(Samantha Buck, US 2009, 91 min., Digital Projection)
Filmed on location in Buffalo, 21 Below tells the compelling and multi-faceted story of one American family in crisis. Pregnant with her first child, Sharon returns to Buffalo in an attempt to repair the relationship between her mother and her younger sister, Karen, who is pregnant with her third child and caring for a daughter afflicted with the rare Tay-Sachs disease. Richly complex and inspiring, 21 Below unfolds as a compassionate portrait of a family coming apart and the compromises required for reconciliation. Director Samantha Buck will answer questions after this screening. No Take-10 tickets or passes.
George Eastman House has joined with 360 | 365 (formerly the High Falls Film Festival) to bring you the 360 | 365 George Eastman House Film Festival, a five-day paradise for movie lovers May 5 to 10 at the Dryden and Little Theatres. Additionally, the Dryden will be home to the 360 | 365 George Eastman House New Director Series, a bi-monthly program that will present the first area screenings of recent works from directors making their first or second feature-length effort.
The New Director Series begins March 20 with 21 Below, an emotionally powerful new documentary filmed largely in Buffalo. 21 Below tells the compelling and multi-faceted story of one American family in crisis. Pregnant with her first child, Sharon returns to Buffalo to repair the relationship between her mother and her younger sister, Karen, who is pregnant with her third child and caring for one daughter dying from a rare genetic disease. Richly complex and inspiring, 21 Below unfolds as a compassionate portrait of a family coming apart and the compromises required for reconciliation. Director Samantha Buck will appear in person to introduce and answer questions after the screening.
Read more about the New Director Series here.
(LES VACANCES DE MONSIEUR HULOT, Jacques Tati, France 1953, 88 min., French/subtitles)
In the classic, much-loved movie that revealed his multi-layered comedic style, Tati first appears as the clumsy rain-coated, pipe-smoking title character. Taking a beach holiday in the South of France, Hulot gets caught up in a parade of slapstick sequences that provide us the vicarious enjoyment of his (mis)adventures. Tati’s unique visual gags and ingenious sound design reinforce the delights of the cinema as they remind us of the piquant absurdities of modern life. This new 35mm restoration allows viewing of Tati’s definitive version.
(Ursula Meier, Belgium 2008, 98 min., French/subtitles)
Isabelle Huppert and Olivier Gourmet star as the middle-class parents of three children living peacefully in a house along an abandoned stretch of highway. When the road is re-opened, the family suffers a number of inconveniences and violations of privacy, placing them on a downward spiral toward madness. This fascinating and beautifully acted psychological drama of displacement shares more than a few similarities with the work of Michael Haneke.
(HIS LADY, Alan Crosland, US 1927, 111 min.)
John Barrymore and Dolores Costello star in the best version of Abbé Prévost’s oft-filmed Manon Lescaut, the love story of a divinity student (Barrymore) and a beautiful girl (Costello), whose brother (Warner Oland) has sold her to a lecherous aristocrat. One of the earliest sound films (released before The Jazz Singer, also directed by Crosland), When A Man Loves’ original Vitaphone soundtrack has been restored in a joint project by George Eastman House, the UCLA Film & Television Archive, and Warner Bros. The feature will be preceded by three Vitaphone shorts: Quartet from Rigoletto (1927), Charles Hackett (1927), and Van and Schenck: The Pennant-winning Battery of Songland (1927). This special event is sponsored by the Humanities Project of the University of Rochester’s College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering, in collaboration with George Eastman House and the Eastman School of Music.
(SOLNTSE, Alexander Sokurov, Russia 2005, 110 min. English & Japanese/subtitles)
August 15, 1945: A shocked Japan hears the voice of divine leader Emperor Hirohito (Issey Ogata) for the first time, as he implores his people to cease all military activity, initiating a formal end to WWII and the beginning of a new period of American Occupation, led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur (Robert Dawson). Acclaimed Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov (Russian Ark) creates an incisive, eerie portrait of the enigmatic Hirohito during the twilight of the war. Co-presented by George Eastman House and the M.K. Gandhi Institute at the University of Rochester in conjunction with the Season of Nonviolence (January 30-April 4). The first 100 attendees will receive either a free M.K. Gandhi Institute t-shirt or poster.
