Film
Gabriel Figueroa’s Mexico
Four Mexican classics shot by the great cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa (1907–1997), who captured the people and landscapes of his native country in dramatically framed, exquisitely lit black-and-white images. All four are shown in new, restored 35mm prints from the Filmoteca de la UNAM, Mexico City. (Special thanks to José Manuel García.) Each film $8, CMA members $6, seniors 65 & over $5, students $4, or one Panorama voucher.
A Woman in Love (Enamorada)
Wednesday, October 1, 7:00
Directed by Emilio Fernández, with María Félix and Pedro Armendáriz. This stunningly photographed classic from the "golden age of Mexican cinema" has been called a south-of-the-border Taming of the Shrew. It charts the unlikely love affair between an invading Revolutionary general and a feisty, wealthy village woman. (Mexico, 1946, b&w, subtitles, 35mm, 99 min.)
The Pearl
Wednesday, October 15, 7:00
Directed by Emilio Fernández, with Pedro Armendáriz. The life of a poor Mexican fisherman is changed when he finds an enormous pearl. John Steinbeck adapted his own story for this pictorial stunner from the fabled director/cinematographer team of Fernández and Figueroa. (Mexico, 1947, b&w, subtitles, 35mm, 85 min.)
Nazarín
Wednesday, October 22, 7:00
Directed by Luis Buñuel, with Francisco Rabal. This wry "pilgrim’s progress" by a celebrated atheist and anarchist tells of a young priest whose efforts to live a pure Christian life spark nothing but hostility, indifference, and confusion. (Mexico, 1959, b&w, subtitles, 35mm, 94 min.)
Macario
Wednesday, October 29, 7:00
Directed by Roberto Gavaldón. This beloved fantasy, based on a story by B. Traven, was the first Mexican film nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. It tells of a poor, hungry Mexican woodcutter who happens upon a turkey dinner, all for himself, one Day of the Dead. But before he can enjoy his feast, he is joined by three uninvited guests—God, the Devil, and Death—who want to share in his windfall. (Mexico, 1960, b&w, subtitles, 35mm, 91 min.)
Doctoberfest
A monthlong festival of acclaimed new documentary films, all exclusive Cleveland premieres. Admission to each film $8, CMA members $6, seniors 65 & over $5, students $4, or one Panorama voucher.
All in This Tea
Friday, October 3, 7:00
Saturday, October 4, 1:30
Directed by Les Blank and Gina Leibrecht. The latest in Les Blank’s long line of films about food finds the ethnographer traveling to China to explore the world of tea and its cultivation and appreciation. "Delicious . . . Manages a harmonious blend of themes and subjects in its brisk running time." –The New York Times. (USA, 2007, color, Beta SP, 70 min.)
A Jihad for Love
Saturday, October 4, 3:00
Wednesday, October 8, 7:00
Directed by Parvez Sharma. Filmed over 5½ years in 12 countries, this survey of gay and lesbian Muslims around the world is the first documentary to look at homosexuality and Islam. "Brave . . . Eye-opening!" –New York Magazine. (USA/Britain/France/Germany/Australia, 2007, color, subtitles, Beta SP, 81 min.)
Operation Filmmaker
Friday, October 10, 7:00
Sunday, October 12, 3:15
Directed by Nina Davenport, with Liev Schreiber. When a young Iraqi’s dream of becoming a filmmaker is destroyed by U.S. bombs, American actor and director Liev Schreiber invites the 25-year-old to be an assistant on a movie he is shooting in the Czech Republic. But Schreiber’s benevolence backfires when the young intern proves volatile and difficult—not unlike the war in his home country. (USA, 2007, color, Beta SP, 95 min.)
Wonders Are Many: The Making of Doctor Atomic
Sunday, October 12, 1:30
Directed by John Else, with John Adams and Peter Sellars. This documentary chronicles the creation of Doctor Atomic, an opera about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the atom bomb that was composed by John Adams, directed by Peter Sellars, and premiered by the San Francisco Opera in 2005. (USA, 2007, color, 35mm, 92 min.)
Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, the Mistress and the Tangerine
Friday, October 17, 7:00
Sunday, October 19, 1:30
Directed by Marion Cajori and Amei Wallach, with Louise Bourgeois. The celebrated French-born, 96-year-old American painter and sculptor—the subject of a career retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York this year (some of her iconic spiders came to Cleveland in 2002)—is profiled in this new movie that was shot between 1993 and 2007. (USA, 2008, color, Beta SP, 99 min.)
Chris & Don. A Love Story
Friday, October 24, 7:00
Sunday, October 26, 1:30
Directed by Guido Santi and Tina Mascara, with John Boorman, Leslie Caron, et al. The 30+ year relationship between writer Christopher Isherwood (whose book Berlin Stories was the basis for Cabaret) and much-younger portrait painter Don Bachardy is brought vividly to life via contemporary recollections, archival film footage, home movies, diary excerpts, reenactments, and animations in this joyous, life-affirming film, one of the most acclaimed movies of the year. (USA, 2007, color, Beta SP, 90 min.)
Aspects of Artistic Luxury
Films that intersect, in one way or another, with objects in the current Artistic Luxury exhibition—or with the era during which the pieces were created. Each program $8, CMA members $6, seniors 65 & over $5, students $4, or one Pano-rama voucher.
Paris 1900
Sunday, November 2, 1:30
Directed by Nicole Védrès. This documentary limns the life of Paris and its inhabitants during "La Belle époque" (1900–1914), beginning with the completion of the Eiffel Tower and the Paris Exposition of 1900. (France, 1947, b&w, subtitles, 16mm, 79 min.) Special thanks to Delphine Selles, French Cultural Services, New York.
The Adventures of Prince Achmed
Wednesday, November 5, 7:00
Directed by Lotte Reiniger. A Middle Eastern prince tries to foil the plans of an evil sorcerer in the world’s first feature-length animated film, composed of exquisite cut-out silhouettes and hand-colored backgrounds. Inspired by The Arabian Nights, the film shows the influence of Eastern shadow puppets and Art Nouveau. (Germany, 1926, color-tinted b&w, silent with recorded music and English subtitles, 35mm, 65 min.)
U.S. Premiere!
Klimt (Director’s Cut)
Friday, November 7, 6:30
Saturday, November 8, 1:30
Sunday, November 9, 1:30
Directed by Raul Ruiz, with John Malkovich and Saffron Burrows. The life of Austrian Art Nouveau painter Gustav Klimt—condemned and celebrated for his decorative, sensual paintings—is visualized in this ravishing, phantasmagorical portrait. We present the U.S. premiere of the "director’s cut" of Klimt, 33 minutes longer than the previously released "international version." New print! Adults only! In English. (Austria/France/Germany/Britain, 2006, color, 35mm, 130 min.) Special thanks to Ricki Oelmack, epo-film, Vienna.
Proteus
Wednesday, November 12, 7:00
Directed by David Lebrun. This dazzling, multi-award-winning documentary (with animated segments) explores the 19th century’s fascination with the undersea world (the "outer space" of that era). The film’s central figure is biologist and artist Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919), whose many elegant, detailed sketches may have inspired Art Nouveau. (USA, 2004, color, 35mm, 60 min.) Preceded at curtain time by Jon Story and Antony Zaki’s 28-min. Against Nature (Britain, 2005, DVD), an adaptation of Huysmans’s "decadent" 1884 novel À Rebours.
To Catch a Thief
Friday, November 14, 8:00
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, with Grace Kelly and Cary Grant. A suave ex-jewel thief is accused of returning to his old occupation in this elegant, picturesque caper set on the French Riviera. (USA, 1955, color, 35mm, 106 min.)
Or make an evening of it: For one price, see Artistic Luxury, enjoy a buffet-style dinner from 6:00 to 7:45, then catch the movie at 8:00. Reserve through the box office: $55, CMA members $45.
Ninotchka
Sunday, November 16, 1:30
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, with Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, and Bela Lugosi. A severe, no-nonsense Soviet agent sent to Paris to supervise the sale of some valuable jewels for her government falls for a debonair Western playboy who represents everything she hates. "Garbo laughs" in this celebrated comedy co-written by Billy Wilder. (USA, 1939, b&w, 35mm, 110 min.)
Salome
Wednesday, November 19, 7:00
Directed by Charles Bryant, with Alla Nazimova. Herod’s stepdaughter dances for the head of John the Baptist in this lavish silent version of Oscar Wilde’s scandalous stage play. Produced by the film’s star, a Stanislavsky-trained Russian stage actress, the film has florid sets and bizarre costumes inspired by
Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations for the play’s original English edition. Restored version! (USA, 1923,
color-tinted b&w, silent with
recorded music, 35mm, 74 min.)
Angels and Insects
Friday, November 21, 6:45
Directed by Philip Haas, with Mark Rylance, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Patsy Kensit. This brooding period piece, set in 19th-century England, tells of a poor naturalist who is hired to catalogue an insect collection belonging to a wealthy aristocrat. But the strangest specimens found at his employer’s lavish country estate are all human. From an A. S. Byatt novel. Rated R. (USA/Britain, 1995, color, 35mm, 116 min.)
Nicholas and Alexandra
Sunday, November 23, 1:00
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, with Michael Jayston, Janet
Suzman, and Tom Baker. The turbulent final years of Russia’s Romanov dynasty are impressively visualized in this lavish, thoughtful historical epic that reawakened interest in the Tsarist era. 35mm studio archive print! (Britain, 1971, color, 35mm, 183 min.)
The Scarlet Empress
Friday, November 28, 7:00
Sunday, November 30, 1:30
Directed by Josef von Sternberg, with Marlene Dietrich, John Lodge, and Sam Jaffe. This orgiastic spectacle is one of the most baroque and bizarre films ever to come out of Hollywood. It chronicles the 18th-century rise of Catherine the Great—from German princess to empress of Russia. Restored print! (USA, 1934, b&w, 35mm, 104 min.)