Detroit Film Theatre at Detroit Institute of Arts offers a mix of rare, feature-length, restored films for this year’s Cinetopia International Film Festival June 8–11 Films from Italy’s world renowned festival Il Cinema Ritrovato will be shown
Updated May 11, 2017
May 11, 2017 (Detroit)—The Detroit Institute of Arts’ (DIA) Detroit Film Theatre (DFT) offers an eclectic mix of rare, restored, feature-length films from renowned directors around the world June 8–11 for this year’s Cinetopia International Film Festival. Cinetopia features dramas, comedies and documentaries from the world’s best film festivals, including Sundance, Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Berlin, SXSW and Tribeca. The DFT is one of 11 venues participating in the festival this year. Tickets for each movie are $12, and $9 for DIA members unless otherwise noted. For ticket packages and a complete schedule, go to http://www.cinetopiafestival.org/.
Among the offerings in this year’s Cinetopia at the DFT are films from the acclaimed festival Il Cinema Ritrovato, which takes place annually in Bologna, Italy. Cineteca di Bologna, one of Europe’s most respected archives for film restoration and preservation, each year organizes a tour of rare, previously endangered, newly restored classic films that are first screened at Il Cinema Ritrovato. The 2017 program is curated by Guy Borlée of Cineteca di Bologna and Elliot Wilhelm of the DFT, in collaboration with the Italian Consulate in Detroit.
June 8, 7 p.m.
“I Knew Her Well” – 1965, Italy/France, 114 min.
Adriana is immersed in the pop culture, music, sexual freedom and obsession with celebrity that is Rome in the mid-1960s. She is resilient, irresistible and impossible as she takes on the dreams, challenges, heartbreak and unexpected humor of city life.
June 9, 7 p.m.
“The Vietnam War”: Preview excerpts from the PBS Series – 2017, USA, approximately 90 min.
This screening looks at highlights from Ken Burns’ upcoming 18-hour documentary “The Vietnam War,” airing later this year on PBS. The film includes testimony from nearly 100 witnesses—soldiers and civilians—and in-depth analysis from those on both sides of the conflict. Historic broadcasts, home movies and newly released recordings are part of the complete series. Producers Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein will be on hand to discuss the process of creating the film.
June 9, 9:30 p.m.
“Memories of Underdevelopment” – 1968, Cuba, 97 min.
Set in post-revolutionary Havana in 1961, this film is about a young bourgeois who stays in Cuba after Castro seizes power, even though his family and most of his friends have fled. Juggling the constant anxiety over perceived threats of invasion with his refusal to make changes in his womanizing habits, his universe becomes unpredictable and vaguely surreal.
June 10, 1 p.m. –Free admission
“Rapsodia Satanica” and rare short films – 1915-–17, Italy, 42 min, silent with English subtitles
“Rapsodia Satanica,” restored to its original color palette, is a Faustian tale about an old woman who makes a pact with Mephisto to regain her youth; in return, she must stay away from love. Four other shorts are included in this program: ”Monumental Bologna” (1912), a five-minute tour of Bologna’s parks, basilicas, fountains and people; “A Day With Puccini,” an eight-minute gem shot at the composer’s villa in Torre del Lago; and two extremely rare, restored documentary shorts, “Ford” and “Fiat,” depicting the Ford Motor Company and the Fiat factory, both filmed in 1910.
June 10, 3 p.m.
“The Night of Counting the Years” (AKA “The Mummy”) – 1969, Egypt, 103 min., in Arabic with English subtitles
“The Night of Counting the Years,” considered one of the greatest Egyptian films ever made, is based on an 1881 discovery that a tribe had been secretly raiding tombs of the Pharaohs in Thebes. After their father is killed for a valuable piece of ancient jewelry, Wannis and his brother learn that the nearby mountain holds ancient tombs. Wannis wonders whether the family should profit from this knowledge or if they should keep the sarcophagi a secret for the sake of historical preservation. His decision becomes crucial when an antiquities group arrives, seeking to protect the tombs.
June 10, 7 p.m.
“Symphony in D” – 100 min.
Composer Tod Machover combined more than 15,000 contributions of music and sound with a Detroit Symphony Orchestra performance to “show the world what Detroit sounds like.” Commissioned by the Knight Foundation, this lyrical piece turns the cacophony of voices, sounds and images into a narrative that captures the personalities, locations, artists and even the machines of Detroit. “Symphony in D” is the captivating story behind this modern and altogether extraordinary visual and audio experience.
June 11, 1 p.m.
“Once Upon a Time in America” (extended director’s cut) – 4 hours, 15 min. with one intermission
Sergio Leone’s portrait of four decades in the lives of New York gangsters and their love-hate relationship with the American Dream stars Robert De Niro, James Woods, Tuesday Weld, Joe Pesci and Elizabeth McGovern. It premiered at Cannes as a 3-hour, 47-minute version, which was cut by 90 minutes for its U.S. release. The original 4 hour- and 15-minute film was re-assembled in 2012 using the original 35mm negative to create a 4K digital restoration with full color correction.
May 11, 2017 (Detroit)—The Detroit Institute of Arts’ (DIA) Detroit Film Theatre (DFT) offers an eclectic mix of rare, restored, feature-length films from renowned directors around the world June 8–11 for this year’s Cinetopia International Film Festival. Cinetopia features dramas, comedies and documentaries from the world’s best film festivals, including Sundance, Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Berlin, SXSW and Tribeca. The DFT is one of 11 venues participating in the festival this year. Tickets for each movie are $12, and $9 for DIA members unless otherwise noted. For ticket packages and a complete schedule, go to http://www.cinetopiafestival.org/.
Among the offerings in this year’s Cinetopia at the DFT are films from the acclaimed festival Il Cinema Ritrovato, which takes place annually in Bologna, Italy. Cineteca di Bologna, one of Europe’s most respected archives for film restoration and preservation, each year organizes a tour of rare, previously endangered, newly restored classic films that are first screened at Il Cinema Ritrovato. The 2017 program is curated by Guy Borlée of Cineteca di Bologna and Elliot Wilhelm of the DFT, in collaboration with the Italian Consulate in Detroit.
June 8, 7 p.m.
“I Knew Her Well” – 1965, Italy/France, 114 min.
Adriana is immersed in the pop culture, music, sexual freedom and obsession with celebrity that is Rome in the mid-1960s. She is resilient, irresistible and impossible as she takes on the dreams, challenges, heartbreak and unexpected humor of city life.
June 9, 7 p.m.
“The Vietnam War”: Preview excerpts from the PBS Series – 2017, USA, approximately 90 min.
This screening looks at highlights from Ken Burns’ upcoming 18-hour documentary “The Vietnam War,” airing later this year on PBS. The film includes testimony from nearly 100 witnesses—soldiers and civilians—and in-depth analysis from those on both sides of the conflict. Historic broadcasts, home movies and newly released recordings are part of the complete series. Producers Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein will be on hand to discuss the process of creating the film.
June 9, 9:30 p.m.
“Memories of Underdevelopment” – 1968, Cuba, 97 min.
Set in post-revolutionary Havana in 1961, this film is about a young bourgeois who stays in Cuba after Castro seizes power, even though his family and most of his friends have fled. Juggling the constant anxiety over perceived threats of invasion with his refusal to make changes in his womanizing habits, his universe becomes unpredictable and vaguely surreal.
June 10, 1 p.m. –Free admission
“Rapsodia Satanica” and rare short films – 1915-–17, Italy, 42 min, silent with English subtitles
“Rapsodia Satanica,” restored to its original color palette, is a Faustian tale about an old woman who makes a pact with Mephisto to regain her youth; in return, she must stay away from love. Four other shorts are included in this program: ”Monumental Bologna” (1912), a five-minute tour of Bologna’s parks, basilicas, fountains and people; “A Day With Puccini,” an eight-minute gem shot at the composer’s villa in Torre del Lago; and two extremely rare, restored documentary shorts, “Ford” and “Fiat,” depicting the Ford Motor Company and the Fiat factory, both filmed in 1910.
June 10, 3 p.m.
“The Night of Counting the Years” (AKA “The Mummy”) – 1969, Egypt, 103 min., in Arabic with English subtitles
“The Night of Counting the Years,” considered one of the greatest Egyptian films ever made, is based on an 1881 discovery that a tribe had been secretly raiding tombs of the Pharaohs in Thebes. After their father is killed for a valuable piece of ancient jewelry, Wannis and his brother learn that the nearby mountain holds ancient tombs. Wannis wonders whether the family should profit from this knowledge or if they should keep the sarcophagi a secret for the sake of historical preservation. His decision becomes crucial when an antiquities group arrives, seeking to protect the tombs.
June 10, 7 p.m.
“Symphony in D” – 100 min.
Composer Tod Machover combined more than 15,000 contributions of music and sound with a Detroit Symphony Orchestra performance to “show the world what Detroit sounds like.” Commissioned by the Knight Foundation, this lyrical piece turns the cacophony of voices, sounds and images into a narrative that captures the personalities, locations, artists and even the machines of Detroit. “Symphony in D” is the captivating story behind this modern and altogether extraordinary visual and audio experience.
June 11, 1 p.m.
“Once Upon a Time in America” (extended director’s cut) – 4 hours, 15 min. with one intermission
Sergio Leone’s portrait of four decades in the lives of New York gangsters and their love-hate relationship with the American Dream stars Robert De Niro, James Woods, Tuesday Weld, Joe Pesci and Elizabeth McGovern. It premiered at Cannes as a 3-hour, 47-minute version, which was cut by 90 minutes for its U.S. release. The original 4 hour- and 15-minute film was re-assembled in 2012 using the original 35mm negative to create a 4K digital restoration with full color correction.