Cinematheque Schedule

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United States | 2019 | Matt Kliegman

Shot over ten years, this complex and compassionate documentary focuses on Mark Wenzel, a seven-foot-tall fundamentalist Baptist minister who decides at age 46 to come out as a transgender woman named Markie. This momentous decision ends her 20-year marriage, estranges her from three children and grandchildren, and alienates her from her faith, church, and community. Eight years of emotional pain proves so great that Markie, who just wants to be a good person and lead...

United States | 2020 | Alex Winter

This intimate and expansive look at the life and work of visionary musician Frank Zappa is the first movie to have unfettered access to the Zappa family trust and archive. It features interviews with Zappa’s wife and musical collaborators and includes bonus footage from deep in the family vaults, available nowhere else. Filmmaker Winter is Bill of Bill & Ted fame. “You will learn way more about the man than you could possibly imagine. Let...

Brazil, France | 2019 | Sandra Kogut

Set over three summers (2015-2017) during Brazil’s Christmas holidays, this buoyant, blistering social satire tells of a resourceful middle-aged woman (Regina Casé) who manages some luxury seaside condos for a rich, condescending Rio de Janeiro family. But she shrewdly sidesteps the clan’s travails when things start to go wrong. “Cleverly written and staged.” –Hollywood Reporter. Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. 94 min. Three Summers, a Cinematheque streaming exclusive, can be viewed online from 11/27 thru at least...

Taiwan | 1998 | Hou Hsiao-hsien

Widely regarded as one of the best movies of the 1990s, this modern classic by Hou Hsiao-hsien focuses on the denizens of an upper-class brothel in 19th-century Shanghai and their romantic intrigues. Bathed in a golden glow from oil lamps, fluidly shot in lush interiors, and wreathed in an opium haze, the film is a serene, haunting work that perfectly captures the isolated, circumscribed existences of five elegant “flower girls” who spend their lives catering...

United States | 2019 | Luca Severi

Legendary photographer Douglas Kirkland (b. 1934), renowned for his portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, and others, is himself the subject of this new documentary. Kirkland’s 60-year career—for such publications as Look and Vanity Fair—encompasses photojournalism and fashion as well as portraits of the Hollywood elite. This has kept him on the cutting edge of pop culture for decades. With Nicole Kidman, Sharon Stone, Baz, Luhrmann, Luca Guadagnino, et al. “Filled with mesmerising,...