It’s the last week of the first month of this academic calendar! Thank God. I don’t know about you folks, but here at Cinefiles we always struggle to push through that first month of school after such a blissfully long three-month break. By now we’d like to say we’re back in the swing of things, but that’s not totally true. One thing that sure is making the weeks fly by, though, is our delightful programming.
This week we’ve got quite a smorgasbord of delicacies for you to choose from. Continuing with our annual Contemporary Hispanic Film Series we have “Zama” on Wednesday, jump starting our week with a new release by female filmmaker Lucrecia Martel. On Thursday we have our second documentary of the year, when cult favorite and cherished musical touchstone of many, “Monterey Pop” rocks our mid-week schedule with footage from the iconic music festival Monterey Pop. Our Friday feature is none other than the lauded film debut of Bo Burnham, “Eighth Grade.” If you missed this charming nugget of a coming-of-age comic drama be sure to catch it on the big screen in the Goldsmith Family Cinema. And if you already saw it? Come and laugh and cry and reminisce and thank your lucky stars you’re out of middle school all over again! Rounding off this week’s list is another coming-of-age flick, this time of the Italian neorealist variety. Come marvel at the black-and-white beauty of our 35mm print of “Il Posto.”
“Zama”
2017. Argentina. Dir: Lucrecia Martel. With Daniel Gimenez Cacho. 115 min.
Wednesday, Sept. 26. 8 p.m. Free.
Join us for the second installment in our Contemporary Hispanic Film Series—and, coincidentally, our second female-directed Hispanic film of the calendar. This week we have an Argentinian film directed by Lucrecia Martel, known for “The Headless Woman” and “La Ciénaga” but with a total of 20 directorial credits under her belt. She returns to our screens this year with a film adaptation of Argentine writer Antonio di Benedetto’s novel “Zama.” The eponymous story centers on Zama, an officer of the Spanish Crown, and his trials and tribulations with various Governors who dictate his life. The film won the Goya Award for Best Spanish Language Foreign Film and has been heralded by many critics as a modern day classic.
“Monterey Pop”
1968. USA. Dir: D. A. Pennebaker. Documentary. 79 min.
Thursday, Sept. 27. 8 p.m. Free
Travel back in time to the groovy, galvanizing glory of 1967’s Monterey Pop Festival and revel in the music and the good times of beloved bands and artists like The Mamas & the Papas, The Who, Otis Redding and many, many more. Follow D. A. Pennebaker as he takes you behind the scenes, to center stage, and into the crowds of one of the most historic festivals in pop music history. Break out your flower chains and wide-leg jeans and come see this 16mm feat on the big screen.
“Eighth Grade”
2018. USA. Dir: Bo Burnham. With Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton. 94 min.
Friday, Sept. 28. 8 p.m. $5.
Burnham’s directorial debut encapsulates all the angst of those middle school years we’d like to forget. With a powerful lead performance by Elsie Fisher, we follow painfully shy Kayla as she navigates her final days of eighth grade. Not only does this film contain all the trappings of a classic teen movie from crushes to mean girls to pool parties, it also unabashedly incorporates the present-day tenets of growing up—smartphones and social media—creating a new and honest portrait of modern adolescence.
“Il Posto”
1961. Italy. Dir: Ermanno Olmi. With Sandro Panseri. 98 min. 35mm print.
Saturday, Sept. 29. 8 p.m. Free.
This coming-of-age story tells the tale of Domenico, a young man who must move from his small town to the large city of Milan for work, forgoing further education. He soon meets Antonietta, a young woman in a similar situation, and the two form a fledgling bond. In this Neorealist gem, Olmi explores the strain of life in a recently industrialized Italy and the dehumanizing toll that the corporate world takes on the individual.
Beatrix Herriott O’Gorman can be reached at bherriottogo
Julia Levine can be reached at jjlevine@wesleyan.edu.