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[COWBOY BEBOP: TENGOKU NO TOBIRA] [カウボーイビバップ 天国の扉]
"See you, space cowboy." Shinichiro Watanabe's landmark anime series COWBOY BEBOP received the silver screen treatment with the 2001 release of COWBOY BEBOP: THE MOVIE (known as COWBOY BEBOP: KNOCKIN' ON HEAVEN'S DOOR in Japan). In 2071, the bounty hunter crew of the spaceship Bebop — Spike, Jet, Faye, Ed and corgi Ein — are after a lucrative contract put out on a bioterrorist hellbent on exterminating the population of Mars by releasing a deadly virus on Halloween. This thrilling, feature-length outing for Watanabe and his team is bolstered by a higher production budget and propelled by the series' acclaimed mixture of neo-noir and space Western. The lively, jazz-inflected score is by composer Yoko Kanno. DIR Shinichirō Watanabe; SCR Keiko Nobumoto; PROD Haruyo Kanesaku, Yutaka Maseba, Masahiko Minami, Minoru Takanashi, Shirō Tanaka, Masuo Ueda. Japan, 2001, color, 115 min. In Japanese with English subtitles*.
*English dubbed version January 22; subtitled Japanese version January 21 & 23
NOT RATED. AFI Member passes accepted.
[20.000 ESPECIES DE ABEJAS]
In this sun-soaked, sublimely sensitive debut, writer/director Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren focuses her lens on an eight-year-old's identity crisis over one uncertain summer vacation. Ane, in the midst of separating from her husband, takes her children to her hometown, a sleepy village on the Spanish side of Basque Country, to stay with her mother. There, our young heroine, nicknamed Coco (at least for the moment), explores her gender identity under the cautious and loving gaze of three generations of women in her family, who concurrently also reflect on their own places in the world. Newcomer Sofía Otero, who received the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance at the Berlin Film Festival, marvels with her delicate, yet magnetic presence as Coco. In search of a new name and increasingly frustrated with her family still treating her as her assigned gender at birth — a boy — Coco finds refuge with her great-aunt Lourdes and her beehives. As secrets are whispered against the busy buzzing of bees, they may just guide her and her family toward a deeper acceptance and understanding among each other. (Note courtesy of AFI FEST.) Official Selection, 2023 Berlin Film Festival. DIR/SCR Estíbaliz Urresola Solaguren; PROD Valérie Delpierre, Lara Izagirre. Spain, 2023, color, 129 min. In Spanish, French and Basque with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
Executive produced by Joel and Ethan Coen, this holiday black comedy stars Billy Bob Thornton as Willie, a hard-living department store Santa with a nefarious hidden agenda: each Christmas season, he and his diminutive partner Marcus (Tony Cox) — posing as an elf — target a department store, case the joint and empty the safe. The hilarious Bernie Mac is Gin, the mall detective who suspects something is amiss, John Ritter plays the store manager who also has his eye on the duo, Lauren Graham is Santa's new "friend" Sue and Brett Kelly plays a little boy who believes that this bad Santa is the real Santa he's been waiting for. DIR Terry Zwigoff; SCR Glenn Ficarra, John Requa; PROD Sarah Aubrey, John Cameron, Bob Weinstein. U.S., 2003, color, 91 min. RATED R
AFI Member passes accepted.
[UROTCITE NA BLAGA]
Living off her pension, retired teacher Blaga is struggling to afford a gravesite for her recently departed husband. She teaches Bulgarian out of her apartment for some extra cash, but it doesn't amount to much, and her son, living abroad in the U.S., can't contribute much either. When she falls victim to a vicious phone scam and loses her life savings, Blaga's world is turned completely upside-down. Taking matters into her own hands, she tracks down the scammers and secures a gig as their getaway driver, ferrying cash to a drop point. Tensions rise as she must decide how far down the criminal rabbit-hole she's willing to go. Veteran Bulgarian filmmaker Stephan Komandarev brings gripping genre thrills to this social realist tale, featuring a memorizing performance from Eli Skorcheva as a woman pushed to the brink as her moral compass is tested. Winner, Best Film, Best Actress, 2023 Karlovy Vary Film Festival. DIR/SCR/PROD Stephan Komandarev; SCR Simeon Ventsislavov; PROD Katya Trichkova. Bulgaria/Germany, 2023, color, 114 min. In Bulgarian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
This tender documentary provides a heart-warming glimpse into the lives of just a few of the more than 100,000 stray cats living on the streets of Malta, and shines a light on the community members who dedicate time, money and effort to care for them. Alongside plenty of adorable feline footage, director and narrator Sarah Jayne interviews local caretakers, feeders, workers and artists about the presence of cats on the island and their efforts to facilitate healthy and happy lives for the cats. This compassionate crowd-pleaser will delight all feline fans. DIR/PROD Sarah Jayne; PROD Ivan Malekin. Malta, 2023, color, 68 min. In English and Maltese with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[CERRAR LOS OJOS]
Spanish auteur Víctor Erice returns to cinema after a three-decade-long absence with this hauntingly personal, discursive yet simmering reflection on memory, art and the passage of time. Years after his lead actor and best friend, Julio, disappears suddenly from a film shoot, filmmaker Miguel Garay (Manolo Solo) is approached by a TV show profiling this unsolved mystery. This sets in motion a series of encounters from Miguel's past, including a meeting with Julio's abandoned daughter (played by THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE's child lead — now seasoned actor — Ana Torrent, reuniting with Erice after a half century). Leisurely but deliberately paced, CLOSE YOUR EYES' mystery unfolds and builds to a potent crescendo, confronting dichotomies of past and present, of text and metatext, of celluloid and digital and of history and modernity. In its culmination, Erice reveals an act of cinematic awakening that curiously reflects on his own extended absence and revered identity in cinema. (Note courtesy of AFI FEST.) Official Selection, 2023 Cannes, Toronto and New York film festivals. DIR/SCR/PROD Víctor Erice; SCR Michel Gaztambide; PROD José Alba, Odile Antonio-Baez, Agustín Bossi, Pablo E. Bossi, Pol Bossi, Maximiliano Lasansky,Cristina Zumárraga. Spain/Argentina, 2023, color, 169 min. In English, Spanish and Chinese with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
Sam Donovan (Dennis O'Keefe, T-MEN, RAW DEAL) is an insurance investigator sent to a small Midwest town to find out whether the death of one of its policyholders was a suicide or murder. Sam is convinced that he was murdered but the entire town, led by the sheriff (William Bendix, LIFEBOAT), is not talking. It's only when local woman Anita (Barbara Britton, I SHOT JESSE JAMES) breaks her silence does Sam begin to uncover the truth. As he falls in love with Anita, he begins to unravel the secret everyone in the town is keeping. COVER UP is a stylish Christmas noir with stunning black-and-white cinematography by the great Ernest Laszlo (JUDGMENT AT NURENMBURG). (Note courtesy of Kino Lorber.) DIR Alfred E. Green; SCR Jerome Odlum, Jonathan Rix; PROD Ted Nasser. U.S., 1949, b&w, 83 min. NOT RATED
AFI Member passes accepted.
A powerful and frank story of a young woman's sexual awakening and repression, filmmaker Elena Martín Gimeno (JÚLIA IST) stars as Mila, a 35-year-old struggling with her own desires. Moving into her family's former vacation home, Mila is ready to build a new life with her boyfriend Marcel (Oriol Pla, PETRA, TRUMAN). But despite her best efforts, her body rejects her efforts at intimacy, breaking out in hives. Desperate to make sense of her psyche, Mila dives into her memories, remembering her burgeoning impulses and the way men responded to them as both an impressionable teen and a curious toddler. Gimeno gives a fearless performance working from a script she co-wrote with fellow Catalan filmmaker and screenwriter Clara Roquet (10,000KM, LIBERTAD). CREATURA won the Europa Cinemas Award for Best European Film in the Directors' Fortnight competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival. DIR/SCR Elena Martín Gimeno; SCR Clara Roquet; PROD Jake Cheetham, Tono Folguera, Stefan Schmitz, Pau Suris. Spain, 2023, color, 112 min. In Catalan with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
In LA to visit his estranged wife Bonnie Bedelia, tough-as-nails New York cop Bruce Willis barely has time to feel out of place at her company Christmas party before a band of terrorists takes the building hostage, demanding the $600 million in the company vault. Masterminding the plot is sophisticated villain Alan Rickman; bumbling the response are the LAPD and the FBI. Willis is in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he's the right man for the job, fighting his way through "40 stories of sheer adventure" in this supremely well-crafted, exciting and often hilarious thrill ride — much imitated, never equaled and still unsurpassed. DIR John McTiernan; SCR Jeb Stuart, Steven E. de Souza, from the novel "Nothing Lasts Forever" by Roderick Thorp; PROD Lawrence Gordon, Joel Silver. U.S., 1988, color, 131 min. RATED R
AFI Member passes accepted.
Franz Rogowski (A HIDDEN LIFE, TRANSIT) delivers a captivating lead performance as Alex, a Belarusian man sneaking his way through Europe to arrive undocumented in France, looking to take advantage of the French Foreign Legion's offer to provide French citizenship to anyone who completes three years of service. More than 5,000 kilometers away in Nigeria, Jomo (Morr N'Diaye, in a striking debut) leads a band of resistance fighters against the French oil companies mining for petroleum in the Niger Delta. Irrevocably and unforgettably, Alex and Jomo's paths will collide in director Giacomo Abbruzzese's bold debut feature, a compelling look at the intersection of capitalism and personal guilt. Winner, Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution: Cinematography (Hélène Louvart), 2023 Berlin International Film Festival. DIR/SCR Giacomo Abbruzzese; PROD Lionel Massol, Pauline Seigland. France/Italy/Belgium/Poland, 2023, color, 92 min. In English, French, Nigerian, Polish, Russian and Igbo with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[NU ASTEPTA PREA MULT DE LA SFÂRSITUL LUMII]
Winner of two awards at this year's Locarno Film Festival, the latest from the prolific Radu Jude (BAD LUCK BANGING OR LOONY PORN, UPPERCASE PRINT, 2021 AFI European Union Film Showcase; I DO NOT CARE IF WE GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS BARBARIANS, 2018 AFI European Union Film Showcase) is an outlandish and satirically crass commentary on Romanian society. Interweaving scenes from a hectic day in the life of Angela, an overworked and underpaid production assistant, with clips from a 1980s Romanian film that follows a female taxi driver (also named Angela), the film depicts each woman circling Bucharest in perpetual transit, feeling the burden of the country's absurd culture of corruption. While Jude critiques Romania's exploitation of labor rights and consumerism, he also takes jabs at the film industry — the comical red tape of video production and being on set. Frequent Jude collaborator Ilinca Manolache stars as Angela (and brilliantly imitates an alpha male influencer), Nina Hoss (TÁR) plays an aloof, foreign businesswoman and infamous German filmmaker Uwe Boll makes an appearance as himself. (Note courtesy of AFI FEST.) Official Selection, 2023 Locarno, Toronto and New York film festivals. DIR/SCR/PROD Radu Jude; PROD Adrian Sitaru, Ada Solomon. Romania/Luxembourg/France/Croatia, 2023, color/b&w, 164 min. In Romanian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
Preceded by the Looney Tunes short GIFT WRAPPED (1952) on Dec. 23.
Will Ferrell stars as Buddy, a pure-hearted and eager-to-please giant elf who doesn't quite fit in at the North Pole. It turns out he's a human foundling (raised by Papa Elf Bob Newhart) who must now venture to the Big Apple in search of his true identity, including finding his biological father, cranky publisher James Caan. Zooey Deschanel shines as Jovie, Ferrell's co-worker at Gimbel's Santa Land; the supporting cast includes Peter Dinklage, Mary Steenburgen, Amy Sedaris, Andy Richter and Ed Asner as Santa. DIR Jon Favreau; SCR David Berenbaum; PROD Jon Berg, Todd Komarnicki, Shauna Robertson. U.S., 2003, color, 97 min. RATED PG
AFI Member passes accepted.
Cypriot director Kyros Papavassiliou's latest film is set in a world in which time is arbitrary and nonlinear; where a person can be "35 years old on one day, 65 years old the next day and 19 years old the day after." At the center of this time-shifting narrative is a couple, Penelope (Maria Apostolakea) and Isidoros (Hristos Sougaris), who find their relationship tested as they move through time, becoming strangers one moment and expectant parents the next. How can anyone nurture a stable relationship — or a life — when there's so much uncertainty? Starting from this heady premise, Papavassiliou takes viewers on an imaginative journey investigating the nature of memory, grief and motherhood. DIR/SCR Kyros Papavassiliou; PROD Marios Piperides, Janine Teerling. Cyprus/Greece, 2023, color, 91 min. In English and Greek with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[MAGYARÁZAT MINDENRE]
High school senior Abel (Gáspár Adonyi-Walsh) only has an oral exam standing between him and graduation, but all he can think about is his crush on his best friend Janka (Lilla Kizlinger). Too bad she only has eyes for their married history teacher, Jakab (András Rusznák). When Abel flunks his history test, he blames Jakab and tells his parents he was a victim of discrimination due to the Nationalist pin he was wearing. A firestorm is ignited as the incident makes local news and then spirals into a national scandal. Told from multiple perspectives, filmmaker Gábor Reisz's (FOR SOME INEXPLICABLE REASON) bold, incisive political dramedy won Best Film in the Horizons section of this year's Venice Film Festival. DIR/SCR Gábor Reisz; SCR Éva Schulze; PROD Júlia Berkes. Hungary/Slovakia, 2023, color, 151 min. In Hungarian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[MUMMOLA]
Finnish filmmaker Tia Kouvo makes an impressive feature debut with this unconventional family dramedy, based on her own 2018 short film, which mixes familiar holiday movie tropes with a distinctly droll, dark humor and sharp observational wit. As sisters Susanna (Ria Kataja, FORCE OF HABIT) and Helena (Elina Knihtilä, THE GOOD SON) gather with their families for the annual Christmas celebration at their parents' remote home, deep in the snowy Finnish countryside, the atmosphere is anything but cozy. Tensions rise in the cramped house as Kouvo paints a vivid portrait of each family member: the grandfather with a drinking problem (Tom Wentzel), his wife of 58 years (Leena Uotila), Helena, Susanna and her disaffected husband (Jarkko Pajunen), plus the sisters' children. Taking a largely removed perspective, the camera captures small moments that come together to form a lovingly crafted analysis of a modern, multigenerational family. Official Selection, 2023 Berlin International Film Festival, New Directors/New Films. DIR/SCR Tia Kouvo; PROD Jussi Rantamäki, Emilia Haukka. Finland/Sweden, 2023, color, 114 min. In Finnish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[LA PLANÈTE SAUVAGE]
Nothing else has ever looked or felt like director René Laloux's animated marvel FANTASTIC PLANET, a politically minded and visually inventive work of science fiction. The film is set on a distant planet called Ygam, where enslaved humans (Oms) are the playthings of giant blue native inhabitants (Draags). After Terr, kept as a pet since infancy, escapes from his gigantic child captor, he is swept up by a band of radical fellow Oms who are resisting the Draags' oppression and violence. With its eerie, coolly surreal cutout animation by Roland Topor, brilliant psychedelic jazz score by Alain Goraguer and wondrous creatures and landscapes, this Cannes-awarded 1973 counterculture classic is a perennially compelling statement against conformity and violence. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.) DIR/SCR René Laloux; SCR Roland Topor, from the novel "Oms en série" by Stefan Wul; PROD Anatole Dauman. France/Czechoslovakia, 1973, color, 72 min. In French and Czech with English subtitles. NOT RATED
AFI Member passes accepted.
[ZIELONA GRANICA]
Winner of the Special Jury Prize at this year's Venice Film Festival, this propulsive, urgent drama from Academy Award® nominee Agnieszka Holland (EUROPA EUROPA, SPOOR, 2017 AFI European Union Film Showcase) depicts the crisis which erupted in 2021 at the Belarus-Poland border after Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko drew refugees to Belarus with false hope they might cross the border by foot into Poland and the EU. Opening with thriller-like momentum, the film follows a Sweden-bound family of Syrian refugees on such a journey, descending into terror as they quickly realize they've become trapped in a brutal, Kafkaesque game of ping pong between Polish and Belarusian border guards, who operate with impunity in the inhospitable "red zone" — the dense, swampy Białowieża Forest — that separates the two countries. Holland then quickly alternates perspectives, giving windows into the lives of an Afghan English teacher, a conflicted Polish border guard, a group of activist lawyers and a psychiatrist whose tragic, chance encounter with a fleeing refugee leads her to a newly found sense of responsibility for the humanitarian catastrophe developing on her doorstep. Shot in stark black and white with a documentary-like urgency, GREEN BORDER is a powerful indictment of Europe's hypocrisies around its refugee crisis from a master of bold, politically minded filmmaking. Winner, Special Jury Prize, 2023 Venice Film Festival. Official Selection, 2023 AFI FEST, Toronto and New York film festivals. DIR/SCR/PROD Agnieszka Holland; SCR Maciej Pisuk, Gabriela Łazarkiewicz-Sieczko; PROD Fred Bernstein, Marcin Wierzchoslawski. Poland/France/Czech Republic/Belgium, 2023, b&w, 152 min. In English, Arabic, Polish and French with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
Recipient of the FIPRESCI Prize and Encounters Award at the Berlin Film Festival, the latest film from Bas Devos (VIOLET, 2015 AFI European Union Film Showcase) is a wandering, delicate meditation on human connections. Stefan (Stefan Gota), originally from Romania, works construction jobs in Brussels, waiting for life to pass him by. Having made a fresh pot of soup, he wanders around town and shares it with the people he comes across. On a rainy night, in between inconsequential-yet-endearing encounters, his journey intersects with that of Shuxiu (Liyo Gong), a Belgian-Chinese PhD student studying moss. From the late-night Chinese restaurant in urban Brussels to the lush mossy forest in the outskirts of town, landscapes provide a stage in which Stefan and Shuxiu's drifting stories are gently and fondly intertwined. Intricately restrained and marked by moments of magical realism, HERE explores the simplicity of life and unexpected kinships one may find by paying a little more attention to the beauty in the world. (Note courtesy of AFI FEST.) Winner, Encounters Award for Best Film, 2023 Berlin International Film Festival. Official Selection, 2023 Toronto and New York film festivals. DIR/SCR Bas Devos; PROD Marc Goyens. Belgium, 2023, color, 82 min. In Dutch, Romanian, Mandarin and French with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
Executive produced by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, this powerful yet harrowing documentary from Irish filmmakers Stephen Gerard Kelly and Garry Keane tells the stories of four families eking out an existence in the urban slum of Sabra in Beirut. Through intimate conversations captured over four years that saw a deadly port explosion and the total collapse of Lebanon's financial system, Kelly and Keane portray the stark reality in which the families live while also depicting the resilience and hope that keeps them going day after day. In a time when humanitarian crises are commonplace, IN THE SHADOW OF BEIRUT is a sobering call to action and a portrait of struggles shared by hundreds of thousands across the world. DIR Stephen Gerard Kelly, Garry Keane; PROD Brendan J. Byrne, Myriam Sassine, Alison Toomey, Christian Beetz. Ireland/UK/Lebanon/Germany, 2023, color, 92 min. In Arabic with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
Guardian angel Clarence saves despondent George Bailey from a Christmas Eve suicide by showing him how dismal life in the small town of Bedford Falls would have been for his family and friends had he never been born. James Stewart gives a brilliant, iconic performance as Bailey, alongside Donna Reed as his devoted wife, Mary; Henry Travers as the angel hoping to earn his wings; Gloria Grahame as the town's sassy bad girl, Violet; Thomas Mitchell as George's bumbling Uncle Billy; and Lionel Barrymore as the villainous financier Mr. Potter. This all-time Christmas classic may be Frank Capra's finest work. DIR/SCR/PROD Frank Capra; SCR Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Jo Swerling, from a story by Philip Van Doren Stern. U.S., 1946, b&w, 130 min. NOT RATED
AFI Member passes accepted.
[RAPITO]
Bologna, 1858. A well-to-do Jewish family suffers an unfathomable fate when their seven-year-old son, Edgardo, is ripped from their arms. Secretly baptized at birth by a concerned maid, he must now be raised a Catholic. Under instruction of the Papal State, which forbids Christians to be raised by non-Christians, he is abducted and taken to the Vatican to be put under the care of Pope Pius IX himself. An international scandal ensues as his parents (Fausto Russo Alesi and Barbara Ronchi) desperately fight for the return of their son and the safeguarding of his heritage. Caught in the crossfire of a brewing revolution, the Pope refuses to acquiesce, only fueling the flames for those demanding an end to his theocratic rule. Based on true events, celebrated Italian filmmaker Marco Bellocchio's (THE TRAITOR, 2019 AFI European Union Film Showcase) riveting portrait of power and faith is a lavishly lensed, heartbreaking melodrama enhanced by flashes of surrealism. Official Selection, 2023 AFI FEST, Cannes, Toronto and New York film festivals. DIR/SCR Marco Bellocchio; SCR Susanna Nicchiarelli; PROD Beppe Caschetto, Paolo Del Brocco, Simone Gattoni. Italy/France/Germany, 2023, color, 134 min. In Italian, Hebrew and Latin with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
English expat archaeologist Arthur (Josh O'Connor) has gone to seed. Having relocated to Tuscany in the early 1980s, he fell in love with Beniamina, the daughter of aging local aristocrat Flora (Isabella Rossellini). But Beniamina has died, leaving Arthur a lost soul, though one with the gift of second sight: he can use a dousing rod to locate Etruscan tombs and their treasure hoards with uncanny precision. Along with a motley crew of graverobbers, Arthur takes part in finding and selling antiquities illegally to the mysterious local dealer Spartaco (Alba Rohrwacher), a money-making adventure for the carefree members of the gang, but just a way to keep booze and cigarettes in supply for the morose Arthur. Then he meets Italia (Carol Duarte), the live-in maid and sometime singing pupil of Flora, who offers the possibility of romance in the land of the living instead of Arthur's doom-laden obsession with the underworld. This funny, folkloric, romantic and thought-provoking film from Alice Rohrwacher (HAPPY AS LAZZARO, THE PUPILS, 2022 AFI European Union Film Showcase) may be her greatest yet. Official Selection, 2023 Cannes Film Festival. DIR/SCR Alice Rohrwacher; PROD Carlo Cresto-Dina. Italy/France/Switzerland, 2023, color, 130 min. In English and Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
Christmas, 1183: intrigue abounds at the court of England's Henry II (Peter O'Toole), convened at his preferred residence, un château in Anjou, France. With an eye toward succession, Henry backs his youngest son, Prince John (Nigel Terry). His estranged wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn) — no less formidable for having spent recent years locked in Salisbury Tower at Windsor Castle — backs their eldest son, Richard the Lionheart (Anthony Hopkins, in his screen debut). Clever foxes all, the family's various schemes, ruses and machinations against each other launch a dizzying array of plots and counterplots. DIR Anthony Harvey; SCR James Goldman, from his play; PROD Martin Poll. UK, 1968, color, 134 min. NOT RATED
AFI Member passes accepted.
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Following the 2016 suicide of her mother, the writer Carole Achache, filmmaker Mona Achache (THE HEDGEHOG) decided to tell Carole's story, as well as the story of the complicated mother-daughter relationships across three generations of her family. The film opens as a straightforward documentary, with the filmmaker going through her mother's voluminous boxes of papers and photos, an archive which also includes unsorted boxes belonging to her grandmother, editor and writer Monique Lange. Then actress Marion Cotillard arrives at the apartment and, following a brief exchange with Mona, undresses and dons Carole's clothes, a wig and colored contact lenses. What follows is a remarkable hybrid documentary/psychodrama, a metanarrative telling of Carole's life story, actively directed by her daughter and portrayed by Cotillard. Carole's story is harrowing and unforgettable: the daughter of a literary doyenne who counted many of mid-20th-century France's leading intellectual lights among her clients and coterie — some of whom would go on to abuse young Carole — became swept up as a teenager in the revolutionary fervor of May 1968, and then spent a lost, hedonistic decade in Paris and New York marked by heavy drug use and occasional prostitution. With the 1980s came a husband, children, a steady job and success as a writer, but personal demons and haunting traumas never left her. Official Selection, 2023 AFI FEST and Cannes film festivals. DIR/SCR Mona Achache; PROD Yaël Fogiel, Laetitia Gonzalez. France/Belgium, 2023, color, 95 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
It's the holiday season in London and 10 separate love stories are unfolding — and intertwining — all over town in rom-com veteran Richard Curtis' (screenwriter of FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY and NOTTING HILL) directorial debut. The ensemble cast assembles some of the finest acting talent of the day, including Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Keira Knightley, Andrew Lincoln, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Bill Nighy, Billy Bob Thornton, Rowan Atkinson and more. This surfeit of talent is matched by an abundance of laughter, warmth, grace and good cheer — as the prime minister (Grant) himself says, "I've got a sneaking suspicion...love actually is all around." DIR/SCR Richard Curtis; PROD Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Duncan Kenworthy. UK/U.S., 2003, color, 135 min. RATED R
AFI Member passes accepted.
After their relationship ignited a tabloid saga two decades ago, Gracie (Julianne Moore) and Joe (Charles Melton) now lead a seemingly perfect suburban life. Their domestic bliss is disrupted when Elizabeth (Natalie Portman), a famous television actress, arrives in their tight-knit community to research her upcoming role as Gracie. As Elizabeth ingratiates herself into the everyday lives of Gracie and Joe, the uncomfortable facts of their scandal unfurl, causing long-dormant emotions to resurface. Director Todd Haynes (CAROL, SAFE) explores one of the great talents of the human species: our colossal refusal to look at ourselves. DIR Todd Haynes; SCR Samy Burch, from a story by Burch and Alex Mechanik; PROD Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell, Grant S. Johnson, Pamela Koffler, Tyler W. Konney, Sophie Mas, Natalie Portman, Christine Vachon. U.S., 2023, color, 117 min. RATED R
AFI Member passes accepted.
[IO CAPITANO]
Matteo Garrone made his name with the landmark Neapolitan crime film GOMORRAH (2008 AFI European Union Film Showcase) and has since demonstrated a penchant for gothic tales tinged with dark fantasy, including TALE OF TALES (2015 AFI European Union Film Showcase), DOGMAN (2018 AFI European Union Film Showcase) and PINOCCHIO. With ME CAPTAIN, Garrone turns his attention back to real-life subject matter, finding a story of bravery and heroism that's equal to any classical epic or enchanting fairy tale. Musician-turned-actor Seydou Sarr gives an impressive performance as Seydou, a Senegalese teenager who lives in a cramped house in Dakar with his mother and younger sisters. Along with his cousin Moussa (Moustapha Fall), Seydou has been working odd jobs and saving money, preparing for a move to Italy, with dreams of pursuing a music career. Along the way, they will contend with shakedowns from corrupt border guards, mistreatment from human traffickers, a dangerous crossing of the Sahara Desert and imprisonment, abuse and modern-day slavery in Libya, before undertaking the final and most challenging leg of their epic journey: a perilous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea in a rusty, overcrowded boat, with Seydou forced to navigate and pilot the ship himself. Winner, Best Director, 2023 Venice Film Festival. DIR/SCR/PROD Matteo Garrone; SCR Massimo Gaudioso, Massimo Ceccherini, Andrea Tagliaferri; PROD Paolo Del Brocco. Italy/Belgium/France, 2023, color, 121 min. In English, Arabic, French and Wolof with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
Located just across from the train station in the unassuming village of Roanne, France, is La Maison Troisgros, which continues to thrive in its third generation of ownership. Through a bright, open concept dining area and kitchen and into the verdant farmland where ingredients are sourced, Frederick Wiseman's observational and exceedingly delectable documentary reveals the inner workings of the Michelin Guide three-starred restaurant, introducing a business, an experience and a philosophy that are each distinctly shaped by the family at its center. The resulting multi-layered exploration suggests that each carefully planned, prepared and served dish succeeds due to a reverent adherence to processes developed over centuries, which, in turn, are dependent upon attention to the earth, the soil, the grass on which the cows are grazing, the water that reaches that grass and the sun that warms it. (Note courtesy of AFI FEST.) Winner, Best Non-Fiction Film, 2023 New York Film Critics Circle Awards
. DIR/PROD Frederick Wiseman; PROD Olivier Giel, Karen Konicek. France/U.S., 2023, color, 240 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[SAGES-FEMMES]
After five years of studying to be professional midwives, Sofia (Khadija Kouyaté) and Louise (Héloïse Janjaud) begin their residency at a hospital, eager to perform "the most beautiful job in the world." The work soon proves to be unlike anything they studied, with a maternity ward crowded with patients and only a few midwives available to provide the necessary care. The whirlwind of scant resources, difficult births, and tough decisions puts unimaginable strain on Sofia and Louise's resolve and lifelong friendship. Embedding herself directly in a hospital and encouraging actual midwives to influence the script, play supporting roles and even inform the editing process, director Léa Fehner composes a dynamic and heartfelt ode to a systematically undervalued profession. Shot in a quasi-cinema verité style that engenders a great degree of sympathy for every person in the hospital, this is a rollercoaster of a film that underscores the fractures in the medical world and French society at large. Official Selection, 2023 AFI FEST and Berlin film festivals. DIR/SCR Léa Fehner; SCR Catherine Paillé; PROD Grégoire Debailly. France, 2023, color, 99 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
Spawning a hit musical, plush killer bunnies and a generation of comedy nerds, this irreverent cult classic is comedy troupe Monty Python's unique take on the legend of King Arthur. After recruiting the Knights of the Round Table to join him in Camelot (turns out it's a silly place), King Arthur and his coconut-clopping crew set out on a noble quest to find the Holy Grail. Featuring limbless knights, a Trojan rabbit and wisecracking Frenchmen, the troupe's first original feature mixes absurd set pieces with Terry Gilliam's trademark animation; Gilliam and fellow troupe member Terry Jones co-directed. DIR/SCR Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones; SCR Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin; PROD Mark Forstater, Michael White. UK, 1975, color, 91 min. RATED PG
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[MANA BRĪVĪBA]
The free-spirited Alicija (Ērika Eglija-Grāvele) is a recently married young woman committed to social justice in '80s Latvia. A charismatic speaker, she soon finds herself at the forefront of the Lativian Popular Front, fighting for independence from the USSR. Polish born Alicija first rallies the Poles and then other ethnic minorities to gain traction for the movement. But as her star rises, she'll begin to question those close to her, even her beloved husband who might have ties to the KGB. Roughly based on the life of journalist and activist Ita Kozakeviča, filmmaker Ilze Kunga-Melgaile's feature debut roots historical events in a contemporary perspective, and features a strong-willed performance by Eglija-Grāvele as a woman dedicated to the cause. Official Selection, 2023 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. DIR Ilze Kunga-Melgaile; SCR Anna Kalina, Inga Rozentale; PROD Aija Berzina. Latvia/Lithuania, 2023, color, 106 min. In Latvian, Russian and Polish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
A monumental accomplishment, this rigorous documentary directed by Steve McQueen (12 YEARS A SLAVE) systematically explores Amsterdam under the Nazi occupation of World War II. Rejecting archival footage and first-person narratives, the film excavates history by telling the city's story one address at a time. Each catalogued entry describes the cruel fate of its residents and is accompanied by present-day footage of Amsterdam. From the locations as they stand today to the COVID lockdown and the extremist anti-lockdown protests, McQueen (himself an Amsterdam resident) draws powerful connections between past and present. Based on the meticulously researched book "Atlas of an Occupied City: Amsterdam 1940–1945" by Dutch filmmaker and journalist Bianca Stigter, this epic, four-and-a-half-hour opus is a testament to the brutal scale of the occupation. DIR/PROD Steve McQueen; SCR/PROD Bianca Stigter; PROD Floor Onrust, Anna Smith Tenser. Netherlands/UK, 2023, color, 262 min., including a 10-min. intermission. In English and Dutch with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[AUGURE]
Inspired by rapper-turned-filmmaker Baloji's own diasporic experience, OMEN follows 30-something Koffi as he returns home to the Democratic Republic of the Congo after many years of living abroad in Belgium. Rejected by his family since childhood for his "cursed" birthmark, Koffi is desperately seeking their blessing now that he's engaged to be married and his fiancée is pregnant. When his homecoming doesn't go as planned, he'll be plunged into a world of witchcraft and sorcery. Baloji serves up a visual feast, infusing magical realism into this kaleidoscopic portrait of four people accused of witchcraft, including Koffi's sister and mother and a young street sorcerer named Paco. Baloji won the New Vision Award in the Un Certain Regard competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival for his bold feature debut. DIR/SCR Baloji; SCR Thomas van Zuylen; PROD Benoît Roland. Belgium/Democratic Republic of the Congo/Netherlands/France/Germany/South Africa, 2023, color, 90 min. In English, French, Lingala and Swahili with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[SUR L'ADAMANT]
Acclaimed documentarian Nicolas Philibert's latest film follows the patients and caregivers of L'Adamant Day Center, a floating care center permanently moored on Paris' Seine River. The center offers a place for people with mental disorders who live in the first four arrondissements of Paris to find stability and routine, aboard the Adamant. Alongside interviews with patients, Philibert's camera largely takes the perspective of a mere observer, catching glimpses of daily life for those who utilize and offer the center's services. Philibert captures the warmth and beauty of the nontraditional care center and produces a stunning portrait of those who find solace aboard. Winner, Golden Bear, 2023 Berlin International Film Festival. DIR/SCR Nicolas Philibert; SCR Linda De Zitter; PROD Céline Loiseau, Miléna Poylo, Gilles Sacuto. France/Japan, 2023, color, 109 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[MOTSTÅNDAREN]
Fearing persecution, closeted wrester Iman (Payman Maadi, A SEPARATION) has fled his native Iran for snowy northern Sweden. Accompanied by his duty-bound wife (Marall Nasiri) and two daughters, they get bounced between refugee housing while hoping to be granted asylum. As a last resort, Iman decides to join the national wrestling team, hoping that it will grant them a special sportsman residence. To the dismay of his wife, he relishes the chance to get back on the mat, quickly striking up a friendship with his handsome teammate Thomas (Björn Elgerd). As the family's chances to stay in Sweden start to look grim, tensions rise as Iman struggles to honor both his family and his desires. Exploring the harsh realities of being a refugee in Sweden, filmmaker Milad Alami's razor-sharp social drama features a blistering performance by Maadi as a man undone by society's expectations. Official Selection, 2023 Berlin and Seattle film festivals. DIR/SCR Milad Alami; PROD Annika Rogell. Sweden/Norway, 2023, color, 119 min. In Swedish and Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[ORLANDO, MA BIOGRAPHIE POLITIQUE]
Philosophically probing and brimming with delight, writer/intellectual Paul B. Preciado's directorial debut composes a letter to Virginia Woolf concerning her nearly 100-year-old novel "Orlando: A Biography." In it, an aristocrat changes gender while sleeping and awakes as a woman who then traverses centuries. Preciado convenes 26 trans and non-binary people between the ages of eight and 70 to join him in reciting, reenacting, transposing and challenging the celebrated text. Each embodies the literary character Orlando, while presenting an array of personal anecdotes and varying relationships to the novel. The differences and complexities contained in each Orlando shape a manifold and beautiful image of transness, one that is both broadening and unifying, devastating and joyful. Winner of the Teddy Award for Best Documentary at the Berlin Film Festival, ORLANDO, MY POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY is an essential contribution to the queer canon, obliterating binaries in both form and content. (Note courtesy of AFI FEST.) Official Selection, 2023 Toronto and New York film festivals. DIR/SCR Paul B. Preciado; PROD Yaël Fogiel, Laetitia Gonzalez. France, 2023, color, 98 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[PAPURIKA] [パプリカ]
The final film made by director Satoshi Kon (PERFECT BLUE) is a mind-bending thriller about a young psychologist and a fearless detective who join forces to recover a stolen device that allows therapists to enter their patients' dreams. Adapted from a novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui, PAPRIKA is a magical tale with the rapid-fire editing, cartoon logic and fluid character design that exemplify the unique storytelling properties of animation. It's no wonder the story resolves itself through a kaleidoscopic parade where reality merges into dream, accompanied by an electronic score by Susumu Hirasawa — notable for being one of the first to utilize a Vocaloid, a wholly synthetic voice. DIR/SCR Satoshi Kon; SCR Seishi Minakami, based on the novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui; PROD Jungo Maruta, Masao Takiyama. Japan, 2006, color, 90 min. In Japanese with English subtitles. RATED R
AFI Member passes accepted.
Held every five years in Warsaw since 1927, the International Chopin Piano Competition is an Olympic-level contest for elite young concert pianists, with the eventual champion crowned only after a grueling gauntlet of multiple performances across several weeks, playing different pieces by Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. Past winners have included piano greats Martha Argerich, Maurizio Pollini, Krystian Zimerman and Yundi Li; even runners-up have gone on to enjoy star careers. Director Jakub Piątek (PRIME TIME) profiles a range of engaging young pianists from around the world as they prepare for and perform in the 2021 competition. All prodigiously talented and passionate about music, their abilities to navigate performance anxiety differ wildly. Some enjoy supportive coaches and parents, others are saddled with harshly critical ones; some seem carefree in their approach to competition, others show mental strain. Piątek's documentary provides great insight into the rigors of professional music performance, showing that it requires not just talent, but also tremendous hard work and fortitude. DIR Jakub Piątek; PROD Maciej Kubicki. Poland/Germany, 2023, color, 91 min. In English, Polish, Mandarin, Slovenian, Russian and Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[BOD OBNOVY]
In his visionary debut, Czech filmmaker Robert Hloz has crafted a riveting, imaginative sci-fi detective story recalling genre hallmarks BLADE RUNNER and MINORITY REPORT. The year is 2041 and due to rising murder rates, citizens now have the right to be re-booted should they meet an untimely demise, and returned to the last time their Restore Point was saved. This controversial technology has drawn the disdain of terrorist group River of Life. When the technology's founder turns up dead without a saved Restore Point, damaged detective Em Trochinowska (Andrea Mohylová) finds herself drawn to the complex murder case. Could River of Life be behind the crime, or are deeper conspiracies at play? Official Selection, 2023 Fantastic Fest and Karlovy Vary film festivals. DIR/SCR Robert Hloz; SCR Tomislav Čečka, Zdeněk Jecelín; PROD Pavel Bercík, Jan Kallista, Silvie Michajlova, Karla Stojáková, Ondrej Zima. Czechia/Slovakia/Poland/Serbia, 2023, color, 111 min. In Czech with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[JEZDECA]
Slovenian director Dominik Mencej makes his feature film debut with this introspective, nonlinear portrait about four wildly different characters who journey through the Slovenian and Croatian countryside. Inspired by a stolen VHS tape of Dennis Hopper's EASY RIDER, hot-headed and recently fired Anton convinces his pious best friend Tomaž to transform their mopeds into choppers and venture from their sheltered northeastern village to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. Joined by Ana, a young woman who has recently escaped from a convent, and Peter, a gruff and wise veteran biker who sees himself in Anton, the unlikely group searches for freedom, meaning and love as they attempt to understand themselves and one another. RIDERS offers a stunning glimpse at a picturesque landscape and the emotional journey of discovering oneself. DIR/SCR Dominik Mencej; SCR Boris Grgurović; PROD Miha Černec, Danijel Pek, Igor Prinčič, Jožko Rutar, Srđan Šarenac, Milan Stojanović. Slovenia/Bosnia and Herzegovina/Italy/Serbia/Croatia, 2022, color, 110 min. In Slovenian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
Romeo and Juliet risk everything to be together. In defiance of their feuding families, they chase a future of joy and passion as violence erupts around them. Shot over 17 days during the pandemic, this bold new film brings to life the remarkable backstage spaces of the National Theatre in which desire, dreams and destiny collide to make Shakespeare's romantic tragedy sing in an entirely new way. Jessie Buckley (WILD ROSE, WOMEN TALKING, FINGERNAILS) and Josh O’Connor (THE CROWN, GOD’S OWN COUNTRY, LA CHIMERA) play Juliet and Romeo. The award-winning cast also includes Tamsin Greig, Fisayo Akinade, Adrian Lester, Lucian Msamati and Deborah Findlay. DIR Simon Godwin; SCR Emily Burns, based on the play by William Shakespeare; PROD David Sabel. UK, 2021, color, 100 min. RATED PG-13
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[MIMI]
Seven-year-old Romy's beloved budgie, Mimi, has gone missing. Romy swears she saw it fly off into the forest outside of town, but her mother refuses to let chase after it and buys her a replacement budgie instead. Resolute and unwavering, Romy hatches a plan to venture into the woods in search of Mimi with her new bird and cage in tow. The lines between reality and fantasy begin to blur as she journeys through the extensive Slovak forest and meets an array of unconventional characters along the way, each with their own unique wisdom for impressionable and curious Romy. This charming, whimsical adventure from filmmaker Mira Fornay was awarded the Grand Prix of the Generation KPlus competition at this year's Berlin International Film Festival. DIR/SCR/PROD Mira Fornay. Slovakia, 2023, color, 84 min. In English, Slovak, Czech and German with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[SAVVUSANNA SÕSARAD]
In a lush forest in southern Estonia, a group of women gathers seasonally in a communal smoke sauna. A traditional practice of the Võro community, recognized on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List, they bare their all — mind and body, shedding grit and grime in a ritualistic bath while sharing their innermost secrets. Framed in closeups in the dimly lit sauna cabin, the women's bodies are not obscured, but celebrated in an abstracted landscape, cradling, touching, exfoliating and cleansing one another, as voices flow openly and intimately in a dialogue free from the confines of patriarchy. While some stories are painful and harrowing, others overflow with joy and understanding. Recipient of the Directing Award in the World Cinema Documentary category at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, Anna Hints' immersive feature debut offers viewers a look through the steam, sweat and smoke into the palpable, healing powers of solidarity and sisterhood. (Note courtesy of AFI FEST.) Official Selection, 2023 Sundance Film Festival. DIR/SCR Anna Hints; PROD Marianne Ostrat. Estonia/France/Iceland, 2023, color, 89 min. In Estonian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[LA SOCIEDAD DE LA NIEVE]
Returning to Spanish language cinema for the first time since his acclaimed debut THE ORPHANAGE (2007 AFI European Union Film Showcasae), J. A. Bayona (THE IMPOSSIBLE, JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM) brings breathless thrills and emotional gravitas to the tragic, true story of Uruguayan Flight 571. In 1972, a chartered flight filled with members of the Old Christian Club rugby team en route to a match in Santiago, Chile, crashes into the cold depths of the frigid Andes. Mountains While many perish in the crash, 29 of the 45 passengers miraculously survive the accident. But without much food and facing extremely hostile environmental elements, they're forced to make some terrifying choices if they want to stay alive. A ferocious survival thriller grappling with faith, SOCIETY OF THE SNOW showcases indelible performances from its young cast and an effective score by Michael Giacchino. Official Selection, 2023 AFI FEST and Venice film festivals. DIR/SCR/PROD J. A. Bayona; SCR Nicolás Casariego, Jaime Marques, Bernat Vilaplana, from the book by Pablo Vierci; PROD Belén Atienza, Sandra Hermida. Spain/Uruguay, 2023, color, 144 min. In Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
Bernhard Braunstein's documentary takes viewers inside the Stams ski boarding school in Austria's Tyrolean Alps, to show a year in the life of the residents there. Young teenagers, the students harbor hopes of one day competing at an elite level as skiers and snowboarders, with Olympic glory the ultimate dream. The rigorous training and nonstop competition is physically demanding, with injuries a constant threat. In unguarded moments, students discuss their fears and doubts about life outside of skiing and whether the thing they used to love is even fun anymore. Braunstein's closely observed documentary reveals the institutional mechanisms used to develop elite athletic talent, while leaving plenty of room to question what physical and mental costs might accrue along the way. DIR/SCR Bernhard Braunstein; SCR/PROD Lixi Frank; PROD David Bohun. Austria, 2023, color, 97 min. In German with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
The Dutch East Indies, 1900. During the last gasps of the colonial era, the death of sugar plantation patriarch Jan (Hans Dagelet) sets off a struggle for his estate. Desperate to hang onto power, Jan's wife Agathe (Locarno Best Actress winner Renée Soutendijk) calls for her son Cornelius (Florian Myjer) to travel from the Netherlands to claim his rightful place as heir of the property. But a wrench is thrown into their plans when the will reveals that Jan has left everything to the young, illegitimate son he had with his Indonesian concubine and housekeeper Siti (Hayati Azis). The family refuses to relinquish control while their exploited employees and Siti plot their ultimate revenge. Brilliantly rendered in symmetrical frames and droll deadpan, this lush, biting satire is a brutal takedown of colonialism by Amsterdam-based Bosnian filmmaker Ena Sendijarević (TAKE ME SOMEWHERE NICE). Official Selection, 2023 Locarno, Toronto and Chicago film festivals. DIR/SCR Ena Sendijarević; PROD Erik Glijnis, Leontine Petit. Netherlands/France/Indonesia/Sweden, 2023, color, 102 min. In Dutch and Indonesian with English subtitles. RATED R
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[LE LIVRE DES SOLUTIONS]
Oscar®-winning filmmaker Michel Gondry (ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND) returns to the big screen after an eight-year hiatus with this deliciously meta, hilariously self-aware and semi-autobiographical portrait of a DIY filmmaker wrestling with creative and personal demons to complete his latest film. When production executives threaten to bring in a new editor to slim down his four-hour opus, 30-something filmmaker Marc (Pierre Niney) steals the master tapes and holes up at his aunt's house in rural France to finish the edit. There, he lets his imagination run wild, writing a manual for combatting creative inertia that allows him to do anything but complete the film. All the while, his dedicated editor (Blanche Gardin) and assistant (Frankie Wallach) attempt to keep up with the endless demands — crafting an animated interlude about a fox, shooting a verité documentary about an ant, recording an improvised orchestral soundtrack and even recruiting Sting. Gondry crafts a behind-the-scenes comedy for the ages while also unpacking and skewering the creative process, poking fun at his own foibles and whimsical style and ultimately paying tribute to the long-suffering collaborators of self-absorbed creative geniuses everywhere. Official Selection, 2023 AFI FEST and Cannes film festivals. DIR/SCR Michel Gondry; PROD Georges Bermann. France, 2023, color, 102 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[MON CRIME]
Aspiring actress Madeleine (Nadia Tereszkiewicz, CALL MY AGENT!, FOREVER YOUNG) and would-be lawyer Pauline (Rebecca Marder, A RADIANT GIRL) are struggling to make ends meet in 1930s Paris when an audition-gone-wrong makes Madeleine the prime suspect in the murder of a famous producer. Seizing the opportunity to step into the spotlight, Madeleine decides to plead guilty, exposing her "victim" as a casting couch predator and — with the help of Pauline — bringing the jury and public to her side with a flawless performance in court. Fame and fortune ensue, but when faded stage and silent film star Madame Odette Chaumette (Isabelle Huppert, channeling Sarah Bernhardt) turns up looking to get in on the notoriety to reboot her own career, Madeleine risks being exposed as completely innocent. Adapting the same play that inspired classic screwball comedy TRUE CONFESSION (1937), French director François Ozon (8 WOMEN, POTICHE, SUMMER OF 85) crafts a classy, star-studded caper comedy that fuses courtroom drama, fizzy banter, elements of the backstage musical and a smart nod to #MeToo-era satire. The excellent supporting cast includes Fabrice Luchini, André Dussollier, Dany Boon and Félix Lefebvre. DIR/SCR François Ozon, from the play "Mon Crime" by Georges Berr and Louis Verneuil; PROD Éric Altmayer, Nicolas Altmayer. France, 2023, color 102 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
In this eerie but non-horrific sequel to Jacques Tourneur's classic 1941 psychological horror CAT PEOPLE, a lonely six-year-old girl (Ann Carter) conjures up the spirit of father's psychopathic first wife (Simone Simon) as an imaginary playmate. With its Christmas setting and fantastical, dream-like elements, THE CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE is an unexpected holiday movie and, according to acclaimed writer and film critic James Agee, "full of the poetry and danger of childhood." DIR Robert Wise, Gunther von Fristch; SCR DeWitt Bodeen; PROD Val Lewton. U.S., 1944, b&w, 70 min. NOT RATED
AFI Member passes accepted.
From acclaimed director Alexander Payne (THE DESCENDANTS, SIDEWAYS), THE HOLDOVERS follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker (newcomer Dominic Sessa) — and with the school's head cook (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), who has just lost a son in Vietnam. DIR Alexander Payne; SCR/PROD David Hemingson; PROD Bill Block, Mark Johnson. U.S., 2023, color, 133 min. RATED R
AFI Member passes accepted.
[NÄHTAMATU VÕITLUS]
This is the Estonian black metal kung fu comedy you didn't know you needed in your life. In 1973, a trio of Chinese kung fu warriors decimate the USSR-Chinese border, leaving a sole survivor: young Rafael. Beguiled by their gravity-defying martial arts, chic attire and the forbidden Black Sabbath tunes blasting from their boombox, Rafael has a pivotal revelation: he too must become a kung fu fighter. With few places to seek guidance, Rafael's faith leads him to an Eastern Orthodox monastery where the black-clad monks begin his training — but to complete it, he must achieve his greatest feat yet: absolute humility. A comedic cult film in the making, THE INVISIBLE FIGHT is a hilarious mash-up of martial arts tropes and heavy metal iconography propelled by a pulse-pounding score and genuinely thrilling fight choreography that morphs into a satire about finding purpose in life under the oppressive Soviet regime where, Rafael complains, "everything cool is banned." DIR/SCR Rainer Sarnet; PROD Katrin Kissa. Estonia/Greece/Finland/Latvia, 2023, color, 115 min. In Estonian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[LÄIF A SÉIL]
In the northern region of famine- and disease-stricken, 19th-century Luxembourg sits an isolated, deeply religious village under the totalitarian rule of the egotistical patriarch of the Graff family. As punishment for defying their oppressive rules and attempting an escape, 12-year-old Hélène is left abandoned in the woods and forced to witness her parents' execution. Fifteen years after narrowly escaping, as the village is reckoning with the construction of a railroad threatening their sovereignty and the weakening health of the patriarch, Hélène returns under a false identity to seek revenge on those who harmed her. Luxembourger director Loïc Tanson crafts a gory, vengeful take on the dismantling of hierarchical structures in this thrilling Western. DIR/SCR Loïc Tanson; SCR Frederic Zeimet; PROD Claude Waringo. Luxembourg/Belgium, 2023, color/b&w, 120 min. In Luxembourgish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
Preceded by the Tom and Jerry short THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1941) on Dec. 22, 23 & 24.
The Muppets' version of this Charles Dickens classic ranks among the best. The always-game Michael Caine gives it his all as Ebenezer Scrooge, with Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy as his wife Emily and Kermit's nephew Robin as Tiny Tim, plus regulars Fozzie Bear, the Great Gonzo, Rizzo the Rat and some truly awesome creations from Jim Henson's Creature Shop for the ghosts of Christmases past, present and yet to come. DIR/PROD Brian Henson; SCR Jerry Juhl, from "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens; PROD Martin G. Baker. U.S., 1992, color, 85 min. RATED G
AFI Member passes accepted.
[L'AUTRE LAURENS]
In this Belgian neo-noir, French private detective Gabriel Laurens (Olivier Rabourdin) finds his life turned upside down when his niece, Jade, shows up on his doorstep asking him to investigate his twin brother's suspicious death. At his deceased's brother's estate outside Perpignan, Laurens meets a cast of untrustworthy characters: drug traffickers, vicious bikers, inept police officers and Jade's avaricious American stepmother. Caught in a tangled web of lies left behind by his estranged twin and confronted by memories he thought were buried forever, Laurens desperately searches for the truth about his past, his family and himself. DIR/SCR Claude Schmitz; SCR Kostia Testut; PROD Jérémy Forni, Benoit Roland. Belgium/France, 2023, color, 117 min. In English, French and Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[BASTARDEN]
18th century, Denmark. A retired army captain with humble origins, Ludvig Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen, ANOTHER ROUND, 2020 AFI European Union Film Showcase), makes a deal with the king: successfully settle the Jutland's land and ascend to nobility. Arriving with nothing but a shovel and sheer willpower, Kahlen refuses to yield to the harsh landscape, dreaming of planting imported German potatoes. With the help of a runaway couple, a priest and a precocious orphan, he makes progress, but his unhinged noble neighbor Frederik de Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg) will stop at nothing to prevent his success. As tensions escalate and violence erupts, the singularly focused Kahlen will have to decide just how much he is willing to risk. Mikkelsen, reuniting with A ROYAL AFFAIR director Nikolaj Arcel, delivers a star turn in this rollicking period Danish Western filled with romance, intrigue and revenge. Official Selection, 2023 Venice, AFI FEST and Toronto film festivals. DIR/SCR Nikolaj Arcel; SCR Anders Thomas Jensen; PROD Louise Vesth. Denmark/Germany/Sweden, 2023, color, 127 min. In Danish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
TO KALOKAIRI TIS KARMEN]
Demos and Nikitas are best friends, actors and writing partners. Nikitas is fed up with only being considered for stereotypical queer roles and sets out to create the representation that he desperately yearns to see by directing his first film. As the two bare-chested best friends soak in the hot Greek summer sun on a lively nude beach, they brainstorm a script based on the dramatic events of their previous summer. Arranged as a film-within-a-film, writer/director Zacharias Mavroeidis joyfully prods at the "golden rules of screenwriting" in this metatextual delight that is instantly endearing. Playfully shifting between timelines and boasting bronzed bodies and steamy scenes, THE SUMMER WITH CARMEN is a breezy, lighthearted romp that will leave Greek Weird Wave in the dust as the "Greek Queer Wave" takes over. (Note courtesy of AFI FEST.) Official Selection, 2023 Venice Film Festival. DIR/SCR Zacharias Mavroeidis; SCR Xenofon Chalatsis; PROD Ioanna Bolomyti. Greece, 2023, color, 106 min. In Greek with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[DAS LEHRERZIMMER]
Idealistic young teacher Carla Nowak (Leonie Benesch) relishes her work, teaching both math and physical education to her class of seventh graders. Unfortunately, disciplinary issues are also part of the job, and a recent spate of thefts has both teachers and students on edge. Uncomfortable with the tactics used by her fellow teachers to pressure some students into accusing one another of being the thief — not least because it is unclear that the accused is truly guilty — Ms. Nowak continues to seek out the true culprit on her own. A simple trap of unattended money and a web camera appears to catch the real thief, but it's a fellow faculty member in the teachers' lounge. When Ms. Nowak attempts to take matters into her own hands and settle the matter quietly, she unleashes calamitous, unexpected results with far-reaching consequences. İlker Çatak's sly allegory masterfully evokes the slightly strange world of a school — a world unto itself, yet entirely an extension of the society that made it — and deftly deploys the occasional surreal touch to reflect the anxiety and absurdity experienced by its characters. Official Selection, 2023 AFI FEST and Berlin film festivals. DIR/SCR İlker Çatak; SCR Johannes Duncker; PROD Ingo Fliess. Germany, 2023, color, 98 min. In English, German, Polish and Turkish with English subtitles. RATED PG-13
No AFI Member passes accepted.
[DIE THEORIE VON ALLEM]
In 1974, author Johannes Leinert (Jan Bülow) appears on a German talk show to promote his sci-fi novel "Die Theorie von Allem," in which Cold War intrigue melds with alternate realities of the multiverse. But Leinert claims his book is fact, not fiction, based on his unpublished doctoral thesis and his own experiences. Cut to 1962, and Leinert's fantastical tale plays in flashback, beginning with a train journey to Switzerland to attend a physics conference with his stern mentor, Dr. Strathen (Hanns Zischler). En route to the mountain resort, they are joined by Prof. Blumberg (Gottfried Breitfuss), an eminent physicist against whom Strathen seems to bear a grudge. The conference proves to be a dud, but strange goings-on in the hotel intrigue Leinert: a mysterious young woman who knows things about his past; a bellboy with information about secret tunnels and strange doings in the town; and soon, several grisly murders on the ski slopes and the mountain roads. Timm Kröger's visionary, noirish, retro-futurist fable recalls classic suspense films by Alfred Hitchcock and Carol Reed, crossed with the reality-rupturing thrillers of David Lynch and Christopher Nolan. Roland Stuprich's widescreen, black-and-white cinematography captures the fearsome beauty and sublime otherworldliness of the Swiss Alps; its dreamscape imagery lingers long after this marvelous, mind-bending movie ends. Official Selection, 2023 AFI FEST and Venice film festivals. DIR/SCR/PROD Timm Kröger; SCR Roderick Warich; PROD David Bohun, Sarah Born, Tina Börner, Heino Deckert, Lixi Frank, Rajko Jazbec, Dario Schoch, Viktoria Stolpe. Germany/Austria/Switzlerand, 2023, b&w, 118 min. In German with English subtitles. NOT RATED
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Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel, THE WHITE RIBBON) lives an idyllic life in the Polish countryside with his wife (Sandra Hüller, ANATOMY OF A FALL, TONI ERDMANN) and children. But a sinister reality exists: their home shares a wall with Auschwitz, and Rudolf is its chief commandant. While the camera never reveals what's over their garden wall, the horrors of the Holocaust lie just beyond, a constant reminder of the true banality of evil. Filmmaker Jonathan Glazer (BIRTH, UNDER THE SKIN) adapts Martin Amis' novel to remarkably chilling effect, bolstered by a pulsating score by the Oscar®-nominated composer Mica Levi (JACKIE). Winner, Grand Prix, 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Official Selection, 2023 New York, Toronto and Chicago film festivals. DIR/SCR Jonathan Glazer, based on the novel by Martin Amis; PROD Ewa Puszczyńska, James Wilson. U.S./UK/Poland, 2023, color, 105 min. In German, Polish and Yiddish with English subtitles. RATED PG-13
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[TŌKYŌ GODDOFĀZĀZU] [東京ゴッドファーザーズ]
Inspired by the John Ford Western 3 GODFATHERS, the third anime feature from Satoshi Kon (PAPRIKA, PERFECT BLUE) follows three vagabonds on the streets of Tokyo whose lives are forever changed when they discover a baby girl at a garbage dump on Christmas Eve. As the New Year fast approaches, these three forgotten members of society band together to solve the mystery of the abandoned child and the fate of her parents. Co-written by Keiko Nobumoto (COWBOY BEBOP) and featuring a whimsical score by Keiichi Suzuki, TOKYO GODFATHERS is a masterpiece that is by turns heartfelt, hilarious and highly original — a tale of hope and redemption in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. DIR/SCR Satoshi Kon; SCR Keiko Nobumoto; PROD Shinichi Kobayashi, Tarô Maki, Masao Maruyama, Masao Takiyama. Japan, 2003, color, 92 min. In Japanese with English subtitles. RATED PG-13
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[TRAGOVI]
Anthropologist Ana spends her days poring over the meaning of cryptic symbols on ancient tombstones and her nights taking care of her ailing father. After he passes, the line between her work and her life begins to blur. These mysterious symbols begin to manifest outside of her work and in the world around her, forcing Ana to confront her loneliness and her perception of herself, now that she is the last living member of a once-large family. In this contemplative, lyrical film, filmmaker Dubravka Turić provides a moving meditation on grief, love and memory. DIR/SCR Dubravka Turić; SCR Danijel Žeželj; PROD Ankica Jurić Tilić. Croatia/Lithuania/Serbia, 2023, 98 min. In Croatian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
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"Christmas, huh? I'll give him a Christmas present he'll never forget." Nature vs. nurture is given a cynical test by the Duke brothers, Randolph (Ralph Bellamy) and Mortimer (Don Ameche), snobby Wall Street one-percenters who engineer an outrageous change of fortune — framing their star broker Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) for crimes, while giving a plum position to street hustler Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) — to settle a bet. After Louis hits rock bottom in spectacular fashion, drunkenly confronting his clique of former friends while wearing a dirty Santa Claus costume, he and Billy Ray team up to get back at the Dukes. Crisply directed by John Landis, the excellent cast, including Jamie Lee Curtis as a financially savvy streetwalker and Denholm Elliott as a put-upon butler, give top-of-their game performances, led by the hilariously inventive Murphy. With Frank Oz, Bo Diddley and Al Franken. DIR John Landis; SCR Timothy Harris, Herschel Weingrod; PROD Aaron Russo. U.S., 1983, color, 116 min. RATED R
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In the world-famous Anne Frank House in present-day Amsterdam, words rise from the pages of Frank's famed diary and take the form of her imaginary friend, Kitty. Now 75 years after Frank hid in the Annex, Kitty struggles to understand contemporary society and, confused, sets out on a journey to discover what happened to her friend. Brilliantly animated and featuring original songs by Karen O and Ben Goldwasser, this engaging drama geared toward younger viewers finds urgently modern significance in its approachable exploration of history. Official Selection, 2021 Cannes Film Festival. DIR/SCR/PROD Ari Folman, based on the diary of Anne Frank; PROD Yves Kugelmann, Alexander Rodnyansky, Jani Thiltges. Belgium/Luxembourg/France/Netherlands/Israel, 2021, color, 99 min. In English. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.