The Center for the Arts at Albright College will offer screenings of international films throughout the spring semester. Except as noted, all films will be shown on Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m., in Klein Lecture Hall. The first set of films includes:
Feb. 25: 33rd Black Maria Film & Video Festival. Presented in-person by festival founder and director John Columbus, this screening includes a selection of short works, mostly prize winners from one of America’s oldest and most highly regarded showcases of curated, short, independent and experimental films and videos.
March 4 to April 8: Five-Part Mini Film Festival. The following five films relate to the theme of the Becoming Male exhibition in the Freedman Gallery, on view Feb. 18 to April 20. Although very different in style, each film offers a glimpse into how the art of film has treated the subject of women masquerading as men. This mini film festival is curated by Erin Riley-Lopez, curator of the Freedman Gallery, and by Gary Adlestein, associate professor of English/art and coordinator of the Albright College International Film Series.
*March 4: The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928, 82 min.) by Carl Theodor Dryer. In 2012, the British Film Institute ranked this film ninth in its ‘Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time.’ ‘One of the greatest of all movies…. [Renee Jeanne Falconetti’s] portrayal of Joan may be the finest performance ever recorded on film.’ – Pauline Kael, film critic. A moderated discussion panel will follow the screening.
*March 11: Boys Don’t Cry (1999, 118 min.) by Kimberly Peirce. ‘(With) the awe-inspiring horror of Greek tragedy and the flaming trajectory of a Roman candle, the movie is both thoughtful and visceral. Teena Brandon [Hillary Swank] of Lincoln, Neb., changes her gender and moves to nearby Falls City. Successfully romancing several girls until found out, s/he is brutally raped and consequently executed, along with two others, by a pair of local thugs.’ – J. Hoberman, The Village Voice. A moderated discussion panel will follow the screening.
*March 25: Orlando (1992, 94 min.) by Sally Potter. Based on Virginia Woolf’s novel. ‘[Tilda] Swinton, America’s favorite androgyne, slips effortlessly into the role of the titular male nobleman who awakens halfway through the film to find himself a woman. And those who have followed Potter’s career would no doubt note that Orlando’s swirl of gender-as-performance imagery fits snugly within her feminist-oriented, theatrically bent oeuvre.’ – Matthew Connoly, Slant Magazine.
*April 1: Sylvia Scarlett (1935, 95 min.) by George Cukor. ‘I don’t know what it is that gives me a queer feeling when I look at you,’ says Brian Aherne, admitting his attraction to Katharine Hepburn, disguised as a boy, who earlier in the film proclaims, ‘Then I won’t be a girl. And I won’t be weak and I won’t be silly. I’ll be a boy and rough and hard. I won’t care what I do. Don’t worry! I’m ready for anything.’ A strange and dreamy romantic comedy.
*April 8: Magic Mirror (2013, 75 min.) by Sarah Pucill. Recently screened at the Tate Modern, Pucill’s video riffs on the ideas, performances and photographs of Claude Cahun (1894-1954), a fascinating gender and self-constructing Surrealist artist many decades ahead of her time. Join us at 6 p.m., in the Mary Miss Amphitheatre and Freedman Gallery before the screening for the Diversity Night Coffeehouse Poetry Slam. A Teens After Dark double-feature.
The films are open to the public. Admission is free for Albright students, faculty and staff. The fee for the general public is $3 per film or $15 for a semester pass. To purchase a pass, call the Box Office at 610-921-7547. For more information, visit albright.edu/centerforthearts.
