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The Underground Orchestra
Thursday, July 1
Delights the eyes and ears and stirs the soul.
—Washington City Paper
This moving Dutch documentary about exiled musicians who live in Paris and perform in the Metro is equal parts world music survey and poignant meditation on social and political dislocation. Featured are the stories and music of artists from Algeria, Argentina, Vietnam, Zaire, Romania and Yugoslavia. In French and Spanish with English subtitles.
(Heddy Honigmann, 1998, 105 minutes)
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Beshkempir—The Adopted Son
Thursday, July 8
Transports you back to an age when your experience of the natural world was fresh and filled with a sense of discovery.
—New York Times
Set in Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia, this elegantly photographed film celebrates coming of age amid the particulars of village life and the universal mischief of boyhood. A beautiful and poetic film inspired by ancestral Kyrgyz customs. In Kyrgyz with English subtitles.
(Aktan Abdykalykov, 1998, 81 minutes)
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Pizzicata
Sunday, July 11
Seductive. The choreography of desire has the effect of an erotic explosion.
—Le Monde
Taking its title from two folk dances—the joyful, amorous pizzica and the tarantata, a haunting dance of grief—this sensuous film unfolds amid the music, dancing and hard work of peasant life in the Salento region of southern Italy. The plot involves an Italian American pilot shot down during World War II who is taken in by a widowed farmer and his three daughters. In Italian with English subtitles.
(Edoardo Winspeare, 1996, 93 minutes)
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Nights of Cabiria
Tuesday, July 13
A deep, wrenching and eloquent filmgoing experience.
—New York Times
Federico Fellini's Oscar-winning chronicle of a saintly prostitute’s journey of hope and despair is one of the most important and popular masterpieces of the European art-film renaissance. Screens fully restored, with new subtitle translation and a crucial, previously censored episode. Stars Giulietta Masina. In Italian with English subtitles.
(1957/1998, 117 minutes)
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Paris is Burning
With New York City club dancers Archie Burnett and David “Junior” Bishop and vogue diva Willi Ninja
Thursday, July 15
A series of astonishments of ever-widening wit, humanity and relevance.
—New York Magazine
This now-classic documentary brought to mainstream attention the dynamic subculture of Voguing and drag balls in Harlem's gay nightclubs, a world where Black and Latino gay men imitate and parody the society that excludes them. Willi Ninja is a featured dancer in the film. Stay after for a Meet-the-Artists Discussion with our special guests.
(Jennie Livingston, 1990, 78 minutes)
Presented in conjunction with SUMMERDANCE Santa Barbara.
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Underground
Sunday, July 18
The richest, most delirious filmmaking in recent memory.
—New York Times
Grand Prize winner at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and one of the most politically controversial films of the 1990s, this rarely screened visionary masterpiece is a lusty, frenetic, freewheeling take on 50 years of Yugoslavian history, from World War II to the war in Bosnia. A pair of friends start a black market munitions factory in the cellar where they live in the 1940s. But when the war ends, only one of them knows it. In Serbo-Croatian with English subtitles.
(Emir Kusturica, 1995, 167 minutes)
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The Son of the Sheik
with live piano music by Michael Mortilla
Tuesday, July 20
Newly restored and tinted, and as thrilling as ever, the last film of silent screen heartthrob Rudolph Valentino features torrid love scenes, furious fights, desert chases, breathtaking stunts and last-minute rescues. Valentino stars as both the sheik and his son, who seeks to avenge his wronged lover. Leading lady Vilma Banky stars as the dancing girl whose “hips fill men with abandon.”
(George Fitzmaurice, 1926, 68 minutes)
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Central Station
Thursday, July 22
A film of uncommon grace, a work of imperishable heart.
—Rolling Stone
Nominated for numerous Golden Globe and Academy Awards, including best foreign film and best actress for its beloved star Fernanda Montenegro, this Brazilian drama chronicles the healing journey of a cynical woman and an imperiled, motherless young boy as they leave behind urban squalor in search of his father in rural Northeastern Brazil. In Portuguese with English subtitles.
(Walter Salles, 1997, 115 minutes)
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Tango
Sunday, July 25
Wafts dreamily through countless forms of tango magic.
—New York Times
In this lush Argentine/Spanish film, an aging director makes sense of his life and career while staging an elaborate tango production. Oscar-nominated for best foreign film, it features performances by Argentina's greatest tango artists and star ballet dancer Julio Bocca. By Carlos Saura (Carmen, Blood Wedding) and Vittorio Storaro, the celebrated cinematographer of The Last Emperor and Apocalypse Now. In Spanish with English subtitles.
(1998, 115 minutes)
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The Dreamlife of Angels
Thursday, July 29
A beautifully acted drama, as raw and immediate as it is heartfelt.
—New York Times
The intense and powerful debut from director Erick Zonca won three French Cesar Awards including best film. Stars best actress award-winner Elodie Bouchez (Wild Reeds) and newcomer Natacha Regnier as a pair of lonely young women. In French with English subtitles.
(1998, 113 minutes)
Screening made possible with the support of The Cultural Services of the French Embassy and Cultural Ministry of France.
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The Terrorist
Sunday, August 1
The most beautiful film from India in years.
—Toronto Film Festival
A ravishing directorial debut from Santosh Sivan, one of India’s most acclaimed cinematographers, this film explores the impact of violence. A young Tamil woman expands her world view on her way to perform a suicide assassination. Features an unforgettable performance by Ayesha Dharkar. In Tamil with English subtitles.
(1998, 95 minutes)
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The Children of Heaven
Thursday, August 5
One of the year's definite crowd-pleasers.
—Chicago Tribune
A cinematic gem from Iran, this tender film takes a child's eye view of Teheran's poorest neighborhood where life is sweet despite economic hardship. In Farsi with English subtitles.
(Majid Majidi, 1997, 88 minutes)
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For more information about each film, please see our Summer Films News Release.
Presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures, these films are
co-sponsored by UCSB Summer Sessions, Blue Agave restaurant, KDB 93.7/FM,
the Santa Barbara Independent and KCSB 91.9/FM. The Dreamlife of Angels is
made possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French
Embassy and Cultural Ministry of France. |
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