, 117m, digital video).

December 2012

Santa Fe Opera presents: Tosca: A Tale of Love and Torture

Winner, San Francisco Film Festival - Introduced by Charles MacKay, Santa Fe Opera General Director

“There's almost as much drama offstage as on in this fascinating insight into the staging of an opera at Sydney's famed Opera House. Even those who aren't opera lovers will likely find this riveting stuff.” –Variety

With incredible access, director Trevor Graham takes audiences backstage for a rare and thrilling behind-the-scenes look at the lead-up to the premiere of Tosca at Sydney's legendary Opera House. Budget cuts have left just three weeks for rehearsal, and the temperamental diva Joan Carden, her co-stars, new to the production, and maestro Roderick Brydon are under severe stress to prepare for the sold-out shows. The tension is palpable, bickering begins, and one wonders: Will they make it to opening night? And then, they’re on … This unforgettable, rarely screened documentary reveals the incredible hard work invested into every production. The Santa Fe Opera production of Tosca, with soprano Amanda Echalaz, opens June 29. (Australia, 2000, 85m, digital video, courtesy of Film Australia)

7:00p Thursday, June 7

Santa Fe Opera presents: Decalogue

“A masterwork of modern cinema, essential viewing for anyone who cares about the movies as a serious art form.” –New York Times

Krzysztof Kieslowski’s 10-part, 10-hour exploration of moral quandaries in a Warsaw housing complex—an unrivaled landmark of cinema history—returns to the CCA.

Marathon: Films 1-10 - 12:00p-10:00p  Saturday July 28

All screenings will be in The Studio and are FREE and open to the public!

The Big Picture

“A terrific French thriller … belongs to a select circle of twisty top-notch Gallic suspense movies.” –New York Times

With a great job, a beautiful wife and two wonderful sons Paul (Roman Duris, THE BEAT MY HEART SKIPPED, PARIS) is a success story. And his star continues to rise when his boss (Catherine Deneuve) hands over her business to him. Except Paul’s not living the life he has always dreamed of. In a moment of madness, he commits a crime that changes his life, forcing him to assume a new identity that sends him on a journey to discover himself. (France, 2011, 114m, digital projection, MPI Media)

November 2012

Santa Fe Institute presents: Science on Screen series: Future Cities

This eye-opening series provides new contexts for classic films, with a luminary from the Santa Fe Institute’s renowned research center curating a film and giving an introductory lecture connecting the film’s content with elements of his or her current research. The Science on Screen series puts an innovative, science-rich spin on cinema, bringing fresh insights to wonderful films.

Geoffrey West presents

FUTURE CITIES

Using clips from films including METROPOLIS, KING KONG and other imaginative and future-looking films, Dr. West discusses the two central themes of his work: how scale serves as a universal framework to understand the biological world; and how cities operate with definable, unifying characteristics (and, perhaps, a bleak future). Can Hollywood-style fantasy and science-fiction help illustrate these theories? Generously Sponsored by the Livingry Foundation.

7:00p Thursday April 26

Compliance

“Taut, gripping and deeply disturbing … measures the depths to which rational individuals will sink to obey a self-anointed authority figure.” –Variety

September 2012

Do Something Reel Film Festival: Truck Farm

Truck Farm tells the story of a new generation of quirky urban farmers. Viewers are trucked across New York to see the city’s funkiest urban farms, and to find out if America’s largest city can learn to feed itself. Blending serious exposition with serious silliness, Truck Farm entreats viewers to ponder the future of urban farming, and to consider whether sustainability needs a dose of whimsy to be truly sustainable. Featuring chef Dan Barber, nutritionist Marion Nestle, explorer Henry Hudson and a very lonely seagull. Presented by Homegrown New Mexico. (U.S., 2011, 48m, digital video)

6:30p Monday July 23

A Very Chaplin Holiday: The Circus

Charlie Chaplin’s films remain among the most masterful, creative, funny and moving ever made. But experiencing them on the big screen remains a rarity. Celebrate the Tramp’s humor and pathos with this series of recently restored 35mm masterpieces.

“One of the loveliest screen experiences … the quintessential Chaplin film” –Vincent Canby, New York Times
The Tramp is (again!) broke, hungry and destined to fall in love. Mistaken for a pickpocket and pursued by a police officer into a circus tent, he becomes a star when delighted patrons think his escape from the law is an act. Winner of a special award at the first-ever Oscars. (U.S., 1928, 72m, 35mm)

12:30pm Saturday and Sunday Dec 1 & 2; 6:00p Tuesday Dec 4

Tickets: $9.50 general/$8.50 members/$7 students and military
Series passes: $30 adults / $20 children under 12

Nuclear Savage

Shot beginning in 1986, Adam Horowitz’s film traces the long-term effects of nuclear fallout in the Marshall Islands, which the U.S. government used as a test site in the 1950s. From radioactive coconuts to leaking waste sites, signs abound of the islands’ increasingly inhabitable status, which seem particularly painful to contemplate given their paradise-like natural state. Returning for another trip after several decades, Horowitz (who also participated in Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior actions) offers a panoramic view of the unexamined or forgotten costs of the nuclear era. (U.S., 2011, 87m, digital video)

7:00p Wednesday, Sept 5, Director Adam Horowitz in person!! $10

Eight Modern presents: The Cats of Mirikitani

 “Poignant beyond words ... comparable to finding a pearl in a pile of oyster shells.” –Philadelphia Inquirer

 Subject JIMMY MIRIKITANI and director LINDA HATTENDORF in person!! 

Now 92, Jimmy Mirikitani survived the trauma of WWII internment camps, Hiroshima and homelessness by creating art. After 9/11 threatens his life on the New York City streets and a local filmmaker brings him to her home, Jimmy embarks on a journey to confront his painful past. This intimate exploration of the lingering wounds of war and the healing power of community and art has won awards at 20 festivals, including at Tribeca, Tokyo, Bermuda, Bologna, Paris, Philadelphia, Sedona and Sun Valley. (U.S., 2009, 74m, digital video)

Thursday July 12. 

Folk/Art/Cinema: Genghis Blues

The Santa Fe International Folk Art Market and CCA proudly present Folk/Art/Cinema.  Curated by Emmy-winning writer-producer Kirk Ellis and CCA Cinematheque Director and Sundance Fellow Jason Silverman, this series of five hosted films explores the enduring spirit and cultural tensions of traditional societies in a changing world. Folk/Art/Cinema introduces works by world cinema’s unsung heroes and offers new perspectives into the arts and cultures of the global community.

Genghis Blues - 5:30pm Saturday, July 7

“A good-hearted, wonderfully revealing record of an arduous but triumphant journey ... melds American blues music and Asian chant into a rugged Asian-American fusion.” –New York Times 

One night, Paul Pena—a down-on-his-luck blind bluesman—heard a strange sound on his radio. It was throatsinging, from the Republic of Tuva, in the wild country between Siberia and Mongolia. After teaching himself how to throatsing, Pena was invited to perform at Tuva’s annual national competition. This incredible story takes us across the globe, introducing us to a man whose insatiable curiosity and deep love of music connects him in the most unlikely places. Winner, Sundance, Florida, San Francisco film festivals. (U.S., 2000, 88m, digital video)

Detropia

Leading documentarians Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp) take us deep into a once-grand city, punctuating their gorgeous impressionistic footage with tales of survival and creative urban living told by Detroit’s hardy residents: a blogger who sneaks into crumbling buildings to document their past; a nightclub owners who provides a haven for the downtrodden; a union leader who sees the economy being yanked out beneath his workers; and a group of conceptual artists reveling in the cheap real estate. Avoiding cheap moments of false hope, DETROPIA provides an elegy to a city, and a siren call for the urban experience. (U.S., 2012, 90m, digital video)

October 2012

A Very Chaplin Holiday: City Lights

Charlie Chaplin’s films remain among the most masterful, creative, funny and moving ever made. But experiencing them on the big screen remains a rarity. Celebrate the Tramp’s humor and pathos with this series of recently restored 35mm masterpieces.

“Comes closest to representing all the different notes of Chaplin's genius.” –Roger Ebert
The Tramp becomes a street sweeper, a boxer and a savior for a suicidal millionaire—all to find to help a blind flower girl recover her sight. From its an uproarious skewering of formality to its sublime ending, CITY LIGHTS melts the heart and tickles the funny bone. (U.S., 1931, 87m, 35mm) 

12:30pm Saturday and Sunday Nov. 24 & 25; 6:00p Tuesday Nov 27

Series passes: $30 adults / $20 children under 12

In Conversation: David Barsamian

One of America’s most tireless and wide-ranging investigative journalists, David Barsamian has altered the independent media landscape, both with his weekly radio show Alternative Radio—now in its 25^th year—and with his books, written with Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Tariq Ali, Arundhati Roy and Edward Said. His latest book with Noam Chomsky is How the World Works. Barsamian, who was recently deported from India due to his work on Kashmir and due to his work on Kashmir and other rebellions as well as corporate depredations, discusses world affairs and the state of journalism, and censorship, with CCA Cinematheque Director Jason Silverman in this multimedia presentation.

6:00p Monday October 24

Never Stand Still

“Exhilarating … Will thrill lovers of movement, whether amateur or advanced.” –Village Voice

Filmed at the iconic Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, this thrilling documentary features Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Suzanne Farrell, Mark Morris, Judith Jamison and Bill Irwin appear alongside new innovators to reveal the passion, discipline, and daring of the world of dance. The film weaves together amazing performances by world-renowned dancers interwoven with interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and rare archival elements, telling the story of a Berkshires farm that has become a mecca where artists and audience share the joy of dance in its every form. (U.S., 2011, 78m, digital video, First Run Features)

June 2012

The Due Return Anniversary Event

Featuring Anne Farrel's documentary film THE DUE RETURN and a Q&A with Meow Wolf members!

Meow Wolf's The Due Return opened at CCA in 2011, leaving Santa Fe stunned at the scope, magic, and detail of what came to be known as simply "The Ship." One year later, we celebrate The Due Return by premiering Anne Farrell's amazing documentary film, which shows how Meow Wolf pulled off the amazing feat and the subsequent deconstruction of The Due Return. Anne's video is followed by a Q&A with Meow Wolf members to discuss the ship and all things Meow Wolf. 

Friday, May 11 at 8:00p, $5

Critical Massacre: Hobo With a Shotgun

Chainbreaker Collective and CCA bring you the absolute best in contemporary horror/gore/slasher flicks with this late-nite film series. Join us the last Friday of every month at 8pm for a screaming good time.

A train pulls into the station – it’s the end of the line. A hobo jumps from a freight car hoping for a fresh start in a new city. Instead, he finds himself trapped in an urban hell. This is a world where criminals rule the streets and Drake, the city’s crime boss, reigns supreme alongside his sadistic murderous sons, Slick & Ivan. Our hero dreams of making the city a beautiful place and starting a new life for himself. But as the brutality continues to rage around him, he realizes the only way to make a difference in this town is with that gun in his hand and two shells in its chamber. (Canada, 2011, 86min, digital video, Magnet Releasing)

8:00p Friday April 27

Folk/Art/Cinema: Where The Stars Meet The Sea & The Little Girl Who Stole The Sun

The Santa Fe International Folk Art Market and CCA proudly present Folk/Art/Cinema.  Curated by Emmy-winning writer-producer Kirk Ellis and CCA Cinematheque Director and Sundance Fellow Jason Silverman, this series of five hosted films explores the enduring spirit and cultural tensions of traditional societies in a changing world. Folk/Art/Cinema introduces works by world cinema’s unsung heroes and offers new perspectives into the arts and cultures of the global community.

Where The Stars Meet The Sea & The Little Girl Who Stole The Sun - 7:30pm Thursday, June 14

Preceded by a Skype introduction by African film scholar Samba Gadjigo

Left for dead after being born under the curse of an eclipse, a “crippled” orphan boy grows into a young man of strong will, with supernatural powers. Raymond Rajaonarivelo’s gorgeous African folktale mixes naturalistic settings and magic realism and puts Madagascar in gorgeous focus (Madagascar, 1996, 77m, digital video courtesy of California Newsreel). Preceded by THE LITTLE GIRL WHO SOLD THE SUN, Djibril Diop Mambéty’s tale of a young heroine who does her work as a newspaper salesgirl fearlessly and with great heart on Dakar’s sometimes mean streets. (Senegal, 1998, 45m, digital video)

All Together

“A wry charmer with poignant undertones … a crowd-pleaser …  its not afraid to examine matters of mortality in a mature and unsentimental way.” –Hollywood Reporter
Stéphane Robelin's crowd-pleasing comedy follows five aging and comfortably retired friends who decide to move in together, hiring a handsome graduate student (Daniel Brühl) as a live-in caretaker. Together, they rediscover the joys of “communal” living -- but when old secrets and long-simmering jealousies emerge, discord among the group begins to grow. The all-star international cast features Jane Fonda (in her first French-language film since Godard's 1972 Tout Va Bien), Geraldine Chaplin, and Claude Rich. (France, Germany, 2012, 95m, digital video, Kino Lorber)

November 2012

Polisse

Winner, 2011 Cannes Film Festival • Nominee, a record 13 César Awards
“A powerhouse of emotional jolts, freewheeling comedy and socially-minded storytelling … Like a whole season of The Wire packed into a single film.” –Hollywood Reporter

Using real cases, Maïwenn’s script follows the daily lives of a tight-knit team of men and women working in the Child Protection Unit of the Parisian police. An ensemble cast of leading French actors conveys the emotional strain of the unit’s work with gritty realism: the stress of their jobs, the damage to the children and the inevitable breakdowns, divorce and adulterous relations within the force. But she also finds the humor and touching moments, celebrating flawed heroes who fight a battle to save kids in danger. (France, 2011, 127m, IFC Films, digital video)

June 2012

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

“An essential portrait of a key contemporary figure.” –The Guardian

The Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei was named by ArtReview as the most influential artist in the world, yet there’s nary a paintbrush to be seen in Alison Klayman’s smart, funny, deeply committed film. Ai’s big-concept projects include a room filled with tens of millions of hand-painted faux sunflower seeds, crafted out of porcelain; the phenomenal Beijing stadium The Bird’s Nest; and a spreadsheet documenting each of the more than 5,000 students buried alive in shoddy public buildings after an earthquake. Whether tweeting a fuck-you message about Chinese officials, getting beaten by police or spelling out a poem made of 5,000 backpacks on the front of a Munich museum, Ai transmutes protest into a mind-expanding, heartful and sometimes brutally funny form of expression, as China wages war with its conscience. (U.S., digital video, IFC Films)

August-September 2012

Beasts of the Southern Wild

“Do you remember a time you saw a film that changed your perspective on movies forever? … This is it. This is the discovery of Sundance 2012. The film that everyone is going to be talking about after the fest. And it lives up to the hype. But forget about all of that, go see this without knowing anything about it, just that it's phenomenal, and you'll experience it the way all of us did.” –Indiewire

An intrepid six-year-old girl transforms parental neglect, living in the wild and a once-in-a-lifetime hurricane into wondrous, unforgettable adventure in this thrilling, entirely original mix of mythology, anthropology and folklore. Set in “the Bathtub,” near New Orleans, Benh Zeitlin’s debut was the talk of Sundance (where it won the Grand Jury Prize): gorgeous, dark, funny, moving and innovative in ways that help us rethink the power of the movies. (U.S., 2012, 91m, 35mm, Fox Searchlight)

June - October 2012

My Week With Marilyn

"A warm, wonderful and enchanting work of artistry ... What an extraordinary thrill to leave a movie exhilarated instead of drained, sated instead of empty, rejuvenated instead of depressed. It's a magical experience." –Rex Reed, NY Observer

In the early summer of 1956, a 23 year-old Oxford grad, determined to make his way in the film business, works as a lowly assistant on a movie set ... the film that  united Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) and Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams), who was also on honeymoon with her new husband, the playwright Aurthur Miller (Dougray Scott). Nearly 40 years on, his diary account of one week, while Miller was away, becomes a story about a Hollywood starlet desperate to escape the pressures of celebrity and discover new kinds of adventure in her life. (U.K., 2011, 99m, 35mm, The Weinstein Company)

Feburary 2012

A Cat in Paris

Oscar Nominee, Best Animated Feature!!
"Sublime! Beautifully drawn...breathtaking...a stylish celebration of storytelling rich with film references (Reservoir Dogs and Goodfellas among them)." -Boston Globe 

Dino leads a double life: By day a companion to Zoe, a little girl, by night, the cat serves as accomplice to Nico, a slinky cat burglar with a big heart. Dashing from rooftop to rooftop across the Paris skyline, Dino’s two worlds collide after Zoe decides to follow along, falling into the hands of a gangster planning a theft of a rare statue. Can Dino and Nico save Zoe? This warm, gorgeous animation offers a witty look at film noir and feline life, along with some of cinema’s most stunning views of Paris (including from the top of Notre Dame). Featuring the voices of Marcia Gay Harden, Anjelica Huston and Matthew Modine. (France, 2011, 70m, digital video, GKids)

July 2012

The Flat

“Goes from intriguing to astonishing by way of unfathomable … mesmerizing.” –Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
When Arnon Goldfinger’s grandmother passed away, at age 98, she left behind a mystery in her overflowing Tel Aviv apartment: a coin with a Jewish star on one side and a swastika on the other. Soon, he is off on a wild journey, to Germany, finding connections between his Jewish family and the architects of the Third Reich. (Israel, 2012, 97m, digital video, Sundance Selects)

December 2012

Safety Not Guaranteed

From the creators of LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, a Sundance award-winner with a 92% Tomatorating: Three cynical Seattle magazine employees (Jake Johnson, Aubrey Plaza and Karan Soni) decide to look for the story behind a strange classified ad promising DIY time travel. They discover a mysterious eccentric named Kenneth (Mark Duplass), a likable but paranoid supermarket clerk, who believes he¹s solved the riddle of time travel and intends to depart again soon. Together, they embark on a hilarious, smart, and unexpectedly heartfelt journey that reveals how far believing can take you. (U.S., 2012, 86m, 35mm, FilmDistrict)

July 2012

Sleepwalk with Me

September-October 2012

Porco Rosso

A tribute to aviation, Hayao Miyazaki’s rarely seen adventure is set during World War II, as a flying ace who has been cursed—he has been given the head of a pig—struggles to rediscover his humanity after meeting an aspiring airplane designer. Perhaps cinema’s greatest master of aerial scenes, Miyazaki goes all out with air pirates and rival aces, eye-bending scenes of the sky in every condition and aircraft that will make any aviation buff dizzy with joy.  Featuring the voices of Michael Keaton, Brad Garrett, Cary Elwes and David Ogden Stiers. (Japan, 1992, 93m, new 35mm print, recommended for ages 8 and up)

Friday June 29 at 5:30p, Sat-Sun June 30-July 1 at 11:00a & 1:00p

Knuckleball!

“You don’t need to love baseball, you just need to love underdogs … hugely entertaining… makes you stand up and cheer … deserves serious Oscar consideration.” –Fretts on Film

A handful of pitchers in the long history of baseball have resorted to the lowest rung on the credibility ladder in their sport: throwing a ball so slow and unpredictable that no one wants anything to do with it. KNUCKLEBALL follows Tim Wakefield—who, at 45, was the oldest player in the game—and R.A. Dickey, who is among the league leaders this season, using extraordinary access, inside the locker room and on the field. To help us understand professional sports’ most mercurial art form, documentarians Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg (JOAN RIVERS) offer a history along with interviews with everyone from Phil Niekro and Jim Bouton to Roger Angell, Derek Jeter and Joe Torre. (U.S., 2012, 90m, FilmBuff)

September-October 2012

Kiki's Delivery Service

One of Hayao Miyazaki’s most charming works tells the story of a resourceful young witch who uses her broom to create a delivery service. But, in a moment of self-doubt, she loses her gift. Set in a coastal town, featuring stunning animation that presages PONYO, this is an unforgettable and timeless tale of a young girl finding her way in the world.  Featuring the voices of Kirsten Dunst, Phil Hartman, Janeane Garofalo, Brad Garrett and Debbie Reynolds. (Japan, 1989, 102m, new 35mm print, recommended for all ages)

Friday June 15 at 5:30p, Sat-Sun June 16-17 at 11:00a and 12:45p

Only Yesterday

Directed by Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata this grown-up film offers a leap forward in animation, using the form to explore the emotional life and memories of a 27-year-old woman. Flowing lyrically between time periods, as she thinks about her adult life today and her childhood self, the woman wonders how she lost the dreams she had as a youth, remembering school-age romances and the growing pains she survived. A landmark in Japanese cinema, it has been seen only rarely in the U.S., and never before on the big screen. (Japan, 1991, 118m, new 35mm print, in Japanese with English subtitles, recommended for ages 10 and up)

Friday July 13 at 5:30p, Sat-Sun July 14-15 at 10:30a & 12:45p

Wake In Fright

“Ted Kotcheff’s WAKE IN FRIGHT is a deeply – and I mean deeply – unsettling and disturbing movie. I saw it when it premiered in Cannes in 1971, and it left me speechless. Visually, dramatically, atmospherically and psychologically, it’s beautifully calibrated, and it gets under your skin one encounter at a time. I’m excited that it has been restored and is finally getting the exposure it deserves." –Martin Scorsese
Director Ted Kotcheff via Skype – details to come!
A teacher arrives in a rough Australian outback mining town, planning to stay overnight. One night stretches to five, as he plunges headlong toward his own destruction. When the alcohol-induced mist lifts, he sits against a tree—a self-loathing man in a desolate wasteland—dirty, red-eyed and looking at a rifle with one bullet left. (Australia, 1971, 114m, digital video)

October 2012

Castle in the Sky

Hayao Miyazaki tells the story of a young girl with a mysterious crystal pendant who falls out of the sky and into the arms and life of young Pazu. Together they search for a floating island in the sky, site of a long-dead civilization promising enormous wealth and power to those who can unlock its secrets. (Japan, 1986, 124m, Japanese with English subtitles, new 35mm print, recommended for age 7 and up)

Mon May 28 at 12:45p

Howl's Moving Castle

Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-nominated film follows an average girl who, after meeting a handsome young wizard, is transformed into a 90-year-old woman, and must embark upon a dangerous journey to lift the curse. Pulled into a life-and-death struggle between powerful sorcerers, she finds her own inner strength. Featuring the voices of Christian Bale, Emily Mortimer, Billy Crystal and Lauren Bacall. (Japan, 2005, 114m, 35mm archive print, recommended for age 7 and up)

Mon-Tues August 6-7 at 2:30p

Beats, Rhymes and Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest

“Riveting … gets uncomfortably close to one of the most important and influential groups of the past 25 years … a loving, magnetic, gloriously alive tribute to a golden age when a group of brilliant young black men and women joined forces to reinvent hip-hop in their own funky, Afrocentric image, and the most penetrating psychological study of a creative partnership in perpetual peril ... Poignant and powerful, complex and melancholy.” ­–The Onion AV Club

Actor Michael Rapaport turns the camera on his favorite band, the legendary, influential and groundbreaking hip-hop band A Tribe Called Quest. Created by two childhood friends, the band built playful, innovative, infinitely creative sounds, but eventually split up after having their deep friendships split by their success. Can they reconcile for a mega-tour ten years later? (U.S., 2011, 97m, Sony Classics)

October 2011

Let The Bullets Fly

“An acting masterclass throughout, Let the Bullets Fly turns out to be more than just comedy gold. … a political satire disguised as a 1930s China-set spaghetti western.” –TimeOut

The highest-grossing Chinese film in Chinese history, Jiang Wen (who started as an actor with Zhang Yimou) follows his sensational DEVILS ON THE DOORSTEP with a non-stop Western-style comedy, following a bandit who, after playing Robin Hood, comes face to face with a gangster (Chow Yun-Fat, in full glory). Bullets fly, the plot gets ever twistier and the physical comedy does tribute to the silent era and the height of the Jackie Chan days. It’s no wonder Hollywood snapped up the remake rights … for a reported $10 million. (China, 2011, 132m, 35mm, Variance Films)

March 2012

A Portrait of Wally

"[A] bombshell! Not just about stolen art: It's about cultural skulduggery, political sleaze, institutional hypocrisy and the virtues of persistence." –Variety

Egon Schiele’s tender picture of his mistress, Walburga (“Wally”) Neuzil, is the pride of the Leopold Museum in Vienna. But for 13 years the painting was locked up in New York, caught in a legal battle between the Austrian museum and the Jewish family from whom the Nazis seized the painting in 1939. Former Santa Fean Andrew Shea traces a story with more twists than THE THIRD MAN, revealing the mechanics of Holocaust-era looting, including the complicity of major art institutions. (U.S., 2012, 90m)

December 2012

Sound Of Noise

“Part quirky comedy, part existential mystery, part flash-mob musical … with astonishingly choreographed performances using hospital equipment, construction vehicles and power-lines.” ­–A.V. Club

Police officer Amadeus Warnebring was born into a musical family with a long history of famous musicians …and he hates music. When a band of crazy musicians decides to perform “Music For One City And Six Drummers”—a city-wide musical apocalypse—Warnebring embarks on the toughest investigation of his life. This anarchic, completely off-the-wall comedy by Ola Simonsson and Johannes Stjarne Nilsson takes the city symphony to deliriously comic new highs. (Sweden, 2011, 102m, digital video)

May 2012

Black Power Mixtape

“An extraordinary feat of editing and archival research … takes up a familiar period in American history from a fresh and fascinating angle.” –New York Times

During its heyday in the 1960s and 70s, Swedish broadcast journalism provided extensive coverage of world, including deeply committed examinations of race and class in America. The footage from this film, produced by Danny Glover, includes startling interviews with Stokely Carmichael and Angela Davis, unblinking looks at economic disparity between the races and the scourge of poverty and drugs that plagued urban areas. Contemporary commentators including Erykah Badu, Questlove and Sonia Sanchez bring this startling, gorgeous and unforgettable footage into contemporary context. (d. Göran Olsson, Sweden, 2011, 100m)

February 2012

Pariah

“**** … An invigoratingly fresh, optimistic film … plunges the audience into a world that's both tough and tender, vivid and grim, drenched in poetry and music and pain and discovery.” –Washington Post

Alike, a 17-year-old African-American woman in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood, has a flair for poetry, is a good student at her local high school … and is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian, with help from her boisterous best friend Laura. Wondering how much she can confide in her family, Alike strives to get through adolescence with grace, humor, and tenacity – sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, but always moving forward. Dee Rees phenomenal debut feature was a winner at Sundance, the Independent Spirit Awards, the National Board of Review and numerous festivals. (U.S., 2011, 86m, 35mm, Focus Features)

April 2012

The Imposter

“Astonishing!” –NPR

A 13 year-old Texas boy vanishes without a trace. Three and a half years later, staggering news arrives: the boy has been found, thousands of miles from home in Spain, saying he survived a mind-boggling ordeal of kidnap and torture by shadowy captors. His family is ecstatic to have him back no matter how strange the circumstances – but things become far stranger once he returns to Texas. How could a blonde, blue-eyed son have returned with darker skin and eyes? How could his personality and even accent have changed so profoundly? Why does the family not seem to notice the glaring differences? And if this person who has arrived in Texas isn’t the Barclay’s missing child . . . who on earth is he? And what really happened to Nicholas? Bart Layton’s shocking, genius film, filled with strikingly creative re-enactments, asks the audience to play detective, and to explore truth, perception and the lies we all seem to tell. (U.K., 2012, 90m, Indomina Releasing)
September 2012

The Yellow Submarine

Once upon a time (or maybe twice), in an unearthly paradise called Pepperland, happiness and music reigned supreme … until the terrible Blue Meanies declared war, determined destroy all that was good.  Can John, Paul, George and Ringo save the day? Armed with humor and songs, aboard their yellow submarine, The Beatles battle the evil forces of bluedom. Finally and painstakingly restored, frame by frame, after years of being out of print, this psychedelic adventure remains one of the great classics of animation, and one of the funkiest music videos of all time, featuring, among others, the songs "Eleanor Rigby," "When I'm Sixty-Four," "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," "All You Need Is Love," and "It's All Too Much." (U.K., 1969/2012, 89m, digital video)

May 2012

A Very Chaplin Holiday: Gold Rush

Charlie Chaplin’s films remain among the most masterful, creative, funny and moving ever made. But experiencing them on the big screen remains a rarity. Celebrate the Tramp’s humor and pathos with this series of recently restored 35mm masterpieces.

“One of the flat-out funniest films made in the silent era or any other.”  –Hollywood Reporter
In search of gold in turn-of-the-century Alaska, Charlie takes refuge with a fellow prospector in an isolated, comically imbalanced cabin. Hungry? Try a (big) shoe. This masterpiece features more great Chaplin moments than any other: the cabin tottering over the cliff, the giant chicken and more, along with Chaplin’s own compositions and narration, added for a 1942 re-release. (U.S., 1925/1942, 72m, 35mm)

6:00p Wednesday Dec 26

Tickets: $9.50 general/$8.50 members/$7 students and military
Series passes: $30 adults / $20 children under 12

Children Of Paradise

“Carne’s triumphant masterpiece! Still rules the seas of French cinema like some proud galleon, the ultimate exemplar of classical filmmaking, great acting, and a perfectly constructed screenplay. For many critics, it remains the finest French film ever made.” –Peter Cowie

“Love is so simple” — or is it? A theater curtain rises on jostling crowds on the Boulevard du Crime in 1828 Paris: a white-faced mime, an aspiring actor and an intellectual criminal, all of whom have eyes only for mysterious beauty. An ode to the lusty traditions of early 19^th-century French theater, this complexly plotted romantic tragedy was France’s biggest and most expensive production to date and, for some, the pinnacle of poetic realist cinema. Fully restored, this is a must for cinephiles. (France, 1942, 195 minutes including intermission, restored digital print)

July 2012

The Turin Horse

“As compelling as it is forbidding … an absolute vision, masterly and enveloping in a way that less personal, more conventional movies are not. The film doesn't seduce; it commands.” –NPR

One cold Italian morning, the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche strode out of his home and tearfully flung his arms around the neck of an exhausted carriage horse being savagely whipped by its driver. Béla Tarr’s extraordinary film, winner of Best Director at the Berlin Film Festival, picks up from there, depicting six days in the lives of the driver, his daughter and the horse, as an apocalyptic windstorm stirs the air outside their small farmhouse. Nearly dialogue free, filled with ravishing black-and-white images, this sublime meditation on everyday hardships and the human condition reconfirms Tarr—hailed as a visionary by the likes of Susan Sontag, Jim Jarmusch and Gus Van Sant—as one of the true masters of modern world cinema. (Hungary, 2011, 146m)

July 2012

The Island President

“More entertaining and less didactic than AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH … An inspiring portrait in a sea of troubling environmental threats.” –Screen Daily

It’s a problem no leader has yet faced: Mohamed Nasheed hopes to stop the literal submersion of his country beneath the sea.  With unprecedented access, Jon Shenk’s film follows Nasheed, who survived imprisonment and torture as a political opponent and who has now ushered democracy into the Maldives, which is watching its land disappear as sea levels rise. Three feet more and the Maldives will have disappeared. From the beaches of this paradise to international conferences, Nasheed uses the media and his own charisma to help shape the debate about global warming. But at home, the sometimes-violent political opposition is willing to go to any length to reclaim their power. A stirring, unforgettable look at heroism and the environment. (U.S., 2012, 101m, Samuel Goldwyn Films, digital video)

May 2012

The Invisible War

"A gut punch of moral outrage ... astonishing ... shocking ... Dick's most urgently affecting work to date." –Hollywood Reporter

Winner of the Audience Award at Sundance, this groundbreaking investigative documentary reveals one of America's most shameful and best kept secrets: the epidemic of rape within the U.S. military. The film paints a startling picture of the extent of the problem. Today, a female soldier in combat zones is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire. The Department of Defense estimates there were a staggering 19,000 violent sex crimes in the military in 2010. The latest from Oscar- and Emmy-nominated filmmaker Kirby Dick (THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED; TWIST OF FAITH; SICK) exposes the epidemic, breaking open one of the most under-reported stories of our generation, to the nation and the world. (U.S., 2012, 97m)

August 2012

Shame

"A mesmerizing companion piece to his 2008 debut, "Hunger," this more approachable but equally uncompromising drama likewise fixes its gaze on the uses and abuses of the human body, as Michael Fassbender again strips himself down, in every way an actor can, for McQueen's rigorous but humane interrogation." –Variety

Steve McQueen's film—a critical favorite and multiple award winner—follows Brandon (Michael Fassbender), a New Yorker who shuns intimacy with women but feeds his desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. When his wayward younger sister (Carey Mulligan) moves into his apartment, Brandon must deal with memories of their shared painful past, and his insular life spirals out of control. (England, 2011, 99m, 35mm, Fox Searchlight, CONTAINS EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT)

February 2012

Revenge of the Electric Car

“Fascinating … refreshing …” -The Hollywood Reporter

Following up on his pulse-raising investigative classic WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR, Chris Paine captures the thrilling and explosive rise of new auto technologies. Paine shoots both behind the doors at Nissan and GM and at the Silicon Valley start-up Tesla—founded by PayPal creator Elon Musk—as billions of dollars are invested in a race to re-imagine 21^st century travel. Hold on for a wild ride! (U.S., 2011, 90m)

November 2011