Perrin stars as Émile, a handsome and disturbed young man targeting women he believes are too depressed to go on living. As multiple women fall to Émile’s suffocating white scarf, a police inspector (Guiomar) resorts to dangerous and unethical methods to track down the killer with the assistance of Anna (Simonet), who believes herself to be a potential victim. Filmmaker Vecchiali’s strange, hypnotic, and wildly stylish tale of murder was mostly unknown in the U.S. until this restored version screened to rapturously enthusiastic audiences at the 2023 New York Film Festival and Fantastic Fest.

Celebrate the season with director and co-writer Ramis’ classic ode to one of America’s strangest holidays. Murray plays a pompous Pittsburgh weatherman who discovers that he’s not only trapped in the small town of Punxsutawney, but in the same February 2, a time loop without explanation or escape. Groundhog Day deftly balances its high-concept premise with warmth and provincial charm as Murray (never better) attempts to make the most of his existential prison by breaking the law, cheating death, seducing his producer (a winning McDowell), and ultimately bettering himself and the lives of those around him. 35mm print courtesy Wisconsin Center for Film & Theater Research. (LSL)

The effervescent new comedy from Ozon is buzzing with giddy verve and resplendent in Art Deco luxury. The story, set in 1930s Paris, tells of an aspiring actress accused of murdering a lascivious producer. When the charming Madeline takes the stand (with her roommate as her defense attorney), she quickly wins over the press and finally achieves the fame and glory she’s been after all these years… until another actress turns up, claiming to be the real killer. This madcap farce “is full to bursting with brilliant lines” (Cineuropa). (MK)

In a stunning change of pace, Coppola pere followed his jungle epic Apocalypse Now with this charming, candy colored love story of a married couple (Frederic Forrest & Garr), who, over the course of one evening, split up and find romance with strangers (Julia­ & Kinski). The Las Vegas-set fantasia was shot entirely on the soundstages of Coppola’s Zoetrope Studios and set to an Oscar-nominated song score by Tom Waits.  A costly box-office disappointment, this visionary film is now considered one of the most influential postmodern works of its era, and an obvious precursor to films like La La Land and Moulin Rouge! This new cut of One from the Heart, personally supervised by Coppola, contains new footage never seen before and material sourced directly from the original camera negative.

Sworn to an oath of secrecy, a frightened schoolboy is determined to track down an abductor of children without telling any adults or police. Expressionistically told from the child’s point of view, this marvelous and visually arresting Argentine thriller is an adaptation of a short story by Cornell Woolrich (Rear Window). Director Christensen’s style recalls Fritz Lang’s M and anticipates Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter. 35mm restored print courtesy UCLA Film & Television Archive and Film Noir Foundation.

One of the few remakes that equals its predecessor, this brilliantly crafted update of the 1956 sci-fi classic depicts an alien race’s covert attempt to gradually replace humans with emotionless clones. Though the time and setting have been changed to Me generation-era San Francisco, Kaufman’s film loses none of the original’s sinister atmosphere, slowly mounting suspense, or allegorical force. Lead performers Sutherland, Adams, Nimoy, Jeff Goldblum, and Veronica Cartwright make for an eccentric and memorable cast of characters. A new 4K DCP will be screened!

This offbeat departure for the eclectic Kleber Mendonça Filho (Bacurau) is an essay film that explores the Brazilian director’s home city of Recife and how its architecture and seaside location have provided creative inspiration for his movies, like Neighboring Sounds and Aquarius. Mendonça Filho pays particular attention to Recife’s cinemas, and reflects on the links between these picture palaces and the history and gentrification of the city. Using home videos, clips from films, photos, and original footage, Pictures of Ghosts is a dazzlingly original new work from an important contemporary filmmaker.

Responding to the real-life Voyager I probe’s message of peace, an extraterrestrial visitor spectacularly crashes its own spacecraft just outside of Madison, WI and takes on the form of a recently deceased earthling (Bridges, in an Oscar-nominated performance). The dead man’s grieving widow (Allen) reluctantly accompanies the gentle-but-awkward alien on a road trip to the Southwest, all the while dodging dangerous government officials in an effort to meet the Starman’s connecting flight home. This sweet, funny, and handsomely photographed interstellar love story was a highly successful departure for action and horror specialist Carpenter.

To Kill a Tiger has been nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Documentary Feature Film. This harrowing, compelling, and compassionate documentary tells the story of Ranjit, a poor rice farmer in Jharkhand, India who struggles to find justice after his 13-year-old daughter is sexually assaulted by three men. When the police suggest that the girl wed one of the rapists to salvage the family’s dignity and uphold peace in the village, Ranjit and his fearless child refuse to accept the status quo. Working arduously with a few allies in the legal system to make sure a criminal trial takes place and facing a community that is mostly against them, Ranjit and his family cling to their love for one another and their dogged belief in the possibility of change. “A film bristling with invigorating defiance” (The New York Times). Presented with the support of UW Madison’s Center for South Asia and 4W Initiative - Women & Well-being in Wisconsin & the World

In a dystopian Los Angeles at the turn of the millennium, Lenny Nero (Fiennes, playing against type) is an ex-cop turned scuzzy black-market dealer of recordings for a device that allows a user to experience the memories, feelings, and physical sensations of other people. This noir-ish tale of voyeurism, police corruption, and virtual reality has been recognized as a prescient and shockingly hard-edged vision of civilization’s decline amidst technological advancement. A film ahead of its time, Strange Days is the lone collaboration between Oscar-winning filmmakers (and ex-spouses) Bigelow and James Cameron, who produced and co-wrote the screenplay. “Bigelow’s fin-de-millennium film straddles the divide between the 20th century, the century of cinema, and the digital future…[It] hasn’t aged a minute, sadly”(Nick Pinkerton, Rhizome.org). (LSL)

In the definitive version of Reginald Rose’s timeless script, an all-white jury decides the fate of a youth accused of murder. This tightly constructed searing exposé of prejudice in the American legal system stars Fonda as a particularly conscientious juror, and a pantheon of great character actors, including Cobb, Warden, E. G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, and Martin Balsam.

Lumet’s sophomore feature was an immediate reunion with Fonda, an adaptation of the same play (Morning Glory) that provided the source material for Katharine Hepburn’s first Oscar winning role in 1933. Strasberg stars as Eva Lovelace (real name Gertrude Lengenfeider), an ambitious young ingenue trying to break out on the Broadway stage. Fonda plays Lewis Easton, the slick theatrical producer whose eye is caught by Eva’s raw talents. Filmed entirely on location in New York City, the film is further notable for the movie debut of Plummer, who plays a lovestruck playwright enchanted by the vivacious Eva. 35mm print courtesy Chicago Film Society. (LSL)

Junior high-schooler Ben (Hawke, in his first movie), the recipient of interstellar psychic instructions for space travel, recruits nerdy pal Wolfgang (Phoenix) and tough kid Darren (Presson) to help him build a spacecraft out of a rusted Tilt-a-Whirl carriage. The boys’ odd and surprising journey beyond the stars and their encounter with alien life is rendered with a bounty of classic movie references and the usual satirical flourish that fans have come to expect from director Dante, here making his follow-up to the blockbuster smash Gremlins.

Phony Wars, Godard’s final work, represents the legendary filmmaker’s initial attempts at adapting a 1937 novel by Charles Pilsnier. The resulting 20-minute ‘trailer’ for a film that never was is a complex collage of history, politics, and cinema constructed of paper and glue, paintings and photographs, sound and silence.

In the last days of 1970, Paul “Walleye” Hunham (Giamatti), a strict and hated history instructor at an exclusive New England boarding school for boys, is tasked with watching over those few students not spending the Christmas holidays with their families. The isolating circumstances draw Hunham closer in friendship with the smart-but-troubled junior Angus Tully (Sessa) and Mary Lamb (Randolph), the school’s head cook. The witty and humane tale of these three wise misfits, one of the most acclaimed films of 2023, is loaded with emotional grace notes and marvelous performances. Director and two-time Academy Award winner Payne will be present for a post-screening discussion of The Holdovers, presented here on one of a limited number of 35mm prints created for the theatrical release.

Simulacros de liberación (or "Drills of Liberation") delves into the untold saga of Puerto Rico's protest surge from 2016 to 2019, culminating in Governor Ricardo Rosselló's resignation. When the US Congress installs a seven-member board to manage Puerto Rico's finances in 2016, the island's deep economic crisis and insurmountable debt to Wall Street bondholders are laid bare. As the Fiscal Control Board implements austerity measures, slashing public services and pushing privatization, a fierce anti-austerity movement erupts, with impassioned youth leading the charge to erase the nation's debt and safeguard its education system. At the forefront of this battle is "Jornada: Se Acabaron Las Promesas," orchestrating protests and direct actions to champion social justice causes. As Hurricane María exposes the country's heightened vulnerability, Jornada's activists, alongside others, rally to establish community hubs to combat post-storm hunger. Through resilience, resistance, and a vision for a liberated future, Puerto Rico's younger generations wage a bold struggle against US colonialism, depicted vividly in this gripping documentary. Director Juan C. Dávila will be present for a post-screening discussion. Presented with the  support of Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies (LACIS) at UW-Madison. Special Thanks to Aurora Santiago Ortiz, Sarah McKinnon.

The first collaboration between filmmaker Grémillon and legendary leading man Gabin features the young actor as a Casanova of the French Foreign Legion– “lady killer” Lucien Bourrache – who meets his match in the mysterious seductress Madeleine (Balin).“Every frame of this exquisite masterpiece is beautifully shot, brimming with movement and life…Gremillon demonstrates his unsurpassed technical skill and humanity as one of France's greatest directors” (Philip Lopate).

3D is used to virtuoso ends in this arthouse neo-noir (which has nothing to do with Eugene O’Neill). The film begins in 2D, as Luo searches out old flames and foes in a neon-drenched Kaili. The entire final hour of the film is a single, unbroken 3D shot that draws us deep into Lou’s dream-state. Both a dazzling technical accomplishment and time-bending narrative trick, this epic shot comprises the most ingenious use of 3D in narrative cinema since Gravity. In China, this unlikely blockbuster racked up a massive $40 million in its opening weekend (!). “Reaches a new level of cinematic intrigue as an immersive experience, unfolding within a surreal context that combines technical wizardry with high art. In this masterful directing gamble, the camera peers deep into its protagonist’s soul, and finds a whole universe lurking in its confines” (Indiewire). Presented with the support of Center for East Asian Studies at UW Madison.

In a story that mixes sword fighting, romance, and spirituality, a humble, clumsy painter becomes the protector of a female fugitive who has been targeted for execution by a corrupt palace Eunuch. The adventure takes our heroes from a small village to a stunning aerial flight in a bamboo grove, and a series of battles in forests, on mountaintops, and, finally, in a “seascape transformed into a vista of Buddhist transcendence” (David Bordwell). An epic milestone in the history of the martial arts movie, King Hu’s masterpiece set the standard for decades to come and was later an influence on countless films to come, particularly Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. 35mm print courtesy Wisconsin Center for Film & Theater Research.

Inside the Sing Sing Correctional Facility, a group of incarcerated men find purpose through theater. Banding together to write and perform plays, these amateur performers are able to momentarily lose themselves on stage and achieve a spiritual level of catharsis. Sing Sing is the proud result of the real-life Rehabilitation Through the Arts program, and over 85% of the movie's remarkable cast are formally incarcerated men who are alumni of the program, granting the film a powerful extratextual authenticity. A soulful testament to the transformative and healing power of art, Sing Sing is “a revelation… the first total triumph of the year” (The Daily Beast).