BAMcinématek presents Vengeance is Hers, a 20-film showcase of some of cinema’s most unforgettable heroines and anti-heroines, Feb 7—18 Includes BAMcinématek’s ninth annual Valentine’s Day Dinner & a Movie, with a screening of The Lady Eve and dinner at BAMcafé The Wall Street Journal is the title sponsor for BAMcinématek and BAM Rose Cinemas. Brooklyn, NY/Jan 10, 2014—From Friday, February 7 through Tuesday, February 18, BAMcinématek presents Vengeance is Hers. From screwball proto-feminism to witchy gothic horror to cerebral auteurist classics, this 20-film series gathers some of cinema’s most unforgettable heroines and anti-heroines as they seize control and take no prisoners. Seen through the eyes of some of the world’s greatest directors, including female filmmakers such as Chantal Akerman and Kathryn Bigelow, these films explore the full gamut of cinematic retribution in all its thrilling, unnerving dimensions. Vengeance is Hers is curated by Nellie Killian of BAMcinématek and Thomas Beard of Light Industry. Opening the series on Friday, February 7 is Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Medea (1969), a film adaptation of the Euripides tragedy which follows the eponymous sorceress on a vicious crusade for revenge. Starring legendary opera singer Maria Callas in her first and only film role, Medea marks the final entry in Pasolini’s “Mythical Cycle” which also includes Oedipus Rex (1967), Teorema (1968), and Porcile (1969). “Brilliant and brutal” (Vincent Canby, The New York Times), Medea kicks off this series showcasing international films from a variety of genres and creating an alternate history to the clichéd images of avenging women. The 7pm screening will be introduced by writer Wayne Koestenbaum (The Queen’s Throat). Tales of women’s revenge were fodder for many an exploitation flick, including many with a subversive streak. In Abel Ferrara’s newly restored Ms. 45 (1981—Feb 7—9)—a feminist take on the rape-revenge film—a seamstress (Zoe Lund) transforms overnight into a gun-slinging vigilante Boasting another shotgun-toting heroine, Jack Hill’s Coffy (1973—Feb 17) features one of Pam Grier’s most iconic performances as a nurse bent on shaking up her corrupt neighborhood. Other highlights include Stephanie Rothman’s women in prison meets revolutionary parable Terminal Island (1973—Feb 18); Mario Bava’s gothic horror debut Black Sunday (1960—Feb 15), starring Barbara Steele; and Chor Yuen’s infamously erotic Shaw Brothers film Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan (1972— Feb 17); all doing their part to enrich the genre. A number of auteurs put their own twists on the revenge film, including Jacques Rivette with his Hitchcockian thriller Secret Defense (1998—Feb 10), “a chess puzzle devised by a grand master” (J. Hoberman) in which a young scientist seeks to avenge her father’s mysterious death. Other masterful interpretations of cinematic reprisal include Djibril Diop Mambéty’s rarely screened Hyenas (1992—Feb 12), a biting critique of neocolonialism about a wealthy Senegalese woman who returns to her hometown for retaliation, and Aki Kaurismäki’s grimly hilarious The Match Factory Girl (1990—Feb 13), starring Kati Outinen, the director’s frequent muse, are both masterful interpretations of cinematic reprisal. Vengeance is Hers highlights the powerful female voices that emerged in a male-dominated art form with groundbreaking work from seven female directors. Hailed by The New York Times as the “first masterpiece of the feminine in the history of the cinema,” Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975—Feb 9), a visionary portrait of three days in the life of a widowed mother, was shot with an entirely female crew. Star Delphine Seyrig also collaborated with pioneering video artist Carole Roussopoulos on S.C.U.M. Manifesto (1976—Feb 18; short for Society for Cutting Up Men), a dramatic reading of Valerie Solanas’ (Andy Warhol’s would-be assassin) call to arms which screens in a double bill with the female-helmed Terminal Island. Rounding out the series’ diverse female perspectives are Kathryn Bigelow’s Blue Steel (1989—Feb 8), a reimagining of John Carpenter’s Halloween starring Jamie Lee Curtis; Susan Seidelman’s dark domestic comedy She-Devil (1989—Feb 16), featuring one of Meryl Streep’s earliest comedic roles; and short films Possibly in Michigan (Cecelia Condit; 1983—Feb 15) and High School Reunion (Sarah Jacobson; 2003—Feb 15). For the ninth annual Valentine’s Day Dinner and a Movie, BAMcinématek presents Preston Sturges’ screwball battle-of-the-sexes, The Lady Eve (1941—Feb 14). Barbara Stanwyck stars as a con artist with her sights on swindling the shy and unsuspecting heir to a fortune (Henry Fonda), until she unwittingly falls in love with her prey. “A kind of breathless balancing act involving romance, deception, and physical comedy” (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times), The Lady Eve screens at 6:30 and 8:45pm, followed or preceded by dinner in BAMcafé. Other highlights of Vengeance is Hers include Brian De Palma’s Carrie (1976—Feb 15), in which a bullied but supernaturally gifted high schooler (Sissy Spacek) gets her revenge in a blood-spattered finale; Kaneto Shindo’s stylish ghost story Kuroneko (1968—Feb 11), in which two murdered women return as angry cat spirits; Colin Higgins’ 80s office comedy Nine to Five (1980—Feb 16), featuring three shoulderpad-clad leading ladies (Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton) bursting through the glass ceiling; and William Wyler’s The Heiress (1949—Feb 13), an adaptation of Henry James’ Washington Square which earned Olivia de Havilland an Academy Award for Best Actress. For press information, please contact: Lisa Thomas at 718.724.8023 / [email protected] Hannah Thomas at 718.724.8002 / [email protected] Vengeance is Hers Schedule Fri, Feb 7 2, 7pm: Medea 4:30, 9:30pm: Ms. 45 Sat, Feb 8 7pm: Blue Steel 9:30pm: Ms. 45 Sun, Feb 9 2, 6pm: Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles 9:50pm: Ms. 45 Mon, Feb 10 7:30pm: Secret Defense Tue, Feb 11 4:30, 7, 9:15pm: Kuroneko Wed, Feb 12 4:30, 7, 9:30pm: Hyenas Thu, Feb 13 5, 9:30pm: The Match Factory Girl 7pm: The Heiress Fri, Feb 14 6:30, 8:45pm: The Lady Eve Sat, Feb 15 2, 7pm: Carrie + High School Reunion 4:30, 9:30pm: Black Sunday + Possibly in Michigan Sun, Feb 16 7pm: Nine to Five 9:30pm: She-Devil Mon, Feb 17 6:30pm: Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan 4:30, 8:45pm: Coffy Tue, Feb 18 7, 9:30pm: Terminal Island + SCUM Manifesto Film Descriptions All films in 35mm except where noted. Black Sunday (1960) 87min Directed by Mario Bava. With Barbara Steele. Mario Bava commenced his career-long exploration of perverse sexuality in this delirious and flamboyantly romantic adaptation of a ghostly folk tale by Gogol. Widely considered his best film, it also launched Barbara Steele’s career as the ultimate horror actress. It unreels like a relentless nightmare in which Steele—a witch—and returns from the crypt two centuries later to wreak revenge, a role she plays with wicked sensuality. Original Italian version with English soundtrack. Screens with Possibly in Michigan Dir. Cecelia Condit (1983) 12min. DCP. Sat, Feb 15 at 4:30, 9:30pm Blue Steel (1989) 102min Directed by Kathryn Bigelow. With Jamie Lee Curtis, Ron Silver, Clancy Brown, Elizabeth Peña. Action auteur Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) renders this sleek, stylish police thriller with almost painterly abstraction. Day one on the force and rookie cop Megan Turner (Curtis) faces suspension for shooting an allegedly unarmed man. Shot through with a palpable, danger-at-every-turn sense of tension, Blue Steel is a fascinating blend of art-house aesthetics, psychosexual implication, and unfiltered action genre kicks. Sat, Feb 8 at 7pm Carrie (1976) 98min Directed by Brian De Palma. With Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving. De Palma’s wildly successful adaptation of Stephen King’s novel portrays a mercilessly taunted high schooler (Spacek, in an Oscar-nominated breakthrough role) who discovers she has the power of telekinesis. Bullied at school and secluded from the world by her evangelical, sexually repressed (Laurie), she gets her chance to bring the house down on her classmates in a justifiably infamous prom scene splattered in blood. This disturbing and stylish horror classic established De Palma as one of the most iconoclastic filmmakers his era. Screens with High School Reunion Dir. Sarah Jacobson (2003) 16min. DCP. Sat, Feb 15 at 2, 7pm Coffy (1973) 91min Directed by Jack Hill. With Pam Grier, Booker Bradshaw, Robert DoQui, William Elliott. Shotgun in tow, avenging angel Nurse “Coffy” Coffin (Grier) cleans up the neighborhood, ridding it of the pimps, pushers, and crooked politicians she blames for her kid sister’s drug addiction. Badass blaxploitation goddess Grier, the big screen’s original female action hero, is the unstoppable force that propels this stick-it-to-the-man cheapo classic. Mon, Feb 17 at 4:30, 8:45pm The Heiress (1949) 115min Directed by William Wyler. With Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson, Miriam Hopkins. Henry James’ proto-feminist novella Washington Square is transformed into a stark and engrossing chamber drama in this Hollywood literary adaptation par excellence (which earned Oscars for Olivia de Havilland’s enormously affecting performance and Aaron Copland’s score). When plain Jane spinster Catherine Sloper (de Havilland) falls madly in love with the dashing Morris Townsend (Clift), she defies her relentlessly critical father (Richardson)—but is her new suitor just after her money? Thu, Feb 13 at 7pm High School Reunion (2003) 16min Directed by Sarah Jacobson. Every bullied girl’s dream come true: DIY filmmaker Sarah Jacobson returns to her high school reunion, camera in hand, to confront her tormentors.