PREMIERE SHOWCASE
Premiere Showcase is the Cinematheque’s effort to bring the boldest and most exciting new cinema back to the big screen. Crafted with the same curatorial acuity we bring to our repertory series, Premiere Showcase presents exciting new work by contemporary directors that would otherwise have no theatrical venue in the area. This calendar’s lineup includes two acclaimed new documentaries: Zachary Heinzerling’s Cutie and the Boxer and Frederick Wiseman’s At Berkeley. Plus, the latest from celebrated French auteur Bruno Dumont, Camille Claudel 1915, starring Juliette Binoche; and a gem of independent cinema, It Felt Like Love, which will be presented in person by writer/director Eliza Hittman.
- Fri., Jan. 17 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
A one-of-a-kind portrait of marriage between artists, this unforgettable documentary captures a long-term relationship in all its grace and tension. Creation itself is a visceral spectacle for 80 year-old painter Ushio Shinohara, who pummels massive canvases with boxing gloves doused in brightly colored paints; operating at the other end of the spectrum, his wife Noriko depicts their tumultuous 40-year union through illustration. A joint gallery show rekindles the mutual competition and affection that has characterized their decades together. “Nothing short of breathtaking… a work of art in its own right” (Indiewire). (MK)
- Fri., Jan. 24 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
Binoche gives a staggering performance as sculptor Camille Claudel, a former protégé and mistress of Auguste Rodin who was confined to a Church-run asylum for the final decades of her life. Rigorously authentic, this harrowing, feminist vision from French auteur Bruno Dumont (L'Humanite, Twentynine Palms) is based on Claudel’s written accounts, and was shot in a real-life mental hospital with actual patients and nurses. (MK)
- Sat., Mar. 1 | 1:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
45 years (and 38 films) after his landmark High School, legendary documentarian Frederick Wiseman heads to college for a masterful study of the University of California, Berkeley. Typically comprehensive, Wiseman takes his camera from the classroom to the boardroom, culminating in a massive student demonstration that rocked the campus. A profound examination of the complexities of running a world-class, state-run university in the age of shrinking public funds, At Berkeley is vitally relevant for anyone who calls Madison home. (MK)
- Fri., May. 9 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
“One of the most involving and sensually lush debuts in recent memory” (Cinema Scope), It Felt Like Love is a captivating window into a teenage girl’s burgeoning sexuality. Left behind as her peers begin partnering up, romantic novice Lila awkwardly pursues an older thug, with disastrous results. In keeping with Lila’s shyness, the tactile cinematography lingers on evocative details, conjuring incredible emotional resonance with a minimum of dialogue. After the screening, talented writer/director Hittmann will join us via Skype to talk about her feature debut. (MK)