Coming Soon
Red Gold
Feb 9
Thursday 6:30pm ONLY
Dir. Ben Knight and Travis Rummel - 2008 - 55m - A Save Bristol Bay Presentation
Alaska's last great salmon fishery is in peril. Come see the award-winning film, Red Gold, that started the national campaign to protect it.
The Bristol Bay region of southwest Alaska is home to the most prolific sockeye salmon run in the world. However, with international mining companies proposing a massive open-pit gold mine at the headwaters of the Bristol Bay watershed, this salmon run is in peril. Red Gold shows what's at stake; the livelihood of over 4,000 commercial fishermen, a world-renowned sport fishery, and the subsistence culture of Bristol Bay communities. Despite promises of a clean project by mining officials, the accident-plagued history of hard rock mining has wrought one of the biggest land use issues Alaska has ever faced. Red Gold examines this issue through the stories of the people of Bristol Bay who depend on this extraordinary fishery. The film gives stunning insight into a truly wild and beautiful place, and a fishing culture that won't go down without a fight.
Director's Choice Award-Telluride Mountain Film
Audience Choice Award- Telluride Mountain Film
Best Cinematography- Newburyport Film Festival
Best of Festival- Ellensburg Film Festival
Best Environmental Film- Taos Mountain Film Festival
Sing Your Song: Harry Belafonte
Feb 10 to Feb 14
Friday to Tuesday 3:45, 6:00, 8:15
Dir. Susanne Rostock - 2011 - 104m
Sing Your Song is the result of a confluence of many events, things as diverse as the passing of Marlon Brando, a look back at the lives of many other unsung heroes in the fight for justice as well as the faithful love (and gentle nagging) of two daughters. Like Brando, there are many public figures who are not known, primarily, for their activism, their compassion and their dedication to human rights. Harry Belafonte is one of them:
“Cecilia, the daughter of another silent warrior, my friend Gregory Peck, had just completed a documentary on her father’s remarkable life. Coincidental to this, was the tugging by my daughter, Gina, to document my own journey. For many years I had resisted prodding by several who felt that I should both write and film my story. The idea as an end in itself seemed too self-serving. But I was awakened to the possibilities of making such a commitment by revealing the stories that could be told of and by all those with whom I shared an unending quest for justice.”
Sing Your Song is an up close look at a great American, Harry Belafonte. A patriot to the last and a champion for worldwide human rights, Belafonte is one of the truly heroic cultural and political figures of the past 60 years. Told from Harry’s point of view, the film charts his life from a boy born in New York and raised in Jamaica, who returns to Harlem in his early teens where he discovers the American Negro Theater and the magic of performing.
From there the film follows Belafonte’s rise from the jazz and folk clubs of Greenwich Village and Harlem to his emergence as a star. However, even as a superstar, the life of a black man in 1960s America was far from easy and Belafonte was confronted with the same Jim Crow laws and prejudices that every other black man, woman and child in America was facing.
Among other things, the film presents a brief look at the Civil Rights Movement through the eyes of an insider, someone who despite his high profile, wasn’t afraid to spend time in the trenches.
From Harlem to Mississippi to Africa and South Central Los Angeles, Sing Your Song takes us on a journey through Harry Belafonte’s life, work and most of all, his conscience, as it inspires us all to action!
"A powerful and touching documentary" - Interview
"Moving and enlightening" - Variety
"A man whose story should be told for generations to come "- Robert Redford
"It is a quiet, beautiful song of protest from a man who is still trying to change the world." - Yahoo Movies
Happy - as part of the World
Feb 11 to Feb 12
Saturday and Sunday 1pm ONLY!
Dir. Roko Belic - 2011 - 75m - All Seats just $5
YES! THIS IS A MOVIE ABOUT HAPPINESS!
Does money make you HAPPY? Kids and family? Your work? Do you live in a world that values and promotes happiness and well-being? Are we in the midst of a happiness revolution?
Roko Belic, director of the Academy Award-nominated documentary Genghis Blues now brings us HAPPY, a film that sets out to answer these questions and more. Taking us from the bayous of Louisiana to the deserts of Namibia, from the beaches of Brazil to the villages of Okinawa, HAPPY explores the secrets behind our most valued emotion.
HAPPY combines cutting-edge science from the new field of “positive psychology” with real-life stories of people from around the world whose lives illustrate these findings. We see the story of a beautiful woman named Melissa Moody, a mother of three who had a “perfect life” until the day she was run over by a truck. Disabled for nine years and disfigured for life, amazingly she is happier now than before her accident. Manoj Singh, a rickshaw puller from the slums of Kolkata, India who lives in a hut made of plastic bags with his family, is found to be as happy as the average American. Through these and other stories HAPPY leads us toward a deeper understanding of how we can all live more fulfilling, healthy and happy lives.
"An uplifting study of that surprisingly elusive state of being.” – TRANSFORMATIONAL MEDIA
Stand Up Comedy at the Guild Returns!
Feb 11
Saturday 10:30pm ONLY!
Dir. God's parking attendant - Now & Forever - endless/timeles - Must be 18 and over - All Seats $10
It's coming our way again, get ready for chuckles, belly laughs and guffaws! The title is truth in advertising - local comedians Matt Peterson, Rusty Rutherford, James Morrow, Joe Quesada and Roger Peterson will be tag teaming the mic for our humor sensory good times!
The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2012
Feb 15 to Feb 22
FEB 15 to 17: ANIMATION / FEB 18 to 20: LIVE ACTION / FEB 21 & 22: DOCUMENTARY
It's that time of year again - Academy Award nominated shorts from around the planet in various genres!
OSCAR NOMINATED ANIMATION SHORTS : Wednesday February 15 through Friday February 17 @ 4:30, 6:30 & 8:30
Dimanche/Sunday (Patrick Doyon)
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg)
La Luna (Enrico Casarosa)
A Morning Stroll (Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe)
Wild Life (Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby)
OSCAR NOMINATED LIVE ACTION SHORTS : Saturday February 18 through Monday February 20 @3pm, 5:30 & 8pm
Pentecost (Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane)
Raju (Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren)
The Shore (Terry George and Oorlagh George)
Time Freak (Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey)
Tuba Atlantic (Hallvar Witzø)
OSCAR NOMINATED DOCUMENTARY SHORTS : Tuesday February 21 and Wednesday February 22 @ 2:30, 5pm & 7:45pm
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement (Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin)
Incident in New Baghdad (James Spione)
Saving Face (Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy)
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen)
NOTE: God Is the Bigger Elvis (Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson) will NOT be available due to licensing issues
Israel Vs. Israel
Feb 18 to Feb 19
Saturday and Sunday 1 p.m. Only!
Dir. Terje Carlsson - 2011 - 58m - A UNM STUDENTS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE IN PALESTINE Presentation - $7 General Admission / $3 Students - Director Terje Carlsson in Person!
A feature documentary about Israeli peace activists.
One grandmother, one rabbi, one anarchist and one ex-soldier – four Israelis trying to put an end to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. The documentary Israel vs Israel is a film about Jewish peace activists who in both words and actions take a stand again 40 years of occupation and illegal settlements. This is a film about the desperate struggle to somehow change the current situation and improve life for the Palestinians. In return, these activists face scepticism and hatred from fellow Israeli countrymen. Israel vs. Israel reveals both sensitive family discussion as well as secret testimonies from former combat soldiers.
These Israelis are often portrayed as naive, unreliable and dangerous for the Jewish state. They are often ridiculed and demonised for their honest commitment. The fight for peace divides Israel in Terje Carlsson's new documentary.
PAPArazzi
Feb 23
Thursday 5:15, 6:30, 7:45
Dir. Su Hudson - 2012 - 60m - Meet the filmmakers & actors! - A fundraiser for PAPA Film and Media's Chicago CineYouth trip in May 2012
Mention PAPArazzi at Il Vicino and they will donate 20% of their sales to PAPA Film and Media for our Chicago CineYouth trip in May 2012!
In this film about a performing arts school, Scout (Graham Hudson) is creating his film masterpiece for his senior project. He has been a filmmaker in PAPArazzi, the Public Academy for Performing Arts Film and Media program, since he was in sixth grade. He has big plans to win one of the five scholarships his school offers to the top performing artists. Due to budget cuts the school can only offer one scholarship this year. This creates a frenzy of tension between the different performing arts departments, but particularly between the dance and film programs. The dance instructor, Ms. Castone (Naomi Elizabeth Montoya) is certain that her star dancer Brandon (Kalin Wood) will take the prize. The film instructor, Ms. Sparks (Su Hudson) is equally assured that Scout will win this year...no matter the cost. PAPArazzi is a coming of age film from the PAPA Film and Media Department.
"I didn't know he could act!" -Liz Marshall, Tierra Adentro
"Hilarious and terrifying, is your school really like that?" Luke Hudson-Goodman, 5th grader
"Yes and No, yes incredibly creative people but no, we don't really fight and bicker like this." - Su Hudson, mother of Luke and Director
Cavalcade of Kung Fu IV: The Dirty and the Deadly
Feb 24
Friday 6pm, 8pm, 10pm
$8 ADMISSION FOR ONE OR ALL - An ALIBI MIDNIGHT MOVIE MADNESS PRESENTATION!
Yeah man! 3 ass kicking old school martial arts flicks for only 8 bucks!
LEGENDARY WEAPONS OF CHINA (6PM) - This martial arts fantasy takes place during the late Qing Dynasty when Empress Dowager Cixi dispatches her agents to various factions of the Boxer Rebellion in order find supernatural martial artists that are invulnerable to western bullets. When one of the leaders of these groups disbands his forces, assassins from the remaining factions are sent out to kill him for his apparent treason. As the title of the film suggests, a great variety of fights take place involving the "legendary weapons." [Dir. Lau Kar-leung - 1982 - 100m - Hong Kong - Cantonese w/English subtitles]
DIRTY HO (8PM) - Master Wang is actually the 11th prince of Manchuria in disguise. Posing as a sophisticated jewellery dealer and connoisseur of fine art and wine, the prince is trying to determine which of the other 14 heirs to the throne is trying to assassinate him. A jewel thief, Dirty Ho (Wong Yue) runs afoul of the prince, who uses Wong Yue to help him flush out his enemies. Wang is a martial arts expert, but in order to conceal his identity he systematically hides his skills, even as he deploys them. [Dir. Lau Kar-leung - 1979 - 97m - Hong Kong - Cantonese w/English subtitles]
FIVE DEADLY VENOMS (10PM) - The dying master of the powerful Poison Clan dispatches his last pupil on a crucial mission. Worried that the skills he has taught are being used to evil ends, he orders Yan Tieh to trace a retired colleague and warn him that the fortune he amassed from the clan's activities is under threat from five of his former pupils, each an expert in his own lethal combat style. Yan must discover the whereabouts and true identities of these masked warriors, and decide which, if any, he can trust to join him in his mission. [Dir. Chang Cheh - 1978 - 97m - Hong Kong - Mandarin w/English subtitles]
The 6th Annual New Mexico Italian Film Festival
Feb 25 to Feb 26
Saturday and Sunday
A Benefit for the UNM Children's Hospital
Ticket prices: $8 Admission per movie • opening day celebration $40 • closing gala $50 • limited number of festival passes $100
At the Guild Cinema:
Saturday February 25
1pm / 6pm - La Finestra di Fronta (Facing Windows)
3:30 / 8:30 - Gianni e Le Donne (Salt of Life)
Sunday February 26
1pm - La Dolce Vita *with Intermezzo Pranzo at Scalo Northern Italian Grill
The DoggieWoggiez! PoochieWoochiez! tour
Feb 25
Saturday 10:30pm ONLY!
Dir. THE EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE GROUP! - 2011 - 90m plus! - All Seats $8
EIT!, as they have been lovingly dubbed by their followers, are the video collective responsible for some of the most intriguing and horrifying viral videos in the Universe. From cat massages to pedophile-hunting yellow dinosaurs, EIT! salvages the best VHS moments from thrift stores across the nation and posts their daily finds on the Internet for the world to see. Each year, the group edits thousands of these resurrected treasures into one mind-melting feature-length movie. With DoggieWoggiez! PoochieWoochiez!, EIT! has elevated their craft to new heights, creating a remake of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s 1973 Film, The Holy Mountain, using only dog-related found footage! After a grueling year of combing every Air Bud movie for something remotely worthwhile, the group is groomed and ready to tour the continent in homemade, full-body mascot costumes, delivering a psychedelic live show experience that can not be rivaled. This all-new “live in the fur” show picks up where Cirque Du Soleil and The Rock-A-Fire Explosion left off... finally. Oh yeah, and ARFFFF!
Granito: How To Nail A Dictator
Feb 27 to Mar 1
Monday to Thursday 5:00, 8:45
Dir. Pamela Yates - 2011 - 103m - U.S. / Guatemela / Spain - in Spanish with English subtitles
NOTE: Exactly one year after the release of this film Granito: How To Nail A Dictator at the Sundance Film Festival, the ex-dictator of Guatemala, General Efraín Ríos Montt, was brought up on charges of genocide in a Guatemalan court and placed under house arrest. The prosecution spent hours presenting overwhelming evidence in the form of military documents, exhumation reports, photos and footage from our film Granito: How To Nail A Dictator, linking Ríos Montt directly to hundreds of deaths and disappearances. Surviving family members, Ixil Maya in traditional dress, crowded the standing room only courtroom in stunned silence. Some wept. Outside the courthouse, in an open area now named Human Rights Plaza, hundreds more watched the proceedings on a huge screen. The defense argued that Ríos Montt did not have command responsibility over his Army officers in the highlands, and that he was not responsible for the massacres. This is belied by a clip from Granito that the prosecution and the Guatemalan media used to show the general taking command responsibility, saying that "If I don't control the army, then who does?"
"Sometimes a film makes history; it doesn’t just document it. Such is the case with Granito, the astonishing new film by Pamela Yates. Part political thriller, part memoir, Granito takes us through a riveting, haunting tale of genocide and justice that spans four decades, two films, and in many ways, Yates’s own career. Embedded in Granito is Yates’s seminal 1982 film, When the Mountains Tremble, which introduced the world to the tragedy of the genocide carried out against the Mayan people by the Guatemalan government and propelled Mayan activist Rigoberta Menchú to the international stage. During filming, Yates was allowed to shoot the only known footage of the army as it carried out the genocide. Twenty-five years later, this film and its outtakes become evidence in an international war-crimes case against the former commander of the army, and Yates reunites with Menchú, now a Nobel laureate, and others who continue to contribute their granito (tiny grain of sand) in a continuing quest for the truth." - Cara Mertes, Sundance Film Festival
“The film is gripping. But not only that, it is in itself evidence of the importance of filmmaking. If you think films can't change the world, see this film and think again.” - Jennifer Merin, About.com
“Plays like a good thriller…one of the most unique DOCUMENTARIES [at sundance this year] was Pamela Yates’ Granito. This is because the film is not just an investigation of social injustice but a commentary on the documentary filmmaker’s role in the events he or she chronicles…” - Stephen Farber, The Hollywood Reporter
“Hair-Raising” - Lewis Beale, NY Daily News
“With remarkable courage [the filmmakers] made their way to the heart of the rebel insurgency.” - Andrew Marr, BBC
“Granito slips smoothly across time and space. Part investigation, part reflection, and part memoire.” - Stuart Nusbaumer, filmmaker magazine
Sundance Film Festival 2011 Documentary Premieres [New Works by Master Filmmakers]
Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2011 Opening Night
Peace and Reconciliation Prize Geneva International Human Rights Film Festival, 2011
Grand Prix for Creative Documentary Paris Human Rights Film Festival, 2011
Founders Prize for Best Foreign Documentary Film Traverse City Film Festival, 2011
Silver Tongues
Feb 27 to Mar 1
Monday to Thursday 3:15, 7:00
Dir. Simon Arthur - 2011 - 87m
An impressively dark and deranged tale of scams, manipulation and sexual control, Simon Arthur’s low-budget film is an impressively staged and sharply performed drama that cleverly never lets the character dynamic rest and isn’t afraid to keep things edgy and intriguing.
Developed from Arthur’s 2007 short film of the same name, Silver Tongues was an audience award winner at Slamdance.
"The big discovery of San Sebastian" “A really well-crafted psychological drama, made with terrific technical
flair..." Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“An impressively dark and deranged tale of scams, manipulation and sexual control.” Mark Adams, Screen International
"Silver Tongues is a twisty, beautifully acted psychological drama that keeps you guessing until the very end." Caryn James, indieWIRE
Chico & Rita
Mar 2 to Mar 6
Friday to Tuesday 4:00, 6:00 8:00
Dir. Fernando Trueba - 2010 - 94m
WINNER EUROPEAN FILM AWARD - BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
ANNIE AWARD NOMINEE - BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Oscar-winning director Fernando Trueba and Spain’s legendary illustrator Javier Mariscal celebrate their passion for the music and culture of Cuba with an epic story of love, passion, and heartbreak. Cuba, 1948. Chico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and desire unite them as they chase their dreams and each other from Havana to New York to Paris, Hollywood and Las Vegas. With an original soundtrack by legendary Cuban pianist and five-time Grammy-winning composer Bebo Valdés, Chico & Rita captures a defining moment in the evolution of history and jazz, and features the music of (and animated cameos by) Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Cole Porter, Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Tito Puente, Chano Pozo, and others. The soundtrack will be released January 3 on Trueba’s Calle 54 Records label and Sony Music Latin.
Nazi Apocalypse - A New Local Comedy Horror!
Mar 3
Saturday 10:30pm only!
Dir. Charles Vick Duncan - 2012
Truly an Albuquerque independent film experience.
A black comedy horror movie homage to b-movies, which goes through 3 stages of cinema; and, for good measure, throws in a little stop motion.
The story follows a parallel WWII, with the battle field being a neo-noir, sepia-tone nightmare. Set to a witch house, post-pop, and sometimes, classical soundtrack, it’s morbidly cartoonish characters,slip in and out of a color reality. This film is perplexing and graphic, yet still lighthearted in the aspect of poking fun at everything disturbing and dark, including itself.
Don’t miss out on this epic, Indy film journey!
Female Trouble
Mar 8 to Mar 10
Thursday to Saturday 5:00, 9:00
Dir. John Waters - 1974 - 98m - Double Featured with the original HAIRSPRAY
In anticipation of John Waters' speaking engagement at Popejoy on Sunday March 11! For more information on that special event, visit here.
A riotously funny bad-taste epic from director John Waters, Baltimore's "Prince of Puke," this sick classic tells the depraved life story of obese criminal Dawn Davenport (Divine), from her bad-girl youth as a go-go dancer on Baltimore's infamous Block to her death in the electric chair. Mink Stole is terrific as Dawn's bratty daughter Taffy, conceived following a romp on a junkyard mattress with a fat derelict in soiled underpants (also played by Divine). Mary Vivian Pearce and David Lochary co-star as crazed owners of a beauty-parlor who are convinced that "crime equals beauty," and they take Dawn under their wings, forcing her to mainline liquid eyeliner to enhance her appeal. Edith Massey steals the film as Dawn's obsessive neighbor, Ida, who wants her nephew to be gay (because heterosexuals lead "sick and boring lives") and throws acid in Dawn's face when she marries him. A hilariously appalling film, Female Trouble is just as disgusting and maybe even funnier than Waters' previous Pink Flamingos.
Hairspray - the 1988 Original !
Mar 8 to Mar 10
Thursday to Saturday 3:00, 7:00
Dir. John Waters - 1988 - 92m - Double featured with FEMALE TROUBLE !
In anticipation of John Waters' speaking engagement at Popejoy on Sunday March 11! For more information on that special event, visit here.
The Turnblads' (Divine, Jerry Stiller) plus-size daughter (Ricki Lake) rocks a segregated TV dance show in 1960s Baltimore. Funny as heck and a good message to boot, (!) this is the original 1988 one that includes Sonny Bono and Debra Harry as parents of a rival young girl plus Ric Ocasek and Pia Zadora as pot-smoking beatniks.
"Not only Waters's best movie, but a crossover gesture that expands his appeal without compromising his vision one iota" - Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
On The Ice
Mar 25 to Mar 30
Sunday to Friday 4:15, 8:15
Dir. Andrew Okpeaha MacLean - 2011 - 96m - English and Inupiaq with English subtitles
In this engrossing and suspenseful feature film debut by filmmaker Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, two Inupiat teenage boys who have grown up like brothers go about their lives in the comfortable claustrophobia of an isolated Alaskan town. Early one morning, on a seal hunt with another teenager, an argument between the three boys quickly escalates into a tragic accident. Bonded by their dark secret, the two best friends are forced to create one fabrication after another in order to survive. The shocked boys stumble through guilt-fueled days, avoiding the suspicions of their community as they weave a web of deceit. With their future in the balance, the two boys are forced to explore the limits of friendship and honor. ON THE ICE features moving and breakout performances by its young actors Josiah Patkotak and Frank Qutuq Irelan.
Best First Feature Prize, Berlinale 2011
Crystal Bear for Generations 14plus, Berlinale 2011
FIPRESCI Prize for Best New American Film, Seattle International Film Festival 2011
Best Narrative Film Award, Woodstock Film Festival 2011
Best Cinematography Award, Woodstock Film Festival 2011
Best Director, American Indian Film Festival 2011
Honorable Mention for Best Film, Cine Las Americas 2011
This Is Not A Film
Mar 25 to Mar 30
Sunday to Friday 6:30pm only!
Dir. Mojtaba Mirtahmasb and Jafar Panahi - 2011 - 75m - Iran - Persian with English Subtitles
Accused of collusion against the Iranian regime and currently appealing a prison sentence and a ban from filmmaking, Jafar Panahi (a four-time NYFF veteran with films like Offside and Crimson Gold) collaborated with the documentarian Mojtaba Mirtahmasb on a remarkable day-in-the-life chronicle that, as with many great Iranian films, finds a rich middle ground between fiction and reality. Shot with a digital camera and an iPhone, the movie is almost entirely confined to the director’s apartment, where he discusses his films and an unrealized script, while the outside world imposes itself through phone calls, television news, a few comic interruptions, and the sound of New Year’s fireworks. Far more than the modest home movie it initially seems to be, This Is Not a Film is an act of courage and a statement of political and moral conviction: surprising, radical, and enormously moving.
Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown, and Don't Come Back!
Mar 31 to Apr 1
11 a.m., 12:30 p.m.
Dir. Bill Melendez - 1980 - 77 - MOM'S MATINEE rolls on ! - ALL SEATS $5
The "Peanuts" crew Charlie Brown, Linus, Peppermint Patty and Marcie go to France as exchange students in this classic full-length feature. While everyone is excited about the opportunity to travel to a foreign country, Charlie is disturbed by a letter he receives from a mysterious girl from France who invites him as a her guest only to find that he does not seem welcomed to her Chateau. Also along is Snoopy and Woodstock!
Crazy Horse
Apr 1 to Apr 5
Sunday to Thursday 4:00, 8:20
Dir. Frederick Wiseman - 2011 - 134m - In French with English Subtitles
Inside Paris’s Crazy Horse cabaret – the most famous nude dance show in the world. Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman explores one of the most mythic and colorful places dedicated to women, the Crazy Horse – a legendary Parisian cabaret club, founded in 1951 by Alain Bernardin. Over the years it has become the Parisian nightlife ‘must’ for visitors, ranking alongside the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. Wiseman’s impeccable eye finds the Crazy Horse a uniquely French showcase, with an emphasis on elegance, perfectionism and a grueling schedule (2 shows a night and 3 on Saturdays, 7 days a week). The film shows us the rehearsals for and the unveiling of the brand new show – Désir – created by the renowned French choreographer Phillippe Decoufle.
Following the successful runs of LA DANSE and BOXING GYM in each of the last two years, CRAZY HORSE is Wiseman’s 39th film in a career that began in 1967 with TITICUT FOLLIES. Critic Philip Lopate has called Frederick Wiseman “the greatest American filmmaker of the last 30 years.” Zipporah Films, Inc. is the distributor of Wiseman’s films. For over forty years, he has created an exceptional body of work consisting of films devoted primarily to exploring contemporary life as it is expressed in institutions common to all societies (schools, hospitals, the military, police, prisons, courts, public housing, theater, ballet, and many other topics).
Crazy Wisdom: The Life and Times of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Apr 1 to Apr 5
2:15, 6:30pm
Dir. Johanna Demetrakas - 2011 - 86m - English and Tibetan with English subtitles
Allen Ginsberg made him his guru. Joni Mitchell wrote a song about him. It was 1970 and he was the first Tibetan lama most Americans had ever seen. Yet he openly drank, and bedded his students. Was this how an enlightened teacher should behave? Crazy Wisdom tells the story of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the brilliant "bad boy of Buddhism," with exclusive never-before-seen archival material and commentary from Ram Dass, Pema Chödrön,and others of his circle.
Declaration of War
Apr 6 to Apr 11
Friday to Wednesday 4:00, 6:15, 8:30
Dir. Valerie Donzelli - 2012 - 100m - France - In French with English Subtitles
The opening night film at this year's Critics Week at the Cannes Film Festival, this exuberant and deeply moving film follows a new couple, Romeo (Jeremie Elkaim) and Juliette (Valerie Donzelli), who must face the ultimate test when they discover their newborn child is very ill. Gathering their friends and family together, they confront this ordeal together as a form of warfare. Donzelli infuses the story with unexpected verve using a host of cinematic techniques, music and heartbreaking performances that results in a film about a contemporary couple who surprises even themselves with their ability to fight not only for the life of their child but for each other. Drawing on the real life experiences of Donzelli and co-star/co-writer Elkaïm and what they went through when their own son fell ill, the film will bring tears to your eyes and dazzle you with its contagious vitality.
A critical and box office hit at home, DECLARATION OF WAR is France's official entry for Best Foreign Language Film for the 2011 Academy Awards. DECLARATION OF WAR, Donzelli’s second feature, firmly establishes her as one of France’s greatest new talents.
"CRITIC’S PICK! Fiercely playful, almost joyous. Extremely well-acted and deceptively offbeat." - Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine
"GRADE: A- Breathtakingly Vital." - Allison Wilmore, The Onion AV Club
"Feels entirely alive. This story of two people who transform fear into action is inspiring." - Stephen Holden, New York Times
A Night To Remember - A Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Titanic Disaster
Apr 15
Sunday 1:00pm only!
Dir. Roy Ward Baker - 1958 - 123m - All Seats $7
On April 14, 1912, just before midnight, the unsinkable Titanic struck an iceberg. In less than three hours, it had plunged to the bottom of the sea, taking with it more than 1,500 of its 2,200 passengers. In his unforgettable rendering of Walter Lord’s book of the same name, A Night to Remember, the acclaimed British director Roy Ward Baker (Don’t Bother to Knock) depicts with sensitivity, awe, and a fine sense of tragedy the ship’s final hours. Featuring remarkably restrained performances, A Night to Remember is cinema’s subtlest, finest dramatization of this monumental twentieth-century catastrophe.
Gold Diggers of 1933
Apr 19 to Apr 20
2:30, 5:45, 8:00
Dir. Mervyn Leroy - 1933 - 96m
SPECIAL THANKS TO FRANK CULLEN OF THE AMERICAN VAUDEVILLE MUSEUM !!
Maybe the very best of the Busby Berkley musicals! Great cast, great songs, great costumes! As the saying goes - "They don't make them like they used to!"
Starring Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler, Aline MacMahon, Dick Powell, Guy Kibbee, Warren William, Ned Sparks, Ginger Rogers and Sterling Holloway.
Three chorus girls fight to keep their show going and find rich husbands! Highlights: Blondell's "Forgotten Man,'' Rogers' "We're in the Money'' (with pig-Latin chorus), chorus girls' "Shadow Waltz.''
Keyhole
Apr 27 to Apr 30
4:00, 6:15, 8:30
Dir. Guy Maddin - 2011 - 93m - Canada
Starring: Jason Patric (Narc, Speed 2), Isabella Rossellini (Golden Globe and EMMY nominated; Blue Velvet, Death Becomes Her), Udo Kier (Blade, Shadow of the Vampire) and Kevin MacDonald of Kids In The Hall fame!
After a long absence, gangster and father Ulysses Pick (Jason Patric) arrives home to a house haunted with memories, towing the body of a teenaged girl and a bound and gagged young man. His gang waits inside his house, having shot their way past police. There is friction in the ranks. Ulysses, however, is focused on one thing: journeying through the house, room by room, and reaching his wife Hyacinth (Isabella Rossellini) in her bedroom upstairs. The equilibrium of the house has been disturbed and his odyssey eventually becomes an emotional tour, as the strange nooks and crannies of the house reveal more about the mysterious Pick family.
" 'I FEEL CHARGED!' SAYS THE MAN IN THE ELECTRIC CHAIR. A GREAT GUY MADDIN FILM WILL DO THAT TO YOU - AND MAKE NO MISTAKE, THIS IS ONE OF HIS GREAT ONES. MADDIN'S MAD MÉLAGE OF MELODRAMATIC GHOSTS AND MEDDLESOME MOBSTERS FRAMES A MEMORY TOUR LIKE NONE OTHER, EXPLODING TWO GENRES WITH ONE POWERFUL POP. JASON PATRIC IS HOMER-IFFIC AS ULYSSES, A CHARISMATIC GANGSTER WHOES VIOLENT PERSONAL ODYSSEY RETURNS HIM TO HIS HAUNTED HOM, THEREIN TO CONFRONT THE RESTLESS SPIRITS AND ANIMATED BODIES WHO HAUNT HIM ... 3 1/2 STARS. SURREAL, SENSATIONAL AND WEIRD, THE FILM IS PURE, MAGIC MADDIN. WINNIPEG'S GUY MADDIN REMAINS THE MOST INNOVATIVE, HIGH-RISK GAMBLER IN CANADIAN CINEMA." - TORONTO SUN
" AT TIMES AS CREEPY AS THE SHINING."- GAVIN SMITH, FILM COMMENT
" 3 STARS."- THE GLOBE AND MAIL
" EVERYTHING YOU COULD POSSIBLY WANT FROM A GUY MADDIN ENDEAVOUR IS INTACT, AND WHEN IT PEAKS, KEYHOLE IS A WILDLY UNIQUE AND ENTHRALLING AS HIS BEST WORK." - EXCLAIN.CA
" 3 SKULLS"- FANGORIA
" THERE'S CERTAINLY AN AESTHETIC CONSISTENCY TO MADDIN'S SURREAL UNIVERSE, WHICH AS ALWAYS IS A SEDUCTIVE PLACE IN WHICH TO GET LOST." - THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
