Cinematheque Film Schedule

France | 1959 | François Truffaut

A French New Wave landmark! Truffaut’s semi-autobiographical feature debut remains one of his greatest works—a wrenching portrait of a young French boy, Antoine Doinel, who turns to petty crime when his mother and stepfather neglect him. Jean-Pierre Léaud, Truffaut’s alter ego, plays Doinel for the first time here. It is a character he and Truffaut would return to in four subsequent films, all showing in October. Cleveland revival premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 99 min.

Various Countries | 2021-22 | various directors

Seven short films selected from the 2022 Sundance Film Festival—fiction, nonfiction, and animation—comprise this new program. Sundance is widely considered the premier American showcase for new short films. For almost 40 years, it has served as the launchpad for many now-prominent independent filmmakers—from Andrea Arnold to Todd Haynes and Taika Waititi. Five countries are represented in this year’s collection, which includes Festival award winners in the categories of Fiction, Int’l Fiction, and Screenwriting. Perhaps the...

France | 1976 | Barbet Schroeder

Originally banned in England because of its BDSM scenes (and rated X in the U.S.), this early feature by the director of Barfly, Reversal of Fortune, and Single White Female stars a young Gérard Depardieu as a naïve French man from the provinces who accidentally becomes romantically involved with a Parisian dominatrix (Bulle Ogier). “Wickedly funny.” –Time Out Film Guide. No one under 18 admitted! Subtitles. DCP. 112 min.

United States | | various directors

The Cleveland Institute of Art Alumni Council and the Cinematheque present the first-ever showcase of short movies made by CIA grads! Culled from submissions received via an open call, the works to be shown will represent a variety of genres likely to include animation, experimental, and documentary. Each film will be 20 minutes or less. Jurors for this inaugural edition of Short Listed were Grafton Nunes, CIA President Emeritus and film scholar; Alison O’Daniel, filmmaker...

France | 1959 | François Truffaut

A French New Wave landmark! Truffaut’s semi-autobiographical feature debut remains one of his greatest works—a wrenching portrait of a young French boy, Antoine Doinel, who turns to petty crime when his mother and stepfather neglect him. Jean-Pierre Léaud, Truffaut’s alter ego, plays Doinel for the first time here. It is a character he and Truffaut would return to in four subsequent films, all showing in October. Cleveland revival premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 99 min.

Various Countries | 2021-22 | various directors

Seven short films selected from the 2022 Sundance Film Festival—fiction, nonfiction, and animation—comprise this new program. Sundance is widely considered the premier American showcase for new short films. For almost 40 years, it has served as the launchpad for many now-prominent independent filmmakers—from Andrea Arnold to Todd Haynes and Taika Waititi. Five countries are represented in this year’s collection, which includes Festival award winners in the categories of Fiction, Int’l Fiction, and Screenwriting. Perhaps the...

United States | 2022 | Martine Syms

Prominent Black American artist Martine Syms makes her feature film directorial debut with this funny but barbed art world comedy. The movie focuses on a Black female sculptor, Palace, during her first 24 hours as a newly minted Master of Fine Arts—having just graduated from a mostly white art school in upstate New York where her classmates and instructors resent her inclusion in a recent Venice Biennale. Tired and frustrated, Palace wants to skip all...

United States | 2022 | Sierra Pettengill

“Riotsvilles” were model towns built by the U.S. military during the late 1960s where law enforcement officers could train for controlling the civil unrest of that explosive era. Consisting entirely of period newsreels and other archival footage, this eye-opening new essay film explores how government officials obsessed with “law and order” opted to militarize the police rather than redress the income inequality, institutional racism, and international policies that provoked the riots. “Mesmerizing…Tracks American anti-Black racism...

Italy | 1948 | Vittorio De Sica

“A masterpiece…the most universally praised movie on earth since WWII.” So said The Village Voice at one time about Vittorio De Sica’s heart-wrenching classic, the pinnacle of Italian neo-realism, which finished among the 10 best movies of all time in Sight & Sound’s 1952 and 1962 “greatest films” polls. Shot on location in postwar Rome with non-professional actors, the film tells of a long-unemployed man who, accompanied by his young son, scours the city for...

France, Morocco | 2021 | Nabil Ayouch

In Morocco’s official submission to this year’s Academy Awards, a former rapper takes a job teaching hip-hop in an underprivileged neighborhood of Casablanca. He encourages his students—despite their differences in identity, religion, and politics—to bond together, transcend restrictive traditions, follow their passions, and express themselves through art. Casablanca Beats is a vibrant and inspiring coming-of-age musical with a decidedly feminist edge. “Defiant, uninhibited and full of attitude.” –Screen Daily. Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. 101 min. Casablanca...

United Kingdom, United States | 1998 | Todd Haynes

Partially inspired by the life of David Bowie, Todd Haynes’ portrait of a fictional, androgynous 1970s British glam rock star borrows the flashback structure of Citizen Kane. Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Toni Collette, and Christian Bale star in this modern cult classic. “Exhilaratingly inventive.” –Time Out Film Guide. 35mm. 118 min.

United States | 2022 | Sierra Pettengill

“Riotsvilles” were model towns built by the U.S. military during the late 1960s where law enforcement officers could train for controlling the civil unrest of that explosive era. Consisting entirely of period newsreels and other archival footage, this eye-opening new essay film explores how government officials obsessed with “law and order” opted to militarize the police rather than redress the income inequality, institutional racism, and international policies that provoked the riots. “Mesmerizing…Tracks American anti-Black racism...

France | 1962, 1968 | François Truffaut

These two endearing movies continue the story of Truffaut’s alter ego Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) begun in The 400 Blows (see 10/1 at 5:00). But with these films, Doinel’s escapades turn comic. In Antoine and Colette, a segment from the anthology film Love at Twenty, he is a teen smitten with a young music student across the street. Stolen Kisses (which is in color) finds Doinel just out of the army and taking various odd...

Germany, Switzerland | 2022 | Eva Vitija

American author Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995) wrote the novels that became such celebrated movies as Strangers on a Train, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The American Friend, Purple Noon, and Carol. But like her most popular character Tom Ripley, Highsmith led a double life—keeping her lesbianism hidden from her family and fans. This new documentary, based on the author’s unpublished diaries and notebooks, and containing clips from the aforementioned film adaptations, reveals Highsmith’s secret loves. Cleveland premiere....

United Kingdom, United States | 1998 | Todd Haynes

Partially inspired by the life of David Bowie, Todd Haynes’ portrait of a fictional, androgynous 1970s British glam rock star borrows the flashback structure of Citizen Kane. Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Toni Collette, and Christian Bale star in this modern cult classic. “Exhilaratingly inventive.” –Time Out Film Guide. 35mm. 118 min.

United States | 1966 | Arthur Penn

Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, and Robert Duvall head the all-star cast of the explosive film Arthur Penn made just before his epochal Bonnie and Clyde. Based on a play and novel by Horton Foote, with a screenplay by Lillian Hellman, the film is a pressure-cooker of sex, corruption, racism, and vigilantism. Brando plays a small-town Texas sheriff who tries to keep the townspeople’s hateful attitudes and raging emotions in check as they await...

Italy | 1948 | Vittorio De Sica

“A masterpiece…the most universally praised movie on earth since WWII.” So said The Village Voice at one time about Vittorio De Sica’s heart-wrenching classic, the pinnacle of Italian neo-realism, which finished among the 10 best movies of all time in Sight & Sound’s 1952 and 1962 “greatest films” polls. Shot on location in postwar Rome with non-professional actors, the film tells of a long-unemployed man who, accompanied by his young son, scours the city for...

France | 1962, 1968 | François Truffaut

These two endearing movies continue the story of Truffaut’s alter ego Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) begun in The 400 Blows (see 10/1 at 5:00). But with these films, Doinel’s escapades turn comic. In Antoine and Colette, a segment from the anthology film Love at Twenty, he is a teen smitten with a young music student across the street. Stolen Kisses (which is in color) finds Doinel just out of the army and taking various odd...

France, Hong Kong | 2021 | Qiu Jiongjiong

This visually magnificent new Chinese film is a unique hybrid of fiction, historical reminiscence, and experimental theatre. When a longtime clown in a renowned Chinese theatrical troupe dies, he finds himself reliving 50 years of art, struggle, and love during China’s tumultuous 20th century—before entering the afterlife “Critic’s Pick...A magnificently layered historical epic…Breathes new life into a story as old as civilization.” –NY Times. “A huge epochal fresco.” –Senses of Cinema. Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. DCP....

Germany, Switzerland | 2022 | Eva Vitija

American author Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995) wrote the novels that became such celebrated movies as Strangers on a Train, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The American Friend, Purple Noon, and Carol. But like her most popular character Tom Ripley, Highsmith led a double life—keeping her lesbianism hidden from her family and fans. This new documentary, based on the author’s unpublished diaries and notebooks, and containing clips from the aforementioned film adaptations, reveals Highsmith’s secret loves. Subtitles. 83...

United States | 1926 | Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman

Hailed by The Time Out Film Guide as “arguably the greatest screen comedy ever made,” Buster Keaton’s funny and jaw-dropping Civil War silent finished among the 10 best movies of all time in Sight & Sound’s 1972 and 1982 “greatest films” polls. Keaton plays a Southern train engineer who crosses enemy lines to retrieve a steam locomotive (a real steam locomotive; no CGI here) stolen by Yankee infiltrators—and then drive it back to the Confederacy...

United States | 1981 | Michael Mann

Next to The Godfather, James Caan’s most celebrated performance is probably in Michael Mann’s much admired theatrical debut. Caan plays a professional safecracker who desperately wants to leave his life of crime and settle down with his beloved (Tuesday Weld). But it ain’t that easy. With a score by Tangerine Dream, this is a snazzy, modernist, existential neo-noir. Willie Nelson co-stars. “Bravura movie making.” –L.A. Times. DCP. 123 min.

France, Italy | 1970 | François Truffaut

Now married, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud), Truffaut’s quasi-autobiographical alter ego, settles into marital bliss—but not quite. He has an affair with a Japanese mistress before returning home to become a father. Claude Jade co-stars in this funny, touching romantic comedy that has a cameo appearance by Jacques Tati. Cleveland revival premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 97 min.

United States | 1976 | Bob Rafelson

Jeff Bridges, Sally Field, and Arnold Schwarzenegger (in his “official” screen debut) star in this quirky, overlooked 1970s gem from the late Bob Rafelson, a founding father of 1970s’ “New Hollywood” and director of Head, Five Easy Pieces, and The King of Marvin Gardens. Stay Hungry, Rafelson’s fourth feature, is set in the “New South” and focuses on an Alabama rich kid and misfit (Bridges) who becomes involved with the denizens of a local gym,...

United States | 1971 | Mike Nichols

Jack Nicholson, Art Garfunkel, Candice Bergen, Ann-Margret, and Rita Moreno star in Mike Nichols’ unflinching, darkly comic look at the sexual lives of two heterosexual Amherst College friends over a period of 25 years—from the late 1940s to the early 1970s (long before “toxic masculinity” was even a thing). Celebrated cartoonist Jules Feiffer wrote the biting, explicit, original script. “Clearly Nichols’ best film.” –Roger Ebert. Adults only! Cleveland revival premiere. DCP. 97 min.

United States | 1926 | Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman

Hailed by The Time Out Film Guide as “arguably the greatest screen comedy ever made,” Buster Keaton’s funny and jaw-dropping Civil War silent finished among the 10 best movies of all time in Sight & Sound’s 1972 and 1982 “greatest films” polls. Keaton plays a Southern train engineer who crosses enemy lines to retrieve a steam locomotive (a real steam locomotive; no CGI here) stolen by Yankee infiltrators—and then drive it back to the Confederacy...

United States | 1971 | Mike Nichols

Jack Nicholson, Art Garfunkel, Candice Bergen, Ann-Margret, and Rita Moreno star in Mike Nichols’ unflinching, darkly comic look at the sexual lives of two heterosexual Amherst College friends over a period of 25 years—from the late 1940s to the early 1970s (long before “toxic masculinity” was even a thing). Celebrated cartoonist Jules Feiffer wrote the biting, explicit, original script. “Clearly Nichols’ best film.” –Roger Ebert. Adults only! Cleveland revival premiere. DCP. 97 min.

France, Italy | 1970 | François Truffaut

Now married, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud), Truffaut’s quasi-autobiographical alter ego, settles into marital bliss—but not quite. He has an affair with a Japanese mistress before returning home to become a father. Claude Jade co-stars in this funny, touching romantic comedy that has a cameo appearance by Jacques Tati. Cleveland revival premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 97 min.

Various Countries | 1890s |

Where did the movies come from? Sophisticated glass-slide projectors known as “magic lanterns” were the direct predecessor of the cinema, reaching the height of their popularity during the 1890s. Tonight, members of The Magic Lantern Society of the United States and Canada (which is holding its bi-annual convention in Cleveland) will re-create yesteryear’s lantern shows in a series of live performances utilizing authentic 19th-century equipment and hand-painted slides. Encompassing travelogues, temperance stories, moral lessons, fairy...

France, Hong Kong | 2021 | Qiu Jiongjiong

This visually magnificent new Chinese film is a unique hybrid of fiction, historical reminiscence, and experimental theatre. When a longtime clown in a renowned Chinese theatrical troupe dies, he finds himself reliving 50 years of art, struggle, and love during China’s tumultuous 20th century—before entering the afterlife “Critic’s Pick...A magnificently layered historical epic…Breathes new life into a story as old as civilization.” –NY Times. “A huge epochal fresco.” –Senses of Cinema. Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. 179...

United States | 1952 | Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly

Widely regarded as the best screen musical ever made, Singin’ in the Rain was voted one of the 10 best films ever made in the 1982 and 2002 Sight & Sound “greatest movies” polls. Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, and Donald O’Connor star in the picture, a spirited, satiric, and very funny tale of 1920s Hollywood during the bumpy transition to talkies. Boasting unforgettable musical numbers, it was written by the estimable team of Betty Comden...

Belgium, France | 2022 | François Ozon

This gender-swapped revamp of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1972 all-female, lesbian melodrama The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant was the opening night film for this year’s Berlin Film Festival. Transposed from the fashion world to the movie world, François Ozon’s movie focuses on a successful West German filmmaker (and Fassbinder lookalike) and his intense, sadomasochistic relationships with his mute factotum, his former muse (Isabelle Adjani), and her hot new protégé. Hanna Schygulla, one of the...

France | 1978 | François Truffaut

The funny, moving conclusion to the Antoine Doinel cycle finds Jean-Pierre Léaud playing Truffaut’s alter ego for the last time. In this installment, which recaps scenes from the previous films, thirtysomething Doinel divorces his wife (Claude Jade) and embarks again on his never-ending quest for love and romance. Cleveland revival premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 95 min.

United States | 1952 | Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly

Widely regarded as the best screen musical ever made, Singin’ in the Rain was voted one of the 10 best films ever made in the 1982 and 2002 Sight & Sound “greatest movies” polls. Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, and Donald O’Connor star in the picture, a spirited, satiric, and very funny tale of 1920s Hollywood during the bumpy transition to talkies. Boasting unforgettable musical numbers, it was written by the estimable team of Betty Comden...

United States | 1973 | George Roy Hill

Winner of seven 1974 Oscars including Best Picture, this delightful caper comedy reunites Paul Newman and Robert Redford with the director of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Set in Depression-era Chicago, the movie follows two grifters as they concoct an elaborate scheme to con a powerful, ruthless crime boss (Robert Shaw) out of a lot of money. Marvin Hamlisch’s Oscar-winning ragtime score jump-started a nationwide Scott Joplin craze. Cleveland revival premiere. DCP. 129 min.

United States | 1973 | George Roy Hill

Winner of seven 1974 Oscars including Best Picture, this delightful caper comedy reunites Paul Newman and Robert Redford with the director of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Set in Depression-era Chicago, the movie follows two grifters as they concoct an elaborate scheme to con a powerful, ruthless crime boss (Robert Shaw) out of a lot of money. Marvin Hamlisch’s Oscar-winning ragtime score jump-started a nationwide Scott Joplin craze. Cleveland revival premiere. DCP. 129 min.

Belgium, France | 2022 | François Ozon

This gender-swapped revamp of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1972 all-female, lesbian melodrama The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant was the opening night film for this year’s Berlin Film Festival. Transposed from the fashion world to the movie world, François Ozon’s movie focuses on a successful West German filmmaker (and Fassbinder lookalike) and his intense, sadomasochistic relationships with his mute factotum, his former muse (Isabelle Adjani), and her hot new protégé. Hanna Schygulla, one of the...

France | 1978 | François Truffaut

The funny, moving conclusion to the Antoine Doinel cycle finds Jean-Pierre Léaud playing Truffaut’s alter ego for the last time. In this installment, which recaps scenes from the previous films, thirtysomething Doinel divorces his wife (Claude Jade) and embarks again on his never-ending quest for love and romance. Cleveland revival premiere. Subtitles. DCP. 95 min.

Sweden | 1922 | Benjamin Christensen

This unique silent film is a semi-documentary exploring the Church’s persecution of witches from the 15th through the 17th centuries—via vivid re-enactments of cases and purported incidents, like the Witches’ Sabbath. (The Devil is played by filmmaker Christensen.) A huge hit among 1920s Surrealists, the film boasts stunning tableaux that evoke Bosch and Bruegel. We will show a recent restoration of the original version of this movie classic (with a newly recorded, authentic orchestral score)...

Japan | 1953 | Kenji Mizoguchi

The most celebrated work by Japanese master Kenji Mizoguchi is an atmospheric ghost story centered on two peasants—a potter and an aspiring samurai—living in war-torn 16th-century Japan. Hoping to profit from the upheaval around them, the men leave their homes and wives behind to pursue their dreams of fortune and glory. Masayuki Mori, Machiko Kyō, and Kinuyo Tanaka star; Kazuo Miyagawa did the sublime camerawork. “Simultaneously realistic, allegorical and supernatural, Ugetsu is the most stylistically...

Finland, USSR | 1959 | Aleksandr Ptushko

Released dubbed and heavily cut in the U.S., this gorgeous mythical fantasy by the Soviet Union’s prodigious special effects wiz Aleksandr Ptushko has recently been restored to its original color and widescreen splendor. Based on the Finnish national epic “Kalevala,” the film tells of an evil witch who covets the Sampo, a magical mill that produces unlimited salt, grain, and gold. When she can’t get it, she steals the sun, plunging the world into darkness...

Mexico, Spain | 2006 | Guillermo del Toro

Alice in Wonderland meets the political horrors of the 20th century in one of the most acclaimed and popular foreign films of the past two decades. Set during the Spanish Civil War, Guillermo del Toro’s imaginative and visually splendid fairy tale focuses on a young Spanish girl who escapes her scary new stepfather, a fascist military officer, by venturing into a fantastic underground realm she discovers near her new house. There challenges await her. Subtitles....

Japan | 1953 | Kenji Mizoguchi

The most celebrated work by Japanese master Kenji Mizoguchi is an atmospheric ghost story centered on two peasants—a potter and an aspiring samurai—living in war-torn 16th-century Japan. Hoping to profit from the upheaval around them, the men leave their homes and wives behind to pursue their dreams of fortune and glory. Masayuki Mori, Machiko Kyō, and Kinuyo Tanaka star; Kazuo Miyagawa did the sublime camerawork. “Simultaneously realistic, allegorical and supernatural, Ugetsu is the most stylistically...

Mexico, Spain | 2006 | Guillermo del Toro

Alice in Wonderland meets the political horrors of the 20th century in one of the most acclaimed and popular foreign films of the past two decades. Set during the Spanish Civil War, Guillermo del Toro’s imaginative and visually splendid fairy tale focuses on a young Spanish girl who escapes her scary new stepfather, a fascist military officer, by venturing into a fantastic underground realm she discovers near her new house. There challenges await her. Subtitles....

France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom | 1971 | Lucio Fulci

A British woman who dreams that she has murdered the libertine next door sees her life turn into a nightmare when that neighbor turns up dead and she becomes the prime suspect. Set in early 1970s London, this colorful giallo by the Italian cult director of The Beyond and Zombi 2 is a stylish and visually stunning work that vividly captures the promiscuous, psychedelic hippie era of hallucinatory acid trips. 100% critics rating on Rotten...