100 LITERS OF GOLD
[100 LITRAA SAHTIA] Descended from a family of expert brewers, sisters Pirkko and Taina constantly ferment and taste their sahti, a traditional farmhouse-style ale, in hopes of achieving the “perfect 10” batch. But their uninhibited lifestyle has worn thin the patience of their small town. When their third sister, Päivi, arrives from the big city to announce that she is going to be married, she has already decided the gift she would like from her degenerate sisters: 100 liters of their finest beer. Long-suffering alcoholics over the guilt of injuring Päivi in a car crash decades ago, Pirkko and Taina... read more
[100 LITRAA SAHTIA] Descended from a family of expert brewers, sisters Pirkko and Taina constantly ferment and taste their sahti,... read more
ALL ABOUT EVE
“Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night!” zings Bette Davis in her most iconic role, first lady of the theater Margo Channing. But it is Margo who gets bumped, by her duplicitous protégée, the ambitious Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter), a young starlet who models herself on Davis only to supplant her in a win-at-all-costs rise to stardom. George Sanders is the sardonic theater critic who has seen it all; Marilyn Monroe shines in a small but head-turning role as his on-the-make date. The film received 14 Oscar® nominations (a record not matched until TITANIC, 47 years later)... read more
“Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night!” zings Bette Davis in her most iconic role, first lady... read more
AMRUM
Nanning (Jasper Billerbeck) is a kindhearted 12-year-old who enjoys exploring the beautiful North Sea island of Amrum where he lives with his high-strung mother, Hille (Laura Tonke), and pragmatic Aunt Ena (Lisa Hagmeister). After Hille gives birth to a baby brother, she refuses to eat any food but white bread, butter and honey. But it is 1945, and these foods are in short supply due to wartime rationing. Nanning resolves to find these prized goods for his beloved mother and undertakes a quest across the picturesque island, even crossing the mudflats to the mainland during low tide. All the while,... read more
Nanning (Jasper Billerbeck) is a kindhearted 12-year-old who enjoys exploring the beautiful North Sea island of Amrum where he lives... read more
BARRY LYNDON
Notable for writer and director Stanley Kubrick's painstaking evocation of 18th-century life, including the nighttime scenes illuminated only by candlelight, this film is a must-see on the big screen. In one of his best performances, 1970s heartthrob Ryan O’Neal plays callow striver Redmond Barry, a reluctant conscript in the British army after leaving his Irish home in disgrace. On the frontlines on the continent, events lead first to Barry's desertion, then his reenlistment on the victorious Prussian side. He continues to try his luck in a series of palace intrigues, high-stakes gambling and the strategic seduction of a noblewoman (Marisa... read more
Notable for writer and director Stanley Kubrick's painstaking evocation of 18th-century life, including the nighttime scenes illuminated only by candlelight,... read more
BELOW THE CLOUDS
[SOTTO LE NUVOLE] Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, documentary master Gianfrano Rosi’s (SACRO GRA, FIRE AT SEA) new film explores the city and surroundings of Naples, Italy, a place where thousands of years of history echo and resonate for its people every day. Dominated by the looming presence of Mount Vesuvius — a still-active volcano, whose eruption in 79 AD buried the nearby city of Pompeii — Neapolitans live in close proximity to the possibility of destruction, with occasional tremors and the tragic ruins of Pompeii as constant reminders. And yet, thousands of years... read more
[SOTTO LE NUVOLE] Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, documentary master Gianfrano Rosi’s (SACRO GRA,... read more
Best of the 48 Hour Film Sci-fi Horror Project
Come see the winning short films from this year's 48 Hour Film Science Fiction Horror Project, all made by local filmmakers in just 48 hours! Awards will be given in a number of categories, culminating in Best Film. Program approx. 120 min. For more information, visit 48hourfilm.com read more
Come see the winning short films from this year's 48 Hour Film Science Fiction Horror Project, all made by local... read more
BETTER GO MAD IN THE WILD
[RADĚJI ZEŠÍLET V DIVOČINĚ] Nestled within the verdant woods of the Šumava forest, eccentric and inseparable twins František and Ondrej Klišík live a harmonious life secluded from the clamor of civilization. Their daily routine includes soothing naps inside a hollowed-out tree trunk, leisurely nude arm-wrestling, caring for the herd of farm animals on their quaint homestead and arguing incessantly yet perpetually reconciling, among even more unconventional pursuits. The foundations of this free-spirited lifestyle soon founder as profound differences in these otherwise identical twins rear their heads: Franta longs for change after living in this same plot of land for decades,... read more
[RADĚJI ZEŠÍLET V DIVOČINĚ] Nestled within the verdant woods of the Šumava forest, eccentric and inseparable twins František and Ondrej... read more
A BETTER TOMORROW (1986)
[英雄本色] A BETTER TOMORROW is the tale of two brothers: Sung Tse Ho (Ti Lung), a successful senior-ranking Triad counterfeiter, and the younger Sung Tse Kit (Leslie Cheung), a fledgling graduate of the Hong Kong police academy. A schism forms when Kit learns his brother is a criminal; Ho struggles to reform himself to regain his younger sibling’s trust, with plenty of heists, double-crosses and shoot-outs along the way. Chow Yun-Fat costars as Sung Tse Ho’s best friend and partner-in-crime in a role that launched him to superstar status and was the first of five film collaborations with writer/director John... read more
[英雄本色] A BETTER TOMORROW is the tale of two brothers: Sung Tse Ho (Ti Lung), a successful senior-ranking Triad counterfeiter,... read more
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY
Greek billionaire Marcos Timoleon (Willem Dafoe) has everything that money can buy, including his own private island on which he is hosting a 25th birthday party for his daughter, Sofia (Vic Carmen Sonne, THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE). The one thing his money cannot afford him though is the return of his only son, who died in a plane crash as a teen and whose death has caused Marcos to keep a tight grasp on every other aspect of his life, including his daughter’s affairs. Ostensibly held in Sofia’s honor, the festivities are mostly populated by Marcos’ friends, enemies and... read more
Greek billionaire Marcos Timoleon (Willem Dafoe) has everything that money can buy, including his own private island on which he... read more
BODY AND SOUL (1925)
An escaped convict surfaces in Tatesville, Georgia, where he passes himself off to the local populace as Rev. Isaiah T. Jenkins and sets about bilking the congregation of their hard-earned money. Paul Robeson is magnetic in his screen debut — the only film he made with pioneering independent filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. Robeson plays the dual role of the phony preacher and his long-lost twin brother, Sylvester, with whom he vies for the affections of an impressionable young congregant named Isabelle. DIR/SCR/PROD Oscar Micheaux, SCR from Micheaux’s novel. U.S., 1925, b&w, 95 min. NOT RATED read more
An escaped convict surfaces in Tatesville, Georgia, where he passes himself off to the local populace as Rev. Isaiah T.... read more
Breaking Plates and Smashing the Patriarchy
This program of 10 rollicking shorts takes inspiration from the freedom of the first years of cinema to bring a boundary-smashing brawl and a creative revolution for women to the screen. It kicks off with Karen Pearlman’s BREAKING PLATES (2023), a contemporary docudrama inspired by the creative mayhem and wild physicality of “Cinema’s First Nasty Women,” a collection of deliciously mischievous silent shorts which feature some of the earliest rebel women to take to the silver screen. The interplay of gestures of protest across the program is sharply comedic and delightfully entertaining, celebrating women who refuse to be boxed in... read more
This program of 10 rollicking shorts takes inspiration from the freedom of the first years of cinema to bring a... read more
BREATHING UNDERWATER
[HORS D’HALEINE] Covered in bruises and having just discovered she is pregnant, Emma (Carla Juri, WETLANDS) finds herself in the hospital, afraid to return home to her husband. The nurses suspect domestic violence — a charge Emma herself is not comfortable accepting — and gently suggest she stay at a women’s shelter until she decides on next steps. Emma reluctantly agrees and finds her new home bursting with life: women, children and kind-hearted staff from all walks of life. Regardless of their differences and distinct traumas, the women forge deep bonds, uplifting each other and allowing Emma to shed the... read more
[HORS D’HALEINE] Covered in bruises and having just discovered she is pregnant, Emma (Carla Juri, WETLANDS) finds herself in the... read more
BROKEN VOICES
[SBORMISTR] Inspired by the real-life Bambini di Praga scandal that occurred in the Czech Republic in the 1990s, BROKEN VOICES is a delicate and emotional drama about abuse of power and loss of innocence. Thirteen-year-old Karolína (an impressive Kateřina Falbrová in her debut) joins a world-famous girls’ choir alongside her older sister, Lucie (Maya Kintera). Though landing a spot in the choir is an achievement on its own, Karolína is eager to prove herself to the stern and exacting choirmaster, Vítězslav Mácha (Juraj Loj), who will select a contingent to join him on an international tour to the United States.... read more
[SBORMISTR] Inspired by the real-life Bambini di Praga scandal that occurred in the Czech Republic in the 1990s, BROKEN VOICES... read more
BULLET IN THE HEAD
[喋血街頭] Three close friends (played by Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Jacky Cheung and Waise Lee) flee the police in Hong Kong and abscond to Vietnam with dreams of profiting off the war as drug smugglers. Amid the turmoil of the war, the three men find their brotherly bonds tested as they become mixed up with a box of gold while coming under fire from all angles in the conflict. Originally planning to create a prequel to A BETTER TOMORROW, director John Woo was inspired by the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident to rework the film into a production that drew comparisons to... read more
[喋血街頭] Three close friends (played by Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Jacky Cheung and Waise Lee) flee the police in Hong Kong... read more
CALLE MÁLAGA
Eighty-year-old María (Almodóvar muse Carmen Maura, WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN) is a lifelong resident of Tangier, where she lives a full life, not anywhere close to slowing down, as part of a dwindling but vibrant community of Spanish expats. She has her routine, her friends and her antique-filled apartment. But María’s only daughter, Clara, in desperate need of money, is dead set on selling the apartment and its furnishings right out from under her mother — plus, she hopes María will move to Madrid and live out her golden years closer to family. Instead, the headstrong... read more
Eighty-year-old María (Almodóvar muse Carmen Maura, WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN) is a lifelong resident of Tangier,... read more
THE CAPTIVE
[EL CAUTIVO] Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar (THE OTHERS, THE SEA INSIDE) reimagines the imprisonment of “Don Quixote” author Miguel de Cervantes as a swashbuckling epic adventure filled with daring escapes, emotional betrayals and secret romances. In 1575, young Spanish soldier Cervantes (Julio Peña Fernández) is held prisoner in Algiers after being captured at sea by Ottoman corsairs. Grabbing the attention of Hasán, the Bajá of Algiers (Alessandro Borghi, THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS), Cervantes starts spending time in his quarters, weaving fantastical tales in exchange for a few hours outside the prison walls. But as the relationship blossoms between captive and... read more
[EL CAUTIVO] Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar (THE OTHERS, THE SEA INSIDE) reimagines the imprisonment of “Don Quixote” author Miguel... read more
CASE 137
[DOSSIER 137] In this gripping and quietly explosive policier, Stéphanie (a riveting Léa Drucker) is a Paris-based investigator for France’s internal affairs unit — tasked with holding officers accountable in a system built to protect its own. Navigating a fraught terrain of institutional silence and deep-rooted corruption, she takes on the controversial case of a young protester who was shot by riot police during a Yellow Vest demonstration. Personal conflicts arise when she discovers the victim also happens to be from her own hometown. As the investigation unfolds, so does Stéphanie’s disillusionment — forcing her to question the very system... read more
[DOSSIER 137] In this gripping and quietly explosive policier, Stéphanie (a riveting Léa Drucker) is a Paris-based investigator for France’s... read more
A CHINESE GHOST STORY
[倩女幽魂] Ning Tsai-Shen (Leslie Cheung) takes shelter in an abandoned rural temple where he meets the beautiful Nieh Hsiao-Tsing (Joey Wong) and becomes instantly smitten. Unfortunately for them both, Hsiao-Ting is a ghost trapped in the human world by a vengeful tree spirit. This discovery sets Tsai-Shen on a journey alongside Taoist swordsman Yen Che-Hsia (Wu Ma) to liberate her so she can move on to the afterlife. Winner of five Golden Horse Awards including Best Feature Film, A CHINESE GHOST STORY became a cult hit in mainland China thanks to its winsome mix of comedy, romance and idealism. (Note... read more
[倩女幽魂] Ning Tsai-Shen (Leslie Cheung) takes shelter in an abandoned rural temple where he meets the beautiful Nieh Hsiao-Tsing (Joey... read more
CIAO CIAO
A chance encounter reunites Charlotte and Jessica, two old friends who have not seen each other in years. Dragging their unenthused husbands along, they gather for dinner and drinks. But it quickly becomes apparent that the husbands are at odds — one a boastful capitalist, the other a freelance artist — and the dinner instantly becomes awkward. As the drinks continue to flow, the evening devolves into all-out chaos when decorum is abandoned and secrets are revealed. Juggling multiple storylines with cosmic connections, filmmaker Keith Albert Tedesco brings a distinctly Maltese twist to this riotous comedy of errors and manners.... read more
A chance encounter reunites Charlotte and Jessica, two old friends who have not seen each other in years. Dragging their... read more
CINDERELLA (1950)
There is no better time to revisit this timeless classic, filled with enduring songs and enchanting imagery, than on the occasion of its 75th anniversary. Cinderella is forced to live in squalor as a servant for her cruel stepmother and stepsisters. When the King invites all eligible maidens to a royal ball, Cinderella is determined to attend — until her stepfamily intervenes, tearing her handmade dress to pieces. Her cries are answered by her Fairy Godmother, who turns the torn dress into a beautiful gown, an ordinary pumpkin into a brilliant carriage and some friendly mice into noble steeds, and... read more
There is no better time to revisit this timeless classic, filled with enduring songs and enchanting imagery, than on the... read more
COLOURS OF TIME
[LA VENUE DE L'AVENIR] Celebrated French filmmaker Cédric Klapisch (L'AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE) returns with this sweeping period piece following country mouse Adèle (Suzanne Lindon, SPRING BLOSSOM) as she journeys to turn-of-the-century Paris in hopes of finding her parents. En route, she meets Lucien (Vassili Schneider, THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO) and Anatole (Paul Kircher, THE ANIMAL KINGDOM), two young artists who introduce her to a whole new world of possibilities. Over 100 years later, Adèle’s distant relatives inherit her house and start to piece together her story, discovering just how she brushed up against the brightest figures of the Impressionist era.... read more
[LA VENUE DE L'AVENIR] Celebrated French filmmaker Cédric Klapisch (L'AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE) returns with this sweeping period piece following country mouse... read more
DEAF
[SORDA] Winner of the Panorama Audience Award at this year’s Berlinale, Eva Libertad’s solo feature debut, adapted from her own short film, is a warm and honest portrayal of a deaf woman’s relationship with motherhood. Ángela (deaf actor Miriam Garlo, Libertad’s sister) is expecting a child with her hearing partner, Héctor (Álvaro Cervantes). As eager as she is to be a mother, she is equally anxious about raising a child in a hearing world that often excludes her. Even worse, if her baby is born able to hear, will Ángela even be able to connect with her own child? After... read more
[SORDA] Winner of the Panorama Audience Award at this year’s Berlinale, Eva Libertad’s solo feature debut, adapted from her own... read more
DOG 51
[CHIEN 51] In the year 2045, the grand city of Paris has been subdivided into three class-based zones guarded by military checkpoints and monitored by the omnipresent AI ALMA. When ALMA’s creator is mysteriously murdered, a pair of cops — elite agent Sala (Adèle Exarchopoulos) and grizzled veteran Zem (Gilles Lellouche) — are tasked with apprehending his killer. DOG 51 is a nail-biting cyberpunk thriller whose sci-fi setting feels like the inevitable outcome of real life, with worsening class stratification, the deployment of ever-present surveillance systems and the pervasiveness of AI in every facet of our lives. The film wears... read more
[CHIEN 51] In the year 2045, the grand city of Paris has been subdivided into three class-based zones guarded by... read more
DOG DAY AFTERNOON
“Attica! Attica!” Sidney Lumet’s ultimate exercise in realism was based on a real-life, only-in-New York incident. Amateur criminal Sonny (Al Pacino) and his accomplice, Sal (John Cazale), find their planned bank robbery quickly spiraling beyond their control into a hostage situation and media frenzy. As day turns to night in Brooklyn, the unexpected motive for the theft becomes clear. The film received six Academy Award® nominations, winning for Best Original Screenplay. DIR Sidney Lumet; SCR Frank Pierson, from the magazine article “The Boys in the Bank” by P. F. Kluge and Thomas Moore; PROD Martin Bregman, Martin Elfand. U.S., 1975,... read more
“Attica! Attica!” Sidney Lumet’s ultimate exercise in realism was based on a real-life, only-in-New York incident. Amateur criminal Sonny (Al... read more
Double Feature: GO WEST with SEVEN CHANCES
100th Anniversary | Restored 4K DCP GO WEST (1925) Heeding the expansionist call of Horace Greeley, an idealistic young man (Buster Keaton) known only as “Friendless” hops a freight train westward to meet his destiny, landing at a cattle ranch in Arizona. His attempts at bronco busting, cattle wrangling and even dairy farming end in hilarious failure, but he does draw the attention of the sweetest gal on the ranch: a darling cow named Brown Eyes. Bovine and cowboy form a tender, inseparable bond — until Brown Eyes and the other cattle are wrangled onto a train bound for a... read more
100th Anniversary | Restored 4K DCP GO WEST (1925) Heeding the expansionist call of Horace Greeley, an idealistic young man... read more
DOWN AND OUT IN AMERICA with THE STRONGER
4K Restoration DOWN AND OUT IN AMERICA Winner of the Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature, Lee Grant’s exploration of Reagan-era America takes us from the heartland, where farms that have fed the U.S. for a century are being dismembered by local banks, through to the tent cities of Los Angeles and welfare hotels of New York. This film is a groundbreaking and unforgettable look at life inside an America we have been too quick to forget, as timely and terrifying as ever. DIR Lee Grant; PROD Joseph Feury, Milton Justice. U.S., 1986, color, 57 min. NOT RATED Preceded by:... read more
4K Restoration DOWN AND OUT IN AMERICA Winner of the Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature, Lee Grant’s exploration of... read more
DRACULA
Testing the limits of good taste, Romanian provocateur Radu Jude turns the legend of Dracula on its head with this visionary, metatextual reimagining of the world’s most famous vampire. With a bad case of writer’s block, a young Romanian filmmaker turns to AI to come up with a version of Dracula that is destined to be a surefire hit. Toying with the chatbot, he generates 12 unique versions, each more outrageous than the last. They draw inspiration from everything from Murnau and Coppola’s takes on the Dracula mythos to the historical accounts of Vlad the Impaler — nothing is sacred.... read more
Testing the limits of good taste, Romanian provocateur Radu Jude turns the legend of Dracula on its head with this... read more
DUSE
With her career on life support and her savings decimated by the end of World War I, legendary Italian actress Eleonora Duse (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, LIKE CRAZY) is at a crossroads. Her overlooked daughter Enrichetta (Noémie Merlant, PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE) rushes to her side, concerned about her failing health. But Duse refuses to wither away and instead decides to make a triumphant return to the stage. Taking a verité approach, filmmaker Pietro Marcello (MARTIN EDEN) masterfully blends handheld camera work with archival footage, crafting a one-of-a-kind biopic in the process. Bruni Tedeschi embodies the indomitable star in... read more
With her career on life support and her savings decimated by the end of World War I, legendary Italian actress... read more
EAGLES OF THE REPUBLIC
Tarik Saleh’s latest film completes his Cairo trilogy, which includes 2017’s dirty cop thriller THE NILE HILTON INCIDENT (which won the Sundance World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic) and 2022’s exposé of murderous clerical corruption, CAIRO CONSPIRACY (awarded Best Screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival). With EAGLES OF THE REPUBLIC, Saleh sets his sights on the Egyptian film industry and the pernicious co-option and corruption present under the regime of Egypt’s current president, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, in power since deposing the democratically elected Mohamed Morsi in a 2013 coup d’état. Fares Fares plays George Fahmy, the most famous actor in... read more
Tarik Saleh’s latest film completes his Cairo trilogy, which includes 2017’s dirty cop thriller THE NILE HILTON INCIDENT (which won... read more
THE EXALTED
[CILDENIE] Anna, a renowned German organist, is contemplating having a baby with her husband, Andris, a Latvian businessman. Arriving back in Latvia for a birthday weekend celebration with friends and family, Anna finds her picturesque life swiftly upended when Andris is arrested at the airport and brought in for questioning under charges of corruption and bribery. After he is released from custody, she and Andris decide to proceed as planned with the party while hiding the scandal from the attendees including a visiting journalist, a local priest and a wild-child stepdaughter. Deftly juggling drama and its ticking time-bomb premise, director... read more
[CILDENIE] Anna, a renowned German organist, is contemplating having a baby with her husband, Andris, a Latvian businessman. Arriving back... read more
FATHER
[OTEC] As a high-powered executive and family man, Michal’s (Milan Ondrík) mind is on autopilot as he goes for his morning run, showers off and gets ready to go to work. This ordinary routine is thrown slightly off course when his wife, Zuzka (Dominika Morávková) asks him to drop off their young daughter at daycare, and, like any good father, he obliges. But when a tragic accident turns the unimaginable into a brutal reality, Michal and Zuzka are left to pick up the pieces of their shattered family. Writer/director Tereza Nvotová (NIGHTSIREN, AFI European Union Film Showcase 2022) made her... read more
[OTEC] As a high-powered executive and family man, Michal’s (Milan Ondrík) mind is on autopilot as he goes for his... read more
FIUME O MORTE!
Winner of both the Tiger Award and the FIPRESCI Prize at this year’s Rotterdam Film Festival, Croatian director Igor Bezinović’s inventive hybrid documentary reenacts scenes from Gabriele D’Annunzio’s siege and occupation of the Adriatic seaport of Fiume (now Croatia’s Rijeka) in the aftermath of World War I. D’Annunzio was a celebrated Italian poet, playwright and army general who besieged and occupied Fiume in 1919. Incensed that the city — long part of the now dissolved Austro-Hungarian Empire — would be ceded to the newly formed Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia) despite its large Italian population, D’Annunzio... read more
Winner of both the Tiger Award and the FIPRESCI Prize at this year’s Rotterdam Film Festival, Croatian director Igor Bezinović’s... read more
FRANKENSTEIN (2025) (Digital)
Oscar®-winning director Guillermo del Toro adapts Mary Shelley’s classic tale of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation. (Note courtesy of Netflix.) DIR/SCR/PROD Guillermo del Toro; SCR from the novel by Mary Shelley; PROD Scott Stuber, J. Miles Dale. U.S, 2025, color, 150 min. RATED R read more
Oscar®-winning director Guillermo del Toro adapts Mary Shelley’s classic tale of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings... read more
FRANKENSTEIN (2025) in 35mm
Oscar®-winning director Guillermo del Toro adapts Mary Shelley’s classic tale of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation. (Note courtesy of Netflix.) DIR/SCR/PROD Guillermo del Toro; SCR from the novel by Mary Shelley; PROD Scott Stuber, J. Miles Dale. U.S, 2025, color, 150 min. RATED R Looking for more showtimes? Click here for tickets for FRANKENSTEIN (2025) (Digital) read more
Oscar®-winning director Guillermo del Toro adapts Mary Shelley’s classic tale of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings... read more
FRANZ
Agnieszka Holland delves into the strange-but-true life story of Franz Kafka, the son of a bourgeois Jewish Prague family, who, rather than follow in his father’s footsteps as a merchant, wrote some of the early 20th century’s most surreal short stories and novels, modern fables whose absurdities described the horrors of the day — and perhaps anticipated those to come. Brilliantly played by Idan Weiss, Kafka comes to life as an obsessive writer, gripped by his ideas and craft, whose professional life (he worked full-time in an insurance office, which he hated) and personal relationships inevitably suffered as a result.... read more
Agnieszka Holland delves into the strange-but-true life story of Franz Kafka, the son of a bourgeois Jewish Prague family, who,... read more
THE FRESHMAN (1925)
Harold Lamb, a naïve, wide-eyed freshman, heads off to Tate University hoping to emulate his movie idol, The College Hero, and springboard himself to popularity. He even makes the football team — as a combination water boy/tackling dummy. But he gets his chance to make a name for himself in the big game, when his football coach, with injured starters and a badly depleted bench, has no choice but to put Harold on the field. Will the spindly and bespectacled frosh make good or be trampled underfoot by the rival team’s rugged leatherheads? THE FRESHMAN was Harold Lloyd’s most successful... read more
Harold Lamb, a naïve, wide-eyed freshman, heads off to Tate University hoping to emulate his movie idol, The College Hero,... read more
GEN_
Dr. Maurizio Bini is a healthcare provider in Milan, Italy, whose congenial demeanor stands in contrast to the heated rhetoric often used to discuss his clinic’s specialties: in vitro fertilization and gender-affirming care. Through a cinema vérité approach, documentary filmmaker Gianluca Matarrese follows the day-to-day proceedings of Bini’s clinic as he counsels hopeful parents, anxious teens and confident adults alike about their individual needs with clear-eyed honesty. With only minor glimpses of Bini’s life outside of work, the focus of the portrait comes into view: This is a man defined by his compassion and empathy for others, who simply believes... read more
Dr. Maurizio Bini is a healthcare provider in Milan, Italy, whose congenial demeanor stands in contrast to the heated rhetoric... read more
GOODFELLAS
“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.” Based on the true story of mobster Henry Hill, Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece follows Hill (Ray Liotta) from lowly numbers runner to high-living heist artist — along the way, he becomes a coke addict and government informant, ultimately joining the witness protection program. The stellar cast includes Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci (who won an Academy Award® for his performance), Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, Michael Imperioli, Samuel L. Jackson and Scorsese’s mother, Catherine, in a scene-stealing performance. DIR/SCR Martin Scorsese; SCR Nicholas Pileggi, from his book “Wiseguy;”... read more
“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.” Based on the true story of... read more
A GOOFY MOVIE
High schooler Max Goof pines for his classmate Roxanne and is desperate for her to notice him. With the help of his friends P.J. and Bobby, Max turns a routine school assembly into a rambunctious concert where he lip syncs and dances as everyone’s favorite pop star, Powerline. Impressed by his show of bravado, Roxanne accepts Max’s invitation to attend a Powerline watch party in the summer. All is going according to plan until Goofy is informed by Max’s principal about his son’s “juvenile delinquency” and decides an impromptu cross-country father-son fishing trip is just what the two of them... read more
High schooler Max Goof pines for his classmate Roxanne and is desperate for her to notice him. With the help... read more
THE GREAT ARCH
[L’INCONNU DE LA GRANDE ARCHE] Continuing the tradition of films about obsessive architects, Stéphane Demoustier’s THE GREAT ARCH follows the true story of Johan Otto von Spreckelsen, an idealistic and little-known Dane whose design proposal was the surprise winner of a prestigious 1980s international competition to build a futuristic arch in Paris’ La Défense district. Having previously completed only a handful of modest projects, von Spreckelsen (brilliantly played by Claes Bang) seems the unlikeliest of candidates for such a monumental commission. But his lack of experience does not temper his hubris or exacting standards. As he grapples with technical obstacles,... read more
[L’INCONNU DE LA GRANDE ARCHE] Continuing the tradition of films about obsessive architects, Stéphane Demoustier’s THE GREAT ARCH follows the... read more
THE HIDDEN FORTRESS
[KAKUSHI TORIDE NO SAN AKUNIN] [隠し砦の三悪人] The fastest and funniest of Akira Kurosawa’s many samurai pictures combines terrific action with broad comedy captured in breathtaking widescreen cinematography — the director’s first foray into the format that would become his signature visual style. Two luckless peasants are bullied into serving a gruff, mysterious stranger (Toshirō Mifune) who promises payment in gold. As the adventures and perils mount, the two discover that they are actually on a secret mission to transport a young warrior princess through enemy territory and restore her to her throne. George Lucas based STAR WARS’ C-3PO and R2-D2... read more
[KAKUSHI TORIDE NO SAN AKUNIN] [隠し砦の三悪人] The fastest and funniest of Akira Kurosawa’s many samurai pictures combines terrific action with... read more
HIGH AND LOW (1963)
[TENGOKU TO JIGOKU] [天国と地獄] Akira Kurosawa’s adaptation of American crime master Evan Hunter’s novel “King’s Ransom” makes for a thriller of the highest order: intellectually rich, pulse-pounding entertainment. Wealthy businessman Kingo Gondo (Toshirō Mifune) receives a ransom letter for his son, only to discover the kidnappers mistakenly grabbed the son of his chauffeur. Along with chief detective Tokura (Tatsuya Nakadai), Gondo becomes personally involved in the case, journeying from his castle-in-the-sky penthouse to the lower depths of Tokyo’s squalid slums. DIR/SCR Akira Kurosawa; SCR/PROD Ryūzō Kikushima; SCR Hideo Oguni Eijirō Hisaita, from the novel “King’s Ransom” by Evan Hunter; PROD... read more
[TENGOKU TO JIGOKU] [天国と地獄] Akira Kurosawa’s adaptation of American crime master Evan Hunter’s novel “King’s Ransom” makes for a thriller... read more
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT
Sidney Poitier stars as Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia homicide detective passing through rural Mississippi and wrongly detained by bigoted sheriff Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger) on a murder charge. Once cleared, he helps the sheriff solve the case. Poitier and Steiger electrify the screen as their mutual antipathy turns to grudging respect; Lee Grant is outstanding in a supporting role as the victim’s angry widow, with Warren Oates as a creepy deputy. The film won five Oscars®, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Steiger. Quincy Jones’ blues-infused score, with a title song performed by Ray Charles, received a Grammy® nomination... read more
Sidney Poitier stars as Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia homicide detective passing through rural Mississippi and wrongly detained by bigoted sheriff... read more
ISLANDS
Set in the sun-bleached purgatory of a Fuerteventura resort, German filmmaker Jan-Ole Gerster’s (COFFEE IN BERLIN) ISLANDS is a slinky neo-noir that simmers with unspoken tension and veiled intentions, channeling everything from THE PASSENGER and WHITE LOTUS to CHALLENGERS and THE SWIMMING POOL. Sam Riley (CONTROL) gives a compellingly ragged performance as Tom (a.k.a. “Ace”), a once-promising tennis player turned disillusioned resort coach whose days blur into a cocktail of hangovers and half-remembered encounters. His stagnating routine is disrupted by Anne and Dave, a chic British couple — played with alluring ambiguity by Stacy Martin and Jack Farthing — who... read more
Set in the sun-bleached purgatory of a Fuerteventura resort, German filmmaker Jan-Ole Gerster’s (COFFEE IN BERLIN) ISLANDS is a slinky... read more
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT
[یک تصادف ساده] Vahid, an unassuming mechanic, is suddenly reminded of his time in an Iranian prison when he has a chance encounter with Eghbal, a man he strongly suspects to be his sadistic jailhouse captor. Panicked, Vahid rounds up a few of his fellow ex-prisoners to try and confirm Eghbal’s identity. Master filmmaker Jafar Panahi creates a deeply felt moral thriller, where high-stakes tension combines with unexpected flurries of humor and thoughtful, sometimes devastating, questions regarding persecution and revenge. DIR/SCR/PROD Jafar Panahi; PROD Philippe Martin. Iran/France/Luxembourg, 2025, color, 105 min. In Persian with English subtitles. RATED PG-13 read more
[یک تصادف ساده] Vahid, an unassuming mechanic, is suddenly reminded of his time in an Iranian prison when he has... read more
THE KILLER (1989)
[喋血雙雄] John Woo’s third film collaboration with Chow Yun-Fat launched Woo to international acclaim and caught Hollywood’s eye in the process. Chow Yun-Fat plays Ah Jong, a hit man exhausted by bloodshed and looking to retire. During what is supposed to be his final job, Ah Jong accidentally blinds singer Jennie (Sally Yeh) and must take on one more job to pay for the operation to restore her eyesight. Featuring high-octane sequences and shoot-outs, including the first appearance of Woo’s trademark doves, THE KILLER quickly cemented itself as an action classic. DIR/SCR John Woo; PROD Tsui Hark. Hong Kong, 1989,... read more
[喋血雙雄] John Woo’s third film collaboration with Chow Yun-Fat launched Woo to international acclaim and caught Hollywood’s eye in the... read more
KONTINENTAL '25
Radu Jude won the Best Screenplay award at the 2025 Berlin Film Festival for this scabrous black comedy about a guilt-wracked civil servant who attempts to clear her conscience but instead discovers that guilt is only a relative concept in contemporary Romania. Distraught over an unexpected, fatal tragedy during her work as a court bailiff in the city of Cluj, Orsolya (Eszter Tompa) is thrown into a tailspin, backing out of a planned family vacation to Greece with her husband and kids to sort out her feelings instead. Meeting up with coworkers and old friends, she is inevitably told that... read more
Radu Jude won the Best Screenplay award at the 2025 Berlin Film Festival for this scabrous black comedy about a... read more
KÖLN 75
In 1975, legendary jazz pianist Keith Jarrett performed a historic concert at the Opera House in Köln, West Germany. Recorded and released as a live album, it became the best-selling solo album in jazz history and the best-selling piano album ever — a monumental achievement that nearly did not happen. KÖLN 75 tells the story of how it came to be.18-year-old Vera Brandes (Mala Emde), a burgeoning concert promoter, makes it her mission to get Jarrett (John Magaro) to perform on that cold, winter night. From booking the venue to marketing the event to selling tickets, the enthusiastic, bold and... read more
In 1975, legendary jazz pianist Keith Jarrett performed a historic concert at the Opera House in Köln, West Germany. Recorded... read more
LA GRAZIA
Filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino reunites with actor Toni Servillo in this parable-like tale of parliamentary politics and difficult decisions. Servillo, who previously starred for Sorrentino in ONE MAN UP, THE CONSEQUENCES OF LOVE, IL DIVO, THE GREAT BEAUTY, LORO and THE HAND OF GOD, here plays President Mariano De Santis of Italy, an office that plays an important role in finalizing parliamentary legislation but is cut off from the real power in government, which is controlled by the prime minister. Nearing the end of his term, and bereft at the loss of his beloved wife several years prior, De Santis has... read more
Filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino reunites with actor Toni Servillo in this parable-like tale of parliamentary politics and difficult decisions. Servillo, who... read more
THE LANDLORD (1970)
What begins as an oddball farce — a privileged young man buys a tenement building, intending to convert it into a psychedelic bachelor pad — evolves into something much more complex as the naïve Elgar (Beau Bridges) spends time getting to know the African American tenants he had planned to evict. Oscar®-winning editor Hal Ashby’s directorial debut boasts bold visuals, with Elgar’s overlit, whiter-than-white family estate contrasting with the shadowy, well-worn apartment building in the pre-gentrified neighborhood of Park Slope, Brooklyn. The cinematography is by Gordon Willis, who would soon become a legend for THE GODFATHER, while the detailed production... read more
What begins as an oddball farce — a privileged young man buys a tenement building, intending to convert it into... read more
THE LAST VIKING
[DEN SIDSTE VIKING] In a last-ditch effort to save a bank heist gone wrong, Anker (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) leaves the loot with his brother Manfred (Mads Mikkelsen) and asks him to hide it until he gets out of prison. Fifteen years later, Anker is ready to collect, but in the intervening time, Manfred has suffered a mental breakdown, forgotten where he hid the money and, even worse, thinks he is John Lennon. Hoping to jog his memory, Anker takes Manfred back to their childhood home, but he starts to lose hope when they are joined by Manfred’s doctor and two... read more
[DEN SIDSTE VIKING] In a last-ditch effort to save a bank heist gone wrong, Anker (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) leaves the... read more
LITTLE TROUBLE GIRLS
[KAJ TI JE DEKLICA] Goaded by her religious mother, introverted teen Lucija (Jara Sofija Ostan) joins her Catholic school’s all-girls choir. She slowly acclimates to the workload while also navigating complex teenage social dynamics and her budding sexual yearnings, and she is soon taken under the wing of the seductive Ana-Marija (Mina Švajger). When the choir attends a weekend retreat of intensive rehearsals at a convent in Northern Italy undergoing renovations, Lucija notices a dark-eyed construction worker who elicits urges she cannot quite comprehend. Spurred by the mischievous Ana-Marija to spy on the workers as they skinny dip, Lucija wrestles... read more
[KAJ TI JE DEKLICA] Goaded by her religious mother, introverted teen Lucija (Jara Sofija Ostan) joins her Catholic school’s all-girls... read more
THE LOVE THAT REMAINS
[ÁSTIN SEM EFTIR ER] Against the backdrop of Iceland’s magnificent landscape — a rugged island filled with winding roads amidst a majestic tundra — a marriage falls apart, threatening to fracture a loving family. Fisherman Magnús (Sverrir Guðnason) has just moved out of the house he shares with his visual artist wife, Anna (Saga Garðarsdóttir), and their three children, Ída and twins Þorgils and Grímur (all three played by the real children of filmmaker Hlynur Pálmason, GODLAND, AFI European Union Film Showcase 2022). The high school sweethearts have drifted apart as of late, despite Magnús’ hope for reconciliation, though they... read more
[ÁSTIN SEM EFTIR ER] Against the backdrop of Iceland’s magnificent landscape — a rugged island filled with winding roads amidst... read more
MADE IN EU
In the first flushes of the COVID-19 pandemic, Iva toils away in a Bulgarian clothing factory, working under inhumane conditions. With cases rising in Sofia, employees are already required to wear a mask at work, but when Iva starts to feel under the weather, she cannot afford to miss a day of pay. Instead, she takes some medicine and returns to the factory floor. But when her persistent cough turns out to be the town’s official first case of COVID, she faces cold-hearted consequences. Condemned by her friends and colleagues, Iva becomes a social pariah, blamed for the town’s rising... read more
In the first flushes of the COVID-19 pandemic, Iva toils away in a Bulgarian clothing factory, working under inhumane conditions.... read more
MAGELLAN
In Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz’s (THE WOMAN WHO LEFT, AFI FEST 2016) gorgeously mounted anti-colonial epic, Gael García Bernal stars as infamous Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan. After the brutal conquest of Malacca in 1511, Magellan returns to Europe poised to continue his expeditions but finds the Portuguese crown unwilling to put up the funds. Turning to Spain, he gathers a motley crew that includes indigenous slave Enrique (Amado Arjay Babon) and sets sail for the Spice Islands. A long, arduous journey tests Magellan’s resolve as famine and unrest spread quickly throughout the ship. When the crew finally arrives in the... read more
In Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz’s (THE WOMAN WHO LEFT, AFI FEST 2016) gorgeously mounted anti-colonial epic, Gael García Bernal stars... read more
A MAGNIFICENT LIFE
[MARCEL ET MONSIEUR PAGNOL] Sylvain Chomet, an Oscar® nominee for THE OLD LADY AND THE PIGEONS, THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE and THE ILLUSIONIST, returns with his first animated feature in 15 years. As with THE ILLUSIONIST, which was based on an unproduced autobiographical screenplay by Jacques Tati, Chomet investigates the life of another beloved member of France’s artistic pantheon: playwright, novelist and filmmaker Marcel Pagnol (1895–1974). Pagnol is best remembered for his Marseille Trilogy of plays — which he later produced as the films MARIUS, FANNY and CÉSAR in the 1930s — and his 1952 film MANON OF THE SPRING,... read more
[MARCEL ET MONSIEUR PAGNOL] Sylvain Chomet, an Oscar® nominee for THE OLD LADY AND THE PIGEONS, THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE... read more
MIROIRS NO. 3
In their fourth collaboration to date, filmmaker Christian Petzold and actress Paula Beer forge an enigmatic depiction of haunting loss and mysterious connection. After surviving a car crash that kills her boyfriend, Laura (Beer), a music student at university, is taken in by Betty (Barbara Auer), an older woman who witnessed the accident. Betty cares for the unharmed but shaken Laura with a motherly devotion, and soon Betty, her husband and their adult son are treating Laura like one of the family. Petzold imbues this close-quarters drama with atmospheric tension, agitating even the warmest domestic scenes with the disquiet of... read more
In their fourth collaboration to date, filmmaker Christian Petzold and actress Paula Beer forge an enigmatic depiction of haunting loss... read more
MOTHER'S BABY
Austrian director Johanna Moder (HIGH PERFORMANCE, ONCE WERE REBELS) delivers a darkly humorous take on the horrors of motherhood with this taut psychological thriller exploring the unsettling edges of the postpartum experience. When Julia (Marie Leuenberger), a successful orchestra conductor in her 40s, conceives a child under the supervision of an enigmatic fertility doctor (Claes Bang), the birth is far from ideal. Julia is separated from her newborn without explanation, and when they are finally reunited, she is gripped by the unshakable fear that the baby is not hers. What begins as a grounded domestic drama gradually morphs into a... read more
Austrian director Johanna Moder (HIGH PERFORMANCE, ONCE WERE REBELS) delivers a darkly humorous take on the horrors of motherhood with... read more
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
Jack Nicholson made his rogue/antihero reputation with the role of Randle P. McMurphy, who rallies his fellow psychiatric ward inmates against the authoritarianism of Louise Fletcher’s Nurse Ratched (#5 on AFI's 100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains). The film was only the second movie to win all five major Academy Awards®: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay. The only other films to go five for five are IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT and THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. DIR Miloš Forman; SCR Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman, from the novel by Ken Kesey and the play by Dale Wasserman; PROD Michael Douglas,... read more
Jack Nicholson made his rogue/antihero reputation with the role of Randle P. McMurphy, who rallies his fellow psychiatric ward inmates... read more
ORPHAN in 35mm
[ÁRVA] László Nemes, an Oscar® winner for 2015’s SON OF SAUL, returns with another trenchant exploration of Hungary’s 20th century history, this time set in 1957, just one year after the USSR brutally suppressed the Hungarian Uprising. Andor (Bojtorján Barabas) desperately longs for the return of his father, a Hungarian Jew named Hirsch, missing since World War II. But his mother (Andrea Waskovics) suggests that Berend (Grégory Gadebois), a gentile who hid her on his farm during the Holocaust, may really be his father. Rejecting this as an unthinkable betrayal, Andor prays for the return of his real father, even... read more
[ÁRVA] László Nemes, an Oscar® winner for 2015’s SON OF SAUL, returns with another trenchant exploration of Hungary’s 20th century... read more
PEKING OPERA BLUES
[刀馬旦] During the turbulent period following the 1911 Revolution, Tsao Wan (Brigitte Lin), a general’s daughter, joins a guerilla movement that would depose her father. She crosses paths with opera troupe member Bai Niu (Sally Yeh) and fleeing courtesan Sheung Hung (Cherie Chung). The three women become embroiled in the political turmoil of their time as they each seek their own form of independence. Brimming with humor and action, Tsui Hark’s PEKING OPERA BLUES received six Hong Kong Film Awards nominations. DIR/PROD Tsui Hark; SCR Raymond To; PROD Claudie Jan Chung. Hong Kong, 1986, color, 106 min. In Cantonese and... read more
[刀馬旦] During the turbulent period following the 1911 Revolution, Tsao Wan (Brigitte Lin), a general’s daughter, joins a guerilla movement... read more
PETER HUJAR'S DAY
In 1974, acclaimed photographer Peter Hujar describes the routines and rituals that define an artist’s life to his friend, the writer Linda Rosenkrantz, capturing a single day’s activities in touching and funny detail: from interactions with cultural icons of the day — including Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs and Susan Sontag — to the texture and energy of downtown New York in its heyday. Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall star in the elegant and intimate new piece from filmmaker Ira Sachs (PASSAGES) — a dazzling showcase for the two performers at its center — that is both a masterful portrait... read more
In 1974, acclaimed photographer Peter Hujar describes the routines and rituals that define an artist’s life to his friend, the... read more
PHANTOMS OF JULY
[SEHNSUCHT IN SANGERHAUSEN] An ethereal, intoxicating comedy, Julian Radlmaier’s fifth feature is as light as a summer breeze, but its simple pleasures hide profound truths about the ghosts of the past and the mysteries of the present. In the sleepy East German village of Sangerhausen, Ursula (Clara Schwinning) toils away at a café, selling tourists their famous rose cake. But she cannot help but yearn for something more: a connection, a spark, a sweet summer cherry. When she meets a group of sophisticated musicians from Berlin, it seems like she might have finally found that je ne sais quoi she... read more
[SEHNSUCHT IN SANGERHAUSEN] An ethereal, intoxicating comedy, Julian Radlmaier’s fifth feature is as light as a summer breeze, but its... read more
A PRIVATE LIFE
Jodie Foster impresses in a prickly, funny performance — in French! — as an expat American psychologist living and working in Paris who suspects foul play when her longtime client apparently commits suicide. Foster stars as Dr. Lilian Steiner, an accomplished mental health professional who is suddenly consumed with self-doubt after the unexpected suicide of her longtime client, Paula (Virginie Efira). She is further shaken after being angrily confronted by a dissatisfied former client who claims a hypnotist helped him stop smoking immediately, after years of making no progress with Lilian, from whom he now demands reimbursement. After Lilian’s attempts... read more
Jodie Foster impresses in a prickly, funny performance — in French! — as an expat American psychologist living and working... read more
PUT YOUR SOUL ON YOUR HAND AND WALK
PUT YOUR SOUL ON YOUR HAND AND WALK offers an intimate, first-hand perspective on life under siege in Gaza, captured through video calls between director Sepideh Farsi and 25-year-old Palestinian photojournalist and poet Fatma Hassona. Combining raw immediacy with deep humanity, the film captures daily life during the conflict through the eyes and unwaveringly optimistic presence of Fatma, a talented photographer whose generation is trapped in an endless cycle of war, famine and resistance. Her conversations with Farsi bring us into the heart of the conflict, even while their physical distance underscores the dire situation inside Gaza. PUT YOUR SOUL... read more
PUT YOUR SOUL ON YOUR HAND AND WALK offers an intimate, first-hand perspective on life under siege in Gaza, captured... read more
RASHOMON
[RASHŌMON] [羅生門] The murder of a man and the rape of his wife in a forest grove are seen from four different perspectives. Considered one of the greatest films ever made, Akira Kurosawa’s meditation on the nature of “truth” transformed narrative cinema as we know it. Starring Toshirō Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori and Takashi Shimura, the spellbinding psychological thriller won the Golden Lion at the 1951 Venice Film Festival and the Honorary Foreign Language Film Award at the 1952 Academy Awards®. DIR/SCR Akira Kurosawa; SCR Shinobu Hashimoto, from the short stories “Rashomon” and “In a Grove” by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa;... read more
[RASHŌMON] [羅生門] The murder of a man and the rape of his wife in a forest grove are seen from... read more
REEDLAND
[RIETLAND] In a quiet rural community in the Dutch lowlands, hardened widower Johan (Gerrit Knobbe) clings to a quiet existence caring for his granddaughter and harvesting the reeds from his marshy property. But when he discovers the discarded body of a young girl nestled in the reed beds, it threatens to upend the delicate balance in this tight-knit community. Tensions rise as Johan sets his sights on rival farmers across the river and embarks on a dangerous investigation to find the killer. Knobbe, a professional reed cutter, is a revelation in his debut acting role, his weathered face telegraphing a... read more
[RIETLAND] In a quiet rural community in the Dutch lowlands, hardened widower Johan (Gerrit Knobbe) clings to a quiet existence... read more
RENOVATION
On the brink of the next decade in her life, 29-year-old Ilona (Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė) moves into a charming flat in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, with her boyfriend, Matas (Šarūnas Zenkevičius). The new abode marks a turning point for Ilona; now that her relationship is getting serious, the young journalist is eager to settle down — or is she? Unexpectedly, the apartment building is undergoing a massive, noisy renovation project that disrupts Ilona’s careful plans. She soon befriends Oleg, a Ukrainian construction worker who not only sparks her poetic creativity but also provides a kind of connection she is... read more
On the brink of the next decade in her life, 29-year-old Ilona (Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė) moves into a charming flat... read more
ROLLING PAPERS
[PIKAD PABERID] In this stoner comedy for the Letterboxd era, Estonian filmmaker Meel Paliale mines Gen Z ennui to craft a fresh, authentic portrait of a generation left adrift by the modern age. Aimless 20-something Sebastian (Mihkel Kuusk) works a dead-end job at a convenience store, but his mindless, quotidian existence gets turned upside down when he meets wild card Silo (Karl Birnbaum). After Silo convinces Sebastian to skip out on work and enjoy the final days of summer, the two fast friends get high, skinny dip and dream of escaping to Brazil. As day turns to night, they stop... read more
[PIKAD PABERID] In this stoner comedy for the Letterboxd era, Estonian filmmaker Meel Paliale mines Gen Z ennui to craft... read more
ROMERÍA
Winner of Berlin’s Golden Bear for ALCARRÀS (AFI FEST 2022), acclaimed Spanish auteur Carla Simón made her Cannes competition debut with this brilliant, deeply personal meditation on identity, memory and family. With a digital camcorder in hand, 18-year-old Marina (Llúcia Garcia) arrives in the glittering Galician port city of Vigo ready to meet her father’s family for the first time. Orphaned at a young age, Marina’s paternal family all but disowned her — her mere existence a reminder of a shameful secret. But on the verge of attending film school in Barcelona, Marina needs her grandparents to finally legally acknowledge... read more
Winner of Berlin’s Golden Bear for ALCARRÀS (AFI FEST 2022), acclaimed Spanish auteur Carla Simón made her Cannes competition debut... read more
SANJURO
[TSUBAKI SANJŪRŌ] [椿三十郎] “You tired of being stupid yet?” After the enormous popularity of YOJIMBO, Akira Kurosawa followed with this sequel, pushing even further into all-out comedy. Toshirō Mifune reprises his role as the in-it-for-himself swordsman, this time happening upon a town torn between two rival politicians. When a youthful squad of untested samurai seeks to throw its support behind the seemingly more magnanimous of the two leaders, the wised-up Sanjūrō investigates, lending the youths his expertise with the blade and his equally sharp-tongued advice. DIR/SCR Akira Kurosawa; SCR/PROD Ryūzō Kikushima; SCR Hideo Oguni, from the novel “Peaceful Days” by... read more
[TSUBAKI SANJŪRŌ] [椿三十郎] “You tired of being stupid yet?” After the enormous popularity of YOJIMBO, Akira Kurosawa followed with this... read more
SEVEN SAMURAI
[SHICHININ NO SAMURAI] [七人の侍] Hailed as one of the greatest films of all time, SEVEN SAMURAI has spawned imitations, including THE WILD BUNCH and 1960’s THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, but remains unsurpassed in its virtuosity — due in large part to filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s star and key collaborator, actor Toshirō Mifune, who cites this role as his all-time favorite. Farmers in a small hamlet hire seven samurai to protect them from pillagers. Though the village can only offer food in payment, each samurai takes on the near-suicidal mission for his own personal reasons. DIR/SCR Akira Kurosawa; SCR Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni;... read more
[SHICHININ NO SAMURAI] [七人の侍] Hailed as one of the greatest films of all time, SEVEN SAMURAI has spawned imitations, including... read more
SHAMPOO
Warren Beatty had kicked around the idea of a movie about a stud hairstylist as early as the mid-1960s, but in its long gestation from gag character to fully formed script and 1975 release, SHAMPOO acquired the hard-earned wisdom of post-60s disillusionment. Set on the eve of the 1968 election, though imbued with a Watergate-era sensibility, the movie follows Beverly Hills hairdresser George Roundy’s (Beatty) serial entanglements with bored socialite Felicia (Lee Grant), sassy Jackie (Julie Christie) and youngster Lorna (Carrie Fisher) — as it turns out, the wife, mistress and daughter, respectively, of a wealthy businessman (Jack Warden) —... read more
Warren Beatty had kicked around the idea of a movie about a stud hairstylist as early as the mid-1960s, but... read more
SHOWGIRLS
“It doesn’t suck.” Paul Verhoeven’s so-bad-it’s-good strippungsroman (alternatively, a knowing Hollywood satire; ALL ABOUT EVE set among exotic dancers) had a difficult commercial release. Savaged by mainstream critics, and to date the only NC-17 rated film to be released widely, it underachieved at the box office — but became a massive hit on home video, where it has since earned an appreciative cult audience. Running from her past, Nomi Malone (Elizabeth Berkley, SAVED BY THE BELL) hitchhikes to Las Vegas to pursue her dream of becoming a high-class hotel dancer. But she soon discovers that showgirl jobs do not come... read more
“It doesn’t suck.” Paul Verhoeven’s so-bad-it’s-good strippungsroman (alternatively, a knowing Hollywood satire; ALL ABOUT EVE set among exotic dancers) had... read more
SILENT FRIEND
For over a century, a ginkgo tree, standing sentinel in the garden of Philipps University of Marburg in Germany, experiences its surroundings — but how and what it experiences is a mystery. Every day, students, professors and staff pass by the tree, graze its bark, recline beneath its shade. Ildikó Enyedi’s profound scientific epic — some of her best work since 2017’s enchanting ON BODY AND SOUL, which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival — locates three such passersby, separated by generations. In 2020, a professor of neuroscience, stranded and isolated on the COVID-abandoned campus, begins... read more
For over a century, a ginkgo tree, standing sentinel in the garden of Philipps University of Marburg in Germany, experiences... read more
Silent Sherlock: Three Classic Cases
Co-presented by The Red Circle of Washington, DC In 2024, the BFI National Archive launched a major new project to restore Stoll Pictures’ epic Sherlock Holmes film series which ran from 1921–1923 and produced 45 shorts and two features, all starring Eille Norwood (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s favorite on-screen Sherlock and the record holder for most appearances on film as the famed sleuth). This program presents three of these short films, meticulously restored by the BFI National Archive’s Conservation Centre using a combination of the original negatives – acquired by the BFI from Stoll Pictures in 1938 – as well... read more
Co-presented by The Red Circle of Washington, DC In 2024, the BFI National Archive launched a major new project to... read more
SIRÂT
One of the most buzzed-about movies at Cannes, SIRÂT is a bombastic edge-of-your-seat thrill ride whose shocking twists and turns reverberate long after the credits roll. Luis (Sergi López, PAN’S LABYRINTH) is a devoted father desperately searching for his missing daughter amid the underground rave scene in the harsh Moroccan dessert. Along with his preteen son Esteban (Brúno Nuñez) and trusty pup Pipa (a Palm Dog Jury Prize winner), he travels from rave to rave in an RV, searching for answers. When the family meets an untethered group of outsiders who take pity on their situation, they form a caravan... read more
One of the most buzzed-about movies at Cannes, SIRÂT is a bombastic edge-of-your-seat thrill ride whose shocking twists and turns... read more
SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE
Tickets are limited to four per reservation and are not a guarantee of admission. You must be seated at least 15 min. prior to showtime. Seating is limited, so please arrive early. Empty seats will be released to standby line guests. SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE is a wall-to-wall cinematic action event, a sequel to the original sleeper hit SISU. Returning to the house where his family was brutally murdered during the war, “the man who refuses to die” (Jorma Tommila) dismantles it and loads it on a truck, determined to rebuild it somewhere safe in their honor. When the Red... read more
Tickets are limited to four per reservation and are not a guarantee of admission. You must be seated at least... read more
SMARAGDA - I GOT THICK SKIN AND I CAN'T JUMP
[ΣΜΑΡΑΓΔΑ] Former children’s television host Smaragda has fallen on tough times. Money troubles loom as she is saddled with debt from the cost of treatment for her late mother’s degenerative eye condition, one that Smaragda herself might be inheriting. After her pitch for a new educational series aimed at adults is rebuffed due to her nonexistent social media following, Smaragda desperately tries to cultivate an online audience while juggling a job at the local resort and a mix of on-again-off-again relationships. Director Emilios Avraam’s debut feature takes a grounded look at one woman’s midlife crisis as Smaragda’s journey to self-discovery... read more
[ΣΜΑΡΑΓΔΑ] Former children’s television host Smaragda has fallen on tough times. Money troubles loom as she is saddled with debt... read more
THE SOUFFLEUR
An American in Vienna, Lucius (Willem Dafoe) has managed the famed Hotel InterContinental for 30 years, but the once-luxurious accommodation has seen better days. For Lucius, though, it is more than just a hotel or a job — it is his whole identity. He obsesses over the restaurant’s falling soufflé; he offers guests champagne at the storied hotel bar; he blurs the line between employees and family, even counting his daughter Lilly as one of his crew. When an Argentine businessman (filmmaker Gastón Solnicki) announces he is going to buy the hotel, it sends Lucius into a full-on paranoid tailspin.... read more
An American in Vienna, Lucius (Willem Dafoe) has managed the famed Hotel InterContinental for 30 years, but the once-luxurious accommodation... read more
SOUND OF FALLING
[IN DIE SONNE SCHAUEN] Winner of the Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, German director Mascha Schilinski’s (DARK BLUE GIRL) stunning sophomore feature is a hypnotic, time-traversing portrait of four generations of women living in the same isolated German farmhouse over the course of a century. Starting in the early 1900s, spanning the Second World War, the German Democratic Republic during the 1980s and present-day Germany, the puzzle-box narrative follows Alma (Hanna Heckt), Erika (Lea Drinda), Angelika (Lena Urzendowsky) and Lenka (Laeni Geiseler) as they endure private and political traumas that echo eerily across time. Unfolding like a... read more
[IN DIE SONNE SCHAUEN] Winner of the Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, German director Mascha Schilinski’s (DARK... read more
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Set in 1930s Austria, THE SOUND OF MUSIC — one of the most successful and best-loved movies in motion picture history — tells the story of Maria (Julie Andrews), a young novitiate who leaves her convent to work as a governess to a large family while she decides whether to become a nun. Ernest Lehman’s screenplay made crucial changes to Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway production, including having Maria sing “My Favorite Things” to the von Trapp children (instead of the Mother Abbess singing it to Maria), while director Robert Wise and associate producer Saul Chaplin thrillingly transplanted the performance of... read more
Set in 1930s Austria, THE SOUND OF MUSIC — one of the most successful and best-loved movies in motion picture... read more
THE SOUTHERN CHRONICLES
[PIETINIA KRONIKAS] Lithuania’s highest grossing film ever is an endearing coming-of-age tale set in Lithuania in the early 1990s, just after the country gained independence from the Soviet Union. Big, brawny working-class teen Rimantas (Džiugas Grinys) spends his days planning get-rich schemes with his best friend Mindė (Robertas Petraitis), playing rugby in the local league and running afoul of the authorities. That is, until he meets the studious Monika, a young woman from a middle-class family. Suddenly Rimantas is borrowing books from the library, studying for his school exams and even writing his own poetry. He will do anything to... read more
[PIETINIA KRONIKAS] Lithuania’s highest grossing film ever is an endearing coming-of-age tale set in Lithuania in the early 1990s, just... read more
THE STRANGER
[L'ÉTRANGER] François Ozon brings Albert Camus’ acclaimed 1942 novel to the big screen as a sun-baked, black-and-white neo-noir, a potent blend of psychological thriller and anti-colonial critique. The film opens with a vintage travelogue inviting tourists to visit Algeria, then under French control, playing up its exoticism for western eyes. But Ozon seamlessly segues from the travelogue into less tourist-friendly images of anti-French graffiti, a prison in Algiers and a newly admitted prisoner, Meursault (Benjamin Voisin), seemingly the only European among the prisoners. Now told in flashback, Meursault’s story proceeds from the death of his aged mother to a period... read more
[L'ÉTRANGER] François Ozon brings Albert Camus’ acclaimed 1942 novel to the big screen as a sun-baked, black-and-white neo-noir, a potent... read more
SUNSET BOULEVARD
“I am big! It’s the pictures that got small.” SUNSET BOULEVARD is regarded by many as the best film ever made about Hollywood — and by others as audacious treachery. In flashback, recently deceased screenwriter/kept man Joe Gillis (William Holden) narrates his tormented, mutually exploitative affair with has-been star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). Erich von Stroheim (Desmond’s devoted valet in the film, and himself a former star/director familiar with the vicissitudes of Hollywood fame) came up with the memorable idea of having his character write the star’s fan mail. Director Billy Wilder rejected his other suggestion: von Stroheim washing and... read more
“I am big! It’s the pictures that got small.” SUNSET BOULEVARD is regarded by many as the best film ever... read more
TAMPOPO
An enigmatic band of ramen ronin guide the widow of a noodle shop owner on her quest for the perfect recipe. Jūzō Itami’s rapturous “ramen western” — presented in a beautiful 4K restoration — serves up a savory broth of culinary adventure, seasoned with offbeat comedy sketches and the erotic exploits of a gastronome gangster. Sweet, sexy, surreal and mouthwatering, TAMPOPO remains one of the most delectable examples of food on film. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.) DIR/SCR/PROD Jūzō Itami; PROD Seigo Hosogoe, Yasushi Tamaoki. Japan, 1985, color, 115 min. In Japanese with English subtitles. NOT RATED read more
An enigmatic band of ramen ronin guide the widow of a noodle shop owner on her quest for the perfect... read more
TELL ME A RIDDLE
In her theatrical directorial debut, Lee Grant, working with screenwriters Joyce Eliason and Alev Lytle, adapts Tillie Olsen’s O. Henry Award-winning novella as a moving meditation on aging and coming to terms with the past. Melvyn Douglas and Lila Kedrova star as elderly Midwestern Jewish couple David and Eva. When David learns that Eva has terminal cancer, the two set out on a pilgrimage to visit their children and grandchildren, occasioning a reflection on the unexamined corners of their souls they have too long neglected in order to raise their family. Also featuring performances by Brooke Adams, Peter Coyote and... read more
In her theatrical directorial debut, Lee Grant, working with screenwriters Joyce Eliason and Alev Lytle, adapts Tillie Olsen’s O. Henry... read more
THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE in 70mm
With her wildly ambitious third feature — a colonial-era musical about the rise of the Shaker movement spanning 30 years — filmmaker Mona Fastvold (co-writer of THE BRUTALIST) crafts a lyrical and visually arresting portrait of one of early America’s most enigmatic spiritual figures and one of the few female religious leaders of the 18th century. Amanda Seyfried delivers a career-defining performance as Ann Lee, the visionary leader of the Shakers — a movement that proposed a radically unique interpretation of Scripture which emphasized pacifism and collectivism in pursuit of a more equitable and utopian society. Making her way from... read more
With her wildly ambitious third feature — a colonial-era musical about the rise of the Shaker movement spanning 30 years... read more
THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR
In this gripping political thriller from Sydney Pollack, Joe Turner (Robert Redford), code-named “Condor,” enters his clandestine CIA office in New York City to find all his co-workers murdered. In his ensuing struggle to evade the same fate, Condor forcibly recruits a woman (Faye Dunaway) to aid him, uncovers a vast conspiracy and learns that he can trust no one. Released just three years after the Watergate scandal, THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR was immediately praised for its all-too-real timeliness; Pollack’s expert direction captured a pervasive sense of paranoia that gripped the nation and is still felt to this day.... read more
In this gripping political thriller from Sydney Pollack, Joe Turner (Robert Redford), code-named “Condor,” enters his clandestine CIA office in... read more
THRONE OF BLOOD
[KUMONOSU-JŌ] [蜘蛛巣城] Akira Kurosawa’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth” stars Toshirō Mifune as Taketoki Washizu, a victorious warlord in feudal Japan who becomes obsessed with — and ultimately enslaved by — his quest for power. When he becomes lost in a labyrinthine forest, Washizu encounters an old woman who prophesies that he will ascend to the throne, but his calculating wife (Isuzu Yamada) cajoles him into taking the throne by force, causing a series of bloody events to ensue. DIR/SCR/PROD Akira Kurosawa; SCR Shinobu Hashimoto, Ryūzō Kikushima, Hideo Oguni, from the play “The Tragedy of Macbeth” by William... read more
[KUMONOSU-JŌ] [蜘蛛巣城] Akira Kurosawa’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth” stars Toshirō Mifune as Taketoki Washizu, a victorious warlord... read more
TWO PROSECUTORS
Set in 1937 at the peak of Josef Stalin’s Great Purge — yet chillingly relevant today — Sergei Loznitsa’s dark parable of tyranny is based on a novella by the dissident writer and scientist Georgy Demidov, who was himself imprisoned for nearly 20 years. Against all odds, a complaint letter written in blood escapes the bonfire at Bryansk Prison and reaches young state prosecutor Kornyev (Aleksandr Kuznetsov), who visits the prison to investigate. After getting the runaround from the suspicious guards, Kornyev eventually meets the letter’s author, Stepniak (Aleksandr Fillippenko), a former attorney who alleges torture by the secret police... read more
Set in 1937 at the peak of Josef Stalin’s Great Purge — yet chillingly relevant today — Sergei Loznitsa’s dark... read more
THE VISITOR
[SVEČIAS] Lithuanian cinematographer Vytautas Katkus, whose short films have screened in competition at the Cannes and Venice film festivals, makes his feature directorial debut with this poignant meditation on loneliness and reconciliation. After welcoming a newborn baby in Norway with his Norwegian wife, Rita (Hanne Mathisen Haga), Danielius (Darius Šilėnas) sets off to his Lithuanian hometown to sell his parents’ flat after the death of his father. He tries to reconnect with old friends but cannot escape the distance he now feels. Yet, instead of quickly selling the flat and returning home, Danielius embraces the solitude and estrangement, letting it... read more
[SVEČIAS] Lithuanian cinematographer Vytautas Katkus, whose short films have screened in competition at the Cannes and Venice film festivals, makes... read more
THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB
[صوت هند رجب] On January 29, 2024, five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab and six members of her family attempted to flee to safety during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military shelled and shot at the fleeing vehicle, killing Hind’s family and trapping the young girl in the wreckage of the car. Hind was able to place a call to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society desperately begging for help, but the aid workers dispatched to her rescue were also murdered by the Israeli forces — as, ultimately, was Hind herself. Instead of directly depicting this horrific atrocity,... read more
[صوت هند رجب] On January 29, 2024, five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab and six members of her family attempted to... read more
WE BELIEVE YOU
[ON VOUS CROIT] Tensions rise and family secrets unravel over the course of a crucial day in first-time directing duo Charlotte Devillers and Arnaud Dufeys’ astutely layered, gripping courtroom drama. Myriem Akheddiou, frequent collaborator with the Dardennes (THE KID WITH A BIKE, YOUNG AHMED), gives a powerhouse performance as Alice, a strained mother herding her two reluctant children — distraught 10-year-old Etienne and agitated teenager Lila — to a family court custody hearing. Tightly framed in close-ups confined to sterile waiting rooms and frigid glass-paneled halls, Alice’s rollercoaster of emotions takes us through her fight for the protection of her... read more
[ON VOUS CROIT] Tensions rise and family secrets unravel over the course of a crucial day in first-time directing duo... read more
WHITETAIL
Jen (Natasha O’Keeffe) is a fierce park ranger who oversees a dense, wild patch of forest in southern Ireland, protecting it from encroaching poachers attempting to evade her watchful eye and hunt the woodland creatures inside. When her old boyfriend, Oscar (Aaron McCusker), returns to town, the dreadful memory of a tragic event in their youth begins to crack Jen’s stern, tightly wound persona, forcing her to confront a past that still haunts her. Dutch director Nanouk Leopold’s seventh feature film is an engrossing slow-burn thriller about trauma and redemption that features a riveting performance from O’Keeffe and breathtaking footage... read more
Jen (Natasha O’Keeffe) is a fierce park ranger who oversees a dense, wild patch of forest in southern Ireland, protecting... read more
THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)
“Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my!” Judy Garland stars as Dorothy, the lonely dreamer from Kansas who runs away with her dog Toto and is transported over the rainbow to the magical Land of Oz, where she makes an enemy of the Wicked Witch of the West. In order to return home, Dorothy must seek out the all-powerful Wizard of Oz with the help of her new friends: a scarecrow without a brain, a tin man without a heart and a cowardly lion. The film earned six Oscar® nominations, with wins for Best Score and Best Song (“Over the... read more
“Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my!” Judy Garland stars as Dorothy, the lonely dreamer from Kansas who runs away... read more
YOJIMBO
[YŌJINBŌ] [用心棒] Tough guy Sanjūrō (Toshirô Mifune), an out-of-work, down-on-his-luck samurai, wanders into a lawless town beset by gang warfare and quickly finds his services much in demand by both factions. His response is to cynically play each side against the other — strange for a samurai but befitting filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s reputed source material, Dashiell Hammett’s hardboiled pulp novel “Red Harvest.” With its unprecedented mix of cartoon violence and sardonic humor, the film has had an influence that is hard to overstate, from Sergio Leone’s remake A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS and the entire spaghetti western genre of the 1960s... read more
[YŌJINBŌ] [用心棒] Tough guy Sanjūrō (Toshirô Mifune), an out-of-work, down-on-his-luck samurai, wanders into a lawless town beset by gang warfare... read more
YOUNG MOTHERS
[JEUNES MÈRES] From celebrated Belgian auteurs Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne comes a deeply compassionate and finely observed feature that continues the Dardennes’ mastery of empathetic, socially engaged cinema. Widening their signature lens to encompass a multi-character story, YOUNG MOTHERS focuses on a quintet of teenage mothers, or mothers-to-be, living in a maternal group home in Liège. Each young woman faces a unique constellation of challenges — from abandonment and fractured family ties to toxic relationships and substance dependency, in addition to all the daunting realities of learning to parent at such a tender age. Yet within the home’s walls, a... read more
[JEUNES MÈRES] From celebrated Belgian auteurs Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne comes a deeply compassionate and finely observed feature that continues... read more
