Film Program Summer 2007 National Gallery of Art, Washington

Summer Series film

Modernity and Tradition: Film in Interwar Central Europe

New Romany Cinema from Hungary

From Vault to Screen

Lech Majewski

Journey through the Russian

Fantastik A King in New York (Photofest)

Art Films and Events 15 Sun September 4:00 Modernity and Tradition: In the Shadow Goya’s Ghosts of the Machine; Mother Krausen’s Journey to 1 Sat Happiness; and Children Must Laugh 12:30 Art Film: Paul Mellon: In His Own Words New City Symphonies 21 Sat 3:00 Event: New Austrian Experimental Cinema 12:30 From Vault to Screen: Selva: Portrait of 2 Sun Parvaneh Navaï and Falling.Désert.Syn Paul Mellon: In His 2:00 Modernity and Tradition: The Blue Angel 2:30 From Vault to Screen: The Golden Bed 4:30 Event: New Austrian Experimental Cinema Own Words 22 Sun 3 Mon 4:00 Modernity and Tradition: Waxworks and 1:00 Event: Image Before My Eyes and Ringl and Pit The Magic Eye Partisans of Vilna 28 Sat 5 Wed Miss Universe of 1929 1:00 From Vault to Screen: Harvest: 3000 Years 12:30 Art Film: Paul Mellon: In His Own Words 4:00 From Vault to Screen: A King in New York 8 Sat New Austrian Experimental 29 Sun 2:30 Journey through Russian Fantastik: Cinema 4:00 Modernity and Tradition: The Dybbuk The Amphibian Man 9 Sun Image Before My Eyes 4:30 Journey through Russian Fantastik: Ruslan August and Ludmila Partisans of Vilna 4 Sat 12 Wed 1:00 Modernity and Tradition: City Films, Part 1 12:30 Art Film: Paul Mellon: In His Own Words Rockwell Kent 2:30 Modernity and Tradition: City Films, Part 2 15 Sat 5 Sun 2:30 Journey through Russian Fantastik: 4:00 Event: New City Symphonies Stalker 11 Sat 16 Sun June 12:30 From Vault to Screen: The Gang’s All Here 5:00 Journey through Russian Fantastik: 2:30 Lech Majewski: The Knight and The Roe’s Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka 24 Sun Room 22 Sat 2:00 Modernity and Tradition: Avant-garde 2:00 Art Film: Rockwell Kent Shorts (lecture and film showing) 12 Sun 4:30 Lech Majewski: The Garden of Earthly 23 Sun 30 Sat Delights 4:30 Journey through Russian Fantastik: To the 12:30 Modernity and Tradition: Hortobágy and Stars by Hard Ways and Cameraman’s Revenge The Hungarian Village 18 Sat 2:30 New Romany Cinema from Hungary: 1:00 Modernity and Tradition: The Last Laugh 29 Sat Dallas Pashamende; Romany short subjects; and 3:00 Modernity and Tradition: Address Unknown 2:30 Journey through Russian Fantastik: Planet Gypsy Moon 19 Sun of Storms and Interplanetary Revolution 4:30 Lech Majewski: Angelus 30 Sun 22 Wed 4:30 Journey through Russian Fantastik: July 12:30 Art Film: Paul Mellon: In His Own Words Zero City

1 Sun 23 Thurs 4:00 Modernity and Tradition: The Singing 12:30 Art Film: Ringl and Pit Films are shown in original format in the Earth 24 Fri auditorium of the National Gallery’s East Building at 4th Street and Constitution 7 Sat 12:30 Art Film: Ringl and Pit Avenue nw. Seating is on a first-come basis. 1:00 Modernity and Tradition: The Blue Light 25 Sat To ensure a seat, please plan to arrive at 2:30 Modernity and Tradition: Spring Shower 1:00 Modernity and Tradition: Masquerade in least ten minutes before showtime. 4:00 Modernity and Tradition: Faithless Marijka; Kuyaviak; and The Song of Ruthenia 3:00 Event: Miss Universe of 1929 Programs are subject to change. For current information, visit our Web site: 8 Sun 26 Sun www.nga.gov/programs/film.htm or call 4:30 Event: Goya’s Ghosts 4:00 Modernity and Tradition: Heave Ho! (202) 842-6799. 14 Sat 29 Wed 12:30 From Vault to Screen: Ten Cents a Dance 12:30 Art Film: Paul Mellon: In His Own Words 2:30 From Vault to Screen: Stolen Moments and The Young Rajah

film

National Gallery of Art, Washington Art, of Gallery National

Summer 2007 Summer Program Film

National Gallery of Art 4th Street and Non-Profit Org. Constitution Avenue nw U.S. Postage Paid Washington, dc Washington, DC Permit # 9712 Mailing address 2000b South Club Drive Landover, md 20785 www.nga.gov

Films are shown in the East Building Auditorium

Cover image from Mother Krausen’s Journey to Happiness (Deutsche Kinemathek)

Film Program Summer 2007 Goya’s Ghosts New Austrian Experimental Cinema avant-garde shorts Washington premiere September 1 at 3:00, September 2 at 4:30 June 24 at 2:00 Milos Forman in person ’s reputation for dynamic experimen­ July 8 at 4:30 Opening this program, Marcin Gizycki· of tal cinema is demonstrated in these recent the Rhode Island School of Design presents Milos Forman’s most recent film (a collab­ short avant-garde works combining abstrac­ a lecture: Between Surrealism and Constructiv- oration with screenwriter Jean-Claude tion and narrative and revealing the film­ ism: Avant-garde and Film in Central Europe in the Carrière) is a visual feast. A rousing account makers’ distinctive command of their medium. 1920s and 1930s. of Spanish life as witnessed by Francisco Aquarena (Josef Dabernig, Isabella Hollauf ); Goya, eighteenth-century court painter and Being and Nothingness (Bady Minck); Elements Ghosts before Breakfast (Vormittagsspuk) is a celebrated society observer, the film covers (Dariusz Kowalski); A Million in Debt Is Normal, playful narrative in which bourgeois values the period from the end of the Inquisition Said My Grandfather (Gabriele Mathes); Planes are challenged and commonplace objects through Napoleon’s invasion. Goya’s Ghosts (Thomas Fürhapter); Instructions for a Light (such as cups, hats, and ties) revolt against presents the artist “as man rather than myth,” and Sound Machine (Peter Tscherkassky) are their daily use. (Hans Richter, 1927/1928, writes critic Jonathan Holland, “and Stellan among the selections. (Total running time 16 mm, silent, 6 minutes) Skarsgård plays the swaggering, devil-may- approximately 85 minutes) Special thanks to Boots (Buty), hailed by the Polish interwar care painter, later descending into embittered Austrian Cultural Forum press as a “rare example” of Polish avant- deafness, with perception and brio.” Support­ garde cinema, conveys a strong antiwar ing cast includes Javier Bardem as Brother Image Before My Eyes message as it experiments with form. (Jerzy Lorenzo, Randy Quaid as King Carlos iv, and also Partisans of Vilna Gabrielsky, 1934, 35 mm, Polish with sub­ Natalie Portman as Goya’s model Inés. (Milos September 3 at 1:00 titles, 12 minutes) Forman, 2006, 35 mm, 114 minutes) There Is a Ball Tonight (Dzis´ Mamy Bal), Joshua Waletzky’s landmark documentary, an impressionistic account of the annual Image Before My Eyes, tells the story of Jewish New City Symphonies architects’ ball, blends abstract form and life in Poland between the two world wars, August 5 at 4:00 shape with enticing location footage. (Jerzy using historical footage of urban and rural Zarzycki and Tadeusz Kowalski, 1934, City symphonies — fleeting, lyrical views of life as well as interviews with survivors of 35 mm, silent with music track and sub- urban settings — have been a key experimen­ the period. Shown in conjunction with Foto: titles, 7 minutes) tal film genre since the 1920s. This program Modernity in Central Europe. (Joshua Waletzky, The Adventure of a Good Citizen (Przygoda updates the once popular genre to focus on 1981, 35 mm, 90 minutes) człowieka poczciwego), the only surviving Polish recent examples. Opening with Rudy Burck­ Partisans of Vilna, a valuable record of the work of the celebrated avant-garde artists hardt’s classic New York portrait Square Times World War II era, focuses on a city that for Stefan and Franciszka Themerson, considers (1967) and including Sway (2006), Pushcarts of centuries was a center of Jewish culture in the concept of subversion through the simple Eternity Street (2006), American Parade (2006), Eastern Europe. Interviews — some rousing act of walking backward. (1937, 35 mm, Pol­ Girl with Dog (2005), A Trip to the City (2005), (such as the story of Schmidt, an Austrian ish with subtitles, 8 minutes) Cairo by Night (2006), and others, the program sergeant who smuggled Jews), some bizarre In At the Castle (Na Pražském hrad˘e) provides a contrast to the classic city films and incongruous (like the story of Rosenberg, artist explores presented in the series Modernity and Tradi­ whose scholarly project was titled Jewish Studies Prague’s Saint Vitus Cathedral. Adding the tion. (Total running time approximately without Jews) — are the core of the documen­ music of František Bartoš, he notes, “I have 110 minutes) tary. (Joshua Waletzky and Aviva Kempner, tried to find the relationship between archi­ 1986, 35 mm, 130 minutes) Introduction by tectural form and music... between the space Aviva Kempner Paul Mellon: In His Own Words of a picture and the space of a tone.” (Alex­ August 22 and 29 at 12:30 andr Hackenschmied, 1931, 35 mm, silent September 1 at 12:30 Rockwell Kent with music track, 11 minutes) September 5 and 12 at 12:30 September 22 at 2:00 In The Highway Sings (Silnice Zpívá), from the film atelier of the Czech shoe and tire fac­ Paul Mellon’s words and writings meld with Painter, illustrator, travel writer, and social tory Bat’a, a “singing tire” makes a journey photographs and family footage to celebrate activist Rockwell Kent (1882 – 1971) was an from its manufacture to its final destination the life of this prominent collector. (Joseph American celebrity of sorts in the 1930s and on an automobile. (Elmar Klos, 1937, 35 mm, Krakora for the National Gallery of Art, 2007, once prompted the New Yorker to quip, “That Czech with subtitles, 4 minutes) high definition, 60 minutes) day will mark a precedent which brings no news of Rockwell Kent.” Why, then, was he homeland, homeland: nearly forgotten only two decades later? This my country Ringl and Pit comprehensive film biography, with footage August 23 and 24 at 12:30 that spans Kent’s life, suggests theories to Hortobágy answer that question. Filmmaker and Ohio preceded by The Hungarian Village Pioneering photographers Grete Stern and University professor Frederick Lewis will be (A magyar falu) Ellen Auerbach were the “ringl + pit” studio present to discuss his film. (2005, 180 min­ June 30 at 12:30 of 1920s . Students of Bauhaus artist utes with intermission) Walter Peterhans, Stern and Auerbach chal­ The legendary Hortobágy region of the lenged the expectations of their day, creating Great Hungarian Plain is central to national photographs that subverted the images of identity. In Hortobágy Austrian filmmaker women in mainstream advertising. In the Georg Höllering addresses societal progress film they share their past and discuss their Modernity and Tradition: through three generations of herdsmen, latest accomplishments. (Juan Mandelbaum, all playing themselves. (1936, 35 mm, 1996, 16 mm, 56 minutes) Film in Interwar Central Hungarian with subtitles, 82 minutes) Europe Intended for tourism and marketing among foreign audiences, the short Hungar- Miss Universe of 1929 ian Village employs idealized images of rural August 25 at 3:00 Complementing the exhibition Foto: Moder- Hungary and staged scenes of Hungarian folk nity in Central Europe, 1918 – 1945, and struc­ The delicate history of cousins Lisl Goldar­ life. (László Kandó, 1935, 35 mm, Hungarian tured into six distinctive themes, this series beiter and Marci Tänzer, both born in 1907 with English intertitles, 15 minutes) focuses on the diverse achievements of cen­ to a large middle-class Austro-Hungarian tral European cinematic production between Jewish family, is beautifully retold by Hun­ the world wars. Ranging from romantic The Singing Earth (Zem Spieva) garian avant-garde filmmaker Péter Forgács. visions of the past to enthusiastic expres­ July 1 at 4:00 While conveying the fascinating chronicle sions of global modernism, the films reflect a of this family, Miss Universe of 1929 also This visual poem presenting lyrical images complex relationship with historic and social tells the amazing tale of Lisl’s rise to beauty of Slovak peasant life earned the best inter­ realities of the region and the era. A number pageant stardom — she was the first Miss national film award at the 1934 Venice Film of newly struck and newly subtitled prints Universe — as a direct result of Marci’s ama­ Festival. Striking cinematography, Alexandr are included. The series was organized by teur home-moviemaking. (Péter Forgács, Hackenschmied’s editing, and naturalistic Sonja Simonyi. Special thanks to the Bundes­ 2006, Digital Beta, German with subtitles, scenery stand out as a unique ethnographic archiv-Filmarchiv; the National Film Archive, 70 minutes) documentary. (Karel Plicka, 1933, 35 mm, Prague; the National Film Archive, Warsaw; silent with music track, Czech and English the Hungarian National Film Archive; and intertitles, 133 minutes) the National Center for Jewish Film. The Blue Light (Das Blaue Licht) July 7 at 1:00 The Blue Light, a late representative of the mountain film genre, revolves around a mythical character portrayed by Leni Riefen­ stahl herself in her debut as a filmmaker. (Leni Riefenstahl, 1932, Digital Beta from 35 mm, silent, 79 minutes)

Spring Shower (Tavaszi Zápor) July 7 at 2:30 A coproduction between France and Hungary, Spring Shower incorporates folkloristic motifs through its rich visuals and stylized narra­ tive. Fej´´os’ affinity with Hollywood (where he spent time before and after) is evident. (Pál Fej´´os, 1932, 35 mm, French and Hungarian with subtitles, 66 minutes)

Faithless Marijka (Marijka nevernice)ˇ preceded by Kuyaviak (Kujawiak) and Prague at Night (National Film Archive, Prague) followed by The Song of Ruthenia (Písenˇ o Podkarpatské Rusi) celluloid myths and city films, part 2 July 7 at 4:00 celluloid dreams August 4 at 2:30 Set in Subcarpathian Ruthenia, Faithless Waxworks (Das Wachsfigurenkabinett) Berlin: Symphony of a Big City (Berlin: Die Sin- Marijka recounts a simple story of infidel­ Ben Model on piano fonie einer Großstadt), the most influential of ity while exploring the larger context of the also The Magic Eye (Divotvorné Oko) all city films, explores urban life through a region’s social isolation. Secondary charac­ July 22 at 4:00 rhythmical construction of the daily flow of ters (nonprofessional locals) illustrate the In Waxworks a fairground is the setting for activities in the metropolis. Even today, its complex social and ethnic relationships of an expressionistic exploration of the psyche, orchestrated rhythmical montage inspires the region. (Vladislav Vancura, 1934, 35 mm, ˇ as wax figures come to life in the oneiric filmmakers to employ the city symphony Ruthenian, Slovak, Yiddish, and Czech with visions of the main character. (Paul Leni, genre. (Walter Ruttmann, 1927, 35 mm, subtitles, 76 minutes) 1924, 35 mm, silent, French intertitles with silent, 65 minutes) Kuyaviak is a traditional Polish dance translation, 83 minutes) In Urban Gypsies (Großstadt Zigeuner) Moholy- dynamically captured on camera by director The Magic Eye combines documentary and Nagy steers away from the formal abstrac­ Cekalski,˛ a noted figure of independent Pol­ experimental form as it demonstrates the tion of his earlier films to present the lives of ish film production. From the Polish Dance camera’s ability to penetrate a world inacces­ Roma on the outskirts of a big city. More than Series. (Eugeniusz Cekalski,˛ 1935, 35 mm, sible to the naked eye. A subtext of Freud- a social critique, the film presents an idyllic English, 7 minutes) ian dream motifs is cleverly rendered. (Jirí and romanticized image of a minority in iso­ In Song of Ruthenia lyrical images portray ˇ Lehovec, 1939, 35 mm, Czech with subtitles, lation on society’s edge. (László Moholy-Nagy, the challenging life of woodworkers, while a 10 minutes) 1932, 35 mm, silent, 11 minutes) voice-over narration gives a potent critique of Budapest, City of Baths (Budapest fürdováros)´´ living conditions in Subcarpathian Ruthenia. diverges from dynamic formal explorations (Jirí Weiss, 1937, 35 mm, Czech with transla­ ˇ The Dybbuk (Der Dibuk) of the city. As a promotional-educational tion, 11 minutes) July 29 at 4:00 short (a commissioned work), it explores the beauty of Budapest through its aquatic rich­ the most important art Based on S. Ansky’s play (known also as Between Two Worlds), the film’s mythical ele­ ness and picturesque images. (István Som­ In the Shadow of the Machine ments and themes of Jewish folklore tell a kúti, 1935, 35 mm, silent with music track, (Im Schatten der Maschine) story of unattainable love. One of the most 14 minutes) also Mother Krausen’s Journey to Happiness ambitious projects of the interwar Polish film Jewish Life in Kraków, Jewish Life in Lwów, (Mutter Krausens Fahrt ins Glück) industry, Der Dibuk was also among the last to and Jewish Life in Warsaw are three Polish- also Children Must Laugh (Mir Kumen On) emerge from the thriving Polish-Yiddish film Jewish travelogues, possibly produced for July 15 at 4:00 industry. (Michał Waszy´nski, 1937, 35 mm, an American-Jewish audience and centering Yiddish with subtitles, 123 minutes) on daily life in the city to examine contem­ In the Shadow of the Machine is a propaganda porary and historic aspects of these famed short using Soviet montage technique and cityscapes. (Shaul and Yitzhak Goskind, segments of preexisting footage by the emi­ city films, part 1 1938/1939, 16 mm, Yiddish with subtitles, nent Soviet filmmaker Dziga Vertov. (Albrecht August 4 at 1:00 10 minutes each) Viktor Blum, 1928, 35 mm, silent, German intertitles with translation, 20 minutes) Prague at Night (Praha v záˇrí svˇetel), commis­ the popular The most successful interwar film pro­ sioned by a Prague electric company, registers duction of the German Communist Party, quasi-documentary images of Prague from The Last Laugh (Der Letzte Mann) Mother Krausen’s Journey to Happiness fuses sunset to sunrise, exploring the city’s night­ August 18 at 1:00 melodramatic narrative and Soviet propa­ life through its diverse electrical lighting. The Last Laugh, incorporating many pioneer­ ganda showing the living conditions of the (Svatopluk Innemann, 1928, 35 mm, silent, ing technical elements, is an essential work German proletariat with insertions of docu­ 24 minutes) in the history of cinema. The film’s simple mentary footage from Berlin’s working-class Aimless Walk (Bezúˇcelná procházka), the first story of a demoted hotel doorman offers the neighborhoods. (Piel Jutzi, 1929, 35 mm, Czech avant-garde film, turns away from a narrative framework for formal innovation. silent, German intertitles with translation, purely celebratory approach to the city. The (F. W. Murnau, 1924, 35 mm, silent with 104 minutes) camera follows a detached protagonist on English intertitles, 90 minutes) Children Must Laugh, financed by the Jew­ his wanderings, as his subjective journey ish labor movement and banned by Polish becomes a fragmented visualization of urban landscapes. (Alexandr Hackenschmied, 1930, authorities upon its release, was produced as Address Unknown (Címzett ismeretlen) 35 mm, silent, 20 minutes) a fundraiser to improve the living conditions August 18 at 3:00 of Jewish children. (Aleksander Ford, 1935, Living in Prague (Žijeme v Praze) is a poetic A Hollywood-style Cinderella story set in 16 mm, English narration and Yiddish spoken ode to the city as a bustling modern metropo­ contemporary Hungary (in a tourist town on with subtitles, 56 minutes) lis filled with varied crowds and lively neigh­ borhoods. (Otakar Vávra, 1934, 35 mm, silent Lake Balaton) is an example of the romantic with music track, 13 minutes) comedy genre prevalent in Hungarian domes­ tic film production of the 1930s. (Béla Gaál, 1935, 35 mm, Hungarian with subtitles, 88 minutes) Masquerade in Vienna (Maskerade) From Vault to Screen — The Golden Bed August 25 at 1:00 Philip Carli on piano “Il Cinema Ritrovato” and July 21 at 2:30 An example of the Wienfilm, an Austrian musi­ cal genre exploring idyllic visions of Viennese New Preservation from An over-the-top confection from Cecil B. life, Masquerade pictures the artificial world Europe and America DeMille (his last for Famous-Players Lasky of decadent fin-de-siècle Vienna. (Willi Forst, before becoming independent) finds spoiled 1934, 16 mm, German with translation, southern belle Lillian Rich landing her The National Gallery’s summer preservation 100 minutes) mandatory titled European in the marriage series this year salutes Bologna’s incompa­ sweepstakes but moving on to steal her rable Il Cinema Ritrovato, a festival dedicated sister’s intended. She finally bankrupts her Heave Ho! (Hej rup!) to the “little-known, rediscovered, and last husband (a candy magnate) with a Candy August 26 at 4:00 restored cinema from the world’s most inno­ Ball to wow the locals, complete with giant vative archives,” now in its twenty-first year. candy boxes and dancers draped in lollipops. Avant-garde concepts and burlesque comedy Besides five selections from Il Cinema Ritro­ (Cecil B. DeMille, 35 mm, 1925, 90 minutes) merge in a film crafted by the famous and vato, From Vault to Screen this year includes Preserved by George Eastman House with support popular Czech theatrical duo Jiríˇ Voskovec prints from L’Immagine Ritrovata, the con­ from The Film Foundation and Jan Werich (V+W). In Heave Ho! their servation facility of Cineteca di Bologna, the signature slapstick humor is fused with anti­ George Eastman House collection, the Amer­ fascist and anticapitalist propaganda. (Mar­ ican Film Institute’s preservation program, Waxworks tin Fric, 1934, 35 mm, Czech with subtitles, ˇ the Archives Françaises du Film/cnc, and Ben Model on piano 99 minutes) digital reconstructions from Flicker Alley in July 22 at 4:00 Los Angeles. See description above under Celluloid The Blue Angel (Der Blaue Engel) Myths and Celluloid Dreams. Film preserved September 2 at 2:00 Ten Cents a Dance by L’Immagine Ritrovata in her first iconic role as July 14 at 12:30 a femme fatale plays a sensual singer at the Dance hall girl Barbara Stanwyck finds a rich Harvest: 3000 Years (Mirt Sost Shi Amit) Blue Angel café. Based on ’s admirer in Ricardo Cortez but marries poor July 28 at 1:00 novel , the opposing values of Monroe Owsley instead. When Owsley gets in the protagonists also become a critique of too deep with his gambling debts, however, Ethiopian filmmaker Haile Gerima shot his modern lifestyles. (, 1930, Stanwyck knows where she can find some legendary Harvest: 3000 Years on black-and- 35 mm, German with subtitles, 106 minutes) extra money. Inspired by the Rogers and Hart white 16 mm stock over a two-week period, Introduction by Peter Rollberg, chair, department song, the film was Lionel Barrymore’s last with nonactors speaking Amharic. “It was of Romance, German, and Slavic Languages and directing effort. (1931, 35 mm, 80 minutes) definitely made on the run, right after Haile Literatures, George Washington University Preserved by the American Film Institute at the Selassie’s overthrow and before the instal­ Library of Congress Motion Picture Conservation lation of a military dictatorship.... It has Center with support from The Film Foundation urgency, this story of an entire people and the collective longing for justice and good faith.” — Martin Scorsese (Haile Gerima, New Romany Cinema Stolen Moments 1976, 35 mm, Amharic with English subtitles, also The Young Rajah 140 minutes) From Il Cinema Ritrovato 2006, from Hungary July 14 at 2:30 restored by L’Immagine Ritrovata

A selection of recent works by Romany film­ One of two Rudolph Valentino digital recon­ makers renders their gypsy subjects with structions, Stolen Moments — originally crafted A King in New York blunt honesty, irony, and bold poetry, defying as a screen debut for opera star Marguerite July 28 at 4:00 the clichés of exoticism frequently found in Namara (1888 – 1974) — was, according to his­ Charlie Chaplin’s amiable King Shahdov films outside the community. Special thanks torian David Robinson, “the last of the still finds bankrupt refuge in Manhattan after to Magda Zalán, Katalin Vajda, and Magyar untyped Valentino roles as a moustachioed his rude deposition at home. Sensing an easy Filmunió. Latin villain, before his rise to superstardom.” (James Vincent, 1920/2006, 35 minutes) prospect, a resourceful TV personality (Dawn Addams) makes an instant media sensation of Dallas Pashamende Introduction by Victoria Toye the ex-monarch. In the end, A King in New York preceded by Romany short subjects Reconstituted from still images and a few audaciously satirizes everything American, also Gypsy Moon surviving minutes of a damaged 16 mm print, from Joe McCarthy to rock ’n’ roll — all in the June 30 at 2:30 The Young Rajah has Valentino playing an Indian prince, raised in America, who even­ wake of Chaplin’s own 1952 exile. (Charles In a rough-and-ready Romany camp on the tually returns home to resume his royal role. Chaplin, 1957, 35 mm, 110 minutes) From Il fringes of a central European city, Radu re­ Working with tcm, Le Giornate del Cinema Cinema Ritrovato 2006, restored by L’Immagine appears for the first time in years to arrange Muto, and archival sources, the restorers Ritrovata in collaboration with Roy Export for his father’s funeral. His quick visit turns used digital technologies to accomplish their into a trial, however, when old relations and restoration. (Philip Rosen for Jesse L. Lasky, The Gang’s All Here problems resurface. A rare fictionalized 1922/2006, 52 minutes) Digital reconstructions August 11 at 12:30 account of contemporary gypsy life, Dallas by Flicker Alley, Los Angeles Pashamende received a special mention at the Donning filmdom’s favorite fruit basket, Car­ 2005 Berlinale. (Robert-Adrian Pejo, 2005, men Miranda dodges dancers brandishing 35 mm, Hungarian, Romanian, and gypsy Selva: Portrait of Parvaneh Navaï outsize bananas as Alice Faye warbles and dialect with subtitles, 93 minutes) also Falling.Désert.Syn Benny Goodman swings and sings. Outré Preceding the feature are two poetic short July 21 at 12:30 visionary Busby Berkeley’s outrageously subjects, Never-Never Gypsyland (Katalin Mac­ The avant-garde oeuvre of filmmakers Maria Technicolored movie, wrote Pauline Kael, “is skássy, 2003, Hungarian with subtitles, Klonaris and Katerina Thomadaki created kaleidoscopic fantasy turned into psychedelic 7 minutes) and Szafari (Róbert Pölcz and Bog­ a new language to give “a political dimen­ surrealism by the electric reds and greens of lárka Pölcz, 2002, no dialogue, 10 minutes) sion to the female identity.” Their pioneering Twentieth Century Fox’s processing — it’s his Gypsy Moon’s dreamlike tale of the bitter media art (as seen in the feature-length Selva maddest film ever.” (Busby Berkeley, 1943, and brutal life of a young woman coming of and the short Falling.Désert.Syn) used text, 35 mm, 103 minutes) From Il Cinema Ritrovato age in a Roma colony of the late por­ photography, performance, and multimedia 2006, preserved by Twentieth Century Fox trays the woman’s despair with an equal installation as early as the 1970s to extend measure of rough candor and lyrical grace. normal film narrative in new directions. (István Malgot, 2001, Betasp, Hungarian with (Maria Klonaris and Katerina Thomadaki, subtitles, 54 minutes) 1981 – 1985, 35 mm, no dialogue, 86 minutes) Preserved by Archives Françaises du Film/cnc Stalker September 15 at 2:30 Andrei Tarkovsky’s allegorical excursion through a ravaged post-apocalyptic landscape (“the Zone”) is led by a Stalker (Aleksandr Kaidanovsky) who guides two others — the Writer (Anatoli Solonitsyn) and the Professor (Nikolai Grinko) — in their nearly hallucina­ tory quest to find an elusive wish-fulfilling place called “the Room.” (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979, 35 mm, Russian with subtitles, 163 minutes)

Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka September 16 at 5:00 From Nikolai Gogol’s nineteenth-century col­ lection of tales, Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka stays true to the spirit of its source and is one of the most beautiful works in the rich strain of Russian . A village blacksmith Falling.Désert.Syn (Archives Françaises du Film/cnc) is sent on an endless quest on Christmas Eve that finally ends in Saint Petersburg and includes a visit with the devil en route. (Alek­ Lech Majewski “There’s a purified aura of beauty inAngelus sandr Rou, 1961, 35 mm, Russian with sub­ that creates a stunning sense of the imagi­ titles, 69 minutes) Polish painter, poet, stage director, and Łód´z nation overcoming all obstacles.” — Robert Koehler. (2000, 35 mm, Polish with subtitles, Film School alumnus Lech Majewski (b. 1953) To the Stars by Hard Ways 103 minutes) writes, directs, shoots, edits, and composes preceded by The Cameraman’s Revenge music for his beautifully crafted films and September 23 at 4:30 media art. His stylized work often eschews language in favor of fantastical imagery, Boldly heading where no man has ever gone, poetry, and music. “His imagination,” wrote starship Pushkin finds an abandoned vessel Laurence Kardish of the Museum of Modern Journey through the in deep space filled with decaying bodies of Art, “is informed by a unique sensibility Russian Fantastik humanoids. There is, however, one surviv­ hovering between the absurd and the meta­ ing member of the crew, a gynoid named physical, the beautiful and the profane.” Niya (Yelena Metyolkina in an eye-popping Supernatural beings and bizarre effects pre­ performance) who seeks the help of earth­ side over the celebrated genre of Russian fan­ lings to restore her severely polluted home tastic filmmaking, one of the most popular The Knight (Rycerz) planet. This collaboration with sci-fi writer and innovative art forms of the Cold War era. also The Roe’s Room Kir Bulychyov was restored in 2001 under the Many characters and settings spring directly Lech Majewski in person supervision of the late director’s son. (Rich­ from Russian literature and folklore, while August 11 at 2:30 ard Viktorov, 35 mm, 1985/2001, Russian with others are pure fantasies of technology and subtitles, 118 minutes) Medieval imagery inspired this haunting space travel. If tawdry visuals at times bestow Preceding the feature is The Cameraman’s ballad of a knight’s quest for a gold-stringed a B-picture sensibility, the piquant charm of Revenge, a silent stop-motion animation about harp. The harp’s sound, according to leg­ these films is irrefutable. Effects artist Rob­ love in the insect kingdom. (Ladislas Stare­ end, can restore harmony to the world. Piotr ert Skotak and historians Alla Verlotsky and vitch, 1912, 35 mm, 12 minutes) Skarga and Daniel Olbrychski play knights in Dennis Bartok organized the series through Majewski’s first feature. (1980, 35 mm, Polish the cooperation of Film Society of Lincoln with subtitles, 81 minutes) Center, American Cinematheque, and Planet of Storms Composed of strange and mesmerizing Seagull Film in collaboration with , preceded by Interplanetary Revolution tableaux, The Roe’s Room is an opera about a Gosfilmofond, and -M Film Studio. September 29 at 2:30 young poet and countertenor who imagines his apartment slowly being devoured by Arriving on Venus in Planet of Storms, a team nature. In summer the floor becomes over­ The Amphibian Man of cosmonauts finds a landscape filled with grown with grass, and in winter a blizzard September 8 at 2:30 volcanoes and prehistoric beasts. From comes from the refrigerator. (1997, Beta , a run-of-the-mill source novel, director sp A gilled and handsome half-human creature sung in Polish without subtitles, 90 minutes) Klushanstev finds ingenious ways to inject inhabits a gorgeous underwater world — until poetry into mundane, politically acceptable the day he saves a local fisherman’s daughter dialogue. Legendary American producer from a shark attack and falls hopelessly in The Garden of Earthly Delights recycled the footage later in love. This Soviet box-office success from the Lech Majewski in person Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet and Queen of early 1960s is filled with surreal song-and- August 12 at 4:30 Blood. (Pavel Klushanstev, 1961, 35 mm, dance creations and spectacular settings Russian with subtitles, 83 minutes) The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus shot mainly in lush locations off the coast Preceding the feature is Interplanetary Bosch becomes the inspiration for Majew­ of Cuba. (Gennadi Kazansky and Vladimir Revolution, a silent, animated spoof of space ski’s elegant conceit in which a British art Chebotarev, 1962, 35 mm, Russian with sub­ travel, mocking a once-popular Soviet notion historian attempts to reenact scenes from titles, 95 minutes) the painting’s narrative while vacationing of a rising proletariat on Mars. (1924, 35 mm, in Madrid and Venice with her lover. He, in 9 minutes) turn, documents their trip on video and later September 9 at 4:30 reedits this footage into an elegiac homage. Zero City (2004, 35 mm, 103 minutes) Inspired by an poem, September 30 at 4:30 director Aleksandr Ptushko traces the epic A engineer arrives in a small town adventures of young Ruslan as he struggles Angelus with instructions to make key technical to recover his feisty young bride, kidnapped August 19 at 4:30 changes at a local plant. Absurd and dis­ on their wedding night by a mischievous sor­ orienting events begin to take place, and Majewski’s adaptation of an old Silesian folk­ cerer. Brimming with grotesque characters he discovers he cannot leave. “A hilarious tale about a young male virgin who must be and enchanting set pieces, it evokes both mockery of Soviet life,” wrote one reviewer, sacrificed to save the world is retold in images The Wizard of Oz and The Song of the Nibelungs. “coming on the scene just as Perestroika was inspired by naïve Silesian paintings — their (Alexandr Ptushko, 1972, 35 mm, Russian making this old world obsolete.” (Karen primitive parables suggesting the harsh reali­ with subtitles, 159 minutes) ties of the Stalinist period and World War II. Shakhnazarov, 1988, 35 mm, Russian with subtitles, 103 minutes)