(USA/1981—directed by Francis Ford Coppola)  

After finally—and successfully—completing his famously troubled production of Apocalypse Now in the Philippines, Coppola turned to the controlled interiors of Hollywood studios for this stylized musical romance, with cinematography by the great Vittorio Storaro (Last Tango in Paris) and an innovative score by Tom Waits.

Teri Garr and Frederic Forest are a couple who break up during their fifth anniversary celebration in Las Vegas, encountering surprises and complications in the persons of Raul Julia, Nastassja Kinski, and Harry Dean Stanton.

Critics and exhibitors dismissed the film after seeing an unfinished preview and it was rarely screened, but the movie’s delicacy and conceptual daring more than justifies this newly minted restoration from a true cinematic pioneer. (107 min.)  

“Dazzling. Coppola’s film is sensuous, gaudy, dreamlike, baroque... a hymn to Hollywood tinsel.” –David Ansen, Newsweek 

When Ryuichi Sakamoto died last March at 71, the world lost one of its great musicians: a classical composer, a techno-pop artist, and a piano soloist who elevated every genre he worked in and inspired music lovers across the globe. As a final gift, filmmaker Neo Sora (Sakamoto’s son) constructed this stunning elegy starring Sakamoto himself in one of his final performances, in Tokyo in 2022.

This intimate and beautiful one-man show features just Sakamoto and a Yamaha grand, as the composer glides through his most haunting, delicate melodies. This unique work was described by the 2023 New York Film Festival as “bringing us so close to a living, breathing artist that it feels like pure grace.” In Japanese with English subtitles. (102 min.)

(Turkey/2023—directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan)  

In a village in the East Anatolia region of Turkey, the weary Samet (Deniz Celiloglu) is struggling through his last year as an elementary school art teacher. He's further disillusioned when a girl in his class appears to accuse him of inappropriate behavior.

The only light in Samet's life is his growing friendship with—and clear attraction to—Nuray, a teacher from a nearby school. Politically engaged and confident, she's not afraid to put the self-absorbed Samet in his place; one of their conversations ranks among Ceylan’s greatest sequences.

Best Actress Prize, 2023 Cannes Film Festival. In Turkish with English subtitles. (197 min.)
 

(Denmark/Germany/2023—directed by Nikolaj Arcel)  

In 1755, the impoverished Captain Ludvig Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen) sets out to conquer an uninhabitable land with an impossible goal; to cultivate crops and build a colony for the King in exchange for a desperately desired royal name for himself. But the sole ruler of the area, the merciless Frederik De Schinkel, determinedly believes this territory belongs to him.

When De Schinkel learns that a recently escaped couple in his employ has taken refuge with Kahlen, the ruler swears to do everything in his power to drive the captain away. Mikkelsen’s delicate, commanding performance is the epicenter of this satisfying and visually rich adventure.

Denmark’s submission to the 2024 Academy Awards®. In Danish with English subtitles. (127 min.)  

The DFT is honored to present a complete program with all of this year's Oscar-nominated short documentaries. While not as high profile as their feature-length counterparts, short documentaries are often every bit as and have a growing base of enthusiasts for their expansive, enlightening exploration of the world.

Advance ticket purchase is recommended, and remaining seats will be available at the door prior to each performance. The documentary program runs a bit over three hours, including one 25-minute intermission. 
 

The DFT’s most popular annual program combines all the nominees in both the short animation and short live action categories into one spectacularly entertaining presentation. The surprises and visual inventiveness of the Oscar® Shorts on the big screen provide jolts of pleasure and fresh wonder at the ways cinema can explore the world through new eyes and unbridled imaginations.

Make your personal picks for the best before the winners are awarded Sunday, March 10. Advance ticket purchase recommended, though some seats may be available at the door prior to each performance. Running time is approximately three hours, plus a 25-minute intermission. 
 

(USA/1925—directed by Oscar Micheaux)

The actor Paul Robeson (1898-1976) first rose to fame as an ensemble member of the Provincetown Players in New York City, starting in 1916. Robeson’s motion picture debut came in Oscar Micheaux’s silent feature Body and Soul as Reverend Isaiah Jenkins, an escaped prisoner masquerading as a clergyman in a rural Georgia church to exploit the most vulnerable members.

The Motion Picture Production Code censored the film, citing its “sacrilege” based on Jenkins' mental abuse of a single mother played by Mercedes Gilbert. Micheaux was able to appease the ruling by re-editing the film with fantasy scenes suggesting any resemblance between the situations in Body and Soul and real life was imaginary. (82 min.)

Presented with a live musical score composed and performed by Rodney Whitaker. 

This program is part of a companion series of film and music events presented in celebration of Regeneration: Black Cinema, 1898–1971, on view at the Detroit Institute of Arts Feb. 4–June 23, 2024. Regeneration is organized by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.   

(USA/1930—directed by James Gist and Eloyce Gist)  

Eloyce Gist studied piano at Howard University during the late 1920s where she met and married James Gist, a devout Christian evangelist. Hellbound Train was made as part of their mission to spread messages of morality and personal responsibility to Black communities, and was presented at churches, schools, and tent revival meetings throughout the South.

Shot on 16mm film with an all-Black cast, the train ride is conducted by Satan who entices passengers with jazz music, gambling, and adultery. Each car of the train presents these seductive sins using surreal imagery, enhanced in their public screenings by live narration and a piano score performed by Eloyce. (60 min.) 

This program is part of a companion series of film and music events presented in celebration of Regeneration: Black Cinema, 1898–1971, on view at the Detroit Institute of Arts Feb. 4–June 23, 2024. Regeneration is organized by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.   

(USA/1937—directed by Sam Newfield) 

In this long-unavailable film, singer Herb Jeffries makes his cinematic debut as a strapping young cowpoke who comes to the rescue of a traveling medicine show battling outlaws for buried treasure.

Filmed at a Black-owned ranch in California’s Apple Valley, the film also includes Spencer Williams (director of The Blood of Jesus) and doo-wop quartet the Four Tones.

Newly restored, Harlem on the Prairie is packed with priceless music, thrills, romance, and the comedy of renowned actors Mantan Moreland and Flournoy E. Miller. (57 min.) 

This program is part of a companion series of film and music events presented in celebration of Regeneration: Black Cinema, 1898–1971, on view at the Detroit Institute of Arts Feb. 4–June 23, 2024. Regeneration is organized by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.   

This riveting exploration of family, history, and tragedy goes deep into the story of Olfa Hamrouni and her four daughters, unpacking a complex family dynamic through interviews and performance to examine how the Tunisian woman’s two eldest—teenagers at the time—were radicalized by extremists and became members of ISIS.

Casting professional actors as the missing daughters and acclaimed Egyptian-Tunisian actor Hend Sabri as Olfa, Four Daughters mixes interviews with the family alongside reenactments of pivotal moments, and ultimately gives the women agency over their own rich, complex family story. Winner of Best Documentary at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, this compelling nonfiction work explores the complex ties that bind mothers and daughters. 

In Arabic and French with English subtitles. (107 min.)

“A revelatory, poignant blend of drama, memory and self-scrutiny.” –Richard Brody, The New Yorker