Film Descriptions
Now playing at Harris Theater
Let the Right One In
"This film is terrific." – Chicago Tribune
"Sinister but gorgeous and compelling." – LATimes
"Spectrally beautiful." – NYTimes
"Spectacularly moving and elegant." – WaPo
#1 Film of 2008 – David Ansen, Newsweek
Watch a trailer.
Winner of best narrative feature at this year's Tribeca Film Fest, this hauntingly beautiful Swedish indie is a coming-of-age tale and a gory vampire story.
Set in the suburbs of Stockholm, circa 1982, we meet Oskar, a serious, solitary 12-year-old boy who's constantly picked on at school. He retreats into fantasies
of revenge. Then one day he sees Eli, an unkempt, raven-haired girl walking barefoot in the snow. "I'm not a girl," she warns him. Hailed by
critics everywhere
for its fresh script, chilling suspense, and heart-breaking acting from its young leads, it’s both a masterful exploration of pre-teen alienation and a much-needed
redo of the genre. Directed with imagination and promise, the film's been compared to Del Toro's The Devil's Backbone, and Hallstrom's My Life As a Dog.
With subtitles. (Tomas Alfredson; Sweden; 2008; 114 min)
Jan 5–8 at Regent Square Theater
Diva
"A brash, snazzy thriller…conspicuously clever and shamelessly glam." – Village Voice
When released 26 years ago, this divine piece of madness became an international art-house sensation. The story follows a French postman being chased around Paris for the bootleg tape he made of his favorite opera singer. Director Beineix's debut film launched the cinéma du look, an explosion of colorful, stylish, super-cool, punk-inspired '80s French films. The soundtrack, mixing opera and classical instrumentals with new wave, was the first of its kind. With subtitles. (Jean-Jacques Beineix; France; 1983; 123 min)
Jan 9–11 at Harris Theater
The Pool
Part of our annual series: the Best Films You May Have Missed. Looking back at 2008, we picked a few gems we thought Pittsburgh audiences wanted a second
chance to see on the big screen.
This beautiful film, which played briefly in Pittsburgh during the 3 Rivers Film Festival, deserves a second chance. From director Chris Smith (American Movie)
it tells the story of a boy who works at a hotel on the west coast of India. He sees from his perch in a mango tree, a luxuriant garden and pool hidden behind a
wall. The shimmering pool, in which no one seems to swim, is a window onto a world he can hardly imagine. He ekes out a living cleaning hotel rooms and selling
plastic bags on the street with his friend. The Pool recalls the best work of neorealist director Satyajit Ray. In English and Hindi with subtitles. (Chris
Smith; USA; 2008; 95 min)
Read an interview with the director. ... Watch a trailer.
Jan 9–15 at Regent Square Theater
Dear Zachary
Named one of the top five documentaries of 2008 by the
National Board of Review, Dear Zachary: a letter to a son about his father has also won Best Documentary at several film festivals. Listen to an interview
with the director.
This provocative story of love, loss and injustice has a local connection. On the evening of Nov. 5, 2001, Dr. Andrew Bagby, an intern at Latrobe Area
Hospital, was murdered in the parking lot of Keystone State Park in Derry Township. The prime suspect, an unstable ex-girlfriend named Dr. Shirley Turner,
promptly fled to Newfoundland where she announced that she was pregnant with Andrew's child.
Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne, Andrew's childhood friend, originally began this film as a way for little Zachary to learn about his father. But when Shirley Turner
was allowed to walk free in Canada, the film's focus shifted to Zachary's grandparents, and their desperate efforts to win custody of the boy. Their story will
leave you shaken. (Kurt Kuenne; USA; 2008; 95 min)
Jan 10 at Melwood Screening Room
Bill Daniel closing reception & screening
Doors at 7:00, performance and screening at 8:00. With Centipede E'est live. Please give a click to the Filmmakers Galleries page for details.
Reception precedes the screening.
8:00pm, Sun Jan 11 at Regent Square Theater
Vertigo
In many of the key scenes in this psychological thriller, Hitchcock let Herrmann take center stage with a score that echoes Wagner's "Liebestod" from Tristan und Isolde, to dramatically convey the obsessive love Scottie (Jimmy Stewart) feels for the woman he tries to shape into a long-dead, past love. (Alfred Hitchcock; USA; 1958; 128 min)
Part 2 of 4 in the January Sunday Night Series – One Shoots, The Other Scores: Collaborations between Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann. Known for his haunting scores and evocative sound design, Bernard Hermann collaborated with the master of suspense to create some of the most memorable movies in American cinema. Herrmann began his career composing music for radio dramas, where he met a 22-year-old upstart named Orson Welles – who would later ask him to score Citizen Kane. Herrmann is most closely associated with director Alfred Hitchcock, partly due to those famous shrieking violins in Psycho's shower scene. The Hitch-Herrmann partnership lasted from The Trouble With Harry (1955) to Torn Curtain (1966), when a tussle over creative differences severed their relationship. Some music and film critics note that Hitchcock's later films are less effective without Herrmann's contribution.
Jan 12–15 at Harris Theater
Repo! The Genetic Opera
Part of our annual series: the Best Films You May Have Missed. Looking back at 2008, we picked a few gems we thought Pittsburgh audiences wanted a second
chance to see on the big screen.
Ever since turning away scores of patrons at a single showing of Repo! at this year's Film Festival, we’ve been trying to get it back. Here's your
chance! Set in 2056, an epidemic of organ failures devastates the planet. GeneCo, a biotech company, offers organ transplants for a price. Failure to pay brings
the collection agency – skilled assassins ordered to recover company property. With 20 amazing rock opera ballads ranging from blood-chillingly gothic
to deliciously deviant to sentimental, in addition to sexy, messy, dance numbers, you'll be singing and slicing for days. Features Paul Sorvino, Sarah Brightman,
Paris Hilton, Bill Moseley, and Joan Jett. (Darren Lynn Bousman; USA; 2008; 98 min)
Tue Jan 13 at Melwood Screening Room
Film Kitchen
John Landis presents documenatries that take our excepted view of the world and turn it on it’s side to reveal new perspectives. Including his film "This Is Not A Recording: Confessions Of A Telemarketer," which by the end has the audience seeing the Telemarketer in a sympathetic light. [15 min]
"Barking Lane," Sean Ferris's beautifully shot black and white short about a drifter hobo that comes to town, with thrilling bike rides, murder, and more. [10 min]
Pittsburgher Micheal Lies is showing two of his Sci-Fi experimental films made in the 1970s. "Headprints" is a stream of consciousness film about an encounter with Extra-Terrestrials and an escaped mental patient in Oakland. [13 min] "In A Ride Through the Fields" – a woman on horseback discovers a pile of books which suddenly transfrom into their main characters. While the liteary figures interact, the event is simultaneously watched by scientist at the Allegheny Observatory and Allegheny General hospital. Fields was the first paid movie work for special effects artist, director, and Pittsburgher Tom Savini, who helped bring the literary figures to life. [14 min]
There will be a Q&A Session with the artists after the show. Reception begins at 7:00pm; show starts at 8:00pm. Admission is $5.
Film Kitchen is held the second Tuesday of each month at the Melwood Screening Room located at, 477 Melwood Ave. Film Kitchen is co-sponsored by Pittsburgh Filmmakers, City Paper, WYEP FM, Digital Video Development, Chipotle, Rock Light, and DH Creative.
For information on submitting work to Film Kitchen, please visit filmkitchenpgh.org or call Pittsburgh Filmmakers at 412.681.9500.
7:00pm, Jan 15 at Melwood Screening Room
A Clockwork Orange
"Being the adventures of a young man ... who couldn't resist pretty girls ... or a bit of the old ultra-violence ... went to jail, was re-conditioned ... and came out a different young man ... or was he?"
In the performance of his career Malcolm McDowell is Alex, a charismatic delinquent of pure Id whose malevolence is matched only by his sense of aesthetics, particularly music. But the character of Alex is really a device used to drive home the film's theme, that the greater evil is the eradication of a person's ability to make their own moral choices. The audience is put into the position of identifying with Alex's humanity even as they are repulsed by his actions; the ways in which Kubrick accomplishes this makes this film worth seeing again and again. No one under 17 admitted. (Stanley Kubrick; UK; 1971; 136 min)
Reception courtesy PittArts follows the screening.
Jan 16–18 at Harris Theater
Frozen River
Part of our annual series: the Best Films You May Have Missed. Looking back at 2008, we picked a few gems we thought Pittsburgh audiences wanted a second
chance to see on the big screen.
Melissa Leo has received nothing but raves for her Oscar-worthy performance in this indie feature, now on many year-end top 10 lists. Shot in the sub-zero temps of upstate New York, it tells the compelling story of a middle-aged mother with two teenagers, who’s lured into the illegal world of immigrant smuggling, when she teams up with a young mom from a nearby Indian reservation. (Courtney Hunt; USA; 2008 97 min)
opens Jan 16 at Regent Square Theater
I've Loved You So Long
"Claudel's film reaches beyond family drama to craft a sophisticated examination of forgiveness." – Michèle Maheux, Toronto International Film Festival.
In what critics are calling her finest performance yet, this is the kind of film Kristin Scott-Thomas was surely born to make. Set in eastern France, it tells the profoundly moving story of two sisters rediscovering their connection after years apart. Weary-looking Juliette (Kristin Scott Thomas) reunites with younger sister Lea, who's now married with two adopted children, and who warmly accepts her older sister into her home. Though Lea tells her daughter that Auntie Juliette has been away in England, it transpires that she has in fact been in prison, jailed for committing an inexplicable crime. The center of this beautiful film is the bond between sisters and their attempts to rebuild their relationship in spite of all that has passed. In French and English. (Philippe Claudel; France; 2008; 115 min)
8:00pm, Sun Jan 18 at Regent Square Theater
The Birds
Set in a sleepy coastal California town, this cautionary tale about complacency features no music at all – just a symphony of bird sounds. Reckless socialite Tippi Hedren (in her first leading role), in hot pursuit of a handsome lawyer (Rod Taylor), heads to Bodega Bay; she, adnd you, will never look at a flock of birds the same way again. (Alfred Hitchcock; USA; 1963; 120 min)
Part 3 of 4 in the January Sunday Night Series – One Shoots, The Other Scores: Collaborations between Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann. Known for his haunting scores and evocative sound design, Bernard Hermann collaborated with the master of suspense to create some of the most memorable movies in American cinema. Herrmann began his career composing music for radio dramas, where he met a 22-year-old upstart named Orson Welles – who would later ask him to score Citizen Kane. Herrmann is most closely associated with director Alfred Hitchcock, partly due to those famous shrieking violins in Psycho's shower scene. The Hitch-Herrmann partnership lasted from The Trouble With Harry (1955) to Torn Curtain (1966), when a tussle over creative differences severed their relationship. Some music and film critics note that Hitchcock's later films are less effective without Herrmann's contribution.
Jan 19–22 at Harris Theater
Chop Shop
Part of our annual series: the Best Films You May Have Missed. Looking back at 2008, we picked a few gems we thought Pittsburgh audiences wanted a second
chance to see on the big screen.
"Miraculous" – Roger Ebert.
Watch a trailer.
Only shown briefly as part of the '08 Silk Screen Film Festival, this touching film (from the director of Man Push Cart) follows a tough and ambitious Latino street orphan on the verge of adolescence, who lives and works in a New York auto-body repair shop. He tries to make a better life for himself and his 16-year-old sister and begins to save his money to buy a mobile-food van. Filmed on bleak overpasses and in vacant lots in the shadow of Shea Stadium, Chop Shop is concerned mostly with the kind of hard, marginal labor that more comfortable city dwellers rarely notice. But there is a lyricism at its heart, an unsentimental, soulful appreciation of the grace that resides in even the meanest struggle for survival. (Ramin Bahrani; USA; 2008; 84 min)
Fri Jan 23 at Harris Theater
Pittsburgh Reframed [at 250]
Free screening. Running on a loop from 6:00–9:30pm during the Gallery Crawl. DVDs will be for sale in the lobby. Produced by Pittsburgh Filmmakers / Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, to honor the city's 250th anniversary, with support from the Allegheny Regional Asset District.
This collection of new shorts by local film and video artists sprang from a promotional film, simply called Pittsburgh, which was commissioned in 1958 for the city's bicentennial. It's believed there were several versions of Pittsburgh, in an attempt to please a large committee with conflicting views. But the final version (28 minutes) pleased no one, and the project was shelved. The original footage, which was recently inspected, cleaned and copied to high-definition video, is included on the disc.
Each short film in Pittsburgh Reframed [at 250] is two minutes and fifty seconds long, and includes sections of the original footage, reconfigured. Local artists participating include: Mike Bonello, Tony Buba, Olivia Ciummo, Brian Cohen, Matthew R. Day, Tess Allard, Carolina Loyola Garcia, Anna Hawkins, Ben Hernstrom, Charlie Humphrey, Thad Kellstadt, Brady Lewis, Michael Mallis, Jesse McLean, Bob Rutkowski, Elizabeth Seamans, Minette Seate, Chris Smalley, Josh Tonies and Lucian Wintrich.
Jan 24–25 at Harris Theater
Man On Wire
Part of our annual series: the Best Films You May Have Missed. Looking back at 2008, we picked a few gems we thought Pittsburgh audiences wanted a second
chance to see on the big screen.
One of the best-reviewed films of the year, this amazing documentary is even better on the big screen. On the morning of Aug. 7, 1974, after months of preparation and years of dreaming, a French daredevil named Philippe Petit stepped into the sky above Lower Manhattan. For almost 45 minutes he ambled back and forth on a metal cable strung between the towers of the World Trade Center. The destruction of the twin towers on 9/11 revived an interest in the legendary stunt. (James Marsh; USA; 2008; 90 min)
8:00pm, Sun Jan 25 at Regent Square Theater
Psycho
Herrmann's most recognizable music is from this classic. Unusual for a thriller, the score uses only the string section of the orchestra. The scream-like sound heard during the shower scene (which Hitchcock originally suggested have no music at all) is one of the most famous moments from all of film history. Shot not with Hitch's usual, expensive, feature crew (which had just finished North by Northwest), but with the crew he used for his television show. (Alfred Hitchcock; USA; 1960; 109 min)
Part 4 of 4 in the January Sunday Night Series – One Shoots, The Other Scores: Collaborations between Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann. Known for his haunting scores and evocative sound design, Bernard Hermann collaborated with the master of suspense to create some of the most memorable movies in American cinema. Herrmann began his career composing music for radio dramas, where he met a 22-year-old upstart named Orson Welles – who would later ask him to score Citizen Kane. Herrmann is most closely associated with director Alfred Hitchcock, partly due to those famous shrieking violins in Psycho's shower scene. The Hitch-Herrmann partnership lasted from The Trouble With Harry (1955) to Torn Curtain (1966), when a tussle over creative differences severed their relationship. Some music and film critics note that Hitchcock's later films are less effective without Herrmann's contribution.
Jan 26–29 at Harris Theater
The Fall
Part of our annual series: the Best Films You May Have Missed. Looking back at 2008, we picked a few gems we thought Pittsburgh audiences wanted a second
chance to see on the big screen.
Barry Paris called this "a wonder to behold" in his summer review, and Roger Ebert says it is "one of the most extraordinary films I've ever seen." From director Tarsem Singh (The Cell) comes this ambitious epic of high adventure and human drama, set in 1915. A paralyzed stunt man and a four-year old Romanian girl occupy separate wings in the same LA hospital. One day he begins to tell her stories and we see them through her eyes – lush, vibrant, magical visions. Tarsem, who shot her visions in 28 countries over four years, says no computers were used to create them – they exist. (Tarsem Singh; USA/India; 2008; 116 min)
Watch a trailer.
Jan 30–31 at Melwood Screening Room
Fear(s) of the Dark
These six animated shorts are a wildly inventive and visually dazzling collection of intertwined tales by some of the world's most renowned graphic artists: Blutch, Charles Burns, Marie Caillou, Pierre Di Sciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti, and Richard McGuire. From a besotted student whose girlfriend is weirdly intense in her affections, to a Japanese schoolgirl menaced by a long-dead samurai, and a pack of hounds on a bloodthirsty rampage, this compilation has a story strand to trouble every sleep - not to mention a stunning range of animation styles. Shot in shimmering black and white, this anthology creates a world where phobias and nightmares come to life. Each time a hound breaks free, it leaps upon the next story, and occasionally, a victim. (various directors; various countries; 2008; 80 min)
Jan 30 – Feb 5 at Harris Theater
Ballast
"A serious achievement and a welcome sign of a newly invigorated American independent cinema" – Manohla Dargis, NYTimes.
Winner of Best Director and Best Cinematography at this year's Sundance Film Fest, which screened in the 3 Rivers Film Festival in November '08.
Watch a trailer.
This compelling indie drama by first time director Lance Hammer is infused with a bracing, gritty realism. It's the lyrical tale of an uneasy human triangle set in the Mississippi delta. There's bad blood between Lawrence and Marlee, who used to be his twin brother's girlfriend. Shot using only available light, the southern landscapes are wide, flat, wet and strewn with debris. The inhabitants (all played by non-professional actors) seem as if they might be swallowed up at any moment. Variety called Hammer's personal film "an extraordinary debut." (Lance Hammer; USA; 2007; 96 min)
Feb 6–12 at Regent Square Theater
Azur & Asmar
"Sheer storybook rapture." – Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.
From the director of Kirikou and the Sorceress. Watch a trailer.
(Michel Ocelot; France; 2008; 99 min)
Feb 13–19 at Regent Square Theater
Oscar-nominated Short Films
Both the live-action and animation nominees will be featured in the program.
See them before the awards are announced at this year's 81st annual Oscars.
opens Feb 20 at Regent Square Theater
Wendy and Lucy
Michelle Williams "delivers a sensationally nuanced performance" – J.Hoberman, Village Voice. Watch a trailer.
From the writer-director team that made Old Joy comes another Pacific Northwestern wonder, this time showcasing the amazing talent of Michelle Williams. She plays Wendy, a flat broke, yet resilient, young woman who decides to move to Alaska with her beloved dog Lucy (played by the director's own dog) for a lucrative job in a fish cannery. She gets as far as Oregon before her sad wreck of a car breaks down. This fine story is understated, not sentimental. Each scene in Wendy and Lucy moves like a heartbeat, carefully building to an extraordinarily powerful and most unexpected conclusion. (Kelly Reichert; USA; 2008; 80 min)