USA/2022—directed by Laura Poitras | 113 minutes

In her essential, urgent, involving new documentary, Oscar®–winning filmmaker Laura Poitras (Citizenfour) intertwines two narratives: the fabled life and career of era-defining artist Nan Goldin, and the backlash against the Sackler family, owners of the pharmaceutical dynasty that Goldin stood up to by fighting to hold accountable the drug manufacturers behind the opioid crisis.

Following her own struggle with opioid addiction, Goldin, now 68, who rose from the New York “No Wave” underground of the ‘80s to become one of the great photographers of the late 20th century, became an unyielding activist at art institutions around the world that had accepted millions from the Sackler family.

Illustrated with a rich trove of photographs by Goldin, who engagingly narrates her own story, including her suburban upbringing, the loss of her teenage sister, and her fight against AIDS in the 1980s, Laura Poitras’s latest film is a remarkable, empowering work that stirringly connects tragedy with personal responsibility and artistic expression. Winner, Golden Lion for Best Film, 2022 Venice Film Festival.

“Overwhelming. A towering work of shocking intelligence and still greater emotional power.” –Sophie Monks Kaufman, IndieWire 

China/2024 — directed by Jia Zhangke | 111 min.

The preeminent dramatist of China’s rapid 21st-century growth and transformation, director Jia Zhangke takes his boldest approach yet with the marvelous Caught by the Tides. 

Using footage shot over 23 years,Caught by the Tides is told from the perspective of Qiaoqiao (Zhao Tao) as she wanders an increasingly unrecognizable country in search of her long-lost lover, who left their home city to seek financial prospects. 

At once delicate and narratively breathtaking, Jia’s lyrical new masterwork reminds us of cinema’s unique ability to capture the passage of time and the persistence of change.

Palme d’Or Nominee, Cannes Film Festival. In Mandarin with English subtitles.

"Brilliant. A generous-hearted testament from one of our greatest living filmmakers." — Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

Japan/1965 — directed by Akira Kurosawa | 185 min.

A magnificent testament to the resilience of human decency, Akira Kurosawa's Red Beard (Akahige) chronicles the tumultuous relationship between an arrogant young doctor and the compassionate director of a clinic for the poor in 19th-century Japan. 

Toshiro Mifune, in his final role for Kurosawa, delivers a commanding and eloquent performance as the dignified yet empathetic older physician who guides his pupil toward maturity, teaching the embittered intern to appreciate the lives of his destitute patients. 

Kurosawa’s epic tapestry of time, place, and emotion has finally received its long-deserved big-screen restoration. 

"A great film. Like Kurosawa’s masterpiece, Ikiru, it fearlessly regards the meanings of life and death." —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Japan/1962 — directed by Akira Kurosawa | 95 min.

Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Akira Kurosawa's tightly paced and elegantly designed Sanjuro. A sly companion piece to Yojimbo, the film in which Mifune’s jaded samurai character first appeared, Sanjurofollows the wily swordsman as he helps a group of idealistic young warriors weed out the corrupt influences within their clan. 

In doing so, he turns their hopelessly conservative notion of a "proper" samurai on its ear. This classic character's return delivers a delightful, action-packed adventure that stands confidently on its own. New widescreen restoration!

"Kurosawa’s funniest film, though the tone switches to a magnificent vehemence in the heart-stopping finale." —Time Out (UK)

Japan/1952 — directed by Akira Kurosawa | 143 min.

One of the greatest achievements in the brilliant career of Akira Kurosawa, Ikiru (To Live) finds the director at his most compassionate—affirming life through an intimate exploration of death. Takashi Shimura delivers an indelible performance as Kanji Watanabe, an aging bureaucrat who has spent decades behind a desk without joy or a sense of accomplishment. 

Now, faced with a diagnosis of stomach cancer, he becomes desperate to find meaning in his remaining days. Written and directed with profound humanistic clarity, Ikiru is a masterful, timeless meditation on what it means to truly live.

"Were it the only film Kurosawa ever made, his name would be rightfully engraved on film history." —Nick Pinkerton, The Village Voice

Japan/1958 — directed by Akira Kurosawa | 139 min.

A grand-scale action adventure, The Hidden Fortress stars the inimitable Toshiro Mifune as a general tasked with guarding his defeated clan’s princess while smuggling royal treasure across hostile territory. 

Accompanying them are a pair of bumbling, conniving, and squabbling peasants who may—or may not—be their friends. If the plot sounds familiar, it’s because this rip-roaring ride (one of Kurosawa’s most beloved films) was a major influence on George Lucas’s Star Wars. 

The Hidden Fortress delivers Kurosawa’s trademark blend of wry humor, breathtaking action, and compassionate humanity, more intoxicating than ever in this new 4K widescreen restoration, presented as part of the DFT’s two-weekend festival, Kurosawa Restored. 

"Marvelous, exhilarating, confident and clever." —Donald Richie, The Films of Akira Kurosawa

Japan/1961 — directed by Akira Kurosawa | 110 min.

With the opening shots of Kurosawa’s visually stunning and darkly comic Yojimbo (Bodyguard), Toshiro Mifune cemented his place as one of the world’s most beloved movie stars. 

Wandering into a town consumed by chaos due to violence between two ruthless clans of would-be warriors, masterless samurai Sanjuro (Mifune) cleverly turns the war to his advantage, agreeing to sell his deadly skills to both sides—without the other knowing, of course. 

Later remade by Sergio Leone as A Fistful of Dollars, Kurosawa’s exhilarating and subversive action epic remains one of the most influential and entertaining films of all time. 

This new 4K restoration of Yojimbo is presented as part of the DFT’s Kurosawa Restored festival, continuing through August 31.

"A glorious comedy-satire of force, explosively comic and exhilarating." —Pauline Kael, I Lost It at the Movies

Japan/1963 — directed by Akira Kurosawa | 143 min.

Toshiro Mifune is revelatory as Kingo Gondo, a wealthy Tokyo shoe company executive whose family becomes the target of a cold-blooded kidnapper in High and Low (Tengoku to jigoku), the brilliantly structured and visually striking police procedural that showcases Kurosawa at the height of his storytelling powers. 

Adapting Ed McBain's detective novel King's Ransom, Kurosawa moves effortlessly from a gripping race-against-time thriller to incisive social commentary, crafting a diabolical treatise on contemporary Japanese society. Presented in a brand-new 4K restoration. 

“One of the best detective thrillers ever filmed.” — Howard Thompson, The New York Times

Japan/1949 — directed by Akira Kurosawa | 122 min.

A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami (a young Toshiro Mifune) when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to recover the weapon, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the “stray dog” whose own desperation has driven him to a life of crime. 

But with each step, the lives of cop and criminal become increasingly intertwined. One of Kurosawa’s early breakout films, Stray Dog (Nora Inu) transcends the typical crime thriller, probing the squalid world of postwar Japan and the complex relationship between pursuer and pursued. 

Presented in a new 4K restoration, Stray Dog is the first of eight newly restored Kurosawa classics being screened at the DFT between August 22 and August 31.

“Stray Dog shows Kurosawa fully engaged with his culture, using cinema to participate as an artist. He’s on the threshold of greatness here.” — Stephen Prince, The Warrior’s Camera

Mexico/1953 — directed by Luis Buñuel | 93 min.

Among the most unsettling films of his often-overlooked Mexican period, Él is Luis Buñuel’s incisive portrait of paranoia, jealousy, and sexual obsession — a nightmarish tale of love gone wrong that prefigures the themes of his later classics Viridiana and The Exterminating Angel. 

Incorporating his personal demons into this adaptation of Mercedes Pinto’s autobiographical novel, Buñuel tells the story of Francisco, a devout middle-aged bachelor who falls into an all-consuming love with young socialite Gloria. After breaking off her engagement with another man, Gloria begins to realize something is “off” about Francisco, whose deep, repressed insecurities soon take their toll. 

One of Buñuel’s rawest indictments of social hypocrisy, Él stands as the surrealist master’s great excursion into dark melodrama, where civilization can find no answer to the irrational urges of the id.

Presented in a new 4K restoration. In Spanish with English subtitles. 

“Released at the height of his prolific Mexican period, Él is relevant and incendiary, and remains one of Buñuel’s crowning achievements.” — Richard Brody, The New Yorker