AFS Announces September/October 2022 Program Calendar
(Krzysztof Kieślowski’s THREE COLORS: RED, 1994)
MEDIA CONTACT
Cecilia Conti
Cecilia@austinfilm.org
Aug 10, 2022
AFS Announces September/October 2022 Program Calendar
AUSTIN, TX—Austin Film Society announces its September and October 2022 calendar featuring our 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.
AFS’s September and October calendar features two new Essential Cinema series, including September’s Natalie Wood: It’s in the Eyes—four films honoring the icon of 20th Century Hollywood. October’s series is Patricio Guzmán’s The Battle of Chile, the Chilean master filmmaker’s 1970s three-part masterpiece documenting the unfolding of the US-backed coup that led to the Pinochet regime. New releases will include the AFS funded and SXSW award-winner What We Leave Behind with director Iliana Sosa in person, and Neon’s Moonage Daydream, filmmaker Brett Morgen’s exploration of David Bowie’s creative, spiritual, and musical journey. In addition, the series Queer Cinema: Lost and Found returns with shows that include discussions led by queer film historian Elizabeth Purchell.
Calendar highlights in detail:
AFS presents Natalie Wood: It’s in the Eyes—four films honoring the icon of 20th Century Hollywood. Possessed of deeply-set brown eyes and a mysterious and arresting empathy that drew audiences instantly into intense contact with her emotions, she gave powerful performances—and chose memorable material—throughout her too-short career. Here we present a selection of films that showcase Natalie Wood as a Movie Star who could really act. Her style of performance is always Hollywood—after all, she grew up in the Dream Factory—but always personally authentic as well. The series includes Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Inside Daisy Clover (1965), The Property is Condemned (1966), and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969).
For our October Essential Cinema series, AFS presents Patricio Guzmán’s The Battle of Chile. Chilean master filmmaker Patricio Guzmán (Cannes award-winning Cordillero of Dreams, Academy Award-shortlisted Nostalgia for the Light) made his name in global cinema in the 1970s with this three-part masterpiece of political verité filmmaking. Filmed on the streets of Chile during the tumultuous political struggle that resulted in Augusto Pinochet’s authoritative rise to power, this groundbreaking documentary puts the audience directly in the line of fire in order to document what a revolution looks and sounds like from its enthusiastic inception to its bitter demise.The series includes the three parts of the film—Part 1: The Insurrection of the Bourgeoisie (1975), Part 2: The Coup D’Etat (1976), Part 3: Popular Power (1979). The three parts of the film will be shown on consecutive Tuesdays in October as part of our long-running Essential Cinema series, which makes the permanent move back to being a weekly Tuesday program.
On September 23, Neon’s Moonage Daydream will open at AFS Cinema. Featuring never-before-seen footage and performances, filmmaker Brett Morgen explores David Bowie’s creative, spiritual, and musical journey. This screening will be presented alongside a gallery of exclusive original photo prints of the icon from Modern Rocks Gallery in the AFS lobby and a live DJ Set.
AFS’s monthly series Queer Cinema: Lost and Found returns in September with Chocolate Babies (1986), Stephen Winter’s wild New Queer Cinema classic about a band of radical HIV+ activists of color who take extreme measures to fight governmental inaction, paired with Barbara Hammer’s short film Snow Job: The Media Hysteria of AIDS (1986). The October selection is Vampyros Lesbos (1971), Jesús Franco’s surrealist lesbian vampire classic about a mysterious countess who seeks more than blood from her visitors.The film will be paired with Curtis Harrington’s 1956 portrait of artist and occultist Marjorie Cameron, The Wormwood Star (1956). Select shows include post-film discussions with series programmer and queer film historian Elizabeth Purchell.
We are proud to present The Neo-Noir Canon: Part 1, in which we examine some of the films that have built upon the stylistic framework of Film Noir. All of our selections are very different films, with one common thread: they are aware of the Noir conventions and they use our acquaintance with those tropes to take us to new and exciting places, sometimes by subverting our expectations, sometimes by using them. The series includes Experiment in Terror (1962), Point Blank (1967), The Long Goodbye (1973), Chan is Missing (1982), and Devil in a Blue Dress (1995). The first screening of each film in this series will be preceded by an introduction by AFS Lead Film Programmer Lars Nilsen.
Our monthly Doc Nights series features My Old School (2022), which tells the story of Brandon Lee, a new student who arrives at the Bearsden Academy near Glasgow in 1993, but is hiding a secret that would go on to shock the world. Telling this scandalously true story is this equally deceptive and spellbinding documentary starring Alan Cumming, who had tried to make a narrative feature about this true story for years. In addition, we present Loving Highsmith (2022). Patricia Highsmith, acclaimed author of works such as Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley, lived a private life away from the spotlight, until now. For the first time, Highsmith’s diaries are narrated in this documentary which uses a combination of archival footage, dramatizations, and interviews to tell the deeply complicated story of the iconic queer writer’s romantic life in a time of secretiveness and shame.
On October 31, Halloween, AFS presents a hair-raising iteration of our ongoing series—History of Television Halloween Special. Join us for Six Full Hours of Made For Television Horror Movies and episodes from the ’70s and ’80s. Guaranteed to amuse, with all the ghosts, Frankensteins, and Draculas you can handle. Maybe more! This one will take place in the theater and will also be simulcast live on Austin Public and YouTube. Free admission.
The full September/October 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 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER CALENDAR
ESSENTIAL CINEMA: NATALIE WOOD: IT’S IN THE EYES
Natalie Wood is one of the icons of late 20th Century Hollywood. Possessed of deeply-set brown eyes and a mysterious and arresting quality of empathy that drew audiences instantly into intense contact with her emotions, she gave powerful performances—and chose memorable material—throughout her too-short career. Here we present a selection of films that showcase Natalie Wood as a Movie Star who could really act. Her style of performance is always Hollywood—after all, she grew up in the Dream Factory—but always personally authentic as well.
Films in this series:
REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE
Nicholas Ray, USA, 1955, 35mm, 111 min
9/1, 9/3
Director Nicholas Ray transforms a potentially tone-deaf exposé of teenage rebellion into one of the great humanistic documents of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Three teenagers (James Dean, Sal Mineo, and Natalie Wood), all in juvenile detention for various misdeeds, are briefly drawn together as an elective family unit, but their bond is threatened by the intrusion of polite society. REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE is a moving and extraordinarily influential film that features great performances from all three leads, with Wood bearing the greatest emotional burden of the star-crossed trio. In 35mm.
INSIDE DAISY CLOVER
Robert Mulligan, USA, 1965, DCP, 128 min
9/8, 9/10
Situated in a bizarre nook between the embers of Old Hollywood and the emergent flame of New Hollywood, INSIDE DAISY CLOVER presents Natalie Wood as an impoverished Depression-era teenager who becomes a major (and majorly unhappy) movie star. Featuring songs by André and Dory Previn, and a supporting cast that includes Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford, and Ruth Gordon.
THIS PROPERTY IS CONDEMNED
Sydney Pollack, USA, 1966, DCP, 110 min
9/15, 9/17
A great Hollywood film, unheralded in its time, and ripe for rediscovery, THIS PROPERTY IS CONDEMNED is based on a Tennessee Williams play about a young railroad executive (Robert Redford) who comes to a small Mississippi town at the height of the Depression with bad news about the rail line. A spoiled young woman, the belle of the town (Natalie Wood) becomes infatuated with the man and begs him to take her with him when he leaves. Directed by Sydney Pollack and adapted by Francis Ford Coppola, with cinematography by James Wong Howe and costumes by Edith Head. The supporting cast includes Charles Bronson, Kate Reid, Mary Badham, and Robert Blake. We could go on. See it.
BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE
Paul Mazursky, USA, 1969, DCP, 105 min
9/22, 9/24
The permissive mores of the late ’60s opened up new horizons for movie comedies, and this is one of the best. When a couple (Robert Culp and Natalie Wood) engage in separate indiscretions, they come to rationalize the acts as a part of the new morality. Later, they decide to involve another couple (Elliott Gould and Dyan Cannon) in a sexual foursome. This was a massive box office hit and a cultural touchstone. It was also the last lead role played by Natalie Wood for nearly ten years as she entered a period of semi-retirement to raise a family.
THE NEO-NOIR CANON: PART I
After several seasonal series of the Noir Canon at AFS, it seems like the time to take the next logical step. And so we move into part one of the Neo-Noir Canon, in which we examine some of the films that have built upon the stylistic framework of Film Noir. All of our selections are very different films, with one common thread: they are aware of the Noir conventions and they use our acquaintance with those tropes to take us to new and exciting places, sometimes by subverting our expectations, sometimes by using them. Clearly, the world of Neo-Noir is too vast for us to examine in one brief month, but we will return to it several more times in the year to come. The first screening of each film in this series will be preceded by an introduction by AFS Lead Film Programmer Lars Nilsen.
Films in this series:
EXPERIMENT IN TERROR
Blake Edwards, USA, 1962, DCP, 123 min.
9/30, 10/2
You’ll be pleasantly surprised by Blake Edwards’ hyper-stylish and genuinely disturbing thriller about a master criminal who coerces a young woman (Lee Remick) and her teenage sister (Stefanie Powers) into helping him pull off a complex bank job. With Glenn Ford as the harried FBI man who tries to put a stop to it. This film is a virtual blueprint for David Lynch’s noir inflected work: the music, the angles, the performance styles, and more.
POINT BLANK
John Boorman, USA, 1967, 35mm, 92 min.
10/7, 10/9
It was probably inevitable that the Noir influence on European art films would come home to roost in Hollywood, but few could have predicted anything so stylistically bold—one might even say berserk—as John Boorman’s adaptation of Richard Stark’s novel “The Hunter.” Lee Marvin weaves in and out of monochrome sets, committing jump cut, slo-mo acts of extreme violence in pursuit of the money he was swindled out of by his erstwhile partners in crime. With Angie Dickinson, John Vernon and Carroll O’Connor as those who are caught in the avenging demon’s cinematic dance of vengeance. In 35mm.
THE LONG GOODBYE
Robert Altman, USA, 1973, DCP, 112 min.
10/14 – 10/17
Twenty-seven years after she co-wrote THE BIG SLEEP for Howard Hawks, Leigh Brackett adapted another Raymond Chandler novel for director Robert Altman. THE LONG GOODBYE is about as different from the earlier film as can be imagined. Elliott Gould plays detective Phillip Marlowe as a sad sack who makes late night trips to the grocery store for his cat’s favorite food, and can barely get out of his own way as he tries to find out why his buddy is being accused of a crime. Devotees of linear detective stories may be disappointed, but fans of shaggy, anarchic ‘70s New Cinema will be in heaven.
CHAN IS MISSING
Wayne Wang, USA, 1982, DCP, 76 min.
10/21, 10/23
A groundbreaking independent film, Wayne Wang’s first feature is a black-and-white neo-noir puzzle set in San Francisco’s Chinatown. As its protagonist, cab driver Jo (Wood Moy), searches for a man named Chan who owes him money, we are exposed to all kinds of facets of Asian-American life that had never been essayed on film before.
DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS
Carl Franklin, USA, 1995, DCP, 102 min.
10/27, 10/30
Adapted by Walter Mosley from his novel of the same name, this film features Denzel Washington as Easy Rawlins, who finds employment in post-WWII Los Angeles as a private investigator as he traverses the racial and social strata of the City of Angels trying to find a woman (Jennifer Beals) who is sought by a number of unsavory parties. With a breakout performance by Don Cheadle as Easy’s friend Mouse, who gets involved in the convoluted hunt.
ESSENTIAL CINEMA: PATRICIO GUZMÁN’S THE BATTLE OF CHILE
Chilean master filmmaker Patricio Guzmán (Cannes-award winning CORDILLERO OF DREAMS, Academy Award shortlisted NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT) made his name in global cinema in the 1970s with this three-part masterpiece of political verité filmmaking. Filmed on the streets of Chile during the tumultuous political struggle that resulted in Augusto Pinochet’s authoritative rise to power, this groundbreaking documentary puts the audience directly in the line of fire in order to document what a revolution looks and sounds like from its enthusiastic inception to its bitter demise. The three parts of the film will be shown on consecutive Tuesdays in October as part of our long-running Essential Cinema series, which makes the permanent move back to being a weekly Tuesday program.
Films in this series:
PART 1: THE INSURRECTION OF THE BOURGEOISIE
Patricio Guzmán, Chile, 1975 , DCP ,96 min. In Spanish with English Subtitles
10/4
The year is 1973 and the Chilean parliamentary elections are right around the corner. Tensions are high as protesters, mobs, workers, and soldiers clash in the streets. Documentary filmmaker Patricio Guzmán’s camera captures all of this and more with astounding clarity and authenticity in this first part in a three-part political documentary.
PART 2: THE COUP D’ETAT
Patricio Guzmán, Chile, 1976, DCP, 88 min. In Spanish with English Subtitles
10/11
Everyone in the streets of Chile knows the impending coup d’etat is imminent, but those in power cannot rally enough support to fight back. In the second part of this three-part documentary, Chile’s political and social structure completely fragments and shatters, all with the assistance from the USA.
PART 3: POPULAR POWER
Patricio Guzmán, Chile, 1979, DCP, 80 min. In Spanish with English Subtitles
10/18
Traveling back to the events right after Part 1, Part 3 of THE BATTLE OF CHILE investigates the factory worker’s response to the insurrection as well as Chile’s socialist aspirations for the future. Guzmán’s camera captures the optimism in the industrial working class before Pinochet’s US-sponsored rise to power.
QUEER CINEMA: LOST & FOUND
CHOCOLATE BABIES
Stephen Winter, Barbara Hammer, USA, 1986, DCP, 90 min.
9/24, 9/26
A band of radical HIV+ activists of color take extreme measures to combat conservative politicians and government apathy towards AIDS in Stephen Winter’s wildly anarchic and sadly underseen New Queer Cinema classic, CHOCOLATE BABIES. Paired with Barbara Hammer’s 1986 video about the media’s response to the epidemic, SNOW JOB: THE MEDIA HYSTERIA OF AIDS. Queer Cinema: Lost & Found programmer Elizabeth Purchell will join us for a discussion Saturday, September 24.
VAMPYROS LESBOS
Jess Franco, Curtis Harrington, West Germany, Spain, USA, 1971/56, DCP, 102 min. In German with English subtitles.
10/22, 10/24
A mysterious countess seeks more than blood from her visitors in Jesús Franco’s surrealist lesbian vampire classic. The most well-known of Franco’s more than 200 films and perhaps the greatest showcase for his early muse, Soledad Miranda, VAMPYROS LESBOS also features an equally iconic psychedelic lounge score that became an unlikely chart hit in the 90s. Paired with Curtis Harrington’s 1956 portrait of artist and occultist Marjorie Cameron, THE WORMWOOD STAR. Queer Cinema: Lost & Found programmer Elizabeth Purchell will join us for a discussion Saturday, October 22.
BEST OF FESTS
CLARA SOLA
Nathalie Álvarez Mesén, Sweden/Costa Rica, 2021, DCP, 106 min. In Spanish with English subtitles
9/5, 9/7
With a mix of mysticism, sexuality, and religious fervor, filmmaker Nathalie Álvarez Mesén redefines the genre of magical realism in her debut feature. A breakout performance from first time actress Wendy Chinchilla Araya (Clara) and an intricately woven narrative all make CLARA SOLA a remarkable new release.
DOS ESTACIONES
Juan Pablo González, Mexico, 2021, DCP, 99 min, In Spanish with English subtitle
10/8 – 10/12
AFS-supported filmmaker Juan Pablo González is making a name for himself in the global cinema scene with his unique take on poetic, immersive docu-fiction. His first narrative feature is the story of a family-owned tequila distillery in Jalisco overseen by a very hands-on chief, Señora María, played with powerful restraint by Teresa Sánchez. For much of the running time we watch the ins and outs of tequila distillation – a fascinating and photogenic process – even as we are made aware of certain existential challenges facing the business. When a younger woman with more modern ideas about marketing arrives on the scene, Señora María is rocked to her core by surprising new feelings.
BIG SCREEN CLASSICS
POLICE STORY
Jackie Chan, Hong Kong, 1985, DCP, 100 min. In Cantonese and English with English subtitles
9/16 – 9/21
The jaw-dropping set pieces fly fast and furious in Jackie Chan’s breathtakingly inventive martial-arts comedy, a smash hit that made him a worldwide icon of daredevil action spectacle. The director/star/one-man stunt machine plays Ka-Kui, a Hong Kong police inspector who goes rogue to bring down a drug kingpin and protect the case’s star witness (Chinese cinema legend Brigitte Lin) from retribution. Packed wall-to-wall with charmingly goofball slapstick and astoundingly acrobatic fight choreography.
THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH
Nicolas Roeg, United Kingdom, 1976, DCP, 138 min.
10/1 – 10/6
There’s a starman waiting in the sky, and his name is Thomas Jerome Newton. In this psychedelic mind-fuck 1970s science fiction cult classic, David Bowie stars in one of his earliest roles as an alien on a dire mission. Complete with surreal imagery, THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH is a Swiftian sci-fi allegory unlike any other.
THE INNOCENTS (1961)
Jack Clayton, USA, UK, 1961, DCP, 99 min.
10/13 – 10/16
Nothing burns deeper than the hollow gaze of possessed posh children. In this icy candlelight gothic horror adapted from Henry James’ novella “The Turn of the Screw” and co-written by Truman Capote, all is not as it seems as Deborah Kerr’s Miss Giddens confronts the ghostly spirits of a victorian estate.
CARRIE
Brian De Palma, USA, 1976, DCP, 98 min
10/28 – 11/1
Brian De Palma’s adaptation of Stephen King’s first novel is a veritable shock machine, crammed with memorable set pieces in its story of an outcast teenager (Sissy Spacek), possessed of strange powers, and her religious fanatic mother (Piper Laurie). With memorable support from Nancy Allen, John Travolta, and William Katt.
FLESH & BLOOD: TWO HAMMER HORRORS OF THE ‘70S
DR. JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE
10/19, 10/21
Roy Ward Baker, 1972, UK, DCP, 97 min.
During the early ’70s, as censorship began to slacken on movie screens around the world, Hammer Films, the leading purveyor of gothic horror films, began to add copious quantities of sex and violence to their productions. This one, which pretty much states its intent in its title, is a very wild entry in the cycle, in which the debauched nobleman Henry Jekyll (Ralph Bates) transmogrifies into the libertine Sister Hyde (Martine Beswick).
BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB
10/22, 10/26
Seth Holt, UK, 1971, DCP, 94 min.
Another bloody, sexy Gothic Horror production from Hammer Films. This is an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “The Jewel of Seven Stars” and features the patented intense colors and absurdly anachronistic mod fashions that we have come to expect from the era of “Hammer Glamour.”
LATES
EARWIG
9/2 – 9/7
Lucile Hadžihalilović, UK/France/Belgium, 2021, DCP, 114 min.
The ring of a telephone, the flap of a window shutter, the chill of the voice on the line as he asks, “how is the girl?”—all reminders of Albert’s daily duties as caretaker of Mia, the little girl with ice for teeth. From the director of INNOCENCE and EVOLUTION, comes a new “enigmatic, oneiric vision” (BFI) sure to burrow its way into your consciousness.
BRIGHT FUTURE
9/9 – 9/14
Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan, 2003, DCP, 115 minutes. In Japanese with English subtitles
What’s scarier than death? The future. Famed auteur Kiyoshi Kurosawa (CURE) delivers an apocalyptically bleak vision of Japan’s lost generation as two friends (Tadanobu Asano and Jô Odagiri) contend—one, through murder, and the other by caring for a luminous and lethal jellyfish–with a reality of few prospects.
POST TENEBRAS LUX
9/16 – 9/17
Carlos Reygadas, Mexico, 2012, DCP, 120 min. In Spanish with English subtitles
Satan, quite literally, enters the home of an upper-class family as they move to the Mexican countryside in this cryptic, impressionist portrait of familial breakdown from director Carlos Reygadas (SILENT LIGHT). Will there, as the title suggests, be “light after darkness?” You decide.
TROUBLE EVERY DAY
9/30 – 10/2
Claire Denis, France/Germany/Japan, 2001, DCP, 101 min. In French and English with English subtitles
Flesh is on the menu for a couple of American newlyweds who find their stay in the city of love upended by an insatiable new arrival in this unnerving, and ever-controversial “carnal masterpiece” from Claire Denis (BEAU TRAVAIL) returning to the big-screen in 4K, more delectable than ever before.
TOKYO DECADENCE
10/7 – 10/8
Ryu Murakami, Japan, 1992, DCP, 112 min. In Japanese and English with English subtitles
The other Murakami (Ryū, the author of Audition, Popular Hits of the Showa Era) is behind the wheel of this turbulent trek through the ‘90s Tokyo corporate underbelly, where a sex worker soon learns the only thing higher than the interest rates – are the thrills. Featuring the music of Ryuichi Sakamoto, TOKYO DECADENCE is “as serious as it is kinky” (The Los Angeles Times).
WHAT ABOUT ME?
10/14 – 10/15
Rachel Amodeo, USA, 1993, DCP, 90 min.
Lisa is adrift in New York City after a series of misfortunes leave her homeless among the outcasts (Richard Hell, Gregory Corso, Nick Zedd, and more) of a pre-gentrified East Village in this “hidden masterwork” (Richard Brody) of “grace and cosmic humor” from Rachel Amodeo.
WORLD CINEMA CLASSICS
PERFECT BLUE (25TH ANNIVERSARY)
Satoshi Kon, Japan, 1997, DCP, 81 min. In Japanese with English subtitles
9/18, 9/20
J-Pop meets Italian Giallo thrillers in the first film from the late great Satoshi Kon (PAPRIKA, MILLENNIUM ACTRESS). When pop diva Mina quits her singing career to accept a role on a popular TV show, people around her start to turn up dead in alarming profusion. As the nature of the threat becomes more apparent, a hallucinatory sense of paranoia creeps into her life, and into the film’s sense of reality. A masterpiece of Japanese animation. Be warned: this is a very violent film. Not for kids or sensitive viewers.
PIXOTE
Hector Babenco, Brazil, 1980, DCP, 128 min. In Brazilian Portuguese with English subtitles
9/25, 9/29
Fernando Ramos da Silva gives an unforgettable performance as a 10-year-old runaway living on the streets of São Paulo, where he is collected in a police round-up and placed in a violent detention center. From then on his life and the lives of his friends are marked with tragic and senseless violence as they commit crimes to survive on the streets. A masterpiece of social realism.
BLACK ORPHEUS
Marcel Camus, France/Brazil 1959, DCP, 100 min. In Brazilian Portuguese with English subtitles
10/8 – 10/12
BLACK ORPHEUS is an immersive wonder in every respect, a bold and colorful adaptation of the ancient Greek story of Orpheus and Eurydice set in Brazil at Carnaval time. This is the film that introduced the world to the bossa-nova and samba beats of the Afro-Brazilian music scene, and the pulse of the music drives the story throughout. This is a certified crowd-pleaser, so if you have a friend you have been thinking about introducing to the AFS Cinema, this may be the one.
MODERN MASTERS
LAV DIAZ: NORTE, THE END OF HISTORY
Lav Diaz, Philippines, 2013, DCP, 250 min. In Filipino and English with English Subtitles
9/4
Loosely based on Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment” and directed by Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz, this four-hour examination into evil, morality, and meaning finds the beauty in the mundane and the devastation in the silence. A slow-cinema touchstone and a modern classic.
JONAS CARPIGNANO: A CHIARA
Jonas Carpignano, Italy/France/USA/Sweden, 2021, DCP, 121 min, In Italian with English subtitles
9/19, 9/21
Described as “a coming of age chronicle like no other” by the New York Film Festival, this tense family drama, made in the Southern Italian region of Calabria, revels in the profound moments of youth. Beautifully shot and acted, A CHIARA is a moving story about choice.
NEWLY RESTORED
HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR
Alain Resnais, France/Japan, 1959, DCP, 90 min. In French with English Subtitles
9/2, 9/6
French documentarian Alain Resnais’ follow-up to NIGHT AND FOGis widely regarded as one of the most important films ever made. With a screenplay written by Marguerite Duras, this meditation on representation, cultural amnesia, and war guilt still stands the test of time, over 60 years later.
THREE COLORS: BLUE
Krzysztof Kieślowski, France/Poland/Switzerland, 1993, DCP, 94 Min. In French with English subtitles
9/3, 9/10
Juliette Binoche delivers one of her most immersive performances in this blue-soaked, melancholic drama from Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski. Equally somber and serendipitous, BLUE provides a therapeutic and cathartic journey from start to finish.
THREE COLORS: WHITE
Krzysztof Kieślowski, France/Poland, 1994, DCP, 87 min. In Polish and French with English subtitles
9/11, 9/17
Pack your suitcases, this is a wild ride. Described by Roger Ebert as an “anti-comedy” and with an unforgettable performance from French actress Julie Delpy, this film from Krzysztof Kieślowski acts as an indescribable dramedy like no other.
THREE COLORS: RED
Krzysztof Kieślowski, France/Poland, 1994, DCP, 99 min. In French with English Subtitles
9/18, 9/25
Impeccable performances from Irène Jacob and Jean-Louis Trintignant. An astoundingly poetic narrative directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski. And an unforgettable conclusion to one of the best film trilogies of all time. THREE COLORS: RED is a monolith in the great film canon and the Polish auteur’s swan song.
ALMA’S RAINBOW + HAIR PIECE
Ayoka Chenzira, USA, 1994/84, DCP, 95 min
9/11 – 9/14
Sometimes family doesn’t always know best, but there’s always gold at the end of the rainbow. This reigns even more true in this landmark film in the Black cinema canon, where Rainbow, a young black woman living in Brooklyn, is torn between her tightly wound mother, free loving aunt, and her own burgeoning sense of agency. Screening with the short film HAIR PIECE, also directed by Ayoka Chenzira. Free Member Monday—free admission for all AFS members on September 12.
THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE (50TH Anniversary)
Luis Buñuel, France/Italy/Spain, 1972, 101 min. In French with English Subtitles
10/3, 10/6
Never has there been a class satire as biting and delectable as THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE. Spanish auteur Luis Buñuel plays with wealth, performance, and the medium of film itself in this absurd comedy of manners. So set the table, bring your friends, and enjoy this whimsical farce.
DOC NIGHTS
MY OLD SCHOOL
Jono McLeod, Scotland/USA, 2022, DCP, 115 min.
10/10, 10/13
The year is 1993. In Scotland, near Glasgow, Bearsden Academy welcomes a new student named Brandon Lee who is hiding a secret that would go on to shock the world. Telling this scandalously true story is this equally deceptive and spellbinding documentary starring Alan Cumming, who had tried to make a narrative feature about this true story for years. Free Member Monday—free admission for all AFS members on October 10.
LOVING HIGHSMITH
Eva Vitija, Switzerland/Germany, 2022, DCP, 83 min. In English, German, and French with subtitles
10/16, 10/19
Patricia Highsmith, acclaimed author of works such as Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley, lived a private life away from the spotlight, until now. For the first time, Highsmith’s diaries are narrated in the documentary LOVING HIGHSMITH, which uses a combination of archival footage, dramatizations, and interviews to tell the deeply complicated story of the iconic queer writer’s romantic life in a time of secretiveness and shame.
SPECIAL EVENTS
HISTORY OF TELEVISION HALLOWEEN SPECIAL
Various, Digital, total runtime of event is about 360 min.
10/31
Join us for Six Full Hours of Made For Television Horror Movies and episodes from the ’70s and ’80s. Guaranteed to amuse, with all the ghosts, Frankensteins, and Draculas you can handle. Maybe more! This one will take place in the theater and will also be simulcast live on Austin Public and YouTube. Free admission.
NEW RELEASES
Further titles for September/October to be announced.
WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND
opens 9/9. Directed by Iliana Sosa
After a lifetime of bus rides to the US to visit his children, Julián quietly starts building a house in rural Mexico. In filming his work, his granddaughter crafts a personal and poetic love letter to him and his homeland. Distributed by Array.
MOONAGE DAYDREAM
opens 9/23. Directed by Brett Morgan
A cinematic odyssey exploring David Bowie’s creative and musical journey, sanctioned by the Bowie estate. Distributed by Neon.
*Select screenings accompanied by Modern Rocks gallery Bowie photo exhibit
