THURS., 1/22, 7 p.m.
SIRĀT
France, Spain | 2025 | DCP | 115 min. | French and Spanish with English subtitles
Director: Oliver Laxe
Cast: Sergi López, Brúno Nuñez, Stefania Gadda
At an outdoor rave in the Saharan desert, a father is searching for his missing daughter. Amid news reports of a world war, he links up with a band of eccentric nomads and caravans across the blasted landscape towards one last party… if they can make it. A superb fusion of techno trance and Mad Max overdrive, Sirat ranks high among the year’s most gripping and unforgettable big screen experiences. Winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes and named one of 2025’s best films by The New Yorker, Sight & Sound, Indiewire, and John Waters. (MK)
FRI., 2/6, 7 p.m.
PRISONEROS DE LA TIERRA
Argentina | 1939 | DCP | 86 min. | Spanish with English subtitles
Director: Mario Soffici
Cast: Francisco Petrone, Ángel Magaña, Elisa Galvé
In this searing work of social realism, a group of destitute men are forced into cruel and brutal indentured labor on a yerba maté plantation. Tensions erupt between the tyrannical foreman and one defiant worker who leads a rebellion against the system. Shooting on real jungle locations and boldly confronting national injustices, director Soffici (Rosaura a las 10) takes an unflinching approach, delivering one of Argentina’s most groundbreaking cinematic achievements.
FRI., 2/13, 7 p.m.
CONFESSIONS OF A CONGRESSMAN
Spain | 1978 | DCP | 107 min. | Spanish with English subtitles
Director: Eloy de la Iglesia
Cast: José Sacristán, María Luisa San José, José Luis Alonso
Roberto Orbea (Sacristán), is a prominent leftist politician whose secret relationships with exploited street youths make him vulnerable to blackmail by Francoist authorities eager to crush the opposition. When the regime plants the seemingly innocent Juanito to entrap him, the young man instead becomes emotionally entangled with both Roberto and his wife Carmen. Released just two years after the death of Francisco Franco, this unconventional, suspenseful, and sometimes marvelously lurid drama exposes the hypocrisy and coercive tactics of the dictatorship while honestly depicting the double life of its closeted protagonist.
SAT., 2/14, 7 p.m.
MARK OF THE RENEGADE
USA | 1951 | DCP | 81 min.
Director: Hugo Fregonese
Cast: Ricardo Montalban, Cyd Charisse, Gilbert Roland
California, 1825. Marcos Zappa (Montalban) is falsely branded a traitor and blackmailed into infiltrating the household of a political rival by seducing his daughter, Manuella (Charisse). As Marcos becomes entangled in shifting allegiances and unexpected romance, he struggles to reclaim his honor while playing a perilous double game. An Argentine emigre and Hollywood genre specialist, director Fregonese delivers a classic mix of intrigue and adventure, bathed in gorgeous Technicolor. A new 4K restoration will be screened.
THURS., 2/19, 7 p.m.
A POET
Colombia, Germany, Sweden | 2025 | DCP | 120 min. | Spanish with English subtitles
Director: Simón Mesa Soto
Cast: Ubeimar Rios, Rebeca Andrade, Guillermo Cardona
Once a promising poet, Oscar has since devolved into a total failure—drunk, unemployed, alienated from his family, and terminally aggrieved at the success of his peers. While teaching at a Medellín high school, he encounters a gifted student whose poetry reignites his passion. Taking this prodigy under his wing, Oscar attempts to get his life back on track—or at least secure a better one for his protege. Shot on gritty 16mm with a nonprofessional cast, this caustically funny portrait of an artist as a middle-aged loser is surprisingly poignant. (MK)
SAT., 3/7, 7 p.m.
CRONOS
Mexico | 1992 | DCP | 92 min. | Spanish with English subtitles
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Cast: Federico Luppi, Ron Perlman, Claudio Brook
In del Toro’s feature debut, made when he was 28, antiques dealer Jesús Gris (Luppi) discovers a centuries-old device that grants immortality through the sting of a parasitic insect. As Gris confronts the physical toll of his own immortality, he must also keep the device from falling into the hands of a dying industrialist (Brook) and his violent henchman/nephew (Perlman). A new 4K restoration will be shown!
SAT., 3/14, 7 p.m.
SUGAR CANE ALLEY
Martinique, France | 1983 | DCP | 103 min. | French with English subtitles
Director: Euzhan Palcy
Cast: Darling Legitimus, Garry Cadenat, Routa Seck
In 1931 French-colonized Martinique, eleven-year-old José is lovingly raised by a grandmother who is determined to secure a better life for the boy beyond the brutal confines of the sugar plantation. As José confronts poverty, racism, and the lingering wounds of slavery, he discovers education as a path to freedom. This landmark release from the Caribbean blends historical truth, humor, and emotional intimacy to portray both the island’s beauty and the resilience of its people. A new 4K restoration will be screened. “A smart, sometimes hard-edged story that earns its moments of sentiment” (Roger Ebert).