We’re fortunate to have a few tickets left for Portuguese filmmaker Paulo Rocha’s Change of Life, so we’ll be extending its run another week! You’ll now have until Oct 15th to catch this excellent slice of life drama, a beautifully-told story of a young man who returns from abroad to his small fishing village to discover that his former sweetheart has married his brother.
Opening today is Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Michael, part of our Pioneers of Queer Cinema series. This silent (with musical track) homoerotic classic is a mature and visually elegant period romance decades ahead of its time, taking its place alongside Dreyer’s better-known masterpieces as an unusually sensitive and decorous work of art, and one of the earliest and most compassionate overtly gay-themed films in movie history.
We also open the new documentary Crossing Columbus, the final film we’re presenting in the Cine con Cultura Film Festival. It's a timely portrait of the border town Columbus, New Mexico, where an annual event featuring Mexican horseback riders commemorates Pancho Villa’s 1916 raid of the town. And mark your calendars: we’re hosting a live Q&A with filmmaker and Ithaca College Associate Professor Cathy Lee Crane on Wednesday, Oct 14th at 7:30pm! Cornell alumna Leah Shafer, Associate Professor in the Media and Society Program at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, will join us for the discussion. Everyone who RSVPs for the film will receive the Zoom webinar link to join what is sure to be a great conversation.
We’re opening reservations today for the following films: Algerian teen fashion drama Papicha; The Observer, a moving documentary about Chinese dissident artist Hu Jie, whose films, woodcuts and paintings document the years of the Great Famine and the Cultural Revolution; and the French/Romanian animated film Marona’s Fantastic Tale (pictured), about a dog reflecting back on its life and all the homes and owners she encountered. Marona’s Fantastic Tale is a beautiful and deeply emotional story, and it’s only available for 3 days, rather than our usual week-long virtual engagements. Available Friday, Oct 16th through Sunday, Oct 18th only, we have more than our usual number of tickets for this one, so don’t be shy!
Also opening one week from today at Cinemapolis, in association with Cornell Cinema: a sneak preview of Echoes of the Empire: Beyond Genghis Khan (available Oct 16–22). There will be a virtual Q&A with director Robert H. Lieberman & producer Deborah C. Hoard on Wed, Oct 21st at 6pm. It's a pay-per-view event, $12 for a 2-day rental. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Cinemapolis.
The film offers a stunning cinematic view of Mongolia’s past and present, while New York Times best-selling author Jack Weatherford (Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World) delves into the extraordinary life and times of Genghis Khan. His Mongol empire, which encompassed all of Asia, much of the Middle East and Europe, continues to affect us even today. The film’s rich soundtrack weaves from ancient throat singing to Russian-influenced opera to contemporary Mongolian rock. Intimate stories told by Mongolians, from nomads to city dwellers, provide a rare insight into their psyches and the challenges they face in their post-Soviet world.
View a trailer of the film here.
