KRZYSZTOF KIESLOWSKI: AN AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE RETROSPECTIVE

The esteemed Polish filmmaker, Krzysztof Kieślowski will be honored with a tribute by the American Cinematheque with a screening of his best known works which includes his celebrated "Three Colours" trilogy. The retrospective will begin on May 3rd and running through July 12th with screenings held at the Aero Theatre, Los Feliz 3 and Egyptian Theatre.

Kieślowski, who passed away in 1996 at the age fifty-four during open-heart surgery following a heart attack, had been awarded numerous prizes throughout his career that included a 1988 Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize, the Venice Film Festival Golden Lion in 1993, the Berlin International Film Festival Silver Bear as well as receiving Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay in 1995.

Born in Warsaw, Kieślowski had no real career goals, briefly attending firefighters' training school and then wanted to become a theatre director but lacked the proper education and settled on cinema. He applied to the Łódź Film School and was rejected three times before finally being accepted. After making several short films, Kieślowski's first major project was a documentary and his first film for television, "Workers '71: Nothing About Us Without Us" in 1972 which focused on workers discussing the reasons for the mass strikes of 1970. Frustrated by the censorship of his film by the government when it aired, Kieślowski decided to focus largely on fiction which would allow him more artistic freedom and control over his work.

His first feature film was "Personnel", a 1975 television drama about a young man who finds work as a tailor at an opera and becomes disillusioned by the harsh realities of stage productions, that would win numerous awards at national festivals including the Grand Prize at the Mannheim International Film festival. Kieślowski's work during his early period were shot in a documentary style with many nonprofessional actors which includes "Blizna (The Scar)", "Przypadek (Blind Chance)" and No End "Bez końca (No End)". This lead to the 1988 television movie, "Dekalog" which featured a series of ten hour-long episodes set in a Warsaw tower block, each loosely based on one of the Ten Commandments. The program helped Kieślowski attract foreign financing for his next films, mainly from France, which allowed him to have a bigger budget and expand his vision to create his work.

The first was "The Double Life of Veronique" in 1990 which starred Irène Jacob as two women, one Polish and the other French that do not know each other, who share a deep, emotional bond that transcends language and geography. This film became internationally acclaimed, winning the FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as the Best Actress award for Jacob.

His next project was the ambitious feature film trilogy, "Three Colours (Blue, White, Red)", which explores the virtues symbolized by the French flag. "Blue" (which symbolizes liberty) starred Juliette Binoche as a woman whose husband and daughter are killed in a car accident and then tries to isolate herself from life. "White", about equality, is a psychological comedy involving a Polish man (Zbigniew Zamachowski) living in Paris that suffers several humiliating circumstances after being left by his French wife (Julie Delpy). And Irène Jacob starred in "Red" (which represents fraternity) with her playing a model whose life dramatically collides with a bitter retired judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant). Despite the critical acclaim for these films, Kieślowski announced he was retiring in 1994 following the premiere of "Red" at the Cannes Film Festival. He had become physically and emotionally exhausted from the process of filmmaking as well as claiming to really never enjoyed making movies.

Whether this was true or not, Kieślowski revealed himself to be a true cinematic visionary, leaving behind an indelible collection of films ranging from the social realist examinations of life under communism to the universal complexities of the human condition.

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Krzysztof Kieślowski: An American Cinematheque Retrospective

JOACHIM TRIER: AN AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE RETROSPECTIVE

The American Cinematheque will celebrate the Danish-Norwegian filmmaker, Joachim Trier with a tribute featuring most of his movies to date beginning on January 2nd to January 8th. There has been plenty of buzz surrounding his most recent film, "Affeksjonsverdi (Sentimental Value)" which won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, selected as the Norwegian entry for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards, was awarded or nominated for several film critics prizes and received seven nominations for the upcoming Golden Globe Awards. Trier and his long-time collaborator, Eskil Vogt (who has co-written all of Trier's films) will be in-person for a special screening of "Sentimental Value" on January 7th at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. They will also be appearing together following the screening of their previously acclaimed film from 2021, "Verdens verste menneske (The Worst Person in the World)" on January 8th at the Los Feliz Theatre in Los Angeles.

The work of Trier tends to be intimate ruminations involving romantic relationships, memory and an arduous search for a sense of identity. His arresting films are filled with dark moods, darker humor and subdued emotions while visually highly stylized yet naturalistic in tone.

Trier came from a family that had been involved in cinema with his father working as a sound technician and his grandfather was an experimental filmmaker in Norway. He first got involved with film himself by shooting and editing his own skateboarding videos. Trier later enrolled at the European Film College in Denmark and then the National Film & Television School in Britain. It was during this time that he made several short films with one, "Proctor" winning Best British Short Award at the 2002 Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Trier went to work on his feature film debut, "Reprise", released in 2006, about two friends who both want to become writers but whose lives take on different paths. This well-received film would go on to be selected as Norway's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. "Reprise" became the first feature in Trier's Oslo trilogy, a trio of standalone films all set in the Norwegian city, which was followed by "Oslo, August 31st" in 2011 and concluded with "The Worst Person in the World". Trier also directed "Louder Than Bombs" his first English-language film, the supernatural thriller, "Thelma", and the documentary "The Other Munch".

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Joachim Trier: An American Cinematheque Retrospective

PARK CHAN-WOOK: AN AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE RETROSPECTIVE

Park Chan-wook, the South Korean filmmaker widely regarded as a leading figure in current world cinema, is having a retrospective at the American Cinematheque that will feature some highlights from his storied career. Many of Park's films, largely rooted in the crime-thriller genre, have become celebrated for their stylized camerawork, black humor, and brutal violence. 

Beginning November 16th, there will be an advance screening of his latest feature, the dark comedy-thriller, "No Other Choice", which will be followed by an in-person Q&A with Park and star, Lee Byung Hun at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. The other screenings, which will be held at the Los Feliz 3 and Egyptian Theatres through December, will include his unofficial Vengeance Trilogy: "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance", "Lady Vengeance" and "Oldboy", which is considered by many to be one of the greatest films ever made and helped introduce Park to a wide global audience. 

Originally intending to be become an art critic, Park decided to move into filmmaking after viewing the Alfred Hitchcock classic, "Vertigo". His feature film debut, "The Moon Is... the Sun's Dream" in 1992 and his follow-up five years later, "Trio" were not well received, and he has since tried to distance himself from these works. His breakthrough came (and what he considers his "first" film) with "Joint Security Area" in 2000, a riveting thriller involving deceit, misunderstanding and the senselessness of war (screening on December 6th at the Egyptian with Park in-person) which became one of the highest-grossing films in South Korean history. This was followed by other acclaimed works that include "Thrist", "I'm A Cyborg, But That's OK", the English-language film, "Snowpiercer", "Decision to Leave" (winning Park the 2022 Best Director prize at Cannes) and the celebrated erotic-thriller, "The Handmaiden" which be screened during this festival on December 5th. 

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Park Chan-wook: An American Cinematheque Retrospective

CHANTAL AKERMAN: AN AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE RETROSPECTIVE

The American Cinematheque will present a thorough retrospective of the renowned Belgian filmmaker, Chantal Akerman. The film that this bold and visionary artist is best known for is "Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles" from 1975 which found its way to be ranked "the greatest film of all time" in Sight & Sound magazine's 2022 critics poll. This film will be screened to start the festival on November 2nd and will feature several of Akerman's early short films, her first feature film and first documentary on various dates through December.

A pioneer of cinematic modernism, Akerman's filming style focused on capturing ordinary life which tends to move at an unhurried pace. And while she didn't regard herself as a "feminist", Akerman always tried to transcend female aesthetics of the cinema in her work.

Born in Brussels, Belgium, Akerman enrolled in INSAS, a Belgian film school, but dropped out during her first semester to make a short film, "Saute ma ville" in 1968. Akerman moved to New York City in 1971, staying for about a year, where she was exposed to the vibrant art scene that was happening during this period. She also met and began her long collaboration with French cinematographer, Babette Mangolte, who was living in the US at the time, making the documentary, "Hotel Monterey" and some short films.

Once back in Belgium, Akerman began working on her first feature film, "Je, Tu, Il, Elle" that focused on a young woman's unconventional sexuality which was a daring statement at the time. She would go on to make twelve feature films and sixteen documentaries and short films.

Sadly, Akerman ended her own life on October 5, 2015 in Paris, at the age of 65. Her last film prior to her passing was "No Home Movie", a documentary that featured a series of conversations she made with her beloved mother shortly before she died.

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Chantal Akerman: An American Cinematheque Retrospective

MONICA VITTI: LA MODERNISTA

Film at Lincoln Center and Cinecittà have teamed-up for a special presentation to bring long overdue recognition to one of the great performers of Italian films and world cinema: Monica Vitti. A striking beauty with a magnetic presence, Vitti has been hailed as an actor who transformed the screen with a modern sensibility as film shifted from glossy spectacle to gritty realism during the 1960's. 

Born in Rome in 1931 as Maria Luisa Ceciarelli, she took her mother's maiden name when deciding to become an actress, getting bit parts on stage and in films before earning a significant role in "Le dritte", directed by Mario Amendola in 1958. Two years later, Vitti met filmmaker, Michelangelo Antonioni who cast her in "L'Avventura". This film about the disappearance of a young woman during a boating trip in the Mediterranean with the woman's lover and her best friend (played by Vitti) coming together to search for her went on to win the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and would make Vitti an international movie star. From this notable success, an artistic partnership began between Antonioni and Vitti with them going on to make three more groundbreaking films together: "La Notte", "L'Eclisse" and "Il deserto rosso (Red Desert)". 

This is the first North American retrospective dedicated to the remarkable career of Vitti with fourteen of her essential films to be screened, several with new 4K restorations.

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Film at Lincoln Center: Monica Vitti: La Modernista

CLAIRE DENIS: AN AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE RETROSPECTIVE

Claire Denis, the distinguished French filmmaker, will be honored with a celebration of her work and career with an American Cinematheque retrospective beginning on June 4th through 7th which is also part of the Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair film festival.  

While she was born in Paris, Denis was raised during her formative years in colonial West Africa as her father was a civil servant which he moved the family around every two years across the area. This experience would have a profound influence on her future career as a filmmaker as well as the old American films she would watch as a child.

By the time she returned to France as a teenager, Denis felt disconnected to her birth country. As as young woman, she searched for direction. She was briefly married to a photographer and studied various subjects before attending the prestigious film school, IDHEC (which is now La Fémis). After graduating in 1971, Denis would go on to be the assistant director for many acclaimed filmmakers which included Wim Wenders with Denis traveling to the US with the German director to film "Paris, Texas" and his return to Germany to make "Wings of Desire".

At this point, Denis was ready to call her own shots behind the camera and made "Chocolat" in 1988. This semi-autobiographical drama looks at a French woman reflecting on her childhood in Cameroon and her relationship with her family's African servant. This film, nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes, brought her immediate acclaim.

Denis would go to have an extraordinary career with the now seventy-nine year old director having made sixteen feature films to date as well as numerous short films and documentaries. American Cinematheque will spotlight six of her movies which includes Denis' most acclaimed film, "Beau Travail", a 1999 drama loosely based on Herman Melville's novella, "Billy Budd". The other films featured are "35 Rhums (35 Shots of Rum)"; the erotic-horror drama, "Trouble Every Day"; "Les Salauds (Bastards)", an homage to film noir starring Vincent Lindon and Chiara Mastroianni; her first English-language film, "High Life", a sci-fi horror with Robert Pattinson and "White Material" which has Denis returning to Africa with Isabelle Huppert as the owner of a struggling coffee plantation trying to hold on to it during the eruption of a civil war.

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American Cinematheque: Claire Denis Retrospective

ALAIN DELON (1935 - 2024)

Alain Delon, the French actor who was considered by many to be one of the most handsome men to appear in cinema, died on August 18th at the age of eighty-eight. On screen, he could be remote and vacant yet smoldering and magnetic. His considerable looks certainly brought him plenty of attention but Delon was also a talented performer, helping him become popular and recognized as an international film sensation. No cause of death has been revealed to date but the actor had been in poor health recently, suffering a stroke in 2019 and treated for lymphoma three years later.

He was born to a lower-middle class family but his parents separated when he was four. His mother and father both remarried and had other children, leaving Delon with a foster family for a number of years. But he was eventually returned to his parents, who shared custody, and was shuttled back and forth between his second families. This lead him to become rebellious, misbehaving and disrespectful to his teachers which caused him to be expelled from his schools more than once. At seventeen, he joined the Navy and sent off to fight during the French-Indochina War. Near the end of his service, he was arrested for stealing a jeep and going on a joyride which caused damage to the vehicle. After being sent to prison for a short time, Delon was expelled from the Navy. 

Returning to France, Delon had to fend for himself, doing several odd-jobs and began to get more involved in the darker and seedier side of life. He became romantically involved with Brigitte Auber, an actress who recently had appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's "To Catch a Thief". This brief relationship introduced Delon to other possibilities for his future. They attended the 1957 Cannes Film Festival together which lead him to met his future agent and get discovered by a talent scout.

The inexperienced Delon got a small part in the film, "Quand la femme s'en mêle (Send a Woman When the Devil Fails)" in 1957 where he learned on the job how to act with the help of the director, Yves Allégret. His next major break came when he was cast opposite the German actress, Romy Schneider (who had selected him herself) in the 1958 period drama, "Christine". They began a romance, with neither able to speak the other's language initially nor not particularly liking each other while onset, and became a celebrated couple for six years. After their relationship ended, Delon and Schneider remained friendly, even working together on screen again a couple of times, most notably in "La Piscine (The Swimming Pool)" in 1968.

Delon followed "Christine" up the following year with the comedy, "Faibles femmes (Women are Weak)" which became a big hit in France and was the actor's first movie to be released in the US. But what made audiences really take notice of Delon was his appearances in two films released in 1960; "Rocco e i suoi fratelli (Rocco and His Brothers)", Luchino Visocnti's drama about a poor family from Southern Italy and their struggles to achieve a better life up north in Milan. "Rocco" won a Special Jury Prize during the 21st Venice International Film Festival. And a leading role in the first screen adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel, "The Talented Mr. Ripley" called "Plein soleil (Purple Noon)" from René Clément. Together, these films helped make Delon a movie star.

He would go on to star in Michelangelo Antonioni's "L'Eclisse (The Eclipse)" with Monica Vitti; teamed with Visconti again for "Il Gattopardo (The Leopard)", a historical drama with Burt Lancaster and Claudia Cardinale; and worked again with Clément for "Les félins (Joy House)" with Jane Fonda, shooting French and English language versions. Hollywood certainly became intrigued with the actor and after working on his English, Delon made a few movies stateside for about three years beginning in 1964. But his accent limited what roles he could play and the movies he did make never made much headway with American audiences.

However, Delon remained very popular in France and eventually he returned to his home country where he could feel more comfortable and had plenty of more options for film roles. Some notable films he made include "Histoires extraordinaires (Spirits of the Dead)", a 1968 all-star horror anthology, from directors, Roger Vadim, Louis Malle and Federico Fellini, based on stories by Edgar Allan Poe. And his work with Jean-Pierre Melville in three crime dramas: "Le Samouraï", "Le Cercle Rouge (The Red Circle)" and "Un flic (A Cop)" all became classics and cemented Delon as an actor who could convey so much emotion and intensity without uttering a word.

Delon made over ninety films throughout his career and later going on to receive many honors and accolades. He won the César Award for Best Actor for his performance in "Notre histoire" in 1985, became a member of France's Legion of Honour in 1991, received an Honorary Golden Bear from the Berlin Film Festival in 1995 and the Honorary Palme d'Or from the Cannes Film Festival in 2019.

CATHERINE BREILLAT: AN AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE RESTROSPECTIVE

Catherine Breillat, the French cinematic provocateur, will be the focus of an American Cinematheque Retrospective beginning on July 15th through August 15th. Throughout her almost fifty years as a filmmaker, she has fearlessly explored female sexuality and the politics surrounding the subject with audacious imagery, perplexing characters, brutal candor and uncompromising style.

She began her professional career at the age of seventeen with the publication of her first novel, "l'Homme facile (A Man for the Asking)". Due to it's sexual themes, the book was banned for readers under eighteen years old. Breillat continued this exploration when she moved into filmmaking in 1976 with her debut feature, "Une vraie jeune fille (A Real Young Girl)" which was based on her fourth novel about the sexual awakening of a fourteen year old girl. Once again, the graphic depiction of sexual scenes led to the film being banned in many countries and was not released to theatres until 2000.

Breillat suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in 2004, causing a stroke and leaving her left side paralyzed. Yet after months of hospitalization and intense rehabilitation, the director was able to returned to filmmaking.

This fourteen film fest will lead off with Breillat's latest, "L'Été dernier (Last Summer)", her first film in ten years and based on the 2019 Danish film, "Dronningen (Queen of Hearts)". Léa Drucker stars as a lawyer who specializes in child protection. She is happily married with two children but after the troubled seventeen year old son (Samuel Kircher) from her husband's previous marriage moves in with them, an inappropriate intimate relationship begins between them.

Other films by Breillat to be screened include "Romance X" and "Anatomie de l'enfer (Anatomy of Hell)" which both feature hardcore sexual scenes and the famed Italian porn star, Rocco Siffredi; "Sex Is Comedy", a dramedy that revolves around a film director (played by Anne Parillaud) trying to film an intimate sex scene between two actors who can't stand each other and "Abus de faiblesse (Abuse of Weakness)", a semi-autobiographical film about a filmmaker (Isabelle Huppert) who suffers a cerebral hemorrhage that leaves her paralyzed. After therapy, the director begins to work on a new project about a working class man that falls in love with a famous actress, eventually beating her to death and decides to hire a real-life con-man to star in the film. Also part of this retrospective will be the newest 4K restorations of Breillat's early works, "A Real Young Girl", "36 Fillette" and "Parfait amour! (Perfect Love)".

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American Cinematheque: Catherine Breillat Retrospective

2023 AFI FILM FESTIVAL

AFI Fest is the premiere event in Los Angeles that celebrates world cinema and this year's thirty-seventh edition will feature over one hundred and forty films from across the globe. The festival will once again be held in the heart of Hollywood at the historic TCL Chinese Theatres.

The Opening Night Red Carpet Film that is making its world premiere will be "Leave the World Behind", Sam Esmail's adaptation of the novel by Rumaan Alam. Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali and Ethan Hawke star in this dystopian thriller about two couples, who are complete strangers and holed up in a house in Long Island, having to decide how best to survive a mysterious disaster threatening the world.



The Centerpiece Screening is "Maxine's Baby: The Tyler Perry Story", a documentary by Gelila Bekele and Armani Ortiz that examines the complicated life and groundbreaking career of the African American actor, filmmaker and media mogul, allowing us access into the little-seen, inner world of Perry.



And the Closing Night Red Carpet Film selected is Bradley Cooper's latest turn as a director, "Maestro", a bio-pic in which he also stars as the composer Leonard Bernstein. This drama takes us on an emotional journey through this gifted musician's life, his artistry and complicated relationship with his wife Felicia Montealegre, played here by Carey Mulligan.



There are various sections in the Fest that include World Cinema which will feature several films selected by their country to be the submission for this year's Oscars; Discovery which highlights new voices in contemporary cinema; Luminaries offers a selection of the latest films from important filmmakers; Documentaries; Special Screenings and a shorts competition.













This year's Guest Artistic Director is Greta Gerwig, the actor and director who was behind "Barbie", the summer blockbuster hit that became an unlikely cultural phenomenon. She has curated five films to be screened during the fest that had an impact on her as an artist and filmmaker. The classic films selected are "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" (1985) and "A Matter of Life and Death" (1946) (which Gerwig will be on-hand to do in-person introductions for these films); "All That Jazz" (1979), "An American in Paris" (1951) and "Wings of Desire" (1988).







For the complete list of films and to purchase tickets and passes, please click below:

2023 AFI Fest

PASSAGES (2023)

Written by Mauricio Zacharias and Ira Sachs



Directed by Ira Sachs



Where & When: Outfest LA, Directors Guild of America, Los Angeles, CA. July 20, 2023 7:15 PM



"Passages", the latest feature film from writer/director Ira Sachs, is a European based, love triangle involving two men and a woman. Yet what makes this drama far more intriguing and very modern is that the men are the long-term couple, and the young woman is the one who comes between them. With an audacious narrative and thrillingly sensual, "Passages" takes us on an emotional journey filled with several unexpected twists and turns.

Living in Paris, Tomas (Franz Rogowski), a German filmmaker working on his new film and Martin (Ben Whishaw), a British print maker have been together for fifteen years, still caring for each other yet fallen into comfortable, routine relationship. During a wrap party for Tomas' film, Martin wants to call it a night after spending the evening supporting his partner. But Tomas is not ready to go home, deciding to stay at the party. He begins to pay attention to Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos) a young French school teacher who was invited by friends working on the film. Just ending a relationship with a clingy boyfriend that evening, she is open and ready for some fun. And later in an apartment at an after party, Tomas and Agathe lock eyes, sneak off into a bedroom and become intimate.

Buzzing with excitement, Tomas goes home the next morning and can't wait to tell Martin what happened. Yet he's not nearly as thrilled or amused by this revelation from his partner. Later while in the editing bay, Tomas comes across Agathe once again, paying a visit to a friend. They attempt some small talk before going off to a private room where they tear each other's clothes off. Tomas is soon sneaking off to be with Agathe any chance he can get, falling surprisingly into a romantic relationship. And this comes to a head with Martin as Tomas announces to him that he is leaving to take a chance in this new love affair. A devastated Martin tries to move on, starting a causal relationship with a writer (Erwan Kepoa Falé). But Tomas refuses to let go of him completely, missing the familiar intimacy with a man while struggling to understand Agathe's emotional needs and dealing with her concerned parents.

Whishaw (seen in the last three Bond movies as "Q", appeared in the Oscar-nominated, "Women Talking" and voiced the beloved, British bear in the "Paddington" films) reliably delivers a solid performance of a man trying to find a way to be supportive of the man he loves while refusing to allow him to trample over his heart and their long relationship. Exarchopoulos, who first attracted international attention in the controversial 2013 drama, "Blue Is the Warmest Colour", brings a warmth and steely reserve to her role as Agathe. But the real standout is Rogowski, commanding the screen with a rakish swagger that is extremely appealing. The unconventionally handsome actor, who previously made a great impact in Christian Petzold's films, "Transit" and "Undine" and recently in the acclaimed prison drama, "Great Freedom", brings to mind a European version of Joaquin Phoenix, matching in physicality and sharing the same intensity burning through their eyes. Yet Rogowski is a little less edgy, having a softer, more vulnerable quality than Phoenix.

As an artist and filmmaker, Tomas has always been largely focused on satisfying his needs, motivations and desires. And his narcissistic nature was not going to be any different in his personal life. His behavior becomes appalling as we watch Tomas deviously exploit Martin and Agathe's affection for him to best serve his selfish needs. The film doesn't make any effort in trying to define Tomas' sexuality, but it seems clear that his initiating an affair with Agathe was more about doing something new and exciting than an innate attraction.

"Passages" boldly explores sexual identity, touching on how that has recently evolved into something less rigidly defined and fluid. This film is an erotic drama that features several scenes of sexuality with the most extended and detailed involving Tomas and Martin (which earned "Passages" an unwarranted NC-17 rating but the film's distributor, MUBI chose to release unrated instead of forcing Sachs to make any cuts). This genre used to be a staple in theaters but has virtually disappeared from US cinemas and I applaud Sachs for bravely offering something for adults. I'm sure the European setting was a necessity as Americans now tend to be far more cautious and nervous over sexual intimacy, particularly when two men are involved. Gloriously uninhibited and fiercely provocative, "Passages" is a welcome return of a dramatic narrative that features messy and complicated characters that actually reveal themselves emotionally and physically.

MICHAEL HANEKE: AN AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE RETROSPECTIVE

For the latest series by the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles, the complete film retrospective of the Austrian filmmaker, Michael Haneke will be presented beginning on May 4th and running through June 3rd. Haneke, the son of actors, Fritz Haneke and Beatrix von Degenschild, began his career working in the German television industry as a director before making his feature film debut in 1989 with "The Seventh Continent", a drama about the last years of an Austrian family told in three parts. 

With his fourth film, "Funny Games" in 1997, Haneke would first become recognized internationally for creating disturbing yet thought provoking cinema. He had originally wanted to set this controversial film in the US but it was not possible at the time. But ten years later, Haneke would do a shot-for-shot remake of "Funny Games" in English and set in America with Naomi Watts and Tim Roth starring. 

His subsequent films would also be intriguing and compelling works: "Code Unknown", "The Piano Teacher", "Time of the Wolf", "Caché", "The White Ribbon" (which won Haneke his first Palme d'or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival), "Amour" (which Haneke received a second Palme d'Or and the Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar in 2012) and "Happy End", from 2017 which is his last film to date.

These films will be screened on selected dates at the Los Feliz Theatre in Los Angeles and the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. The eighty-one year old Haneke will be involved in a live virtual conversation about his career before the double feature screenings of "The Piano Teacher and "Amour" on June 3rd. Please click below for more information and to purchase tickets:

American Cinematheque: Michael Haneke Retrospective

JEAN-LUC GODARD (1930 - 2022)

Jean-Luc Godard, one of the most important and influential filmmakers who dramatically shifted the potential of cinema by challenging the conventions of the art form, has died at the age of ninety-one. With the release of his debut feature, "Breathless" in 1960, he helped to establish what would be known as the French New Wave movement which rejected traditional filmmaking methods to explore experimentation with narrative, editing and visual style, which effectively reinvigorated motion pictures. He was also one who strongly championed the idea of the auteur theory which stated that the director was the clear 'author' of a film despite there being many people involved in the making of the project. 

Godard was born into wealth and comfort with his father, Paul was a Swiss doctor and his mother, Odile was the daughter of Julien Monod, a founder of the Banque Paribas. While he did not attend films regularly when he was young, Godard became intrigued with cinema by reading about it in the magazine, La Revue du cinéma. But his interest intensified when he joined several ciné-clubs in Paris, groups dedicated to film screenings and discussions. This lead to Godard to explore film criticism and founded a short-lived magazine, Gazette du cinéma with Jacques Rivette and Maurice Schérer (who would later become better known as filmmaker, Éric Rohmer). He would go on to write for the just established film journal, Cahiers du Cinéma in 1951.

During this time, Godard got his hands on a camera and began to make short films, becoming friendly with other aspiring filmmakers, Alain Resnais, Claude Chabrol, Jacques Demy, Agnès Varda and François Truffaut. Now determined to make his first feature film, Godard went to the 1959 Cannes Film Festival where he got financing from producer Georges de Beauregard and asked Truffaut if he could use an idea they had come-up together about a car thief.

"À bout de souffle" or as it's probably better known, "Breathless", took the world by storm, turning American film noir on it's head by breaking cinematic rules with jump-cuts, non-continuity editing, actual locations, using handheld cameras and writing pages of the script on the day of shooting. The film made Jean-Paul Belmondo, in his first significant role playing criminal, Michel Poiccard and Jean Seberg as his American girlfriend Patricia, into major movie stars and Godard into a celebrated filmmaker.

With his follow-up film, "Une femme est une femme (A Woman Is a Woman)" in 1961 (which would star his future wife, Anna Karina), this began a period, lasting about eight years, where Godard would go on to make movies that reflected his love of Hollywood and film history yet told through his particular vision of cinema. This included "Bande à part (Band of Outsiders)", "Alphaville", "Pierrot le Fou", "Masculin Féminin", "Deux ou trois choses que je sais d'elle (Two or Three Things I Know About Her)", "La Chinoise", "Week-end" and the other film Godard is probably best known for, "Le Mépris (Contempt)", from 1963 that starred Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli and Jack Palance.

By 1968, Godard seemed to have become disillusioned by his fame and the history of conventional cinema, referring to most of it as "bourgeois", deciding to largely move away from mainstream filmmaking and began to shift his focus by taking more of an active political stance in his life and films. His work during this time involved protesting against wars and social injustice, avant-garde documentaries and "Tout Va Bien", a political drama in 1972 which starred Yves Montand and Jane Fonda.

Godard returned to more traditional filmmaking in 1980 with "Sauve qui peut (la vie) (Every Man for Himself)" with Isabelle Huppert and Nathalie Baye. He continued to work regularly throughout the rest of the 1980's and '90's, which included experimental films inspired by Bizet's opera ("Prénom Carmen (First Name: Carmen)"); a modern re-telling of the story of the virgin birth ("Je vous salue, Marie (Hail Mary)"); and an adaptation of a William Shakespeare play ("King Lear"). By the turn of the century, Godard's output had slowed down, making five feature films and essentially abandoning a clear narrative structure, focusing instead on a fragmented montage of images and even experimenting with 3D with "Adieu au Langage (Goodbye to Language)" in 2014. Godard's final film, "Le Livre d'image (The Image Book)" was released in 2018 and was an avant-garde essay about the modern Arabic world.

While he did suffer from some health issues, Godard was not seriously ill yet was simply tired of living. He decided to end his life on September 13th with the assistance of voluntary euthanasia which is legal in Switzerland where the director has lived off and on since childhood. Godard was married twice; to Anna Karina, the Danish actress appeared in eight films with Godard, who were married for five years until 1965. Karina passed away in 2019. He then married French actress, Anne Wiazemsky in 1967, who performed in his films, "La Chinoise" and "Week-end", with the couple ending their marriage in 1979. Wiazemsky died of breast cancer in 2017.

What I think has made Jean-Luc Godard continue to be such a remarkably enduring yet certainly divisive figure in cinema was his strong passion for artistic freedom, to creatively challenge himself with bold, unorthodox work that in turn would entice, frustrate and surprise viewers, opening them up to explore the endless possibilities of meaning in his films.

ALINE (2022)

Written by Brigitte Buc and Valérie Lemercier




Directed by Valérie Lemercier




Where & When: Laemmle NoHo 7 theatres, North Hollywood, CA. April 18, 2022 4:20 PM




The last of fourteen children in a poor yet loving French-Canadian family in Quebec, Aline Dieu has a remarkable singing ability, first displayed at the wedding of one of her brothers at the age of five. With music playing an important part of the Dieu family and recognizing that the world should hear Aline's singing, her mother and brother write a song that will showcase the amazing talent of the now-twelve year old. They manage to get a recording of this song into the hands of a well-known music manager in Canada who is moved to tears by Aline's voice, promptly deciding to devote all of his energy into helping make this young girl a star.

If this story sounds oddly familiar, well, it's intended to. The French performer, Valérie Lemercier has co-written, directed and stars in "Aline", a loving, fictionalized tribute based on the life and career of the Canadian pop superstar, Céline Dion. And the fifty-eight year old Lemercier impressively plays Dieu from a five year old to middle-age with the aid of digital effects. The film is a meticulously designed fantasy that dives into the world of a real-life singer yet surprisingly lacks a bold, imaginative spirit.

With Guy-Claude Kamar (Sylvain Marcel) now managing Aline, he takes steps to mold the shy, awkward girl into an image closer to what is expected of an international pop star. He arranges to have her teeth straightened, transforms her with a fashion make-over and begin to have her learn English. But Aline's budding career almost comes to a grinding halt when she damages her vocal cords. Her options are surgery or to not speak at all for three months with Aline wisely deciding to remain silent.

And as her music career begins to rise, Aline finds herself falling in love with Kamar who is twenty-five years older than herself. While this couple initially kept their romance secret from the public, fearing that they would not be accepting, they couldn't keep this information from her family with Aline's mother, Sylvette (Danielle Fichaud), in particular, appalled by the idea. After finally announcing to the world that they are together, fans embraced the news of their relationship (and eventually Sylvette) which was followed by the singer and her manager getting married in a lavish wedding ceremony.

Valérie Lemercier may not be well-known on this side of the Atlantic but in her native France, she is a celebrated star. She made her film debut in Louis Malle's "Milou en mai (May Fools)" in 1990 and would go on win two César Awards for Best Supporting Actress (for "Les Visiteurs" and "Fauteuils d'orchestre") before receiving the Best Actress César for her performance in "Aline" last year. Lemercier began working behind the camera in 1997 and had a big hit with her third feature as a director, "Palais royal!", a 2005 comedy based loosely on the adultery scandal involving the British royals, Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Unlike that film, Lemercier handles her fact-based fictional character in "Aline" with a more delicate, respectful touch. The actress, with her expressive, pliant features, is captivating as she evolves from a small, shy child with a big voice to a powerful and confident superstar performer. As a filmmaker however, Lemercier is competent yet lacks a distinctive visual style that might have elevated this routine rags-to-riches musical love story.

There is no doubt that Lemercier is a big fan of Dion, honoring this musical icon in a unique way, but it's hard to understand what is the actual point of "Aline". The character at the center of this film is definitely not supposed to be Céline Dion. And "Aline" is not a parody. Yet Lemercier painstakingly recreates the major events in the singer's life, the clothing that she has worn and even performs several of the songs that Dion has made famous (with vocals provided by French singer, Victoria Sio who puts in the extra effort to sound like Dion). It just feels odd to do a pseudo-biography on a performer who is still very much alive and in the middle of her career that is not really intended to poke fun or offer critical evaluation. What might have made "Aline" even more intriguing is if Lemercier had played up the fantasy-comedy elements in this story even further instead of remaining so faithful to the real-life of Dion.

I can look back at "Dreamgirls" which was clearly based on the story of the Supremes yet was far enough removed from the actual hitmaking Motown girl-group (which included original songs that conveyed the emotions of these characters) that the similarities were never a real distraction. "Aline" is literally retelling Céline Dion's life story with only thinly veiled name changes and minor creative liberties to make it appear fictional. This musical-dramedy certainly has it's charms but since Lemercier had no intention to offend in any possible way, the narrative and characterizations are mostly too blandly generic to effectively thrill. I mean, if you're going to invent a movie about the life of one of the biggest pop singers on the planet, then the most shocking and scandalous event they experience should involve more than falling in love with a divorced, older man.

GASPARD ULLIEL (1984 - 2022)

Although he is probably best recognized in this country as the face of Chanel men's fragrance, Bleu de Chanel, Gaspard Ulliel was an award-winning French actor who has tragically passed away on January 19th at only the age of thirty-seven, He was involved in a skiing accident in Savoie, France the day before in which he crashed in to another skier without a helmet, causing severe head trauma with the handsome actor sadly succumbing to his injuries.

Ulliel, who had a notable small scar on his left cheek which he got as a six year old from a dog attack, began acting as a child performer, appearing in several television movies before his breakout performance in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "A Very Long Engagement" with Audrey Tautou, which he was awarded a César Award for Most Promising Actor. Other highlights in his filmography include playing a young Hannibal Lecter in "Hannibal Rising" (which was his first English-language film); portraying French fashion designer, Yves Saint Laurent in the biopic, "Saint Laurent" which he received a Lumières Award for Best Actor in 2014; appearing in Xavier Dolan's drama, "Juste la fin du monde (It's Only the End of the World)" which won Ulliel the Best Actor César in 2016. His last released feature film was the comedy-drama, "Sibyl" which was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. Ulliel had completed work on the upcoming Marvel Studios series, "Moon Knight" which he plays the character, Midnight Man. This is such a sad loss of a great talent in the prime of his career.

LINA WERTMULLER (1928 - 2021)

Lina Wertmüller, the Italian filmmaker who found international acclaim with "Seven Beauties" in 1975 which helped make her become the first woman nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, has passed away today at the age of ninety-three. Easily identified by her signature white-framed glasses she usually wore, Wertmüller received an Honorary Oscar for her extraordinary career in 2019, making her only the second female director to receive this award. Her best work boldly blended comedy with political and social commentary, making her one of the most daring and exciting filmmakers in cinema.

She was born with the lengthy name, Arcangela Felice Assunta Wertmüller von Elgg Spanol von Braueich in Rome with her Italian father having some Swiss ancestory. As a young girl, she loved comic-books and was drawn to all areas in the performing arts. After graduating from the Silvio d'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Arts, Wertmüller found work as a set designer, avant-garde play producer, scriptwriter and puppeteer, traveling throughout Europe. Flora Carabella, a childhood friend, introduced her to actor, Marcello Mastroianni (who happened to be her husband) and he would later introduce her to filmmaker, Federico Fellini who would become Wertmüller's close friend and mentor.

After working as an assistant director on Fellini's "8 1/2", Wertmüller made her first film, "I basilischi (The Basilisks)" in 1963. She wrote and directed this drama that looks at the lives of three young men who live in a small, poverty-stricken village in southern Italy. This movie and her four subsequent feature films found local success but did not receive much attention outside of her home country. It was not until her 1972 feature, "The Seduction of Mimi" and "Love and Anarchy" from 1973 that put Wertmüller on the worldwide stage with both films nominated for Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Giancarlo Giannini, who first worked with Wertmüller in "Rita la zanzara (Rita the Mosquito)" in 1966, won Best Actor at Cannes for his performance in "Love and Anarchy". The actor would appear in eight of her films including Wertmüller's greatest successes, "Seven Beauties" and "Swept Away".

"Travolti da un insolito destino nell'azzurro mare d'agosto (Swept Away... by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August)" was one of Wertmüller's most controversial yet popular films that starred Mariangela Melato as a snobby, wealthy woman who winds up swapping roles with one of the low-ranking crew members of her yacht (Giannini) after they get stranded on a desert island. "Pasqualino Settebellezze (Seven Beauties)" features Giannini as an Italian businessman who deserts the army during World War II, then captured by the Germans and sent to a prison camp, where he does anything to survive. In addition to Best Director, the film received Oscar nominations for Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay and Best Foreign-Language Film. 

Hollywood would come calling and Wertmüller signed a four picture deal with Warner Bros. Her first English language film was "A Night Full of Rain" in 1978 with Candice Bergen and Giannini but it was a box-office flop with the studio canceling the rest of the contract. Undeterred, Wertmüller returned home to Italy and continued to make films. She ultimately made twenty-three movies throughout her career with her last film, the comedy-drama, "Peperoni ripieni e pesci in faccia (Too Much Romance... It's Time for Stuffed Peppers) made in 2004 and starred Sophia Loren.

CINEMA ITALIAN STYLE 2021

The American Cinematheque has once again joined Cinecittà and the Italian Ministry of Culture to present this year's Cinema Italian Style, a celebration of new films from Italy. While most of this festival will be presented virtually from December 8th to 15th, there will be in-person screenings in Los Angeles of a new documentary about the late composer, Ennio Morricone from Giuseppe Tornatore and the latest from Paolo Sorrentino with "The Hand of God" which has been selected to represent the country for this year's Best International Feature for the 2021 Oscars. Both screenings will be held at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica.

"Ennio: The Maestro" looks at the career of the legendary Morricone who created more than four hundred musical scores for cinema and television. Tornatore traveled across the globe to interview over seventy renowned filmmakers and musicians to share their experiences on working with the composer along with some never-before-seen archival footage involving Morricone at home and work.



Paolo Sorrentino will come to Los Angeles on December 10th to present, "The Hand of God", set during the 1980's in Naples when it was a tumultuous city. Loosely based on Sorrentino's life, the film explores a tale of fate and family, sports and cinema, love and loss. This will be a double feature with his 2016 Best Foriegn-Language Oscar winner, "The Great Beauty" with Sorrentino holding a Q&A in between the films.

The virtual screenings will feature the recent Italian films, "Blue Eyes", "Ezio Bosso: The Things That Remain", "Futura", "Like a Cat on a Highway 2", "Lovely Boy", "The Hole", "The Image Machine of Alfredo C." and "The Macalusco Sisters".









For additional information and to purchase tickets and passes, please click below:

Cinema Italian Style 2021

INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVALS IN LOS ANGELES

Two film festivals that highlight the best in new European cinema are heading to Los Angeles: German Currents and COLCOA French Film Festival.

German Currents, the 15th annual festival of German Cinema co-produced by the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles and the American Cinematheque, will feature some of the best recent films from Germany, most of which make their Los Angeles premieres. Beginning October 22nd and running through October 31st, The Opening Night film, "Bekenntnisse Des Hochstaplers Felix Krull (Confessions of the Felix Krull)" will screen at the the Los Feliz 3 theatre. Based on Thomas Mann’s novel of the same name, Felix Krull (Jannis Niewöhner), a handsome young man of simple origins, has had an extraordinary ability to transform and adapt in order to get ahead. Taking a job at a luxury hotel in Paris, Felix rises in ranks among the hotel staff, capturing the attention of the hotel’s guests. This will be a free screening with RSVP holders admitted on a first come, first served basis.



And at the Aero Theatre on October 24th, the Closing Night film is "Fabian Oder Der Gang Vore Die Hunde (Fabian: Going To The Dogs)". Set in Berlin in 1931, Jakob Fabian (Tom Schilling) struggles to make a living. Hanging out with his wealthy friend (Albrecht Schuch), Fabian meets an aspiring actress (Saskia Rosendahl) and they quickly falls in love. But as their lives move in different directions, this creates problems in their relationship.



The rest of the fest will be virtual screenings. Several programs will include exclusive pre-recorded introductions and discussions with the filmmakers. For a complete list of films, purchase tickets and additional information, please click below:

German Currents Los Angeles 2021

This year marks the twenty-fifth year of the City of Lights, City of Angels French Film Festival in Los Angeles. The fest will be held for seven days beginning on November 1st with in-person screenings at the Directors Guild of America in Hollywood. This year's COLCOA will feature an exclusive program with more than fifty films competing for awards in three categories: cinema, television and short films. The Opening Night film is "Between Two Worlds", a drama from Emmanuel Carrère making it's North American premiere. Based on French investigative journalist Florence Aubenas’ best-selling non-fiction book, "The Night Cleaner", Juliette Binoche stars as Marianne Winckler, a celebrated writer who goes undercover as a cleaning lady to write a book on job insecurity in the gig economy.

COLCOA Classics will honor the late actor, Jean-Paul Belmondo with a screening of his 1973 feature, "Le Magnifique" which will be followed by a discussion with co-star, Jacqueline Bisset and writer/director Francis Veber. Jean-Claude Carrière, a screenwriter and actor who passed away in February, was nominated for the Academy Award three times for his work on the screenplays for "That Obscure Object of Desire", "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and "Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie)" which will be a free screening on November 4th. And the highly honored filmmaker, Bertrand Tavernier (who may be best known to American audiences for his 1986 musical-drama, "Round Midnight") will have his 1976 film, "Le Juge et l’assassin (The Judge and the Assassin)" screened with the Los Angeles premiere of the digitally restored version.





For a complete list of films, purchase tickets and additional information, please click below:

COLCOA Los Angeles 2021

TITANE (TITANIUM) (2021)

Written & Directed by Julia Ducournau



Where & When: AMC Sunset 5, West Hollywood, CA. October 3, 2021 2:45 PM



There is absolutely nothing about "Titane (Titanium)", Julia Ducournau's evocative and deranged horror thriller, that feels reasonable. There is some spectacularly gruesome carnage and disturbing violence. There is dark humor and wildly absurd plot twists. We also have moments that are thought-provoking and emotionally moving. Yet it all largely works as the provocative French filmmaker upends our expectations by deconstructing this genre, taking us on a strange, surreal journey that challenges our ideas on gender and identity.

The film opens with a drive out on the open road with a father (Bertrand Bonello) and his young daughter, Alexa (Adèle Guigue). But there is some tension inside of the car, with the father trying to drown out his daughter's continuous mimicking of the sound of the car's engine. As he turns the radio's volume up, she just gets louder. Bored with this game, Alexa begins kicking the back of his seat. When she refuses to stop, a moment of anger erupts as he turns to face her, causing him to crash the car. After an intensive surgery, Alexa has been fitted with titanium plate in to her severely damaged skull. There seems to be no sign of any lasting physical damage to the young girl yet this accident appears to have left a deep psychological connection between Alexa and automobiles.

The next time we see Alexa (now played by Agathe Rousselle in her film debut), she is a young woman dancing seductively as a model at a car show. Still brooding and dead-eyed as she was as a child, Alexa has grown up with a behavior far more dangerous; a secret desire to commit cold-blooded murder. Watching a newscast on television warning of a series of grisly murders occurring around the city, she casually eats in her parent's home, knowing exactly where they can locate the killer.

After a botched killing spree, with a potential victim escaping, Alexa has to go the run. Going through a dramatic and harrowing transformation, she takes on the identity of Adrien, a boy who has been missing for ten years. The police contact the boy's father, Vincent (Vincent Lindon), a fire captain who accepts Alexa as "Adrien" with no further proof needed. The other fire fighters at the station don't know what to make of the captain's traumatized, mute "son" but must welcome him as an apprentice member of the team. And there is one more thing; Alexa has been impregnated by a car with something growing inside of her.

"Titane" won Ducournau the top prize of the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, making her only the second female filmmaker to win this award, following Jane Campion for "The Piano" in 1993. This is the follow-up to her 2016 debut, "Raw", another outlandish shocker that featured Garance Marillier (who makes a brief appearance in "Titane") as a young vegetarian who develops a taste for human flesh. With "Titane", Ducournau goes even further with some pretty extreme ideas, many to the point of being completely ridiculous. Yet she manages to make this story work, largely by taking every preposterous moment seriously while cleverly touching on themes involving cross-dressing, gender politics, familial bonding and homoeroticism to heighten this odd drama, subjects not usually found in the horror genre. Her script also abandoned the standard three-act structure, allowing Ducournau's peculiar story to flow at her own desired pace, which shifted the film further off balance.

Not wanting audiences to have any expectations with a familiar face in the leading role, Ducournau set about finding an unknown performer. She came across Rousselle, a frustrated actor who for years didn't have much luck getting any attention, working largely as a model and photographer. And while she doesn't deliver much dialogue, Rousselle is a wildly physical, sensual presence, demanding that you to never take your eyes off of her. On screen for most of the film, the actress delivers a raw, fearless performance, displaying Alexa's eerie stillness and unpredictable fury, behavior much like a caged animal. She manages to disgust and shock you yet also develop some concern and sympathy for her deranged character.

Let's just be clear here; "Titane" is not for the faint of heart (there were reports of viewers actually passing out during early screenings at some film festivals) or for those who like their narratives to be fairly straightforward. And while "Titane" didn't work entirely for me, I was constantly on the edge of my seat, never able to predict where the film was taking me and covering my eyes in terror by some of the more brutally horrific images that appeared on screen. I was shocked and appalled yet thoroughly entertained, enjoying the feeling of uncertainty and the unpredictable nature of this twisted tale. It's clear that Ducournau's intension was to provoke and leave you feeling deeply unsettled by her work. And she certainly succeeded at her task. But it is also clear that the director had some intriguing and thoughtful ideas to communicate yet no desire to express them in any conventional way. Ducournau is a wonderfully, refreshing filmmaker, commanding a bold vision, assured artistry and more than willing to challenge audience's expectations.