AFS Announces Its January/February 2024 Program Calendar
(Ousmane Sembène’s BLACK GIRL, 1966)
December 7, AUSTIN, TX— The Austin Film Society announces its calendar for January/February of 2024 featuring signature programs, special screenings and events, and a new, diverse lineup of films from around the globe that filmgoers can only see at the AFS Cinema. The full calendar and more information can be found at www.austinfilm.org.
The upcoming programming calendar will feature two new series of “Essential Cinema.” The first, running January 2–27, is “Godard in the ’80s,” showcasing four films released after the director first made big waves as part of the French New Wave. Coinciding with this program will be a screening of the documentary Godard Cinema accompanied by Trailer of a Film That Will Never Exist: Phony Wars, the filmmaker’s final work. Then, for the centennial of the birth of Ousmane Sembène, legendary Senegalese filmmaker, AFS will present four of his newly restored features and a short film for an “Essential Cinema” series called “Century of Sembène.” On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, AFS will screen Raven Jackson’s new film All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt with an encore screening following later in the week. In celebration of Valentine’s Day, AFS will be showing another slate of films for “Love Month” — including titles such as Jacques Demy’s The Young Girls of Rochefort and David Lean’s Brief Encounter — alongside romantic (and anti-romantic) programming like My Own Private Idaho as a part of “Big Screen Classics,” Bloodsisters: Leather, Dykes, And Sadomasochism for “Queer Cinema: Lost & Found” and a medley of shorts from Experimental Response Cinema called Love Hangover. The Austin Film Society has also partnered with PBS to bring its audiences free community screenings from the Independent Lens series of documentaries, each one followed by a panel of experts related to the films’ subjects. In January, AFS’s Indie Lens program will feature Razing Liberty Square, about climate gentrification, and in February, Breaking the News, an AFS-supported project that had its Austin premiere at AFS Cinema in November.
Calendar highlights in detail:
In January, AFS will present a series called “Essential Cinema: Godard in the ’80s.” Many know Jean-Luc Godard as one of the pre-eminent figures of the French New Wave. In honor of his passing in 2022, AFS will pay tribute to the late director by showcasing an era of his work that balanced his high-concept filmmaking with audience accessibility. AFS will show Every Man For Himself in 35mm, considered by Godard to be his “second first film.” Following this will be First Name: Carmen, a loose adaptation of Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen; Hail Mary, a religious re-interpretation that was heavily protested at the time of its release; and the Paris-set crime film Detective. Coinciding with the series on January 7 and 10 is the 2022 documentary Godard Cinema, which includes archival footage and interviews with his collaborators. The screenings of this film will be paired with Godard’s last film, the 20-minute Trailer of a Film That Will Never Exist: Phony Wars. This film was intended to be a feature, and the completed portion is being released as a short film following Godard’s death last year.
“Essential Cinema: Century of Sembène” will screen five newly restored works made by the late Senegalese filmmaker and novelist Ousmane Sembène to honor the centennial of his birth. Sembène, considered by many to be the “Father of African Cinema,” is responsible for an extensive filmography that centered the West African experience with deeply humanistic films that are searingly critical of the legacy of colonialism. AFS’s series kicks off in February with a presentation of Sembène’s first feature, Black Girl, paired with his first short, “Borom Sarret.” Following this will be Emitaï, a story inspired by the occupation of Senegal by Vichy France during WWII; the satirical Xala; and Ceddo, about a conflict in pre-colonial Senegal.
In its month-long celebration surrounding Valentine’s Day, AFS once again presents a lineup of films for “Love Month.” AFS programmers have selected Tran Anh Hung’s tale of first love in Vietnam, The Scent of Green Papaya; Jacques Demy’s Oscar® nominated jazz-musical The Young Girls of Rochefort; and David Lean’s timeless tale of yearning, Brief Encounter. Then, in the week immediately after the holiday, the series continues with Lukas Moodysson’s breakthrough film Show Me Love, which Ingmar Bergman called “a young master’s first masterpiece.” In addition to this year’s four “Love Month” titles, the February calendar also includes Gus Van Sant’s queer Shakespeare adaptation, My Own Private Idaho, starring Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix; Bloodsisters: Leather, Dykes, and Sadomasochism, a documentary about San Francisco’s lesbian S/M and leather scenes, which is showing as part of “Queer Cinema: Lost & Found;” Lovers of the Arctic Circle, screening as a part of AFS Lates, about a taboo love affair in Finland; and Love Hangover, a special presentation by the local organization Experimental Response Cinema on February 15 compiling a variety of short films expressing love in its many forms.
The Austin Film Society will be screening a variety of documentaries covering a range of subjects throughout January and February as a part of its recurring “Doc Nights” series. In addition to Godard Cinema, which overlaps with “Essential Cinema: Godard in the ’80s,” AFS will screen the latest film from the prolific Frederick Wiseman, Menus-Plaisirs — Les Troisgros, a four-hour portrait of a Michelin three-star restaurant in France. With the help of filmmaker Josh Safdie, The Gods of Times Square by Richard Sandler is getting a theatrical re-release and will play at AFS Cinema. Also screening will be The Disappearance of Shere Hite, which explores the work, influence, and present-day obscurity of the writer and sex educator Shere Hite. Closing the calendar’s “Doc Nights” lineup is Robert Irwin: A Desert of Pure Feeling by AFS-supported filmmaker Jennifer Lane, which profiles the life and work of installation artist Robert Irwin.
Outside of “Doc Nights,” AFS will be screening several other documentaries with its partner organizations. As a part of its programming with PBS Independent Lens, the Austin Film Society will show Razing Liberty Square, a film that explores the intersection of climate change and gentrification in Miami, Florida, and Breaking the News — co-directed by AFS-supported filmmakers Heather Courtney and Chelsea Hernandez alongside Princess A. Hairston — which had its Austin premiere at AFS Cinema in November. The documentary spotlights the creation of the nonprofit newsroom The 19th*, which prioritizes the lived experiences of its Black, female, and non-binary journalists. For Science on Screen®, AFS will show Godfrey Reggio’s Koyaanisqatsi, a groundbreaking collage of footage showing the intersection between humanity and nature, with executive production support from Francis Ford Coppola and a quintessential score by Philip Glass. Science on Screen® is an initiative of the Coolidge Corner Theatre with major support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
The full January/February lineup continues below, and a complete list of all film screenings announced to date and special events are on our website at www.austinfilm.org. Ticket prices range from $11 to $13.50, with discounts for AFS members. Special pricing is noted if applicable.
AUSTIN FILM SOCIETY JANUARY/FEBRUARY CALENDAR
ESSENTIAL CINEMA: GODARD IN THE ‘80s
“RIP: Small Movies” is the tagline of Jean-Luc Godard’s FIRST NAME: CARMEN, and it sums up the place where Art Cinema found itself in the age of the blockbuster. Godard, after effectively rewriting film grammar with his first fifteen or so films in the ‘60s and early ‘70s, disappeared into a decade of polemical essay films. It seemed to many that he had lost touch with audiences. Then, in the early ‘80s, he began to reach out to cinemagoers again, in a limited way — this is JLG after all. This series presents some of the best films from Godard’s “comeback tour.”
EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF
Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1980, 35mm, 87 min. In French with English subtitles.
1/2, 1/6
Godard’s “second first film” stars Jacques Dutronc as a filmmaker newly separated from his partner, Nathalie Baye. As both try to find their footing, a sex worker (Isabelle Huppert) enters their lives. Godard’s filmmaking is razor sharp here, and his obsessions come across loudly and clearly. This is filmmaking that is both lucid and enigmatic. In 35mm.
FIRST NAME: CARMEN
Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1983, DCP, 85 min. In French with English subtitles.
1/9, 1/13
In this very loose adaptation of Bizet’s opera Carmen (with a few nods to Otto Preminger’s film CARMEN JONES), Godard shows us a chaotically fraught bank heist plan that goes characteristically off the rails. Maruschka Detmers plays the young Carmen, and Godard himself plays her cranky filmmaker uncle.
HAIL MARY
Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1985, DCP, 72 min. In French with English subtitles.
1/16, 1/20
Released amidst a firestorm of protests from many quarters, including from the Pope himself, HAIL MARY is Godard’s most overtly spiritual film. It is a modern representation of the story of the virgin birth, told in the idiosyncratic cinematic grammar that Godard was master of.
DETECTIVE
Jean-Luc Godard, France, 1985, DCP, 95 min. In French with English subtitles.
1/23, 1/27
On the heels of his scandalous film HAIL MARY, Godard again returned to the inspiration of Hollywood gangster movies to (sort of) tell the interlocking stories of a number of denizens of a Paris hotel. With Nathalie Baye, Johnny Hallyday, and Emmanuelle Seigner.
ESSENTIAL CINEMA: CENTURY OF SEMBÈNE
The Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène is often celebrated, rightly, as the Father of African Cinema. In his remarkably prolific decades during and after Africa’s liberation period, his complexly humanistic films, popping with compassion and humor, richly depicted post-colonial West African life and its many paradoxes. Sembène proved that cinema, once a vicious colonizer’s tool, would be a magnificent medium for African storytelling methods and Afro-centric stories. These 4K restorations of Sembène’s films have been prepared in honor of the centennial of the filmmaker’s birth.
BLACK GIRL/BOROM SARRET
Ousmane Sembène, Senegal, 1966/1963, DCP, 77 min. total. In French with English subtitles.
1/30, 2/3
Mbissine Thérèse Diop stars as a young Senegalese woman who immigrates to France in search of a better life only to find that, even among cosmopolitan white Europeans, the colonial mentality predominates. BLACK GIRL screens with Ousmane Sembène’s first short film, BOROM SARRET.
EMITAÏ
Ousmane Sembène, Senegal, 1971, DCP, 103 min. In French and Wolof with English subtitles.
2/6, 2/10
Based on true events during WWII, EMITAÏ portrays the forced enlistment of Senegalese men and the systematic exploitation of the populace by the occupying Vichy French collaborators. Sembène presents a complex and layered portrait of the outrage and the response.
XALA
Ousmane Sembène, Senegal, 1975, DCP, 123 min. In French and Wolof with English subtitles.
2/13, 2/17
A corrupt bureaucrat, finding he has been struck impotent, sets out to determine who has placed the curse (the title XALA means “curse”) upon him. This is Ousmane Sembène in his most satirical key.
CEDDO
Ousmane Sembène, Senegal, 1977, DCP, 120 min. In French, Arabic, and Wolof with English subtitles.
2/20, 2/24
Ousmane Sembène depicts a conflict in pre-colonial Senegal between two factions, the animistic Ceddo forces and an Islamic group that seeks conversion of the clan. A highly ambitious and layered film.
WORLD CINEMA CLASSICS
PEEPING TOM
Michael Powell, UK, 1962, DCP, 101 min.
1/5–1/11
Michael Powell’s psychological thriller about a murderer who uses motion pictures to capture the final moments of his victims’ lives on film is still shocking and revelatory today. The film’s insights into the human condition and the uneasy roots of cinephilia still resonate today.
SEVEN SAMURAI
Akira Kurosawa, Japan, 1954, 35mm, 207 min. In Japanese with English subtitles.
1/19–1/25
In Akira Kurosawa’s immortal classic, a group of villagers, besieged by bandits who return every year with the harvest, decide to hire a super-team of samurai warriors to put an end to it. A masterpiece of action, drama, and suspense. In 35mm.
LOCAL HERO
Bill Forsyth, UK, 1983, DCP, 111 min.
2/16, 2/17
In Bill Forsyth’s sly, absurdist comedy of manners, Burt Lancaster plays an American oil billionaire who dispatches a young underling (Peter Riegert) to Scotland to buy up a small village so that it can be destroyed and make way for an oil refinery.
LOVE MONTH
Expect “love, pain, and the whole damn thing” (only not that particular film) as Love Month returns with four classics sure to melt the coldest of hearts with the warmest gift of all, a cinematic embrace.
THE SCENT OF GREEN PAPAYA
Tran Anh Hung, France, 1993, DCP, 104 min. In Vietnamese with English subtitles.
2/10– 2/14
A slow seduction, this sensual debut from director Tran Anh Hung (NORWEGIAN WOOD) unfurls the eloquent reminiscences of first love as it chronicles a decade in the lives of a young servant, the concert pianist she loves, and her former employers, a bourgeois family in decline. A film-watching experience of immeasurable bliss, Hung “casts a rich, delicate spell” with his elegiac tribute to a lost Vietnam.
THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT
Jacques Demy, France, 1967, DCP, 126 min. In French with English subtitles.
2/10–2/14
Missed connections, twins, sailors, the music of Michel Legrand, and, of course, amour. Jacques Demy followed THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG with this fizzy delight about sisters Delphine and Solange (real-life sisters Catherine Deneuve and Françoise Dorléac) whose sleepy lives in the port town of Rochefort are turned upside down when a visiting carnival teaches them life is the biggest ride of ‘em all. Co-starring Gene Kelly, George Chakiris, Michel Piccoli, and Jacques Perrin.
BRIEF ENCOUNTER
David Lean, UK, 1945, DCP, 86 min.
2/11, 2/14
One of the most beautiful and longingly sad romantic films ever made, David Lean’s BRIEF ENCOUNTER is a love story between two married people that unfolds slowly and inevitably, even though both participants know it can’t last. With Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson. Based on a sketch by Noël Coward. An unforgettable film.
SHOW ME LOVE
Lukas Moodysson, Sweden, 1998, DCP, 89 min. In Swedish with English subtitles.
2/18, 2/21
Dubbed “a young master’s first masterpiece” by none other than Ingmar Bergman, Lukas Moodysson’s feature debut is an authentic rendering of first love, sex, and heartbreak. Known in its native Sweden as F**KING ÅMÅL, this tender look at the blossoming affections between two girls, the popular Elin (Alexandra Dahlström) and wallflower Agnes (Rebecka Liljeberg), is an enchanting touchstone of New Queer Cinema.
FRIGHT CLUB
NIGHT TIDE
Curtis Harrington, USA, 1961, DCP, 86 min.
1/18, 1/21
The late Curtis Harrington had a peerlessly diverse career. He made avant-garde cinema, appeared in Kenneth Anger’s films, and then made the transition to Hollywood where he directed, among other things, made-for-TV movies and CHARLIE’S ANGELS episodes. NIGHT TIDE lands somewhere in the middle. Dennis Hopper plays a young sailor on the make who accidentally lands a mermaid.
EYES WITHOUT A FACE
Georges Franju, France, 1960, 35mm, 90 min. In French with English subtitles.
2/11, 2/15
A poetic pulp film from Georges Franju. This film launched a thousand imitators, but none have captured the pathos and nightmarish atmosphere of the original. Pierre Brasseur plays a surgeon whose daughter (Édith Scob) has been facially disfigured in an accident. Along with his accomplice (Alida Valli), he kidnaps young women for experimental skin graft surgery. Horrifying, tender, and beautiful at the same time. In 35mm.
BIG SCREEN CLASSICS
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT
Norman Jewison, USA, 1967, DCP, 110 min.
1/15, 1/17
When a big-city homicide inspector (Sidney Poitier) finds himself stuck in a small Deep South town, he is drafted by the sheriff (Rod Steiger) to help with a murder investigation. Winner of Best Picture at the 1968 Academy Awards®, this truly great American film was a genesis moment of the New Hollywood. Free Member Monday — free admission for all AFS members on January 15.
MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO
Gus Van Sant, USA, 1991, DCP, 102 min.
2/1–2/8
A landmark of the New Queer Cinema movement, this loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV by Gus Van Sant follows hustlers Mike (River Phoenix) and Scott (Keanu Reeves) as they travel from Portland to Idaho to the coast of Italy in a bid to find Mike’s estranged mother. Along the way, they mix with all manner of junkies and street riff-raff before attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor. Co-starring James Russo, Chiara Caselli, and Udo Kier.
DOC NIGHTS
MENUS-PLAISIRS — LES TROISGROS
Frederick Wiseman, USA/France, 2023, DCP, 240 min.
1/1–1/6
In his nearly 60-year career directing documentaries, Frederick Wiseman has shown us dozens of working systems, from colleges and police departments to department stores. Here, in his latest film, which runs a whopping (and fascinating) four hours, he takes us into the workings of a Michelin three-star restaurant in rural France.
GODARD CINEMA & TRAILER OF A FILM THAT WILL NEVER EXIST: PHONY WARS
Cyril Leuthy, France, 2022, DCP, 100 min. In French with English subtitles.
1/7, 1/10
The new documentary GODARD CINEMA is instructive in its desire to make sense of Jean-Luc Godard and his oeuvre. Through interviews with Godard’s collaborators and tons of archival footage, Godard again escapes compartmentalization, but the enigma of Godard is itself riveting. These screenings are accompanied by Godard’s last film, the 20-minute long TRAILER OF A FILM THAT WILL NEVER EXIST: PHONY WARS. Presented in conjunction with our Essential Cinema series GODARD IN THE ’80s, screening January 2–27.
THE GODS OF TIMES SQUARE
Richard Sandler, 1999, USA, DCP, 113 min.
1/21, 1/22
Like a tour guide through a wild, adult Disneyland, photographer Richard Sandler sets his sights on the sidewalk preachers, shaking cups of change, and godless underwear models of a long-gone Times Square. Shot over the course of six years, Sandler’s portrait of New York as the outsider’s Mecca asks, “Is salvation truly just around the corner?” Through the auspices of fan Josh Safdie, THE GODS OF TIMES SQUARE returns to theaters for a limited engagement.
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF SHERE HITE
Nicole Newnham, USA, 2023, DCP, 116 min.
1/28, 2/1
For a few years after the publication of her groundbreaking book, The Hite Report: A Nationwide Study of Female Sexuality, Shere Hite was everywhere. Her findings, gleaned from a low-tech survey of 3,500 women around the country, challenged the accepted status quo of social and even biological thought. There was a predictable backlash, and within a decade or so, Hite faded from view altogether. This new doc answers quite a few questions as it explores Hite’s life and work.
ROBERT IRWIN: A DESERT OF PURE FEELING
Jennifer Lane, USA, 2022, DCP, 93 min.
2/25, 2/26
The environmental and installation artist Robert Irwin, who died late in 2023, is profiled here with special attention to his aesthetic ideas. The film culminates in a large and beautiful installation in the desert environs of Marfa, Texas. Directed by AFS Grant recipient Jennifer Lane.
NEWLY RESTORED
THE PLOT AGAINST HARRY
Michael Roemer, US, 1969, 35mm, 81 min.
1/13–1/17
Life goes meshuga for Harry, a small-time Kosher Nostra member and recent ex-con, who tries to go straight in a crazy world. A neglected masterpiece from Michael Roemer (the forgotten, now-rediscovered artist behind the stunning VENGEANCE IS MINE), this wry comedy classic wouldn’t get a laugh until over twenty years after its initial release. Call it neglect, call it a misunderstanding; whatever the reaction, this unruly gem of American independent cinema earns every one of them. In 35mm.
THE CASSANDRA CAT
Vojtěch Jasný, Czechoslovakia, 1963, DCP, 105 min. In Czech with English subtitles.
1/26, 1/28
Yellow for the unfaithful, purple for liars, red for lovers — true colors shine bright in this sublime fairy tale about a small village upended by a visit from a cat in possession of the power to see their true nature. A Czech New Wave marvel, newly rediscovered.
HOUSEHOLD SAINTS
Nancy Savoca, USA, 1993, DCP, 125 min.
1/31, 2/3
They say every child’s a miracle, but then again, they’ve never met Theresa (the positively beatific Lili Taylor), who is something altogether more complicated. The daughter of Joseph and Catherine Santangelo, she dreams of joining a convent in Nancy Savoca’s tenderly offbeat adaptation of Francine Prose’s fifth novel, a comic chronicle of an Italian-American family that’ll endure — by the grace of God. Starring Vincent D’Onofrio, Tracey Ullman, and Michael Imperioli.
NOSTALGHIA
Andrei Tarkovsky, Soviet Union/Italy, 1983, DCP, 126 min. In Russian and Italian with English subtitles.
2/23–2/27
Andrei Tarkovsky’s next-to-last film is a reverie inspired by Italy, by dreams, and by the pain of being away from home. A Russian poet, in Italy to research a long-dead composer, switches between memory, dreams, and the strangeness of life itself.
BLACK GOD, WHITE DEVIL
Glauber Rocha, Brazil, 1964, DCP, 120 min. In Portuguese with English subtitles.
2/25, 28
Holy man versus religion. Power versus greed. This is no mere good versus evil tale but a fevered denouncement of fanaticism. The banner film of the Brazilian Cinema Novo movement, Glauber Rocha’s sophomore feature (shot at the tender age of 24) is a white-knuckled, proto-psychedelic Western allegory about the dangers of blind allegiance to religiosity. Utterly incomparable.
BEST OF THE FESTS
PLASTIC
Daisuke Miyazaki, Japan, 2023, DCP, 104 min. In Japanese with English subtitles.
1/4, 1/7
Decades after the breakup of Exne Kedy and the Poltergeists, fans Jun and Ibuki (Anne Ogawa of Ryusuke Hamiguchi’s HEAVEN IS STILL FAR AWAY) shared affection for the mysterious cult band blossoms into a deep love for one another. However, it’s not long before the obligations of their dreams promise to turn the romantic duo into dueling solo acts — that is until Exne Kedy announces a reunion tour. An exuberant ode to first love, fandom, and rock & roll, PLASTIC is sure to delight those pure of heart enough to receive its gifts. Featuring the music of artist Kensuke Ide and Yura Yura Teikoku producer You Ishihara.
ALL DIRT ROADS TASTE OF SALT
Raven Jackson, USA, 2023, DCP, 92 min.
1/15, 1/18
This richly layered film from poet, photographer, and filmmaker Raven Jackson takes the viewer into a world of memory and dreams as the film’s young Black female protagonist grows up in rural Mississippi.
UNDER THE FIG TREES
Erige Sehiri, Tunisia, 2021, DCP, 92 min. In Arabic with English subtitles.
1/27, 1/29
A portrait, enacted by non-professional actors, of a day in the life of a group of fig harvesters in picturesque Northern Tunisia. As the gruff bosses crack the whip, the young people climb trees, flirt, and gossip; the old people sort and pack the fruit, and social boundaries are broken, if only for the day.
STORY AVE
Aristotle Torres, US, 2023, 94 min.
2/5, 2/7
Having lost his way following the death of his younger brother, Kadir (Asante Blackk in a star-making performance), escapes into the treacherous world of South Bronx graffiti gangs. To prove himself to his neighborhood, he attempts to rob tough-talking MTA conductor Luis (Luis Guzmán) on the Story Ave subway platform but is disarmed by the man’s offer to exchange the cash for a sit-down meal. Through the warmth of the ensuing connection, Kadir discovers the transformational potential of art and friendship. Having established himself as the creative force behind music videos for such artists as Nas, 2 Chainz, and Ludacris, Aristotle Torres announces himself as a major filmmaking talent to watch. Free Member Monday — free admission for all AFS members on February 5.
WHO WE BECOME
PJ Raval, USA, 2023, DCP, 72 min. In English and Tagalog.
1/11
Kapwa, a Filipino term that means “togetherness” or “neighbor,” is a recognition of a shared identity; an inner-self that is shared with others. AFS Grant-supported filmmaker PJ Raval directs this feature documentary following three Filipino women, each coming into their political consciousness and discovering themselves during a pivotal moment in their lives.
QUEER CINEMA: LOST & FOUND
BUTCHER, BAKER, NIGHTMARE MAKER
William Asher/Curt McDowell and Mark Ellinger, US, 1982/73, DCP/Digital, 100 min.
1/6, 1/10
The only man in spinster Cheryl’s life is her orphaned teenage nephew, Billy. But when Billy starts seeing a girl for the first time, Cheryl will stop at nothing to keep him all to herself. Onetime Austin resident Susan Tyrrell gives an unforgettable central performance in this newly restored nightmare of small-town homophobia and Oedipal incest from wholesome TV director William Asher. Paired with Curt McDowell and Mark Ellinger’s 1974 psychodrama, STINKY-BUTT.
BLOODSISTERS: LEATHER, DYKES, AND SADOMASOCHISM
Michelle Handelman/Catherine Gund and Julie Tolentino, US, 1995/94, DCP/Digital, 91 min.
2/17, 2/19
Shot on digital video during the peak of the queer culture wars of the early ’90s, BLOODSISTERS is a loving—and unflinching—portrait of San Francisco’s taboo-shattering lesbian S/M and leather scenes. A fascinating exploration of gender, politics, sex, and activism featuring trans pioneers Tala Brandeis and Patrick Califia and a killer soundtrack featuring Chris & Cosey and Coil, BLOODSISTERS is the perfect Valentine’s movie for the person in your life you love to hurt—or have hurt you. Paired with Catherine Gund and Julie Tolentino’s Clit Club cruising guide, B.U.C.K.L.E.
LATES
BABY BLOOD
Alain Robak, France,1990, DCP, 87 min.
1/26, 1/27
It’s time to feed the baby. Prenatal care takes on a different meaning when a circus performer (Emmanuelle Escourrou) finds herself carrying a voracious, chatty tiny terror from the dawn of creation. Funny, horrifying, and downright nasty — carnage provides the nutrients found in this mother’s milk. Co-written and directed by Alain Robak (BARJO).
TOTALLY F***ED UP
Gregg Araki, US, 1993, DCP, 78 min.
2/2–2/4
A queer MASCULIN FÉMININ, dubbed by its director (indie-pop cinema impresario Gregg Araki) as a “kinda twisted cross between avant-garde experimental cinema and queer John Hughes flick,” the first installment in the landmark Teenage Apocalypse trilogy is a towering paean to teenage lust, nihilism, and all the rest — in 15 vignettes. Starring James Duval and featuring music from Ride, Pale Saints, The Jesus and Mary Chain, This Mortal Coil, Ministry, and more. New 4K Restoration.
SITCOM
François Ozon, France, 1998, DCP, 85 min. In French with English subtitles.
2/9, 2/10
Daughter: dominatrix, son: homosexual, mother and father? Well, some families really do have it all.
A pet rat signals the decline of a French bourgeois family in this “John Waters-style assault on middle-class mores.” A perverse, camp-surrealistic send-up to Pasolini’s TEOREMA from François Ozon (8 WOMEN, SWIMMING POOL). Starring Marina de Van (IN MY SKIN).
LOVERS OF THE ARCTIC CIRCLE
Julio Medem, Spain, 1998, DCP, 114 min. In Spanish with English subtitles.
2/16–2/18
Time, like the palindromic names of step-siblings Ana and Oto, moves backward and forward. But, no matter the direction, their taboo love ensures romance will remain far from their grasp. Weaving a dizzying affair from Spain to the vast emptiness of Finland’s hinterland stretching into the Arctic Circle, LOVERS is “a sweepingly beautiful film about romantic obsession” (New York Times) from Julio Medem (SEX AND LUCIA, THE RED SQUIRREL). Featuring a swoon-worthy score from Pedro Almodóvar collaborator Alberto Iglesias and starring Najwa Nimri and Fele Martínez (BAD EDUCATION).
SCIENCE ON SCREEN
KOYAANISQATSI
Godfrey Reggio, USA, 1982, DCP, 86 min.
1/24
Godfrey Reggio’s KOYAANISQATSI is a truly unique film. The title, a Hopi word meaning “life out of balance,” provides a literal keynote to the breathtaking imagery of nature and mankind’s artificial world, all set to Philip Glass’ relentlessly propulsive score. A work both of and ahead of its time. For this special Science On Screen® presentation, we will be joined by a special panel of guest experts to talk about the impact of human beings on the global ecosystem. Science on Screen® is an initiative of the Coolidge Corner Theatre with major support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
AVANT CINEMA
EXPERIMENTAL RESPONSE CINEMA: LOVE HANGOVER
Various, 90 min.
2/15
A post- and anti-Valentine’s Day screening, curated especially for the Austin Film Society. In this short-film program, Experimental Response Cinema eulogizes love’s labors lost, the color pink, amour fou, and too many conversation hearts.
INDIE LENS
Indie Lens Pop-Up is a community series that brings people together for film screenings and conversations. Featuring documentaries seen on PBS’s Independent Lens, Indie Lens Pop-Up draws local residents, leaders, and organizations to discuss what matters most. All screenings are free and open to the public.
RAZING LIBERTY SQUARE
Katja Esson, USA, 2023, DCP, 86 min.
1/14
Liberty City, Miami, is home to one of the oldest segregated public housing projects in the United States. Now with rising sea levels, the neighborhood’s higher ground has become something else: real estate gold.
BREAKING THE NEWS
Heather Courtney, Princess A. Hairston, and Chelsea Hernandez, USA, 2023, DCP, 99 min.
2/24
Frustrated by the lack of representation in the media, a group of women and LGBTQ+ journalists launched The 19th*, a digital news startup whose work is guided by elevating the voices often left out of the American story.
MEDIA CONTACT
Will Stefanski
Will@austinfilm.org
