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 1/31 via the link below. Doing so supports the Cinematheque. Screening...

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Filmmaker Tyler Taormina, whose unexpected and original rite-of-passage film Ham on Rye is still streaming in our “virtual multiplex” (see 10/23 or just click on "Related Films" link below), will answer questions from moviegoers during a live online session moderated by Cinematheque Director John Ewing. Details on how to participate (or just listen in) will be announced soon. Admission free.

United Kingdom | 2020 | David Osit

Musa Hadid, the charismatic Christian mayor of Ramallah, is profiled in this much honored new documentary. The film captures the mayor during his second term in office, as he tries to repave sidewalks, attract tourism, and plan the city's Christmas celebrations in advance of his ultimate goal: ending Israel’s occupation of Palestine. “Astonishing...Gripping and surprisingly witty.” –Variety. Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. 89 min. Mayor, a Cinematheque streaming exclusive, can be viewed online from 12/2 thru at...

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Italy | 1987 | Federico Fellini

Marcello Mastroianni (La Dolce Vita, 8½) and Anita Ekberg (La Dolce Vita) make memorable appearances in Federico Fellini’s evocative and nostalgic valentine to Italy’s Cinecittà Film Studios, where the great director worked for four decades. Both a backstage tour and a celebration of the maestro’s love of cinema, Fellini’s penultimate film includes memories, dreams, detours, and a tribute to his longtime collaborator, composer Nino Rota. ‘A magical mixture of recollection, parody, memoir, satire, self-examination and...

Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden | 2020 | Thomas Vinterberg

Mads Mikkelsen stars in this comedy-drama by Dogme 95 co-founder Thomas Vinterberg (The Celebration) that swept the 2020 European Film Awards (winning Best Picture, Actor, Director, and Screenplay) and won the 2021 Oscar for Best Int'l Feature Film. The movie focuses on four men, all dissatisfied high school teachers, who decide to test a prominent psychologist’s theory that human beings would be more creative, happier, and relaxed with a constant level of alcohol in their...

United States | 2020 | Weixi Chen, Hao Wu, Anonymous

The early days of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China, are wrenchingly rendered in this much-lauded new documentary that reveals not only the heroic work performed in four hospitals but also some of the individual human stories that unfolded during the 76-day lockdown of this city of 11 million people. “[A] remarkable front-line report…An emotional-wringer.” –Hollywood Reporter. “One of the best I saw via Toronto.” –Manohla Dargis, NY Times. Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. 93 min. 76...

United Kingdom | 2019 | Daniel Vernon

In 1976, Ike White, a young musical prodigy serving a life sentence in prison, released a major-label soul album, Changin’ Times, that was recorded behind bars for ace music producer Jerry Goldstein. Freed after Stevie Wonder and others took up his cause, White left the pen, adopted a pseudonym, and vanished for 40 years—until the makers of this movie tracked him down to tell his remarkable tale. “An even more peculiar story than the Oscar-winning...

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The Cinematheque is more than people showing and seeing movies. It’s also people talking about movies—in the theater, in the lobby, in the parking lot—before and after the show. But those conversations, like our film screenings, have been suspended since March. Tonight, however, loquacious, opinionated film buffs can reconnect and resume discussing movies with like minds during a wide-ranging, free-form, one-hour online session moderated by the Cinematheque’s John Ewing and Genevieve Schwartz. Which of our...

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China, Hong Kong | 2000 | Wong Kar-wai

Voted the best film of the first decade of this century by film writers for Time Out London, Wong Kar-wai’s exquisite mood piece is suffused with romantic melancholy. In 1962 Hong Kong, a lonely married man (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) and a lonely married woman (Maggie Cheung), both living in the same crowded apartment building, begin a chaste affair after deducing that their oft-absent spouses are lovers. This gorgeous, stylish, and spellbinding love story is probably...

Hong Kong | 1990 | Wong Kar-wai

Chinese superstars Leslie Cheung, Andy Lau, and Maggie Cheung star in Wong Kar-wai’s second feature, a dreamy, sensuously shot evocation of 1960 Hong Kong that was ranked the third best Chinese film of all time in a 2005 list compiled by the Hong Kong Film Awards Association. It follows a young playboy as he drifts through a series of friendships and affairs, all the time looking for his birth mother. With Tony Leung Chiu-wai; cinematography...

Hong Kong | 1994 | Wong Kar-wai

One of Wong Kar-wai’s most celebrated works, this fast, funny, fizzy romance tells two stories—each about a lovelorn cop who becomes involved with a wigged-out woman. Expired cans of pineapple and California dreamin’ also factor into the mix. Bubblegum cinema at its best! With Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Brigitte Lin; cinematography by Christopher Doyle. New 4K restoration! Cleveland revival premiere. Subtitles. 102 min. Chungking Express, a Cinematheque streaming exclusive, can be viewed online from 12/11...

Hong Kong | 1995 | Wong Kar-wai

An intoxicating mixture of Edward Hopper and Hong Kong action thriller, this film takes a razzle-dazzle postmodernist plunge through a neon-lit, honky-tonk HK nighttown in which a professional hitman and a mute ex-con—in parallel stories—look for love amid all the sensation. Has the wit, energy, and freewheeling, anything-goes spirit of early Godard. Cinematography by Christopher Doyle. “The acme of neo-new-wavism…The most visually voluptuous flick of the fin de siècle.” –J. Hoberman. New 4K restoration! Cleveland...

Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea | 1997 | Wong Kar-wai

Wong Kar-wai won the Best Director prize at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival for this ultra-stylish portrait of an on-again, off-again relationship between two gay lovers from Hong Kong (Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Leslie Cheung) living in Buenos Aires. Around this love story Wong weaves a bluesy meditation on loss, longing, and regret, on breaking up and beginning again. Significantly, the film was made on the eve of the handover of Hong Kong to China, when...

China, Hong Kong | 2004 | Wong Kar-wai

Originally one of three tales of eroticism and desire included the 2004 anthology film Eros (Michelangelo Antonioni and Steven Soderbergh directed the other two stories), Wong’s sensuously filmed segment (set during the 1960s and showing here for the first time in its extended cut) delineates a shy tailor’s longing for a beautiful courtesan (Gong Li). Cleveland revival premiere. Subtitles. 56 min. The Hand, a Cinematheque streaming exclusive, can be viewed online from 12/11 thru 2/11...

Czechoslovakia | 1963 | Jindřich Polák

Here’s the acclaimed original version of a Czech sci-fi film that was heavily edited and altered (and dubbed into English) for U.S. release as Voyage to the End of the Universe. Based on Stanisław Lem’s novel The Magellanic Cloud and set in 2163, the film follows a group of multinational astronauts on a 15-year voyage to another planet. Along the way, they encounter assorted hazards and perils while confronting their own psychological weaknesses and mortality....

Argentina, Spain | 2019 | Juan José Campanella

The new dark comedy from the director of the Oscar-winning The Secret in Their Eyes tells of four elderly Argentine movie industry veterans—a famous actress, her wheelchair-bound husband, a screenwriter, and a director—who live together in a run-down mansion outside of Buenos Aires. A young couple intent on acquiring the property weasel their way into this “family,” setting off a shrewd and snarky game of cat and mouse. “Enjoyably over the top.” –Hollywood Reporter. Cleveland...

Japan, United States | 2019 | Graham Kolbeins

Trailblazing artists, activists, and everyday people from across the gender/sexuality spectrum defy social norms and dare to live unconventional lives in this kaleidoscopic look at LGBTQ culture in contemporary Japan. Meet a legendary erotic manga artist and Japan’s first openly transgender elected official! Crash underground hentai parties and phantasmagoric drag shows! In short, experience a dazzling rainbow of exhilarating, uncompromised cultural expression rarely seen in the West. Adults only! Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. 99 min. Queer...

France, Germany, Iran, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Switzerland | 2019 | Massoud Bakhshi

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, this startling drama is inspired by an actual Iranian reality television show. Set on the night of Yalda (the Persian celebration of the winter solstice), the film introduces us to Maryam, a young woman facing the death penalty for having murdered her much older husband. Maryam must plead for her life with her late husband’s grown daughter...

Ireland, United Kingdom, United States | 2020 | Seamus Murphy

Singer-songwriter PJ Harvey collaborates with award-winning Irish photojournalist Seamus Murphy on her 2016 album The Hope Six Demolition Project, traveling with him to various countries (Afghanistan, Kosovo, the U.S.) and then writing poems and songs inspired by what she saw. A Dog Called Money documents the extended creation of this Grammy-nominated work, which was recorded at Somerset House, London, while the public watched. “A mongrel mix of music documentary, war-zone travelogue and multimedia art project.”...

Hong Kong | 1988 | Wong Kar-wai

Mean Streets goes Hong Kong in Wong Kar-wai's electrifying debut movie, which signaled the arrival of an extraordinary new visual stylist. Andy Lau and Jackie Cheung play mobster pals (of dramatically different talents and temperaments) who are both trying to make it in the brutal Hong Kong underworld where macho posturing, ruthless vendettas, and explosive violence are a way of life. With Maggie Cheung. “Flashy, entertaining moviemaking…A must.” –Variety. New 4K restoration! Cleveland revival premiere....

Czech Republic, Germany | 2020 | Niki Stein

Celebrate the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s December 1770 birth in Bonn, Germany, with this lavish new biographical drama! In it, the great composer, deaf and near death, reflects on his life beginning when he was an eight-year-old musical prodigy known as “Louis.” Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. 120 min. Louis van Beethoven, a Cinematheque streaming exclusive, can be viewed online from 12/16 thru 1/28 via the link below. Doing so supports the Cinematheque. Screening fee...

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Hong Kong | 1988 | Wong Kar-wai

Mean Streets goes Hong Kong in Wong Kar-wai's electrifying debut movie, which signaled the arrival of an extraordinary new visual stylist. Andy Lau and Jackie Cheung play mobster pals (of dramatically different talents and temperaments) who are both trying to make it in the brutal Hong Kong underworld where macho posturing, ruthless vendettas, and explosive violence are a way of life. With Maggie Cheung. “Flashy, entertaining moviemaking…A must.” –Variety. New 4K restoration! Cleveland revival premiere....

United Kingdom | 1952 | George More O'Ferrall

Little known in the U.S., this beloved British Christmas classic stars Ralph Richardson, Celia Johnson (Brief Encounter), Margaret Leighton, and Denholm Elliott. It’s a moving account of a widowed country vicar who, one Christmas, discovers that his mindful ministrations to his parishioners have blinded him to needs within his own family. From a popular play by Wynyard Browne. “The best Christmas picture…We need this film at Christmas time and always. Straight from the heart to...

Iran, United States | 2020 | Jeff Kaufman

Filmed in Iran by women and men who risked arrest to do so, Nasrin is a stirring, immersive portrait of one of the world’s most courageous human rights lawyers, Nasrin Sotoudeh, who has long fought for the rights of women, children, LGBT prisoners, religious minorities, journalists, artists, and those on death row. She is currently a political prisoner serving a 38-year sentence. Features interviews with filmmaker Jafar Panahi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, journalist...

Japan, Qatar, Uzbekistan | 2019 | Kiyoshi Kurosawa

The exotic new film from the director of Cure and Pulse stars J-pop icon Atusko Maeda as a perky Japanese TV reporter who takes her travel show to remote, landlocked Uzbekistan. There she searches for a mythical fish, samples the local cuisine, and explores on her own— losing her geographical and emotional bearings in the process. “A brilliant mix of black comedy, travelogue, drama, and an adventure-imbued mockery of showbiz, To the Ends of the...

France, Morocco | 2018 | Jean-Philippe Gaud

A young Moroccan man who learned traditional Moroccan cooking from his grandmother leaves his village for Paris, where he hopes to make it as a chef. But this proves tough for an undocumented immigrant. “Powerful as a portrait of south-to-north migration in the 21st century.” –Washington City Paper. Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. 95 min. Tazzeka, a Cinematheque streaming exclusive, can be viewed online from 12/18 thru 1/7 via the link below. Doing so supports the Cinematheque....

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Hong Kong | 1990 | Wong Kar-wai

Chinese superstars Leslie Cheung, Andy Lau, and Maggie Cheung star in Wong Kar-wai’s second feature, a dreamy, sensuously shot evocation of 1960 Hong Kong that was ranked the third best Chinese film of all time in a 2005 list compiled by the Hong Kong Film Awards Association. It follows a young playboy as he drifts through a series of friendships and affairs, all the time looking for his birth mother. With Tony Leung Chiu-wai; cinematography...

France | 1965 | various directors

Here’s a new restoration of a rarely revived French New Wave classic in which six filmmakers associated with the movement—including Eric Rohmer, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol, and Jean Rouch—each contribute a 16mm short movie set and shot in a distinct Parisian neighborhood. With Stéphane Audran and Barbet Schroeder; cinematography by Nestor Almendros and Albert Maysles. “Probably the best of the anthology films that were briefly in vogue in the early 60s.” –Dave Kehr. Cleveland revival...

Poland | 2020 | Mariusz Wilczynski

Not the most Christmassy of movies, the feature debut of veteran Polish animator Mariusz Wilczynski is a hand-drawn horror show in which a despairing man retreats to a land of memories where time stands still and those dearest to him are still alive. The voice cast includes Polish celebrities like filmmakers Andrzej Wajda and Zbigniew Rybczynski and actors Krystyna Janda and Daniel Olbrychski. Has a 100% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes! “An utterly bizarre, frequently...

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