Cinematheque Film Schedule

United States | 1969 | Richard Myers

Roger Ebert called the breakthrough feature by longtime Ohio filmmaker Richard Myers “a work of overpowering originality” and “the most influential film since Godard’s early work.” Shot on 16mm in and around Akron, Akran is a dazzling, fragmented vision of the alienation and turmoil of late 1960s American life. Myers, who won the 2014 Cleveland Arts Prize for Lifetime Achievement, calls his magnum opus “an anxious allegory and chilling album of nostalgia.” A discussion with...

United States | 1916 | D. W. Griffith

D. W. Griffith’s great silent epic—an impassioned plea for universal peace, justice, love, and understanding—was made partly in response to the accusations of racism leveled at his previous heartfelt spectacle, Birth of a Nation. Intolerance tells four parallel stories set in four distinct historical periods. The most famous of the four threads recounts the fall of ancient Babylon, which takes place on colossal sets. Another thread focuses on Jesus and the Pharisees. A third exposes...

United States | 1948 | Leo Hurwitz

The U.S. may have won WWII, but this powerful and uncompromising (some might say “treasonous”) look at racism and anti-Semitism in postwar America—made by a director who was later blacklisted—uses newsreels, covert footage, and dramatizations to argue that “the ideas of the loser are still active in the land of the winner.” “The most ambitious leftist film made in the U.S. between Native Land and Salt of the Earth…Documentary noir.” –J. Hoberman. Cleveland revival premiere....

United States | 1970 | Brian De Palma

Robert De Niro stars in this very early (but key) Brian De Palma film—a shaggy, satirical collection of jokes, jolts, and affronts shot in downtown Manhattan at the height of the counterculture era. De Niro plays a Vietnam vet who tries to become a porno filmmaker, but soon finds himself involved in an off-Broadway experimental theater production (Be Black, Baby!) in which African American actors literally assault a liberal white audience. Unforgettable! With Allen Garfield,...

United States | 2015 | Peter Flynn

120 years after movies first exploded upon the scene, photochemical film has largely been replaced by digital images. The passing of film also means the passing of film projectionists. Peter Flynn’s new film explores the history and craft of motion picture presentation through the lives and stories of the last generation of career operators. By turns humorous and melancholic, these individuals’ candid reflections on life in the booth reveal a world that has gone largely...

United States | 1948 | Leo Hurwitz

The U.S. may have won WWII, but this powerful and uncompromising (some might say “treasonous”) look at racism and anti-Semitism in postwar America—made by a director who was later blacklisted—uses newsreels, covert footage, and dramatizations to argue that “the ideas of the loser are still active in the land of the winner.” “The most ambitious leftist film made in the U.S. between Native Land and Salt of the Earth…Documentary noir.” –J. Hoberman. Cleveland revival premiere....

United States | 1970 | Brian De Palma

Robert De Niro stars in this very early (but key) Brian De Palma film—a shaggy, satirical collection of jokes, jolts, and affronts shot in downtown Manhattan at the height of the counterculture era. De Niro plays a Vietnam vet who tries to become a porno filmmaker, but soon finds himself involved in an off-Broadway experimental theater production (Be Black, Baby!) in which African American actors literally assault a liberal white audience. Unforgettable! With Allen Garfield,...

United States | 2005 | Terrence Malick

Terrence Malick’s fourth feature (made between The Thin Red Line and The Tree of Life) looks better and better with each passing year. Now it can be seen in a new 4K digital restoration of an extended cut (never released to theaters) that is 37 minutes longer than the general-release version. This poetic, meditative look at the creation of the Jamestown settlement in 17th-century Virginia stars Colin Farrell as Captain John Smith, Q'orianka Kilcher as...

United States | 1974 | Brian De Palma

Arguably De Palma’s finest film,” says the Time Out Film Guide about this satirical horror musical that blends Phantom of the Opera with Faust. It’s an outlandish tale about a disfigured composer (William Finley) who vows revenge when his songs, perfect for a pop singer he adores (Jessica Harper), are stolen and used for his own purposes by a satanic music promoter (Paul Williams). DCP. 91 min.

United States | 1973 | Brian De Palma

Brian De Palma’s first thriller is a blatant homage to Hitchcock. (He even hired Bernard Herrmann to do the music.) It’s also one of his best films, containing the shock effects and quirky, kinky comedy that are uniquely his own. A tale of separated Siamese twins (one of whom is a psychotic killer), the film stars Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning, and William Finley. Collector’s print. 93 min.

United States | 1973 | Brian De Palma

Brian De Palma’s first thriller is a blatant homage to Hitchcock. (He even hired Bernard Herrmann to do the music.) It’s also one of his best films, containing the shock effects and quirky, kinky comedy that are uniquely his own. A tale of separated Siamese twins (one of whom is a psychotic killer), the film stars Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning, and William Finley. Collector’s print. 93 min.

United States | 1974 | Brian De Palma

Arguably De Palma’s finest film,” says the Time Out Film Guide about this satirical horror musical that blends Phantom of the Opera with Faust. It’s an outlandish tale about a disfigured composer (William Finley) who vows revenge when his songs, perfect for a pop singer he adores (Jessica Harper), are stolen and used for his own purposes by a satanic music promoter (Paul Williams). DCP. 91 min.

Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, Netherlands | 2014 | César Augusto Acevedo

Winner of the Camera d’Or for best first feature at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, this austere, painterly drama is a striking work of slow cinema. An elderly sugar cane farmer returns to the home and family he abandoned many years before. His has come to help his gravely ill son, who still struggles to make a living working the fields, some of which are burned nightly. “A beautifully crafted, leisurely paced portrait of a...

South Korea | 2015 | Hong Sang-soo

In the wryly funny new movie by South Korea’s master of alternate realities Hong Sang-soo (In Another Country, Woman on the Beach), a successful art-film director who’s visiting a provincial town for a film festival appearance meets an aspiring painter and spends the day with her. In the second half of this movie, he does it again—meeting and spending the same day with the same painter, but with some key differences that might change the...

United States | 1984 | Joel and Ethan Coen

Joel and Ethan Coen’s funny, stylish, violent first film tells of a nasty Texas bar owner who hires a private detective to murder his unfaithful wife and her lover. The movie, seen here in a new digital restoration of its “director’s cut,” also marked the screen debut of star Frances McDormand. With John Getz, Dan Hedaya, and M. Emmet Walsh; music by Carter Burwell. Adults only! Cleveland revival premiere. DCP. 96 min. www.janusfilms.com

South Korea | 2015 | Hong Sang-soo

In the wryly funny new movie by South Korea’s master of alternate realities Hong Sang-soo (In Another Country, Woman on the Beach), a successful art-film director who’s visiting a provincial town for a film festival appearance meets an aspiring painter and spends the day with her. In the second half of this movie, he does it again—meeting and spending the same day with the same painter, but with some key differences that might change the...

United States | 1984 | Joel and Ethan Coen

Joel and Ethan Coen’s funny, stylish, violent first film tells of a nasty Texas bar owner who hires a private detective to murder his unfaithful wife and her lover. The movie, seen here in a new digital restoration of its “director’s cut,” also marked the screen debut of star Frances McDormand. With John Getz, Dan Hedaya, and M. Emmet Walsh; music by Carter Burwell. Adults only! Cleveland revival premiere. DCP. 96 min. www.janusfilms.com

Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, Netherlands | 2014 | César Augusto Acevedo

Winner of the Camera d’Or for best first feature at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, this austere, painterly drama is a striking work of slow cinema. An elderly sugar cane farmer returns to the home and family he abandoned many years before. His has come to help his gravely ill son, who still struggles to make a living working the fields, some of which are burned nightly. “A beautifully crafted, leisurely paced portrait of a...

United States | 1980 | Brian De Palma

A prostitute who witnesses a murder and starts investigating the crime fears that she will become the killer’s next victim. Legendary film critic Pauline Kael wrote that Brian De Palma’s ultra-stylish, ultra-sexy thriller “is permeated with the distilled essence of impure thoughts…the suspense becomes aphrodisiacal.” With Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, and Nancy Allen. Pino Donaggio composed the seductive music. Adults only! Scope. 105 min.

United States | 1984 | Brian De Palma

A struggling L.A. actor working as a house-sitter spies obsessively on the attractive woman across the way. But when he witnesses her murder, he suddenly becomes a suspect. Brian De Palma evokes both Rear Window and Vertigo in this fetishistic fantasy that has divided moviegoers for the past 30+ years. With Craig Wasson and Melanie Griffith. Music by Pino Donaggio. Adults only! DCP. 109 min.

United States | 1984 | Brian De Palma

A struggling L.A. actor working as a house-sitter spies obsessively on the attractive woman across the way. But when he witnesses her murder, he suddenly becomes a suspect. Brian De Palma evokes both Rear Window and Vertigo in this fetishistic fantasy that has divided moviegoers for the past 30+ years. With Craig Wasson and Melanie Griffith. Music by Pino Donaggio. Adults only! DCP. 109 min.

United States | 1980 | Brian De Palma

A prostitute who witnesses a murder and starts investigating the crime fears that she will become the killer’s next victim. Legendary film critic Pauline Kael wrote that Brian De Palma’s ultra-stylish, ultra-sexy thriller “is permeated with the distilled essence of impure thoughts…the suspense becomes aphrodisiacal.” With Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, and Nancy Allen. Pino Donaggio composed the seductive music. Adults only! Scope. 105 min.

Israel | 2014 | Tali Shalom-Ezer

Named Best Israeli Feature at the 2014 Israeli Film Festival, this dreamy, ambiguous tale of underage sexuality focuses on a 12-year-old girl just entering puberty, a mysterious young boy who seems to be her male doppelganger, and her workaholic mother’s stay-at-home boyfriend, whose playfulness with his stepchild creeps toward abuse. “A bold, audacious debut.” –The Hollywood Reporter. Subtitles. DCP. 92 min.

France, Tunisia | 2014 | Benjamin Crotty

A gay man raising his 18-year-old daughter alone while his partner is serving in the French military in Djibouti meets a group of female army wives who experiment sexually with each other while their spouses are away. Made in 16mm by an American expat working in France, this funny, sensuous tale of love, loneliness, fidelity, and desire is one of the most original and acclaimed movies of the year. Adding to its uniqueness is the...

United States | 1970 | John Waters

Made just before Pink Flamingos, John Waters’ second feature stars Divine as the proprietor of “Lady Divine’s Cavalcade of Perversions,” a disreputable traveling sideshow that robs and even murders those who come to see it. Waters’ crazy and hilariously sordid film boasts its own cavalcade of perversions, including lust, drug addiction, homosexuality, rape, blasphemy, and madness. With David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole, and Edith Massey. No one under 18 admitted! Cleveland revival premiere....

United States | 1988 | Penelope Spheeris

Penelope Spheeris’ follow-up to her seminal punk rock documentary The Decline of Western Civilization (see 7/9 & 10) focuses on the L.A. heavy metal scene from 1986-1988. Features memorable interviews with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of Kiss, Lemmy of Motörhead, Dave Mustaine of Megadeath, Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, and others. Cleveland revival premiere. DCP. 93 min. www.declinemovies.com

Israel | 2014 | Tali Shalom-Ezer

Named Best Israeli Feature at the 2014 Israeli Film Festival, this dreamy, ambiguous tale of underage sexuality focuses on a 12-year-old girl just entering puberty, a mysterious young boy who seems to be her male doppelganger, and her workaholic mother’s stay-at-home boyfriend, whose playfulness with his stepchild creeps toward abuse. “A bold, audacious debut.” –The Hollywood Reporter. Subtitles. DCP. 92 min.

United States | 1988 | Penelope Spheeris

Penelope Spheeris’ follow-up to her seminal punk rock documentary The Decline of Western Civilization (see 7/9 & 10) focuses on the L.A. heavy metal scene from 1986-1988. Features memorable interviews with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of Kiss, Lemmy of Motörhead, Dave Mustaine of Megadeath, Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, and others. Cleveland revival premiere. DCP. 93 min. www.declinemovies.com

United States | 1970 | John Waters

Made just before Pink Flamingos, John Waters’ second feature stars Divine as the proprietor of “Lady Divine’s Cavalcade of Perversions,” a disreputable traveling sideshow that robs and even murders those who come to see it. Waters’ crazy and hilariously sordid film boasts its own cavalcade of perversions, including lust, drug addiction, homosexuality, rape, blasphemy, and madness. With David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole, and Edith Massey. No one under 18 admitted! Cleveland revival premiere....

United States | 1976 | Brian De Palma

Sissy Spacek and John Travolta star in Brian De Palma’s coming-of-age horror classic, about a shy high school student with paranormal powers who wreaks terrible revenge on her classmates after they ridicule and humiliate her. With Piper Laurie, Nancy Allen, and Amy Irving. Music by Pino Donaggio. From Stephen King’s novel. DCP. 98 min.

United States | 1978 | Brian De Palma

Brian De Palma’s indelible, over-the-top follow-up to Carrie returns to the theme of telekinesis. Two psychic teens with a spiritual connection—and the father of one of them—combat a secret government organization that kidnaps such children in order to weaponize them. “No Hitchcock thriller was ever so intense, went so far, or had so many ‘classic’ sequences.” –Pauline Kael. With Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Carrie Snodgress, and Amy Irving. Music by John Williams. Color & scope...

France, Italy | 2015 | Roberto Minervini

U.S.-based Italian filmmaker Roberto Minervini follows up his “Texas trilogy” with an unsettling portrait of some of the impoverished denizens of rural Louisiana—a motley mix of drug addicts, alcoholics, criminals, racists, gun lovers, and anti-government zealots. It’s not a pretty picture, but for anybody seeking a thorough understanding of 2016 America, this look at life on the fringes is essential viewing. “Powerful and disturbing.” –The NY Times. No one under 18 admitted! DCP. 92 min.

France, Italy | 2015 | Roberto Minervini

U.S.-based Italian filmmaker Roberto Minervini follows up his “Texas trilogy” with an unsettling portrait of some of the impoverished denizens of rural Louisiana—a motley mix of drug addicts, alcoholics, criminals, racists, gun lovers, and anti-government zealots. It’s not a pretty picture, but for anybody seeking a thorough understanding of 2016 America, this look at life on the fringes is essential viewing. “Powerful and disturbing.” –The NY Times. No one under 18 admitted! DCP. 92 min.

United States | 1976 | Brian De Palma

Sissy Spacek and John Travolta star in Brian De Palma’s coming-of-age horror classic, about a shy high school student with paranormal powers who wreaks terrible revenge on her classmates after they ridicule and humiliate her. With Piper Laurie, Nancy Allen, and Amy Irving. Music by Pino Donaggio. From Stephen King’s novel. DCP. 98 min.