This documentary follows two friends as they explore what reparations means to them. Selina, who is Black, and Macky, who is white, have been friends and filmmaking partners for 25 years. Genealogy nerds, they travel south to reclaim and reckon with their roots. In the process they move from awkward outsiders toward belonging to broad kin networks who come along for the ride. From kitchen tables to porches, lost cemeteries to discovered diaries, their journeys lead to unexpected opportunities that transform their friendship, families and communities. In Acts of Reparation, we see everyday Americans become the change they want to see in the world. (dir. Macky & Selina Lewis Davidson & Macky Alston, U.S., 2024, 113 min.)
TBC
Nina works in the only small hospital of a provincial town as an OB-GYN. Single and in abstinence from personal relationships, she is unconditionally devoted to her Hippocratic oath. When a newborn dies within seconds of being delivered under her supervision, she is accused of wrongdoings. Under investigation, every detail of Nina's personal and professional life is being scrutinized. Despite the risks, Nina remains devoted to her duty as a doctor, committed to doing what nobody else will.
In her new memoir, “Care and Feeding,” Laurie Woolever looks back on 20 tumultuous, exhilarating years with two of America’s biggest celebrity chefs. It's a candid account of tending to high-wattage celebrities, and of working as a woman, wife and mother in a wildly male-dominated industry. It’s also a reckoning with the high-risk behaviors that tied the three together. She will be in conversation with the legendary author Ruth Reichl, interspersed by some video clips from her colorful history.
Raymond De Fellita’s charming, little-seen gem revolves around a dysfunctional family, The Rizzos, where each member is secretly living a double life in City Island, a small fishing community defined as the Hamptons of the Bronx. Andy Garcia stars as a prison guard who quits to become an actor, misleading his wife (Julianna Margulies). The atmosphere of secrecy in the house is driving the people inside it near the breaking point.(dir. Raymond De Felitta, U.S., 2009, 104 min.)
Begun in the summer of 1968 near Mt. Shasta in California, Black Bear Ranch was a utopian free-love experiment that attracted hippies and political idealists seeking “to get away from America.” They pressured movie stars and rock musicians to donate to their cause. A dozen people were expected to live there, but 40 showed up, then it quickly swelled to 100. The commune’s scorn for the “bourgeois decadence” of couples resulted in bed swapping before they paired off and had babies. This affectionate, keen-eyed documentary, now celebrating its 20th anniversary, intertwines present-day interviews with vintage home movies reinforcing the sense that the old commune and the new one are one and the same. (dir. Jonathan Berman, U.S., 2005, 78 min.)
Using vibrant archival footage and firsthand accounts, this gripping documentary explores the NYC fiscal crisis of 1975, an extraordinary, overlooked episode in urban American history that saw an already struggling city of 8 million people brought to the edge of bankruptcy and social chaos by a perfect storm of greed, incompetence, overextended social policy and poor governance. (dir. Michael Rohatyn & Peter Yost, U.S., 2024, 109 min.)
TBC
Back by popular demand! Legendary filmmaker Ralph Arlyck reflects on friends, family, and experiences that have become the fabric of his life. This richly textured film embraces the changes that come with age and the wonder of fulfillment during the time that remains. (dir. Ralph Arlyck, U.S, 2022, 88 min.)
These two classics by Jean Vigo are introduced and discussed by two of our resident scholars. Jean Vigo achieved a mature masterpiece with this movie, his only full-length feature film, made in 1934 just before his death at the age of 29, now in a restored version. Dita Parlo is Juliette, who marries Jean (Jean Dasté), a barge captain. For their honeymoon, they go on a playful, erotic and surreal journey on his craft, L'Atalante. Featuring cinematographer Boris Kaufman’s unforgettable, dream-like images, L'Atalante manages to be more modern than anything being made today. Preceded by Zero For Conduct, an anarchist classic, about harshly schoolkids taking over. (dir. Jean Vigo, France, 1933/1934, 41 min. + 89 min.)
October 8 offers a look at antisemitism on college campuses, social media and in the streets of America beginning the day after the October 7th attack on Israel by Hamas. Documentarian Wendy Sachs (Surge) anchors her film with often-moving first-person student testimony interspersed with appearances by writers, politicians and other nonstudents. Presented by the Jewish Federation of Dutchess County. (dir. Wendy Sachs, U.S., 2024, 100 min.)
\In 1971, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, the most famous couple in the world, moved to New York City, escaping England’s stifling conventionality and casual cruelty. “I really feel I’m home,” Lennon said, and he and Yoko, living in a two-room flat, promptly immersed themselves into a wild countercultural scene. America was grappling with war, race and materialism—and John and Yoko collaborated with Jerry Rubin, agitated to free political prisoners, built conceptual art exhibits and deepened their love connection. Kevin Macdonald weaves a tale that’s less a biography than a vibe, a whirling, thrilling and intensely evocative collage of TV fragments, glorious concert footage and snippets of phone conversations. One to One distills a moment of deep cultural conflict and societal transformation; when “Instant Karma!”rolls underneath Vietnam footage, you know you are in the hands of a master. (dir. Kevin Macdonald, U.K., 2024, 100 min.)
PGmild bad language
A brand-new 4K restoration, with IMAX and Dolby Atmos. Filmed at a pivotal point in the band’s career, the film took the unique approach of featuring the band performing in the ancient Roman amphitheater to no crowd, creating a singular atmosphere that has had a lasting influence on how music and live performance are captured on screen. The newly restored 4K version, scanned from the original negative, presents the first full 90-minute cut, combining the 60-minute source edit of the performance, with additional Abbey Road Studios documentary segments covering the recording of 1973’s The Dark Side of the Moon. The amphitheater concert includes performances of seminal tracks Echoes and One of These Days, alongside earlier hits Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun and A Saucerful of Secrets. Also features a brand new audio remix by Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree, preserving the authenticity and spirit of the original recording.
PGfor violent content, a bloody image, smoking, thematic elements and some language.
An eye-popping family film about a young girl living on a remote island who fears the reclusive forest creatures known as the ochi.
Tangent Theatre Co. presents Sharr White’s classic about a scientist whose life takes a mysterious turn. Contradictory evidence, blurred truth and fragmented memories collide at a cottage on the windswept shores of Cape Cod. Appearing on Broadway in 2013, Laurie Meltcalf won an Obie Award for her performance as the lead character. The reading will feature Tangent’s premier acting ensemble: Brenny Campbell, Michael Rhodes (also Tangent’s Artistic Director), Griffin Stenger, Jessie Zarrelli and Steven Young (stage directions). Directed by Tracy Carney and produced by Andrea Rhodes.
Rfor language throughout and drug use.
Nadia Conners’s genuinely funny and heartfelt new comedy doubles as her first directorial feature after her 2007 documentary, The 11th Hour. When an unexpected guest (Lois Smith) shows up to Rose (Elizabeth Reaser) and Sammy’s (Walton Goggins) exclusive Hollywood party, Rose must contend with her life decisions, her career, motherhood, and aging. In a world where older women are discarded, The Uninvited gently and comically grapples with the parts we leave behind and the frustration of moving forward when age becomes a case of societal dismissal. (dir. Nadia Conners, U.S., 2024, 87 min.)
Inspired by Hitchcock’s transitional Blackmail (April 18, Orpheum) we continue a 1929 series with some of the earliest talkies. Dorothy Arzner’s raucous pre-Code comedy stars “It Girl” Clara Bow in her—and Paramount’s first talkie.’ It skyrocketed Arzner’s career – she was the first out lesbian director to work in Hollywood. Clara Bow was 24 and was the biggest female star in America. The Wild Party is about a flirty co-ed attending a college where no one ever studies, and her romantic conquest of a stuffy anthropology professor, played by Frederic March. It is groundbreaking in its theme of female friendship –Bow’s spares a friend’s reputation by taking the blame for a transgression herself. (dir. Dorothy Arzner, U.S., 1929, 77 min.)