(Antonio Ferrera and Albert Maysles, US 2007, 87 min., 35mm)

In 2005, artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude realized a project they conceived more than 25 years earlier: a “golden river” of 7,500 fabric-paneled gates in New York’s Central Park, one of the largest temporary public art installations in history. This marvelous documentary began filming in 1979, when the parks commissioner at community board hearings initially rejected Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s dream project. The artists are captured again in 2002 and 2003, renegotiating with officials, planning the manufacture of materials, and most impressively, gathering the $20 million required to complete The Gates strictly through sales of their previous work. Co-director Antonio Ferrera will introduce The Gates and answer questions following the screening.

(ALEKSANDR NEVSKIY, Sergei Eisenstein, Soviet Union 1938, 111 min., Russian with subtitles, 35mm)

Eisenstein’s greatest sound film takes us to 13th century Russia, where young prince Alexander (Nikolai Cherkasov) forms a great army to wage war against the seemingly invincible Germans, who have invaded the country. This epic masterpiece brilliantly extols Russian nationalism and courage by mixing man and landscape, realism and theatricality. The final conflict on the ice is one of cinema’s greatest achievements, intensified by Sergei Prokofiev’s brilliant score. New 35mm print! Presented through the support of the Cornell/Weinstein Family Foundation, in loving memory of Regina Weinstein.

(DILLINGER È MORTO, Marco Ferreri, Italy 1969, 90 min., Italian with subtitles 35mm)

A bored industrial designer discovers an old revolver in his home, wrapped in a 1934 newspaper announcing the death of a famous American gangster. He paints the gun with red-and-white polka dots, seduces his maid (Annie Girardot), and contemplates suicide as well as his wife’s murder (Anita Pallenberg). Writer-director Ferreri’s (Le Grande Bouffe, The Last Woman) surreal and symbolic head trip belongs in the tradition of the “theater of the absurd.” Almost never screened in the US, don’t miss your chance to discover this oddball puzzler. New 35mm print!

(Jean-Luc Godard, France 1965, 110 min., French with subtitles, 35mm)

“The story of the last romantic couple” said director Godard of his brilliant portrait of two lovers on the run (Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina). This virtual manifesto of cinema is enhanced by the charisma of the two stars, along with the ravishing colors and Cinemascope™ framing of Raoul Coutard’s cinematography. As a bonus, great American director Samuel Fuller drops by (uncredited) to offer his own definition of cinema. New 35mm print!

(Jim Jarmusch, US 1986, 107 min., 35mm)

Two misfits, pimp Jack (John Lurie) and disc jockey Zack (Tom Waits), are joined in prison by an irrepressibly cheerful Italian (Roberto Benigni in his American debut), who soon leads them on a fantastic escape through the Louisiana bayou. The arrestingly beautiful black-and-white photography by Robby Müller (Wim Wenders’ cameraman), music by Lurie and Waits, and Benigni’s charm and effervescence work the mind in a striking and different fashion. Members admitted free.