us for a monthly late-night series showcasing classic, soon-to-be classic and should-be-classic horror, sci-fi, action, fantasy and cross-genre gems hand-picked by the AFI Silver programming team. We promise deep cuts — sometimes literally — underrated classics, sneak peeks, new restorations and all-time favorites up on the big screen, the way late-night movies are meant to be seen!

Monthly selections will be announced on an ongoing basis.

• American Psycho

  25th Anniversary

  Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) has it all: a successful career as a Wall Street banker, a meticulously cared-for physique, a gorgeous blonde girlfriend — and, oh yeah, an insatiable craving for murder. Director Mary Harron and co-writer Guinevere Turner’s wickedly funny yet horrifying adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ controversial novel is a send-up of male narcissism, unfettered capitalism and American consumerism that seems even more relevant 25 years later. Bale’s career-making performance as Bateman is key to the film’s success, as he plays the part with a deadpan seriousness that reminds you that, for some, the act of killing is as normal as one’s skincare routine. Bolstered by a stellar ing cast, the film also features Justin Theroux, Chloë Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon, Jared Leto and Willem Dafoe. DIR/SCR Mary Harron; SCR Guinevere Turner, from the novel by Bret Easton Ellis; PROD Edward R. Pressman, Chris Hanley, Christian Halsey Solomon. U.S./Canada, 2000, color, 102 min. RATED R

• Candyman

  During research for her thesis project on myths and urban legends, Chicago grad student Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) learns of the “Candyman,” a ghostly killer with a hooked hand who slays whoever says his name five times in front of a mirror. Teaming up with classmate Bernadette Walsh (Kasi Lemmons, shortly before directing EVE’S BAYOU), Helen’s investigation leads her to the Cabrini-Green housing projects, where the sinister spirit supposedly resides, but she deduces that the legend is simply a coping mechanism by the residents — that is, until the Candyman himself pays her a visit. English director Bernard Rose transposed Clive Barker’s short story “The Forbidden” from its Liverpool setting to Chicago, using the lens of a nightmare-inducing horror film to explore the racial divisions and gentrification rampant in America due to the legacy of white supremacy. At the center of the film is Tony Todd’s staggering performance as the Candyman, a controversial role in a controversial film that eventually won over even the N.A.A.C.P., which boasted that Black audiences finally had their own Freddy Krueger. DIR/SCR Bernard Rose, from the short story “The Forbidden” by Clive Barker; PROD Steve Golin, Sigurjón Sighvatsson, Alan Poul. U.S., 1992, color, 99 min. RATED R

  In Memoriam: Tony Todd (1954–2024)

• Flesh for Frankenstein

  Filmmaker Paul Morrissey takes on the horror genre to exploit its exploitativeness, resulting in an absurdly funny, ambivalently sexy and exceedingly gory horror-comedy. The one and only Udo Kier (DANCER IN THE DARK, BREAKING THE WAVES) plays the role of Baron Frankenstein — now married (to his sister!) with children (little creeps) — who spends way too much time in his lab. He has successfully created a beautiful woman and hopes to transplant the brain of lusty peasant Nicholas (Joe Dallesandro) for her mate. See it on the big screen in all its tasteless 4K CinemaScope glory. DIR/SCR Paul Morrissey, based on characters from “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley; PROD Andrew Braunsberg, Andy Warhol. Italy/, 1973, color, 95 min. RATED R

  In Memoriam: Paul Morrissey (1938–2024)

• Blood for Dracula

  Immediately after completing FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN, director Paul Morrissey and star Udo Kier created BLOOD FOR DRACULA, a sumptuously depraved Euroshocker that tows the line between art and bad taste. Desperate for virgin blood, Count Dracula (Kier) journeys to an Italian villa only to discover the family’s three young daughters are also coveted by the estate’s Marxist stud (Joe Dallesandro of Morrissey’s FLESH, TRASH and HEAT). Stefania Casini (SUSPIRIA) and BICYCLE THIEVES director Vittorio De Sica co-star in one of the most unique and outrageous vampire films in history, presented in an uncut 4K scan from the original negative. (Note courtesy of AGFA.) DIR/SCR Paul Morrissey, based on characters from “Dracula” by Bram Stoker; PROD Andrew Braunsberg, Carlo Ponti, Andy Warhol, Jean Yanne. Italy//U.S., 1974, color, 106 min. RATED R

  In Memoriam: Paul Morrissey (1938–2024)

• Spaceballs

  "May the Schwartz be with you!" In Mel Brooks' parody of George Lucas' STAR WARS saga (with a bit of STAR TREK, ALIEN and PLANET OF THE APES thrown in for good measure), mercenary Winnebago captain Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) and his loyal mawg sidekick Barf (John Candy) are hired to find runaway "Druish Princess" Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) before evil Lord Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) does. Hiding out on the moon of Vega, they meet the diminutive, wizened Yogurt, who schools Lone Starr not only on harnessing the power of "the Schwartz" but also on merchandising, "where the real money from the movie is made [...] God willing, we'll all meet again in SPACEBALLS 2: THE SEARCH FOR MORE MONEY." DIR/SCR/PROD Mel Brooks; SCR Thomas Meehan, Ronny Graham. U.S., 1987, color, 96 min. RATED PG

• The People's Joker

  After being pulled from the Toronto International Film Festival immediately after its midnight madness premiere due to an “angry letter” from a “media conglomerate” in 2022, Vera Drew’s transgressive take on DC Comics’ Joker character triumphantly returned from the ashes two years later to have the last laugh. With comedy criminalized in Gotham City, the late-night sketch show UCB LIVE serves as the only outlet for aspiring Jokers and Harlequins, including Vera (played by Drew herself), a trans woman from Smallville, Kansas. Unfortunately, the show’s gatekeeping practices are maddening, and Vera decides to mount her own comic revolution in response. THE PEOPLE’S JOKER is an inventive take on the superhero genre, torching all preconceived notions audiences — and publishers — have about Batman’s rogues gallery, reinterpreting it to tell a funny yet poignant queer coming-of-age tale, co-starring alt-comedy legends Maria Bamford, Tim Heidecker, Scott Aukerman and Bob Odenkirk. DIR/SCR Vera Drew; SCR Bri LeRose; PROD Joey Lyons. U.S., 2022, color, 92 min. NOT RATED

  Also part of WorldPride on Screen.

May 18–July 3, 2025

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Pride celebrations in DC, and the city’s hosting of WorldPride 2025, the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center proudly presents a series of 18 films in partnership with the WorldPride 2025 Film Festival in recognition and acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community. From long-time classics such as the seminal Harlem ballroom scene documentary PARIS IS BURNING and the experimental Japanese New Wave triumph FUNERAL PARADE OF ROSES to lesser-known titles like OLIVIA’s tale of sapphic awakening in the confines of a French boarding school and STRAWBERRY AND CHOCOLATE’s intertwining of sexuality and politics under the Castro regime, WorldPride on Screen offers a globe-spanning tour through LGBTQ+ film history. Notable presentations in the series include screenings of PERSONA and SHOW ME LOVE, co-presented with the Embassy of Sweden, a free community screening of Derek Jarman’s BLUE and late-night screenings of THE PEOPLE’S JOKER as part of our ongoing AFI Silver After Dark series.

• Blue

  2K Restoration | FREE SCREENING!

  Derek Jarman’s final and most daring film premiered at the Venice Film Festival just four months before the artist’s death from AIDS-related complications which had rendered him partially blind. BLUE, whose title and striking monochrome image were inspired by the vivid flashes of blue caused by the lesions in Jarman’s eyes, is a daring cinematic work that finds the iconoclastic artist laying bare his physical and spiritual state as he poignantly narrates his experience with the virus while also reflecting on his life. At moments, the narration is picked up by friends and colleagues — John Quentin, Nigel Terry, Tilda Swinton — while a sonorous soundscape incorporating music by Brian Eno, Erik Satie and Coil pulsates in the background. The result is a deeply personal and elegiac film from an exceptional, multi-talented artist. DIR/SCR Derek Jarman; PROD James Mackay, Takashi Asai. UK/Japan, 1993, color, 79 min. NOT RATED

• Born in Flames

  The film that rocked the foundations of the 1980s underground, this postpunk provocation is a DIY fantasia of female rebellion set in America 10 years after a social-democratic cultural revolution. When Adelaide Norris (Jean Satterfield), the Black revolutionary founder of the Woman’s Army, is mysteriously killed, a diverse coalition of women — across all lines of race, class and sexual orientation — emerges to blow the system apart. Filmed guerrilla style on the streets of pre-gentrification New York, BORN IN FLAMES is a Molotov cocktail of feminist futurism that is both an essential document of its time and radically ahead of it. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.) DIR/SCR/PROD Lizzie Borden. U.S., 1983, color, 79 min. NOT RATED

• A Fantastic Woman

  [UNA MUJER FANTÁSTICA]
  Marina (Daniela Vega), a young waitress and aspiring singer, is happily in love and planning for the future after having newly moved in with her boyfriend, Orlando (Francisco Reyes), who is 20 years her senior and a successful business owner. Tragedy strikes as Orlando suddenly dies, thrusting Daniela into the spotlight under the judgmental eyes of Orlando’s family and everyone in the orbit of his death as they all concoct their own narratives as to why Marina, who is transgender, would have been involved with Orlando. This moving tale won director Sebastián Lelio the award for Best Screenplay at the 2017 Berlin Film Festival, as well as the 2018 Academy Award®️ for Best Foreign Language Film. It also led to actual reform in Chile, as the discussion around the film helped laws allowing transgender citizens to change their name and gender on official government records. (Note adapted from Sony Pictures Classics.) DIR/SCR/PROD Sebastián Lelio; SCR/PROD Gonzalo Maza; PROD Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín. Chile//Spain/U.S., 2017, color, 104 min. In Spanish with English subtitles. RATED R

• Fire

  A landmark of lesbian representation in mainstream Bollywood, Deepa Mehta’s FIRE tells the story of Radha and Sita (boldly named after two of the most prominent Hindu goddesses) who find themselves stifled in their traditional Indian households by the indifferent attitudes of their husbands. With their longing for genuine ion and intimacy left unfulfilled, their shared frustrations turn into mutual understanding and eventually blossom into clandestine romance. Released to public protest and vandalism of theaters screening the film, FIRE brought public discussion of gay and lesbian rights to the forefront of Indian society. DIR/SCR/PROD Deepa Mehta; PROD Bobby Bedi. India/Canada, 1996, color, 108 min. RATED PG-13

• Funeral Parade of Roses

  4K Restoration

  [BARA NO SÔRETSU] [薔薇の葬列
  Toshio Matsumoto's shattering, kaleidoscopic masterpiece is one of the most subversive and intoxicating films of the late 1960s: a headlong dive into a dazzling Tokyo night-world of drag queen bars and fabulous divas, fueled by booze, drugs, fuzz guitars, performance art and mascara. Stanley Kubrick cited the film as a direct influence on his own dystopian classic A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. An unknown club dancer at the time, transgender actor Peter (RAN) gives an astonishing performance as Eddie, a hostess at Bar Genet — where she's ignited a violent love triangle with reigning drag queen Leda (Osamu Ogasawara) for the attentions of the club's owner. (Note courtesy of Cinelicious Pics.) DIR/SCR Toshio Matsumoto; PROD Mitsuru Kudo, Keiko Machida. Japan, 1969, b&w, 105 min. In Japanese with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Happy Together

  [春光乍洩]
  Lovers Lai Yiu-Fai (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) and Ho Po-Wing (Leslie Cheung) leave Hong Kong for Buenos Aires to seek a fresh start but instead break up. Lai throws himself into work while Ho throws himself into debauchery. Now roommates, can the former lovers be friends? Were they ever? A landmark film from Wong Kar-wai, who was named Best Director at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, featuring heroic performances from Leung and Cheung, extraordinary camerawork by Christopher Doyle and the dual controversies of the film's frank sexual content and subtly allegorical politics vis-à-vis Hong Kong's 1997 return to China, HAPPY TOGETHER was a box office smash in Hong Kong and the world over. DIR/SCR Wong Kar-wai; PROD Chan Ye-cheng. Hong Kong, 1997, b&w/color, 96 min. In Mandarin, Cantonese and Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• I Saw the TV Glow

  Following up their quietly hypnotic debut WE’RE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD’S FAIR, director Jane Schoenbrun ups the ante in this allegorical tale of the transgender experience in which a favorite TV show changes two teens’ lives and leads them to question the nature of their reality and identities. Drawn together by the late-night young adult show THE PINK OPAQUE, Owen (Justice Smith) and Maddy (Jack Haven) escape from the alienation of school and family life, with Maddy telling Owen that the show feels more real to them than real life itself — a feeling that later turns into an outright belief that threatens to bury Owen alive with it. DIR/SCR Jane Schoenbrun; PROD Ali Herting, Luca Intili, Dave McCary, Emma Stone, Sarah Winshall. U.S., 2024, color, 100 min. RATED PG-13

• Loving Couples

  [ÄLSKANDE PAR]
  The title of Mai Zetterling’s boldly iconoclastic debut feature — adapted from a cycle of seven novels by the provocative feminist writer Agnes von Krusenstjerna — drips with irony. In 1915, three pregnant women from varying social backgrounds (Harriet Andersson, Gunnel Lindblom and Gio Petré) enter a maternity ward. Cue a swirl of perspective-shifting flashbacks, with searing psychological insight, illuminate the divergent yet interconnected experiences that brought them there — and that came to a head during one lavish, debauched Midsommar celebration. Wildly subversive in its treatment of sexuality, gender, class, religion, marriage and motherhood, LOVING COUPLES is as electrifying a first feature as any in cinema history, announcing the arrival of an uncompromising artist in pursuit of raw emotional truth. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.) DIR/SCR Mai Zetterling; SCR David Hughes, from the novel by Agnes von Krusenstjerna; PROD Göran Lindgren, Gösta Petersson, Rune Waldekranz. Sweden, 1964, b&w, 118 min. In Swedish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

  Co-presented with the Embassy of Sweden.

  Also part of Oh Mai! The Films of Mai Zetterling.

• Olivia

  Long underappreciated in the wake of the French New Wave that soon followed, Jacqueline Audry’s adaptation of Dorothy Bussy’s semi-autobiographical novel “Olivia” tells the tale of sapphic desire and its awakening in the halls of a boarding school on the outskirts of Paris. Used to the strict confines of her prior British schooling, Olivia finds herself transformed by her newfound freedom in the French school as she quickly becomes enamored of her teacher Julie, one of the two teachers who the student body are split between worshipping as either “Julists” or “Carists” for those favoring the sickly Cara instead. Unfolding like a Gothic fairytale reminiscent of Hitchcock’s REBECCA and Leontine Sagan’s 1931 MÄDCHEN IN UNIFORM, OLIVIA maps the troubled shores of the heart in teenage longing. DIR/PROD Jacqueline Audry; SCR Pierre Laroch, Colette Audry, from the novel by Dorothy Bussy; PROD Jean Paris. , 1951, b&w, 96 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Paris Is Burning

  4K Restoration

  Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag ball scene. Made over seven years, PARIS IS BURNING offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion "houses," from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia and transphobia, racism, AIDS and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens and transgender women — including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey and Venus Xtravaganza — PARIS IS BURNING brings it, celebrating the joy of movement, the force of eloquence and the draw of community. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.) DIR/PROD Jennie Livingston. U.S., 1990, color, 76 min. RATED R

  Digitally remastered by the UCLA Film & Television Archive in conjunction with the Sundance Institute and Outfest UCLA Legacy Project. Preservation funded by the Sundance Institute, Outfest and the Andrew J. Kuehn Jr. Foundation.

...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

April 25–July 8, 2025

Described by Pauline Kael as "the first populist surrealist — a Frank Capra of dream logic," David Lynch (1946–2025) forged a singular path through American filmmaking. Although it took many years to complete, Lynch began his first feature film, ERASERHEAD, while attending the AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles. This groundbreaking film, which he directed, wrote and produced, became an instant cult classic. Lynch followed this success with THE ELEPHANT MAN, for which he received his first Oscar® nomination for Best Director. Later, with BLUE VELVET, Lynch masterfully blended elements of a nostalgic American pastoral with film noir's urban anomie, plus an occasional touch of kinkiness more typically found in the grindhouse. This has since come to be regarded as the filmmaker's signature style, and the film earned Lynch his second Oscar® nomination for Best Director. 1990’s WILD AT HEART, the network television sensation TWIN PEAKS and its tricky film prequel TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME, as well as LOST HIGHWAY and MULHOLLAND DRIVE — recognized as the eighth best film of all time, according to a 2022 Sight and Sound poll — all capitalized on Lynch’s favorite themes: memory, identity and duality. This series also includes his unique spin on Frank Herbert’s “Dune,” the surprisingly accessible yet emotionally stirring THE STRAIGHT STORY and his last feature-length film, the uncompromising and labyrinthine INLAND EMPIRE. Additionally, Lynch’s prolific output of short films is represented via a collection of six digitally restored shorts, and audiences are invited to peek into the beloved filmmaker’s mind in the documentary DAVID LYNCH: THE ART LIFE. David Lynch's fearless, intensely personal quest has resulted in a body of work that audiences around the world are richer for having seen, consisting of strange and beautiful films that are thought-provoking and, at times, awe-inspiring. Now, more than ever, the time is ripe to revisit Lynch's filmography on the big screen.

• Blue Velvet

  4K Restoration

  David Lynch's unsettling masterpiece blends disparate elements — a coming-of-age drama, a detective story, an ambiguous 1980s setting with 1950s trappings and midnight movie-style madness — into a uniquely Lynchian whole: equal parts seductive and nightmarish. After discovering a severed ear, Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) begins an investigation, perhaps to impress his police detective neighbor's daughter (Laura Dern). Beaumont's amateur sleuthing plunges him into a dangerous underworld populated by sad-eyed nightclub singer Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini) and her psychotic tormentor, Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper), a lover of PBR, nitrous oxide, kinky sex and Roy Orbison. DIR/SCR David Lynch; PROD Fred C. Caruso. U.S., 1986, color, 120 min. RATED R

  In Memoriam: David Lynch (1946–2025)

• David Lynch: The Art Life

  This documentary looks at the iconic filmmaker's art, music and early films, shining a light into the dark corners of his unique world. As Lynch says, "I think every time you do something, like a painting or whatever, you go with ideas, and sometimes the past can conjure those ideas and color them. Even if they're new ideas, the past colors them." We're invited into and given private views from Lynch's compound and painting studio in the hills above Hollywood, as he tells personal stories that unfold like scenes from his films. Strange characters come into focus only to fade again into the past, all leaving an indelible mark. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.) DIR/PROD Jon Nguyen; DIR Rick Barnes, Olivia Neergaard-Holm; PROD Jason S., Sabrina S. Sutherland. U.S./Denmark, 2016, color/b&w, 88 min. NOT RATED

  In Memoriam: David Lynch (1946–2025)

• Dune

  Conceived as "STAR WARS for grown-ups" according to actress Virginia Madsen, David Lynch's 1984 sci-fi cult classic was the first adaptation of Frank Herbert's epic 1965 novel to come to fruition, following thwarted attempts by Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky and Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis, who hired Ridley Scott, only to have him drop out to make BLADE RUNNER. It was De Laurentiis' daughter Raffaella who ultimately made it happen, securing Lynch to direct following his success with ERASERHEAD and THE ELEPHANT MAN. They embarked on what would become an infamously troubled six-month production with 80 different sets built on 16 soundstages, a total crew of 1,700 and more than 20,000 extras. The result is epic in every sense of the word. The film finds an evil emperor presiding over an intergalactic kingdom. In a grasp for ultimate power, he pits House Atreides against House Harkonnen for control of an all-powerful "spice" found only on the harsh desert planet of Arrakis, also known as "Dune." Heir to House Atreides is the young and ambitious Paul (Kyle MacLachlan, in his film debut), who may be the messiah long prophesied to lead an uprising against the evil empire. Stunning visuals and a soundtrack by Toto and Brian Eno complement a complex narrative, rife with Lynchian themes and allegories. If you were impressed by Denis Villeneuve's multiple Oscar®-winning 2021 reboot and last year’s sequel, you owe it to yourself to see what Lynch did with the same material 40 years earlier. Where else can you find Patrick Stewart, Sting, Dean Stockwell, Max von Sydow and Sean Young in the same film? DIR/SCR David Lynch, from the novel by Frank Herbert; PROD Raffaella De Laurentiis. U.S., 1984, color, 137 min. RATED PG-13

  In Memoriam: David Lynch (1946–2025)

• Eraserhead

  4K Restoration

  David Lynch began shooting this cult classic while attending film school at the AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles. Featuring a man who lives on the moon, a mutant baby and a girl who lives in a radiator, the film obsessively concerns itself with stark, strange mysteries. Lynch's favorite character actor Jack Nance is Henry, who leads a quiet, desperate life until his girlfriend gives birth to an oddly-shaped mutant baby. DIR/SCR/PROD David Lynch. U.S., 1977, b&w, 89 min. NOT RATED

  In Memoriam: David Lynch (1946–2025)

• Inland Empire

  David Lynch's labyrinthine Hollyweird freakout — his last original feature — is his most uncompromising creation: a fugue-state trawl through the darkest realms of the subconscious that pushes his signature straight-from-the-id imagery and sinister dream logic to their extremes. When she accepts a role in a supposedly cursed production, a movie actor on the verge of a comeback (Laura Dern, in a fearless performance) finds herself tumbling down a series of increasingly disturbing rabbit holes (complete with literal rabbits) that lead her from the glittering heights of Tinseltown to the depths of human depravity. In his first feature shot on digital video, Lynch makes visionary use of the medium's smudged textures and murky chiaroscuro to enhance the hallucinatory, nightmarish quality of what may be his magnum opus. Co-starring Justin Theroux, Jeremy Irons, Harry Dean Stanton, Julia Ormond, Diane Ladd and William H. Macy. DIR/SCR/PROD David Lynch; PROD Mary Sweeney. /Poland/U.S., 2006, color, 180 min. In English and Polish with English subtitles. RATED R

  In Memoriam: David Lynch (1946–2025)

• Lost Highway

  4K Restoration

  When saxophonist Fred (Bill Pullman) finds a videotape on his front doorstep that depicts him standing over the murdered body of his wife (Patricia Arquette), he is utterly confused and has no recollection of the events. Eventually jailed for the crime, Fred suffers an intense headache and wakes the next morning as a young auto mechanic named Pete (Balthazar Getty). Then things really start to get strange... DIR/SCR David Lynch; SCR Barry Gifford; PROD Deepak Nayar, Tom Sternberg, Mary Sweeney. U.S./, 1997, color, 135 min. RATED R

  In Memoriam: David Lynch (1946–2025)

• Mulholland Drive

  After surviving a murder attempt and a car crash with no memory of who tried to kill her (or why), an amnesiac actress (Laura Harring) wanders into an apartment where she discovers Hollywood hopeful Betty Elms (Naomi Watts). Playing detective, the two eventually uncover some shady doings in the movie biz, a volcanic attraction to one another and the idea that they may just be two characters in someone else's dream. In many ways the culmination of Lynch's oeuvre, masterfully revisiting his signature themes of identity, desire and dream logic, this surrealistic film noir's subject is nothing less than the allure and danger of Hollywood itself. The ing cast includes Justin Theroux, Ann Miller and Robert Forster. DIR/SCR David Lynch; PROD Neal Edelstein, Tony Krantz, Michael Polaire, Alain Sarde, Mary Sweeney. /U.S., 2001, color, 147 min. RATED R

  In Memoriam: David Lynch (1946–2025)

• The Elephant Man

  45th Anniversary | New 4K D

  "I am not an animal! I am a human being! I…am…a man!" John Hurt gives a moving and powerful performance as John Merrick, a young man in Victorian England afflicted with grievous physical deformations caused by a hereditary condition. Having eked out a miserable existence for years as a circus freak dubbed "The Elephant Man," Merrick is rescued by Dr. Frederick Treves (Anthony Hopkins), who restores Merrick's dignity and provides him material comfort he has never known — but Treves' altruism contains shades of professional exploitation as well. A visually stylish and moving biopic, THE ELEPHANT MAN was nominated for eight Academy Awards®, including the first of Lynch’s three directorial nods. DIR/SCR David Lynch; SCR Eric Bergren, Christopher De Vore, from the memoir by Sir Frederick Treves and the book by Ashley Montagu; PROD Jonathan Sanger. UK/U.S., 1980, b&w, 124 min. RATED PG

  In Memoriam: David Lynch (1946–2025)

• The Straight Story

  in 35mm

  While this film is the most straightforward of David Lynch’s oeuvre, it is nevertheless stamped with the filmmaker’s visual flair and quirky humor. Alvin Straight (Richard Farnsworth) takes off on a 240- mile journey on his trusty John Deere lawnmower to visit his estranged brother Lyle (Harry Dean Stanton), who has suffered a stroke. Farnsworth was nominated for an Academy Award® for his gentle, dignified performance. DIR David Lynch; SCR John Roach; SCR/PROD Mary Sweeney; PROD Neal Edelstein. /UK/U.S., 1999, color, 112 min. RATED G

  In Memoriam: David Lynch (1946–2025)

• Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

  4K Restoration

  A feature film prequel to David Lynch's popular television series TWIN PEAKS, TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME chronicles the last week in the life of Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). Laura spends her days as a popular high school student and her nights as a prostitute. Her two worlds viciously collide when the murderous "Bob" escapes from the cracks of this tenuously balanced, dreamlike world. Kyle MacLachlan reprises his role from the TV series as the intrepid Agent Dale Cooper, while David Bowie and Chris Isaak make appearances as FBI agents who become entangled in the bizarre goings-on. DIR/SCR David Lynch; SCR Robert Engels, from the TV series TWIN PEAKS by Lynch and Mark Frost; PROD Gregg Fienberg. U.S./, 1992, color, 134 min. RATED R

  In Memoriam: David Lynch (1946–2025)

...plus 6 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

April 25–July 3, 2025

A long-overlooked pioneer of feminist cinema, Sweden-born actor-turned-director Mai Zetterling (1925–1994) got her start on the stage at age 17 following a difficult upbringing in Västerås. She went on to have a three-decade career which traversed not only borders (she worked in Sweden, the UK, Denmark and Hollywood) but also modes, as she moved behind the camera to direct shorts, features, documentaries and episodic television. Her work shattered taboos, mined subversive themes and defied patriarchal norms in its depictions of female agency, unconventional gender roles and sexual freedoms. Marking Zetterling's centenary, this series features several of her early acting roles in Alf Sjöberg's TORMENT (1944), Gustaf Edgren's SUNSHINE FOLLOWS RAIN (1946) and Ingmar Bergman's breakout fourth feature MUSIC IN THE DARK (1948), alongside new restorations of her boundary-pushing directorial work, including her BAFTA-nominated, Golden Lion-winning short THE WAR GAME (1963), her groundbreaking debut feature LOVING COUPLES (1964) — also screening as part of our WorldPride on Screen series — and rarely-screened later works, such as SCRUBBERS (1982) and AMOROSA (1986).

Co-presented by the Embassy of Sweden. Special thanks to the Swedish Film Institute, Janus Films and the British Film Institute.

• Amorosa

  Having adapted the feminist writings of Swedish author Agnes von Krusenstjerna with her debut film LOVING COUPLES in 1964, Mai Zetterling would return to the source with her last film, AMOROSA, a bold portrait of the author’s turbulent life and controversial work. Born into nobility, Agnes (Stina Ekblad, FANNY AND ALEXANDER) showed great promise as a budding writer but rebelled against her disapproving family when expectations around marriage and children threatened her creative life. Attracted to the scandalous and then-taboo subjects of women's sexuality and erotica, she would meet and later marry older aspiring writer David Sprengel (Erland Josephson), whose Svengali-like partnership encouraged her creative obsessions at great cost to her mental health. With a memorable Venice-set sequence that bookends the film, AMOROSA was filmed in both Italy and Sweden and would earn praise as a return to national prestige cinema. Zetterling, whose own intellectual obsessions mirrored those of von Krusenstjerna, arrives full circle in her final film as a director. (Note adapted from the Toronto International Film Festival.) DIR/SCR Mai Zetterling; PROD Bengt Forslund. Sweden, 1986, color, 117 min. In Swedish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

  D restoration courtesy of the Swedish Film Institute and Janus Films.

• Iris and the Lieutenant

  [IRIS OCH LÖJTNANTSHJÄRTA]
  Released the same year as Gustaf Edgren's SUNSHINE FOLLOWS RAIN, Alf Sjöberg's IRIS AND THE LIEUTENANT saw another successful re-teaming of TORMENT co-stars Mai Zetterling and Alf Kjellin, this time again alongside Sjöberg as director. Like SUNSHINE FOLLOWS RAIN, Sjöberg's romantic drama is steeped in class conflict, with Zetterling and Kjellin playing star-crossed lovers finding romance across class lines. Zetterling won the award for Best Actress at the 1946 Venice Film Festival for her role as the eponymous Iris, a housemaid in love with a young lieutenant (Kjellin), who also happens to be the nephew of her wealthy employer. The affair draws the ire of the officer's family, particularly his overbearing father, who the pair soon realize will stop at nothing to keep them apart. Zetterling's award-winning turn in IRIS AND THE LIEUTENANT boosted her profile internationally, prompting a move to the UK, where she made her English-language debut in the title role of Basil Dearden's FRIEDA in 1947. DIR/SCR Alf Sjöberg; SCR Olle Hedberg, from his novel; PROD Harald Molander. Sweden, 1946, b&w, 89 min. In Swedish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

  D restoration courtesy of the Swedish Film Institute.

• Loving Couples

  [ÄLSKANDE PAR]
  The title of Mai Zetterling’s boldly iconoclastic debut feature — adapted from a cycle of seven novels by the provocative feminist writer Agnes von Krusenstjerna — drips with irony. In 1915, three pregnant women from varying social backgrounds (Harriet Andersson, Gunnel Lindblom and Gio Petré) enter a maternity ward. Cue a swirl of perspective-shifting flashbacks, with searing psychological insight, illuminate the divergent yet interconnected experiences that brought them there — and that came to a head during one lavish, debauched Midsommar celebration. Wildly subversive in its treatment of sexuality, gender, class, religion, marriage and motherhood, LOVING COUPLES is as electrifying a first feature as any in cinema history, announcing the arrival of an uncompromising artist in pursuit of raw emotional truth. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.) DIR/SCR Mai Zetterling; SCR David Hughes, from the novel by Agnes von Krusenstjerna; PROD Göran Lindgren, Gösta Petersson, Rune Waldekranz. Sweden, 1964, b&w, 118 min. In Swedish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

  Co-presented with the Embassy of Sweden.

  Also part of WorldPride on Screen.

• Music in Darkness

  [MUSIK I MÖRKER] a.k.a. NIGHT IS MY FUTURE
  Following her successful international debut in Basil Dearden's FRIEDA, Mai Zetterling returned to Sweden to collaborate for a second time with Ingmar Bergman, who had penned her breakout acting role in TORMENT. Bergman's fourth feature as director became his first popular success, a moody melodrama adapted by writer Dagmar Edqvist from her own bestselling novel. Bergman regular Birger Malmsten plays Bengt, a young pianist blinded during military service, who falls for Ingrid (Mai Zetterling), the young servant hired to care for him. Their burgeoning romance is stifled by class differences, and the pair go their separate ways, only to meet by chance years later. An often-overlooked early gem in Bergman’s filmography, MUSIC IN THE DARK showcases powerful Expressionist visuals and a surreal dream sequence as Bengt undergoes surgery, hinting at the filmmaker’s future style. As with many of his films from this period, Bergman’s appreciation of film noir is evident, and he even adopted the signature Alfred Hitchcock touch of a cameo appearance — watch for a young Bergman playing a enger on the train at the film’s conclusion! DIR Ingmar Bergman; SCR Dagmar Edqvist, from her novel; PROD Lorens Marmstedt. Sweden, 1948, b&w, 87 min. In Swedish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

  D restoration courtesy of the Swedish Film Institute.

• Night Games

  [NATTLEK]
  Outrageous and explosively controversial (the Venice Film Festival refused to screen it publicly, while John Waters has called it his favorite film), Mai Zetterling’s second feature is a blazing psychosexual odyssey with heaving Freudian flourishes. On the eve of his marriage to his fiancée (Lena Brundin), Jan (Keve Hjelm) returns to his childhood home — a sprawling estate stuffed with antiques — where he relives his memories of his beautiful, decadent, mercurial mother (Ingrid Thulin) and finds himself forced to confront his unresolved Oedipal longings. Seamlessly interweaving past and present, carnivalesque camp and potent symbolism, NIGHT GAMES functions as both a feverishly perverse family portrait and a serious statement on the tormented soul of a modern Europe reckoning with the demons of its past. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.) DIR/SCR Mai Zetterling; SCR David Hughes; PROD Göran Lindgren. Sweden, 1966, b&w, 105 min. In Swedish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Scrubbers

  Something of a companion to Alan Clarke’s youth-in-revolt bombshell SCUM (both were written by playwright Roy Minton), SCRUBBERS is a viscerally gritty immersion into the harrowing world of a reform school for girls, directed with delirious intensity by Mai Zetterling, shot on location at a Surrey mental institution and informed by her visits to youth prisons and her conversations with inmates. Confined to a brutal borstal, Annetta (Chrissie Cotterill) longs to escape in order to reconnect with her infant daughter, while Carol (Amanda York) is determined to find a way to be transferred to the same prison as her girlfriend. The girls are from different walks of life but learn to survive together, fighting the system and often one another. The ing cast includes UK comedian Kathy Burke (ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS, SID AND NANCY, recently seen in BLITZ) in her screen debut. (Note adapted from the Criterion Collection.) DIR/SCR Mai Zetterling; SCR Roy Minton, Jeremy Watt; PROD Don Boyd. UK, 1982, color, 93 min. RATED R

• Sunshine Follows Rain

  [DRIVER DAGG FALLER REGN]
  Gustaf Edgren's SUNSHINE FOLLOWS RAIN cemented Mai Zetterling's star status, reuniting her with TORMENT co-star Alf Kjellin in what would become one of Sweden's biggest postwar box-office successes. Set in 19th century northern Sweden, and partially shot on location in Hälsingland, this sweeping romantic melodrama stars Zetterling as Marit, the daughter of a wealthy farmer who falls for a cash-strapped and illegitimate fiddle player (Kjellin) after he saves her from a brutal attack. Marit's father fights the union, having set his sights on a match with the son of a well-to-do neighboring family, but sparks fly as the forbidden romance threatens to undermine the delicate social balance of the local village. DIR/SCR Gustaf Edgren; SCR Gardar Sahlberg, from the novel by Margit Söderholm; PROD Harald Molander. Sweden, 1946, b&w, 102 min. In Swedish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

  D restoration courtesy of the Swedish Film Institute.

• The Girls

  [FLICKORNA]
  Mai Zetterling's cinema reached new heights of exuberant experimentation and fierce political engagement with this pointed and playful touchstone of 1960s feminist cinema. As they tour Sweden in a theatrical production of “Lysistrata,” performing to often uncomprehending audiences, three women (national cinema icons Bibi Andersson, Harriet Andersson and Gunnel Lindblom) find their own lives and marriages mirrored in the complex, combative gender relations at the heart of Aristophanes' play. Onstage drama, offstage reality and a torrent of surrealist fantasies and daydreams collide in THE GIRLS, a slashing, sardonic reflection on the myriad challenges confronting women on their path to liberation, and on the struggles of the female artist fighting to make her voice heard over the patriarchal din. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.) DIR/SCR Mai Zetterling; SCR David Hughes, from the play “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes; PROD Göran Lindgren. Sweden, 1968, b&w, 100 min. In Swedish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• The Moon Is a Green Cheese

  [MÅNEN ÄR EN GRÖN OST]
  An outlier, even in her broad and varied body of work, Mai Zetterling's only children's film was inspired by Goethe's theory of color. As a family holidays in the Stockholm Archipelago, their two young daughters fantasize about being adults representing different colors (red, yellow, blue, green, violet, black and indigo). The result is a visually lush, surrealist fever dream more akin to the experimental and psychedelic cinema of the era than to traditional family fare. A rarity that earned equal amounts of acclaim and distaste from contemporary viewers, the film was screened only twice before falling into obscurity. Zetterling's psychedelic curiosity is now being revived to its rightful place as a cult classic thanks to a new restoration by the Swedish Film Institute. DIR/SCR Mai Zetterling; PROD Lisbet Gabrielsson. Sweden, 1977, color, 72 min. In Swedish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

  D restoration courtesy of the Swedish Film Institute.

• The War Game

  Three Short Films by Mai Zetterling: THE WAR GAME (1963), WE HAVE MANY NAMES (1976) and OF SEALS AND MEN (1981)

  THE WAR GAME (1963)
  Mai Zetterling's first narrative film offers up an indictment of how young children (especially boys) are indoctrinated into a worldview that accepts and valorizes violence. In it, two boys rampage through an urban landscape fighting to possess a real gun, consistently ignored and unacknowledged by the few adults they encounter. A substantial success (it won Best Short Film at Venice in 1963), the film launched Zetterling’s directorial career. (Note courtesy of the Toronto International Film Festival.) DIR/SCR/PROD Mai Zetterling; SCR David Hughes. UK, 1963, b&w, 15 min. NOT RATED

  D restorations courtesy of the Swedish Film Institute.

...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

May 1–29, 2025

Organized and presented by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, this annual series features a wide-ranging selection of films about work, workers and the wider issues affecting workers' lives.

• Bless Their Little Hearts

  2K Restoration

  A key masterpiece of the LA Rebellion film movement, BLESS THEIR LITTLE HEARTS distills the social concerns and aesthetics of that trailblazing moment in African American cinema. Searching for steady work, former factory worker Charlie Banks (Nate Hardman) views his chronic unemployment as a kind of spiritual trial. But selling a few catfish cannot sustain a family of five while his wife, Andais (Kaycee Moore), works to them with dignity. Unable to face his own failures, Charlie finds solace in an affair that threatens his marriage, his children and everything he holds dear. Named to the National Film Registry in 2013, BLESS THEIR LITTLE HEARTS features contributions by two iconic American artists: Charles Burnett (KILLER OF SHEEP, TO SLEEP WITH ANGER), who wrote and shot the film, and Moore (DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST), whose powerful performance as Andais Banks remains a revelation. BLESS THEIR LITTLE HEARTS showcases director Billy Woodberry's attentive eye and sensitivity to real-life issues, making for an agonizingly beautiful film which, in the words of Village Voice critic Jim Ridley, “forms, with KILLER OF SHEEP, a landmark diptych about work as the crucible of the American character — either in its abundance or its absence.” (Note adapted from Milestone Films.) DIR/PROD Billy Woodberry; SCR Charles Burnett. U.S., 1983, b&w, 85 min. NOT RATED

  Film restoration by Ross Lipman with Billy Woodberry at the UCLA Film & Television Archive. 2K Digital restoration by Re-Kino, Warsaw.

• Blue Sun Palace

  Within the confines of a massage parlor in Flushing, Queens, Amy (Ke-Xi Wu, NINA WU) and Didi (Haipeng Xu, WHERE ECHOES NEVER END) navigate romance, happiness and the obligations of family thousands of miles from home. Despite the physical and emotional toll their work demands, the women have fortified an impenetrable sisterhood, which tragically collapses when disaster strikes on Lunar New Year. The film co-stars Tsai Ming-liang regular Lee Kang-sheng (STRAY DOGS, THE WAYWARD CLOUD). (Note courtesy of Dekanalog.) Official Selection, 2024 Cannes Film Festival; 2025 New Directors/New Films. DIR/SCR Constance Tsang; PROD Sally Sujin Oh, Eli Raskin, Tony Yang. U.S., 2024, color, 116 min. In English, Mandarin and Min Nan with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Clockwatchers

  OFFICE SPACE meets GIRLFRIENDS in the 1997 workplace dramedy CLOCKWATCHERS. Temp worker Margaret (Parker Posey) feels jilted after a new employee is hired for a permanent position she was vying for. Her friends — Iris (Toni Collette), Paula (Lisa Kudrow) and Jane (Alanna Ubach) — want to help out, but their relationships are tested when a series of thefts wreak havoc on the workplace. Boasting an incredible cast, a sharp script and a surprisingly bittersweet tone, CLOCKWATCHERS is nothing short of a great time at the movies. (Note courtesy of AGFA.) DIR/SCR Jill Sprecher; SCR Karen Sprecher; PROD Gina Resnick. UK/U.S., 1997, color, 96 min. RATED PG-13

• Good Night, and Good Luck.

  20th Anniversary

  GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK. takes place during the early days of broadcast journalism in 1950s America. It chronicles the real-life conflict between television newsman Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) and Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (Government Operations Committee). With a desire to report the facts and enlighten the public, Murrow and his dedicated staff — headed by his producer Fred Friendly (George Clooney) and Joe Wershba (Robert Downey Jr.) in the CBS newsroom — defy corporate and sponsorship pressures to examine the lies and scaremongering tactics perpetrated by McCarthy during his communist “witch hunts.” A very public feud develops when the Senator responds by accusing the anchor of being a communist. In this climate of fear and reprisal, the CBS crew carries on regardless, and their tenacity eventually pays off when McCarthy is brought before the Senate and made powerless as his lies and bullying tactics are finally uncovered. (Note courtesy of Participant.) DIR/SCR George Clooney; SCR/PROD Grant Heslov. UK//Japan/U.S., 2005, b&w, 93 min. RATED PG

• La Cocina

  Mexican auteur Alonso Ruizpalacios (A COP MOVIE, GÜEROS, MUSEO) brings new meaning to kitchen-sink realism with his adaptation of British playwright Arnold Wesker's "The Kitchen," transferring the action from mid-century London to present-day New York City to craft a tragicomic tribute to life behind the scenes of a busy Times Square restaurant. Shifting between the balletic machinations of a kitchen during the lunchtime rush and the explosive interpersonal conflicts boiling just beneath the surface of its well-oiled routine, Ruizpalacios channels THE BEAR as if reimagined by John Cassavetes, creating a high-wire drama that explores the illusions of the American dream and the lengths to which the kitchen's working class and largely undocumented staff must go to achieve it. At the heart of the brilliant ensemble cast is Raúl Briones (A COP MOVIE) as Mexican chef Pedro, a fiery-tempered dreamer entangled in a turbulent affair with Julia (Oscar®-nominated actress Rooney Mara), a harried waitress with her own crosses to bear. When $800 goes missing and everyone becomes a suspect, the resulting tension threatens to push the kitchen's unrelenting pace and hierarchical divisions further into chaos. Official Selection, 2024 Berlin, Tribeca and AFI Latin American film festivals. DIR/SCR/PROD Alonso Ruizpalacios, from the play "The Kitchen" by Arnold Wesker; PROD Gerardo Gatica, Lauren Mann, Ivan Orlic, Ramiro Ruiz. Mexico/U.S., 2024, b&w, 139 min. In English and Spanish with English subtitles. RATED R

• The Last Showgirl

  Pamela Anderson is a sublime, sequin-adorned presence in Gia Coppola's (PALO ALTO) heartfelt portrait of a Las Vegas showgirl facing the end of her 30-plus-year career. In her 50s and as ionate as ever about her craft, Shelly (Anderson) lives a hardscrabble life among her chosen family of fellow performers — a loving motley crew who all respect the grind of making a living as part of the Strip’s last remaining traditional floor show, “The Razzle Dazzle.” When the show's stage manager Eddie (Dave Bautista) unexpectedly announces its imminent closure — to be replaced by a “dirty circus” — Shelly and her fellow dancers must make some tough decisions about their futures. But for Shelly, “The Razzle Dazzle” has become inseparable from her very identity. Struggling to process the news, she attempts to reconnect with her semi-estranged daughter (Billie Lourd) and seeks the advice of former showgirl Annette (Jamie Lee Curtis), a gambling-addicted cocktail waitress with her own losses to process. With Anderson at its emotional center, THE LAST SHOWGIRL features a phenomenal ing cast including Bautista, Curtis and Lourd, as well as Brenda Song and Kiernan Shipka. Coppola sensitively, even humorously, explores the impossible expectations placed on women in the entertainment industry — as true for a longtime Vegas showgirl as they are for the phenomenal veteran Hollywood actress who plays her. DIR/PROD Gia Coppola; SCR Kate Gersten; PROD Natalie Farrey, Robert Schwartzman. U.S., 2024, color, 88 min. RATED R

• Lilly

  Opening Night

  To provide a better life for her family, Lilly Ledbetter (Patricia Clarkson) spent the better part of two decades working up the ladder at an Alabama tire factory. But for the sake of her paycheck, she had to face a dehumanizing work environment plagued by harassment. As her retirement approaches, Lilly makes a startling revelation — the company has been paying her only half of what her male counterparts receive. Outraged, and with the of her husband (John Benjamin Hickey) and a brilliant civil rights lawyer (Thomas Sadoski), Lilly's fight for justice takes her to the Supreme Court, Congress and all the way to the White House. Featuring tour-de-force performances and a heart-stirring love story at its center, LILLY follows the transformation of an ordinary citizen into the face of equal pay, illuminating the courageous, personal cost of activism. (Note adapted from Blue Harbor Entertainment.) DIR/SCR Rachel Feldman; SCR Adam Prince; PROD Kelly E. Ashton, Kerianne Flynn, J. Todd Harris, Julie Kaufman, Simone Pero, Jyoti Sarda, Christine Schwarzman, Allyn Stewart. U.S. 2024, color, 93 min. NOT RATED

• Nine to Five

  In this hilarious caper, three working women (Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton) live out their fantasy of getting even with their “sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot” boss (Dabney Coleman). Undervalued and underpaid, the secretaries take over the office and implement flextime, day care, equal pay and more. A major box office success (the film grossed more than $100M), NINE TO FIVE inspired a TV sitcom of the same name, as well as a Broadway musical. DIR/SCR Colin Higgins; SCR Patricia Resnick; PROD Bruce Gilbert. U.S., 1980, color, 110 min. RATED PG

• September 5

  At the 1972 Munich Olympics, the ABC Sports broadcasting crew led by Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) must suddenly pivot to covering hard news when the Israeli Olympic team is taken hostage by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September. The tragic events from that day are well known to history, but less so are the extraordinary efforts of journalists who made quick and innovative — though less than ideal — decisions to document the events as they unfolded. After shots ring out from the Olympic Village neighboring the ABC Sports studio, the German police lock down the area, with only resident athletes allowed entry. Realizing that their sports unit may be able to cover a breaking story no news division can, Arledge’s team goes to work: wheeling a massive TV camera outside to get images of the terrorists on an apartment balcony, impersonating a U.S. athlete to smuggle 16mm equipment in and out of the village and promoting German translator Marianne Gebhardt (Leonie Benesch) to a de facto field reporter. Director and co-writer Tim Fehlbaum captures not only the urgency of the moment and the creative solutions to multiple challenges but also where accuracy becomes endangered in the drive to get the story. DIR/SCR/PROD Tim Fehlbaum; SCR Moritz Binder, Alex David; PROD Mark Nolting, John Ira Palmer, Sean Penn, Philipp Trauer, John Wildermuth, Thomas Wöbke. /U.S., 2024, color, 95 min. In English and German with English subtitles. RATED R

• Strike

  Closing Night | Silent with live musical accompaniment by Andrew Earle Simpson

  [СТАЧКА] [STACHKA]
  Trouble is brewing at a large factory in Tsar-era Russia: laborers are overworked and underpaid, and when a man falsely accused of theft kills himself, his comrades will not stand for it anymore. Sergei Eisenstein — then an up-and-coming theater director, later an eccentric genius whose name would become synonymous with Soviet filmmaking — was only 26 when he directed STRIKE. His startling feature film debut broke every convention of the time to create a revolutionary cinema for the new country. DIR/SCR Sergei Eisenstein; SCR Grigoriy Aleksandrov, Ilya Kravchunovsky, Valerian Pletnev. USSR, 1925, b&w, 89 min. Silent with English intertitles. NOT RATED

  About Andrew Earle Simpson
  Andrew Earle Simpson is an acclaimed composer of opera, silent film, orchestral, chamber, choral, dance and vocal music, based in Washington, DC. His musical works make multi-faceted, intimate connections with literature, visual art and film, reflecting his own interest in linking music with the wider world, an approach which he calls "humanistic music." One of America’s foremost silent film musicians, he has performed across the United States, Europe and South America. In addition to composing and performing, Simpson is a professor and head of the division of Theory and Composition at the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music of The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Visit andrewesimpson.com for more information.

April 5–19, 2025

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Art Deco, the iconic global design movement with an enduring legacy that has inspired architecture, graphic arts, fashion, interior design, jewelry, music, transportation, furniture and — of course — movies. us for a cinematic tribute to Art Deco's bold modernist vision as we celebrate the centennial of the 1925 Paris International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts (from which the movement eventually took its name) with four films of the era that showcase spectacular Art Deco elements — including set design, costume design and choreography — on the big screen, surrounded by AFI Silver's own Art Deco splendor.

Co-presented with the Art Deco Society of Washington.

About the Art Deco Society of Washington
The Art Deco Society of Washington (ADSW) is a nonprofit organization incorporated to foster awareness, preservation and appreciation of the Art Deco period in the Washington, DC, area. For more information, visit adsw.org.

• Broadway

  Introduction by film historian and archivist David Pierce

  Previously available only in incomplete form, this legendary film from director Paul Fejos (LONESOME, THE LAST MOMENT) has now been fully restored by Universal Pictures, including the film's Technicolor final sequence. Set in Times Square's lavishly appointed Paradise Nightclub, an Art Deco fantasia, BROADWAY centers on the relationship between star dancer Roy Lane (Glenn Tryon) and chorus girl Billie Moore (Merna Kennedy), who become embroiled in gangland intrigue when murderous bootlegger Steve Crandall (Robert Ellis) makes a move on both the club and Roy, as well as Billie’s fellow trouper Pearl (Evelyn Brent). Universal's second all-talking film was a big-budget super production, featuring a custom-built camera crane that was, at the time, the largest ever built. Known as the Broadway crane, it was later used for ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930) and many other films for years afterwards. Cinematographer Hal Mohr deployed the crane to capture stunningly fluid tracking shots rising to bird's-eye views of the dancers on stage, fully displaying the impressively constructed and detailed multi-story nightclub set — itself a work of art. Based on the hit play by stage greats Philip Dunning and George Abbott, BROADWAY is an equally foundational film for both the backstage musical and gangster genres, and it confirms director Fejos as a visionary craftsman. DIR Paul Fejos; SCR Edward T. Lowe Jr., Charles Furthman, from the play by Philip Dunning, George Abbott; PROD Carl Laemmle Jr. U.S., 1929, b&w, 104 min. NOT RATED

  4K digital restoration by Universal Pictures from the 35mm nitrate original negative, 35mm composite fine grain and 35mm two-color (red/green) original.

• Grand Hotel

  Intro by Karen Burditt, Art Deco Society of Washington

  Winner of the Oscar® for Best Picture in 1932, GRAND HOTEL is the apotheosis of MGM's carefully cultivated prestige, meticulously crafted glamour and impressive bevy of bankable stars, with Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery and Lionel Barrymore playing characters whose personal dramas intersect at Berlin's most luxurious hotel. Guided then by the brilliant Irving Thalberg, the studio was known for having superb talent behind and in front of the camera, and the film's real star is the Art Deco hotel sets designed by the legendary art director Cedric Gibbons. DIR Edmund Goulding; SCR Béla Balázs, Edgar Allan Woolf, William A. Drake, from Drake’s play and the novel "Menschen im Hotel" by Vicki Baum; PROD Irving Thalberg. U.S., 1932, b&w, 112 min. NOT RATED

• Madam Satan

  in 35mm

  95th Anniversary | Introduction by Driving for Deco co-founders Chris Arena and Anthony L’Abbate

  Better known for his serious-minded historical epics, Cecil B. DeMille made his first and only foray into the musical genre with this peerless pre-code sex comedy/romance/disaster movie/Art-Deco rhapsody for MGM. Wealthy socialite Angela Brooks (Kay Johnson) is dismayed to discover that her husband Bob (Reginald Denny) has seemingly lost interest in their icy marriage in favor of a hot-blooded young showgirl named Trixie (Lillian Roth). To win him back and prove her feminine wiles, Angela adopts the persona of "Madam Satan," an alluring masked temptress — in a fabulous costume — who puts her skills to the test at an elaborate masquerade ball held aboard a zeppelin (floating above Central Park). Angela succeeds in wowing the room — until the Deco dirigible is struck by lightning, and love must win the day. The film's spectacular central set piece features an unforgettable dance sequence — complete with the Deco-tastic "Spirit of Electricity" as danced by Theodore Kosloff, a veteran of the Ballets Russes — alongside the sublime production design of Cedric Gibbons and Mitchell Leisen (heavily inspired by Parisian Art Deco) and sensational costumes by Gilbert Adrian. DIR/PROD Cecil B. DeMille; SCR Jeanie Maherson, Gladys Unger, Elsie Janis. U.S., 1930, b&w, 116 min. NOT RATED

  35mm print courtesy of the George Eastman Museum, lent by an anonymous collector.

• Trouble in Paradise

  Intro by David Lefever, Art Deco Society of Washington

  Prowling Paramount's back-lot version of Venice, Gaston Monescu (Herbert Marshall), a suave master thief masquerading as a baron, meets his ideal mate in sprightly pickpocket Lily (Miriam Hopkins). Together, they hatch a plot to get close to wealthy widow Madame Mariette Colet (Kay Francis) and relieve her of her excess valuables. Complications ensue when Gaston discovers that the charming Madam Colet is quite the jewel herself. TROUBLE IN PARADISE is director Ernst Lubitsch's most sparkling creation, with chic Art Deco sets that match the movie's ultramodern attitude. DIR/PROD Ernst Lubitsch; SCR Samson Raphaelson, Grover Jones, from the play "The Honest Finder" by Aladár László. US, 1932, b&w, 83 min. NOT RATED

March 14–27

Now in its 21st year, the New African Film Festival (NAFF), presented by AFI and Africa World Now Project, brings the vibrancy of African filmmaking from all corners of the continent and across the diaspora to the Washington, DC, area. The full lineup will be announced at AFI.com/Silver on February 20.

Special thanks to NAFF co-founders Mwiza Munthali and Judith Mbuya and media sponsor WPFW.

Featuring 29 films from 19 countries, this year’s festival opens with NO CHAINS NO MASTERS, an epic historical drama that follows an enslaved father and daughter as they race to freedom in 18th century Mauritius. The festival closes with WHERE THE WIND COMES FROM, a rollicking road trip filled with surreal flourishes and warm humor from first-time feature filmmaker Amel Guellaty, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival.

• No Chains, No Masters

  Opening Night

  [NI CHAÎNES NI MAÎTRES]
  In 1759, the island of Mauritius is under French colonial rule. The enslaved people working in the sugar cane plantations live in constant fear. Among them, 16-year-old Mati (Anna Diakhere Thiandoum) refuses to accept her fate. Unlike her father, Massamba (Ibrahima Mbaye, ATLANTICS, WÙLU), who has grown disillusioned by years of oppression, Mati dreams of freedom and a life beyond the plantation. One night, desperate to flee the violence of her captors, Mati finds refuge in a remote part of the island rumored to be home to a community of runaway slaves. Her escape triggers a ruthless pursuit. The plantation owner (Benoît Magimel, THE TASTE OF THINGS) hires the merciless slave owner Madame La Victoire (Camille Cottin, CALL MY AGENT!) and her sons to track Mati down. Realizing the brutal consequences awaiting his daughter if she gets captured, Massamba has no choice but to break free from his chains and embark on a perilous journey through the island’s dense jungle to find her. The father and daughter’s journey becomes a desperate fight for survival and a final, irreversible break from the colonial system that has defined their lives. (Note courtesy of Distrib Films.) Official Selection, 2025 FESPACO Film Festival. DIR/SCR Simon Moutaïrou; SCR Hassam Ghancy; PROD Nicolas Dumont, Hugo Sélignac. , 2024, color, 98 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• AFFINI

  Amidst the tight-knit Sidama community in Southern Ethiopia, a grief-stricken farmer sets out to avenge his son's murder, all while desperately trying to protect his daughter from meeting the same fate. As tensions rise, the farmer’s world is further complicated when he finds himself drawn to a free-spirited American anthropology student, whose modern ideals and lifestyle seem worlds apart from his own. The unlikely couple must navigate their differences and confront the dangers threatening everything they hold dear. (Note adapted from Habeshaview.) DIR/SCR/PROD Tariku Mekonnen; SCR Elefachew Berhanu, Mikiyas Efram. Ethiopia, 2024, color, 102 min. In Amharic and Sidama with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Banned

  The first South African film to feature an all-Black cast, JOE BULLET was a blaxploitation-inspired action movie released independently in 1973. But after just a few screenings, the apartheid regime banned the film. Afraid it might start an uprising due to its liberated, positive portrayal of Black South Africans, the film remained banished from public consciousness until 42 years later when it was uncovered in the garage of a producer. BANNED follows the miraculous journey to discover the truth behind the government’s apartheid-era censorship and features interviews with the surviving stars of the film they didn’t want you to see. DIR/SCR Naledi Bogacwi. South Africa, 2024, color, 80 min. NOT RATED

  JOE BULLET screens as part of this year's festival on Fri, March 14 & Sun, March 16.

• Carissa

  Co-presented by the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital

  In a sleepy mountainside village nestled in the Cederberg Mountains of South Africa, 20-something Carissa lives a humdrum life amidst the rooibos tea plantations. Dreaming of escaping to the big city, she bides her time scrolling on her phone and getting drunk at the bar, much to the dismay of her grandmother. When a multinational conglomerate decides to build a luxury golf course on the land where rooibos has been grown for generations, Carissa’s grandmother sees it as a great opportunity. But Carissa is not so keen and seeks refuge with her long-absent grandfather, who happens to be one of the farmers soon to be displaced. Featuring vast landscapes and beautifully rendered performances (from a mostly non-professional cast), the film, crafted by co-screenwriters and directors Jason Jacobs and Devon Delmar, is a tender, coming of age tale in touch with the natural world. Official Selection, 2024 Venice Film Festival; 2025 Santa Barbara Film Festival. DIR/SCR Devon Delmar, Jason Jacobs; PROD Annemarie du Plessis, Deidré Jantjies. South Africa, 2024, color, 89 min. In Afrikaans with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Dahomey

  Returning with her second feature and first foray into long-form nonfiction filmmaking, French/Senegalese actor-turned-filmmaker Mati Diop (ATLANTICS) continues to explore the havoc wrought by colonialism through a dreamlike, quasi-supernatural lens. In the pristine vaults of the Quai Branly Museum in Paris, 26 artifacts from the Kingdom of Dahomey have been carefully packaged for repatriation to their country of origin, present-day Benin in West Africa. Lending voice to the nation’s descendants, as well as the objects themselves (in a fantastic text written by Haitian author Makenzy Orcel), DAHOMEY is a poetic interrogation as to why the broader conversations surrounding the repatriation of cultural artifacts has largely been directed by the former colonizers themselves. Winner of the Golden Bear award at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival, DAHOMEY raises complex questions, moving beyond simply asking what should be done to asking how and why. (Note adapted from AFI FEST.) DIR/SCR/PROD Mati Diop; PROD Eve Robin, Judith Lou Lévy. /Senegal/Benin, 2024, color, 68 min. In English, Fon and French with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Disco Afrika: A Malagasy Story

  Present-day Madagascar. 20-year-old Kwame, who struggles to make a living in the clandestine sapphire mines, is taken back to his hometown by an unexpected turn of events. As he reunites with his mother and old friends, he finds himself confronted with the rampant corruption plaguing his country. Now he will have to choose between easy money and loyalty, between individualism and political awakening. Inspired by the moods, fashions and civil rights movements of the ‘70s, the debut feature from Malagasy filmmaker Luck Razanajaona premiered at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival. (Note adapted from We Film.) DIR/SCR Luck Razanajaona; SCR François Hébert, Marcelo Novais Teles, Ludovic Randriamanantsoa. PROD Jonathan Rubin. Madagascar, 2024, color, 81 min. In Malagasy with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Everybody Loves Touda

  Irrepressible Touda only dreams of one thing: being a Sheikha, a respected traditional Moroccan performer. Empowered by the lyrics of the fierce female poets who came before her with their songs of resistance and emancipation, she performs every night in provincial bars under the lustful gaze of men. But Touda sets her sights on leaving her small village for the bright lights of Casablanca where she hopes to be recognized as a true artist and secure a better future for her and her son. Moroccan filmmaker Nabil Ayouch (CASABLANCA BEATS, RAZZIA) and co-screenwriter Maryam Touzani (THE BLUE CAFTAN) have crafted an exuberant feminist ode to the power of music, featuring a sizzling central performance by Nisrin Erradi as Touda. (Note adapted from MK2.) Official Selection, 2024 Cannes Film Festival. DIR/SCR/PROD Nabil Ayouch; SCR Maryam Touzani. Morocco//Denmark/Sweden/Norway/Belgium, 2024, color, 102 min. In Arabic with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Freedom Way

  The lives of nine individuals living in Lagos are intertwined after a pair of software developers release a new rideshare app called EasyGo that connects the city’s motorcycle taxis with clients. For Themba (Jesse Suntele) and Tayo (Jable Ogranya), their app is not only their ticket to a better life — the capital investments soon start rolling in — but it will similarly uplift the lives of the numerous “Okada riders” buzzing about the megalopolis. Abiola (Adebowale Adedayo, a.k.a. Mr Macaroni), a young father, is one such rider for whom the app proves invaluable. But the app’s success attracts corrupt police officers and other government officials seeking to ban the app or otherwise extort those involved with it. Director Afolabi Olalekan and writer Blessing Uzzi have crafted one of the year’s most acclaimed Nigerian films, telling an intense and powerful story of a disparate group of people facing economic pressure whilst seeking to improve their living conditions amidst a corrupt and oppressive city. DIR Afolabi Olalekan; SCR/PROD Blessing Uzzi. Nigeria, 2024, color, 88 min. NOT RATED

• Front Row

  [ÇAF EL-AOUEL]
  In his 19th feature film, prolific Algerian movie maestro Merzak Allouache (DIVINE WIND, MADAME COURAGE, THE REPENTANT) opts for an upbeat, chaotic family dramedy about feuding matriarchs behaving badly at the beach. Up bright and early, Zohra Bouderbala (Fatiha Ouared) and her five children head to the beach. In Algiers, the coveted front row spot waits for no one, but it is not this family’s first time having to beat the summer seaside crowds. With their site secured, and their watermelons buried, relaxation is a near promise. That is, until Hakim (Nabil Asli), the uptight beach attendant, dares to place the late-arriving Kadouri family right in front of the Bouderbalas. This absolute declaration of war sends Zohra and her nemesis, Safia Kadouri (Bouchra Roy), into a ive-aggressive tailspin. Meanwhile, right under their noses, the schemes of star-crossed teenagers will test the waters of emerging autonomy. FRONT ROW celebrates Allouache’s adept imagination for eclectic characters in a heartwarming overture to the quirks and quandaries of shoreline social life. (Note adapted from TIFF.) Official Selection, 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. DIR/SCR/PROD Merzak Allouache. Algeria/Saudi Arabia/, 2024, color, 86 min. In Arabic with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Hanami

  Dreams and reality are seamlessly interwoven to create a lyrical rumination on familial, geographical longing and belonging in this breakout debut feature by Denise Fernandes. On the volcanic island of Fogo, Cape Verde, with a landscape of black sand beaches and peculiar rock formations set against the active Pico do Fogo, the inquisitive young Nana is raised by her extended family, her mother having left soon after her birth. Sent to the base of the volcano for treatment after developing a high fever, Nana encounters a series of strange mentors in a fever dream that marks a turning point in her girlhood. As time es, a teenage Nana must contend with an uncertain future in a changing Cape Verdean town where emigration looms large in everyone’s mind. Fernandes, herself hailing from the Cape Verdean diaspora, keenly crafts a personal meditation on the poetic contradictions between diaspora and homeland, between a mother who leaves and a daughter who stays. HANAMI earned the Best Emerging Director Award and special mention in the First Feature Competition at the 2024 Locarno Film Festival. (Note courtesy of AFI FEST.) DIR/SCR Denise Fernandes; SCR Telmo Churro; PROD Sandro Aguilar, David Epiney, Eugenia Mumenthaler, Luís Urbano. Switzerland/Portugal/Cape Verde, 2024, color, 96 min. In English, Cape Verdean Creole, Japanese and French with English subtitles. NOT RATED

...plus 19 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

February 27–March 2, 2025

The AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center is proud to co-present Solas Nua's annual Capital Irish Film Festival (CIFF). Now in its 19th year, the four-day festival brings the best of contemporary Irish cinema by filmmakers from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to audiences in the DC metropolitan area.

For more information, visit solasnua.org/ciff.

• Amongst the Wolves

  East Coast Premiere

  On the streets of Dublin, Danny — a homeless man grappling with the ghosts of his past — finds himself caught in a cycle of despair and survival as he is haunted by memories of his time serving in the Royal Irish Army in Afghanistan. Danny's life takes a turn when he encounters Will, a young teenager on the run from a dangerous drug gang and its leader, Power. Despite his own inner turmoil, Danny takes Will under his wing, forming a fragile yet profound bond with him. With Power and his ruthless gang closing in, Danny must face his own inner demons and those of his past in order to protect Will. Danny's journey of redemption culminates in a confrontation with Power, forcing him to address the trauma that has haunted him for so long. Danny discovers that even amidst the darkest of circumstances, there is still hope to be found. DIR/SCR Mark O'Connor; SCR Luke McQuillan; PROD Jeff O'Toole. Ireland, 2024, color, 100 min. NOT RATED

• Birdsong

  North American Premiere | Q&A with director Kathleen Harris

  Ornithologist Seán Ronayne from Cobh, County Cork, is on a mission to record the sound of every bird species in Ireland — nearly 200 birds. Often ed by his partner, Alba, he travels to some of the country’s most beautiful and remote locations to capture its most elusive species and soundscapes: the busy seabird colony of Skellig Michael; a native woodland free from road noise in the Burren; the corncrake stronghold of Tory Island; a solitary nest in the Donegal uplands. Along the way, the film also turns its focus to Seán, whose hypersensitivity to sound has proven both a struggle and a strength. At once inspiring and cautionary, Seán’s journey illustrates the beauty and importance of sound and what listening can tell us about the state of our natural world. DIR Kathleen Harris; PROD Ross Whitaker, Aideen O’Sullivan. Ireland, 2024, color, 52 min. NOT RATED

  Preceded by: CUMHA

• Blue Fiddle

  East Coast Premiere | Intro by CIFF Director Maedhbh Mc Cullagh and performance by Edith Lawlor

  [BLUE FIDDLE]
  10-year-old Molly (Edith Lawlor) believes that, if she can learn to play the fiddler like her father once did, she will be able to wake him from a coma. Whilst in the coma, her dad is moved to a rehab center where Molly, her mother and her brother Jack visit him daily. After the doctor tells her mother that it would probably take a miracle to wake him, Molly becomes curious and inquires about miracles. Her mother tells her that miracles are a kind of magic, and Molly’s imagination goes into overdrive. One day in the rehab home, Molly hears an elderly grumpy man called Malachy play the fiddle beautifully. She is told that he has “magic in his hands” and had once been a champion fiddler. After Molly persuades Malachy to teach her to play the fiddle, they go in search of the miracle and magic that only music can bring. DIR Anne McCabe; SCR Patricia Forde; PROD Pierce Boyce, Bríd Seoighe. Ireland, 2024, color, 84 min. In Irish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story

  In 1960, a young Irish woman named Edna O’Brien wrote a sexually frank debut novel, "The Country Girls." She became a literary sensation, writing for The New Yorker, delivering provocative interviews and authoring screenplays. Her success enraged her writer husband and made her a pariah in her native Ireland, where her books were banned and burned. She made her home in London, where she conducted numerous love affairs, hosted star-studded parties and both made and lost a fortune. In July 2024, Edna ed away; this film provides a final testimony from her, aged 93, as she reflects upon her extraordinary life for filmmaker Sinéad O’Shea’s camera, with additional perspectives offered by Gabriel Byrne, Walter Mosley and an array of renowned writers. Granting the director access to her personal journals — read aloud in the film by the Oscar®-nominated Irish actress Jessie Buckley — Edna does not shy away from any subject. BLUE ROAD is as candid, dark and enchanting as O’Brien’s wonderful novels. DIR/SCR/PROD Sinéad O'Shea; PROD Eleanor Emptage, Claire McCabe. Ireland, 2024, color, 99 min. NOT RATED

• Burkitt

  North American Premiere

  The legacy of Denis Burkitt — an Irish surgeon who discovered and developed a cure for Burkitt’s lymphoma — is of profound significance today, affecting the lives of millions of people across the world. Filmmaker Éanna Mac Cana, in his debut, combines his personal recordings as an inpatient being treated for Burkitt's lymphoma with Burkitt's own astonishing archive of photographs and films from sub-Saharan Africa. By weaving together the patterns, parallels and chance events between lives, this remarkable documentary examines colonialism, the nonlinear impact of trauma and the ethics of medical work through an artistic lens and highlights the importance of creativity in dealing with these issues. In his lifetime, Burkitt was responsible for major contributions to medical science that have global significance today; through this fascinating exploration of Burkitt's life and work, Mac Cana reveals his own deep personal connection to the man from County Fermanagh. (Note adapted from Little Ease Films.) DIR/SCR Éanna Mac Cana; PROD Chris Kelly. Ireland/UK, 2024, color, 73 min. In Irish and English with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Cumha

  A personal exploration of the purpose of language and the loss that occurs when we no longer speak our native tongue. Through visits to places tied to her childhood and family, filmmaker Elena Horgan explores the connections between land, identity and language, reflecting on the question, “Without knowing my own language, am I missing a part of myself?” DIR/SCR/PROD Elena Horgan; SCR Siobhán Ní Dhomhnaill; PROD Ned Horgan. Ireland, 2023, color, 6 min. In English and Irish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

  Followed by: BIRDSONG

• David Keenan - Words on Canvas

  East Coast Premiere | Q&A with director Paddy Hayes and musician David Keenan

  [WORDS ON CANVAS]
  Five years after the breakthrough success of his debut album "A Beginner's Guide to Bravery," Dundalk songwriter, musician and composer David Keenan is at a crossroads. After touring extensively and building a reputation as one of Ireland’s leading live performers, he returns to the studio to record new music. “Anger is easy to portray, it’s the hurt that’s hard,” David says, as the film explores his wordsmithing over the course of 500 days. This is a portrait of one artist as a young man, which in turn is a portrait of every musical artist as they endeavor to stand out in a world of “algorithm and blues,” while remaining authentically and powerfully true to themselves. DIR Paddy Hayes; PROD Aisling Ní Fhlaithearta, Ailbhe Nic Dhonncha. Ireland, 2024, color, 67 min. NOT RATED

• Dead Man’s Money

  East Coast Premiere | Q&A with writer/director Paul Kennedy and actor Ciarán McMenamin, moderated by Rex Daugherty, Artistic Director of Theatre, Solas Nua

  When Young Henry’s (Ciarán McMenamin, HOPE STREET, RIG 45) wealthy uncle starts courting “the Widow” Maureen Tweed (Kathy Kiera Clarke, DERRY GIRLS, BLOODLANDS), he starts to fear that he will be written out of Old Henry’s (Pat Shortt, THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN, THE GUARD) will. Conspiring with his wife, Pauline (Judith Roddy, DARKLANDS, DERRY GIRLS), and a chauffeur with a checkered past, known as Gerry the Wheels (Gerard Jordan, BLUE LIGHTS, GAME OF THRONES), Young Henry puts a plan in motion to make sure that the Widow Tweed never sees a penny of the inheritance he thinks is rightfully his. But when Pauline’s guilt threatens to expose them, fear and distrust starts to seed within the trio. Not knowing who can trust whom, their dirty deed leads to a series of events that there is no coming back from, for any of them. DIR/SCR Paul Kennedy; PROD Aideen Hand. UK, 2024, color, 82 min. NOT RATED

• Don't Forget to

  East Coast Premiere | Q&A with director Ross Killeen, moderated by artist Sheldon Scott

  There is an inherent understanding of the grieving process when a family loses a loved one, but what if that person is not yet gone? DON’T FORGET TO is an artist’s exploration of the fragility of memory and the lived experience of his mother’s advancing Alzheimer’s — but it also celebrates a family’s life lived together. In collaboration with the artist Asbestos, the film opens an honest conversation about the delicate nature of memory. Through the artist’s process, the film suggests that even though Alzheimer’s brings elements of disintegration and destruction, we can never truly lose a loved one if we hold on to our collective memories. DIR Ross Killeen; PROD Louise Byrne. Ireland, 2024, color, 77 min. NOT RATED

• Eat / Sleep / Cheer / Repeat

  U.S. Premiere

  From award-winning director Tanya Doyle (THE HOUSE) with music by Hugh Drumm and Stephen Rennicks (THE QUIET GIRL), EAT / SLEEP / CHEER / REPEAT is a surprising and uplifting coming-of-age documentary exploring gender, strength and the undervaluation of women’s activities. On the western edge of Europe, a group of young misfits have found a place where they belong. These are the athletes of Ireland’s national cheerleading team. But as they struggle to compete with the best teams in the world, while the sport receives little respect in Ireland, these athletes don’t believe they can ever win. Team captain, girl boss Jessica; star athlete Jayleesa; dyslexic but athletic Blathnaid; out-n-proud, fun-loving Dean; freedom-seeking Taylor; and lost boy Rickie are each seeking their place in the world through the sport they love. As their anxiety-crippled coach, Hilton, battles to keep the team motivated throughout the season, the film follows the underdog athletes’ journey to the World Championships and reveals what it is like to grow up in the world today. Battling self-doubt while finding their place in the world, these athletes don’t just want to fit in. They want to stand out. DIR/SCR Tanya Doyle; PROD Daniel Hegarty, Sinéad Ní Bhroin. Ireland, 2024, color, 87 min. NOT RATED

...plus 28 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

March 28–April 24, 2025

Beginning with the scrappily produced but slickly executed sketch comedy film THE KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE in 1977, the writing team of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker established their distinct brand of spoof comedy, lovingly desecrating the film and TV tropes the trio of baby boomers had grown up watching, combined with high-volume gags delivered at pace. With 1980’s AIRPLANE!, the team took on directing duties, too, and delivered a spoof comedy smash hit that would cement their brand for the coming decades. If you think it all sounds like some bad movie, then you picked the wrong week to quit drinking…so let’s break the fourth wall, because surely we could all use a laugh right now…and don’t call me Shirley.

In Memoriam: Jim Abrahams (1944–2024)

• Airplane!

  Rumack: “Can you fly this plane and land it?” Ted Striker: “Surely you can't be serious.” Rumack: “I am serious...and don't call me Shirley. The Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker team set the standard for feature-film parody with this send-up of disaster movies (think AIRPORT and the Irwin Allen oeuvre). The film is loaded with nonstop sight gags, absurd one-liners, pop-culture references, goofy puns and bizarre non sequiturs. Its cast features many veteran actors hamming it up by playing it straight, including Lloyd Bridges, Julie Hagerty, Peter Graves, Robert Stack, Barbara Billingsley and, most famously, Leslie Nielsen, who created a whole new career for himself as the go-to guy for straight-faced tomfoolery. DIR/SCR Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, from the film ZERO HOUR! by Hall Bartlett, Arthur Hailey and John Champion; PROD Jon Davison. US, 1980, color, 88 min. RATED PG

  In Memoriam: Jim Abrahams (1944–2024)

• The Kentucky Fried Movie

  Unable to get studio backing for the feature film version of their improv comedy stage show "Kentucky Fried Theater," comedy upstarts Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker instead made the film independently in 1977, achieving a sizable box-office hit despite a low budget. Directed by a young John Landis, this collection of comedy sketches, which irreverently parodied film and television, featured of famous improv troupes The Groundlings and Second City, plus a smattering of recognizable cameos from Bill Bixby, Barry Dennen, Tony Dow, Henry Gibson, George Lazenby and Donald Sutherland. The film’s success established the young mavericks’ bankability, with Landis next hired to direct NATIONAL LAMPOON’S ANIMAL HOUSE for Universal while Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker were able to get AIRPLANE! made at Paramount. Boasting a more late night, R-rated sensibility than AIRPLANE!, THE KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE’s raunchy, surreal and joyfully satirical sense of humor — in short, it's very '70s — will impress comedy fans as an enduring cult classic. DIR John Landis; SCR Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker; PROD Robert K. Weiss. U.S., 1977, color, 83 min. RATED R

  In Memoriam: Jim Abrahams (1944–2024)

• The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

  The AIRPLANE! team adapted its short-lived TV series, a parody of seemingly every cop show ever made, and turned it into a hugely successful feature film showcasing the unique talents of Leslie Nielsen as Lt. Frank Drebin, a numskull detective who must foil evil millionaire Vincent Ludwig’s (Ricardo Montalban) plot to kill the Queen of England at a California Angels game, using a brainwashed Reggie Jackson as his assassin. Great comedic contributions from George Kennedy as his partner and Priscilla Presley as his love interest. DIR David Zucker; SCR Jim Abrahams, Pat Proft, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, from the television series POLICE SQUAD!; PROD Robert K. Weiss. US, 1988, color, 85 min. RATED PG-13

  In Memoriam: Jim Abrahams (1944–2024)

• Top Secret!

  After the smash hit success of AIRPLANE!, Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker followed up with the ambitious genre mashup TOP SECRET!, melding elements from World War II and Cold War spy movies with Elvis musicals. Val Kilmer, in his feature film debut, plays American rock 'n' roller Nick Rivers, who travels to East to perform at a cultural festival. There he becomes embroiled in a secret plot by the regime’s authorities to conquer their West German neighbors, as well as the local resistance movement’s efforts to thwart their oppressors. As the charismatic young heartthrob, Kilmer confidently pulls off the film’s sublimely ridiculous lines of dialogue. TOP SECRET! features some of the most inventive sight gags and set pieces in the ZAZ oeuvre — not to mention parody rock 'n' roll numbers; no less an authority than "Weird Al" Yankovic has cited TOP SECRET! as his favorite movie. DIR/SCR Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker; SCR Martyn Burke; PROD Jon Davison, Hunt Lowry. U.S./UK, 1984, color, 90 min. RATED PG

  In Memoriam: Jim Abrahams (1944–2024)

April 11–24, 2025

Celebrated as the “last diva” of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, Silvia Pinal (1931-2024) was an icon with over 100 film, television and stage credits to her name. Her film career began in 1949 with a brief role in BAMBA; she went on to star in numerous acclaimed films, working alongside heavyweights such as Pedro Infante, Germán Valdés and Mario “Cantinflas” Moreno. But it was her work with the acclaimed Spanish surrealist Luis Buñuel that catapulted her to the world stage. Directed by Buñuel, starring Pinal and produced by her then-husband, Gustavo Alatriste, the three films — VIRIDIANA (1961), THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL (1962) and SIMON OF THE DESERT (1965) — are biting class-conscious satires that skewer Francoist Spain, religious dogma and the idle rich. In an interview for the Criterion Collection, Pinal expressed her gratitude for Buñuel, saying, “Working with [him] was the most important part of my career. It accorded me a place in film archives around the world, and in the history of world cinema.”

• The Exterminating Angel

  [EL ÁNGEL EXTERMINADOR]
  A high-society dinner party at a Mexico City mansion devolves into madness and depravity when the genteel guests discover that, quite mysteriously, they are unable to leave. As the guests' polite chitchat gives way to paranoia, scandal-mongering and open warfare, Luis Buñuel introduces ever more surreal imagery to the dreamlike scenario, with visits from a bear, a sheep and a severed hand crawling across the floor. Silvia Pinal and Enrique Rambal head the ensemble cast, with cinematography by the great Gabriel Figueroa. DIR/SCR Luis Buñuel; PROD Gustavo Alatriste. Mexico, 1962, b&w, 93 min. In Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

  In Memoriam: Silvia Pinal (1931–2024)

• Simon of the Desert

  60th Anniversary

  [SIMÓN DEL DESIERTO]
  The fifth-century saint Simeon Stylites reputedly lived for 37 years perched atop a pillar in the Syrian desert in order to be rid of earthly distractions and closer to God. In Luis Buñuel's wicked retelling, Simón (Claudio Brook) has been on his perch for six years, six months and six days, his prayerful contemplation regularly interrupted by his local followers and pilgrims seeking his blessing. But on this fateful day a new visitor arrives: the Devil, in voluptuous female form (Silvia Pinal), hell-bent on distracting Simón from his ascetic ways. "A string of blasphemous comedy routines occasionally anticipating those of Monty Python." – Harvard Film Archive. DIR/SCR Luis Buñuel; SCR Julio Alejandro; PROD Gustavo Alatriste. Mexico, 1965, b&w, 45 min. In Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

  In Memoriam: Silvia Pinal (1931–2024)

• Viridiana

  Banned in Spain and denounced by the Vatican, Luis Buñuel’s irreverent vision of life as a beggar’s banquet is regarded by many as his masterpiece. Novice nun Viridiana (Silvia Pinal, in her first of three collaborations with Buñuel) does her utmost to maintain her Catholic principles, but her lecherous uncle and a motley assemblage of paupers force her to confront the limits of her idealism. Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 1961 Cannes Film Festival, VIRIDIANA is as audacious today as ever. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.) DIR/SCR Luis Buñuel; SCR Julio Alejandro; PROD Gustavo Alatriste. Spain/Mexico, 1961, b&w, 91 min. In Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

  In Memoriam: Silvia Pinal (1931–2024)

March 7–9, 2025

The AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center is excited to participate in this year's edition of Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour, a festival of restored and rediscovered films taking place at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD); the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center; and the National Gallery of Art, presented in collaboration with Il Cinema Ritrovato, organized by the Cineteca di Bologna in Italy.

Screenings taking place at AFI Silver celebrate two recently restored titles (SLAP THE MONSTER ON PAGE ONE and GOLDEN EIGHTIES), offered free of charge thanks to the of UMD and the Italian Cultural Institute at the Embassy of Italy.

Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour at UMD is an initiative of the Italian Program and the Program in Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. The festival is co-sponsored by the Italian Cultural Institute at the Embassy of Italy and presented in partnership with the Bologna Film Archive, Italy (Cineteca di Bologna), the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center and the National Gallery of Art. At UMD, the festival is ed by the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures; the Center for Literary and Comparative Studies; the Department of French and Italian; and the Department of German Studies.

• Golden Eighties

  4K Restoration | Intro by Hester Baer, Professor of Cinema & Media Studies and German, University of Maryland, College Park

  a.k.a. WINDOW SHOPPING
  The exuberant enchantments of the singing, dancing musical meet the feminist, formalist sensibility of cinematic visionary Chantal Akerman in this uniquely captivating vision of love and survival in the age of late capitalism. Amid the consumerist wonderland of a shopping mall, a cadre of store employees (played by professional and nonprofessional actors, including many of Akerman’s friends and pop star Lio) bounce in and out of one another's arms in a cycle of breakups, makeups, misunderstandings and reunions, their romantic roundelay punctuated by imaginatively stylized production numbers. Working with frequent star Delphine Seyrig and a remarkable team of writers — who between them penned everything from JULES AND JIM (Jean Gruault) to DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN (Leora Barish) — Akerman deftly balances the shiny pop pleasures of the genre with piercing variations on her signature themes, including a startlingly moving reflection on Jewish resilience and the legacy of the Holocaust. (Note adapted from Janus Films.) DIR/SCR Chantal Akerman; SCR Pascal Bonitzer, Henry Bean, Jean Gruault, Leora Barish; PROD Martine Merignac. Belgium//Switzerland, 1986, color, 96 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED

  Restored in 4K in 2024 by the Cinémathèque royale de Belgique in collaboration with Chantal Akerman Foundation at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, from the 35mm original negative and the original sound mix. Funding provided by Centre du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Leora Barish, Henry Bean, Ostrovsky Family Fund (OFF), SWA. Restoration supervised by Luc Benhamou. D courtesy of Janus Films.

• Slap the Monster on Page One

  4K Restoration | Intro by Cecilia Cenciarelli, Co-Director, Il Cinema Ritrovato and Head of Special Projects, Cineteca di Bologna

  [SBATTI IL MOSTRO IN PRIMA PAGINA]
  After a right-wing newspaper's offices are attacked by demonstrating anarchists on the eve of an election, its vengeful publisher (Gian Maria Volonté, A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS) orchestrates a smear campaign against the movement's student leader, eventually framing him for the murder of a fellow student. Marco Bellocchio's (FISTS IN THE POCKET) scathing indictment of the political power plays and secret scheming among government factions, big business and the media has been confirmed by any number of real-life incidents the world over in the years since, remaining as prescient and powerful as it was on release. DIR Marco Bellocchio; SCR Sergio Donati, Goffredo Fofi; PROD Ugo Tucci. Italy/, 1972, color, 87 min. In Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

  Restored in 4K by the Cineteca di Bologna, in collaboration with Surf Film, Kavac Film and Minerva Pictures, under the supervision of Marco Bellocchio; the original film and sound negatives were digitized by Augustus Color and restored at the L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory.

April 4–24, 2025

The artistry and influence of Bob Dylan extends beyond American popular music, leaving an indelible mark on arts and culture, especially cinema — and not just James Mangold's critically acclaimed biopic A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. An enthusiastic movie fan himself, Dylan has been the subject of several outstanding documentaries, contributed his music to hundreds of films and acted on occasion (to wit, PAT GARRETT & BILLY THE KID, playing in George Pelecanos Presents: Sam Peckinpah in the '70s); a few vagabond productions even bear his name as screenwriter and/or director. This series gathers together some of the most essential Dylan films from across his long and enduring career, including those that pay tribute to his peers and those inspired by his enigmatic persona.

• Dont Look Back

  DONT LOOK BACK is about the 1960s and the man who got a lot of people through them. Bob Dylan is more than the folk singer touted by the record industry, more than the songwriter whose poetry is the only kind many people , more than the Kerouac kid who haunts a generation's best writing. He is the force that blew the country out of one era and into another. His words are ambiguous, his style constantly changing and his avoidance of publicity obsessive, yet he remains an influential voice of the times. D. A. Pennebaker captures this whirlwind artist like never before or since, while in England during his 1965 tour — the last in which he would be billed as an acoustic musician. DIR/SCR D. A. Pennebaker; PROD John Court, Albert Grossman. U.S., 1967, b&w, 96 min. NOT RATED

• I'm Not There

  Todd Haynes' experimental biopic of Bob Dylan employs six different actors to portray aspects and avatars of the mercurial singer/songwriter: young Marcus Carl Franklin is precocious, rail-riding hobo "Woody"; Ben Whishaw plays poet "Arthur Rimbaud"; Christian Bale is the earnest singer of protest songs; Heath Ledger is the comfortable, jaded professional pop star; Richard Gere is the aging man retreating into idiosyncrasy; and, most daring of all, Cate Blanchett is "Jude," the sardonic rocker who gave audiences what they needed, if not what they wanted. The results are mind-blowing, consciousness-expanding and thought-provoking — just like Dylan's music. DIR/SCR Todd Haynes; SCR Oren Moverman; PROD John Goldwyn, John Sloss, James D. Stern, Christine Vachon. U.S./, 2007, color/b&w, 135 min. RATED R

• Inside Llewyn Davis

  Inspired by the life and music of folk singer Dave Van Ronk, this fable from Joel and Ethan Coen covers one week in the life of Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac, in his breakthrough role), an up-and-coming musician aiming for success in the folk scene of 1960s Greenwich Village. Llewyn's got the talent, but he is also irritable, disparaging and just downright rude, even toward his ive friends and colleagues. Couch surfing during a chilly Northeast winter, Davis’ journey takes him from New York City to Chicago; along the way, he meets a cast of characters (including a cameo by a fictional Bob Dylan, performing "Fare Thee Well") marked by the Coen brothers’ unique sense of humor. This melancholic yet funny tale features evocative cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel and an eclectic folk soundtrack produced by T Bone Burnett, and co-stars Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Justin Timberlake, F. Murray Abraham, Adam Driver and John Goodman. DIR/SCR/PROD Ethan Coen, Joel Coen; PROD Scott Rudin. U.S., 2013, color, 105 min. RATED R

• Joan Baez: I Am a Noise

  JOAN BAEZ I AM A NOISE is an unusually intimate psychological portrait of legendary folk singer and activist Joan Baez. Neither a conventional biopic nor a traditional concert film, this immersive documentary shifts back and forth through time as it follows Baez on her final tour and delves into her extraordinary archive, including newly discovered home movies, diaries, artwork, therapy tapes and audio recordings. Throughout the film, Baez is remarkably revealing about her life onstage and off — from her lifelong emotional struggles to her civil rights work with Martin Luther King Jr. and a heartbreaking romance with a young Bob Dylan. A searingly honest look at a living legend, this film is a compelling and deeply personal exploration of an iconic artist who has never told the full truth of her life, as she experienced it, until now. DIR/PROD Miri Navasky, Karen O'Connor; DIR Maeve O'Boyle. U.S., 2023, color, 113 min. NOT RATED

• The Last Waltz

  "This film should be played loud!" On Thanksgiving Day, 1976, The Band gave its farewell concert at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The all-star lineup sharing the bill with The Band included Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Emmylou Harris, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, the Staple Singers and Ringo Starr. Filmmaker Martin Scorsese, hired to shoot the documentary on the basis of his rock-scored 1973 film MEAN STREETS, captured this once-in-a-lifetime concert event. Among the large camera crew working for cinematographer Michael Chapman were ace lensers Vilmos Zsigmond, László Kovács and John Toll. DIR Martin Scorsese; SCR Mardik Martin; PROD Robbie Robertson. U.S., 1978, color, 117 min. RATED PG

  In Memoriam: Garth Hudson (1937–2025)

Jan. 31–April 24, 2025

The epitome of gallic beauty, style, golden boy charm and bad boy charisma, Alain Delon (1935–2024) carved a singular path in world cinema as one of 's biggest stars of the 20th century. Embracing both the mainstream and the arthouse, he made a career working with auteurs such as Jean-Pierre Melville, Jean-Luc Godard, Luchino Visconti, Michelangelo Antonioni and Louis Malle, while also enjoying an unparalleled status as an international sex symbol and bankable star. After a hardscrabble upbringing and a stint as a paratrooper, Delon came to acting almost by chance — and without any training — after being spotted by a representative of Hollywood mogul David O. Selznick at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival. His breakout roles came in 1960 with René Clément's PURPLE NOON and Luchino Visconti's ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS, which open this retrospective. His six-decade career comprised over 90 films and countless unforgettable performances in iconic films like Melville's LE SAMOURAÏ, LE CERCLE ROUGE and UN FLIC; Visconti's THE LEOPARD, Antonioni's L’ECLISSE and Jacques Deray's LA PISCINE — all featured in this series. We also spotlight Delon's work as an actor/producer on Deray's BORSALINO and Joseph Losey's MR. KLEIN, as well as his roles in cult classics RED SUN — co-starring Toshirô Mifune and Charles Bronson — and THE GIRL ON A MOTORCYCLE, directed by legendary cinematographer Jack Cardiff. us as we bid adieu and merci to the incomparable Monsieur Delon.

• Borsalino

  55th Anniversary

  In this 1930s-set Gallic gangster classic, iconic French heartthrobs Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo co-star as small-time gangsters who team up to take control of Marseille's criminal underworld. Directed by Jacques Deray (LA PISCINE) and based on the lives of gangsters Paul Carbone and François Spirito, BORSALINO was also produced by Delon, who had been searching for a project in which he could star opposite Belmondo. Newly released from prison, Roch Siffredi (Delon) finds that his former girlfriend Lola (Catherine Rouvel) is now with François Capella (Belmondo), another petty crook. Initially at odds, the two men form a partnership that will see them rise through the ranks of organized crime in Marseille, from fixing fights and horse races to wresting control from the old-world gang bosses and taking charge of the city's criminal empire. DIR/SCR Jacques Deray; SCR Jean-Claude Carrière, Jean Cau, Claude Sautet, from the novel "The Bandits of Marseilles" by Eugene Saccomano; PROD Alain Delon, Henri Michaud. /Italy, 1970, color, 125 min. In French and Italian with English subtitles. RATED R

  In Memoriam: Alain Delon (1935–2024)

• A Cop

  [A COP] a.k.a. DIRTY MONEY
  After memorably playing criminals for Jean-Pierre Melville in the iconic films LE SAMOURAÏ and LE CERCLE ROUGE, Alain Delon played a cop for the director's final film, UN FLIC. Simon (Richard Crenna) is a Parisian nightclub proprietor with a booming sideline in robbery and gangsterism. Delon plays a police detective who frequents Simon’s night spot to keep tabs on the suspicious figure's coming and goings — and to make time with Crenna's alluring mistress, played by Catherine Deneuve. DIR/SCR Jean-Pierre Melville; PROD Robert Dorfmann. /Italy, 1972, color, 98 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED

  In Memoriam: Alain Delon (1935–2024)

• The Girl on a Motorcycle

  a.k.a. NAKED UNDER LEATHER
  A wildly sexy time capsule from the Swinging Sixties, THE GIRL ON A MOTORCYCLE stars Alain Delon and Marianne Faithfull — two actors at the height of their impressive cool — as lovers with a taste for the open road. Faithfull stars as Rebecca, a bored housewife who bolts from her home in the French countryside to visit her lover, Daniel (Delon), in . Wearing nothing but a form-fitting black leather suit (the film was re-released in the U.S. as NAKED UNDER LEATHER), the lusty Rebecca races across the country and, in flashback, re the start of their affair. She recalls the initial, furtive glances in her father's bookstore, her elaborate sexual fantasies and their long-awaited consummation. Most important of all is the motorcycle itself, a gift from Daniel that seems to give her more pleasure than any man could deliver. Directed by legendary cinematographer and top-notch director Jack Cardiff (DARK OF THE SUN) in pulsating psychedelic hues, THE GIRL ON A MOTORCYCLE has emerged from obscurity to become more than a cult favorite; it is a touchstone film of 1960s Euro youth culture. (Note adapted from Kino Lorber.) DIR/SCR Jack Cardiff; SCR Ronald Duncan, from the novel "La Motocyclette" by André Pieyre de Mandiargues; PROD William Sassoon. UK/, 1968, color, 91 min. RATED R

  In Memoriam: Alain Delon (1935–2024)

• Le Cercle Rouge

  4K Restoration

  Imive faces, snap-brim hats, dangling cigarettes, sunglasses after dark, raincoats without rain, nightclub floor shows — the milieu of Jean-Pierre Melville, prince of the French gangster picture, as four hommes durs cross paths for their appointment with destiny. Prisoner-in-transit Vogel (Gian Maria Volonté) crashes — literally — out of a train, to the dismay of guard Inspector Mattei (comedy legend André Bourvil); ex-cop Jansen (Yves Montand) shifts from DT-plagued drunk to dapper, rock-steady sharpshooter; and recently released criminal Corey (Alain Delon) reclaims his gun and money and shrugs off two murder attempts. All forces for a meticulously orchestrated heist of a Place Vendôme bijouterie. The biggest hit of Melville’s career, LE CERCLE ROUGE was initially released in the U.S. in a dubbed version cut by 40 minutes, until the complete 140-minute version was finally released by Rialto Pictures in 2003. This 4K restoration from StudioCanal spotlights the noirishly-muted color cinematography by Melville/New Wave lenser Henri Decaë (ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS, THE 400 BLOWS, PURPLE NOON, LE SAMOURAÏ) like never before, with subtitles by veteran translator Lenny Borger. DIR/SCR Jean-Pierre Melville; PROD Robert Dorfmann. /Italy, 1970, color, 140 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED

  In Memoriam: Alain Delon (1935–2024), Lenny Borger (1951–2024)

  Restored in 4K by StudioCanal at Hiventy with the of the CNC.

• L'Eclisse

  The concluding chapter of Michelangelo Antonioni's informal trilogy on contemporary malaise, following L’AVVENTURA and LA NOTTE, L’ECLISSE has been described by Martin Scorsese as the boldest of the three. It tells the story of a young literary translator (Monica Vitti) who leaves one lover (Francisco Rabal) and drifts into a relationship with another, an ambitious stockbroker played by a fresh-faced but typically smoldering Alain Delon. Using the architecture of Rome as a backdrop for the doomed affair, Antonioni achieves the apotheosis of his style in this return to the theme that preoccupied him the most: the difficulty of connection in an alienating modern world. (Note adapted from Janus Films.) DIR/SCR Michelangelo Antonioni; SCR Tonino Guerra; PROD Raymond Hakim, Robert Hakim. Italy, 1962, b&w, 126 min. In Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

  In Memoriam: Alain Delon (1935–2024)

• The Leopard

  [IL GATTOPARDO]
  The Prince of Salina (Burt Lancaster), the patriarch of a noble family in proud decline, realizes the truth in his nephew Tancredi Falconeri’s (Alain Delon) observation, "If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change." He sends Tancredi to Garibaldi's Risorgimento forces, releases him from an engagement to his cousin — the Prince’s daughter — and orchestrates an advantageous marriage to the daughter of a nouveau riche town mayor, the ravishing Angelica (Claudia Cardinale). Soundtracked by Nino Rota’s sweeping, romantic score, Giuseppe Rotunno's painterly, widescreen photography is a must-see on the big screen. THE LEOPARD won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1963. DIR/SCR Luchino Visconti; SCR Suso Cecchi D'Amico, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Enrico Medioli, Massimo Franciosa, from the novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa; PROD Goffredo Lombardo. Italy/, 1963, color, 185 min. plus a 15-min intermission. In Italian with English subtitles. RATED PG

  In Memoriam: Alain Delon (1935–2024)

• Le Samouraï

  4K Restoration

  In a career-defining performance, Alain Delon plays Jef Costello, a contract killer with samurai instincts. After carrying out a flawlessly planned hit, Jef finds himself caught between a persistent police investigator and a ruthless employer, and not even his armor of fedora and trench coat can protect him. An elegantly stylized masterpiece of cool by maverick director Jean‑Pierre Melville, LE SAMOURAÏ is a razor-sharp cocktail of 1940s American gangster cinema and 1960s French pop culture — with a liberal dose of Japanese lone-warrior mythology. DIR/SCR Jean-Pierre Melville; PROD Raymond Borderie, Eugène Lépicier. , 1967, color, 105 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED

  In Memoriam: Alain Delon (1935–2024)

  Restored in 4K by Pathé and the Criterion Collection at L’Immagine Ritrovata from the 35mm original camera negative.

• Mr. Klein

  4K Restoration

  [MONSIEUR KLEIN]
  Alain Delon gives a riveting performance as Robert Klein, a wealthy, Gentile art dealer living in occupied Paris in 1942, who unapologetically acquires artwork at rock-bottom prices from desperate French Jews seeking to flee the country. But after a copy of the local Jewish newspaper is delivered to Klein's address, he begins an obsessive and Kafkaesque attempt to rectify what he claims is a case of mistaken identity. One of the greatest films of the blacklisted Hollywood director Joseph Losey's European career, MR. KLEIN also features Jeanne Moreau, Michael Lonsdale and Juliet Berto in its excellent cast, with art direction by the great Alexandre Trauner. DIR Joseph Losey; SCR Franco Solinas, Fernando Morandi; PROD Alain Delon. /Italy, 1976, color, 123 min. In French with English subtitles. RATED PG

  In Memoriam: Alain Delon (1935–2024)

• Purple Noon

  [PLEIN SOLEIL]
  As the sun beats down on a boat in the Mediterranean, two men loll back — scapegrace playboy Philippe Greenleaf (Maurice Ronet) and Tom Ripley (Alain Delon), sent by Greenleaf’s dad to bring him back to the U.S.… But which one will to leave the boat alive? And will he get away with pretending to be the other man? This tense, sun-splashed thriller, adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s acclaimed novel “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” features sprightly music by Nino Rota and dazzling, on-boat camerawork by Henri Decaë. DIR/SCR René Clément; SCR Paul Gégauff, from the novel “The Talented Mr. Ripley” by Patricia Highsmith; PROD Raymond Hakim, Robert Hakim, Goffredo Lombardo. , 1960, color, 117 min. French with English subtitles. NOT RATED

  In Memoriam: Alain Delon (1935–2024)

• Red Sun

  [SOLEIL ROUGE]
  It is the 1970s, and the holy trinity of masculinity is vying for a priceless ceremonial sword intended as a gift for President Grant from the Japanese ambassador. Kuroda (Toshirô Mifune) has one week to recover the sword, or he and the ambassador must commit hara-kiri for having lost their honor. He is aided by Link (Charles Bronson), one of the bandits responsible for the theft who was double-crossed by his nasty partner, Gauche (Alain Delon). The unlikely duo of Link and Kuroda kidnap Gauche's girlfriend (former Bond girl Ursula Andress) in exchange for their bounty. An international co-production between and Italy, shot in Spain, RED SUN is a pulpy, East-meets-West action fest (tagline: "The first East-meets-West Western!") spinning numerous plates but saved by a crack production team featuring director Terence Young (known for his Bond pictures, including DR. NO) and screenwriter William Roberts (famous for adapting SEVEN SAMURAI into THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN). DIR Terence Young; SCR Denne Bart Petitclerc, William Roberts, Lawrence Roman; PROD Ted Richmond. /Italy/Spain, 1971, color, 112 min. In English, Spanish and Japanese with English subtitles. RATED PG

  In Memoriam: Alain Delon (1935–2024)

...plus 4 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

George Pelecanos Presents: Sam Peckinpah in the '70s

January 31–April 13, 2025

Silver Spring-based author, producer and screenwriter George Pelecanos returns to present a new series dedicated to the ‘70s-era films of writer/director Sam Peckinpah (1925–1984), on the occasion of the American auteur’s centennial. Pelecanos will introduce select shows.

Peckinpah was a legendary filmmaker and is justly celebrated for his innovative, revisionist Westerns and stylized, boundary-pushing depictions of screen violence. But Peckinpah’s personal demons were all too real, and his career was marred by perennial battles with producers and studio executives, substance abuse issues and several productions that were wildly behind schedule and over budget. Peckinpah’s best work reveals him to be much more than the reductive “Bloody Sam” caricature some critics labeled him as. He was in fact a thoughtful essayist on the history of the American West, exploring evolving ways of life in the face of the corrupting effects of greed and capitalism. Violence is undeniably a mainstay in Peckinpah’s oeuvre, both as a kinetic spectacle and a psychological gauntlet, and his films remain potent in their ability to shock. But for all the nihilism and violence woven through many of Peckinpah’s western, war and crime movies, a defiant romanticism still shines through.

• The Ballad of Cable Hogue

  Intro by Silver Spring-based author, producer and screenwriter George Pelecanos on Jan. 31

  While still completing the edit on 1969’s THE WILD BUNCH, Sam Peckinpah shot this change-of-pace, comedic fantasy of a Western, which went wildly overbudget, once again putting the director in the doghouse with the studios. Left for dead in the desert by his faithless associates, prospector Cable Hogue (a magnificent Jason Robards) bargains with God for deliverance, which arrives several days later in the form of a muddy puddle. That puddle marks the spot of the only fresh water spring for miles, and Cable is not only saved but also stakes a claim to the land. He builds the way station of Cable Springs, in partnership with itinerant preacher and drinking buddy Reverend Joshua Duncan Sloan (David Warner). Cable enjoys a measure of success, as well as love and companionship with Hildy (Stella Stevens), a formerly successful prostitute in the town of Dead Dog who was “asked to leave” as the townsfolk sought to gentrify. But when the first motorcars show up, it spells an end to Cable’s good luck. Critically praised but commercially ignored during its release, THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE is a vital work by Peckinpah, the equal of his more celebrated titles and one he often cited as a personal favorite. DIR/PROD Sam Peckinpah; SCR John Crawford, Edmund Penney. U.S., 1970, color, 121 min. RATED R

• Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

  Intro by Silver Spring-based author, producer and screenwriter George Pelecanos on March 28

  Badly burned by MGM’s mishandling of PAT GARRETT & BILLY THE KID, Sam Peckinpah decamped to Mexico to make the low-budget, madcap mindblower BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA — according to Peckinpah, the only one of his films with a final cut to his liking. Local crime lord “El Jefe” (legendary Mexican filmmaker Emilio Fernández) issues the titular demand, offering a $1 million bounty, after discovering that his former protégé Garcia has impregnated his teenage daughter Theresa. Ex-U.S. Army officer Bennie (Warren Oates), slumming it as a piano player in a Mexico City dive bar, decides to pursue the bounty, motivated less by the cash than the fact that his lover Elita (Isela Vega) was also involved with Garcia. What follows is a surreal quest, punctuated by hallucinatory interludes and whiplash reversals of fortune, nihilistic violence, pitch black comedy and obsessive romanticism. Oates’ steely performance and sardonic humor are imbued with a shabby charisma — a characterization reputedly modeled on Peckinpah himself. DIR/SCR Sam Peckinpah; SCR Gordon Dawson; PROD Martin Baum. U.S./Mexico, 1974, color, 112 min. RATED R

• Cross of Iron

  Intro by Silver Spring-based author, producer and screenwriter George Pelecanos on April 11

  After its release in 1977, U.S. audiences ignored CROSS OF IRON, perhaps unsure how to relate to German soldier protagonists on the Eastern Front of World War II who fight not only Russians but also their abusive commanding officers. But CROSS OF IRON was a critical and commercial success across Europe. James Coburn plays the coolly competent Sergeant Rolf Steiner, respected by all in the battalion. Maximilian Schell is the grasping Captain Stransky, callously endangering his men in a misguided pursuit of military honors. Orson Welles telegrammed Peckinpah to praise CROSS OF IRON as the best antiwar film since ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT in 1930, fellow filmmaker Quentin Tarantino cited it as an influence on INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS and lead Coburn called it one of his personal favorites, along with another Peckinpah film PAT GARRETT & BILLY THE KID. DIR Sam Peckinpah; SCR Julius J. Epstein, James Hamilton, Walter Kelley, from the novel “The Willing Flesh” by Willi Heinrich; PROD Wolf C. Hartwig, Arlene Sellers, Alex Winitsky. UK/West , 1977, color, 119 min. RATED R

• The Getaway

  Intro by Silver Spring-based author, producer and screenwriter George Pelecanos on Feb. 15

  From a screenplay by future director Walter Hill, based on a Jim Thompson novel, Sam Peckinpah’s THE GETAWAY featured “King of Cool” Steve McQueen opposite his real-life love interest Ali MacGraw, both at the peak of their stardom when the film was released in December 1972. McQueen plays Carter "Doc" McCoy, a convicted bank robber who is four years into a 10-year stretch. Desperate to get out, he and his wife, Carol (McGraw), engineer a furlough through the aid of corrupt businessman and parole board member Jack Beynon (Ben Johnson). The catch: Doc must team with thugs Rudy Butler (Al Lettieri) and Frank Jackson (Bo Hopkins) to pull a bank job arranged by Beynon. A cascade of double and triple crosses ensues in this high-octane chase film, peppered with gunplay and automotive recklessness and riven with psychosexual gamesmanship. Quincy Jones’ jazzy score features harmonica legend Toots Thielemans. DIR Sam Peckinpah; SCR Walter Hill, from the novel by Jim Thompson; PROD Mitchell Brower, David Foster. U.S., 1972, color, 122 min. RATED PG

  In Memoriam: Quincy Jones (1933–2024)

  Also part of Scores by Quincy Jones.

• Junior Bonner

  Intro by Silver Spring-based author, producer and screenwriter George Pelecanos

  An under-appreciated gem in both Sam Peckinpah and Steve McQueen’s filmographies, the rodeo world dramedy JUNIOR BONNER was a flop upon release in June 1972, soon overshadowed by the director and star’s second collaboration released that year, the box-office smash THE GETAWAY. Steve McQueen plays aging rodeo rider Junior Bonner, returning to his hometown of Prescott, Arizona, for the Independence Day rodeo after years away chasing glory on the circuit. Junior visits his family home only to discover it is about to be bulldozed by his brother Curly (Joe Don Baker), a would-be real estate magnate who plans to replace it with a trailer park. Their father, Ace (Robert Preston), an inveterate dreamer and womanizer, and long-suffering mother, Elvira (Ida Lupino), are now estranged. Maybe Junior can’t go home again, but if he can ride a Brahman bull named Sunshine, he can win enough cash to get through the season. Peckinpah’s signature themes — the closing of the West, the end of a rugged individualist’s way of life and the corruptions of greed and capitalism — are all here, just without the spectacular screen violence “Bloody Sam” is also known for. Lucien Ballard’s widescreen cinematography, including several stylish, inventively shot and edited rodeo sequences, is a master class in image-making, making JUNIOR BONNER a must-see on the big screen. DIR Sam Peckinpah; SCR Jeb Rosebrook; PROD Joe Wizan. U.S., 1972, color, 100 min. RATED PG

• The Killer Elite

  50th Anniversary | Intro by Silver Spring-based author, producer and screenwriter George Pelecanos on April 4

  Elite mercenaries and close friends Mike Locken (James Caan) and George Hansen (Robert Duvall) work for ComTeg, an organization contracted to do covert assignments for the CIA. But a shocking betrayal on a dangerous assignment leaves Locken broken in body and spirit. Badly injured, Locken spends months in recovery, then undertakes martial arts training with the goal of one day getting revenge on the man who betrayed him. Peckinpah’s most self-conscious action film ups the ante on explosions, gunplay and wounded machismo. The martial arts element, including a ninja death squad, was still novel for American-made films in 1975 but anticipates action trends that would fully flower in ‘80s Hollywood. DIR Sam Peckinpah; SCR Marc Norman, Stirling Silliphant, from the novel by Robert Rostand; PROD Martin Baum, Arthur Lewis. U.S., 1975, color, 122 min. RATED PG

• Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid

  New 4K Restoration | Intro by Silver Spring-based author, producer and screenwriter George Pelecanos on March 8

  Newly appointed sheriff Pat Garrett (James Coburn) visits old pal Billy the Kid (Kris Kristofferson) to warn him that “times have changed.” And then the long chase begins, underscored by the folk-rock songs of Bob Dylan (who also appears as an outlaw named Alias), including the film’s emotional pinnacle: the long farewell between wounded sheriff Colin Baker and his wife (veteran Western stars Slim Pickens and Katy Jurado), scored to “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” The fable-like tale is told in Garrett’s flashback, bookended by the brilliantly edited prologue and epilogue. Controversially cut down by MGM when originally released, the film is now properly restored and hailed as a New Hollywood/New Western masterpiece. DIR Sam Peckinpah; SCR Rudy Wurlitzer; PROD Gordon Carroll. U.S., 1973, color, 116 min. RATED R

  In Memoriam: Kris Kristofferson (1936–2024)

  Also part of Dylan in the Movies.

• Straw Dogs

  In 35mm | Intro by Silver Spring-based author, producer and screenwriter George Pelecanos

  More than 50 years after its release, Sam Peckinpah’s provocative and unsettlingly ambiguous psychological drama has lost none of its shocking potency. American mathematician David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman) and his British wife, Amy (Susan George), move into her former family farmhouse in a remote corner of Cornwall, seeking peace and quiet for David to work on his astronomical studies away from the Vietnam-era turbulence and campus unrest back in the U.S. Amy has standing among the locals, but the nerdy David can’t shake his status as an incomer Yank. As the couple becomes increasingly unhappy and isolated, strains in their marriage, already present, push to the fore. But things soon worsen drastically when a group of local louts insinuate their way into the couple’s home as workmen, only to later sexually assault Amy, leaving her in a state of shock. The horror deepens when the men return to lay siege to the farm, but something awakens in David — "I will not allow violence against this house” — leading to a surprising, spectacularly violent showdown. DIR/SCR Sam Peckinpah; SCR David Zelag Goodman, from the novel “The Siege of Trencher’s Farm” by Gordon M. Williams; PROD Daniel Melnick. U.S., 1971, color, 117 min. RATED R

Feb. 4–April 27, 2022

Co-presented with the Smithsonian's Freer Gallery of Art

Iranian filmmakers continue to create culturally vital and innovative films despite daunting challenges. This annual series provides a look at both the latest films from Iran and selected classics, which this year includes retrospectives dedicated to filmmakers Shahram Mokri and two-time Oscar® winner Asghar Farhadi, whose latest film A HERO opened January 7 at AFI Silver.

The Freer Galley of Art will present selected films online via the museum's video-on-demand platform beginning January 14; all films screening at AFI Silver starting February 4 will be presented at the theatre for in-person attendance.

This festival is made possible by the generous of the ILEX Foundation.

• 180 Degree Rule

  A dedicated schoolteacher, Sara (Sahar Dolatshahi) lives in Tehran with her young daughter and more traditional husband, Hamed (Pejman Jamshidi). Together they are preparing to attend a wedding in northern Iran. But when Hamed is no longer able to make the trip, he forbids his wife from going alone. Unable to change his mind, Sara decides to take her daughter and go anyway, a choice that will place her on a painful path to atonement. In her debut feature, writer and director Farnoosh Samadi crafts a heartwrenching family drama in the tradition of Asghar Farhadi, but through a feminist lens. Official Selection, 2020 Toronto and London film festivals. DIR/SCR Farnoosh Samadi; PROD Ali Mosaffa. Iran, 2020, color, 83 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• About Elly

  Part of the Asghar Farhadi retrospective.

  [DARBAREYE ELLY] Asghar Farhadi's gripping 2009 mystery is set among a group of old friends on a holiday retreat. With the return of their close friend Ahmad (Shahab Hosseini, A SEPARATION) from , a group of old college pals decide to reunite for a weekend outing by the Caspian Sea. The fun starts right away as they quickly catch on to the plan of lively Sepideh (Golshifteh Farahani, PATERSON) who has brought along Elly (Taraneh Alidoosti, THE SALESMAN), her daughter's kindergarten teacher, in hopes of setting her up with recently divorced Ahmad. But seemingly trivial lies, which start accumulating from the moment the group arrives at the seashore, suddenly swing round and come back full force when one afternoon Elly suddenly vanishes. Her mysterious disappearance sets in motion a series of deceptions and revelations that threaten to shatter everything they hold dear. (Note courtesy of Cinema Guild.) DIR/SCR/PROD Asghar Farhadi; PROD Simaye Mehr, Mahmoud Razavi. Iran/, 2009, color, 119 min. In Persian and German with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Ashkan, the Charmed Ring and Other Stories

  Part of the Shahram Mokri retrospective.

  Director Shahram Mokri's first feature is a delightfully offbeat black-and-white comedy about the mysterious workings of fate, played out in deadpan Jim Jarmusch-like vignettes. Two blind jewel thieves, a young man who can't succeed at killing himself, a love-struck police officer and two female morgue attendants find their lives interconnected when an unusual fish is set free and a charmed ring is moved. Watch for sly references to film noir classics — including LE SAMOURAI and KISS ME DEADLY, right up to PULP FICTION — in this wonderful and eccentric 2008 Iranian gem. (Note courtesy of Deaf Crocodile Films.) DIR/SCR Shahram Mokri; PROD Mehdi Karimi. Iran, 2008, b&w, 92 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Ballad of a White Cow

  Mina's life is turned upside down when she learns that her husband Babak was innocent of the crime for which he was executed. When the authorities apologize for the mistake and offer the prospect of financial compensation, Mina starts a silent battle against a cynical system for her own and her daughter's sake. Just as her money is running out, a stranger named Reza knocks at her door, saying he has come to repay a debt he owed to Babak. Mina is guarded at first, but increasingly lets Reza into her life, unaware of the secret that ties them to one another. (Note courtesy of Totem Films.) Official Selection, 2021 Berlin, Tribeca and Karlovy Vary film festivals. DIR/SCR Maryam Moghadam, Behtash Sanaeeha; SCR Mehrdad Kouroshniya; PROD Etienne de Ricaud, Gholamrez Moosavi. Iran/, 2021, color, 105 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Beautiful City

  Part of the Asghar Farhadi retrospective.

  In a juvenile detention facility, 18-year-old Akbar (Hossein Farzi-Zadeh) awaits execution for murdering his girlfriend when he was 16. Meanwhile, outside the prison walls, paroled petty thief A'la (Babak Ansari) offers to help Akbar's sister, Firoozeh (Taraneh Alidoosti, in the first of her four collaborations with director Asghar Farhadi), secure clemency from the dead girl's vengeful father. As A'la and Firoozeh navigate a complex gauntlet of legal and emotional red tape, they find themselves growing unexpectedly close — a tentative romance skillfully woven into the film's life-or-death narrative. Rooted in spectacular performances by Alidoosti (fresh from her star-making debut in I AM TARANEH, I AM FIFTEEN YEARS OLD) and Ansari, Farhadi's second feature is a human-scale morality play of shattering force. (Note courtesy of Film at Lincoln Center.) DIR/SCR Asghar Farhadi; PROD Iraj Taghipoor. Iran, 2004, color, 98 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Careless Crime

  Part of the Shahram Mokri retrospective.

  Post-screening Q&A with filmmaker Shahram Mokri, moderated by film critic Godfrey Cheshire

  One of the most dazzling and enigmatic films in recent memory, Iranian director Shahram Mokri's mind-bending mystery leapfrogs between past and present, fact and fiction to create an unforgettable picture of time not as a straight line, but as an elastic, constantly spinning Moebius strip. Inspired by a real-life tragedy, the infamous Cinema Rex fire in 1978 that triggered the Iranian Revolution, CARELESS CRIME follows three "timelines" — of arsonists planning to burn down a movie theater; of workers and students at the cinema; and of characters within the film screening at the cinema — which may or may not all be happening at the same time. Comparisons abound, from the work of Chris Marker (LA JETÉE) to Hitchcock's VERTIGO and Wojciech Has' THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT, but Mokri's film is a magnificent, multi-faceted puzzle box all its own. Winner of the Bisato d'Oro Award for Best Original Screenplay at the 2020 Venice Film Festival. (Note courtesy of Deaf Crocodile Films.) DIR/SCR Shahram Mokri; SCR Nasim Ahmadpour; PROD Negar Eskandarfar. Iran, 2020, color, 134 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Chess of the Wind

  New 4K Restoration

  Screened publicly just once before it was banned and then lost for decades, this rediscovered jewel of Iranian cinema reemerges to take its place as one of the most singular and astonishing works of the country's pre-revolution New Wave. A hypnotically stylized murder mystery awash in shivery period atmosphere, CHESS OF THE WIND unfolds in an ornate, candlelit mansion where a web of greed, violence and betrayal ensnares the heirs to a family fortune as they vie for control of their recently deceased matriarch's estate. Melding the influences of European modernism, gothic horror and classical Persian art, director Mohammad Reza Aslani crafts an exquisitely controlled mood piece that erupts in a stunningly subversive final act in which class conventions, gender roles and even time itself are upended with shocking ferocity. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.) DIR/SCR Mohammad Reza Aslani; PROD Bahman Farmanara. Iran, 1976, color, 93 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Dancing in the Dust

  Part of the Asghar Farhadi retrospective.

  Asghar Farhadi's enormously impressive 2003 debut feature begins with Azarbaijani emigre Nazar (Yousef Khodaparast) being forced by family and friends to divorce his beloved bride Reyhaneh (Baran Kosari) after rumors suggest that her mother is a prostitute. Soon, Nazar finds himself working double shifts to pay off his wedding debts and provide some restitution to his ex (for whom he still pines). Then, on the run from a creditor, he hides in the back of a van belonging to an elderly snake hunter (Faramarz Gharibian) and winds up transported to the middle of the desert, where he haphazardly tries to corner a piece of the old man's business. A strange, hypnotic, lyrical tale of love and sacrifice, DANCING IN THE DUST placed Farhadi firmly on the international film festival map, picking up prizes at Moscow and Busan. (Note courtesy of Film at Lincoln Center.) DIR/SCR Asghar Farhadi; SCR Alireza Bazrafshan, Mohammad Reza Fazeli; PROD Iraj Taghipoor. Iran, 2003, color, 100 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Everybody Knows

  Part of the Asghar Farhadi retrospective.

  Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Ricardo Darín and Bárbara Lennie star in Oscar®-winning Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi's acclaimed thriller set in Spain. When Laura (Cruz) travels from her home in Buenos Aires with her family to her hometown in Spain for her sister's (Lennie) wedding, a startling crime and some long-buried secrets alter the course of their lives. A visually rich and gripping emotional rollercoaster, EVERYBODY KNOWS is bursting at the seams with star power and peerless performances. Official Selection, 2018 Cannes and Toronto film festivals. DIR/SCR Asghar Farhadi; PROD Álvaro Longoria, Alexandre Mallet-Guy. Spain//Italy, 2018, color, 132 min. In English, Spanish and Catalan with English subtitles. RATED R

• Fireworks Wednesday

  Part of the Asghar Farhadi retrospective.

  Asghar Farhadi's FIREWORKS WEDNESDAY is a gripping, suspenseful drama — a story of marital intrigue and betrayal set against the backdrop of the Persian New Year. Rouhi (Taraneh Alidoosti, THE SALESMAN), a young bride-to-be, is hired as a maid for an affluent family in Tehran. Upon arriving she is suddenly thrust into an explosive domestic conflict. The wife is convinced her husband is having an affair with a recently divorced woman living next door and enlists Rouhi as a spy, to follow her husband and confirm her suspicions. What Rouhi discovers, however, threatens not only their marriage but her own future. (Note courtesy of Grasshopper Films.) DIR/SCR Asghar Farhadi; SCR Mani Haghighi; PROD Jamal Sadatian. Iran, 2006, color, 102 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

...plus 9 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Jan. 28–April 10, 2023

Co-presented with the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art

Iranian filmmakers continue to create culturally vital and innovative films despite daunting challenges. This annual series provides a look at both the latest films from Iran and selected classics.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art will present selected films in person and online via the museum's video-on-demand platform beginning January 13; all films screening at AFI Silver starting January 28 will be presented in person.

• The Absent Director

  A scrappy Tehran theater company gathers in the home of their director to rehearse their experimental mounting of Shakespeare's "Macbeth." The play's director (Arvand Dashtaray, the film's real-life director) is not present — he directs them via video link from Paris (an arrangement all-too-familiar to Iranian directors resisting work and travel bans, and one also depicted in Jafar Panahi's NO BEARS). The actors are dedicated to the project, but as their physically absent director barks ever-more demanding directions and withering criticisms over the computer, tensions rise in every direction, exposing personal rivalries and hidden agendas. Dashtaray masterfully stages the action in a single continuous shot — even when flashback scenes enter the frame — in this thrillingly energetic drama. Official Selection, 2021 Busan Film Festival and 2022 Santa Barbara Film Festival. DIR Arvand Dashtaray; SCR Naghmeh Samini; PROD Hossein Akbari. Iran, 2021, color, 85 min. In English and Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Coup 53

  Ten years in the making, COUP 53 tells the story of the 1953 the Anglo-American coup d'état that overthrew Iran's government under Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh and reinstalled the Shah. While making a documentary about the coup, Iranian director Taghi Amirani and Academy Award®-winning editor Walter Murch (APOCALYPSE NOW, THE CONVERSATION, THE ENGLISH PATIENT) discover extraordinary, never-seen-before archive material, hidden for decades. The 16mm footage and documents not only allow the filmmakers to tell the story of the overthrow of the Iranian government in unprecedented detail, but also lead to explosive revelations about dark secrets buried for nearly 70 years. What begins as a history documentary about four days in August of 1953 turns into a live investigation, taking the filmmakers into uncharted cinematic waters. The roots of Iran's volatile relationship with Britain and America have never been so forensically and dramatically exposed. In an inspired bit of hybrid documentary filmmaking, the film features Academy Award®-nominated actor Ralph Fiennes performing from the transcripts of former MI6 agent Norman Derbyshire, to recreate the bombshell revelations Derbyshire made in his long-suppressed interview. Winner, Most Popular International Documentary Film, 2019 Vancouver International Film Festival. Official Selection, 2019 Telluride and London film festivals; 2020 Palm Springs International Film Festival. DIR/SCR/PROD Taghi Amirani; SCR Walter Murch. UK/Iran, 2019, color, 118 min. In English, Persian and Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Crimson Gold

  20th Anniversary

  [طلای سرخ] [TALAYE SORGH] Two master filmmakers, Abba Kiarostami (TASTE OF CHERRY) and Jafar Panahi (THE CIRCLE, THE MIRROR, THE WHITE BALLOON) team up as writer and director, respectively, on CRIMSON GOLD, a subtle tragedy on class conflict in Iran. Hussein (Hossain Emadeddin, a real-life pizza delivery man who has schizophrenia) is a lumbering war veteran swollen by the cortisone he takes for war-induced pain and reduced to delivering pizzas at night. Through his nightly rounds, he bears witness to the rewards and vanities of the city's wealthy. He is humiliated when a jewelry shop owner won't allow him in his store, and under pressure to get married, Hussein awkwardly aspires to higher ground. When an eccentric socialite gives him a taste of luxury, Hussein can no longer accept his lowly status. Kiarostami based the story on an actual newspaper of a botched robbery attempt at a Tehrani jewelry store by a desperate pizza deliveryman. (Note courtesy of KimStim.) DIR/PROD Jafar Panahi; SCR Abbas Kiarostami. Iran, 2003, color, 97 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Leila's Brothers

  [برادران لیلا] [BARADARAN-E LEILA]
  Acclaimed actress Taraneh Alidoosti (ABOUT ELLY, THE SALESMAN and SUBTRACTION, also screening in this year's series) leads an outstanding ensemble in this quirky family dramedy. Forty-something Leila (Alidoosti) has been the main wage-earner for her family her whole life. Her father Esmail (Saeed Poursamimi) is a self-pitying schemer with an opium addiction, and none of her four brothers, each a failure in his own way, are steady earners. The death of Esmail's cousin, the clan's patriarch, creates an opening for this prestigious role that Esmail has long coveted. Paying a tribute of 40 gold coins at an family wedding will clinch the title for Esmail, but Leila believes this secret stash of family money would be better invested by leasing a storefront and starting a business. A battle of wits and wills ensues as Leila and her brothers plot to steer the money into a bank loan before their father can squander it. Official Selection, 2022 Cannes, Munich, Melbourne and Zurich film festivals. DIR/SCR/PROD Saeed Roustayi; SCR Azad Jafarian; PROD Javad Noruzbegi. Iran, 2022, color, 165 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• A Man of Integrity

  [لِرد] [LERD]
  Mohammad Rasoulof (IRON ISLAND, MANUSCRIPTS DON'T BURN), who, like fellow filmmaker Jafar Panahi has recently been imprisoned on vaguely defined political charges, secretly filmed this acclaimed 2017 movie in rural northern Iran. It went on to win the Un Certain Regard prize at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. This biting critique of contemporary Iranian culture can be summed up by one character's pessimistic declaration: "In this country, you're either the oppressed or the oppressor." Its title character, Reza (Reza Akhlaghirad), is a Tehrani who moves to the country hoping to live a peaceful, principled life running a goldfish farm. Instead, he finds himself in a corrupt town run by a mysterious company that has designs on his property. A MAN OF INTEGRITY is "an uncompromising drama from one of Iran's most outspoken directors." – Deborah Young, The Hollywood Reporter. (Note adapted from the National Museum of Asian Art.) DIR/SCR/PROD Mohammad Rasoulof. Iran, 2017, color, 117 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• No Bears

  [خرس نیست] [KHERS NIST]
  One of the world's great cinematic artists, Jafar Panahi (3 FACES, CRIMSON GOLD, OFFSIDE, 2015's TAXI), has been carefully crafting self-reflexive works about artistic, personal and political freedom for the past three decades, despite his oppression at the hands of the Iranian government. Now, as the international film community vehemently denounces his summer 2022 arrest and continued imprisonment for his vocal of a fellow artist's independence, Panahi has gifted us all with a new virtuosic sleight-of-hand. In NO BEARS, as in many of his recent titles, Panahi plays a fictionalized version of himself, in this case relocated to a rural border town to remotely direct a new film in nearby Turkey — the story of which comes to mirror disturbing events that occur around him. As he struggles to complete his film, Panahi finds himself thrust in the middle of a local scandal, confronting the opposing pulls of tradition and progress, city and country, belief and evidence and the universal desire to reject oppression. (Note courtesy of Sideshow and Janus Films.) Winner, Special Jury Prize, 2022 Venice Film Festival. Official Selection, 2022 Toronto, Zurich, Chicago, New York and London film festivals. DIR/SCR/PROD Jafar Panahi. Iran, 2022, color, 107 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• The Runner

  Q&A with actor Madjid Niroumand on Feb. 11

  [ دونده] [DAVANDEH]
  In this "gem of the Iranian new wave" (J. Hoberman, The New York Times), Amiro (Madjid Niroumand) is an illiterate 11-year-old orphan living alone in an abandoned tanker in the Iranian port city of Abadan. He survives by shining shoes, selling water and diving for deposit bottles, while being bullied by both adults and competing older kids. But he finds solace by dreaming about departing cargo ships and airplanes and by running... seemingly to nowhere. Gorgeously restored with improved subtitles, you can finally see this "work of astonishing power and simplicity" (Kevin Thomas, The Los Angeles Times) as it was meant to be seen. (Note adapted from Rialto Pictures.) DIR/SCR Amir Naderi; PROD Ali Reza Zarrin. Iran, 1984, color, 91 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• See You Friday, Robinson

  [À VENDREDI, ROBINSON]
  Documentary filmmaker and producer Mitra Farahani (FIFI HOWLS FROM HAPPINESS) brokered an introduction between two eminent filmmakers in her orbit: the legendary enfant terrible of the French New Wave, Jean-Luc Godard, and Ebrahim Golestan, director of the 1965 classic BRICK AND MIRROR and producer of Forugh Farrokhzad's legendary 1963 film THE HOUSE IS BLACK (his grandson, Mani Haghighi, directed SUBTRACTION which also screens in this year's series). Godard died last September at the age of 91, while Golestan recently turned 100. The 2021 correspondence between the two men played out for the better part of a year, with Godard emailing Golestan cryptic but allusive combinations of words and images from his home in Switzerland, fragments of thoughts about cinema, language, love and death, g off each with "See You Friday, Robinson," a riff on Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe." From his home in Sussex, England, Golestan in turn sent thoughtful, sometimes uproariously funny, replies to Godard. Farahani's intimate documentary provides a privileged look at two men, great artists and thinkers, who had never met in person but who developed a late-in-life rapport with one another. Official Selection, 2022 Berlin, Telluride and Busan film festivals. DIR/PROD Mitra Farahani; PROD Hamidreza Pejman. /Switzerland/Iran/Lebanon, 2022, color, 97 min. In English, Persian, French, Italian and German with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Subtraction

  [تفریق] [TAFRIGH]
  Filmmaker Mani Haghighi (A DRAGON ARRIVES!, 2018's PIG) was recently prevented from traveling to London after speaking out in of the protests in the wake of the death of Mahsa Amini. Haghighi's latest, SUBTRACTION, is a mind-bending, slow-burn thriller, not overtly political but nonetheless zeitgeisty in its obsession with secrecy and surveillance. Farzaneh (Taraneh Alidoosti, who herself was recently arrested for ing the protests), a Tehran driving instructor and mother-to-be, spots her husband Jalal (Navid Mohammadzadeh) entering a posh apartment building. Suspecting an affair, she confronts him, but he has an airtight alibi. Concerned, Jalal investigates the apartment himself, where he meets a woman named Bita who is the spitting image of Farzaneh, and whose husband is a dead ringer for him. The two couples, similar in appearance but stratified socially, are drawn together into a dangerous dance of intrigue. Official Selection, 2022 Toronto and London film festivals. DIR/SCR Mani Haghighi; SCR Amir Reza Koohestani; PROD Majid Motalebi. /Iran, 2022, color, 107 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

Co-presented with the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art

February 8–March 10, 2025

Co-organized by the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, this festival features a wide-ranging selection of films from Iran and the diaspora.

• Downpour

  [RAGBAR] [رگبار]
  With brash stylistic exuberance, this first feature from Bahram Beyzaie helped usher in the Iranian New Wave. When he takes a job as a schoolteacher in a new neighborhood, the hapless intellectual Mr. Hekmati (Parviz Fannizadeh) finds that he is a fish out of water. Shot in luminous monochrome and edited with quicksilver invention, DOWNPOUR, which has been painstakingly restored from the only known surviving print, captures with puckish humor and great tenderness the cultural conflicts coursing through Iran at a pivotal historical moment. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.) DIR/SCR Bahram Beyzaie; PROD Barbod Taheri. Iran, 1972, b&w, 128 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• The Sealed Soil

  New 4K Restoration

  [KHAKE SAR BEH MOHR] [خاک سر به مهر]
  The earliest complete surviving feature film directed by an Iranian woman, Marva Nabili’s THE SEALED SOIL chronicles a young woman’s resistance to her forced marriage, a rebellion quickly misinterpreted by her family as demonic possession. Breathtaking in its directorial sophistication and restraint, and unblinking in its critique of institutionalized misogyny, this is a too-long-underseen masterstroke of world cinema. (Note courtesy of Arbelos Films.) DIR/SCR/PROD Marva Nabili. Iran, 1977, color, 90 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

  Digitally restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive with funding provided by the Golden Globe Foundation, Century Arts Foundation, Farhang Foundation and Mark Amin. Restored from the 16mm original A/B negatives, color reversal internegative, magnetic track and optical track negative. Laboratory services by illuminate Hollywood, Corpus Fluxus, Endpoint Audio Labs, Audio Mechanics, Simon Daniel Sound. Special thanks to Thomas Fucci, Marva Nabili and Garineh Nazarian.

• The Seed of the Sacred Fig

  Nominee Shortlist, Best International Feature, 2025 Oscars®; Nominee, Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language, 2025 Golden Globes; 2025 Oscars® Selection,

  [دانه‌ی انجیر معابد]
  Shot entirely in secret, Mohammad Rasoulof’s award-winning thriller centers on a family thrust into the public eye when Iman (Misagh Zare) is appointed as an investigating judge in Tehran. As political unrest erupts in the streets, Iman realizes that his job is even more dangerous than expected, making him increasingly paranoid and distrustful, even of his own wife, Najmeh (Soheila Golestani), and daughters Sana (Setareh Maleki) and Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami). DIR/SCR/PROD Mohammad Rasoulof; PROD Rozita Hendijanian, Amin Sadraei, Jean-Christophe Simon, Mani Tilgner. Iran//, 2024, color, 167 min. In Persian with English subtitles. RATED PG-13

• The Stranger and the Fog

  New 4K Restoration

  [GHARIBEH VA MEH] [غریبه و مه]
  Legendary Iranian New Wave director Bahram Beyzaie’s sophomore feature possesses both the epic dimensions of myth and the hallucinatory atmosphere of a dream. Set around the northern coast of Iran, THE STRANGER AND THE FOG begins with a boat drifting onto the shore of a small village. The beautiful Rana (Parvaneh Massoumi) hopes the stray vessel has brought back her husband, who disappeared a year ago out on the sea. But the only enger is Ayat (Khosrow Shojazadeh), a wounded stranger with no memory of how he ended up in this land. After gradually proving himself as a member of the community, Ayat upsets the locals by marrying Rana, and then grows increasingly paranoid about intermittently glimpsed figures that vow to avenge his misdeeds from a forgotten past. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.) DIR/SCR Bahram Beyzaie; PROD Mohammad Taghi Shokrayi. Iran, 1974, color, 146 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

  Restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and Cineteca di Bologna in collaboration with Bahram Beyzaie. Funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.

• There Is No Evil

  [SHEYTÂN VOJŪD NADÂRAD] [شیطان وجود ندارد]
  Shot in secret and smuggled out of Iran, THERE IS NO EVIL is an anthology film comprising four moral tales about men faced with a simple yet unthinkable choice — to follow orders to enforce the death penalty, or to resist and risk everything. Whatever they decide, it will directly or indirectly affect their lives, their relationships and their consciences. Says director Mohammad Rasoulof, "As responsible citizens, do we have a choice when enforcing the inhumane orders of despots? As human beings, to what extent are we to be held responsible for carrying out those orders? Where does the duality of love and moral responsibility leave us?" Suspenseful, mysterious and shot through with a sense of urgency, Rasoulof's film is an incisive look at the moral strength and inner humanity of its protagonists. THERE IS NO EVIL has won audience awards and festival prizes around the world, including the Golden Bear (Best Film) at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival. (Note courtesy of Kino Lorber.) DIR/SCR/PROD Mohammad Rasoulof; PROD Kaveh Farnam, Farzad Pak. /Czech Republic/Iran, 2020, color, 150 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

January 31–March 12, 2025

What makes a great film even greater? Seeing it at AFI Silver Theatre! Our programmers have rounded up an eclectic slate of critically acclaimed 2024 releases — some that did not screen at the Silver during their initial run — to give local cinephiles another chance to see a selection of the year’s best cinema on the big screen. With award nominations, year-end best-of lists and hindsight as your guide, take a second look at some of the past year's most distinctive films.

• Anora

  2024 AFI AWARDS Honoree; Winner, Palme d’Or, 2024 Cannes Film Festival; Five 2025 Golden Globe nominations, including Best Motion Picture – Musical/Comedy, Best Director and Best Performance by a Female Actor – Musical/Comedy (Mikey Madison); Top Ten Films, 2024 National Board of Review Awards

  Anora, a young sex worker from Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled. Winner of the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, ANORA is a kind-hearted and rollicking film from director Sean Baker (TANGERINE, THE FLORIDA PROJECT) that deftly balances blasts of jovial comedy with sincere, tear-inducing pathos — all anchored by a stunning performance from Mikey Madison in the title role. (Note adapted from Neon.) DIR/SCR/PROD Sean Baker; PROD Alex Coco, Samantha Quan. U.S., 2024, color, 139 min. RATED R

• Blitz

  Nominee, Best Young Actor/Actress (Elliott Heffernan), 2025 Critics Choice Awards

  In the face of nightly air raids during the Second World War, East End mother Rita (another impressive turn by Saoirse Ronan) grows increasingly worried about her son George’s safety. Under the counsel of her father, Gerald (Paul Weller), she makes the heart-wrenching decision to send George to the countryside. But a few hours into his journey, George alights from the train, determined to return to Stepney Green and his family. Friends and foes stalk London's streets, but each encounter populates George's map of his world, giving him an understanding of how his fellow citizens are affected by these tumultuous times. Filmmaker Steve McQueen's (12 YEARS A SLAVE) incredible ensemble cast includes Kathy Burke, Benjamin Clémentine, Harris Dickinson and Stephen Graham. They inhabit a war-torn London that is impeccably realized by Adam Stockhausen's (12 YEARS A SLAVE, ASTEROID CITY) production design and Yorick Le Saux's (A BIGGER SPLASH, IRMA VEP (2022)) cinematography, while Hans Zimmer’s score revels in the scale and intimacy of the director's vision. But the film's trump card is newcomer Elliott Heffernan, who captures George's emotional strength, impish humor and sense of loyalty to his family with a wisdom beyond his years. Through him, McQueen's BLITZ represents one of the finest portrayals of life in a moment of crisis, perseverance and renewal. (Note adapted from the BFI London Film Festival.) DIR/SCR/PROD Steve McQueen; PROD Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Arnon Milchan, Yariv Milchan, Anita Overland, Michael Schaefer, Adam Somner. UK/U.S., 2024, color, 120 min. RATED PG-13

• Dune: Part Two

  2024 AFI AWARDS Honoree; Nominee, Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Original Score, 2025 Golden Globes

  DUNE: PART TWO expands on the mythic journey of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) as he unites with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, Paul endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee. The star-studded cast of Denis Villeneuve's (BLADE RUNNER 2049) DUNE sequel also includes Florence Pugh, Rebecca Ferguson, Austin Butler, Josh Brolin, Léa Seydoux, Stellan Skarsgård, Javier Bardem, Christopher Walken, Dave Bautista, and Charlotte Rampling, and is a must-see on the big screen. (Note adapted from Warner Bros.) DIR/SCR/PROD Denis Villeneuve; SCR Jon Spaihts from the novel by Frank Herbert; PROD Cale Boyter, Tanya Lapointe, Patrick McCormick. U.S., 2024, color, 166 min. RATED PG-13

• Emilia Pérez

  2024 AFI AWARDS Honoree; Winner, Jury Prize and Best Actress Prize, 2024 Cannes Film Festival; Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language and Best Performance by a Female Actor in a ing Role (Zoe Saldaña), 2025 Golden Globe Awards; Five European Film Awards, including Best European Film, Best European Director and Best European Actress (Karla Sofía Gascón)

  Winner of the Jury Prize and Best Actress Prize for Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, Karla Sofía Gascón and Adriana Paz at this year's Cannes Film Festival, French auteur Jacques Audiard's audacious Mexico-set musical has to be seen (on the biggest possible screen) to be believed. Stuck working at a corporate law firm, Rita (Saldaña) is underpaid and undervalued until a vicious cartel boss (Gascón) enlists her to help with her covert gender transition. Leaving a wife, Jessi (Gomez), and children behind, she blossoms into Emilia Pérez and, with the help of Rita, starts a human-rights nonprofit. But when Jessi returns with a new beau (Édgar Ramírez), will Emilia be able to fully let go of the past? Featuring bold songs by French pop star Camille and even bolder performances from its cadre of leading ladies, EMILIA PÉREZ is a singular sensation. DIR/SCR/PROD Jacques Audiard, SCR from the novel “Écoute” by Boris Razon; PROD Pascal Caucheteux, Valérie Schermann, Anthony Vaccarello. /Mexico, 2024, color, 132 min. In Spanish with English subtitles. RATED R

• Flow

  Winner, Best Motion Picture – Animated, 2025 Golden Globes; Best Animated Feature, 2024 National Board of Review Awards; Best Animated Film, 2024 New York Film Critics Circle Awards; Best European Animated Feature Film, 2024 European Film Awards

  This wordless animated wonder from award-winning Latvian filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis (AWAY) took the 2024 Cannes Film Festival by storm earlier this year, wowing critics and embarking on an unlikely journey towards the 2025 Oscars®. Traversing realms both natural and mystical, FLOW follows a courageous feline after his home is devastated by a great flood. Teaming up with a capybara, a lemur, a bird and a dog to navigate a boat in search of dry land, the cat forms a motley crew of animals who must rely on trust, courage and wits to survive the perils of a newly aquatic planet. A thrilling animated spectacle that expands the possibilities of visual storytelling, FLOW is also a profound meditation on the fragility of the environment and the enduring spirit of friendship and community. (Note adapted from Janus Films.) DIR/SCR/PROD Gints Zilbalodis; SCR/PROD Matīss Kaža; PROD Ron Dyens, Gregory Zalcman. Latvia//Belgium, 2024, color, 85 min. No dialogue. RATED PG

• Hundreds of Beavers

  The highest-rated comedy on Letterboxd's increasingly influential "Year in Review" list for 2024, HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS became the unlikely independent film success story of the year — and is still selling out screenings across the U.S. a year after its theatrical release, making it onto a slew of critics' end-of-year lists and charming audiences across the globe. In a supernatural, 19th-century winter landscape, drunken applejack salesman Jean Kayak faces ruthless elements and sinister creatures — all played by actors in full-size mascot costumes — with nothing but his dim wits to guide him. When he crosses paths with a local merchant and his mischievous daughter, Kayak must go from zero to hero and become North America's greatest fur trapper in order to win her hand — by developing increasingly complex traps to capture hundreds of beavers. An incredible feat of DIY filmmaking, HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS is a hysterical live-action cartoon brimming with the logic of a video game (DON'T STARVE, for one) and packaged in a silent-film aesthetic. With a gag literally every minute, it will have you chortling with delight. DIR/SCR Mike Cheslik; SCR/PROD Ryland Brickson Cole Tews; PROD Sam Hogerton, Kurt Ravenwood, Matt Sabljak. U.S., 2022, b&w, 108 min. NOT RATED

• Kneecap

  2025 Oscar® Selection, Ireland; Winner, Audience Award (NEXT), 2024 Sundance Film Festival; Best Irish Language Feature Film, Best Irish Film and Audience Award, 2024 Galway Film Fleadh; Seven British Independent Film Awards, including Best British Independent Film, Best t Lead Performance and Best Original Music

  Irish rap trio Kneecap play themselves in this fiercely original sex, drugs and hip-hop biopic, laying down a global rallying cry for the defense of native cultures. When fate brings Belfast schoolteacher JJ (JJ "DJ Próvaí" Ó Dochartaigh) into the orbit of self-confessed "low-life scum" Naoise (Naoise "Móglaí Bap" Ó Cairealláin) and Liam Óg (Liam Óg "Mo Chara" Ó Hannaidh), the needle drops on a hip-hop act like no other. Rapping in their native Irish language, Kneecap fast become the unlikely figureheads of a civil rights movement to save their mother tongue. But the trio must first overcome police, paramilitaries and politicians trying to silence their defiant sound — while their anarchic approach to life often makes them their own worst enemies. Documentarian and journalist Rich Peppiatt (ONE ROGUE REPORTER) makes an unforgettable narrative feature debut — the first Irish-language film to screen in the Sundance Film Festival — which also co-stars Irish actors Michael Fassbender, Josie Walker and Simone Kirby in stellar ing roles. (Note adapted from Sony Pictures Classics.) DIR/SCR Rich Peppiatt; PROD Trevor Birney, Jack Tarling. Ireland/UK, 2024, color, 105 min. In Irish and English with English subtitles. RATED R

  Co-presented with Solas Nua's Capital Irish Film Festival (February 27–March 2).

• The Order

  Official Selection, 2024 AFI FEST and Venice Film Festival

  In early 1980s Idaho, hard-driving Terry Husk (Jude Law), an FBI agent recently transferred from New York, investigates a string of bank robberies across the Pacific Northwest. The trail leads to the white supremacist Aryan Nations and a splinter group whose bank-robbing mastermind (Nicholas Hoult) seeks to escalate a race war and overthrow the government. Based on the true story of the neo-Nazi terrorist Bob Matthews, Justin Kurzel’s slow-burn historical thriller makes for a gripping police procedural, particularly because law enforcement is slow to see the patterns or the enormity of the crimes, which also include counterfeiting and the murder of Denver talk radio host Alan Berg (Marc Maron). The recurring presence of the racist, hate-filled novel “The Turner Diaries” at sites investigated by Husk, fellow FBI agent Joanne Carney (Jurnee Smollett) and Coeur d’Alene officer Jamie Bowen (Tye Sheridan) provides an important clue in the case. That this toxic tome has also been linked to multiple murders and insurgencies since then, from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing to the January 6, 2021 siege on the U.S. Capitol, further underscores the clear resonance THE ORDER’s story has for the ongoing threat of domestic terrorism in the U.S. today. (Note courtesy of AFI FEST.) DIR/PROD Justin Kurzel; SCR Zach Baylin, from the book “The Silent Brotherhood” by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt; PROD Stuart Ford, Bryan Haas, Jude Law. U.S./UK/Canada, 2024, color, 116 min. RATED R

• The Piano Lesson

  Winner, Ensemble Tribute Award, 2024 Gotham Awards; Nominee, Best ing Actress (Danielle Deadwyler), 2025 Critics' Choice Awards

  A battle is brewing in the Charles household. At the center stands a prized heirloom piano tearing two siblings apart — a brother (John David Washington) plans to build the family fortune by selling it, while a sister (Danielle Deadwyler) will go to any lengths to hold onto the sole vestige of the family’s heritage. Their uncle (Samuel L. Jackson) tries to mediate, but even he cannot hold back the ghosts of the past. In his feature directorial debut, Malcolm Washington adapts August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork that explores the intergenerational dynamics of identity, resilience and transcendence — revealing startling truths about how we perceive the past and who gets to define our legacy. In addition to Washington, Deadwyler and Jackson, the all-star cast includes Ray Fisher, Erykah Badu, Corey Hawkins and Michael Potts. (Note adapted from Netflix.) DIR/SCR Malcolm Washington; SCR Virgil Williams, from the play by August Wilson; PROD Todd Black, Denzel Washington. U.S., 2024, color, 125 min. RATED PG-13

• Queer

  Winner, Best Actor (Daniel Craig), 2024 National Board of Review Awards; Nominee, Best Performance by a Male Actor – Drama (Daniel Craig), 2025 Golden Globes; Nominee, Best Actor (Daniel Craig), 2025 Critics Choice Awards

  Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Luca Guadagnino’s (CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, CHALLENGERS) spin on William S. Burroughs' autobiographical novel matches its source material in vulnerability and taboo-smashing adventurousness to create a hallucinogenic odyssey bathed in desire. In 1950s Mexico City, William Lee (Daniel Craig) leads a solitary life as an American expat in his late 40s. He is a consummate raconteur who has no trouble finding an audience, but he is also a desperately lonely addict with an alarming fondness for guns. When he becomes infatuated with newly arrived student Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey), he sets his sights on a journey to the Amazon, which will yield a string of unexpected encounters for the two men. Adapted by Justin Kuritzkes (who wrote Guadagnino's CHALLENGERS), QUEER is both faithful to the book and a radical re-imagining. Period detail is offset by anachronistic needle drops and a score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, while an eerie epilogue alludes to the real-life tragedy that prompted Burroughs' writing career. (Note adapted from the Toronto International Film Festival.) DIR/PROD Luca Guadagnino; SCR Justin Kuritzkes, from the novella by William S. Burroughs. PROD Lorenzo Mieli. Italy/U.S., 2024, color, 135 min. In English, Spanish and French with English subtitles. RATED R

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

February 1–April 17, 2025

A multi-talented composer, conductor and producer, Quincy Jones (1933–2024) got his start in the 1950s touring with jazz orchestras, performing with Elvis and conducting albums for Frank Sinatra. At the request of filmmaker Sidney Lumet, he composed his first film score for THE PAWNBROKER in 1964 and subsequently scored over 30 feature films, accumulating seven Academy Award® nominations and two honorary Oscars® for his monumental output. After working on the music for THE WIZ (a new 4K restoration will debut later in 2025), he started an iconic collaboration with Michael Jackson, crafting some of the most indelible pop music of the 20th century. But Jones’ film scores stand alone and this series showcases the range of his work, from jazz to funk to pop.

• The Anderson Tapes

  Sidney Lumet directs Sean Connery as Duke Anderson, a safecracker fresh from the pen, who hooks up with former girlfriend Ingrid Everleigh (AFI DWW Alum Dyan Cannon). Duke decides to clean out her apartment building over Labor Day weekend, with a team that includes antiques dealer Tommy Haskins (Martin Balsam) and electronics expert Kurt Spencer (Christopher Walken). But little do they know everything they say and do is being taped by the FBI, the IRS and the Bureau of Narcotics, who all have their eyes on the building. Quincy Jones’ electronic-infused score amplifies the film’s preoccupation with digital surveillance in this crime caper that was way ahead of its time. DIR Sidney Lumet; SCR Frank Pierson, from the short story by Lawrence Sanders; PROD Robert M. Weitman. US, 1971, color, 99 min. RATED PG

  In Memoriam: Quincy Jones (1933–2024)

• Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

  With the opening chords of Quincy Jones’ Swinging Sixties masterpiece “Soul Bossa Nova,” the character of Austin Powers burst onto the screen and solidified Mike Myers as a comedy icon. A shagadelic spy and sex symbol in ‘60s London, Powers is put on ice when his archnemesis Dr. Evil (also played by Myers) flees into space. 30 years later, when Dr. Evil returns to hold the world hostage, Austin is unfrozen to stop him — but finds his unflappable mojo is out of step with the more progressive ‘90s. Co-starring Elizabeth Hurley, Mimi Rogers, Robert Wagner, Michael York and Seth Green, this spy spoof was a moderate success at the box office but became a sensation on home video, launching two hit sequels (one which even featured Jones in a cameo as himself) and becoming a cult classic. While “Soul Bossa Nova” is now inextricably linked to Austin Powers, its first film appearance came in Jones’ very first film score for THE PAWNBROKER in 1964. DIR Jay Roach; SCR/PROD Mike Myers; PROD Demi Moore, Jennifer Todd, Suzanne Todd. U.S., 1997, color, 89 min. RATED PG-13

  In Memoriam: Quincy Jones (1933–2024)

• Cactus Flower

  Distraught over her relationship with married Manhattan dentist Julian (Walter Matthau), the much younger Toni (Goldie Hawn) attempts suicide but is rescued by her neighbor (Rick Lenz). Newly impressed by the young woman’s ion, Julian considers marrying her — but first he needs to manufacture a wife to divorce, having lied about that, and three kids, too. He impresses his longtime dental assistant Stephanie (Ingrid Bergman) into the job, but because she and Julian seem so perfect together, Toni has second thoughts about what relationship she wants. A time capsule of the late ‘60s, the film features a dreamy pop score by Quincy Jones, which includes jazzy covers of popular hits like The Monkees’ “I’m a Believer.” DIR Gene Saks; SCR I. A. L. Diamond, from the play by Abe Burrows, based on the French production “Fleur de cactus” by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Grédy; PROD M. J. Frankovich. US, 1969, color, 103 min. NOT RATED

  In Memoriam: Quincy Jones (1933–2024)

• The Color Purple

  Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker, THE COLOR PURPLE marked the big-screen debuts of both Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey, was nominated for 11 Academy Awards® and was a major box-office success. An epic tale spanning 40 years, the film traces the life of Celie (Goldberg), an African American woman living in rural Georgia in the first half of the 20th century. Sold into a life of servitude to her brutal husband, "Mister” (Danny Glover), Celie survives incredible abuse and bigotry through her friendships with Sofia (Winfrey), the wife of Mister’s son from a previous marriage, and Shug (Margaret Avery), his mistress. Throughout everything, Celie perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister, Nettie (Akosua Busia). An all-too-rare cinematic exploration of the impact of racism, sexism and domestic violence on Black women, THE COLOR PURPLE marked a significant departure for director Steven Spielberg and was co-produced by Quincy Jones, who also composed the score. DIR/PROD Steven Spielberg; SCR Menno Meyjes, from the novel by Alice Walker; PROD Quincy Jones, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall. U.S., 1985, color, 154 min. RATED PG-13

  In Memoriam: Quincy Jones (1933–2024)

• The Deadly Affair

  After receiving an anonymous poison pen letter alleging a British Foreign Office minister's past communist sympathies, security agent Charles Dobbs (James Mason) conducts a thorough investigation, clearing the man's name. The next day the minister is found dead, with a fishy-looking suicide letter that claims his career had been ruined. Was it murder? Aided by ex-cop Mendel (Harry Andrews), Dobbs tries to find out. Sidney Lumet directs a top-notch international cast that includes Simone Signoret, Maximilian Schell and Harriet Andersson; the memorable score is by Quincy Jones. DIR/PROD Sidney Lumet; SCR Paul Dehn, from the novel "Call for the Dead" by John le Carré. UK, 1967, color, 107 min. NOT RATED

  In Memoriam: Quincy Jones (1933–2024)

• The Hot Rock

  An African diplomat (Moses Gunn) sets his sights on reclaiming a priceless gem, stolen in an act of colonial crime against his small nation. He enlists the help of fresh-from-prison John Dortmunder (Robert Redford) and his brother-in-law Andy Kelp (George Segal) to help steal it back from the Brooklyn Museum. ed by a getaway driver (Ron Leibman) and an explosives expert (Paul Sand), the bumbling crew hatch the ultimate plan and actually make off with the gem, before it slips through their fingers over and over again. A riotous heist caper, Peter Yates’ (BREAKING AWAY, BULLITT) THE HOT ROCK is a rollicking time capsule of ‘70s New York City and features a funkified score from Quincy Jones that would be sampled by countless hip-hop artists in the decades to come. DIR Peter Yates; SCR William Goldman, from the novel by Donald E. Westlake; PROD Hal Landers, Bobby Roberts. U.S., 1972, color, 101 min. RATED PG

  In Memoriam: Quincy Jones (1933–2024)

• In Cold Blood

  Truman Capote's masterful 1966 true-crime novelization was miraculously translated to an equally masterful movie in the hands of the uncompromising Richard Brooks. Nominated for four Academy Awards® — Best Director, Original Score, Cinematography and Adapted Screenplay — the film recounts the events surrounding the brutal murder of a family of four in small-town Kansas during a home robbery gone wrong, as well as the subsequent search for and interrogation of the two culprits. It remains one of the go-to docufiction crime movies. To achieve its raw authenticity, IN COLD BLOOD even went so far as refusing to cast distracting big stars for the lead villains (a smart choice as Robert Blake and Scott Wilson are chillingly perfect — and look eerily similar to the men they portray) and shooting whenever possible in the actual locales where the crimes were committed. The film is a tour de force of cinematic storytelling, heightened further by Conrad Hall's stunning black-and-white camerawork and Quincy Jones' jazzy score. DIR/SCR Richard Brooks, from the novel by Truman Capote. U.S., 1967, b&w, 134 min. RATED R

  In Memoriam: Quincy Jones (1933–2024)

• In the Heat of the Night

  Sidney Poitier stars as Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia homicide detective ing through rural Mississippi and wrongly detained by bigoted sheriff Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger) on a murder charge. Once cleared, he helps the sheriff solve the case. Poitier and Steiger electrify the screen as their mutual antipathy turns to grudging respect; Lee Grant is outstanding in a ing role as the victim's angry widow, with Warren Oates as a creepy deputy. The film won five Oscars®, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Steiger. Quincy Jones’ blues-infused score, with a title song performed by Ray Charles, received a Grammy® nomination for Best Original Score. DIR Norman Jewison; SCR Stirling Silliphant, from the novel by John Ball; PROD Walter Mirisch. U.S., 1967, color, 110 min. NOT RATED

  In Memoriam: Quincy Jones (1933–2024)

• The Italian Job

  Cockney crook Charlie Croker (Michael Caine), just out of the pen, visits his tailor, picks up his coupe and checks into a posh hotel to enjoy the affections of a bevy of paid-for beauties. Then he gets down to business. Enlisting the talents of aristocratic crime lord Mr. Bridger (Noël Coward) and computer genius Professor Peach (Benny Hill), Croker hatches a plot to hijack a busload of gold bullion in Turin, Italy, by way of a citywide traffic jam and Mini Cooper getaway. Genius! Which the movie’s celebrated car chase, accompanied by Quincy Jones’ “Getta Bloomin’ Move On!”, certainly is. A beloved diversion in the UK (it is a Boxing Day TV tradition), the U.S. cult appeal of this comic caper has steadily grown over the years. DIR Peter Collinson; SCR Troy Kennedy Martin; PROD Michael Deeley. UK, 1969, color, 99 min. In English and Italian with English subtitles. RATED G

  In Memoriam: Quincy Jones (1933–2024)

• The New Centurions

  Hollywood journeyman Richard Fleischer (20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, SOYLENT GREEN) delivers a gritty ‘70s thriller exploring the tough realities of policework, based on the bestselling crime novel by police officer turned author Joseph Wambaugh. Struggling to pay for law school, Roy Fehler (Stacy Keach) picks up a part-time gig at the LAPD to help make ends meet. He is partnered with the near-retirement veteran Andy Kilvinski (George C. Scott) and learns how to work the nightshift. Before long, Roy becomes completely consumed by the force, losing himself and his family in the process. Oscar®-winning screenwriter Stirling Silliphant (IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT) adapted the novel, while Quincy Jones provided a smooth, funk-filled score that makes this police procedural a highlight of the genre. DIR Richard Fleischer; SCR Stirling Silliphant, from the novel by Joseph Wambaugh; PROD Robert Chartoff, Irwin Winkler. U.S., 1972, color, 103 min. RATED R

  In Memoriam: Quincy Jones (1933–2024)

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

January 31–April 3, 2025

With a booming voice to match the depth of his talent, James Earl Jones (1931–2024) was a titan of both stage and screen. After beginning his career as a stage carpenter and stage manager before his acting debut, Jones established himself as one of the premier Shakespearean performers of his time; in fact, it was at the annual Shakespeare in the Park series, playing the Prince of Morocco opposite George C. Scott’s Shylock in a production of “The Merchant of Venice,” that Stanley Kubrick witnessed the actor’s commanding stage presence and immediately cast him in DR. STRANGELOVE. Over the course of a 60-year career, Jones starred in countless plays, television shows and movies, amassing numerous awards and achieving the rare EGOT — winner of an Emmy®, Grammy®, Oscar® and a Tony®. (Jones earned his first Tony® for his role in “The Great White Hope,” which premiered at Arena Stage in Southwest DC.) Along the way, he cemented his stature in popular culture through iconic voiceover roles in the STAR WARS and THE LION KING franchises. This series showcases Jones’ versatility as a performer, from his aforementioned voiceover work to his memorable ing role in THE SANDLOT, as well as his performance as a romantic lead in the newly restored Charles Burnett rarity THE ANNIHILATION OF FISH.

• The Annihilation of Fish

  Winner of an Honorary Academy Award® for lifetime achievement, Charles Burnett (KILLER OF SHEEP, TO SLEEP WITH ANGER) remains one of America’s most celebrated independent filmmakers. In his charming romance THE ANNIHILATION OF FISH, Lynn Redgrave plays Poinsettia, a former housewife with an imagined lover in the form of 19th-century composer Giacomo Puccini. She moves into a Los Angeles boarding house with an energetic landlady (AFI DWW Alum Margot Kidder). There she meets a Jamaican widower, Fish (James Earl Jones), who has recently been released from a mental institution despite his continued battles against unseen demons. In the face of personal challenges and differences, the couple grows together as they begin to discover new things about themselves and the nuances of love and happiness. Unseen for almost a quarter of a century following the cancellation of its release in the wake of a single bad review, THE ANNIHILATION OF FISH finally gets its due. (Note adapted from Milestone Films.) DIR Charles Burnett; SCR Anthony C. Winkler; PROD Kris Dodge, Paul M. Heller, William Lawrence Fabrizio, Eric Mitchell, John Remark. U.S., 1999, color, 108 min. RATED R

  In Memoriam: James Earl Jones (1931–2024)

• Claudine

  4K Restoration

  Diahann Carroll received a Best Actress Oscar® nomination for her portrayal of Claudine Price, a single mom raising six kids in 1970s Harlem. Claudine meets and falls in love with good-natured garbageman Rupert "Roop" Marshall (James Earl Jones), but if they were to marry, it would negatively impact her welfare benefits under the rules of "the system," as would disclosing the money she earns working as a housekeeper in a wealthy suburban enclave. CLAUDINE winningly combines romantic comedy and family melodrama, and its portrayal of an unfair, dysfunctional system that dominates and oppresses its characters' lives delivers a serious sting alongside the film’s moments of broad comedy. John Berry (HE RAN ALL THE WAY) directs, marking his first feature in the U.S. following years of exile in after being blacklisted in the '50s. Curtis Mayfield wrote and produced the film's terrific score, featuring vocals by Gladys Knight & the Pips. DIR John Berry; SCR Lester Pine, Tina Pine; PROD Hannah Weinstein. U.S., 1974, color, 92 min. RATED PG

  In Memoriam: James Earl Jones (1931–2024)

• Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

  Stanley Kubrick's classic Cold War satire kicks off when the paranoid Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) initiates a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the Soviet Union, promoted by General Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott), because he suspects the communists are poisoning America's water supply "to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids." Peter Sellers masterfully plays three distinct roles — the U.S. president, a British military man and Dr. Strangelove, a former Nazi genius recruited to work on weapons designs for the Americans. James Earl Jones made his film debut as Lieutenant Zogg, a bombardier aboard a B-52 under the command of Major T. J. “King” Kong (Slim Pickens); he was cast after Kubrick saw him onstage alongside George C. Scott in a production of “The Merchant of Venice.” The film was nominated for four Academy Awards®, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor for Sellers. DIR/SCR/PROD Stanley Kubrick; SCR Peter George, Terry Southern, from George's novel "Red Alert." UK/U.S., 1964, b&w, 96 min. RATED PG

  In Memoriam: James Earl Jones (1931–2024)

• The Lion King

  By far the most popular release of the much-adored Disney Renaissance, THE LION KING remains a cultural touchstone due to its emotional, “Hamlet”-inspired coming-of-age storyline, memorable tunes by Tim Rice and Elton John, an Academy Award®-winning orchestral score by Hans Zimmer and lush hand-drawn animation that renders the vast Serengeti a colorful landscape dotted with charming critters. Plucky lion cub Simba just can’t wait to be king, much to the ire of jealous uncle Scar, who drives the princeling into exile after framing him for the death of monarch Mufasa in a coup orchestrated with the help of a trio of devious hyenas. Alone, afraid and far from home, Simba meets free-spirited duo Timon and Pumbaa, who teach him their motto, “Hakuna Matata” (it means no worries). This new, idyllic life, however, is short-lived, as destiny — or, more accurately, a red-faced baboon named Rafiki — reminds Simba that he must correct past wrongs and claim his place in the great “Circle of Life.” The film features a stellar voice cast that includes Rowan Atkinson, Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane and James Earl Jones, whose booming baritone breathed life and regal majesty into the beloved King Mufasa. DIR Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff; SCR Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, Linda Woolverton; PROD Don Hahn. U.S., 1994, color, 88 min. RATED G

  In Memoriam: James Earl Jones (1931–2024)

• The Sandlot

  In this beloved coming-of-age cult classic, James Earl Jones plays Mr. Mertle, a former baseball player who lives next door to a popular sandlot used for pick-up games with his surly dog nicknamed “The Beast.” The local boys, led by Benny (Mike Vitar), are sandlot regulars and invite new kid in town Scotty Smalls (Tom Guiry) to them for a few innings. When the team loses their only ball, Scotty “borrows” his stepdad’s prized Babe Ruth-signed baseball, only to launch it straight into Mr. Mertle’s yard after landing his first home run. The ensuing adventure to retrieve the souvenir is a timeless yarn filled with nostalgia for the summer days of yore, friendships between boys and love for the great American pastime. DIR/SCR David Mickey Evans; SCR Robert Gunter; PROD Dale De La Torre, William S. Gilmore. U.S., 1993, color, 101 min. RATED PG

  In Memoriam: James Earl Jones (1931–2024)

July 15–September 14, 2022

Julie Andrews has enchanted audiences around the world for more than seven decades with her exceptional work on stage and screen. A three-time Academy Award® nominee, Andrews made her showstopping feature film debut in MARY POPPINS (1964), for which she won an Oscar®, a BAFTA and the hearts of children (and parents) across the globe. In the subsequent years, Andrews forged a remarkable career, winning five Golden Globes, three Grammys® and two Emmys®, in addition to being a Kennedy Center honoree, a Disney Legend inductee and the recipient of a SAG Life Achievement Award. And she shows no signs of slowing down. You could say that she's simply supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

This series celebrates Andrews as the 48th AFI Life Achievement Award honoree and pays tribute to some of the screen legend's greatest roles, including her turn as everyone's favorite nanny in MARY POPPINS, her timeless performance as Maria von Trapp in THE SOUND OF MUSIC and her work in films made with husband Blake Edwards (the gender-bending VICTOR/VICTORIA), George Roy Hill (1920s musical spoof THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE) and Alfred Hitchcock (political thriller TORN CURTAIN). We cap the series with Andrews' dazzling performance as Gertrude Lawrence in Robert Wise's 1969 extravaganza STAR!, screening in 70mm.

• The Sound of Music

  Set in 1930s Austria, THE SOUND OF MUSIC — one of the most successful and best-loved movies in motion picture history — tells the story of Maria (Julie Andrews), a young novitiate who leaves her convent to work as a governess to a large family while she decides whether to become a nun. Ernest Lehman's screenplay made crucial changes to Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway production, including having Maria sing "My Favorite Things" to the von Trapp children (instead of the Mother Abbess singing it to Maria), while director Robert Wise and associate producer Saul Chaplin thrillingly transplanted the performance of "Do-Re-Mi" from indoors to all over Salzburg. Five wins among 10 Oscar® nominations, including Best Picture and Director for Wise. DIR/PROD Robert Wise; SCR Ernest Lehman, from the musical by Howard Lindsay, Russel Crouse, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. U.S., 1965, color, 184 min. including 10-min. intermission. NOT RATED

• The Americanization of Emily

  Screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky (NETWORK) and director Arthur Hiller (THE IN-LAWS, LOVE STORY) loosely adapted this satirical anti-war romcom from William Bradford Huie's novel of the same name. World War II naval officer Lt. Commander Charles Edward Madison (James Garner) is a jaded pragmatist who thinks he's got the world figured out. But when he meets British war widow Emily Barham (Julie Andrews) while stationed in London in the lead-up to D-Day, the pair's culture-clash romance changes everything he thought he knew about himself — especially after he is sent on a dangerous mission from which he may not return. THE AMERICANIZATION OF EMILY goes beyond the boundaries of a fluffy romantic comedy to tackle issues of women's sexuality and emotional welfare, the relationship between masculinity and heroism, and the absurdity of war. It marked an unexpected choice of role for Andrews, who was fresh off her Oscar®-winning debut in MARY POPPINS. DIR Arthur Hiller; SCR Paddy Chayefsky, from the novel by William Bradford Huie; PROD Martin Ransohoff. U.S., 1964, b&w, 115 min. NOT RATED

• Mary Poppins

  Julie Andrews made her screen debut and won her first Best Actress Oscar® for her starring performance as Mary Poppins, beloved nanny to the dysfunctional Banks family in London. Dick Van Dyke plays her oldest friend Bert, a cockney chimney sweep. Adding to the film's charms are the many memorable Sherman Brothers tunes, including "A Spoonful of Sugar," "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and "Chim Chim Cher-ee" — the Oscar® winner for Best Song. DIR Robert Stevenson; SCR Bill Walsh, Don DaGradi, from the books by P. L. Travers; PROD Walt Disney. U.S., 1964, color, 139 min. NOT RATED

• Star!

  70mm

  The life and career of one of Britain's most beloved entertainers, Gertrude Lawrence, gets portrayed by another, Julie Andrews, in Robert Wise's lavish spectacular STAR!, the followup to the same creative team's triumph with THE SOUND OF MUSIC. Lawrence rises through the ranks from vaudeville chorus girl to star performer and grande dame across the jazz age, the war years and peacetime recovery — courted by noblemen and celebrities and a confidante of Noël Coward and the artistic elite. Singing, dancing (choreography by Michael Kidd) and a record-setting number of fabulous costumes animate this extravagant showbiz biopic. Nominated for seven Oscars®. DIR Robert Wise; SCR William Fairchild; PROD Saul Chaplin. U.S., 1968, color, 191 min. including a 15-min. intermission. NOT RATED

• Thoroughly Modern Millie

  A romantic musical spoof set during the Roaring Twenties, THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE was a massive box office hit for Universal and went on to be nominated for seven Oscars® in 1968, winning Best Original Score. Julie Andrews stars as Millie, an innocent country girl and would-be flapper who arrives in New York in search of a job and a husband. Along the way, she becomes the secretary to the rich and handsome Trevor Graydon (John Gavin), befriends the sweet Miss Dorothy (Mary Tyler Moore), fights off evil landlady Mrs. Meers (Beatrice Lillie) and hooks up with lively paperclip salesman Jimmy (James Fox). In the end, it takes a rich, nutty jazz baby like Muzzy (Carol Channing, in an Oscar®-nominated role) to unravel all these complications, give a great party and do some matchmaking. (Note adapted from Universal Pictures.) DIR George Roy Hill; SCR Richard Morris, from the musical "Chrysanthemum" by Robin Chancellor, Neville Phillips and Robb Stewart; PROD Ross Hunter. U.S., 1967, color, 138 min. NOT RATED

• Torn Curtain

  In Alfred Hitchcock's Cold War thriller, distraught fiancée Sarah Sherman (Julie Andrews) follows her atomic scientist husband Michael Armstrong (Paul Newman) as he defects behind the Iron Curtain — or does he? Memorable sequences include an extended chase by bus and one of the most prolonged murder scenes onscreen. Hitchcock: "I thought it was time to show that it was very difficult, very painful and it takes a very long time to kill a man." DIR/PROD Alfred Hitchcock; SCR Brian Moore. U.S., 1966, color, 128 min. In English and German with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Victor/Victoria

  40th Anniversary

  Julie Andrews received her third Academy Award® nomination for this gender-bending musical farce directed by her husband, filmmaker Blake Edwards, and based on the 1933 German film VICTOR AND VICTORIA. Victoria Grant (Andrews) is a struggling British soprano working the nightclub scene in 1930s Paris. When she meets fellow cabaret performer Toddy (Robert Preston), he concocts the idea of billing Victoria as a female impersonator named Victor. When the act is a hit, the duo makes it big — and a Chicago mobster (James Garner, Andrews' costar in THE AMERICANIZATION OF EMILY) becomes enamored with the performer, suspecting the truth. But Victor isn't the only one who isn't all that he seems, and keeping up the charade is no easy task. VICTOR/VICTORIA was nominated for seven Oscars® and won for Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse's showstopping score. DIR/SCR/PROD Blake Edwards, from the 1933 film written by Reinhold Schünzel; PROD Tony Adams. U.S./UK, 1982, color, 132 min. RATED PG

January, 2024–December, 2024

us for a monthly late-night series showcasing classic, soon-to-be classic and should-be-classic horror, sci-fi, action, fantasy and cross-genre gems hand-picked by the AFI Silver programming team. We promise deep cuts — sometimes literally — underrated classics, sneak peeks, new restorations and all-time favorites up on the big screen, the way late-night movies are meant to be seen!

• Female Trouble

  50th Anniversary

  "Crime is beauty." When her parents refuse to buy her a pair of cha-cha heels for Christmas, Dawn Davenport spirals into a debaucherous life of crime that ends in mass murder. Propelled by the glamorous excess of Divine, FEMALE TROUBLE is a perversely satisfying comic melodrama that upends Hollywood notions of morality, beauty and sentimentality. It's a bona fide crowd-pleaser from director John Waters, the “King of Sleaze,” who shot this grungy masterpiece on 16mm in his native Baltimore with his motley cast and crew of locals dubbed Dreamlanders. DIR/SCR/PROD John Waters. U.S., 1974, color, 98 min. RATED NC-17

• The Warriors

  45th Anniversary

  “Warriors! Come out to play!” Upon release 45 years ago, Walter Hill's cult-classic gang fantasy offered a dystopian vision of near-future New York that, like John Carpenter's ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (1981), residents of the time could imagine all too easily. Rival gangs, colorfully and cartoonishly attired (the "Baseball Furies" being a particular fan favorite), attend a summit up in the Bronx. After the leader of the Rogues assassinates the leader of the city's top gang and frames their sworn enemies, the Warriors, for the murder, the Warriors must make their way back through the dangerous labyrinth of the city at night to their base in Coney Island. Can you dig it? DIR/SCR Walter Hill; SCR David Shaber, from the novel by Sol Yurick; PROD Lawrence Gordon. U.S., 1979, color, 92 min. RATED R

• Dune

  Conceived as "STAR WARS for grown-ups" according to actress Virginia Madsen, David Lynch's 1984 sci-fi cult classic was the first adaptation of Frank Herbert's epic 1965 novel to come to fruition, following thwarted attempts by Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky and Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis, who hired Ridley Scott, only to have him drop out to make BLADE RUNNER. It was De Laurentiis' daughter Raffaella who ultimately made it happen, securing Lynch to direct following his success with ERASERHEAD and THE ELEPHANT MAN and embarking on what would become an infamously troubled six-month production with 80 different sets built on 16 soundstages, a total crew of 1,700 and more than 20,000 extras. The result is epic in every sense of the word. The film finds an evil emperor presiding over an intergalactic kingdom. In a grasp for ultimate power, he pits House Atreides against House Harkonnen for control of an all-powerful "spice" found only on the harsh desert planet of Arrakis, also known as "Dune." Heir to the House Atreides is the young and ambitious Paul (Kyle MacLachlan, in his film debut), who may be the messiah long prophesied to lead an uprising against the evil empire. Stunning visuals and a soundtrack by Toto and Brian Eno complement a complex narrative, rife with Lynchian themes and allegories. If you were impressed by Denis Villeneuve's multiple Oscar®-winning 2021 reboot — and you're ready for DUNE: PART TWO — you owe it to yourself to see what Lynch did with the same material 40 years earlier. Where else can you find Patrick Stewart, Sting, Dean Stockwell, Max von Sydow and Sean Young in the same film? DIR/SCR David Lynch, from the novel by Frank Herbert; PROD Raffaella De Laurentiis. U.S., 1984, color, 137 min. RATED PG-13

• World of Tomorrow

  A little girl is taken on a mind-bending tour of her distant future. Originally conceived as a way to practice digital animation while simultaneously creating a couch gag for THE SIMPSONS, Don Hertzfeldt's 2015 short features deceptively simple stick-figure characters amid abstract backgrounds. Its macabre humor, delivered primarily through Julia Pott's monotone narration as clone Emily, is interspersed by the amusing, unscripted recordings of Winona Mae, Hertzfeldt's then-four-year-old niece, as the original Emily. This element of childhood whimsy is integral to balancing out the film's dark absurdism, paving the way for its core theme: life is precious, and the sadness permeating our day-to-day is a reminder to cherish it. Winner, Grand Jury Prize for Short Film, Sundance Film Festiva; Nominee, Best Animated Short, 2015 Academy Awards®. DIR/SCR/PROD Don Hertzfeldt. U.S., 2015, color, 17 min. NOT RATED

  Followed by: WORLD OF TOMORROW EPISODE TWO: THE BURDEN OF OTHER PEOPLE'S THOUGHTS; WORLD OF TOMORROW EPISODE THREE: THE ABSENT DESTINATIONS OF DAVID PRIME; and ON MEMORY

• World of Tomorrow Episode Two: The Burden of Other People's Thoughts

  When the Earth explodes before the consciousness of Emily Prime can be transferred into a clone, the incomplete third-generation backup, Emily 6, travels backward through time to complete the task herself and finally become whole — whatever that means. Don Hertzfeldt's ingenious animation and knack for telling a distressingly poignant tale leavened with achingly funny jokes are in perfect form in this unplanned sequel to his 2015 Academy Award®–nominated WORLD OF TOMORROW. Developed over a year and a half utilizing additional recordings of his young niece, Winona Mae, Hertzfelt's second film in the trilogy is an astonishing dive into the joys and melancholy that make up who we are. DIR/SCR/PROD Don Hertzfeldt. U.S., 2017, color, 23 min. NOT RATED

  Preceded by: WORLD OF TOMORROW (2015)
  Followed by: WORLD OF TOMORROW EPISODE THREE: THE ABSENT DESTINATIONS OF DAVID PRIME; ON MEMORY

• World of Tomorrow Episode Three: The Absent Destinations of David Prime

  While rocketing through space, David is greeted by a hidden memory implanted by a future wife of his future clone urging him to travel to a remote planet and uncover additional memories she has lost. Unfortunately for David, his neural implants lack the space to store this information, forcing him to delete skills he has acquired over his lifetime to make room — a process he repeats on his journey through the cosmos. The final installment in Don Hertzefelt’s tragicomic trilogy shifts its narrative gears toward a more cynical yet no less affecting examination of human existence that will leave you crying tears of laughter and anguish. DIR/SCR/PROD Don Hertzfeldt. U.S., 2020, color, 34 min. NOT RATED

  Preceded by: WORLD OF TOMORROW (2015); WORLD OF TOMORROW EPISODE TWO: THE BURDEN OF OTHER PEOPLE'S THOUGHTS
  Followed by: ON MEMORY

• On Memory

  Released as a bonus feature on the home-video release of the WORLD OF TOMORROW trilogy, this nine-minute short from Don Hertzfeldt finds the animator musing about the nature of memory while recounting his own. DIR/SCR/PROD Don Hertzfeldt. U.S., 2021, color, 9 min. NOT RATED

• Hundreds of Beavers

  In a supernatural, 19th-century winter landscape, drunken applejack salesman Jean Kayak faces the ruthless elements and sinister creatures — all played by actors in full-size mascot costumes — with nothing but his dim wits to guide him. When he crosses paths with a local merchant and his mischievous daughter, Kayak must go from zero to hero and become North America's greatest fur trapper to win her hand — by developing increasingly complex traps to defeat hundreds of beavers. An incredible feat of DIY filmmaking, HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS is a hysterical live-action cartoon brimming with the logic of a video game (DON'T STARVE, for one) and packaged in a silent-film aesthetic with a gag literally every minute that will have you chortling with delight. DIR/SCR Mike Cheslik; SCR/PROD Ryland Brickson Cole Tews; PROD Sam Hogerton, Kurt Ravenwood, Matt Sabljak. U.S., 2022, b&w, 108 min. NOT RATED

• The Mask

  30th Anniversary

  "Ooh, somebody stop me!" Stanley Ipkiss (Jim Carrey) is a socially inept banker with little going for him — that is, until he dons a mysterious wooden mask that transforms him into a maniacal, zoot-suited whirlwind of chaos unafraid to pursue his wildest desires. Armed with wacky shape-shifting abilities and his clever pup Milo, "The Mask" charms seductive nightclub singer Tina Carlyle (Cameron Diaz) and provokes her gangster boyfriend Dorian Tyrell (Peter Greene). THE MASK is the zany offspring of a love affair between film noir and Looney Tunes that cemented Carrey's status as the leading comic actor of the '90s and introduced Diaz as a bombshell sex symbol. A veritable box-office hit — until overtaken by 2019's JOKER, the most profitable comic-book adaptation of all time, with a $350 million gross against an $18 million budget — whose kooky special effects garnered an Oscar® nomination. DIR Chuck Russell; SCR Mike Werb; PROD Bob Engelman. U.S., 1994, color, 101 min. RATED PG-13

• Beverly Hills Cop

  40th Anniversary

  The top-grossing film of 1984 is an exhilarating action-comedy that crowned Eddie Murphy as an A-list star and box-office champ — one who is still going strong four decades later with the franchise's fourth installment BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL F coming in July. Maverick cop Axel Foley (Murphy) leaves frigid Detroit for balmy Beverly Hills to investigate the mysterious death of a childhood friend. Foley's nosing around, plus his rusting Chevy Nova and wild style, don't endear him to the citizens of the tony suburb. But Foley's charm, guile and crime-solving street smarts inspire bored detectives Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and Taggart (John Ashton) to forces with him and crack the case. The soundtrack's synth instrumental "Axel F," by Giorgio Moroder protégé Harold Faltermeyer, became a chart-topping, decade-defining hit. DIR Martin Brest; SCR Daniel Petrie Jr.; PROD Jerry Bruckheimer, Don Simpson. U.S., 1984, color, 105 min. RATED R

...plus 5 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

July 8–September 11, 2016

John Williams' storied career as the composer behind many of the greatest American films and television series of all time boasts hundreds of credits across seven decades. His early work in Hollywood included working as an orchestrator and studio pianist under such movie composer maestros as Bernard Herrmann, Alfred Newman, Henry Mancini, Elmer Bernstein and Franz Waxman. He went on to write music for more than 200 television programs, including the groundbreaking anthology series ALCOA THEATRE and KRAFT TELEVISION THEATRE. Perhaps best known for his enduring collaboration with director Steven Spielberg, his scores are among the most iconic and recognizable in film history, from the edge-of-yourseat JAWS (1975) motif to the emotional swell of E.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL (1982) and the haunting elegies of SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993). Always epic in scale, his music has helped define over half a century of the motion picture medium. Three of Williams' scores landed on AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores — a list of the 25 greatest American film scores of all time — including the unforgettable STAR WARS (1977) soundtrack, at number one. With five Academy Award® wins and 50 nominations in total, Williams holds the record for the most Oscar® nominations of any living person. The television broadcast of the AFI Life Achievement Award honoring John Williams airs on TCM on September 12 during a night of programming dedicated to Williams. Before watching the program, enjoy this carefully selected retrospective of films featuring Williams' many memorable and moving scores.

• A.I. Artificial Intelligence

  15th Anniversary

  In this fairy tale wrapped in a futuristic dystopian sci-fi thriller, young David (Haley Joel Osment) is a mecha, a robot capable of near-human emotions. After a couple whose real son has been stricken by disease welcomes him into their lives, David's happy existence is threatened when their son recovers and returns home, easily winning the competition for mother's affections. Determined to win back his mother's love, David sets out on a quest to become a real boy, ed along the way by a mecha with a different kind of love program: Gigolo Joe (Jude Law, strutting with herky-jerky charm). John Williams garnered an Oscar® nomination for his ethereal score. DIR/SCR/PROD Steven Spielberg, from the story "Supertoys Last All Summer Long" by Brian Aldiss; PROD Bonnie Curtis, Kathleen Kennedy. U.S., 2001, color, 146 min. RATED PG-13

• Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

  Double Feature with THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS

  Tagline: This is not a sequel — there has never been anything like it. Exploitation icon Russ Meyer, working from a script by Roger Ebert, concocted this outrageous, transgressive spoof of the Jacqueline Susann original, already a camp classic. The young ingénues this time play in all-girl rock band The Kelly Affair, rechristened The Carrie Nations after they fall under the spell of Svengali-like producer Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell. Booze, pills, sexual debauchery and incredible plot twists soon follow, all set to a groovy psychedelic rock soundtrack. DIR/PROD Russ Meyer; SCR Roger Ebert. U.S., 1970, color, 109 min. RATED NC-17

• Black Sunday

  John Frankenheimer (THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE) directs this thrilling adaptation of a pre-"The Silence of the Lambs" Thomas Harris novel, inspired by the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre. Embittered Vietnam vet Bruce Dern pilots the Goodyear blimp over NFL stadiums on game day. Tortured as a POW, he intends to share his pain with his fellow Americans in spectacular fashion, by detonating his blimp over Superbowl X. To this end, he conspires with the Palestinian terrorists in Black September. Robert Shaw is the Mossad agent tasked with stopping this disaster from happening. The distinctive score is by John Williams, already a veteran of '70s disaster films EARTHQUAKE and THE TOWERING INFERNO. DIR John Frankenheimer; SCR Ernest Lehman, Kenneth Ross, Ivan Moffat, from the novel by Thomas Harris; PROD Robert Evans. U.S., 1977, color, 143 min. RATED R

• Catch Me If You Can

  This is the incredible true story of Frank Abagnale, Jr., who successfully ed himself off as an airline pilot, a doctor and a lawyer, and forged checks to con the airlines out of nearly $3M…all before his 21st birthday. It's the swinging '60s, and the sky is the limit for the opportunistic wunderkind. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as the young con man on the run, and Tom Hanks is the embattled FBI agent on his trail. Amy Adams and Elizabeth Banks dazzle as sweet young things who fall under DiCaprio's spell; John Williams' effervescent score and Christopher Walken's ing turn as Frank Abagnale, Sr., earned the film its two Oscar® nominations. DIR/PROD Steven Spielberg; SCR Jeff Nathanson, from the book by Frank Abagnale, Jr., and Stan Redding; PROD Walter F. Parkes. U.S., 2002, color, 141 min. RATED PG-13

• Close Encounters of the Third Kind

  After the success of JAWS, Steven Spielberg wanted to do a smallerscale story about a man obsessed with an alien encounter, but, opting to go
  with special effects, the project grew enormously complicated, and ultimately resulted in another major success. Richard Dreyfuss witnesses a UFO on an abandoned road and, against the wishes of wife Teri Garr, goes searching for answers. François Truffaut plays a French UFO specialist who leads the effort to communicate with the aliens. John Williams' Oscar®-nominated score, featuring the "five-tone" motif now ingrained in popular culture, lost that Oscar® to his own score for STAR WARS (but later won two Grammys®). DIR/SCR Steven Spielberg; PROD Julia Phillips, Michael Phillips. U.S., 1977, color, 137 min. RATED PG

• The Cowboys

  When his ranch hands desert him on the eve of a big cattle drive to seek their fortune in the Gold Rush, aging cattleman John Wayne must resort to breaking in a team of youngsters recruited from the local schoolhouse, declining the application of bad apple Bruce Dern and the shady character in his coterie. Though John Williams has scored only a handful of Westerns over his long career, his exemplary score for this film is considered one of his best. DIR/PROD Mark Rydell; SCR Irving Ravetch, Harriet Frank, Jr., William Dale Jennings, from his novel. U.S., 1972, color, 134 min. RATED G

• Dracula

  Following his long-running and Tony®-nominated performance as Count Dracula on the Broadway stage, Frank Langella starred in this screen adaptation directed by John Badham, fresh off his own blockbuster success with SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER. Laurence Olivier plays Van Helsing, Donald Pleasance is Dr. Seward and Kate Nelligan is the Count's willing consort Lucy Seward. In a departure from Bram Stoker's novel, it's Mina Van Helsing (Jan Francis) who's dispatched early here, with Lucy becoming Dracula's true intended. The spooky music is by John Williams. DIR John Badham; SCR W. D. Richter, from the play by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston and the novel by Bram Stoker; PROD Walter Mirisch. U.S., 1979, color, 109 min. RATED R

• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

  Steven Spielberg's beloved science fiction fable centers on Elliott (Henry Thomas), an introspective young boy who befriends an extraterrestrial explorer who has accidentally been left behind by the crew of his spaceship. With the help of siblings Michael (Robert MacNaughton) and Gertie (Drew Barrymore), he helps "E.T." navigate his new earthly environment and evade capture by the government, all in an effort to get home. John Williams won his fourth Oscar® for his dreamlike and heroic compositions here; Spielberg so liked his music for the final chase scene, he edited the sequence to suit the song. DIR/PROD Steven Spielberg; SCR Melissa Mathison; PROD Kathleen Kennedy. U.S., 1982, color, 115 min. RATED PG

• The Empire Strikes Back

  With a richer story, more complex themes and a darker tone than the first STAR WARS, this is the gold standard for blockbuster sequels. Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, the Rebel Alliance is dealt a stunning blow by the evil Empire, and heroes Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) set out across the galaxy in search of their destiny. John Williams' Oscar® nominated score includes the debut of "The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme),"now one of the best-known symphonic movie themes of all time, heard everywhere from sporting arenas to cell phone ringtones." DIR Irvin Kershner; SCR Leigh Brackett, Lawrence Kasdan; PROD Gary Kurtz. U.S., 1980/1997, color, 127 min. RATED PG

• Fiddler on the Roof

  45th Anniversary

  Norman Jewison's beloved musical, about a Jewish family in Anatevka, boasts the classic songs "Tradition," "Matchmaker, Matchmaker," "If I Were a Rich Man," "To Life," "Sunrise, Sunset" and a glorious score by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, with Oscar®-winning orchestrations by John Williams. Joseph Stein's adaptation of Sholem Aleichem's "Tevye Stories" became the longest-running Broadway musical of all time, and it was Stein who wrote the film's wonderfully evocative screenplay. Violin solos by Isaac Stern (some fiddler!) and Oscar® wins for Williams, Oswald Morris' Cinematography and Best Sound. L’chaim! DIR/PROD Norman Jewison; SCR Joseph Stein, from his stage play, based on stories by Sholem Aleichem. U.S., 1971, color, 181 min plus a 15-min intermission. NOT RATED

...plus 21 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

December 13–24, 2024

This holiday season, enjoy perennial Christmas classic IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE alongside '80s favorite DIE HARD (yippee ki-yay, mistletoers!) and THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL in its restored Director's Cut, including "When Love Is Gone" also known as "Belle's Song." Also in the mix this year are Will Ferrell in ELF; METROPOLITAN, followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Whit Stillman; Gillian Armstrong’s 1994 adaptation of timeless classic LITTLE WOMEN; and the 80th anniversary of MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, featuring Judy Garland’s rendition of the holiday favorite “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

Select screenings on Sun, Dec. 22, Mon, Dec. 23 and Tue, Dec. 24 feature intros by Jeremy Arnold, author of Turner Classic Movies' "Christmas in the Movies: 30 Classics to Celebrate the Season."

• It's a Wonderful Life

  Intro and book event with Jeremy Arnold, author of Turner Classic Movies’ “Christmas in the Movies: 30 Classics to Celebrate the Season” at the Dec. 22, 23 and 24 shows | $5 tickets for children 12 and under!

  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 director Frank Capra's finest work. DIR/SCR/PROD Frank Capra; SCR s Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Jo Swerling, from the short story “The Greatest Gift” by Philip Van Doren Stern. U.S., 1946, b&w, 130 min. RATED PG

• Black Christmas

  50th Anniversary

  This 1974 Canadian horror film from the uniquely talented Bob Clark (who would go on to direct a very different holiday classic: A CHRISTMAS STORY) is widely credited with being the first "slasher" film, the genre of horror that would come to dominate by the 1980s. But unlike the formulaic franchise entries that came in its wake, BLACK CHRISTMAS is a well-made thriller, with thoughtful characterization and formally creative moments of fright. Olivia Hussey and Margot Kidder are still in their college sorority house on Christmas Eve, even after receiving a series of menacing telephone calls. Big mistake, eh? DIR/PROD Bob Clark; SCR Roy Moore. Canada, 1974, color, 98 min. RATED R

• Die Hard

  In LA to visit his estranged wife (Bonnie Bedelia), tough-as-nails New York cop John McClane (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 Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman); bumbling the response are the LAPD and the FBI. McClane 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 unsured. 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, 132 min. RATED R

• Elf

  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 is 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 Walter (James Caan). Zooey Deschanel shines as Jovie, Ferrell's co-worker at Gimbel's Santa Land, and the ing 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

• Gremlins

  40th Anniversary | Includes recorded Turner Classic Movies intro

  Teenager Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan) receives a unique gift that his father discovers in a shop in Chinatown: a cuddly little mogwai he names Gizmo. But there are strict rules about the care of a mogwai: don't get it wet, keep it away from bright light and never feed it after midnight. Of course, these very things happen, and soon Billy, his girlfriend Kate (Phoebe Cates) and the entire town are enduring a full-on siege by a horde of demonic, destructive gremlins. There goes Christmas! Joe Dante's comically frightful cult classic is a wicked romp through genre movie conventions, with in-jokes galore. DIR Joe Dante; SCR Chris Columbus; PROD Michael Finnell. U.S., 1984, color, 106 min. RATED PG

  Followed by: FALLING HARE

• Falling Hare

  Bugs Bunny is tormented by a dialogical gremlin sabotaging American warplanes. DIR Robert Clampett; SCR Warren Foster; PROD Leon Schlesinger. U.S., 1943, color, 8 min. NOT RATED

  Preceded by: GREMLINS

• Little Women

  30th Anniversary | Intro and book event with Jeremy Arnold, author of Turner Classic Movies’ “Christmas in the Movies: 30 Classics to Celebrate the Season” at the Dec. 22 show

  “It doesn’t seem like Christmas this year without any presents,” sighs Amy at the beginning of this holiday classic — a beloved screen version of Louisa May Alcott’s timeless literary tale, vividly realized by Australian Gillian Armstrong (MY BRILLIANT CAREER). With their father away with the Union Army, the March sisters of Concord, Massachusetts (Winona Ryder, Trini Alvarado, Claire Danes and Kirsten Dunst) and mother “Marmee” (Susan Sarandon) navigate life’s twisting road, through wartime deprivation, first love, heartbreak and burgeoning adulthood. With Gabriel Byrne, Christian Bale, Samantha Mathis and Eric Stoltz. Writing for the BBC, film critic Christian Blauvelt said, “LITTLE WOMEN makes the case that Christmas is a time to be savored, for the experiences you share, not the trinkets that fill your stocking.” DIR Gillian Armstrong; SCR Robin Swicord, from the novel by Louisa May Alcott; PROD Denise Di Novi. U.S., 1994, color, 118 min. RATED PG

• Meet Me in St. Louis

  80th Anniversary | Intro and book event with Jeremy Arnold, author of Turner Classic Movies’ “Christmas in the Movies: 30 Classics to Celebrate the Season” at the Dec. 23 show

  Vincente Minnelli's classic musical is a nostalgic portrait of turn-of-the-20th-century American life, centered on a prosperous family in a stately Victorian home (with art direction by Lemuel Ayers, Cedric Gibbons and Jack Martin Smith). The story turns on the powerful childhood fear of change — of losing one's home, friends and family. Older daughters Rose and Esther (Lucille Bremer and Judy Garland) scheme to land boyfriends, while young Tootie (Margaret O'Brien) plans to raise hell on Halloween. Just before the holidays, their father receives a job offer that would mean leaving St. Louis for New York, and the children act out — in ways large and small, funny and frightful. Memorable music numbers include "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "The Boy Next Door" and the Oscar®-nominated "The Trolley Song." DIR Vincente Minnelli; SCR Irving Brecher, Fred F. Finklehoffe, from the story by Sally Benson; PROD Arthur Freed. U.S., 1944, color, 113 min. NOT RATED

• Metropolitan

  Q&A with filmmaker Whit Stillman

  Whit Stillman's sparkling comedic debut earned the director multiple accolades including a Best Original Screenplay Oscar® nomination. A middle-class Manhattanite from the Upper West Side falls in with a clique of upper-class Upper East Siders during the busy debutante ball and holiday season; amid the ensuing drinking, debating and comedic class anxiety come the pangs of love, self-discovery and the first fumblings toward growing up. Starring Carolyn Farina, Edward Clements, Christopher Eigeman and Taylor Nichols. DIR/SCR/PROD Whit Stillman. U.S., 1990, color, 98 min. RATED PG-13

• The Muppet Christmas Carol

  Restored Director's Cut | Intro and book event with Jeremy Arnold, author of Turner Classic Movies’ “Christmas in the Movies: 30 Classics to Celebrate the Season” at the Dec. 24 show

  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

October 25–November 16, 2024

The Silent Cinema Showcase returns with another selection of newly restored screen classics and rare gems from the silent era. Silent filmmaking was an art form unto itself, one that sound films may have replaced but did not necessarily sur. us for our annual showcase of silent cinema and meet some of the dedicated and talented musicians who bring these films to life with their inventive accompaniment, including Andrew Earle Simpson, Donald Sosin, Ben Model and the Anvil Orchestra (formerly Alloy Orchestra). We kick things off with a special Silents Synced presentation of F. W. Murnau's NOSFERATU on October 25, then present 100th anniversary screenings of PETER PAN (1924), HOT WATER (1924) in 35mm with GIRL SHY (1924) in 35mm and THE NAVIGATOR (1924), a free community screening of THE FLYING ACE (1926) and much more!

• Hot Water

  100th Anniversary | Silent with live musical accompaniment by Donald Sosin and Joanna Seaton

  HOT WATER (1924) in 35mm
  After declaring that he will never give up his freedom for "a pair of soft-boiled eyes," a young lad (Harold Lloyd) bumps into a lass (Jobyna Ralston) and is outright smitten. Their ensuing marital life forms the basis of this hilarious, episodic flick that finds Lloyd riding a jam-packed tram with a live turkey in hand, begrudgingly taking the family out in his mint-clean Butterfly Six automobile and fearing (or dreaming?) that he has accidently murdered his hellish mother-in-law. This film is 60 minutes of pure, fun gags from one of the masters of silent era comedy. DIR Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor; SCR Thomas J. Gray, John Grey, Sam Taylor, Tim Whelan. U.S., 1924, b&w, 60 min. Silent with English intertitles. NOT RATED

  35mm preservation print courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive
  Followed by: GIRL SHY (1924) in 35mm

• Girl Shy

  100th Anniversary | Silent with live musical accompaniment by Donald Sosin and Joanna Seaton

  GIRL SHY (1924) in 35mm
  Shy, stuttering bachelor Harold Meadows (Harold Lloyd) spends his days secluded in a tailoring shop, writing the ultimate guide for bashful young men, "The Secret of Making Love." When Harold meets and falls in love with rich Mary (Jobyna Ralston), he must somehow stall her impending marriage. This is one of Lloyd's most popular feature-length films, featuring fantasy sequences enacting the chapters from his character's hopelessly misguided book, plus his famous breathtaking race across town to halt the wedding. Many scenes were filmed in and around recognizable (and now not-so-recognizable) Hollywood landmarks, including the Garden Court Apartments, the Mary Moll residence (future site of the Roosevelt Hotel, built in 1927), the extant Johnny Grant Building and many more. A true early Hollywood experience, Harold Lloyd-style! (Note courtesy of American Cinematheque.) DIR Fred C. Newmeyer; DIR/SCR Sam Taylor; SCR Tim Whelan, Ted Wilde; PROD Harold Lloyd. U.S., 1924, b&w, 89 min. Silent with English intertitles. NOT RATED

  Preceded by: HOT WATER (1924) in 35mm

• Drifting

  Silent with live musical accompaniment by Donald Sosin and Joanna Seaton

  In his penultimate collaboration with actress Priscilla Dean, adapted from the Broadway play of the same name, writer/director Tod Browning weaves an intricate crime drama that also features a pivotal ing performance from 18-year-old Anna May Wong in one of her first film roles. Dean delivers a steely, multifaceted turn as Cassie Cook, a jaded young woman involved in the Shanghai opium trade. Her sights are set on escape, and she has made up her mind to return to America with her drug-addicted friend Molly Norton (Edna Tichenor) in tow. Facing a shortage of cash, she retreats to Hang Chow, a small village near the poppy fields, to intercept a smuggling job organized by her rival-turned-colleague Jules Repin (Wallace Beery). But Cassie is soon sidetracked by sussing out whether Captain Arthur Jarvis (Matt Moore), working to revive a decommissioned mine, is, in fact, a government plant with a mandate to disrupt the town’s black market activities. (Note courtesy of Film at Lincoln Center) DIR/SCR Tod Browning; SCR A.P. Younger, from the play by John Colton and Daisy H. Andrews; PROD Carl Laemmle. U.S., 1923, b&w, 70 min. Silent with English intertitles. NOT RATED

• He Who Gets Slapped

  100th Anniversary | Silent with live musical accompaniment by Andrew Earle Simpson

  Swedish master Victor Sjöström (THE WIND) wrings great pathos from Lon Chaney at his most operatically and existentially pained. Chaney portrays Paul Beaumont, a brilliant scientist who suffers the dual traumas of having his dreams shattered by a failed invention and his heart broken by a faithless wife. Now a broken man, Beaumont s the circus as a very, very sad clown who specializes in being the butt of jokes in a cruel slapstick revue. Also starring Norma Shearer and John Gilbert, this film was an early example of MGM star packaging, pioneered by young production chief Irving Thalberg. DIR/SCR/PROD Victor Sjöström; SCR Carey Wilson from the play by Leonid Andreyev; PROD Louis B. Mayer. U.S., 1924, b&w, 80 min. Silent with English intertitles. NOT RATED

• Metropolis

  Silent with live musical accompaniment by the Anvil Orchestra

  Incorporating more than 25 minutes of recently discovered footage, the 2010 restoration of METROPOLIS is the definitive edition of Fritz Lang's science fiction masterpiece. Like puzzle pieces, these scenes and subplots, long thought lost, help to complete the picture of the dizzyingly intricate plot. In a fabulous city of the future, penthouse-dwelling capitalist bureaucrats hold sway over a subterranean working class, but a prophet from the masses foresees the coming of a new world order. Inspired by New York's skyscrapers, the production design exaggerates verticality, using modernist architecture to reinforce the extreme separation of the classes. The New York Times called it, "one of the most celebrated movies in cinema history,” remarking that, “for the first time, Lang's vision...which has influenced contemporary films like BLADE RUNNER and STAR WARS, seems complete." DIR/SCR Fritz Lang; SCR Thea von Harbou, from her novel; PROD Erich Pommer. , 1927, b&w, 149 min. Silent with English intertitles. NOT RATED

  Restoration carried out by Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung, Wiesbaden, tly with Deutsche Kinemathek — Museum für Film und Fernsehen, Berlin, in cooperation with Museo del Cine Pablo C. Ducrós Hicken, Buenos Aires.

  About the Anvil Orchestra
  The Anvil Orchestra consists of Roger C. Miller and Terry Donahue of Alloy Orchestra, who are ed by Boston drumming legend Larry Dersch. The Anvil Orchestra will continue the tradition of writing and performing original scores for silent films.

  Co-presented by Art Deco Society of Washington.

• Nosferatu

  Silent with recorded soundtrack by Radiohead | Intro by Josh Frank, creator of Silents Synced

  Silents Synced inaugural program with film synced to Radiohead’s “KID A” and “Amnesiac.”

  [NOSFERATU, EINE SYMPHONIE DES GRAUENS]
  Casting a long and terrifying shadow over the genre, German silent film master F. W. Murnau's uncredited appropriation of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" set the standard for all vampire flicks to come. Max Schreck's monstrous Count Orlok is singularly frightening, repulsive and beastly where Bela Lugosi was courtly and Christopher Lee seductive. DIR F. W. Murnau; SCR Henrik Galeen, from the novel "Dracula" by Bram Stoker; PROD Enrico Dieckmann, Albin Grau. , 1922, b&w/hand-tinted color, 85 min. Silent with English intertitles. NOT RATED

  About Silents Synced
  Silents Synced is a series of alternative content screenings that pairs classic silent movies with rock music, featuring such influential groups as Radiohead, R.E.M., They Might Be Giants, Pearl Jam, Pixies and Amon Tobin.

• Our Dancing Daughters

  Silent with live musical accompaniment by Andrew Earle Simpson

  Joan Crawford lights up the screen in the role that made her a star. While making the rounds at nightclubs, dances, picnics and yacht parties, young flapper Diana "Di" Medford (Crawford) falls in love with Ben Blaine (John Mack Brown). But they are not safe from the poisoned tongue of Di's best friend, Ann (Anita Page), when she learns Ben's net worth. Ben and Ann wed, but Ben realizes his mistake even before the honeymoon is over — and confesses his error to Di. But how will Di and Ben find a happy life together with Ben married to Ann? (Note adapted from Warner Bros.) DIR Harry Beaumont; SCR Josephine Lovett; PROD Hunt Stromberg. U.S., 1928, b&w, 85 min. Silent with English intertitles. NOT RATED

• Peter Pan

  100th Anniversary | Silent with live musical accompaniment by Donald Sosin and Joanna Seaton | Free for children 12 and under!

  Decades before Mary Martin became synonymous with the role of Peter Pan, J. M. Barrie's play was the subject of a lavish Paramount production, a major hit in 1924. Long thought lost, the film was recently rediscovered and fully restored from original nitrate materials, with authentic color tints. Teenager Betty Bronson stars as Peter Pan, the boy who refuses to grow up, and charms Wendy Darling and her brothers to fly with him to Neverland. There, they struggle to rescue the Lost Boys from Captain Hook (Ernest Torrence, who played Buster Keaton's father in STEAMBOAT BILL, JR.) and his pirates, encountering the fairy Tinker Bell (Virginia Brown Faire), a man-eating crocodile and a group of valiant Native Americans (led by Anna May Wong as Tiger Lily). With inventive special effects by Roy Pomeroy and fine photography by James Wong Howe. DIR/PROD Herbert Brenon; SCR Willis Goldbeck, from the play by J. M. Barrie. US, 1924, b&w/color tinting, 105 min. Silent with English intertitles. NOT RATED

  About Donald Sosin & Joanna Seaton
  Joanna Seaton and Donald Sosin bring their unique blend of keyboards, vocals and percussion to major film festivals and venues around the world. They perform often at Italy’s annual silent film retrospectives in Bologna and Pordenone. They have appeared numerous times at Yale, Harvard, Brown, Cornell and Emory Universities and have created scores for over 65 silent film DVDs on the Criterion, Kino, Milestone and Flicker Alley labels, among others. Their workshops in silent film music and songwriting are popular with students of all ages.

  Called a “silvery soprano” by the New York Times, Joanna, a native of Manhattan, has a Theatre Arts degree from Cornell University. She has appeared in over 80 Off-Broadway, regional and stock theatre productions and has sung with jazz great Dick Hyman at the 92nd St. Y. Donald grew up in Rye, NY and Munich and played on Broadway for many years, after composition studies at Michigan and Columbia. His music has been heard on PBS, TCM, as background for network soaps and in many contemporary films. The couple lives in northwest Connecticut with their children.

• Return to Reason

  Return to Reason: Short Films by Man Ray

  With recorded soundtrack by SQÜRL

  LE RETOUR À LA RAISON [RETURN TO REASON]
  For LE RETOUR À LA RAISON, Man Ray extended his visual experimentations from photography to moving images, playfully applying salt and pepper, pins and thumbtacks directly onto celluloid. The final segment introduces the legendary Kiki de Montparnasse, his frequent model, her nude form overlaid by bands of light and shadow. DIR/PROD Man Ray. , 1923, b&w, 3 min. NOT RATED

  A high-water mark of early European avant-garde cinema, these four films that Man Ray directed between 1923 and 1929 — LE RETOUR À LA RAISON, EMAK-BAKIA, L’ÉTOILE DE MER, and LES MYSTÈRES DU CHÂTEAU DU DÉ — form a seminal nexus of surrealist narrative, dark eroticism and playful abstraction. In these shorts, Man Ray began experimenting with the limitless possibilities of montage, as well as the direct application onto celluloid of objects such as salt and pepper, pins and thumbtacks. Juxtaposing undulating geometric patterns, a twirling fairground ride and a female nude, among other striking images, Man Ray finds subconscious correspondences among seemingly incongruous materials and figures. For the centennial of LE RETOUR À LA RAISON, the Jim Jarmusch-Carter Logan band SQÜRL recorded a brand new drone-rock score for this program of four films by Man Ray. The combo’s cosmic sounds beautifully complement Man Ray’s visuals, conjuring notes of the ineffable, the haunting and the sublime.

  The restoration process was led by WOMANRAY and Cinenovo sourcing original prints from various parts of the world, in partnership with La Cinémathèque française, the Centre Pompidou, the Library of Congress, the French CNC and Cineteca di Bologna.

• Emak-Bakia

  Return to Reason: Short Films by Man Ray

  With recorded soundtrack by SQÜRL

  EMAK-BAKIA [LEAVE ME ALONE]
  Subtitled as a cinépoéme, or a cinematic poem, EMAK-BAKIA restages many of Man Ray’s still-photography techniques, such as double exposure, soft focus and his signature "rayographs." The title means "leave me alone" in the Basque language, though it can also be translated as "give peace." DIR/SCR/PROD Man Ray. , 1923, b&w, 19 min. NOT RATED

  A high-water mark of early European avant-garde cinema, these four films that Man Ray directed between 1923 and 1929 — LE RETOUR À LA RAISON, EMAK-BAKIA, L’ÉTOILE DE MER, and LES MYSTÈRES DU CHÂTEAU DU DÉ — form a seminal nexus of surrealist narrative, dark eroticism and playful abstraction. In these shorts, Man Ray began experimenting with the limitless possibilities of montage, as well as the direct application onto celluloid of objects such as salt and pepper, pins and thumbtacks. Juxtaposing undulating geometric patterns, a twirling fairground ride and a female nude, among other striking images, Man Ray finds subconscious correspondences among seemingly incongruous materials and figures. For the centennial of LE RETOUR À LA RAISON, the Jim Jarmusch-Carter Logan band SQÜRL recorded a brand new drone-rock score for this program of four films by Man Ray. The combo’s cosmic sounds beautifully complement Man Ray’s visuals, conjuring notes of the ineffable, the haunting and the sublime.

  The restoration process was led by WOMANRAY and Cinenovo sourcing original prints from various parts of the world, in partnership with La Cinémathèque française, the Centre Pompidou, the Library of Congress, the French CNC and Cineteca di Bologna.

...plus 11 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

October 30–November 28, 2024

Slip into your favorite long leather coat, put on some heart-thumping techno and party like the second millennium is (almost) over with a selection of films that capture the cultural zeitgeist of the extraordinary year that was 1999. Doomsayers prophesied the end times and Y2K was around the corner, but if there was one place we could find comfort, it was in a movie theater where brilliant films affirmed our identities, freed our minds and even sparked a craving for revolution. From a daring rescue mounted by talking toys or a teacher-student feud rife with election interference to a chronicle of the rhythmic beats of Cuban music or a high school romance with a Shakespearean twist, the films in this series embrace the ennui, fears and woes of the time along with its zeal, hopes and joys. And because the bigger the party, the better, we’ve included some 1998 films, too — not only because we love them dearly, but also because they speak to the overarching themes of a year that concluded one of the most remarkable decades in cinema.

• 10 Things I Hate About You
• All About My Mother

  25th Anniversary

  [TODO SOBRE MI MADRE]
  In Pedro Almodóvar's Oscar® -winning homage to women, single mother Manuela (Cecilia Roth) watches her only son die on his 17th birthday while running to get a stage actress' autograph. As Roth embarks on her quest to find the boy's transgender mother, she befriends a richly diverse assortment of women, including the actress her son died pursuing and pregnant nun Rosa (Penélope Cruz). DIR/SCR Pedro Almodóvar. Spain, 1999, b&w/color, 101 min. RATED R

• Beau Travail

  25th Anniversary

  With her ravishingly sensual take on Herman Melville's "Billy Budd, Sailor," Claire Denis firmly established herself as one of the great visual tone poets of our time. Amid the azure waters and sunbaked desert landscapes of Djibouti, a French Foreign Legion sergeant (Denis Lavant) sows the seeds of his own ruin as his obsession with a striking young recruit (Grégoire Colin) plays out to the thunderous, operatic strains of Benjamin Britten. Denis and cinematographer Agnès Godard fold military and masculine codes of honor, colonialism's legacy, destructive jealousy and repressed desire into shimmering, hypnotic images that ultimately explode in one of the most startling and unforgettable endings in all of modern cinema. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.) DIR/SCR Claire Denis; SCR Jean-Pol Fargeau, from the novella "Billy Budd, Sailor" by Herman Melville; PROD Patrick Grandperret. , 1999, color, 93 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• Being John Malkovich

  25th Anniversary

  "Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich!" After making groundbreaking music videos for the Beastie Boys, Björk, R.E.M. and Weezer, director Spike Jonze graduated to feature filmmaking with this one-of-a-kind head trip — in the most literal sense — of a movie, scripted by Charlie Kaufman. Struggling puppeteer Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) takes a temp job as a file clerk and makes an amazing discovery on the 7th-and-a-half floor of his office building: a tiny door that provides a portal into the mind of famous actor John Malkovich. Craig enjoys his brief visit inside the actor's cranium, which affords him the vicarious thrill of being a celebrity and experiencing life through Malkovich's eyes. But soon, others want in on the act. The excellent cast includes Catherine Keener, Cameron Diaz, Charlie Sheen and — who else? — John Malkovich. DIR Spike Jonze; SCR Charlie Kaufman; PROD Steve Golin, Vincent Landay, Sandy Stern, Michael Stipe. U.S., 1999, color, 113 min. RATED R

• Buena Vista Social Club

  25th Anniversary

  With a small film crew, Wim Wenders accompanied his old friend Ry Cooder — composer for Wenders' PARIS, TEXAS and THE END OF VIOLENCE — on a trip to Havana in 1998. Cooder wanted to record his material for singer Ibrahim Ferrer's solo album at a studio there, following the recording of the first album by the band Buena Vista Social Club (which had not yet been released). Over the course of several months, Wenders immersed himself in the world of Cuban music. He observed and accompanied the musicians — first in Havana; then, weeks later, in April 1998, on their trip to Amsterdam for the first public performance of the band (who had never played together outside a studio); then, in July 1998, to their triumphal concert at New York's Carnegie Hall. Wenders thus followed these old heroes of the traditional Cuban Son music on their path from being completely forgotten to becoming world famous — within the period of just a few months. "I thought, I'll shoot a documentary," Wenders said, "and here we were, about to witness a fairy tale that no one could have imagined in this form." The documentary became a cinematic sensation and an international success. Along with an Academy Award® nomination for Best Documentary, BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB won the same category at the European Film Awards, the German Film Award in Gold, 's Golden Camera and the Cinema Brazil Grand Prize, among many others. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.) DIR/SCR Wim Wenders; PROD Ulrich Felsberg, Deepak Nayar. /U.S./UK//Cuba, 1999, b&w/color, 105 min. In English and Spanish with English subtitles. RATED G

• But I'm a Cheerleader

  25th Anniversary

  This whimsically edgy comedy, directed by Jamie Babbit, follows teenager Megan (Natasha Lyonne), whose suburban existence filled with friends, cheerleading and all-American fun is upended when her straitlaced parents suspect she may be a lesbian. In a panic, they send her to True Directions, a "rehabilitation" camp run by the strict and prudish Mary (Cathy Moriarty), to mount an intervention led by counselor Mike (RuPaul). Megan dutifully follows the program — until she develops feelings for another camper (Clea DuVall). This sapphic satire's campy, retro aesthetic and earnest plea for self-acceptance and love skewer toxic heteronormativity and outdated gender norms. Featuring a stellar cast of ing players that includes Melanie Lynskey, Eddie Cibrian, Michelle Williams and Julie Delpy. (Note adapted from Lionsgate.) DIR Jamie Babbit; SCR Brian Peterson; PROD Leanna Creel, Andrea Sperling. U.S., 1999, color, 91 min. RATED R

• Cruel Intentions

  25th Anniversary

  Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe) are two very bored, very wealthy and somewhat twisted stepsiblings living on Manhattan's Upper East Side. With school out, the two decide to spice up their summer and make a little wager. The bet? Sebastian has to seduce the proudly virginal Annette (Reese Witherspoon), the new heaster's daughter. The ? If he succeeds, he gets to act on his deepest forbidden desire. If he fails, Kathryn gets his prized Jaguar convertible. But as seduction leads to romance, betrayal appears inevitable. A modern-day retelling of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses," the film also stars '90s favorites Selma Blair, Joshua Jackson and Tara Reid. DIR/SCR Roger Kumble, from the novel "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos; PROD Neal H. Moritz. U.S., 1999, color, 97 min. RATED R

• Election

  25th Anniversary

  Reese Witherspoon is straight-A go-getter Tracy Flick, determined to be president of George Washington Carver High's student body. But when teacher Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) observes the zealous political locomotive that is Flick, he decides to derail her obsessive overachieving by recruiting the unqualified but popular Paul Metzler (Chris Klein) to run against her. When Metzler's sister (Jessica Campbell) s the race on an "abolish student government" platform, Flick is forced to take drastic measures. This clever dark comedy presents a scathing look at blind ambition and power politics, recognizable beyond the confines of its Omaha high school setting. DIR/SCR Alexander Payne; SCR Jim Taylor, from the novel by Tom Perrotta; PROD Albert Berger, David Gale, Keith Samples, Ron Yerxa. U.S., 1999, color, 103 min. RATED R

• Fight Club

  25th Anniversary

  "The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club." David Fincher definitively established his auteur status with this inventive adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s controversial novel. The film's unnamed Narrator (Edward Norton) is a depressed, insomniac, white-collar drone. Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) lives by his wits and has the guts to go his own way as a part-time movie projectionist and soap salesman, and a full-time lover of freedom. Fast friends, they forces and form Fight Club, wherein men bare-knuckle brawl away their frustrations. But after Fight Club becomes "Project Mayhem," a national anti-capitalist movement, things rapidly deteriorate for the Narrator and Tyler. DIR David Fincher; SCR Jim Uhls, from the novel by Chuck Palahniuk; PROD Ross Grayson Bell, Ceán Chaffin, Art Linson. U.S., 1999, color, 139 min. RATED R

• Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai

  25th Anniversary

  Forest Whitaker stars in the title role as a mob hit man who coldly executes his contracts yet lives by the samurai's ancient code of honor. The tables turn when his former bosses put out a hit on him. Highly stylized violence and disarming moments of oddball humor infuse this East-meets-West movie genre mashup, with additional street cred provided by RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan’s inventive score. DIR/SCR/PROD Jim Jarmusch; PROD Richard Guay. U.S., 1999, color, 116 min. RATED R

...plus 7 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

October 25–31, 2024

Get in the Halloween spirit with AFI Silver's annual celebration of scary movies! Highlights include our now-traditional presentation of F. W. Murnau's NOSFERATU (synced to the music of Radiohead), a very special Count Gore De Vol presentation of Tobe Hooper's 1974 proto-slasher THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, the return of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW with a live shadowcast by Bloody Mayhem Theatrical, several iconic horror movies celebrating various anniversaries and much, much more.

• Mahakaal

  30th Anniversary | New Restoration

  Are you ready for Freddy? Out of all the Bollywood horror films that were inspired by the worldwide phenomenon of Wes Craven's A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, MAHAKAAL is the most brazenly outrageous. The film — directed by Shyam Ramsay & Tulsi Ramsay of the legendary Ramsay family — finds Anita and her friends battling Shakaal, a horrifically disfigured dream-stalker with a razor-clawed glove. A mind-altering cocktail of elements from A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 1-5, DAY OF THE DEAD and THE TERMINATOR, MAHAKAAL is awash with Argento-esque neon, elaborate effects and joyous musical segments. (Note courtesy of AGFA.) DIR Shyam Ramsay, Tulsi Ramsay; SCR Y.V. Tyagi; PROD Gangu Ramsay. India, 1994, color, 132 min. In Hindi with English subtitles. NOT RATED

• A Nightmare on Elm Street

  40th Anniversary

  "One, two, Freddy's coming for you!" High schooler Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) and friends face off against the deadly finger knives of dreamland boogeyman Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund, here avoiding the camp characterization that would mark his performances in the sequels). This terrifying film launched one of the most successful horror franchises in history, including nine features and a series. Director Wes Craven creatively stages the dream sequences and expertly ratchets up the tension leading to a breakneck finale. DIR/SCR Wes Craven; PROD Robert Shaye. U.S., 1984, color, 91 min. RATED R

• Nosferatu

  Silents Synced inaugural program with film synced to Radiohead’s “KID A” and “Amnesiac.”

  [NOSFERATU, EINE SYMPHONIE DES GRAUENS]
  Casting a long and terrifying shadow over the genre, German silent film master F. W. Murnau's uncredited appropriation of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" set the standard for all vampire flicks to come. Max Schreck's monstrous Count Orlok is singularly frightening, repulsive and beastly where Bela Lugosi was courtly and Christopher Lee seductive. DIR F. W. Murnau; SCR Henrik Galeen, from the novel "Dracula" by Bram Stoker; PROD Enrico Dieckmann, Albin Grau. , 1922, b&w/hand-tinted color, 85 min. Silent with English intertitles. NOT RATED

  About Silents Synced
  Silents Synced is a series of alternative content screenings that pairs classic silent movies with rock music, featuring such influential groups as Radiohead, R.E.M., They Might Be Giants, Pearl Jam, Pixies and Amon Tobin.

  Also part of the 2024 Silent Cinema Showcase.

• Nosferatu the Vampyre

  45th Anniversary

  [NOSFERATU - PHANTOM DER NACHT]
  Werner Herzog’s only horror film is as rich with artistry and tragedy as his most grounded, human works are. It is 1850 in the beautiful, perfectly kept town of Wismar. Jonathan Harker (Bruno Ganz, WINGS OF DESIRE) is leaving on a long journey over the Carpathian Mountains to finalize real estate arrangements with a wealthy nobleman. His wife Lucy (POSSESSION’s Isabelle Adjani) is troubled by a strong premonition of danger and begs him not to go. Despite her warnings, Jonathan arrives four weeks later at a large, gloomy castle. Out of the mist appears a pale, wraithlike figure with deep sunken eyes who identifies himself as Count Dracula (Klaus Kinski, FITZCARRALDO). The events that transpire slowly convince Harker that he is in the presence of a vampire. Even so, he doesn’t realize the magnitude of danger he, his wife and his town are about to experience. (Note courtesy of AGFA.) DIR/SCR/PROD Werner Herzog. West /, 1979, color, 107 min. In German, Romanian and English with English subtitles. RATED PG

• The Rocky Horror Picture Show

  Live shadowcast by Bloody Mayhem Theatrical

  Recently engaged Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick) and Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon) stumble upon a castle in the middle of the night that is definitely not a hunting lodge for "rich weirdos." A jump to the left and a step to the right later, they find themselves as guests of Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), who does his best to make them "shiver with anticipation" at what he has in store for everyone at the Annual Transylvanian Convention. A satirical, musical tribute to classic science fiction and horror B-movies, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW has become a beacon, a touchstone and, for generations of fans young and old, a way of life. DIR/SCR Jim Sharman; SCR Richard O'Brien, from his musical play; PROD Michael White. UK/U.S., 1975, color, 100 min. RATED R

• Shaun of the Dead

  20th Anniversary | Presented in partnership with the Silver Spring Zombie Walk

  A surprise hit in 2004 and an enduring cult item since, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's "rom-zom-com" — a romantic comedy, with zombies — remains one of the best examples of the horror-comedy hybrid genre. Dumped by his girlfriend, slacker appliance salesman Shaun (Pegg) is so down in the dumps that he fails to notice the zombies taking over his London neighborhood until one pops up in his backyard. Fortunately, he and his couch-potato flatmate Ed (Nick Frost) prove to be ace zombie dispatchers and round up their remaining loved ones to make a final stand at their local pub, the Winchester. DIR/SCR Edgar Wright; SCR Simon Pegg; PROD Nira Park. UK/, 2004, color, 99 min. RATED R

• The Shining

  4K Restoration

  "Heeeere's Johnny!" Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) suffers from one helluva case of writer's block in Stanley Kubrick's acclaimed adaptation of the Stephen King novel. The frustrated writer takes a job as the winter caretaker of the isolated Overlook Hotel, with long-suffering wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and introverted young son Danny (Danny Lloyd) in tow. The family tries to make the best of things at the lonely resort, but Jack's sanity is pushed to the breaking point as cabin fever and the denizens of the demonic hotel take control. DIR/SCR/PROD Stanley Kubrick; SCR Diane Johnson, from the novel by Stephen King. U.S./UK, 1980, color, 144 min. RATED R

  In Memoriam: Shelley Duvall (1949–2024)

• The Sixth Sense

  25th Anniversary

  ‘90s action superstar Bruce Willis turns in a restrained yet captivating performance as a child psychologist rattled after a violent encounter with a former patient. After befriending troubled eight-year-old Cole (Haley Joel Osment, in one of the finest onscreen child performances), Malcolm (Willis) is determined to atone for his past failings and heal the boy, who claims he “sees dead people.” Malcolm is naturally skeptical of this supposed sixth sense, but, as he works with Cole, he discovers some truth to the claim that there are spirits wandering the earth, unaware that they are no longer living… This chilling supernatural thriller — nominated for six Academy Awards®, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best ing Actor for the10-year-old Osment — established M. Night Shyamalan as a preeminent voice in cinema at the turn of the millennium. Twenty-five years later, it remains a haunting watch. DIR/SCR M. Night Shyamalan; PROD Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Barry Mendel. U.S., 1999, color, 107 min. RATED PG-13

  Also part of Party Like It's 1999.

• Sugar Hill

  50th Anniversary

  “The mob has never seen anything like Sugar Hill and her zombie hit men.” When her boyfriend Langston (Larry D. Johnson) is brutally murdered after refusing to be shaken down by the local gangsters running their protection racket, Diana “Sugar” Hill (Marki Bey) decides not to get mad but BAD! With the help of voodoo priestess Mama Maitresse (Zara Cully) and death god Baron Samedi (Don Pedro Colley), Hill teams up with an undead army to enact her sweet revenge. SUGAR HILL is the kind of fun and sexy flick moviegoers were accustomed to in the ‘70s, but its mashup of blaxploitation with zombie horror proved not only entertaining but unexpected, casting the undead horde as the heroes of its story. DIR Paul Maslansky; SCR Tim Kelly; PROD Elliot Schick. U.S., 1974, color, 91 min. RATED PG

• Suspiria

  4K Restoration

  The signature film of Italian horror maestro Dario Argento sends fresh-faced American dancer Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper) off to a prestigious ballet school in , where she is greeted by students fleeing in panic, secretive heistresses (Joan Bennett and Alida Valli) and a series of murders and supernatural occurrences that grow increasingly gruesome. Does something more than the spirit of the dance live within the school's walls? Propelled by a pounding soundtrack by Italian rock band Goblin and bold, almost impossibly stylized Technicolor visuals, this film is a landmark work of cinematic horror. DIR/SCR Dario Argento; SCR Daria Nicolodi, from the book "Suspiria de Profundis" by Thomas De Quincey; PROD Claudio Argento. Italy, 1977, color, 98 min. Dubbed in English. RATED R

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.