Since 1988, New York-based distributor Zeitgeist Films has played a crucial role in the landscape of American arthouse cinema. Following the mantra “The Spirit of the Times,” Zeitgeist has introduced audiences to some of cinema’s most exciting new voices, releasing the first features of future masters Christopher Nolan, Todd Haynes, and Guy Maddin, while also championing long-running auteurs such as Abbas Kiarostami, Derek Jarman, Agnes Varda, and Peter Greenaway, as well as far-out animators like Jan Svankmajer and the Brothers Quay. Drawing on a collection donated by Zeitgeist co-founders Nancy Gerstman and Emily Russo to the Wisconsin Center for Film & Theater Research in 2024, our series showcases some of the most daring and enduring highlights from Zeitgeist’s catalog. And don’t miss Zeitgeist’s latest 2026 release, How to Divorce During the War, screening in our Premieres section.(MK)
SUN., 9/27, 2 p.m.
POISON
USA | 1991 | 35mm | 85 min.
Director: Todd Haynes
Cast: Edith Meeks, Scott Renderer, James Lyons
Notoriously renown for the bevy of right-wing protests sparked by its initial release, Haynes’ first feature strings together the brutally sadistic tales of a father gunned down by his 7-year old son, a mad-scientist’s STD-inducing love potion, and a berated homosexual prisoner hopelessly enamored with his fellow inmate. While all three tableaus are linked together through their corrupting portrayals of sex, Haynes imbues each separate vignette with a distinct style that recall television newsmagazine stories, 50s horror films, and the work of Jean Genet.
SUN., 10/18, 2 p.m.
Zeitgeist Shorts
16mm/35mm| 100 min.
Far more than most distributors, Zeitgeist Films goes to bat for visionary cinema that do not fit into the traditional two-hour theatrical runtime. Their eclectic collection includes the short film catalog of stop-motion masters Jan Švankmajer and The Brothers Quay, as well as the mind-bending early work of Peter Greenaway. Zeitgeist also celebrated new voices, including the fascinating shorts produced by Apparatus, a nonprofit founded by Todd Haynes and Christine Vachon to support emerging filmmakers. The program includes Food (Švankmajer, 1992, 17 min.), He Was Once (Mary Hestand, 1989, 16 min.), Street of Crocodiles (Quay, 1986, 21 min.), We’re Talking Vulva (Tracy Traeger & Shawna Dempsey, 1990, 5 min.), and A Walk Through H (Greenaway, 1978, 41 min.). (MK)
SUN., 11/22, 2 p.m.
CAREFUL
Canada | 1992 | 35mm | 100 min.
Director: Guy Maddin
Cast: Kyle McCullough, Gosia Dobrowolska, Paul Cox
High in the Alpine village of Tolzbad, any loud noise or even strong emotion risks triggering an avalanche. Consumed by a lifetime of simmering lust and repressed rivalries, one family finally erupts into a feverish torrent of sex and violence. Designed to evoke the trembling saturation of early two-strip Technicolor, Maddin’s first color feature is an otherworldly pageant of lurid artificiality, which will be in full display on this original release 35mm print. (MK)
SUN., 12/13, 2 p.m.
BLUE
UK | 1993 | 35mm | 76 min.
Director: Derek Jarman
Cast: Nigel Terry, Derek Jarman, Tilda Swinton
Created as he was dying of AIDS and losing his sight, Derek Jarman’s powerful final film famously consists of a single image: a screen-filling shade of blue. Blue’s visual monochrome is contrasted with a richly layered soundscape, as Jarman weaves a poetic account of his life as a gay man in London and impending mortality alongside contributions from longtime collaborators like Tilda Swinton and music by artists including Brian Eno and Coil. This singular cinematic experience will only be enhanced by screening on a 35mm print from the film’s original release. (MK)