TREASURES FROM THE ACADEMY FILM ARCHIVE
Dedicated to the preservation, restoration, documentation, exhibition and study of motion pictures, the Academy Film Archive, established in 1991 at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & sciences, is home to one of the most diverse and extensive motion picture collections in the world. This extensive screening series includes both independent and studio features and documentaries and will kick off on January 31 with a special visit from Academy’s Film Preservationist Mark Toscano, who will present an exciting program of recently restored avant-garde treasures.
- Fri., Jan. 31 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
This program of experimental work restored by the Academy Film Archive focuses on films that examine, prod, and break down many of the conceptual and structural foundations of standard filmmaking practice. You will see the image fractured, defaced, multiplied, and divided. You will see one movie that was created in a fraction of a second, and another movie made with a squirtgun. You will experience the sound of Kirk Douglas's head. Filmmakers represented include James Benning, Stan Brakhage, Chick Strand, David Rimmer, Scott Stark, and several others. The films in this program are Projection Instructions (Morgan Fisher, 1976); No Art of Memory (James Otis, 1982); Under the Juggernaut (Robert Russett, 1969); Grain Graphics (Dana Plays, 1978); The Sound of his Face (Scott Stark, 1988); Chicago Loop (James Benning, 1976); Squirt Gun/Step Print (Pat O'Neill, 1998); Madame Mao's Lost Love Letters (Tom Leeser & Diana Wilson, 1983); Night Mulch & Very (Stan Brakhage, 2001); Cartoon Le Mousse (Chick Strand, 1979); Variations on a Cellophane Wrapper (David Rimmer, 1970); and Now Playing (Susan Rosenfeld, 1983). Academy Film Archive’s Mark Toscano will appear in person as your guide through this dazzling selection.
- Fri., Feb. 7 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
In one of his signature anti-hero roles, Newman is the title character, a womanizing, self-interested son of a Texas cattle rancher (Douglas) who destroys his family’s business just as coolly as he seduces the devoted family maid (Neal, in an Oscar-winning performance). Ritt’s unsentimental direction, James Wong Howe’s marvelous cinematography, and a peerless cast make undeniably compelling material out of Larry McMurtry’s early novel Horseman, Pass By.
- Fri., Feb. 14 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
An adaptation of Thackeray’s novel, Kubrick’s masterful follow-up to A Clockwork Orange follows the picaresque exploits of Redmond Barry (O’Neal) from romantic duellist to British Army deserter to titled nobility. Barry’s rise and fall is told in a series of measured, carefully selected, and very compelling episodes that lead to perhaps the most moving conclusion in all of Kubrick’s films. John Alcott’s Academy Award winning cinematography set new, innovative standards for filming with natural light.
- Fri., Feb. 28 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
The second of legendary filmmaker Ray’s films about the detective Feluda (Chaterjee) finds the Bengali Sherlock Holmes searching for a lost Ganesha idol along the banks of the Ganges. A playful departure from Ray’s more typical social dramas, this whodunit was adapted from one of the director’s voluminous Feluda short stories.
- Fri., Mar. 7 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
Billed in the 1950s as “the world’s youngest ordained minister,” Marjoe Gortner returned to revival tent preaching in the late 1960s as a way to make money. Looking to escape the evangelical limelight, Gortner invited documentary filmmakers Kernochan and Smith to follow him around on a final holy-rolling tour, admitting privately to the cameras that he’s a fraud and an atheist. This mesmerizing film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
- Fri., Mar. 14 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
Get ready to laugh! This side-splitting collection of nine great Warner Bros. shorts from the golden age of animation is a showcase for some of the medium’s greatest artists. That wascally wabbit Bugs makes his first appearance in Tex Avery’s Oscar-nominated A Wild Hare (1940) and the character’s evolution can be traced through Hare Ribbin (Robert Clampett, 1944), Hare Conditioned (Chuck Jones, 1945), Rhapsody Rabbit (Friz Freleng, 1946) and Long Haired Hare (Jones, 1949). Plus, bonus shorts Have You Got Any Castles? (Frank Tashlin, 1938), A Tale of Two Kitties (Clampett, 1942), and Tweetie Pie (Freleng, 1947). Each cartoon will be presented in a newly struck print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive!
- Fri., Mar. 28 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
Looking to marry the daughter (Carroll Baker) of a cattle baron, pacifist Peck finds himself caught in an increasingly violent feud over water rights between his bride-to-be’s wealthy father (a great performance by Charles Bickford) and his more slovenly neighbor (an Oscar-winning turn from Burl Ives). Released the year before Ben-Hur, Wyler’s underrated and much more personal epic reveals a director who, having honed his talents in silent westerns, knows precisely where to place a camera for maximum effectiveness. Jerome Moross’ memorable score enhances Wyler’s vision. Restored by the Academy Film Archive with funding from the Film Foundation.