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Please support
the Avon Theatre Film Center!
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February
SUPPORT THE AVON - VISIT THE SAMUEL OWEN ART GALLERY DURING FEBRUARY!
10% of the proceeds benefit the Avon
Stéphane Kossmann
February 9th - 26th
Please join us for an exclusive photo exhibition featuring candid red carpet photos by Stéphane Kossmann.
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RSVP@samuelowen.com
S a m u e l O w e n G a l l e r y
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February 23
Cult Classics
DR. NO
James Bond, 007 in his big screen debut
Thursday, February 23 at 9:00 p.m.
Carte Blanche: FREE | Members: $6 | Students/Seniors: $8 | Nonmembers: $11
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ABOUT THE FILM: British Secret Service Agent 007 James Bond is sent to Jamaica to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and his secretary. Upon his arrival, Bond experiences attempts on his life through an automobile crash, by means of a tarantula, and by seduction by Miss Taro. Bond, aided by the American CIA agent Felix Leiter, links the murders to Dr. No, a mad scientist operating from Crab Key; and despite the natives' fear of the key because of the legend of a fire-breathing dragon, he persuades Quarrel, a black man, to transport him there and assist him in the investigation. Landing, they encounter Honey, a blonde, bikini-clad, shell-hunter; and after they are spotted by Dr. No's patrol boat, Bond persuades Honey to join them. Trying frantically to escape, they are cornered by a flamethrowing tank (the dragon of the legend), which kills Quarrel. Bond and Honey are captured and imprisoned in Dr. No's secret base, where they learn of his experiments to divert the course of rockets fired from Cape Canaveral. Bond escapes from his cell by means of a ventilator shaft and intercepts Dr. No just as he is ready to deflect another rocket. In a death struggle, Dr. No is killed, and Bond flicks every switch in the laboratory; but before the final explosion, he rescues Honey and they escape in a motor launch. –-tcm.com
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Saturday & Sunday,
February 11-12, 18-19, 25-26 at 11:00 a.m.
Featuring films from various Oscar® categories including live action, animated and documentary shorts.
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February 25
OSCAR®-NOMINATED FILM FESTIVAL
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Nominated for:
Best Actor (Gary Oldman),
Best Adapted Screenplay, & Best Music (Original Score)
Saturday, February 25 – 11:00 am
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ABOUT THE FILM: Set in the 1970s, TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY finds George Smiley (Gary Oldman), a recently retired MI6 agent, doing his best to adjust to a life outside the secret service. However, when a disgraced agent reappears with information concerning a mole at the heart of the Circus, Smiley is drawn back into the murky field of espionage. Tasked with investigating which of his trusted former colleagues has chosen to betray him and their country, Smiley narrows his search to four suspects - all experienced, urbane, successful agents - but past histories, rivalries and friendships make it far from easy to pinpoint the man who is eating away at the heart of the British establishment.
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February 26
OSCAR®-NOMINATED FILM FESTIVAL
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
Nominated for:
Best Actress (Michelle Williams),
Best Supporting Actor (Kenneth Branagh)
Saturday, February 26 – 11:00 am
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ABOUT THE FILM: In the early summer of 1956, 23 year-old Colin Clark, just down from Oxford and determined to make his way in the film business, worked as a lowly assistant on the set of 'The Prince and the Showgirl'. The film that famously united Sir Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe. Nearly 40 years on, his diary account The Prince, the Showgirl and Me was published, but one week was missing, published some years later as My Week with Marilyn. When Arthur Miller leaves England, the coast is clear for Colin to introduce Marilyn to some of the pleasures of British life; an idyllic week in which he escorted a Monroe desperate to get away from her retinue of Hollywood hangers-on and the pressures of work.
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February 26
AVON RED CARPET FESTIVAL
OSCAR®-NIGHT LIVE
Hosted by Billy Crystal
Sunday, February 26 at 7:00 p.m.
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ABOUT THE PROGRAM: Join The Avon Theatre as we celebrate the 84th annual Academy Awards with a live Oscar® telecast on The Avon’s big screen direct from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. The evening will feature photographs on the red carpet, sumptuous food and drinks, a live Oscar® telecast, Oscar® ballots and prizes and festive Hollywood attire. The Avon Award will be presented to Terry & Diana Betteridge. To purchase tickets, call 203.661.0321.
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March 1
Shelley Archives Presents
Legends of Rock Live
NEIL YOUNG Rare Clips (1967-1985)
Hosted by Music Archivist Bill Shelley
Thursday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Carte Blanche: FREE | Members: $6 | Students/Seniors: $8 | Nonmembers: $11 |
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ABOUT THE FILM: From such popular songs like “For What It’s Worth” and “Mr. Soul” (with Buffalo Springfield) to such hits as “My, My, Hey, Hey” “Heart of Gold” “Old Man” “Like a Hurricane” and “Cinnamon Girl” Neil Young has repeatedly proven why his musical talent is so popular with so many people. His instrumental, composing, and performing talents make compelling arguments as to why this compilation of performance clips of Young is a “must-see.” This show will include footage from 1970’s concerts, television appearances, and rare performance clips from Crosby Stills, Nash and Young. Don’t miss out!
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ABOUT BILL SHELLEY: As a filmmaker, Bill Shelley has been shooting professionally since the 1970s when he captured on film and video bands such as Twisted Sister, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts playing in small bars before they became famous. Shelley later associated with rap group Public Enemy (PE), going on to direct a number of their videos and become an honorary member of PE’s African American Media Network cable television studio. Shelley Archives was started in 1985. After working with Readers Digest Entertainment in 1990, the company’s end product was nominated for an Emmy in 1993 for the three-part series “Legends of Comedy.” The program was broadcast on the Disney cable network and home video sales exceeded a record-breaking 1 million copies sold. Today the company has over 100,000 reels of original 35mm and 16mm films in its archives and over 10,000 hours of rare concerts, television shows, promos, interviews, out-takes and home movies from a wide-ranging variety of subjects. The company has licensed them to numerous documentary projects throughout the world. Preservation of films and music clips is a main focus of the organization, as well as the desire to compensate the artists.
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March 6
SNEAK PREVIEW
ALL IN: THE POKER MOVIE
Featuring a Q&A with local filmmakers,
Douglas Tirola, Susan Bedusa, Danielle Rosen and
poker legend Johnny Marinacci after the screening!
Tuesday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Carte Blanche: FREE | Avon Members: $6 | Students & Seniors: $8 | Non-Members: $11
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ABOUT THE FILM: ALL IN: THE POKER MOVIE tells the story of the worldwide poker boom that started in the underground clubs of New York City and went on to be played at homes and casinos all around the globe, as well as becoming a fixture on TV. The film takes us up through early 2012, including the front-page story of how the US Government seized the three largest poker websites in the world. This controversial action cut off the ability for millions to play and for many to make a living. The film features interviews with many well-known social commentators and poker luminaries such as Matt Damon, Ira Glass (NPR), Doris Kearns Goodwin (Pulitzer Prize Winner) and Kenny Rogers. It also features most of the world’s most famous professional poker players, including Chris Moneymaker, Annie Duke, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth.
ABOUT THE PANEL:
As President of 4th Row Films Douglas Tirola has produced six documentary films in the past four years, two of which he directed. These include HBO's An Omar Broadway Film (Tribeca Film Festival) and Kati with an I (NY Times Critic's Pick and Gotham Award Nominee). Making the Boys (NY Times Critic's Pick) premiered at Berlin International Film Festival. Fake It So Real (Critics Pick New Yorker and New York Magazine). All In – The Poker Movie premiered at Cinevegas where it won Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary. Doug has worked as a screenwriter for Paramount, Universal, Fox, Warner Brothers, Sony, and New Line. He also created a division of 4th Row Films, which utilizes independent filmmakers to create branding films for Fortune 500 companies such as American Express, Pepsi, Diageo, and Ford. Doug's first job on a movie was as a production assistant on When Harry Met Sally.
Susan Bedusa is Vice President of Development at 4th Row Films, where she develops and produces feature films, documentaries and television. In the past four years, Susan has produced six feature docs: An Omar Broadway Film (HBO Documentary Films), Owning the Weather (IFC International), Making the Boys (First Run Features, NY Times Critic's Pick), Kati With an I (NY Times Critic's Pick), All In – The Poker Movie, and Fake It So Real. In television, Susan produced the MTV show The X-Effect, which ran on the channel for 3 seasons.
Danielle Rosen is Creative Executive at 4th Row Films. In the past five years she has served as associate producer on a number of feature length documentary films including HBO's An Omar Broadway Film, Making the Boys (First Run Features, NY Times Critic's Pick), Kati with an I (Gotham Award Nominee, NY Times Critic's Pick), and Fake It So Real (New Yorker and NY Magazine Critic's Picks).
Johnny Marinacci is a fixture in the New York poker scene who has been featured on The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire. He has served as a poker consultant on a number of feature films including Rounders and Michael Clayton and has made guest appearances on shows that include 60 Minutes and The Daily Show.
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March 8
FRENCH CINEMATHEQUE
Co-promoted by the Alliance Française of Greenwich
A Selection of Award Winning
French Language Short Films
from Around the Globe
In celebration of the International Day of La Francophonie
Thursday, March 8
Reception - 6:30 pm
Film Screening - 7:30 pm
Panel discussion to follow.
Stay tuned for film selections and panelists.
Carte Blanche: FREE | Avon & AFG Members: $6 I Students & Seniors: $8 | Nonmembers: $11
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ABOUT THE PROGRAM: The Alliance Francaise of Greenwich, CT, in partnership with The Avon Theatre in Stamford, CT, will celebrate La Francophonie with a selection of recent award winning French language short films from around the globe. There will be a post-film panel discussion with representatives from francophone countries. Ambassador Herman Portocarero, consul general of Belgium in New York will present the Belgian shorts. Selections include entries from France, Belgium, Canada and francophone Africa.
KIN (Belgium, 2011) Kin is an animated short film in Kinshasa that combines a series of characters around the theme of resourcefulness and recycling.
FUGUE (Belgium, 2011) Fugue is an animated film about a little guy who looks after a young plant by putting it in the sun. In a net, he captures a cloud to water the plant, but it escapes through the mesh.
SUNDAYS DIMANCHES (Belgium, 2011) A man tries to find ways to pass the time on a lazy Sunday.
SLEIGHT OF HAND TOUR DE PASSE PASSE (Cameroon, 2011) Three friends buy a pair of new shoes for very little money but when they open the package they discover a pair of old sandals.
LIGHTS IN THE NIGHT LUMIERE DANS LA NUIT (Canada, 2010) Filmed over night, it is about a period of two weeks shared between two friends.
TROTTEUR (Canada, 2011) A young outcast pits himself in a race against a raging locomotive.
MOKHTAR (Canada-Morrocco, 2011) The tale of a young boy who lives with his family of goatherds in a remote Morroccan village.
THE PIANO LE PIANO (New Caledonia, 2011) A bitter and lonely old man seems to love nothing except his piano.
GOOD BYE MANDIMA AU REVOIR MANDIMA (Zaire, 2010) Looking at an old photograph taken on the day of his family's departure from Zaire (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in the early 1980s, a narrator is flooded with memories of a long-forgotten childhood in Africa.
ABOUT LA FRANCOPHONIE: Always celebrated during the month of March, French language and cultural festivities are held annually worldwide to commemorate the founding of La Francophonie (the French-speaking world) and to coincide with the International Day of La Francophonie on March 20.
We would like to thank Lucie Chabrol for curating this program and making it possible.
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March 11
SPECIAL EVENT
Co-promoted by Barrett Bookstore & Tigin Irish Pub
A St. Patrick's Day Celebration with COLMAN ANDREWS
Acclaimed, award winning food writer and critic
Colman Andrews will present his cookbook,
The Country Cooking of Ireland, followed by a Q&A,
book signing and food tasting from Tigin Irish Pub.
Sunday, March 11 at 11:00 a.m.
Carte Blanche: FREE | Avon Members: $6 | Non-Members: $11
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Tickets are on sale at the Avon box office during showtimes,
in-person or by calling 203-967-3660.
Or call our administrative office during daytime business hours
at 203-661-0321.
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ABOUT COLMAN ANDREWS: Colman Andrews was the co-founder and editor in chief of Saveur, hailed as “the ultimate food magazine.” He was the restaurant columnist for Gourmet from 2006-09, and is the co-author and co-editor of three Saveur cookbooks and the author of six books of his own. Among these are “Catalan Cuisine”; “The Country Cooking of Ireland,” named Cookbook of the Year by the James Beard Foundation; “Ferran: The Inside Story of El Bulli and the Man Who Reinvented Food”; and “The Country Cooking of Italy,” a companion volume to his award-winning Irish volume. One of the first 50 food and wine figures to be named to “Who’s Who of Cooking in America,” Andrews is also the recipient of the 1996 Bert Greene Award for magazine food journalism and the winner of eight James Beard Foundation awards, including the M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing award. A native of Los Angeles, Andrews now resides in Riverside, Connecticut. |
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AN EXCERPT FROM THE COUNTRY COOKING OF IRELAND: There is a sense in which all Irish cooking--at least the good stuff, the real thing--is country cooking. It is almost inevitably straightforward, homey fare, that is, based on first-rate raw materials whose identity shines through. Even in sophisticated urban restaurants, it tends to have an underlying earthiness and solidity that suggest honesty and respect for rural tradition. This is not surprising, since no other nation in Western Europe--not even Italy or Spain--remains as intimately and pervasively connected to the land as Ireland does. Almost any Irishman or Irishwoman you meet, including those Armani-suited business tycoons and Diesel-clad club kids you’ll meet in Dublin or Belfast, will admit to some personal association with a farm: grew up on one, spent childhood summers on one, has a brother or an aunt or a good friend who owns one. At the very least, Grandma kept a cow for milk or Grandpa had a small potato patch or both. (The president of Ireland herself, Mary McAleese, maintains a vegetable garden and a chicken coop on the grounds of the Áras an Uachtaráin, the Irish White House.) Whether the average citizen realizes it or not, this close connection to the soil is one of the island’s greatest cultural strengths, and it helps give great promise to the future of Irish cuisine.
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March 13
Critic's Choice
Featuring The Metro Area’s Favorite Film Critics
BROADCAST NEWS
25TH Anniversary Screening
Starring William Hurt, Albert Brooks & Holly Hunter
Nominated for 7 Academy Awards
Hosted by film critic Nick Schager (Slant, Time Out New York)
Tuesday, March 13 - 7:30 p.m.
Carte Blanche – FREE I Members - $6 I Students & Seniors - $8 I Nonmembers - $11
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ABOUT THE FILM: Since the 1970s, the name James L. Brooks has been synonymous with intelligent television comedy—his shows are insightful about work and love and always plugged in to the zeitgeist. He is also a master storyteller of the big screen, and none of his films was more quintessentially Brooks than Broadcast News. This caustic look inside the Washington news media stars Holly Hunter, in her breakout role, as a feisty television producer torn between an ambitious yet dim anchorman (William Hurt) and her closest confidant, a cynical veteran reporter (Albert Brooks). Brooks’s witty, gently prophetic film is a captivating transmission from an era in which ideas on relationships and the media were rapidly changing.
ABOUT THE CRITIC: Nick Schager is a film critic for Slant magazine and Time Out New York as well as a columnist and features writer for the Independent Film Channel. His work has also appeared in, among other publications, The Village Voice, indieWire, Cinematical, The Independent, The Screengrab, PLANET magazine and SOMA magazine. A former magazine editor and 2004 graduate of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, he has been a featured speaker at Columbia University as well as a guest on A&E's Biography and G4TV's Attack of the Show. He resides in Stamford, CT with his two daughters. |
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March 15
FRENCH CINEMATHEQUE
Co-promoted by the Alliance Française of Greenwich
The First Day of the Rest of Your Life (2008)
Thursday, March 15 - 7:30 pm
Carte Blanche: FREE | Avon & AFG Members: $6 | Students & Seniors: $8 | Nonmembers: $11
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ABOUT THE FILM: The First Day of the Rest of Your Life portrays the life of a middle-class French family one character at a time, focusing on five pivotal moments that changed their lives and that of the family as a whole, starting with the day their son Albert (newcomer Pio Marmaï) moves out to live on his own. As events unfold for Marie-Jeanne, Robert and their three children, the film shows the consequences on the other members of the family and the way they relate to each other. Respectively playing daughter Fleur and son Raphaël, Déborah François and Marc-André Grondin were awarded a 2009 César for Most Promising Actress/Actor.
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March 28
SPECIAL PRESENTATION
TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS:
DECONSTRUCTING THE BEATLES’ REVOLVER
Wednesday, March 28 at 7:30 p.m.
A multimedia journey through the recording studio with The Beatles.
Carte Blanche: FREE | Avon Members: $6 | Students & Seniors: $8 | Non-Members: $11
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“I found Scott Freiman’s Beatles presentation seamless and compelling…never ponderous or pedantic. His ability to integrate the visuals and the music made this prose writer jealous as hell.”
-- Jonathan Gould, author, Can't Buy Me Love
ABOUT THE PROGRAM: The Beatles’ Revolver is a groundbreaking album that routinely tops “Best Album” lists. In “Tomorrow Never Knows: Deconstructing The Beatles’ Revolver”, composer/producer and Beatles expert Scott Freiman takes music fans young and old on a journey through this remarkable album. The 1966 album launched a period of studio experimentation for the Beatles that coincided with the end of their concert performances. With memorable songs, such as “Eleanor Rigby”, “Yellow Submarine”, and “Tomorrow Never Knows”, the Beatles pushed popular music to a place it had never been. “As a composer and producer, I have always been fascinated by the Beatles innovations in songwriting and recording,” said Freiman. “It is truly exciting to listen to songs we know so well evolve from a home demo to a finished recording. There’s a reason why the Beatles’ music continues to strike a chord with new generations of fans, 40 years after their last recording.” Using rare audio and video clips, as well as anecdotes about the creation of the songs, “Tomorrow Never Knows: Deconstructing The Beatles’ Revolver”, explores the groundbreaking production techniques that went into producing this landmark piece of music history. In addition to many of the tracks from Revolver, Mr. Freiman will also explore the creation of two other songs recorded during the same time period, “Paperback Writer” and “Rain”.
ABOUT SCOTT FREIMAN: Scott Freiman combines his knowledge of The Beatles with a career as a composer, producer and educator. His original music has been featured in award-winning films and performed at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. Scott is the owner of Second Act Studio, a state-of-the-art music and video studio for composition, recording and production. Learn more about Beatles Lectures at www.beatleslectures.com. |
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March 29
Cult Classics
William Friedkin’s
THE FRENCH CONNECTION
There are no rules and no holds barred when Popeye Doyle cuts loose.
Thursday, March 29 at 9:00 p.m.
Carte Blanche: FREE | Members: $6 | Students/Seniors: $8 | Nonmembers: $11 |
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ABOUT THE FILM: The French Connection (1971) is director William Friedkin's brilliant, fast-paced, brutally-realistic police/crime film - his commercial break-through film. The true-to-life film about the largest narcotics seizure of all time in 1962 - with an innovative semi-documentary-style technique that conveys the story with very few words, was produced by Phillip D'Antoni who had made the exciting police film Bullitt (1968).
The police thriller features an unsympathetic protagonist - the vulgar, brutal, tireless, unlikable, maniacal and sadistic Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) as the main undercover New York City narcotics cop, who toes the thin line between fighting crime and committing crimes himself. He passionately and obsessively pursues drug pushers with his partner Buddy "Cloudy" Russo (Roy Scheider).
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April 5
Shelley Archives Presents
Legends of Rock Live
Queen In Concert (1970s-1990s)
Hosted by Music Archivist Bill Shelley
Thursday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m.
Carte Blanche: FREE | Members: $6 | Students/Seniors: $8 | Nonmembers: $11 |
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ABOUT THE FILM: Come celebrate Queen and Freddie Mercury in rare concert clips, promo films, and television appearances. Songs include “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Are the Champions,” “Somebody to Love,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” “You‟re My Best Friend,” and more! The dynamic ‟70‟s group Queen started out as a prog rock act, and with their contemporaries (Yes, ELP, Uriah Heap and Genesis). Queen paved their way to success with such great classics as “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Will Rock You,” and “Killer Queen.” Brian May and Freddie Mercury gave Queen a complex sound that often combined rock with the sounds of classical, gospel, funk, and jazz music. Queen‟s style of over the top costumes, high falsetto voices and special effects became part of their trademark. For more than twenty years, the group never slowed down. They recorded hit songs, including a collaboration with David Bowie on “Under Pressure” and albums, such as “A Night at the Opera” (1975) and “A Day at the Races” (1976). They also played huge arena stadiums all across the world, sold more than 300 million albums and had eighteen #1 singles. Queen was voted the Best Rock act of the ‟70‟s by Billboard Magazine.
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ABOUT BILL SHELLEY: As a filmmaker, Bill Shelley has been shooting professionally since the 1970s when he captured on film and video bands such as Twisted Sister, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts playing in small bars before they became famous. Shelley later associated with rap group Public Enemy (PE), going on to direct a number of their videos and become an honorary member of PE’s African American Media Network cable television studio. Shelley Archives was started in 1985. After working with Readers Digest Entertainment in 1990, the company’s end product was nominated for an Emmy in 1993 for the three-part series “Legends of Comedy.” The program was broadcast on the Disney cable network and home video sales exceeded a record-breaking 1 million copies sold. Today the company has over 100,000 reels of original 35mm and 16mm films in its archives and over 10,000 hours of rare concerts, television shows, promos, interviews, out-takes and home movies from a wide-ranging variety of subjects. The company has licensed them to numerous documentary projects throughout the world. Preservation of films and music clips is a main focus of the organization, as well as the desire to compensate the artists.
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April 11
Documentary Night
Carol Channing: Larger Than Life
Post-film Q&A with Director/Writer/Producer
Dori Berinstein
Wednesday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Carte Blanche: FREE | Members: $6 | Students/Seniors: $8 | Nonmembers: $11
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ABOUT THE PROGRAM: The story of legendary performer Carol Channing's life is as colorful as the lipstick on her big, bright smile. In CAROL CHANNING: LARGER THAN LIFE, director Dori Berinstein (ShowBusiness, Gotta Dance), with co-writer Adam Zucker, captures the magic and vivacity of the 90-year-old icon – both onstage and off...past and present.
The film is both an intimate love story and a rarefied journey inside Broadway's most glamorous era. It is, above all, a look at an inspiring, incomparable and always entertaining American legend.
ABOUT THE FILMAKER: Dori is a three-time Tony-winning Broadway producer and an award-winning director and producer of film and television. As an award-winning documentary filmmaker, Dori’s films include: Carol Channing: Larger Than Life; Gotta Dance, chronicling the debut of the first-ever, senior citizen hip-hop dance team for the NJ Nets; ShowBusiness: The Road To Broadway capturing a Broadway season behind-the-curtain and Some Assembly Required, following kids nationwide at a Toy Invention Competition. Her 11 Broadway productions include: Legally Blonde: The Musical (Olivier Award – Best Musical – London, Touring Broadway Award – Best Musical), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Tony Award), The Crucible (Tony Nomination), One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (Tony Award), Fool Moon (Tony Award), Flower Drum Song (Tony Nomination), Enchanted April (Tony Nomination) and Golden Child (Tony Nomination). Dori is the 2009 recipient of Broadway’s Robert Whitehead Award for ‘outstanding achievement in commercial theatre producing’.
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April 19
FRENCH CINEMATHEQUE
Co-promoted by the Alliance Française of Greenwich
TOMBOY
Thursday, April 19 – 7:30 pm
Carte Blanche: FREE | Avon & AFG Members: $6 | Students & Seniors: $8 | Nonmembers: $11
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ABOUT THE FILM: There is definitely something boyish about ten-year-old Laure. She has recently moved to a new area with her parents and her little sister, Jeanne. It’s summertime and all the other neighborhood children are playing outside. Only Laure is alone, because she doesn’t know anyone her own age.
One day, she meets Lisa, who is ten also. Laure allows her new acquaintance to believe that she is a boy. Laure becomes Mikaël. As soon as she has transformed herself, she begins playing with all the other neighborhood children. As time passes, Laure’s relationship to Lisa becomes increasingly close, making the ambiguity of her situation ever more complicated.
Director Céline Sciamma is part of a new generation of filmmakers in France. In an interview with “Cineuropa” in August 2007, she comments, “I became a cinephile as a result of young French cinema of the 90s: Desplechin, Lvovsky, Rochant. But I like Gus Van Sant and Larry Clark a lot, too, for their work on adolescence, not to forget David Lynch.”—BERLINALE
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April 24
Critic's Choice
Hosted by the metro area's favorite film critics
THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951)
Hosted by film critic John Anderson
Tuesday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Carte Blanche: FREE | Avon & AFG Members: $6 | Students & Seniors: $8 | Nonmembers: $11
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ABOUT THE FILM: At the start of World War I, German imperial troops burn down Reverend Samuel Sayer’s mission in Africa. He is overtaken with disappointment and passes away. Shortly after his well-educated, snooty sister Rose Sayer (Hepburn) buries her brother, she must leave on the only available transport, a tired river steamboat The African Queen manned by the ill-mannered bachelor, Charlie Allnut (Bogart). Together they embark on a long, difficult journey, without any comfort. Rose grows determined to assist in the British war effort and presses Charlie until he finally agrees and together they steam up the Ulana encountering an enemy fort, raging rapids, bloodthirsty parasites and an endlessly branching stream which always seems to lead them to what appear to be impenetrable swamps. Despite opposing personalities, the two grow closer to each other and ultimately carry out their plan to take out a German warship.
ABOUT JOHN ANDERSON: John Anderson is a regular film critic for Variety, the Washington Post, and Newsday. His work appears regularly in the New York Times, and he has contributed to the Los Angeles Times, The Nation, Film Comment, Artforum, the Village Voice, and Schizophrenia Digest. He is a past member of the selection committee of the New York Film Festival and the author of "Sundancing" (Avon), “Edward Yang” (University of Illinois) and, with Laura Kim, “I Wake Up Screening” (Billboard Books). With David Sterritt, he edited “The B List,” the most recent book by the National Society of Film Critics. He is a member and two-time past chair of the New York Film Critics Circle, and a member of the National Society of Film Critics.
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April 26
Cult Classics
Brian De Palma’s
SCARFACE (1983)
He loved the American Dream. With a Vengeance.
Thursday, April 26 at 9:00 p.m.
Carte Blanche: FREE | Members: $6 | Students/Seniors: $8 | Nonmembers: $11 |
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ABOUT THE FILM: When Castro opened the port at Mariel Harbor, thousands of Cubans fled to the United States. One is a young tough named Antonio (Tony) Montana, who, with his friend Manny Ray, starts in with Miami's cocaine trade. He survives attack by chainsaw after a deal goes bad, and several other attempts by other dealers to eliminate him. Eventually the grandiose Montana becomes head of a cocaine cartel. But his enemies start coming after him, and his paranoia threatens to drive Montana's empire into the ground. –Derek O’Cain
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May 3
Shelley Archives Presents
Legends of Rock Live
FRANK SINATRA
Hosted by Music Archivist Bill Shelley
Thursday, May 3 at 7:30 p.m.
Carte Blanche: FREE | Members: $6 | Students/Seniors: $8 | Nonmembers: $11 |
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ABOUT THE PROGRAM: Frank Sinatra, The Chairman of the Board, returns in a rare film clip retrospective celebrating his musical legacy in the recording industry, live concert venues, television, and motion pictures. This program will focus upon his work from the 1940’s until the 1980’s. Some of the featured work will include the following songs: “Young at Heart,” “Strangers in the Night,” “My Way,” “New York, New York,” “It Was a Very Good Year,” “That’s Life,” “High Hopes,” “Lady Is a Tramp,” and many more. There will be concert, television and movie excerpts, including songs from Pal Joey, Hole in the Head, Young at Heart, On the Town, Robin and the 7 Hoods, and High Society. These performances show Sinatra on his own and with the following artists: Bing Crosby, Gene Kelly, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr., Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, Harry James and His Orchestra, and even with Elvis. This event is a treat for all ages, with talent, good music, and escape from the cares of the day.
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ABOUT BILL SHELLEY: As a filmmaker, Bill Shelley has been shooting professionally since the 1970s when he captured on film and video bands such as Twisted Sister, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts playing in small bars before they became famous. Shelley later associated with rap group Public Enemy (PE), going on to direct a number of their videos and become an honorary member of PE’s African American Media Network cable television studio. Shelley Archives was started in 1985. After working with Readers Digest Entertainment in 1990, the company’s end product was nominated for an Emmy in 1993 for the three-part series “Legends of Comedy.” The program was broadcast on the Disney cable network and home video sales exceeded a record-breaking 1 million copies sold. Today the company has over 100,000 reels of original 35mm and 16mm films in its archives and over 10,000 hours of rare concerts, television shows, promos, interviews, out-takes and home movies from a wide-ranging variety of subjects. The company has licensed them to numerous documentary projects throughout the world. Preservation of films and music clips is a main focus of the organization, as well as the desire to compensate the artists.
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May 31
Cult Classics
Jim Henson’s
LABYRINTH
Where everything seems possible and nothing is what it seems.
Thursday, May 31 at 9:00 p.m.
Carte Blanche: FREE | Members: $6 | Students/Seniors: $8 | Nonmembers: $11
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ABOUT THE FILM: Labyrinth is a 1986 British-American fantasy film directed by Jim Henson, produced by George Lucas, and based off concept designs by Brian Froud. The film stars David Bowie as Jareth and Jennifer Connelly as Sarah. The plot revolves around Sarah's quest to reach the center of an enormous otherworldly maze to rescue her infant brother Toby, who has been kidnapped by Jareth, the Goblin King. With the exception of Bowie and Connelly, most of the significant characters in the film are played by puppets produced by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
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