News

Hey there Everyone!

If you’ve been to the Kendall recently, you may have seen the preview, but don’t be turned off. As I suspected, and Beth Curran confirms, TURTLES CAN FLY is completely misrepresented by it’s trailer (the same way NOBODY KNOWS was.) Join us at the Kendall Square Theatre for the 7:20 p.m. screening on Monday Night. It’s a one-week only run, so do try to make it. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a good film from Iran/Iraq.

Thirteen-year-old Soran (Soran Ebrahim) is known as “Satellite” because of his skill at installing dishes in his Kurdish village, where people are searching for news of Saddam Hussein on the eve of the American Iraqi invasion. The industrious and cheerful Soran falls for orphan Agrin (Avaz Latif), a sad-faced girl traveling with her seemingly clairvoyant brother and caring for a 3-year-old child. The exquisitely haunting mountains of Kurdistan play backdrop to both tragedy and humor in the third feature film from Iranian filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi (MAROONED IN IRAQ, A TIME FOR DRUNKEN HORSES). (Fully subtitled)
Director: Bahman Ghobadi
Cast: Soran Ebrahim, Saddam Hossein Feysal, Avaz Latif, Hiresh Feysal Rahman

Of course the big movie event for this weekend is the 3rd Annual Independent Film Festival of Boston. Only in its third year, the IFFB has taken the Boston film scene by storm featuring quality independent narratives and documentaries, along with many of their filmmakers, in a cohesive festival that’s sure to please the Chlotrudis member. This year’s festival begins Thursday, April 21 and runs through Sunday, April 25 at the Somerville Theatre, The Brattle Theatre, the Coolidge Corner Theatre, and new this year, the Museum of Fine Arts. Look for multiple Chlotrudis members volunteering at all venues and make sure you say hello! The selection of films is pretty intriguing this year, including BROTHERS, the latest film by director Susanne Bier (OPEN HEARTS), starring Nikolaj Lie Kaas, the lead from RECONSTRUCTION. The newest film by Hal Hartley is called THE GIRL FROM MONDAY, and it will be screening Friday, Saturday, and Sunday! The documentary MURDERBALL is inexplicably this year’s hot film to see, at least among the IFFB volunteers. It follows a team of quadrepalegic rugby players who make it to the Special Olympics. Perhaps of most interest to many Chlotrudis members, is the sophmore directing effort from our pal Don McKellar. CHILDSTAR plays Friday and Sunday at the Somerville Theatre, and is a co-presentation with the Chlotrudis Society for Indpendent Film! Support CSIF and laugh at the quirky antics of Mr. McKellar… don’t miss it!

Meanwhile there are a couple of other new release you may be interested in this week. Opening WIDE is Stephen Chow’s KUNG FU-HUSTLE. I have no doubt that we’ll be catching this film soon, but I wanted to make sure that we didn’t miss TURTLES CAN FLY, so I didn’t make it this week’s Chlotrudis movie of the week. Plus, I suspect that it’s release wil be so wide that it won’t be eligible next year. Johanna takes a moment to write a rare review of SCHULTZE GETS THE BLUES, which she highly recommends and urges others to see. I feel the same way about LOOK AT ME, a delightful and well-made French comedy. Take a moment and catch up with a few terrific films!

See you at the movies!

Playing this week, April 15 – 21.

Brattle Theatre, Cambridge
Independent Film Festival of Boston
Shakespeare Behind Bars (Fri.)
Mutual Appreciation w/ The Meaning of Life (Fri.)
Closed on Sundays (Fri.)
The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things w/ Allison (Fri.)
The Future of Food w/ Magda (Sat.)
After Innocence (Sat.)
Murderball (Sat.)
Popaganda: the Art and Crimes of Ron English (Sat.)
Dead Birds w/ The Netherbeast of Berm-Tech Industries, Inc. (Sat.)
The Girl from Monday w/ The Adventures of Slater’s Friend (Sun.)
Stolen (Sun.)
Same Sex America (Sun.)
Buddy (Sun.)
New 35 mm Print!
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Mon. & Tue.)
Harvard Book Store Presents
Ruth Reichl (Mon.)
New 35 mm Print!
The Pink Panther (Wed. & Thu.)

Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline
Independent Film Festival of Boston
Shorts Package 1: Brief Encounters (Fri.)
Shorts Package 2: Subjective Reality (Fri.)
Shorts Package 3: Dark Matter (Fri.)
Dead Birds (Fri.)
Finnish Experimental Shorts (Sat.)
Spew: the World of Competitive Debate (Sat.)
The Fall of Fujimori (Sat.)
Mardi Gras: Made in China (Sat.)
Young Rebels (Sat.)
The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things (Sat.)
POPaganda: the Art & Crimes of Ron English (Sun.)
Abel Raises Cain (Sun.)
Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley (Sun.)
Filmic Achievment (Sun.)
The Hole Story (Sun.)
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Kung Fu Hustle
Academy Award Nominated Shorts (Mon. – Wed.)
Millions
Watermarks (Mon. – Thu.)
Midnite Madness
The Animation Show (Fri.)
New 35 mm Print
Vincete Minnelli’s Gigi (Mon.)
Brookline Reads free screening
Orson Welles’ Macbeth (Tue.)
Film Class featuring Putney Swope
Unhinged Cinema (Wed.)
VideoSpace and Judy Rottenberg Gallery present
Public Spaces (Thu.)
Sneak Preview Screening
Funny Ha Ha (Thu.)
Grub Street Screenwriter Salon (Thu.)

FEI Theatres Capitol Theatres, Arlington
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Millions
Sideways
Bombay Cinema Presents
Waqt (Sat. & Sun.)

FEI Theatres Somerville Theatres, Somerville
The Independent Film Festival of Boston
Finnish Experimental Shorts (Fri.)
Spew: the World of Competitive Debate (Fri.)
Stolen (Fri.)
Childstar (Fri. & Sun.) co-presented by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film!
Filmic Achievment w/ Carmen (Fri. & Sat.)
Same Sex America (Fri.)
Mardi Gras: Made in China w/ Waking Dreams (Fri.)
Home w/ The Passage of Mrs. Calabash (Fri. & Sat.)
The Hole Story w/ Samuel Demango (Fri. & Sat.)
Young Rebels w/ Recycle (Fri.)
Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley (Fri.)
The Fall of Fujimori (Fri. & Sun.)
Abel Raises Cain w/ Lilo & Me (Fri. & Sat.)
Blackballed w/ Spam-ku (Fri. & Sun.)
White Skin w/ Herbie! (Fri. & Sat.)
Sundowning (Sat. & Sun.)
Shakespeare Behind Bars (Sat.)
Casting About w/ Are You the Favorite Person of Everybody? (Sat.)
Mutual Appreciation w/ The Meaning of Life (Sat.)
The Girl from Monady w/ The Adventures of Slater’s Friend (Sat.)
Chain w/ Ryan (Sat. & Sun.)
In a Nutshell w/ Don Gorske: Mac Daddy (Sat. & Sun.)
Parallel Lines w/ The Youth in Us (Sat. & Sun.)
Liberia: an Uncivil War w/ Dressed to Kill (Sat. & Sun.)
A Whale of a Tale (Sat. & Sun.)
Buddy (Sat.)
Stranger: Bernie Worrell on Earth (Sun.)
Rhythm is it! (Sun.)
Closed on Sundays (Sun.)
The Future of Food (Sun.)
Shorts Package 1: Brief Encounters (Sun.)
Shorts Package 3: Dark Matter (Sun.)
Mysterious Skin (Sat.)
Regular Screenings
Sideways (Mon. – Thu.)
Millions (Mon. – Thu.)
Hotel Rwanda (Mon. – Thu.)

Harvard Film Archive, Cambridge
The Death of the Sixties
Gimme Shelter (Fri.)
Performance (Fri.)
Maidstone (Sat.)
Coming Apart (Sat.)
Zabriskie Point (Sun.)
The Last Movie (Sun.)
Visions from the South: Korean Cinema 1960-2005
Camel(s) (Mon.)
Black and White on Screen
The Story of a Three-Day Pass (Mon.)
Fashion and Films
Emak-Bakie, Puce Moment, Lines Horizontal & You Be Mother (Tue.)
Film and Autobiograhpy
Bright Leaves Chlotrudis Nominee for Best Documentary! (Tue.)
Frames of Mind
The Matrix (Wed.)
Philosophy and Film: Deleuze
First Name: Carmen (Wed.)

Hollywood Hits Theatre, Danvers
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Dear Frankie
Schultze Gets the Blues
Born into Brothels
Millions
Million Dollar Baby (ineligible)

Landmark Theatres
Kendall Square, Cambridge
Turtles Can Fly
Kung Fu Hustle
Up and Down
Look at Me
Don’t Move
Old Boy
Walk on Water
Downfall
Born into Brothels

Embassy Cinema, Waltham
Kung Fu Hustle
Don’t Move
Melinda and Melinda
Downfall
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Born into Brothels
Million Dollar Baby (ineligible)

Loew’s Harvard Square, Cambridge
Melinda and Melinda
Million Dollar Baby (ineligible)

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Independent Film Festival of Boston
The Girl from Monday w/ The Adventures of Slater’s Friends (Fri.)
Casting About w/ Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody? (Fri.)
Maysles Brothers Award Ceremony
Grey Gardens (Fri.)
Stolen (Sat.)
Rhythm is it! (Sat.)
Closed on Sundays (Sat.)
Same Sex America (Sat.)
Stranger: Bernie Worrell on Earth (Sat.)
Young Rebels w/ Recycle (Sun.)
Kings and Queen (Sun.)
Closing Night Film
Me and You and Everyone You Know (Sun.)
Cinema Vino
Mondovino (Thu.)
Art on Film
Antonio Gaudi (Thu.)

The Newburyport Screening Room, Newburyport
The Boys and Girl of County Clare

West Newton Cinema, West Newton
Dear Frankie
Look at Me
Walk on Water
Hotel Rwanda
The Chorus
Schultze Gets the Blues
Paper Clips

Michael R. Colford
Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film, President

Hey there Everyone!

This week there are couple of new openings that you might want to catch, but for this week’s Chlotrudis Monday Night Movie of the week, we’ll be heading to the Coolidge Corner Theatre for a film that’s been out already for a few weeks. THE WILD PARROTS OF TELEGRAPH HILL is a fascinating documentary about which Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe says, “THE WILD PARROTS OF TELEGRAPH HILL is ostensibly about birds, but only in the way that a game of Scrabble is about tiles. [Irving]’s made a very good profile of both Mark Bittner and the kooky side of San Francisco. Even if Bittner is a freak, he’s one of nature.” Join us at the Coolidge for the 7:30 showing of this well-received film.

THE WILD PARROTS OF TELEGRAPH HILL

directed by Judy Irving

It’s no secret that San Francisco has a long and colorful history as a haven for misfits. But in her documentary, director Judy Irving introduces us to what may be the city’s most unusual band of outsiders: dozens of wild parrots living in the city’s Telegraph Hill district, and their lone human friend and caretaker, Mark Bittner, a kind-hearted longtime drifter. More than just a document of an odd urban phenomenon, Irving’s film is also a compelling and uplifiting love story.

Fans of the stylishly violent, neo-noir, martial arts film will want to take note of OLDBOY. Ned Hinkle claims this was his top film of the Toronto International Film Festival, but it doesn’t look to be for my taste. If you go to see this one, opening for one week at the Kendall, let me know what you think. There’s also the bizarre looking DON’T MOVE, starring a decidedly un-glamorous Penelope Cruz. The reviews on this one are pretty mixed, and the trailer did nothing to entice me to see it. I was sorely tempted by the Harvard Film Archive’s screening of Chlotrudis nominees UNTOLD SCANDAL, with director E J-Yong present, but Les Liaisons Dangereuse has never been my favorite story, and I’m rather tired of seeing new adaptations of it.

Mainly you should all be gearing up to catch a movie or seven at this upcoming Independent Film Festival of Boston. Only in its third year, the IFFB has taken the Boston film scene by storm featuring quality independent narratives and documentaries, along with many of their filmmakers, in a cohesive festival that’s sure to please the Chlotrudis member. This year’s festival begins Thursday, April 21 and runs through Sunday, April 25 at the Somerville Theatre, The Brattle Theatre, the Coolidge Corner Theatre, and new this year, the Museum of Fine Arts. Look for multiple Chlotrudis members volunteering at all venues and make sure you say hello! The selection of films is pretty intriguing this year, including BROTHERS, the latest film by director Susanne Bier (OPEN HEARTS), starring Nikolaj Lie Kaas, the lead from RECONSTRUCTION. The newest film by Hal Hartley is called THE GIRL FROM MONDAY, and it will be screening Friday, Saturday, and Sunday! The documentary MURDERBALL is inexplicably this year’s hot film to see, at least among the IFFB volunteers. It follows a team of quadrepalegic rugy players who make it to the Special Olympics. Perhaps of most interest to many Chlotrudis members, is the sophmore directing effort from our pal Don McKellar. CHILDSTAR plays Friday and Sunday at the Somerville Theatre, and is a co-presentation with the Chlotrudis Society for Indpendent Film! Support CSIF and laugh at the quirky antics of Mr. McKellar… don’t miss it!

The festival kicks off with the latest directorial effort from another much-loved Chlotrudis Award winner, Steve Buscemi. In this humorous and moving portrait of working-class life, Jim (Casey Affleck) begrudgingly returns to his hometown in rural Indiana after failing to make it on his own in New York. Living in his childhood room, he soon remembers why he left: a doting but overbearing mother (Mary Kay Place), a distant father (Seymour Cassel), and a depressed older brother (Kevin Corrigan). Shortly after his homecoming, a mysterious accident forces Jim to take on his brother’s duties in the family home and factory. A glimmer of hope springs from his developing relationship with a beautiful nurse (Liv Tyler) and her young son, showing Jim how to move forward without leaving everyone behind. Mr. Buscemi will join IFFB crowd on Thursday night at the Somerville Theatre. Come on all you members who voted Steve Best Supporting Actor in GHOST WORLD, you know you don’t want to miss this opportunity to see him live!

See you at the movies!

Playing this week, April 15 – 21.

Brattle Theatre, Cambridge
Area Theatrical Premiere
Memories of Murder (Fri. – Mon.)
Special Event: The 48 Hour Film Project! (Tue. & Wed.)
Special Event: A Night with Dean Sluyter
A Night at the Opera (Thu.)

Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Nina’s Tragedies
Academy Award Nominated Shorts
Millions
Watermarks
Midnite Madness
The Animation Show (Fri. & Sat.)

FEI Theatres Capitol Theatres, Arlington
Millions
Hotel Rwanda
Sideways

FEI Theatres Somerville Theatres, Somerville
Sideways
Millions
Hotel Rwanda (Sun. – Wed.)
Bombay Cinema Presents
CHANDRAMUKHI
The Independent Film Festival of Boston Opening Night Film!
Lonesome Jim director Steve Buscemi in attendance!

Harvard Film Archive, Cambridge
Alain Resnais
Not on the Lips (Fri.)
Same Old Song (Sat.)
Je t’aime, je t’aime and Statues Also Die (Sat.)
Providence (Sun.)
Stavisky… (Sun.)
Visions from the South: Korean Cinema 1960-2005
Untold Scandal (Mon.) Director in Person!
Black and White on Screen
Dutchman Free Screening! (Mon.)
Film and Autobiography
Memoirs of a Tropical Jew (Tue.)
Frames of Mind
Lost in Translation (Wed.)
Philosophy and Film: Deleuze
Fortini/Cani (Wed.)

Hollywood Hits Theatre, Danvers
Dear Frankie
The Ballad of Jack and Rose
Schultze Gets the Blues
Walk on Water
Born into Brothels
Millions
Finding Neverland
Paper Clips
Million Dollar Baby (ineligible)

Landmark Theatres
Kendall Square, Cambridge
Look at Me
Don’t Move
Old Boy
The 48-Hour Film Project (Tue. & Thu.)
Off the Map
Walk on Water
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Downfall
Born into Brothels

Embassy Cinema, Waltham
Don’t Move
Melinda and Melinda
Downfall
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Born into Brothels
Million Dollar Baby (ineligible)

Loew’s Harvard Square, Cambridge
The Ballad of Jack and Rose
Melinda and Melinda
The Upside of Anger
Schultze Gets the Blues
Million Dollar Baby (ineligible)

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Cinema Tropical
Sexual Dependency (Fri. – Sun.)
Cinema Vino
Mondovino (Fri. – Sun. & Thu.)
Museum School Film Annual (Thu.)
Black Maria Film and Video Festival (Thu.)

The Newburyport Screening Room, Newburyport
Downfall

West Newton Cinema, West Newton
Dear Frankie
Look at Me
Walk on Water
Hotel Rwanda
The Chorus
Schultze Gets the Blues
Paper Clips

Michael R. Colford
Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film, President

The Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film and the Independent Film Festival of Boston bring CHILDSTAR, Don McKellar’s second directorial effort to Boston on Friday, April 22 and Sunday, April 24. McKellar is a favorite among Chlotrudis members, his directorial debut, LAST NIGHT, ranking high on many members’ all-time favorite movie lists. With CHILDSTAR, McKellar examines the life of a young Hollywood superstar and the industry’s effects on his life. McKellar wrote the screenplay and stars alongside Mark Rendall and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

The third annual Independent Film Festival of Boston is set to be their biggest and best festival yet. The festival will still take place at the Somerville, Brattle, and Coolidge Corner theatres, and has added the Museum of Fine Arts to their venues. Panels will be held at the Institute of Contemporary Art, and nightly parties in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville. 61 films’including documentaries, features, and shorts from around the world, across the country, and New England’s own backyard’will unspool over four exciting days and nights, Thursday, April 21 through Sunday, April 24. For a complete list of films and special guests taking place at the festival visit their website.

Chlotrudis members join forces with the IFFB by providing several volunteers and coordinating the volunteer efforts to provide festival attendees the smoothest and most enjoyable festival experience ever. Boston deserves a first-rate independent film festival and the IFFB delivers, each year growing to bring challenging and entertaining films to Boston.

YES is the fourth feature film by the award-winning team of writer/director Sally Potter and producer Christopher Sheppard. Following the ground-breaking and much lauded ORLANDO (1992), they went on to make the THE TANGO LESSON (1997) and THE MAN WHO CRIED (2000). For YES they have been joined by independent New York producer Andrew Fierberg in a complex production that was shot in six short weeks in London, Belfast, the Dominican Republic and Havana.

Potter’s complex, ambitious film stars Joan Allen, Simon Akbarian, Shirley Henderson, and Sam Neill. YES tells the story of a passionate love affair between an Irish/American woman (Joan Allen) and a Middle-Eastern man (Simon Abkarian) in which they confront some of the greatest conflicts of our generation – religious, political and sexual. Chlotrudis members will certainly have a wide variety of opinions on YES, and that’s one of the reasons why you shouldn’t miss it.

Sony Pictures Classics opens YES in the United States on June 24. (Click on the image to the left for a full poster.)

Holy cow! There is now less than one week until The MassBay Film Festival’s Kickoff Event, featuring a FREE screening of the newly-restored version of Worcester native Samuel Fuller’s World War II epic, THE BIG RED ONE. The screening is at Showcase Cinemas Worcester North on Thursday, April 14th at 7:30pm, and all you have to do to come is stop by Tatnuck Bookseller at 335 Chandler Street in Worcester any time to claim your pass, which admits you and a guest. There is a limited number of these passes available, so please get yours soon.

The MassBay Film Festival is a Worcester-based multi-day, multi-venue film event, featuring over 50 films, including some area and New England premieres, director appearances and some surprises still in store. Chlotrudis member Rob Newton organized the Festival through The MassBay Film Project an organization he founded and on which he serves as Creative Director. After complaining to his wife Cynthia that Boston and Providence are sites for major film festivals yet Worcester had nothing, she challenged him to do something about it, and he has, in a big way!

To learn more about how you can attend and support The MassBay Film Festival, which features 50 film and runs from April 15-May 1 in and around Worcester, visit www.MassBayFilmFestival.org.

Hey there Everyone!

Once again, it’s a cornucopia of new movie possibilties here in the Boston area, making it difficult to select the film for the Chlotrudis Monday Night at the Movies. I’ve got to admit that I chose this week’s film on the strength of the director’s previous film, THE TASTE OF OTHERS, which was up for a Best Cast Chlotrudis Award back in 2002 for the 8th Annual Awards. LOOK AT ME is the latest film from French director/writer/actress Agn’Jaoui, and it screens at the Kendall Square Cinema at 7:20 p.m. on Monday night. This film won the Best Screenplay award at Cannes last year.

A story of human beings who know exactly what they’d do if they were somebody else, but are struggling to find out who they are. Overweight and lacking in self-esteem, Lolita (Marilou Berry) is angry at the world because her father Etienne (Jean-Pierre Bacri), a famous and celebrated writer, is too busy to notice her. Lolita wants to be a singer, and soon attaches herself to her teacher Sylvia (director/co-writer Agn’Jaoui, The Taste of Others). After learning that Lolita is Etienne’s daughter, Sylvia spends extra time with her and Etienne, hoping she will get access to a better life. (Fully subtitled)

DIRECTOR: Agn’Jaoui

CAST: Marilou Berry, Agn’Jaoui, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Laurent Gr’ll, Virginie Desarnauts, Keine Bouhiza, Gr’ire Oestermann, Serge Riaboukine, Mich’ Moretti

Fans of IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE won’t want to miss the Brattle Wong Kar-Wai retrospective starting tomorrow night. I really want to see DAYS OF BEING WILD, but it doesn’t look like I’m going to be able to squeeze it in. Speaking of Wong Kar-Wai, the Kendall is opening EROS, a triptych of films by directors Kar-Wai, Stephen Soderbergh and Michelangelo Antonioni. I’ve heard mixed things about this film, but the Kar-Wai segment is supposed to be incredible. The Coolidge is premiering a new film that was a hit at last year’s Boston Jewish Film Festival: NINA’S TRAGEDIES. And if you’re free on Friday, try to catch the final meeting of the BU Cinematheque with filmmaker Michael Epstein.

See you at the movies!

Playing this week, April 8 – 14.

Brattle Theatre, Cambridge
Wong Kar Wai: A Retrospective
Days of Being Wild (Fri. & Sat.)
As Tears Go By (Sun.)
Ashes of Time (Sun.)
Chungking Express (Mon. & Tue.)
Fallen Angels (Mon. & Tue.)
Happy Together (Wed.)
In the Mood for Love (Thu.)
Special Event: The B.U. Cinematheque Presents: Newly Restored Original Cut!
Heaven’s Gate (Sat. & Sun.)
Harvard Book Store Presents:
Camille Paglia (Tue.)

Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline
Nina’s Tragedies
Academy Award Nominated Shorts
Millions
Watermarks
Midnite Madness
The Animation Show (Fri. & Sat.)

FEI Theatres Capitol Theatres, Arlington
A Very Long Engagement (ineligible)
Finding Neverland
Bride & Prejudice
Sideways
Closer (ineligible)

FEI Theatres Somerville Theatres, Somerville
Sideways
Bad Education
Closer (ineligible)
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (ineligible)

Harvard Film Archive, Cambridge
An Evening with Todd Solondz
Happiness (Fri.) Director in Person!
Palindromes (Fri.) Director in Person! Sorry – this is SOLD OUT!
Tremors of Forgery: Filming Patricia Highsmith
Ripley’s Game (Sat.)
The American Friend (Sat.)
Purple Noon (Sun.)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (Sun.)
Visions from the South: Korean Cinema 1960-2005
Oasis (Mon.)
Black and White on Screen
Toxi (Mon.)
Fashion on Film
In the Mood for Love (Tue. & Wed.)
Film and Autobiography
Intervista (Tue.)
Alain Resnais
My American Uncle (Wed.)

Hollywood Hits Theatre, Danvers
Walk on Water
Born into Brothels
Millions
Downfall
Sideways Nominated for FOUR Chlotrudis Awards, including Best Cast!
Finding Neverland
Paper Clips
Million Dollar Baby (ineligible)

Landmark Theatres
Kendall Square, Cambridge
Look at Me
Eros
Dust to Glory
The 48-Hour Film Project (Tue. & Thu.)
Off the Map
Millions
Walk on Water
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Downfall
Born into Brothels

Embassy Cinema, Waltham
Melinda and Melinda
Downfall
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Bride & Prejudice
Born into Brothels
Million Dollar Baby (ineligible)

Loew’s Harvard Square, Cambridge
The Ballad of Jack and Rose
Melinda and Melinda
The Upside of Anger
Schultze Gets the Blues
Million Dollar Baby (ineligible)

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Fourth Boston Turkish Film Festival
Hope (Fri.)
Motherland Hotel (Fri.)
The Herd (Sat.)
Innocence (Sat.)
Yol (Sun.)
Distant (Sun.)
Art on Film
Antonio Gaudi (Sat. & Sun.)
Pre-release Screening
Palindromes w/ director Todd Solondz Present

The Newburyport Screening Room, Newburyport
Off the Map

West Newton Cinema, West Newton
Nina’s Tragedies
Look at Me
Lost Embrace
Walk on Water
Hotel Rwanda
The Chorus
Schultze Gets the Blues
Paper Clips

SPECIAL EVENTS

THE BU CINEMATHEQUE RETURNS! APRIL 2005 SCHEDULE

This is the last showing of the semester!

Friday, April 8-AN EVENING WITH MICHAEL EPSTEIN BU College of Communication, 640 Comm. Ave., Room B-05, 7 pm

The New York-based Epstein, an Academy Award nominee, has carved a distinguished career making penetrating documentaries about Hollywood subjects: Orson Welles and Citizen Kane, Alfred Hitchcock and David O. Selznick,, Elia Kazan and the Blacklist. His newest film is his funniest, liveliest, and most eye-opening: Final Cut: the Making and Unmaking of Heaven’s Gate (2004). It’s the wild saga of the 1980 Michael Cimino movie so financially out of control’20 times more expensive than planned!– that it closed down a Hollywood studio. Here’s what really happened on the set, unbelievable if there weren’t eye witnesses.

SEE the behind-the-scenes documentary, SEE the actual film, which is far, far better than its crazy reputation! (The French adore it!)

Heaven’s Gate plays Saturday and Sunday, April 9 and 10, at the Brattle in a newly restored original 35mm cut, all 220 minutes of it. From Michael Cimino, the filmmaker of The Deerhunter, comes this vast, mighty epic of the Old West starring Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, John Hurt, and Isabelle Huppert.

Michael R. Colford
Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film, President

Photos from the 11th Annual Chlotrudis Awards Ceremony have been posted on the Ceremony Page. See special guests Lucas Belvaux, Ellen Page, and John O’Brien accepting their awards. See guest presenters Ty Burr, Gerry Peary, Lucia Small, and many more announcing the winners of the 2004 Chlotrudis Awards. See Chlotrudis members having fun and talking about independent film!

Special thanks to our photographer, Brandon Constant, who once again did a spectacular job capturing the excitement of the night’s festivities. Thanks also to the Canadian Consulate of Boston, The Charles Hotel, Noir, The Harding House, and The Brattle Theatre for all their sponsorship and assistance in making the 11th Annual Chlotrudis Awards happen.

Hey there Everyone!

It’s catch-up week! This week for our Monday Night at the Movies, return after weeks to the Coolidge Corner Theatre to catch the 7:30 screening of HEAD-ON before it leaves on Tuesday. Click on the title to read Diane Young’s terrific review of this German/Turkish co-production. Remember, Monday is Chlotrudis night at the Coolidge. Show your membership card and receive a discount! Check out the synopsis below.

Head-On (Gegen Die Wand)
dir. Fatih Akin w/Birol Unel, Sibel Kekilli, Catrin Striebeck, in German & Turkish w/subtitles, 2h5m

Director Fatih Akin presents a raw, powerful love story that has been winning universal critical acclaim. 40-year-old Cahit is brought to a clinic after attempting suicide. There he meets Sibel, a young woman desperately trying to escape from her strict Turkish family. They engage in a platonic marriage of convenience, but soon Cahit comes to find Sibel’s vibrant free spirit to be his saving grace. Sibel is busy enjoying her newfound freedom, but gradually she comes to realize that she loves Cahit as well. But before they can truly be together, an incident of jealous violence tests their fledgling romance. HEAD-ON doesn’t shy away from the bleaker aspects of life, but in the end the film is beautifully melancholic, showing how even when life is filled with unexpected drama, it is love that can truly restore the soul.

It’s a big week for the Coolidge as Wednesday night sees the presentation of the Coolidge Award to internationally acclaimed cinematographer vittario Storaro. After a weekend of films wrapping up a career overview of Storaro’s work, the Coolidge will hold an award ceremony that includes testimonials from filmmakers and scholars; selected scenes from Vittorio Storaro’s body of work; live music and dance performances; and the presentation of the second Coolidge Award. Those of you who are fortunate enough to have Thursday off should definitely check out the Writing with Light discussion on Cinematography featuring acclaimed directors of photography Sotraro, Albert Maysles (GREY GARDENS), Maryse Alberti (HAPPINESS) and more. The seminar begins at 1:30 p.m.

Thursday night join us at the Harvard Film Archive for a special pre-release screening of YES, the latest film by Sally Potter (ORLANDO) starring Joan Allen. YES is the story of a passionate love affair between an American woman (Allen) and a Middle-Eastern man (Simon Abkarian), in which they confront some of the greatest conflicts of our generation: religious, political, and sexual. Sam Neill plays the betrayed and betraying politician husband and Shirley Henderson a philosophical cleaner who witnesses the trail of dirt and heartbreak the lovers leave behind them as they embark on a journey that takes them from London and Belfast to Beirut and Havana. This free event features a special Q&A with Potter, followed by a reception with the filmmaker. This is sure to sell out, and starts at the early screening time of 6:00 p.m., so do try to get there early. I will be in line between 5:15 and 5:30, so let me know if you’ll be coming and I’ll look out for you.

Please make note of two very exciting events taking place this week at Gerry Peary’s BU Cinematheque. Thursday night features a rare appearance by director Todd Solondz who will be pre-screening his new film PALINDROMES!

See you at the movies!

Playing this week, April 1 – 7.

Brattle Theatre, Cambridge
Area Theatrical Premiere
The Animation Show
Harvard Book Store Presents:
Ian McEwan (Fri.)
Jonathan Safran Foer (Wed.)
SurfNite 2005: A Benefit for SurfAid International’s Tsunami Relief Efforts
A Brokedown Melody (Thu.)

Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline
Head-On
Academy Award Nominated Shorts
Millions
Watermarks
Coolidge Award retrospective of cinematographer Vittorio Storaro
Ishtar (Fri.)
Flamenco (Sat.)
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (Sat.)
Tango (Sun.)
GALA AWARD CEREMONY featuring Vittorio Storaro (Wed.)
Cinematographer Panel fearting Vittorio Storaro, Albert Maysles and more (Thu.)
Reds with Q&A by Vittorio Storaro (Thu.)
Midnite Madness
The Animation Show (Fri. & Sat.)
Balagan
Punk Rock Premieres (Thu.)

FEI Theatres Capitol Theatres, Arlington
A Very Long Engagement (ineligible)
Finding Neverland
Bride & Prejudice
Sideways
Closer (ineligible)

FEI Theatres Somerville Theatres, Somerville
Sideways
Bad Education
Closer (ineligible)
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (ineligible)

Harvard Film Archive, Cambridge
California Stars: Los Angeles on Film
Los Angeles Plays Itself (Fri. & Sun.)
The Decay of Fiction & Water and Power (Sat.)
Visions from the South: Korean Cinema 1960-2005
Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors (Mon.)
Black and White on Screen
A Taste of Honey (Mon.)
Fashion and Film
The Bride Wore Red (Tue.)
Film and Autobiography
Trying to Kiss the Moon (Tue.)
Frames of Mind
Rashomon (Wed.)
Alain Resnais
Hiroshima Mon Amour (Wed.)
Director Sally Potter in Person
Yes (Thu.)

Hollywood Hits Theatre, Danvers
Born into Brothels
Millions
Downfall
William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice
Sideways Nominated for FOUR Chlotrudis Awards, including Best Cast!
Finding Neverland
Paper Clips
Million Dollar Baby (ineligible)

Landmark Theatres
Kendall Square, Cambridge
Lost Embrace
Off the Map
Steamboy
Millions
Walk on Water
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
dot the i
Downfall
Born into Brothels
Hotel Rwanda

Embassy Cinema, Waltham
Melinda and Melinda
Downfall
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Bride & Prejudice
Born into Brothels
Million Dollar Baby (ineligible) (ineligible)

Loew’s Harvard Square, Cambridge
The Ballad of Jack and Rose
Melinda and Melinda
The Upside of Anger
Schultze Gets the Blues
Million Dollar Baby (ineligible)

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Fourth Boston Turkish Film Festival
Dry Summer (Fri.)
The Girl with the Red Scarf (Fri.)
The Bride (Sat.)
Mushin Bey (Sat.)
What’s a Human Anyway (Sun.)
Spanish Cinema
In the City (Sat.)
Art on Film
Antonio Gaudi (Mon.)
Pre-release Screening
Palindromes w/ director Todd Solondz Present

The Newburyport Screening Room, Newburyport
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

West Newton Cinema, West Newton
Lost Embrace
Walk on Water
Hotel Rwanda
The Chorus
Schultze Gets the Blues
Paper Clips
William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice

SPECIAL EVENTS

THE BU CINEMATHEQUE RETURNS! APRIL 2005 SCHEDULE

These are the last two showings of the semester!

Thursday, April 7-AN EVENING WITH TODD SOL0NDZ
635 Comm.Ave, Room 102, 7 pm (Across the street from the BU College of Communication)

Solondz, the much celebrated, also deeply controversial, independent filmmaker, in Boston for the April 15 opening of Palindromes, his new work, comes to BU for a screening of his breakthrough hit, Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995), and to discuss a career which includes Happiness (1998) and Storytelling (2001). In Welcome to the Dollhouse, young Heather Matarazzo deals with the horrors of American suburbia, an unsupportive family, and the perils of junior high school. Is Solondz an unforgiving misanthrope or a fierce, brilliant satirist in the tradition of Mark Twain?

Friday, April 8-AN EVENING WITH MICHAEL EPSTEIN BU College of Communication, 640 Comm. Ave., Room B-05, 7 pm

The New York-based Epstein, an Academy Award nominee, has carved a distinguished career making penetrating documentaries about Hollywood subjects: Orson Welles and Citizen Kane, Alfred Hitchcock and David O.
Selznick,, Elia Kazan and the Blacklist. His newest film is his funniest, liveliest, and most eye-opening: Final Cut: the Making and Unmaking of Heaven’s Gate (2004). It’s the wild saga of the 1980 Michael Cimino movie so financially out of control’20 times more expensive than planned!– that it closed down a Hollywood studio. Here’s what really happened on the set, unbelievable if there weren’t eye witnesses.

SEE the behind-the-scenes documentary, SEE the actual film, which is far, far better than its crazy reputation! (The French adore it!)

Heaven’s Gate plays Saturday and Sunday, April 9 and 10, at the Brattle in a newly restored original 35mm cut, all 220 minutes of it. From Michael Cimino, the filmmaker of The Deerhunter, comes this vast, mighty epic of the Old West starring Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, John Hurt, and Isabelle Huppert.

Michael R. Colford
Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film, President

Winning an unprecedented five ‘Trudies’ during Sunday’s 11th Annual Chlotrudis Awards held at the Brattle Theatre, French director Lucas Belvaux found it simpler after a while to leap directly from his chair to the stage, rather than take the stairs, for his acceptance speeches. His intertwined threesome of films (AN AMAZING COUPLE, AFTER THE LIFE and ON THE RUN), together called THE TRILOGY, received accolades for Best Film, Director, Cast and Original Screenplay.

The night’s festivities kicked off with a rollicking multimedia musical number performed by members of the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film (CSIF), which set the tone for the rest of the evening’s celebrations. Presenters and guests included many members of the Boston film community, among them longtime Chlotrudis friend Gerald Peary, film scholar and critic for The Boston Phoenix, Ty Burr, Boston Globe film critic, local film-makers Lucia Small and Robert Patton-Spruill, as well as representatives from the Independent Film Festival of Boston, the Boston Jewish Film Festival and the Roxbury Film Festival.

Mr. Belvaux, in addition to winning every category for which THE TRILOGY was nominated, was also one of three special award recipients who were honored by Chlotrudis this year, receiving the Body of Work Award. Vermont filmmaker John O’Brien received the society’s Maverick Award, which honors those filmmakers who best exemplify true film independence. Mr. O’Brien was awarded a second Trudy when his latest film, NOSEY PARKER, won for Buried Treasure, a category for films that Chlotrudis members feel have been unduly overlooked.

On the rise acting sensation Ellen Page received the third award of distinction, the Breakthrough Award. Chlotrudis this year broke somewhat with tradition to award Ms. Page in anticipation of near-future career success, having spotted the young Canadian actress hold her own in MARION BRIDGE and her Genie-nominated turn in WILBY WONDERFUL (both written by previous Trudy winner, Daniel MacIvor), Members have no doubt that, once her latest film, HARD CANDY screens nationwide later this year, Ellen Page’s name will be on the lips of many. The film made a splash at Sundance, where it generated controversy, much conversation and universal acclaim for her lead performance.

Despite the strong showing among this year’s nominations, only one Asian film made the jump to Chlotrudis Award winner, receiving two awards that both ended in ties. South Korea’s SPRING, SUMMER, FALL, WINTER’AND SPRING, directed by Ki-duk Kim, shared in Best Cinematography and Best Film honors. Other notable winners were Gael Garcia Bernal (BAD EDUCATION) for Best Actor, Imelda Staunton (VERA DRAKE) for Best Actress, and TARNATION for Best Documentary. A complete list of award winners can be found here.