Losing Ground

Wednesday, July 1 - Thursday, July 2, 2026

SHOWTIMES AT IFC CENTER

Kathleen Collins’s masterwork centers a couple, Sara & Victor Rogers, hurtling towards a marital crossroads at the country house they’ve rented for the summer. A professor of philosophy, she’s turning inward, whereas he, a bohemian painter, is turning outward — namely towards a younger woman. Because Collins died so young (at 46), her film languished until daughter Nina Collins spearheaded its revival with support from Milestone Films. When Film at Lincoln Center premiered their restoration in 2015, it received superb reviews and heralded a major reconsideration of Collins and Black women filmmakers at large. This landmark movie, one of the first to be directed by an African American woman, was named to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 2020. As Richard Brody wrote in The New Yorker, “More than just a cinematic feast, [LOSING GROUND] is a revelation…A nearly lost masterwork.” LOSING GROUND was restored by the Yale Film Archive and The Film Foundation in collaboration with Milestone Films with support from the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.

Screening as part of our series Declaration of Independents!

“More than just a cinematic feast; it’s a revelation…A nearly lost masterwork.” – Richard Brody, The New Yorker

See more and save! Get an Independents Pack ($30 for IFC Center members and $45 for non-members). Ticket packs are good for any three screenings in the series.

Previously screened in 2022, restored by the Yale Film Archive and The Film Foundation in collaboration with Milestone Films.Funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.

  • Country USA
  • Year 1982
  • Running Time 86 minutes
  • Format DCP
  • Distributor Kino Lorber
  • Director Kathleen Collins
  • Cast Seret Scott, Bill Gunn, Duane Jones
  • Accessibility Assistive Listening, T-Coil

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