Cinematheque Film Schedule

France | 1974 | Bertrand Blier

One of the most scandalous and controversial movies of the 1970s (and a huge box office hit), this testosterone-fueled buddy comedy stars Gérard Depardieu and Patrick Dewaere as delinquent drifters who embark on an amoral cross-country crime spree, harassing women and committing assaults and robberies across France. They are soon joined by one of their victims (Miou-Miou). Jeanne Moreau and Isabelle Huppert co-star in this vulgar road movie (from the director of the Oscar-winning Get...

Bolivia, France, Uruguay | 2022 | Alejandro Loayza Grisi

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Dramatic competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival (and Bolivia’s official entry for the 2023 Oscar for Best Int’l Feature Film), this beautifully lensed drama focuses on an elderly Quechua couple whose traditional, tranquil existence in the Bolivian highlands is threatened by a severe drought. “A strikingly beautiful work…Stunning widescreen cinematography.” –Screen Int’l. Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 87 min.

Bolivia, France, Uruguay | 2022 | Alejandro Loayza Grisi

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Dramatic competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival (and Bolivia’s official entry for the 2023 Oscar for Best Int’l Feature Film), this beautifully lensed drama focuses on an elderly Quechua couple whose traditional, tranquil existence in the Bolivian highlands is threatened by a severe drought. “A strikingly beautiful work…Stunning widescreen cinematography.” –Screen Int’l. Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 87 min.

France | 1974 | Bertrand Blier

One of the most scandalous and controversial movies of the 1970s (and a huge box office hit), this testosterone-fueled buddy comedy stars Gérard Depardieu and Patrick Dewaere as delinquent drifters who embark on an amoral cross-country crime spree, harassing women and committing assaults and robberies across France. They are soon joined by one of their victims (Miou-Miou). Jeanne Moreau and Isabelle Huppert co-star in this vulgar road movie (from the director of the Oscar-winning Get...

France, United States | 2022 | Frederick Wiseman

Sophia Tolstaya, wife of Leo Tolstoy, reflects on her relationship with the great writer in this rare non-documentary by America’s great nonfiction filmmaker Frederick Wiseman. French actress Nathalie Boutefeu plays Tolstaya in this one-woman show. She also co-wrote the screenplay with Wiseman, which is based on Tolstaya’s letters and diaries. “An expressive and moving portrait of a tempestuous marriage.” –Hollywood Reporter. Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 63 min.

France, Italy, Netherlands, Russian Federation, United Kingdom | 1992 | Sally Potter

Tilda Swinton’s breakthrough movie, this lavish, kaleidoscopic, gender-bending fantasy and period piece is based on Virginia Woolf’s 1928 novel. Swinton plays an immortal Elizabethan nobleman who traverses four centuries of British history—from 1600 to the 1990s—first as a propertied man, later as a disadvantaged woman. Quentin Crisp plays Queen Elizabeth I. Cleveland revival premiere. Newly restored DCP. 93 min.

United States | 1994 | James Cameron

Made between Terminator 2 and Titanic, James Cameron’s big-budget action comedy blends high-flying international intrigue with down-to-earth domestic problems. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis star in the film, in which a super-secret secret agent (not even his wife knows his true occupation) must keep foreign terrorists from acquiring a nuclear warhead while he also makes sure his spouse isn’t having an affair with a used-car salesman. With Tom Arnold and Bill Paxton; awesome action...

France, United States | 2022 | Frederick Wiseman

Sophia Tolstaya, wife of Leo Tolstoy, reflects on her relationship with the great writer in this rare non-documentary by America’s great nonfiction filmmaker Frederick Wiseman. French actress Nathalie Boutefeu plays Tolstaya in this one-woman show. She also co-wrote the screenplay with Wiseman, which is based on Tolstaya’s letters and diaries. “An expressive and moving portrait of a tempestuous marriage.” –Hollywood Reporter. Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 63 min.

France, Italy, Netherlands, Russian Federation, United Kingdom | 1992 | Sally Potter

Tilda Swinton’s breakthrough movie, this lavish, kaleidoscopic, gender-bending fantasy and period piece is based on Virginia Woolf’s 1928 novel. Swinton plays an immortal Elizabethan nobleman who traverses four centuries of British history—from 1600 to the 1990s—first as a propertied man, later as a disadvantaged woman. Quentin Crisp plays Queen Elizabeth I. Cleveland revival premiere. Newly restored DCP. 93 min.

Cuba | 1968 | Humberto Solás

In this thrilling revolutionary triptych that spans 70 years of Cuban history, three different women (all named Lucia) fight for liberation during three different epochs—the 1890s War of Independence, the 1930s dictatorship, and the post-revolutionary 1960s. Employing a different style and tone for each episode, this operatic epic is also a kinetic broadside against machismo. “Easily the finest film to come out of Cuba in the ‘60s…Way ahead of its time in linking sexual and...

Austria, France, Germany | 2022 | Ulrich Seidl

In the latest grotesque comedy by inveterate envelope-pusher Ulrich Seidl, an aging, washed-up pop star (a brilliant Michael Thomas) tries to recapture his past glory as a lounge singer in the wintry, off-season Italian seaside resort of Rimini, where he performs (sexually as well as on stage) for older tourists. The crooner’s hardscrabble life is complicated by a father with dementia and by the unexpected appearance of his long estranged grown daughter, who demands past...

South Korea | 2022 | Hong Sang-soo

A novelist who’s disenchanted with her writing goes on a trip to visit a former colleague, now a bookstore owner. During her sojourn, she has a chance encounter with a famous actress who’s also at an artistic crossroads. Their meeting leads to a kind of renewal for both women. Hong’s 27th feature finds his regular actors once again playing wryly funny, self-absorbed S. Korean creatives whose human connections and epiphanies come via a lot of...

South Korea | 2022 | Hong Sang-soo

A novelist who’s disenchanted with her writing goes on a trip to visit a former colleague, now a bookstore owner. During her sojourn, she has a chance encounter with a famous actress who’s also at an artistic crossroads. Their meeting leads to a kind of renewal for both women. Hong’s 27th feature finds his regular actors once again playing wryly funny, self-absorbed S. Korean creatives whose human connections and epiphanies come via a lot of...

Austria, France, Germany | 2022 | Ulrich Seidl

In the latest grotesque comedy by inveterate envelope-pusher Ulrich Seidl, an aging, washed-up pop star (a brilliant Michael Thomas) tries to recapture his past glory as a lounge singer in the wintry, off-season Italian seaside resort of Rimini, where he performs (sexually as well as on stage) for older tourists. The crooner’s hardscrabble life is complicated by a father with dementia and by the unexpected appearance of his long estranged grown daughter, who demands past...

Iran | 1984 | Amir Naderi

Maybe the first masterpiece of the Iranian New Wave, Amir Naderi’s moving, semi-autobiographical drama tells of an 11-year-old orphan boy who struggles to subsist in an Iranian port city by taking various odd jobs (delivering ice, scavenging bottles in shark-infested waters, etc.). Likened to such childhood classics as Truffaut’s The 400 Blows and De Sica’s Shoeshine, this beautifully filmed and inspiring classic is an unforgettable hymn to human survival and aspiration. “A work of astonishing...

Bahamas, France, Switzerland, United States | 1987 | Jean-Luc Godard

Woody Allen, Molly Ringwald, Norman Mailer, Burgess Meredith, and Jean-Luc Godard appear in Godard’s English-language film inspired by Shakespeare’s tragedy. But you should expect more Godard than Shakespeare. The work is a fractured essay film and avant-vaudeville show in which a descendant of the Bard, William Shakespeare Junior the Fifth (theater director Peter Sellars), tries to restore the play’s text in a culture-deprived, post-Chernobyl world. King Lear is one of Godard’s worst reviewed films—as well...

United Kingdom | 1982 | Peter Greenaway

Peter Greenaway’s brilliant breakthrough film is an elegant 17th-century tragicomedy about a cocky young British artist (Anthony Higgins) who contracts to do a series of drawings of a splendid country estate in exchange for sexual favors from his employer (Janet Suzman). But there’s more lurking beneath the surface of his impeccably rendered sketches than meets his eye. And it’s sinister. Michael Nyman composed the unforgettable music. Cleveland revival premiere! DCP. 104 min.

Iran | 1984 | Amir Naderi

Maybe the first masterpiece of the Iranian New Wave, Amir Naderi’s moving, semi-autobiographical drama tells of an 11-year-old orphan boy who struggles to subsist in an Iranian port city by taking various odd jobs (delivering ice, scavenging bottles in shark-infested waters, etc.). Likened to such childhood classics as Truffaut’s The 400 Blows and De Sica’s Shoeshine, this beautifully filmed and inspiring classic is an unforgettable hymn to human survival and aspiration. “A work of astonishing...

United Kingdom | 1982 | Peter Greenaway

Peter Greenaway’s brilliant breakthrough film is an elegant 17th-century tragicomedy about a cocky young British artist (Anthony Higgins) who contracts to do a series of drawings of a splendid country estate in exchange for sexual favors from his employer (Janet Suzman). But there’s more lurking beneath the surface of his impeccably rendered sketches than meets his eye. And it’s sinister. Michael Nyman composed the unforgettable music. Cleveland revival premiere! DCP. 104 min.

Angola, France | 1972 | Sarah Maldoror

Set in 1961 at the beginning of Angola’s War of Independence from Portugal, this landmark African film focuses on the wife of an arrested Angolan freedom fighter who goes from prison to prison to locate her husband. It’s an anti-colonialist classic (in gorgeous color), directed by a woman. Cleveland revival premiere. Subtitles. Restored DCP. 97 min.

Italy | 1981/2022 | Lucio Fulci

Lucio Fulci’s Italian horror cult classic—about a New Orleans hotel built over the entrance to Hell—has been newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative, with the film’s original composer, maestro Fabio Frizzi, supplying a new alternate music score. Adults only! Cleveland premiere. In English. DCP. 87 min.

Belgium, France | 2021 | Emmanuelle Bercot

Catherine Deneuve and Benoît Magimel (who won the 2022 César Award for Best Actor for his performance) star in this moving drama about an actor dying of cancer. He must deal with his own denial, bitterness, and rage as well as with the feelings and frustrations of his controlling mother. With Cécile De France. Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 122 min.

Belgium, France | 2021 | Emmanuelle Bercot

Catherine Deneuve and Benoît Magimel (who won the 2022 César Award for Best Actor for his performance) star in this moving drama about an actor dying of cancer. He must deal with his own denial, bitterness, and rage as well as with the feelings and frustrations of his controlling mother. With Cécile De France. Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 122 min.

Italy | 1981/2022 | Lucio Fulci

Lucio Fulci’s Italian horror cult classic—about a New Orleans hotel built over the entrance to Hell—has been newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative, with the film’s original composer, maestro Fabio Frizzi, supplying a new alternate music score. Adults only! Cleveland premiere. In English. DCP. 87 min.

France, Norway, Poland | 1991 | Krzysztof Kieślowski

Made between the Dekalog and his Three Colors trilogy, this major, mystical work by Polish master Krzysztof Kieślowski tells of two identical young women—one in Poland, one in France (both played by Irène Jacob of Three Colors: Red)—who, despite living hundreds of miles apart and never meeting, have a profound connection to each other. “A mesmerizing poetic work…Takes us completely into its world.” –Washington Post. Subtitles. DCP. 97 min.

Italy, Poland | 2022 | Jerzy Skolimowski

A donkey working in a Polish circus soon gets to experience the outside world—witnessing the good, the bad, and the ugly—in this singular, poetic new movie by master Polish filmmaker Jerzy Skolimowski (Deep End, Moonlighting). Inspired by Robert Bresson’s great 1966 donkey film Au Hasard, Balthazar, EO was one of the most acclaimed movies at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and is Poland’s official submission for the 2023 Oscar for Best Int’l Feature Film. With...

France, Germany, United Kingdom, United States | 2004 | Jonathan Glazer

Made nine years before his next film (the modern classic Under the Skin), Jonathan Glazer’s second movie is an eerie, spellbinding drama in which a New York City widow about to remarry (Nicole Kidman) meets a 10-year-old boy who claims to be the reincarnation of her late husband. Lauren Bacall, Danny Huston, and Anne Heche star in this brooding drama that’s more psychological than supernatural. Dismissed by many film critics in 2004, Birth now has...

France, Norway, Poland | 1991 | Krzysztof Kieślowski

Made between the Dekalog and his Three Colors trilogy, this major, mystical work by Polish master Krzysztof Kieślowski tells of two identical young women—one in Poland, one in France (both played by Irène Jacob of Three Colors: Red)—who, despite living hundreds of miles apart and never meeting, have a profound connection to each other. “A mesmerizing poetic work…Takes us completely into its world.” –Washington Post. Subtitles. DCP. 97 min.

Italy, Poland | 2022 | Jerzy Skolimowski

A donkey working in a Polish circus soon gets to experience the outside world—witnessing the good, the bad, and the ugly—in this singular, poetic new movie by master Polish filmmaker Jerzy Skolimowski (Deep End, Moonlighting). Inspired by Robert Bresson’s great 1966 donkey film Au Hasard, Balthazar, EO was one of the most acclaimed movies at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and is Poland’s official submission for the 2023 Oscar for Best Int’l Feature Film. With...

Brazil | 1931 | Mário Peixoto

Named the best Brazilian film ever made by the Cinemateca Brasileira in 1988, this visually stunning avant-garde silent was the only feature film by a legendary Brazilian director and author who died in 1992. Praised by Orson Welles, Sergei Eisenstein, and David Bowie (among others) but difficult to see for many decades, this singular work that was made when Peixoto was only 22 was inspired by a haunting André Kertész photograph. The film centers on...