France/1981—directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix | 117 min.

French postman Jules is on the run across Paris—including a hair-raising, unforgettable motorcycle-and-moped chase through the Métro—hotly pursued by a drug dealer’s hit team, ruthless music pirates, and outnumbered police. And why? Because Jules has a secretly pirated recording by opera diva Cynthia Hawkins, the woman of his dreams (played by real-life American soprano Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez) whose major eccentricity is her “live performances only” policy.

A surprise smash upon its 1982 American release—including sold-out performances at the DFT—Beineix’s dazzling directing debut was a worldwide phenomenon, and singlehandedly launched the cinéma du look, an explosion of visually stunning, punk-inspired, super-cool French movies in the early ’80s. Celebrate the 40th anniversary of Diva’s U.S. release with this special 35mm screening—just as originally presented. 

In French and English with English subtitles.

“It’s about the joy of making movies. Every shot seems designed to delight the audience.” -Pauline Kael, The New Yorker

Join us for an afternoon celebrating martial arts as seen in the films of legendary director King Hu. Through epic martial arts skills and the magic of editing, Hu brought great subtlety and expressivity to his films and ultimately, the genre.

1:30 p.m. | Interactive: Pushing Hands Demonstration  

Detroit Tai Chi Group, led by Master Ching-Yu Meng, demonstrates the basic steps of pushing hands, a form of Tai Chi practice that emphasizes the principle of “softness overcoming hardness.” Audience members will be invited onstage to try the movements themselves.

2:20 p.m. | Talk: Raining in the Mountain – Art Aesthetics and Opposition

Tony Williams, professor of film studies from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale provides critical analysis of King Hu’s Raining in the Mountain as an art film on its own and in context with Hu’s other works.

3 p.m. | Film Screening: Raining in the Mountain

Taiwan/Hong Kong/1979—directed by King Hu | 120 minutes

During the Ming Dynasty, a Buddhist abbot, charged with protecting the sacred scroll of Tripitaka, prepares to name his successor. An aristocrat and a general arrive at his secluded mountaintop monastery promising to help in his search but are in fact scheming to secure the scroll for themselves. As they set about recommending corrupt successors, rival bands of martial artists lie in wait to steal the precious artifact; they soon transform the monastery into an epic battleground for the scroll, with each player caught in a web of betrayal.

Newly restored, this visually spectacular, grand-scale caper heist overflows with witty, jaw-dropping collisions of minds, fists and karma; Raining in the Mountain may be the peak of legendary director King Hu's (Touch of Zen, Dragon Inn) infusion of Buddhist spiritual principles into the legacy of pan-Asian action filmmaking. In Mandarin with English subtitles.
 

This program is made possible through partnerships with the DIA’s auxiliary Friends of Asian Arts and Cultures and Michigan Chinese Women Association, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago, and is supported through a generous grant from the Freeman Foundation.

Returning to the DFT for the first time since its record-breaking sold-out shows in December of 2021, the all-new 2022 edition of CatVideoFest is a compilation of the latest and best cat videos culled from countless hours of unique submissions, animations, music videos, and internet powerhouses.

A joyous communal experience that surprises and charms (and who isn’t ready for that?) this annual favorite is once again available on the big screen. As always, the festival’s distributor contributes a portion of revenues for cats in need through partnerships with a variety of cat charities and shelters. (70 minutes) 

“Watching cat videos is good for you.” -The Wall Street Journal 
 

France/2021—directed by Mathieu Amalric | 97 minutes

As Clarisse, a woman on the run from her family for reasons that aren’t immediately clear, Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread) brings another riveting characterization to the big screen. Mathieu Amalric (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) is renowned internationally as one of France’s great contemporary actors. With Hold Me Tight (Serre moi fort) – his sixth and most ambitious feature as director – he’ll, at last, be known in America for his equally impressive work behind the camera.

This daringly structured portrait of a woman in crisis alternates between Clarisse’s adventures on the road and the struggles of her abandoned husband (Arieh Worthalter) as he tries to adapt to his new reality and the demands of caring for their children.

Amalric’s risky storytelling style refuses to tip its hand too early, keeping viewers unsure of whether they’re seeing a straightforward narrative or multiple states of mind until the final moments of this unpredictable, rewarding new work. Official Selection, Cannes Film Festival; Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, Lincoln Center. In French and German with English subtitles. 

“Dazzling! Proving that he can deliver a riveting screenplay, Amalric achieves something quite remarkable.” -Lee Marshall, Screen Daily 

Japan/1926—directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa | approximately 75 min.

This uniquely imaginative horror cult classic from the legendary Teinosuke Kinugasa (Gate of Hell) tells the story of a man who takes a job at an asylum in hopes of freeing his wife, who is believed to be imprisoned there. Thought to be lost for over four decades until a print was discovered in 1970, Kinugasa’s singular, avant-garde stunner contains thematic echoes of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari – but with a surreal, terrifying flavor all its own.

The silent A Page of Madness will be brought to vivid life with music by Little Bang Theory and benshi narration by Yamauchi Nanako performed in Japanese.

"A balletic musing on our subconscious nightmares, examining dream states in a way that is both beautiful and highly disturbing." – Nottingham Culture, BBC
 

USA/1994—directed by Ayoka Chenzira | 85 minutes

“A gorgeous clarion call for our young Black girls, heralding the creativity and confidence that is the pride of our culture.”  - Ava DuVernay 

In 1994, when independent filmmaker Ayoka Chenzira completed Alma’s Rainbow, distributors failed to “get” her glorious coming-of-age comedy-drama about the day-to-day aspirations and triumphs of three Black women living in Brooklyn.

Teenager Rainbow Gold (Victoria Gabrielle Platt) is entering womanhood and navigating experiences around standards of beauty, self-image, and the rights Black women have over their bodies. Rainbow, who attends parochial school, studies dance, and is just becoming aware of boys, lives with her strait-laced mother Alma Gold (Kim Weston-Moran), who runs a hair salon in their home. When Alma’s free-spirited sister Ruby (Mizan Kirby) arrives from Paris after a 10-year absence, the sisters clash over the “proper” direction for Rainbow’s life. 

Alma's Rainbow presents a multi-layered Black women’s world where the characters are eager to embrace life and love joyfully, while still wrestling with what it means to exercise their agency. The year’s most revelatory rediscovery has been beautifully restored by The Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation, and is presented by Julie Dash.

 "Nearly three decades after its initial release, Alma’s Rainbow is a revelation!”    -Stephen Saito, The Moveable Feast 
  

Lebanon/2021—directed by Mounia Akl | 106 minutes

In the not-so-distant future, the five members of the free-spirited Badri family have escaped the smog and social unrest of big-city life in Beirut life by settling down in a far more tranquil, idyllic mountain home. Surrounded by lush rolling hills, the family is getting used to relative peace and quiet until the youngest child spots strangers in the valley, and learns that a new, “green” landfill will be constructed just beyond their fence.

Before long, household tension rises along with the landfill, and the family’s conundrum reveals long-simmering differences within the family. Deftly written and performed, with more than a touch of sardonic wit, director Mounia Akl’s prizewinning debut feature captures the joys and frustrations of a close-knit family with an intimacy that feels startlingly natural, and sets them against a superbly drawn backdrop of environmental and social change.

“A stellar family drama, clear-eyed and above all sincere. This is a film worth savoring.” -Andrew Crump, The Playlist 

Official Selection, Venice, Toronto, Chicago, San Francisco, and Arab American National Museum Film Festivals; Audience Award, London Film Festival. In Arabic with English subtitles.

UK/2021—directed by Mark Cousins | 167 minutes

“What sets it soaring is the discerning guide at its helm, one whose curatorial exultation and rigor are also calming and reassuring - a welcome voice in cacophonous times.”  -Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter 

A decade after The Story of Film: An Odyssey, his brilliant documentary about the state of moviemaking in the 20th century, filmmaker and author Mark Cousins returns with an epic portrait of cinematic innovation from around the globe. Here, Cousins turns his sharp, meticulously honed gaze on world cinema from 2010 to 2021, using sequences from a vast range of works — including Frozen, Joker, and Cemetery of Splendour — as launchpads to explore recurring themes and motifs, from the evolution of film language to technology’s role in moviemaking today to shifting identities in 21st-century world cinema.

With insights on everything from Deadpool and It Follows to Black Panther and Lover’s Rock, Cousins seeks out creators and communities often under-represented in traditional film histories, including Asian and Middle Eastern works, as well as boundary-pushing documentaries and films that see gender in new ways. As the pandemic begins to ebb, Cousins ponders what comes next in the streaming age: how have we changed as cinephiles, and how moviegoing will transform in the digital era to our collective joy and wonder.

“Monumental and amazingly ambitious. An unashamed celebration of cinema as an art form.”  -Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian 

USA/France/Switzerland/UK/2018—directed by Julian Schnabel | 111 minutes

Julian Schnabel’s unconventional, visionary imagining of Van Gogh’s time in Arles and Auvers-Sur-Oise might be described as the melding of striking, visual stream-of-consciousness imagery with a contemplative, spiritual center worthy of Chekhov.

Though the film’s controversial approach to Van Gogh can leave a fan of more conventional “biopics” equally dazzled and disoriented, there can be little disagreement as to the hypnotic and transfixing intense performance of the astonishing Willem Dafoe, who brings to the screen a Van Gogh both blazingly intense and achingly vulnerable. As with Van Gogh’s greatest paintings, you simply can’t look away.
 

USA/France/UK/Netherlands/1990—directed by Robert Altman | 138 minutes

Several key episodes in the intertwined lives of Vincent Van Gogh (Tim Roth) and his brother Theo (Paul Rhys) are juxtaposed with consummate skill and sensitivity by one of the greatest of all cinematic storytellers, director Robert Altman.

Originally conceived as a four-hour, multi-part series for television, Altman and screenwriter Julian Mitchell simultaneously edited the film into this 138-minute version designed for theatrical release, which is how it was seen in American theaters and described by critic Roger Ebert as “a film that generates the feeling that we are in the presence of a man in the act of creation.”