Cinematheque Film Schedule

Rwanda, United States | 2021 | Saul Williams, Anisia Uzeyman

Co-produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda, this Afrofuturist, cyberpunk, queer musical is set in Burundi, where an intersex runaway, an escaped coltan miner, and a hacker collective resist an authoritarian regime. This dreamy, colorful work is overloaded with ideas (about gender, colonialism, capitalism, freedom, technology, existence, and meaning), so can be somewhat overwhelming. But its staggering inventiveness and energy keep it from crashing. Neptune Frost has been featured at the Cannes, New York, London, Toronto, and Sundance...

Canada, France | 2020 | Valérie Lemercier

Perhaps foolhardy but undeniably unforgettable, this “fiction freely inspired by the life of Celine Dion” is the idiosyncratic work of 57-year-old French writer-director-performer Valérie Lemercier, who plays the Quebec-born superstar (here named Aline Dieu) from age 5 up and won the 2022 César Award (French Oscar) for Best Actress for doing so. Though Aline’s life mirrors Celine’s (the youngest of 14 children, she grows up to marry her manager and become one of the world’s...

United States | 2021 | Phil Tippett

This stop-motion animated feature—in which an assassin ventures through a dark, dystopian world of monsters and warriors—is the longtime personal project of Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor Phil Tippett (Jurassic Park, RoboCop, Starship Troopers, et al.). Begun in 1987, work on the movie was suspended when Tippett’s Hollywood career took off and computer-generated animation seemed to render model work and hand-manipulated puppets passé. But fellow animators and KickStarter funders eventually convinced Tippett to finish his magnum...

United States | 1915-32 | various directors

Our W.C. Fields series commences with three terrific short films starring the legendary comedian. Program includes: Edwin Middleton’s silent Pool Sharks (1915), Fields’ screen debut; Monte Brice’s The Golf Specialist (1930); and Leslie Pearce’s The Dentist (1932). DCP/35mm. Total 51 min.

Japan | 1972/73 | Isao Takahata

Before they co-founded Studio Ghibli, anime legends Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata collaborated on this delightful kids’ film that is now seen as a precursor to Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro. Made at the height of China’s early-1970s “panda diplomacy,” the movie (actually two short movies) tells of a lonely orphan girl who invites a panda and his father into her house while her grandmother is away, sparking a series of adventures. Cleveland revival premiere. Subtitled...

France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland | 2001 | Jacques Cluzaud, Michel Debats, Jacques Perrin

The flight of migrating birds is magnificently captured in this soaring nature documentary from late French actor, producer, and director Jacques Perrin. (He played the adult film director Salvatore in Cinema Paradiso.) Perrin’s team mounted cameras on ultra-light aircraft, gliders, helicopters, and hot-air balloons to create the film’s incredible “you-are-there” feeling. This G-rated marvel is a must for the big screen! In English. 35mm. 89 min.

France, Netherlands, Sweden | 2021 | Ninja Thyberg

In this acclaimed, unflinching, and much talked about adult drama directed by a woman, a self-confident 19-year-old from a small Swedish town (Sofia Kappel) moves to L.A. determined to become the next porn industry superstar. “Its subject is what pornography has become—what it is, what it’s selling, why the people who perform in it are drawn to it, what it does for them, what it does to them, and what it’s doing to all of...

Japan | 1972/73 | Isao Takahata

Before they co-founded Studio Ghibli, anime legends Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata collaborated on this delightful kids’ film that is now seen as a precursor to Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro. Made at the height of China’s early-1970s “panda diplomacy,” the movie (actually two short movies) tells of a lonely orphan girl who invites a panda and his father into her house while her grandmother is away, sparking a series of adventures. Cleveland revival premiere. Subtitled...

United States | 1915-32 | various directors

Our W.C. Fields series commences with three terrific short films starring the legendary comedian. Program includes: Edwin Middleton’s silent Pool Sharks (1915), Fields’ screen debut; Monte Brice’s The Golf Specialist (1930); and Leslie Pearce’s The Dentist (1932). DCP/35mm. Total 51 min.

France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland | 2001 | Jacques Cluzaud, Michel Debats, Jacques Perrin

The flight of migrating birds is magnificently captured in this soaring nature documentary from late French actor, producer, and director Jacques Perrin. (He played the adult film director Salvatore in Cinema Paradiso.) Perrin’s team mounted cameras on ultra-light aircraft, gliders, helicopters, and hot-air balloons to create the film’s incredible “you-are-there” feeling. This G-rated marvel is a must for the big screen! In English. 35mm. 89 min.

France, Netherlands, Sweden | 2021 | Ninja Thyberg

In this acclaimed, unflinching, and much talked about adult drama directed by a woman, a self-confident 19-year-old from a small Swedish town (Sofia Kappel) moves to L.A. determined to become the next porn industry superstar. “Its subject is what pornography has become—what it is, what it’s selling, why the people who perform in it are drawn to it, what it does for them, what it does to them, and what it’s doing to all of...

Hungary, United Kingdom, United States | 2022 | Peter Strickland

The latest horror comedy by outrageous screen fantasist Peter Strickland (Berberian Sound Studio, The Duke of Burgundy, In Fabric) is set at the experimental Sonic Catering Institute, where cutting-edge musicians engage in “culinary performances” blending kitchen utensils, cooking, and sound. Some artists newly arrived to the center discover they don’t agree about anything, and the food doesn’t agree with them. With Asa Butterfield. “The funniest of [Strickland’s] films to date…A fully realised, immaculately tailored creation.”...

France, Italy | 2021 | Jonas Carpignano

In this compelling coming-of-age saga set in Calabria in southern Italy, Chiara, a 15-year-old girl growing up in a happy family, learns some sobering truths about her beloved father after he disappears one day. From the director of Mediterranea (2015) and A Ciambra (2017), both also set in Calabria. Cleveland theatrical premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 121 min.

France, Switzerland, Ukraine | 2021 | Elie Grappe

A 15-year-old Ukrainian gymnast living in Switzerland while she trains for the European Championships (and hopefully the Olympics) grows concerned when her family in Kyiv becomes involved in the anti-government Maidan Revolution of 2014. Real-life former Ukrainian national team member Anastasiia Budiashkina stars in the movie, which was Switzerland’s official submission for this year’s Academy Award for Best Int’l Feature Film. “A film whose ideas and emotions have come into a fierce new focus.” –Guardian...

France, Italy | 2021 | Jonas Carpignano

In this compelling coming-of-age saga set in Calabria in southern Italy, Chiara, a 15-year-old girl growing up in a happy family, learns some sobering truths about her beloved father after he disappears one day. From the director of Mediterranea (2015) and A Ciambra (2017), both also set in Calabria. Cleveland theatrical premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 121 min.

Hungary, United Kingdom, United States | 2022 | Peter Strickland

The latest horror comedy by outrageous screen fantasist Peter Strickland (Berberian Sound Studio, The Duke of Burgundy, In Fabric) is set at the experimental Sonic Catering Institute, where cutting-edge musicians engage in “culinary performances” blending kitchen utensils, cooking, and sound. Some artists newly arrived to the center discover they don’t agree about anything, and the food doesn’t agree with them. With Asa Butterfield. “The funniest of [Strickland’s] films to date…A fully realised, immaculately tailored creation.”...

United States | 1933 | various directors

Three more two-reel comedy classics starring the great W.C. Fields. Program includes: Clyde Bruckman’s The Fatal Glass of Beer, an absurdist melodrama set in the frozen Yukon that Pauline Kael called “the wildest of W.C. Fields’ 2-reelers, and the best”; Arthur Ripley’s The Pharmacist; and Ripley’s The Barber Shop. DCP. Total 58 min.

China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, United States | 2001 | Ang Lee

Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Chow Yun-Fat, and Ziyi Zhang star in Ang Lee’s exuberant, stylish, and lavishly-praised martial arts epic, an action-adventure-romance set in 19th-century China and revolving around the search for a stolen magical sword. The film won four Oscars, including Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score. Dazzling, gravity-defying fight scenes! Subtitles. 35mm. 120 min.

United States | 1997 | David Lynch

David Lynch’s strange, surrealistic nightmare is a neo-noir mystery about an L.A. jazz saxophonist (Bill Pullman) who goes to jail for murdering his wife (Patricia Arquette). He doesn’t remember doing this, but a mysterious videotape seems to implicate him. In jail he is suddenly a different person—literally: a mechanic (Balthazar Getty) with connections to a gangster (Robert Loggia) whose mistress (Arquette again) is the spitting image of the murdered wife! This sinister warm-up for the...

China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, United States | 2001 | Ang Lee

Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Chow Yun-Fat, and Ziyi Zhang star in Ang Lee’s exuberant, stylish, and lavishly-praised martial arts epic, an action-adventure-romance set in 19th-century China and revolving around the search for a stolen magical sword. The film won four Oscars, including Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score. Dazzling, gravity-defying fight scenes! Subtitles. 35mm. 120 min.

United States | 1933 | various directors

Three more two-reel comedy classics starring the great W.C. Fields. Program includes: Clyde Bruckman’s The Fatal Glass of Beer, an absurdist melodrama set in the frozen Yukon that Pauline Kael called “the wildest of W.C. Fields’ 2-reelers, and the best”; Arthur Ripley’s The Pharmacist; and Ripley’s The Barber Shop. DCP. Total 58 min.

United States | 1997 | David Lynch

David Lynch’s strange, surrealistic nightmare is a neo-noir mystery about an L.A. jazz saxophonist (Bill Pullman) who goes to jail for murdering his wife (Patricia Arquette). He doesn’t remember doing this, but a mysterious videotape seems to implicate him. In jail he is suddenly a different person—literally: a mechanic (Balthazar Getty) with connections to a gangster (Robert Loggia) whose mistress (Arquette again) is the spitting image of the murdered wife! This sinister warm-up for the...

Italy, Spain | 1963 | Luis García Berlanga

Nino Manfredi (Bread and Chocolate) stars in this long out-of-release black comedy that, according to The Time Out Film Guide, is “regularly voted by its country’s critics as the best Spanish film of all time.” In it, an elderly executioner looking to marry off his unappealing daughter and, at the same time, find his own successor discovers a possible candidate in a meek, lonely undertaker’s assistant. Despite skewering Franco-era values, this macabre satire evaded government...

France | 1988 | Étienne Chatiliez

For Bastille Day, one of the most beloved French comedies ever made, never before shown at the Cinematheque (or in Cleveland?). This cult favorite focuses on a teenage boy and girl who were switched at birth and grew up in radically different families—one proper, prosperous, and Catholic, the other uncouth, poor, and criminal-minded. When the truth comes out, the two clans adopt very different attitudes toward the mix-up. With Benoît Magimel. “Stunningly original, provocative, and...

France | 1988 | Étienne Chatiliez

For Bastille Day, one of the most beloved French comedies ever made, never before shown at the Cinematheque (or in Cleveland?). This cult favorite focuses on a teenage boy and girl who were switched at birth and grew up in radically different families—one proper, prosperous, and Catholic, the other uncouth, poor, and criminal-minded. When the truth comes out, the two clans adopt very different attitudes toward the mix-up. With Benoît Magimel. “Stunningly original, provocative, and...

Italy, Spain | 1963 | Luis García Berlanga

Nino Manfredi (Bread and Chocolate) stars in this long out-of-release black comedy that, according to The Time Out Film Guide, is “regularly voted by its country’s critics as the best Spanish film of all time.” In it, an elderly executioner looking to marry off his unappealing daughter and, at the same time, find his own successor discovers a possible candidate in a meek, lonely undertaker’s assistant. Despite skewering Franco-era values, this macabre satire evaded government...

United States | 1934 | William Beaudine

In this affectionate tribute to the late 19th-century “gaslight” era, W.C. Fields plays The Great McGonigle, head of a traveling theatrical troupe who must stay one step ahead of his creditors and the law. The film showcases Fields’ lesser-known prowess as a juggler; he was one of the best in vaudeville. With Baby LeRoy. DCP. 71 min.

United States | 1922 | Allan Dwan

An acrobatic Douglas Fairbanks steals from the rich to give to the poor, and also restores the English throne, in this peerless silent swashbuckler enhanced by stupendous sets and stunning stunts. This restoration of 1922’s box office champ features color tints and a recorded music track by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. Cleveland revival premiere. DCP. 133 min.

China | 2019 | Ye Lou

Gong Li stars in the new historical drama from the once-banned Chinese director of Summer Palace (about Tiananmen Square). Set in Japanese-occupied Shanghai during the first week of December 1941 (just before Pearl Harbor), this b&w period piece focuses on a famous Chinese actress who may be spying for the Allies when she’s not on stage. But then almost everybody in the movie is not necessarily what they seem. “A thriller of the highest order…A...

Germany, United States | 2021 | Tacita Dean

British artist Tacita Dean has long been an ardent advocate for analog film. The latest in her series of 16mm artists’ portraits profiles two American painters who share a birthday, but 50 years apart: Venezuelan-born Luchita Hurtado and Ethiopian-born FRONT 2022 participant Julie Mehretu. Dean’s camera captures the two women as they discuss their lives and work (and other topics ranging from childhood and motherhood to immigration and climate change) during a face-to-face conversation recorded...

United States | 1934 | William Beaudine

In this affectionate tribute to the late 19th-century “gaslight” era, W.C. Fields plays The Great McGonigle, head of a traveling theatrical troupe who must stay one step ahead of his creditors and the law. The film showcases Fields’ lesser-known prowess as a juggler; he was one of the best in vaudeville. With Baby LeRoy. DCP. 71 min.

China | 2019 | Ye Lou

Gong Li stars in the new historical drama from the once-banned Chinese director of Summer Palace (about Tiananmen Square). Set in Japanese-occupied Shanghai during the first week of December 1941 (just before Pearl Harbor), this b&w period piece focuses on a famous Chinese actress who may be spying for the Allies when she’s not on stage. But then almost everybody in the movie is not necessarily what they seem. “A thriller of the highest order…A...

Hong Kong | 1993 | Johnnie To

Newborn babies are being kidnapped all over Hong Kong—and the mayor’s wife is about to give birth! Joining forces to find and foil the villain behind this plot are three knife-throwing, shotgun-toting, kung-fu-fighting super-heroines played by three female superstars of classic Hong Kong action movies, Maggie Cheung, Anita Mui, and Everything Everywhere All at Once’s Michelle Yeoh. Cleveland revival premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 83 min.

Iran | 2017 | Mohammad Rasoulof

Made between his powerhouse dramas Manuscripts Don’t Burn (2013, banned in Iran) and There Is No Evil (2020), this fearless work by a once-imprisoned Iranian director tells of a college-educated man who has abandoned Tehran’s rat race for the rural North, where he lives with his wife and young son and owns a goldfish farm. But he soon encounters strong-arm tactics and corruption even in this remote region, and his refusal to play along makes...

Iran | 2017 | Mohammad Rasoulof

Made between his powerhouse dramas Manuscripts Don’t Burn (2013, banned in Iran) and There Is No Evil (2020), this fearless work by a once-imprisoned Iranian director tells of a college-educated man who has abandoned Tehran’s rat race for the rural North, where he lives with his wife and young son and owns a goldfish farm. But he soon encounters strong-arm tactics and corruption even in this remote region, and his refusal to play along makes...

Hong Kong | 1993 | Johnnie To

Newborn babies are being kidnapped all over Hong Kong—and the mayor’s wife is about to give birth! Joining forces to find and foil the villain behind this plot are three knife-throwing, shotgun-toting, kung-fu-fighting super-heroines played by three female superstars of classic Hong Kong action movies, Maggie Cheung, Anita Mui, and Everything Everywhere All at Once’s Michelle Yeoh. Cleveland revival premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 83 min.

United States | 1934 | Norman Z. McLeod

In his greatest comedy, W.C. Fields plays a beleaguered grocery store owner who decides to buy a California orange grove and move his endlessly irritating family West. There’s one hilarious set piece after another. As a bonus, you’ll come away knowing how to spell the last name “LaFong.” “It’s a masterpiece…Easily the most devastating comedy of the ‘30s.” –Time Out Film Guide. DCP. 68 min.

Belgium, France | 2021 | Xavier Giannoli

Winner of seven César Awards (French Oscars) including Best Picture, this lavish adaptation of a Balzac novel takes place in 19th-century France. An aspiring poet leaves his provincial town to try his luck in Paris, but soon gets redirected into the morally compromised world of journalism, making and breaking the reputations of actors and artists. Cécile de France, Xavier Dolan, Jeanne Balibar, and Gérard Depardieu star. Cleveland premiere.

Mexico, United States | 1982 | Costa-Gavras

In between his Oscar-winning score for Chariots of Fire and his immortal electronic strains for Blade Runner, Greece’s Vangelis composed the lyrical music for this gripping political thriller (the first American film by the director of Z) that shared the Palme d’Or (top prize) at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival. Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek star in the movie, in which the father and wife of an American journalist who has mysteriously disappeared during Chile’s...

Belgium, France | 2021 | Xavier Giannoli

Winner of seven César Awards (French Oscars) including Best Picture, this lavish adaptation of a Balzac novel takes place in 19th-century France. An aspiring poet leaves his provincial town to try his luck in Paris, but soon gets redirected into the morally compromised world of journalism, making and breaking the reputations of actors and artists. Cécile de France, Xavier Dolan, Jeanne Balibar, and Gérard Depardieu star. Cleveland premiere.

United States | 1934 | Norman Z. McLeod

In his greatest comedy, W.C. Fields plays a beleaguered grocery store owner who decides to buy a California orange grove and move his endlessly irritating family West. There’s one hilarious set piece after another. As a bonus, you’ll come away knowing how to spell the last name “LaFong.” “It’s a masterpiece…Easily the most devastating comedy of the ‘30s.” –Time Out Film Guide. DCP. 68 min.

Mexico, United States | 1982 | Costa-Gavras

In between his Oscar-winning score for Chariots of Fire and his immortal electronic strains for Blade Runner, Greece’s Vangelis composed the lyrical music for this gripping political thriller (the first American film by the director of Z) that shared the Palme d’Or (top prize) at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival. Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek star in the movie, in which the father and wife of an American journalist who has mysteriously disappeared during Chile’s...

United States | 1987 | Paul Verhoeven

Paul Verhoeven’s second American film is set in crime-ridden, dystopian, near-future Detroit, where a policeman gunned down in the line of duty is resurrected as an avenging, hi-tech cyborg. With Peter Weller and Nancy Allen. “Vile, violent, and very funny.” –Time Out Film Guide. Cleveland revival premiere. DCP. 103 min.

South Korea | 2021 | Hong Sang-soo

In the latest work by prolific South Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo, a former actress who has been living abroad returns to Seoul, where she stays with her sister, roams the city, and ponders a return to performing. After a while, it becomes clear that something else in her life is going on—but what? “One of Hong’s most moving films.” –Sight & Sound. Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 85 min.

South Korea | 2021 | Hong Sang-soo

In the latest work by prolific South Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo, a former actress who has been living abroad returns to Seoul, where she stays with her sister, roams the city, and ponders a return to performing. After a while, it becomes clear that something else in her life is going on—but what? “One of Hong’s most moving films.” –Sight & Sound. Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 85 min.

United States | 1987 | Paul Verhoeven

Paul Verhoeven’s second American film is set in crime-ridden, dystopian, near-future Detroit, where a policeman gunned down in the line of duty is resurrected as an avenging, hi-tech cyborg. With Peter Weller and Nancy Allen. “Vile, violent, and very funny.” –Time Out Film Guide. Cleveland revival premiere. DCP. 103 min.

United States | 1935 | Clyde Bruckman

W.C. Fields plays a henpecked husband who has a series of hilarious misadventures—some involving his demanding wife and monstrous mother-in-law—when he takes a day off work to attend a wrestling match. Director Bruckman previously co-directed Buster Keaton’s silent masterpiece The General. DCP. 66 min.

United States | 1945 | Vincente Minnelli

Judy Garland’s follow-up to Meet Me in St. Louis was her first non-musical film, also directed by her future husband Vincente Minnelli. The Clock is a winning and well-regarded wartime love story in which a Manhattan office worker (Garland) has a whirlwind romance with a small-town GI (Robert Walker) on 48-hour leave in NYC. Produced by MGM’s screen-musical impresario Arthur Freed, this beautifully designed movie was actually shot on studio sets, not on location. DCP....

United States | 1966 | Mike Nichols

Influential cinematographer Haskell Wexler won the first of his two Oscars for his monochrome work on Mike Nichols’ debut film, a blistering adaptation of Edward Albee’s four-hander about an after-dinner gathering from hell. (Wexler’s prize was the last-ever Academy Award for “Best Cinematography, Black & White.” After that, b&w competed with color for the statuette). Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Sandy Dennis, and George Segal star in the film, in which a middle-aged college professor and...

United States | 1945 | Vincente Minnelli

Judy Garland’s follow-up to Meet Me in St. Louis was her first non-musical film, also directed by her future husband Vincente Minnelli. The Clock is a winning and well-regarded wartime love story in which a Manhattan office worker (Garland) has a whirlwind romance with a small-town GI (Robert Walker) on 48-hour leave in NYC. Produced by MGM’s screen-musical impresario Arthur Freed, this beautifully designed movie was actually shot on studio sets, not on location. DCP....

United States | 1935 | Clyde Bruckman

W.C. Fields plays a henpecked husband who has a series of hilarious misadventures—some involving his demanding wife and monstrous mother-in-law—when he takes a day off work to attend a wrestling match. Director Bruckman previously co-directed Buster Keaton’s silent masterpiece The General. DCP. 66 min.

United States | 1966 | Mike Nichols

Influential cinematographer Haskell Wexler won the first of his two Oscars for his monochrome work on Mike Nichols’ debut film, a blistering adaptation of Edward Albee’s four-hander about an after-dinner gathering from hell. (Wexler’s prize was the last-ever Academy Award for “Best Cinematography, Black & White.” After that, b&w competed with color for the statuette). Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Sandy Dennis, and George Segal star in the film, in which a middle-aged college professor and...