New York City may get all the new releases first, but there’s a lot more to the film culture here than just what’s in the mainstream theaters! Every week we bring you the top 5 cinematic events to check out.
1.) 20th New York African Film Festival (Film Society at Lincoln Center)
From FilmLinc’s site: “Presented under the banner theme Looking Back, Looking Forward: 20 Years of the New York African Film Festival, this year’s lineup will pay homage to Ousmane Sembène and the first generation of African filmmakers, while passing the baton to a new generation of African visual storytellers who continue to transform our understanding of and vision for the Continent.” A great way to catch up on one of the world’s most criminally under-seen continental cinemas.
Ongoing
2.) Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (Film Forum)
Yes, it’s DCP, unfortunately, rather than a 35mm print. But it’s still Frank Tashlin, Jayne Mansfield, and Tony Randall. “[C]an Tony Randall’s grey-flannel-suited Rockwell P. Hunter make it to the top before they lose their top account, “Stay-Put” lipstick? Or can he get Jayne Mansfield’s Hollywood sex bomb Rita Marlow to endorse it; and then explain her quid pro quo to his understandably disgruntled fiancée Betsy Drake (then Mrs. Cary Grant)?” as Film Forum’s capsule asks? Can you really argue with Jean-Luc Godard, who, as the capsule goes on to inform us, picked it as his third-best film of 1957?
Friday April 12th–Thursday April 18th
3.) The Weimar Touch (Museum of Modern Art)
This collaboration between MoMA and Deustsche Kinemathek of Berlin “features some 30 films, made between the end of the Weimar Republic and 1959, that were directly influenced—through style, subject matter, and personnel—by the golden age of German cinema (roughly 1920 to February 1933).” Some of the films in the series include Max Reinhardt’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Fritz Lang’s Fury, and William Dieterle’s The Life of Emile Zola, John Ford’s How Green Was My Valley, Michael Curtiz’s Casablanca, and Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot.
Through May 6th
4.) Carte Blanche: Scott Macaulay and 20 Years of Filmmaker Magazine (Museum of Modern Art)
“Founded in 1992 and published by IFP, Filmmaker Magazine began with a simple mission: to cover the American independent film scene from the perspective of the filmmakers….Filmmaker looks back at two decades of American independent production, a period that has seen extraordinary changes in the ways films are made and released. As part of MoMA’s Carte Blanche series, Filmmaker Editor-in-Chief and cofounder Scott Macaulay was invited to select seminal films that speak to these issues and celebrate the magazine’s keen eye for new talent.” Films include Miranda July’s Me and You and Everyone We Know, Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone, Errol Morris’ Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control, and Todd Haynes’ Safe.
Through April 15th.
5.) Havana Film Festival New York (Museum of the Moving Image)
“The Havana Film Festival New York (HFFNY), now in its fourteenth year, showcases feature films, documentaries, and short films from Latin America. The festival takes place throughout New York City; the Museum will present four films—from Brazil, Cuba, and Chile. For information about films at other venues, visit hffny.com.” Another fine series from the good folks at MoMI.
