Orwell 2+2=5

Thursday, October 2 at 7:00: Sneak Preview + Q&A with director Raoul Peck

George Orwell was one of the most visionary authors of the 20th Century, whose novels 1984 and Animal Farm foretold a chilling, all-to-believable authoritarian future. Acclaimed director Raoul Peck (Academy Award-nominated I Am Not Your Negro), working in collaboration with the Orwell Estate, seamlessly interweaves historical clips, readings from Orwell’s diary, cinematic references, and dynamic modern day footage to craft not only a definitive portrait of the writer himself, but an entirely fresh take on how remarkably relevant and prophetic his work has become. Peck doesn’t just present the information but shows new ways of seeing it, drawing patterns and connections we might not otherwise realize, championing Orwell as a man from the past who just might hold the key to the world’s future.

Regular engagement begins October 3, showtimes to be announced

Little Orange Flags

Twelve-year-old Iris is sent to live on Nana and Pruey’s farm in rural Pennsylvania after an encounter with her mom’s boyfriend.

Dracula

What happens when a young and curious filmmaker challenges his creativity with the limitless possibilities of a fake A.I.? A surprising mix of various stories, from new and old times, about the original myth of Dracula: a vampire hunt, zombies and Dracula crashing a strike, a science-fiction tale about Vlad the Impaler’s return, an adaptation of the first Romanian vampires novella, a tragic romance, a vulgar folktale, A.I. generated kitsch stories… and much more!

Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round (Open Captioning)

Please note that there are additional showtimes of AIN’T NO BACK TO A MERRY-GO-ROUND that screen without open captions (on-screen display of dialogue and sounds). For those showtimes, click here.

AIN’T NO BACK TO A MERRY-GO-ROUND is the untold story of the first organized interracial civil rights protest in U.S. history. When 5 Howard University students sat on a Maryland carousel in 1960, the arrests made headlines. When the white community near Glen Echo Amusement Park joined the Black students in picketing, an extraordinary history-making partnership was born. The pickets attracted Nazis, Congressman, and a press avalanche. Picketing together over the sweltering summer led to partying together, and union organizers mentored student activists. Ten 1961 Freedom Riders, including Stokely Carmichael, were incubated on the Glen Echo picket line, and the carousel arrests were challenged in the Supreme Court case. With never-before seen footage, and immersive storytelling by Emmy-award winning director Ilana Trachtman(Praying with Lior, Black in Latin America, The Pursuit), four living protesters rescue this forgotten history, revealing the price, and the power, of heeding the impulse to activism.
 
AIN’T NO BACK TO A MERRY-GO-ROUND includes voiceover by noted actors Jeffrey Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Bob Balaban, Lee Grant, Peter Gallagher, Dominique Thorne, Alysia Reiner and Tracie Thoms.

Additional showtimes for September 17-23 to be announced.

Song of My City

A cinematic montage that reconstructs 1970s New York as it exists in the movies that mythologized it. Built from the B-roll of films from the era, this love letter to a fabled past distills the frenetic energy, neon-lit loneliness, and inadvertent beauty of a city on the brink of collapse. Premiered at Telluride Film Festival and featuring music by The Velvet Underground, Philip Glass, and Gene Krupa.

The Perfect Neighbor

Using bodycam footage from dozens of police visits, THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR  bears witness to a tight-knit community navigating one neighbor’s relentless harassment. But her hostility takes a sinister turn when it escalates into a fatal crime.

Official selection: Sundance Film Festival

Köln 75

Keith Jarrett’s legendary performance in January 1975 nearly didn’t happen. Based on a true story, KÖLN 75 follows how the concert was conceived and orchestrated by the efforts of a teenage up and coming concert promoter, Vera Brandes, (played by German actress Mala Emde). Her enthusiasm set her to multitasking – from organizing the concert venue (the Cologne Opera House), promoting the event, and selling the tickets, to convincing Jarrett to perform when he almost dropped out when the Bösendorfer Imperial Grand piano he was promised was nowhere to be found.

 John Magaro plays Jarrett with his own intensity, a sublime counterpoint to Mala Emde’s joyful portrayal of the enthusiastic and unstoppable Vera. KÖLN 75 captures the compelling, entertaining and, until now, unknown back story about Jarrett’s one-hour, entirely improvised concert, which became the best-selling solo album in jazz history.

Official selection: Berlin Film Festival

Jacob’s Ladder

4K Restoration!

Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins), a Vietnam War veteran plagued with troubling hallucinations and traumatic flashbacks, struggles to maintain his sanity as his terrible past invades his waking life. As girlfriend Jezzie (Elizabeth Peña) and chiropractor friend Louis (Danny Aiello) try to help him find balance, Jacob only descends further into madness and despair.

The Omen x Scream With Me

Monday, September 29 at 7:00: Q&A and book signing with author Eleanor Johnson moderated by critic Katie Rife, celebrating the release of her new book Scream With Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism (1968-1980)

A series of shocking deaths leaves the American ambassador to Britain convinced that his 5-year-old son is actually the Anti-Christ.

About the book: In May of 2022, Columbia University’s Dr. Eleanor Johnson watched along with her students as the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade. At the same time, her class was studying the 1968 horror film ROSEMARY’S BABY and Johnson had a sudden epiphany: horror cinema engages directly with the combustive politics of women’s rights and offer a light through the darkness and an outlet to scream.

With a voice as persuasive as it is insightful, Johnson reveals how classics like ROSEMARY’S BABY, THE EXORCIST and THE SHINING expose and critique issues of reproductive control, domestic violence, and patriarchal oppression. Scream with Me weaves these iconic films into the fabric of American feminism, revealing that true horror often lies not in the supernatural, but in the familiar confines of the home, exposing the deep-seated fears and realities of women’s lives.

While on the one hand a joyful celebration of seminal and beloved horror films, Scream with Me is also an unflinching and timely recognition of the power of this genre to shape and reflect cultural dialogues about gender and power.

All of You (Open Captioning)

Please note that there are additional showtimes of ALL OF YOU that screen without open captions (on-screen display of dialogue and sounds). For those showtimes, click here. 

Best friends since college, Simon (Emmy Award winner Brett Goldstein) and Laura (Imogen Poots) drift apart when she takes a test that finds her soulmate despite years of unspoken feelings between them. Over the years, as their paths cross and diverge, neither can deny the feeling that they’ve missed out on a life together. Faced with the uncertainty of changing the course of their lives, are Simon and Laura willing to risk everything to experience the love that had been between them all along, or should they accept their fate? ALL OF YOU explores whether one person can ever be your everything in this humorous and heart-wrenching romantic drama co-written by Goldstein and Emmy Award winner William Bridges (“Black Mirror”), who also directs. Hailing from MRC, the film is produced by Ryder Picture Company’s Aaron Ryder and Andrew Swett, and Bridges and Goldstein also produce.

Additional showtimes for September 19-25 to be announced.