Cinematheque Film Schedule

United States | 2019 | Louie Schwartzberg

One of the most unexpected art house hits of 2019 -- and our most popular movie of all time -- is a mind-blowing, beautifully photographed look at the world of mushrooms and how they can help save the planet. With Paul Stamets, Michael Pollan, and Andrew Weil; narrated by Brie Larson. 81 min. Fantastic Fungi, a Cinematheque streaming exclusive, can be watched online thru 8/31 via the link below. Doing so supports the Cinematheque. Screening...

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United States | 1927 | Frank Urson

Long thought lost, the first, silent film version of the 1926 Broadway hit that later became the 1942 comedy classic Roxie Hart and then the Oscar-winning 2002 musical Chicago has recently been rediscovered and restored! Produced (and maybe directed) by Cecil B. DeMille, the film stars Phyllis Haver as the Jazz Age wife and gold-digger who kills her lover, only to turn her scandalous murder trial into a p.r. circus, using her notoriety to advance...

United States | 2019 | Scott Crawford

Founded in post-riot 1969 Detroit, CREEM magazine soon rose from upstart underground rag to rock music powerhouse. More down and dirty than the mossy Rolling Stone, the impudent CREEM covered 1970s sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll with a roadie or groupie's relish, giving early ink to punk, metal, and new wave bands and a megaphone to legendary music critic Lester Bangs. With Alice Cooper, Cameron Crowe, Michael Stipe, et al. "A brief, careening survey...

Canada | 2019 | Martha Kehoe, Joan Tosoni

The Canadian singer-songwriter, now 80, looks back over his influential life and career in this film that teems with archival footage, songs, interviews, and the artist's own recollections and reflections. With Sarah McLachlan. 91 min. Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind, a Cinematheque streaming exclusive, can be watched online from 8/7 thru 8/27 via the link below. (Doing so supports the Cinematheque.) Screening fee is $9.99, and after opening the...

Chile, Peru, Spain, United States | 2019 | Melina León

When an indigenous Andean woman’s newborn daughter is kidnapped from a medical clinic in Lima, the desperate mother turns to a newspaper reporter for help. This heartbreaking debut film, inspired by a rash of child kidnappings from faux healthcare facilities in 1980s Peru, has notable music by avant-garde composer Pauchi Sasaki. “A Kafkaesque thriller of crime and corruption…Gorgeous monochrome visuals and rich musical layers…An exquisite audiovisual experience.” –Hollywood Reporter. Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. 97 min. Song...

Italy, Mexico, United States | 2016 | Matteo Borgardt

In January of 1981, journalist Silvia Bizio spent an evening with cult author and poet Charles Bukowski (and his soon to be wife, Linda Lee Beighle) at their house in San Pedro, California. Bizio conducted a video interview with Bukowski during this long night of smoking, drinking, and talking about sex, love, literature, and humanity, then misplaced his tapes for over 30 years! But now, in time for Bukowski’s centenary, they have been found—and restored—providing...

Philippines, United States | 2020 | Ramona S. Diaz

Filipino strongman Rodrigo Duterte's shocking disinformation campaign against truth and his country’s press is seen through the eyes of crusading reporter Maria Ressa in this "pacy, engrossing, galvanizing film" (Variety), one of the standout documentaries at this year's Sundance Film Festival. "Feel(ing) more like a political thriller than an off-the-cuff investigation into embattled journalism in the Philippines" (Variety), the movie champions the courage of Ressa, who was ominously convicted in June of "cyber libel." "A...

United States | 1923 | Buster Keaton, Eddie Cline

To celebrate the 34th anniversary of the first Cinematheque screening at the Cleveland Institute of Art (on 8/8/86), Ben Model, one of the world’s foremost silent film accompanists, will make his belated Cinematheque debut—remotely—by providing live piano accompaniment to Buster Keaton’s first feature. Ben won’t be playing in our Peter B. Lewis Theater, which remains closed; he will be playing live from his own East Coast home, where the movie also will be projected. Those...

Philippines, United States | 2020 | Ramona S. Diaz

Filipino strongman Rodrigo Duterte's shocking disinformation campaign against truth and his country’s press is seen through the eyes of crusading reporter Maria Ressa in this "pacy, engrossing, galvanizing film" (Variety), one of the standout documentaries at this year's Sundance Film Festival. "Feel(ing) more like a political thriller than an off-the-cuff investigation into embattled journalism in the Philippines" (Variety), the movie champions the courage of Ressa, who was ominously convicted in June of "cyber libel." "A...

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United States | 2019 | Marlon Johnson, Anne Flatté

The power of music to change lives is well seen in this new documentary about an African-American drum corps in Louisville, KY. After three decades of connecting inner city young people to the art and cultural traditions of their African ancestors, the co-founder of the River City Drum Corp is stepping down and turning over leadership of the organization to a former student he once mentored. "A hopeful and loving portrait of a community that...

Belgium, Germany | 2019 | Reiner Holzemer

"The best fashion documentary of the decade" (The Hollywood Reporter) is a portrait of the elusive Belgian designer who has shunned interviews and photographs throughout a decades-long career that has taken him from Jean Paul Gaultier to Hermès to his own fashion house. Dubbed the “Banksy of fashion," Margiela reinvented clothing via a radical, influential style that was showcased in 41 provocative collections. He reveals his drawings, notes, and personal items for the first time...

Portugal | 1963 | Paulo Rocha

Championed by both Manoel de Oliveira and Pedro Costa but unknown in America, this newly restored classic was the cornerstone of the "New Portuguese Cinema" movement of the 1960s. A 19-year-old young man from the provinces moves to Lisbon to take a job as shoemaker with his uncle. There he meets and befriends a young housemaid who foments a conflict between his working-class values and the bourgeois trappings of modern life. Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. 91...

United States | 1959 | Bert Stern

Celebrated commercial photographer Bert Stern shot this classic record of Rhode Island’s 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, “a must for jazz aficionados” (Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide). Features thrilling performances by Thelonious Monk, Louis Armstrong, Sonny Stitt, Anita O'Day, Gerry Mulligan, Chuck Berry, Jack Teagarden, and Mahalia Jackson, among others. “Often hailed as one of the first and most influential of live concert films…A dazzling array of jazz and rock ‘n’ roll giants.” –Time Out Film Guide....

United States | 2020 | Erik Nelson

Celebrate the 75th anniversary of VJ Day on 8/15 with this remarkable new compilation of previously unreleased documentary footage (from the National Archives) of the final days of WWII in the Pacific. Restored in 4K and in color, the film clips include John Ford's shots of the decimated Pacific Fleet after Pearl Harbor. Surviving veterans who actually witnessed the horrors and heroics depicted in the movie provide the commentary. Cleveland premiere. 105 min. Apocalypse...

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