Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Spring Programming Highlights

By Nina Zipkin, BMFI Intern

Spring is upon us and gorgeous weather isn’t the only thing that Bryn Mawr Film Institute patrons can look forward to this season. The new issue of our programming guide Projections arrived yesterday at BMFI! Here’s a look at some exciting upcoming events.

Come join us for some classic cult favorites at The Late Show, our ongoing film series devoted to showcasing underseen and unusual cinema. Kiss Me Deadly (1955), a definitive Cold War-era noir thriller, will be screened on 35 mm on Friday, May 25 and don't miss Maggie Gyllenhaal’s indelible performance as Lee, an executive assistant who embarks on a not-so-conventional relationship with her boss (James Spader) in Secretary (2002) on Friday, April 27.

And speaking of office assistance, in honor of Administrative Professionals Day on Wednesday, April 25, there will be a One Night Only showing of Nine to Five, the gleeful workplace revenge comedy starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton. Join us for free coffee and a karaoke sing-along of the snappy theme song.
 Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, Dabney Coleman and Jane Fonda

Another series to look out for is Author! Author!, where writers give us their insight into classic films. Ben Taylor, the author of Apocalypse on Set: Nine Disastrous Film Productions, will discuss Werner Herzog’s infamous Fitzcarraldo (1982) at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, April 3 before the film's 8:30 pm screening. Then on Tuesday, April 10, a filmed discussion featuring author Susan Orlean (who was portrayed by Meryl Streep in 2002’s Adaptation), author of Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend, will be broadcast in HD before our 8:30 pm screening of The Return of Rin Tin Tin (1947).

We know that you care about the stars on screen, but what about the stars in the sky? Director Ian Cheney's new documentary about light pollution and its effect on our night sky, The City Dark, will be shown on Monday, April 23 at 7:30 pm as part of the Green on Screen series... just in time for Earth Day. Haverford senior Maya Barlev, the student coordinator for the public observing program at Strawbridge Observatory, will introduce the documentary.

Zorro (Douglas Fairbanks) faces off against his nemesis in The Mark of Zorro, showing on May 22 with a live original score!

On Tuesday, May 22, fans of silent movies are in for a treat. Douglas Fairbanks (ever the epitome of derring-do) stars as the titular hero in The Mark of Zorro (1920) and Philadelphia’s musical quintet Not-So-Silent Cinema will perform their original flamenco-based live score. Ole!

Speaking of music, "iconic" is the best way to describe the musical score from 1981’s Chariots of Fire. The inspiring film about two rival track stars at the 1924 Olympics can be seen on the big screen on Wednesday, May 23, introduced by Dr. Robert Good, Bryn Mawr Hospital’s Chief of Orthopedic Surgery for the “What’s Up, Doc?” series.


On Wednesday, May 30, the 1953 classic From Here to Eternity will be shown in conjunction with a one-night Cinema Classics Seminar, taught by BMFI’s Director of Education, Andrew J. Douglas, Ph.D. The eight-time Oscar winning classic, which takes place in Hawaii before the attack on Pearl Harbor, boasts an all-star cast of Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed, and Frank Sinatra. The stand-alone Cinema Classics Seminar is one of many fantastic film courses being offered this spring and summer on such diverse topics as early Walt Disney, the films of Vincente Minnelli, screenwriting, and action films.

Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in "From Here to Eternity", showing May 30.

And you could very well be watching the work of the next Scorsese or Hazanavicius if you attend the Tri-Co Film Festival on Wednesday, May 2 at 7:00 pm, where young filmmakers from Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges will be screening their work.

High school students with cinematic ambitions can spend their summer vacation at BMFI’s Summer Filmmaking Workshop, now in its fourth year. From June 25-August 2, 12 students will produce, write, direct and edit a film that will be shown on the big screen at the end of the program. Early applications are due Friday, March 30 and the final application deadline is Monday, April 30.

These are only a fraction of the programs and events that BMFI's offering this season. We hope that you'll check out a copy of Projections or visit our website for more information about our upcoming programs. We hope that you check out all of our events online at BrynMawrFilm.org. See you at the movies! BMFI members will receive Projections in their mailboxes this week, but anyone can pick up a copy at the theater.


Nina Zipkin is a senior at Bryn Mawr College currently interning at BMFI.

2 comments:

  1. Dear Nina,

    I am writing from Not-So-Silent-Cinema, the group performing a live accompaniment to 'The Mark of Zorro' at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute in a few weeks. Thanks for posting about our show. You have mistakenly called the group 'Not So Silent Movies' and linked to notsosilentmovies.com which is another group, based in England. We are Not-So-Silent-Cinema at www.notsosilentcinema.com

    Would you mind correcting that in the posting?

    Thank you, Brendan Cooney

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    Replies
    1. Dear Brendan,
      I've corrected the mistake. Thanks for pointing it out. We're really looking forward to your screening!
      Best,
      Devin Wachs
      Public Relations Manager, BMFI

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