Smith Rafael Film Center Quarterly | October - December 2016

O C T O B E R — D E C E M B E R

2 0 1 6

U PC OM I NG G U E S T S

Look for this symbol

for programs with in-person guests

ROB NILSSON

PHILIP KAUFMAN

OCTOBER 27 & NOVEMBER 10

NOVEMBER 13

EDYTHE BOONE & MARLENE “MO” MORRIS

JON WILSON & OLEG HARENCAR

ROB NILSSON: TWO FILMS

RANDY HABERKAMP

THE WANDERERS

A NEW COLOR: THE ART OF BEING EDYTHE BOONE NOVEMBER 3

JON WILSON: THE RESTORER’S JOURNEY NOVEMBER 16

JONATHAN PARKER

DEBORAH KAUFMAN & ALAN SNITOW

THE ARCHITECT

NOVEMBER 6

KAZUAKI TANAHASHI

NOVEMBER 17

COMPANY TOWN

PAINTING PEACE NOVEMBER 20

THE FRONT PAGE DECEMBER 2 COCK OF THE AIR DECEMBER 3

CRAIG BARRON & BEN BURTT

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA SECRETS OF IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE DECEMBER 11

BEN BURTT

THE VIKINGS DECEMBER 15

THE BRAND NEW TESTAMENT p 13

CFI B OARD O F DIRECTO RS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR / FOUNDER

Mark Fishkin

(Vice President)

CFI BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Kenneth Broad (Vice President)

Jim Davis Lynne Hale Richard J. Idell (Secretary)

Amy Keroes

Caroline Labé Jennifer Coslett MacCready Cathy Nourafshan Jonathan Parker (President)

Susan Schwartz Dr. Joel Sklar

(Vice President)

EMERITUS BOARD

FOUNDING BOARD

Ann Brebner Rita Cahill Sid Ganis Bruce Katz Gary Meyer Gordon Radley Christopher B. Smith Henry Timnick

Rita Cahill Mark Fishkin Lois Kohl Shore

Jann Stanley Zach Zeisler (Treasurer)

ADVISORY BOARD

The Honorable Barbara Boxer Stewart Boxer Drusie Davis Jeff Fisher Peter Flaxman Robert Greber

Linda Gruber Peggy Haas Jessica Igoe Michael Klein Roxanne Klein KC Lauck Andrew McGuire Mary Poland Eric Schwartz Michael Schwartz Skip Whitney

R AFAE L QUARTERLY STAF F R I C H A R D P E T E R S ON Director of Programming | Editor

T IM F ROSS Rafael Assistant Manager

L EAH L OSCHIAV O Marketing Coordinator

D A N Z A S T ROW Rafael General Manager

SHEL L EY SPICER Director of Marketing & Publicity

BRIAN LEHMAN Graphics | Layout

JAN KL INGEL HOF ER Program Consultant

The Smith Rafael Film Center is owned and operated by the California Film Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that also produces the annual Mill Valley Film Festival and CFI Education programs throughout the year. © Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. No portion of the Rafael Quarterly may be duplicated in any form without written consent from the Smith Rafael Film Center and/or the California Film Institute.

OCTOBER – DECEMBER

|

2016

Vol. 18 Issue 4

FILM & NOTFILM OCTOBER 17–20

From the

DIRECTOR of PROGRAMMING At the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center, the fall season always begins in October, the day following Closing Night of the Mill Valley Film Festival (running October 6 through 16 this year). I assume that most who are reading this note also participate in the Festival, which over 39 years has become one of the world’s key fall film festivals. The Rafael is reprising a number of offerings debuting at MVFF, and we will continue to offer more festival “alumni” into next year.

The special programs we’re offering this quarter include return visits by some of our favorite filmmakers. Philip Kaufman, who a few years ago celebrated the 30th anniversary of The Right Stuff with us, returns in November with a new restoration of his 1979 film The Wanderers. Rob Nilsson showcases two of his films that are interrelated, yet separated by almost three decades. Deborah Kaufman and Alan Snitow, major forces in the Bay Area’s great documentary community, follow up their Mill Valley premiere this year with an additional screening opportunity at the Rafael. And more visits from old friends are in the offing.

Randy Haberkamp, Managing Director, Preservation and Foundation Programs for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, returns to the Rafael with two recent and significant restorations from the Academy Film Archive. Both are films produced by Howard Hughes in the early 1930s. The Front Page might be familiar to you, but this particular version hasn’t been seen since its original release. I had never before heard of Cock of the Air, but the unique nature of this restoration (having contemporary actors voice previously censored dialogue) makes it a fascinating curiosity, at the very least.

Craig Barron and Ben Burtt are both Academy Award winners: Craig for visual effects and Ben for sound design and editing.

They are also dedicated film historians and have organized wonderful programs for the Rafael over the years. On our fifth anniversary in 2004, they presented the classic The Adventures of Robin Hood starring Errol Flynn. During the show they introduced a master archer who shot arrows across the

AT-A-GLANCE

stage. Not just any arrows, but ones Ben specially designed to replicate the unique sound that accompanied Flynn and Basil Rathbone’s battles in that 1938 Technicolor classic. It is no accident you can hear those same arrow sounds in Raiders of the Lost Ark and other movies Ben has contributed to over the years.

Craig and Ben have also brought new life to other classics at the Rafael, but their shows this December are the first we’ve had in four years. In December 2012 they explored the science fiction masterpiece Forbidden Planet in an Academy-sponsored program. That night, the climactic moment arrived when the original, life-size Robby the Robot emerged from behind a curtain and lumbered down the aisle and onto the stage. Now that’s entertainment!

Our weeklong, 100th birthday salute to Kirk Douglas provides the occasion for one of the two Barron-Burtt shows this year: their new presentation on Walt Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Kirk Douglas is not only one of the great Hollywood stars, but also an influential actor-producer who has made film history on several occasions. To me it’s interesting that our eight-film series includes two-films-each from three of Douglas’ most significant directors: Stanley Kubrick, Vincente Minnelli and Richard Fleischer.

Kubrick and Minnelli have long enjoyed almost universal acclaim, but the prolific action-master Fleischer hasn’t received as much attention over the years. Recently I was pleased to discover that The Vikings was also one of Ben Burtt’s childhood favorites. So you know where I’ll be on December 15, when Ben introduces The Vikings. I might have to restrain myself from screaming “Odin!” with Ernest Borgnine when he leaps, sword in hand, into the pit of hungry wolves. Don’t worry, I’ll try. ~ Richard Peterson

On the cover: THE EAGLE HUNTRESS - Opens Nov 11 - See page 7 Programs subject to change, including opening dates. OTHER PROGRAMS OPEN THAT DO NOT APPEAR HERE. For up-to-date info: rafaelfilm.org Sign up for weekly email at rafaelfilm.org Check daily newspaper Call 415 454 1222

HIERONYMUS BOSCH: TOUCHED BY THE DEVIL OCTOBER 17–19 A MAN CALLED OVE OPENS MONDAY, OCTOBER 17 CERTAIN WOMEN OPENS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21 CHRISTINE OPENS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21 HEAT AND SUNLIGHT THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27 AQUARIUS OPENS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28 THE HANDMAIDEN OPENS IN OCTOBER A NEW COLOR: THE ART OF BEING EDYTHE BOONE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3 COMPANY TOWN THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6 PERMISSION TO TOUCH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10 THE EAGLE HUNTRESS OPENS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11 THE WANDERERS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13 JOHN WILSON: THE RESTORER’S JOURNEY WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16 THE ARCHITECT THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17 PAINTING PEACE SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20 NOCTURNAL ANIMALS OPENS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23 SEASONS OPENS IN NOVEMBER THE FRONT PAGE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2 COCK OF THE AIR SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3 HAPPY HUNDRED KIRK DOUGLAS DECEMBER 9–15 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1O SECRETS OF IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11 THE BRAND NEW TESTAMENT OPENS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16 TAMPOPO OPENS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23

NOTFILM (preceded by FILM)

MONDAY–THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17–20 | 7:00pm Playwright Samuel Beckett’s only foray into film production was an experimental 22-minute short called Film, starring silent comedy legend Buster Keaton in New York in 1964. Notfilm is a documentary essay by filmmaker Ross Lipman, who explores the history of the movie Film and the lives of the people who made it possible, including producer Barney Rossett, who at Grove Press published provocative, game-changing work by Henry Miller and D.H. Lawrence, as well as Beckett. Woven through Notfilm are fascinating interviews with participants and observers, including Alan and Jean Schneider, Haskell Wexler, Billie Whitelaw, James Karen, Kevin Brownlow and Leonard Maltin. Music: Mihály Vig. Producers: Amy Heller, Dennis Doros. Writer/Director: Ross Lipman. (US 2015) 128 min. (Entire program 150 min.)

HIERONYMUS BOSCH: TOUCHED BY THE DEVIL

MONDAY–WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17–19 Famed for his fantastic paintings and triptychs (such as The Garden of Earthly Delights) that invest religious subjects with wild visions of hell and demons, the late-medieval Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch was a mysterious, unique personality whose work anticipated that of the Surrealists. 2016 is the 500th anniversary of Bosch’s death, and this documentary follows a team of Dutch art historians as they use infrared cameras to examine the sketches beneath the paint of Bosch’s 25 extant works, in order to discover more about the artist’s intentions, and to establish which of the paintings can be attributed to Bosch himself or to his students and followers. In English and in Dutch, Spanish, Italian with English subtitles. Writer/Director: Pieter van Huystee. (Netherlands 2015) 87 min.

A MAN CALLED OVE

OPENS MONDAY, OCTOBER 17 Sweden’s official submission for Academy Award® consideration, this crowd-pleasing dramatic comedy is based on the bestselling novel by Fredrik Backman and stars Rolf Lassgård as the unforgettable curmudgeon of the title. Despite being removed as chairman of his condo association, sixtyish Ove persists on making his neighborhood rounds, as well as roundly criticizing anyone who doesn’t follow the rules. Popularly known as the “neighbor from hell,” he privately mourns his deceased wife and makes a few hapless attempts to join her. While flashbacks gradually reveal how Ove became the way he is, a young family moves in next door and flattens his mailbox, an unpromising start to what eventually becomes the redemptive defrosting of Ove. Rated PG-13. In Swedish with English subtitles. Writer/Director: Hannes Holm. (Sweden 2016) 116 min.

CERTAIN WOMEN

OPENS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21 Acclaimed filmmaker Kelly Reichardt creates a triptych of women’s lives, based on stories by Maile Meloy, and set against the Big Sky backdrop of southern Montana.

Laura Dern is a lawyer burdened with a difficult and desperate client (Jared Harris).

Michelle Williams is Gina, who is planning to build a new home with her husband Ryan (James Le Gros). Lily Gladstone is a Native American ranch-hand who stumbles on a teacher’s workshop and develops a fascination with Elizabeth (Kristen Stewart), a recently graduated lawyer. Reichardt captures the immense scope and profound stillness of the landscape, and derives emotion from everyday life, in these portraits of strong, independent women. With Rene Auberjonois, Sara Rodier. Rated R. Writer/Director: Kelly Reichardt. (US 2016) 108 min.

—4—

ROB NILSSON: TWO FILMS ON SEX, OBSESSION AND THE CAMERA These two features from Bay Area filmmaker Rob Nilsson are interrelated, although separated by almost three decades! Noted for his “Direct Action” approach to filmmaking, Nilsson received the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1979 for his first feature Northern Lights (co-directed by John Hanson), and also won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1988 Sundance Film Festival for Heat and Sunlight. Other acclaimed films include On the Edge, Signal 7 and his 9@Night series. John Cassavetes proclaimed: “Nilsson’s films are beautiful, exciting, imaginative, unfamiliar—and outside of that, very good.”

HEAT AND SUNLIGHT 35MM PRINT THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 7:00

IN PERSON: ROB NILSSON

Grand Prize-winner at the 1988 Sundance Film Festival, this raw and funny drama from director Rob Nilsson casts the filmmaker as Mel Hurley, a photographer traumatized from covering the Biafran War who is overcome with jealousy of his dancer-girlfriend (Consuelo Faust). This is one of Nilsson’s first films in his improvisational “Direct Action” style. With Don Bajema, Ernie Fosselius. Camera: Steve and Hildy Burns. Music: David Byrne, Brian Eno. Director: Rob Nilsson. (US 1988) 97 min. plus discussion.

PERMISSION TO TOUCH

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 7:00

IN PERSON: ROB NILSSON

27 years after Heat and Sunlight, filmmaker Rob Nilsson reprises his role as Mel Hurley, the photographer who has been engaged by model and installation artist Funmi Marlowe (T. Moon) to create erotic images of her for an upcoming gallery show. In this improvised “Direct Action” narrative, the two figures collaborate and clash as professional and personal boundaries become blurred. With Shannah Laumeister, Vincent Leddy. Camera: Chris Damm, Galina Pasternak. Music: Al Nelson. Director: Rob Nilsson. (US 2015) 98 min. plus discussion.

CHRISTINE

OPENS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21 Rebecca Hall gives a stunning performance as Christine Chubbuck, the newscaster in Sarasota, Florida who, struggling with depression, committed suicide on air during a live broadcast in 1974. While the film’s ending is tragic and inevitable, its story is both a sensitive portrait of a disturbed personality and an incisive, even satirical, depiction of the treatment most women encountered in a 1970s newsroom. The supporting players are terrific, including Michael C. Hall as the charismatic anchorman to whom she takes a shine, Tracy Letts as Christine’s blustering boss, and Maria Dizzia as the camerawoman who could become her friend. This riveting drama is also vivid and humorous in its 70s atmosphere and details. Rated R. With J. Smith Cameron, Tim Simons, John Cullum. Writer: Craig Shilowich. Director: Antonio Campos. (US 2016) 120 min

—5—

AQUARIUS

OPENS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28 Sonia Braga commands the screen as beautifully as ever, in this intimate, bracing drama that debuted to great acclaim at Cannes this year. Braga stars as Clara, a 65-year-old widow and retired music critic, who is the last resident of the Aquarius, an older seaside building in the upper-class Boa Viagem Avenue in Recife. Clara lives comfortably, but she has sworn to leave her apartment only upon death, and that doesn’t please the corporation with other plans for the property. What transpires is a cold war of nerve-wracking confrontations, and the tension also sparks Clara’s memories and gets her thinking about the future, in this lovely and resonant film. In Portuguese with English subtitles.

Writer/Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho. (Brazil 2016) 145 min.

THE HANDMAIDEN

OPENS IN OCTOBER Dynamic Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook creates a ravishing crime tale with this gripping and sensual story of two women: a young Japanese Lady (Kim Min-hee) living with her decadent guardian (Cho Jin-woong) on a secluded estate, and a Korean woman (Kim Tae-ri) hired to serve as her handmaiden, but secretly plotting with a bogus Count (Ha Jung-woo) to defraud her of a large inheritance. Inspired by the novel Fingersmith by Welsh writer Sarah Waters, Park has moved her story’s setting from Victorian Britain to Korea in the 1930s, when it was under Japanese colonial rule. Graced with sumptuous costumes and production design, this highly erotic film is a bold and bracing experience for adult audiences. In Korean with English subtitles. Director: Park Chan-wook. (South Korea 2016) 145 min.

A NEW COLOR: THE ART OF BEING EDYTHE BOONE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 7:00

IN PERSON: EDYTHE BOONE & FILMMAKER MARLENE “MO” MORRIS An audience favorite at the 2015 Mill Valley Film Festival, this joy-filled portrait of Edythe Boone captures the Berkeley-based muralist as she celebrates her 75th birthday and oversees community and student projects in Oakland and San Francisco. For decades this indefatigable artist and activist has introduced underserved youth and seniors to the transformative power of art. Her sincere belief in the importance of art in social-justice work was put to the test when her nephew Eric Garner died in police custody. This tragedy inspired powerful questions that many artists and activists face: Can building multicultural bridges through art bring about positive change? Editor: Maureen Gosling. Executive Producer: Jed Riffe. Producer/Director: Marlene “Mo” Morris. (US 2015) Film 60 min. plus discussion.

COMPANY TOWN

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 4:15

IN PERSON: DEBORAH KAUFMAN & ALAN SNITOW Bay Area filmmakers Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman will present and discuss their latest documentary, fresh from its world premiere at the Mill Valley Film Festival. Focusing on San Francisco, the home base for start-ups like Airbnb, Uber and Lyft, Company Town vividly reveals an emerging national debate about the role of technology in creating inequality, as tech workers flood in and longtime ethnic and middle-class communities are driven out by skyrocketing rents and evictions. The film focuses on last year’s heated Board of Supervisors campaign, following the two leading candidates, Aaron Peskin and Julie Christensen, as they engage in a neck-and-neck campaign through some of the world’s most famous and iconic neighborhoods. Directors: Deborah Kaufman, Alan Snitow. (US 2016) 77 min. plus discussion.

—6—

THE WANDERERS: with PHILIP KAUFMAN IN PERSON

S U N D AY, N O V E M B E R 1 3 | 4 : 1 5 Veteran filmmaker Philip Kaufman will present and discuss a special screening of his 1979 cult-classic, in a new digital restoration. Based on the acclaimed first novel by Richard Price, The Wanderers follows the exploits of the titular Italian-American gang in the Bronx in 1963, just before the country underwent profound change. An evocative and thrilling look back at a more innocent time, the comedy-drama features a jukebox full of golden oldies and a young cast of up-and-comers, including Ken Wahl, Karen Allen and Linda Manz. Also starring John Friedrich, Toni Kalem, Dolph Sweet, Michael Wright, Olympia Dukakis. Camera: Michael Chapman. Writers: Rose Kaufman, Philip Kaufman.

Director: Philip Kaufman. Rated R. (US 1979) 117 min. plus discussion. $13 (CFI members $9) One of the great American filmmakers, and a luminary of the Bay Area film community, Philip Kaufman has enjoyed a rich and diverse career as writer-director, ranging from rousing genre movies to films that “push the envelope” of challenging subject matter. His films as director include The Right Stuff, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Henry & June, The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid and Hemingway & Gellhorn, among others. Stories and screenplays for other directors include Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Outlaw Josey Wales. The restoration and revival of The Wanderers brings one of his lesser-known works into the limelight.

THE EAGLE HUNTRESS

OPENS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11 Narrated by Daisy Ridley, The Eagle Huntress is an awe-inspiring documentary that follows Aisholopan, a 13-year-old girl, as she trains to become the first female in 12 generations of her Kazakh family to become an eagle hunter, rising to the pinnacle of a tradition that has been handed down from father to son for centuries. The breathtaking expanse of the Mongolian steppe gives this intimate tale of a young girl’s quest the dramatic force of an epic narrative, as Aisholopan trains with her father’s eagle and then sets out to capture one of her own. Eventually she enters the Golden Eagle Festival, and faces off against 70 men who are the greatest Kazakh eagle hunters in Mongolia.

Director: Otto Bell. (UK/US 2016) 87 min.

JON WILSON: THE RESTORER’S JOURNEY WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 7:00

IN PERSON: JON WILSON & FILMMAKER OLEG HARENCAR

Co-Presented with LIFE ON THE WATER Making its West Coast Premiere, this new documentary produced by the nonprofit organization Life on the Water is a cinematic portrait of Jon Wilson, the man who founded WoodenBoat Magazine in 1974. Through Wilson’s passion for honoring and preserving the art of wooden boats, his magazine has rippled out and connected countless boating enthusiasts worldwide. His story is a triumphant one, about a man whose journey takes him from troubled beginnings to success and finding purpose and meaning in his life. In conjunction with the screening of this 40-minute film, Jon Wilson and filmmaker Oleg Harencar will answer questions, and their discussion will also feature special guests. Program approximately 90 min. $20 (CFI members $17)

—7—

THE ARCHITECT

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 7:00

IN PERSON: JONATHAN PARKER Filmmaker Jonathan Parker will present and discuss a special screening of his latest feature, a wry satire about the relationship between architecture and the American Dream.

Parker Posey and Eric McCormack star as Drew and Colin, a Seattle couple of some means who are trying to start a family and seek a home to prepare for it. When circumstances dictate building a house from the ground up, they encounter Miles (James Frain), a modernist architect whose uncompromising approach charms Drew and drives Colin to distraction. With a deft comedic touch, this movie asks the essential question: Whose house is it, anyway? With John Carroll Lynch. Writers: Jonathan Parker, Catherine di Napoli. Director: Jonathan Parker. (US 2016) 95 min. plus discussion.

PAINTING PEACE

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 4:30

IN PERSON: KAZUAKI TANAHASHI Berkeley-based Kazuaki Tanahashi is a Japanese Zen teacher, translator, artist and peace activist, known for his extraordinary calligraphy works, as well as his masterful translations of 13th century Zen innovator Dogen. This insightful portrait by Dutch filmmaker Babeth VanLoo, which received its world premiere last year at the Rafael during the International Buddhist Film Festival, follows Tanahashi to Europe and Japan and into his home and family life. (In English and in Japanese with English subtitles.) Following the screening, Tanahashi will perform a live calligraphy demonstration and engage in an onstage discussion with Liza Dalby, noted scholar of Japanese culture and author of the bestseller Geisha, among other books. A share of the proceeds will benefit A World Without Armies/Practical Steps toward a World Without War. Film 90 min. plus discussion and calligraphy demonstration. $18 (CFI members $15)

NOCTURNAL ANIMALS

OPENS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23 Fashion designer Tom Ford amazed the film world with his first feature, the Oscar-nominated A Serious Man. His second film, Nocturnal Animals, recently won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2016 Venice Film Festival. Based on the novel Tony and Susan by Austin Wright, it stars Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal as a divorced couple discovering dark truths about each other and themselves. Described by one critic as “David Lynch meets Alfred Hitchcock meets Douglas Sirk,” this sumptuously visual thriller is intimate and gripping, a puzzle-narrative structured around a shocking manuscript that intersects with reality. With Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Isla Fisher, Armie Hammer, Laura Linney, Andrea Riseborough, Michael Sheen, Ellie Bamber, Jena Malone. Rated R. Writer/Director: Tom Ford. (US 2016) 117 min.

SEASONS

OPENS IN NOVEMBER From the directors of Winged Migration, one of the most popular films to play the Rafael, comes another unforgettably beautiful look at the natural world. Compressing the evolution of Earth from the Ice Age to the modern era into a single season, the film observes the poetry and drama of wildlife with dynamic imagery that often defies belief. Filmed with special equipment over a period of four years in the national parks and preserves of Poland, Romania, Norway, Holland and Scotland, it is a thought-provoking visual account of the long and tumultuous shared history that binds humankind with the animal kingdom. Rated PG. Minimal narration in French with English subtitles.

Directors: Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud. (France/Germany 2015) 97 min.

—8—

FROM THE ACADEMY FILM ARCHIVE

R E C E N T R E S T O R A TDECEMBER I O N2 &S3 PRESENTED BY THE ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE CALIFORNIA FILM INSTITUTE Randy Haberkamp, the Academy’s Managing Director, Preservation and Foundation Programs, will present and discuss recent and exciting restorations of films originally produced by Howard Hughes. Both restorations are rare versions that haven’t been seen since their original release.

THE FRONT PAGE

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 7:15

COURTESY OF THE MARGARET HERRICK LIBRARY, ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES

IN PERSON: RANDY HABERKAMP When Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur adapted their hit play for the screen in the early 1930s, the fast-paced dialogue and frantic comedy were even more effective than they had been on stage. Filled with Depression-era slang and toughness, The Front Page was set in the competitive and cynical world of newspaper reporters, as they await the hanging of a man whose conviction was politically convenient. Pat O’Brien stars as an investigative reporter caught between career and love, as wily and manipulative editor Adolphe Menjou tries to lure him away from marriage to Mary Brian. (In 1940 Howard Hawks would change the reporter’s gender and remake it as His Girl Friday.) Also starring Edward Everett Horton, Walter L. Catlett, George E. Stone, Mae Clarke, Slim Summerville. (US 1931) 98 min. plus discussion.

Directed by Lewis Milestone, The Front Page has been available for decades only in its “international” version, and primarily in inferior copies. The Academy’s restoration represents the American domestic release, which contains more sophisticated editing of picture and sound, alternate dialogue and different scene composition.

The Front Page was restored in 2016 by the Academy Film Archive, with funding from The Film Foundation.

Elements for the restoration were provided by The Howard Hughes Corporation, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas College of Fine Arts, Department of Film, and the Howard Hughes Collection at the Academy Film Archive.

COCK OF THE AIR

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2:00

IN PERSON: RANDY HABERKAMP Written by Robert E. Sherwood and Charles Lederer and directed by Tom Buckingham, this comedy was produced by Howard Hughes just prior to the strict censorship of the Production Code Administration. After the censors got hold of the film for re-release, they changed or eliminated the dialogue of certain scenes. Billie Dove stars as temperamental French actress Lilli de Rosseau, whose beauty is distracting Allied diplomats during World War I. She goes to Italy, where she meets American pilot and womanizer Lieutenant Roger Craig, played by Chester Morris.

Cock of the Air was restored from elements from the Academy Film Archive, including a picture master of the uncensored version and a soundtrack negative of the censored version. The Academy cast contemporary actors to perform missing censored dialogue in the style of the original actors to create a “restored” soundtrack. The recreations were performed by Hamish Linklater, Marin Hinkle, Ever Carradine and JB Blanc, enabling contemporary audiences to experience the movie as its makers intended. (US 1932) 80 min.

—9—

KIRK DOUGLAS DECEMBER 9–15 On December 9, Kirk Douglas turns 100. Let’s cheer him on that week with a look at some of his finest work.

Born Issur Danielovitch Demsky, a self-described “ragman’s son” (as he titled his first autobiography), Douglas worked in the theater and served in the wartime Navy before he made his film debut in the 1946 film The Strange Love of Martha Ivers. His lead performance as an unscrupulous boxer in Champion in 1949 earned him his first Oscar nomination, and it also made him a star. In 1955 he formed Bryna Productions to achieve more control over his work and, as executive producer of Spartacus, he helped “break” the Hollywood Blacklist by publicly crediting Dalton Trumbo for its screenplay.

Douglas received three Oscar nominations for his performances, and he received an honorary Oscar in 1996, walking and talking on stage only two months after a debilitating stroke. Always proud of his physical versatility, Douglas continued to write and perform and never retired.

From film noir, through action spectacles, to films that tackle challenging subject matter, Kirk Douglas remains a true original and one of the last of a breed of Hollywood star.

PATHS OF GLORY

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 5:00 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11, 5:30 Kirk Douglas hired young director Stanley Kubrick for what remains one of the greatest of all anti-war movies. Set during World War I, it stars Douglas as a French officer who finds himself in conflict with his capricious superiors when three innocent men are court-martialed for a company’s failure to advance during heavy German fire. Also starring Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou and George Macready, this devastating indictment of the “game” of war remains one of Douglas’ and Kubrick’s best films. (US 1957) 88 min.

LUST FOR LIFE

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 7:15 Kirk Douglas earned his third Oscar nomination for his intense performance as Vincent van Gogh, in this adaptation of Irving Stone’s biographical novel. Director Vincente Minnelli filmed on European locations and based the film’s ambitious color scheme on Van Gogh’s paintings. Anthony Quinn won a supporting Oscar for his performance as Paul Gauguin, and this visually ravishing film, produced by John Houseman with a screenplay by Norman Corwin, also features James Donald, Pamela Brown and Everett Sloane. (US 1956) 122 min.

— 10 —

SPARTACUS

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2:00 MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 6:30 Perhaps the best of the “sword & sandal” epics, this historical spectacle, written by Dalton Trumbo from Howard Fast’s novel, recounts the slave revolt against Rome in the first century BC. Producer-star Kirk Douglas reunited with director Stanley Kubrick, and what a cast they had: Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Tony Curtis, Charles Laughton and, in a scene-stealing, Oscar-winning turn, Peter Ustinov. Shortened following the original roadshow engagements, it was restored in the 1990s, including 14 minutes never shown before. We present the ultimate restoration from last year. (US 1960) 197 min. plus intermission.

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 7:15

WITH PRESENTATION BY CRAIG BARRON & BEN BURTT Set in the 1860s and based on the prototypical “steampunk” novel by Jules Verne, Walt Disney’s lavish science-fiction adventure, directed by Richard Fleischer, stars Kirk Douglas as a sailor who joins two scholars (Paul Lukas and Peter Lorre) investigating a “sea monster” that turns out to be the submarine Nautilus, helmed by the enigmatic Captain Nemo (James Mason). This rarely screened film will be enhanced by a live presentation on its production and effects by Oscar-winning filmmakers Craig Barron and Ben Burtt. (See page 12 for more details.) (US 1954) 127 min. plus presentation. $13 (CFI members $9)

ACE IN THE HOLE

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11, 7:30 Also known as The Big Carnival, this triple-strength noir is now recognized as a classic ahead of its time, and writer-director Billy Wilder’s acerbic satire of the American press-and-publicity machine has never been so timely. Kirk Douglas stars as a seedy reporter in New Mexico who greedily exploits the emergency response to a man trapped in a cave, even purposely slowing the rescue to maximize profits. At the time, The Hollywood Reporter lambasted it as an “uncalled-for slap in the face of two respected and frequently effective American institutions – democratic government and the free press.” (US 1951) 111 min.

THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL 35MM PRINT!

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 7:00 Kirk Douglas earned his second Oscar nomination in this, his first collaboration with director Vincente Minnelli and producer John Houseman. The film won five, including Best Supporting Actress for Gloria Grahame. In this melodrama about Hollywood, Douglas stars as a film producer who alienates everyone around him. Lana Turner costars as the actress he romances and manipulates, and other denizens of the studio system are inhabited by Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Barry Sullivan and Gilbert Roland.

(US 1952) 118 min.

LONELY ARE THE BRAVE

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 7:00 In the movie he often cites as his favorite, Kirk Douglas stars as a cowboy at odds with modern civilization, who finds himself and his horse Whiskey pursued by the police and the military as they gallop toward Mexico. Written by Dalton Trumbo from a novel (The Brave Cowboy) by Edward Abbey, and directed by David Miller, this Kirk Douglas production also stars Gena Rowlands, Walter Matthau, Carroll O’Connor, William Schallert and George Kennedy. “This is what attracted me to the story,” Douglas explained, “the difficulty of being an individual today.” (US 1962) 107 min.

THE VIKINGS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 7:00

INTRODUCED BY BEN BURTT

Kirk Douglas’ physical dexterity was never on better display than in this rousing adventure, directed by Richard Fleischer and photographed by the great Jack Cardiff, largely on natural Norwegian locations. This is one big, beautiful movie, action-packed and occasionally ferocious, as Douglas plays a Viking prince who lusts for Anglican princess Janet Leigh, but finds a rival in Tony Curtis, a slave with royal blood. This action-melodrama is enhanced by authentic design and details. In an extraordinary scene, it’s Douglas himself who jumps along the oars. With Ernest Borgnine. (US 1958) 116 min.

— 11 —

CRAIG BARRON & BEN BURTT

CINEMA ARCHAEOLOGISTS DECEMBER 10 & 11

We are pleased to welcome back our favorite pair of film detectives who love to unearth and share the history and technology of their favorite movies.

First and foremost, Ben Burtt and Craig Barron are filmmakers themselves. Burtt has more than 30 years experience as a writer, director, editor and sound designer. The winner of four Academy Awards, he is known for his work on the Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies, as well as Wall-E, Lincoln and many others. For the last two decades, Barron has been an innovator in the technique of matte paintings, and he has contributed to the visual effects of more than 100 films. He won an Oscar for Visual Effects for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and has been an Academy governor representing the Visual Effects Branch.

Barron and Burtt have presented their special historical shows at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the TCM Classic Film Festival, as well as the Rafael.

20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 7:15

SCREENING AND PRESENTATION WITH CRAIG BARRON & BEN BURTT As part of our 100th birthday tribute to Kirk Douglas, Oscar-winners Ben Burtt and Craig Barron will screen this Walt Disney classic (see page 11) and present the behind-the-scenes story of its special effects and sound design. Utilizing set photos, 16mm color documentary footage, sound effects and multiple demonstrations, Barron and Burtt will explain the processes that made the first live-action film Disney produced at his own studio such a rousing success. They will debut this presentation in November exclusively on the TCM Classic Cruise, followed in December by our show. Film 127 minutes plus presentation. $13 (CFI members $9)

This presentation is made possible through the generous support of the Ken and Jackie Broad Family Fund.

SECRETS OF IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2:00

SCREENING AND PRESENTATION WITH CRAIG BARRON & BEN BURTT Two Oscar winners, sound designer Ben Burtt and visual effects supervisor Craig Barron, will present a screening of the holiday classic It’s a Wonderful Life and share their research and insights into the film that brought director Frank Capra and actor James Stewart home from World War II. It’s a Wonderful Life stars Stewart as George Bailey, a compassionate man who, in his darkest hour, is visited by an angel who shows him what his community would be like if he had never existed. Barron and Burtt will show how “invisible” special effects were used to create the picture-postcard vision of the mythical American town Bedford Falls, including an innovative method for photographing falling snow. Unused visual effects shots from the Paramount archives will be shown, as well as illustrations of how sound effects, editing and music helped shape this classic. Film 130 minutes plus presentation.

This presentation is made possible through the generous support of the Ken and Jackie Broad Family Fund.

— 12 —

THE BRAND NEW TESTAMENT (LE TOUT NOUVEAU TESTAMENT)

OPENS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16 Starting with the premise that “God exists. He lives in Brussels,” this genially sacrilegious comedy imagines the Creator (Benoît Poelvoorde) as an abusive husband and father, who spends all day at the computer, deriving joy from causing mayhem in the world. His wife (Yolande Moreau) is downtrodden, so it’s up to their 10-year-old daughter (Pili Groyne) to descend to Earth and set out to locate six new disciples. Got all that?

As charming and funny as it is subversive, this cheeky Belgian satire is a kind of magical fairy tale for adults. And where else will you catch Catherine Deneuve in bed with a gorilla? In French with English subtitles. Writers: Thomas Gunzig, Jaco Van Dormael.

Director: Jaco Van Dormael. (Belgium 2015) 113 min.

TAMPOPO

OPENS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23 Juzo Itami’s rapturous cult foodie-comedy returns to American screens for the first time in decades, in a new digital restoration. Affectionately referred to as a “ramen western,” it stars Tsutomu Yamazaki as a cowboy hat-adorned truck driver who pulls into town with his sidekick (Ken Watanabe) and comes to the aid of a lone woman (Nobuko Miyamoto) struggling with a little noodle restaurant. Her name is Tampopo (literally ‘Dandelion’), and her platonic friendship with the noble, Shane-like savior is alternated with humorous digressions, including the story of a gastronome gangster and moll who together explore the erotic nature of food. It’s sweet, sexy, surreal…and mouthwatering.

In Japanese with English subtitles. Writer/Director: Juzo Itami. (Japan 1985) 115 min.

TONI ERDMANN

OPENS IN JANUARY The unlikely hit of this year’s Cannes Film Festival (and a huge critical favorite) was this long, sprawling comedy that Germany subsequently named as its official submission for Oscar consideration. The character Toni Erdmann appears well into the picture, because he is a pseudonym adopted by Winfried (Peter Simonischek), a retired music teacher and inveterate prankster who flies to Bucharest to surprise his daughter Ines (Sandra Hüller), an uptight businesswoman, and to shake up her life a bit. Initially the bearlike Winfried/Toni comes off as an embarrassment, but his games and crazy-likea-fox tricks eventually get to Ines, in a hilarious and ultimately moving exploration of the relationship between a father and his daughter. In German with English subtitles.

Writer/Director: Maren Ade. (Germany/Austria 2016) 162 min.

THE SALESMAN (FORUSHANDE)

OPENS IN JANUARY Winner of the prizes for both Best Screenplay and Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival, and Iran’s official entry for the upcoming Academy Awards, the latest drama from Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi (A Separation) stars Shahab Hosseini and Taraneh Alidoosti as Emad and Rana, a young acting couple in Tehran performing in a production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. After their old flat becomes damaged, they are forced to move into a new apartment. One night when Rana is home while Emad is rehearsing, an incident occurs that is linked to the previous tenant, one that transforms the couple’s lives, as the filmmaker expertly builds tension to a dramatic climax. In Persian with English subtitles. Writer/Director: Asghar Farhadi. (Iran/France 2016) 125 min.

— 13 —

FILM•ANTHROPY

THE ACT OF INSPIRING, ENGAGING, AND TRANSFORMING LIVES THROUGH THE ART OF FILM

Photo @ Tommy Lau

The California Film Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is committed to providing opportunities for audiences and students to experience the best in independent and international cinema through our three core programs: the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center, Mill Valley Film Festival and CFI Education.

Supportcfi.org COMMUNITY SCREENINGS

A project of CFI Education, Community Screenings are once-a-month free admission events (advance sign-up required). We feature Indie Lens Pop-up screenings, as well as our own programming. Intergenerational audiences make for lively discussions with filmmakers and subject experts. To sign up for these FREE screenings, please visit cfieducation.cafilm.org/community.

HOOLIGAN SPARROW MONDAY, OCTOBER 24 | 12 NOON Like a real life spy movie, filmmaker Nanfu Wang follows Chinese activist “Hooligan Sparrow” as she defends the rights of girls and women in the repressive state.

PAINTED NAILS MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14 | 12 NOON Local filmmakers enter the rich culture of Vietnamese-American Van Hoang’s bustling nail salon in the Mission District of San Francisco and her fight against toxic chemicals in beauty products.

MEET THE PATELS MONDAY, DECEMBER 5 | 12 NOON More like a romantic comedy than a documentary this visual delight is a family affair as American born and bred Ravi, 29, attempts his first foray into the cultural arranged marriage roundabout.

YOU LOVE MOVIES. WE LOVE MOVIES. LET’S TALK.

Become a member of the California Film Institute today and receive a 20% discount. visit mvff.com/newmember through October 31, 2016 Please use promo code 2016Y PLEASE COMPLETE ALL THE INFORMATION: NEW MEMBER

FULL NAME:

RENEWAL

ADDRESS:

I WOULD LIKE TO JOIN / RENEW AS: $75 ASSOCIATE

$125 FILM FAN

$325 DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE

$250 GOLD STAR

$650 PREMIER PATRON

CITY:

STATE:

ZIP:

PHONE: EMAIL:

$1,250 CINEMA BENEFACTOR

FAST PASS $2,500 MVFF

$5,000 MVFF (DUAL)

$5,000 CFI YEAR-ROUND

$10,000 CFI YEAR-ROUND (DUAL)

Mail this completed form to: CFI MEMBERSHIP 1001 LOOTENS PLACE, SUITE 220, SAN RAFAEL, CA 94901 Or drop off with Rafael box office

VISA

E X P D AT E

MASTERCARD

AMEX

Required to receive invitations.

We do not share your email.

CVV

CHECK ENCLOSED payable to California Film Institute

D O W N T O W N

S A N

R A F A E L

CALIFORNIA FILM INSTITUTE 1001 Lootens Place, Suite 220 San Rafael, CA 94901

1118 4th St.

rafaelfilm.org

|

415.454.1222

NOVATO

SAN RAFAEL

SAN FRANCISCO

CFI Media Partner RICHMOND BRIDGE I-580

OAKLAND

cfieducation.org/eyf WITH SUPPORT FROM

NANCY and RICH ROBBINS

CALIFORNIA FILM INSTITUTE I N DI V I DUA L and F O U N DAT I O N DON O R S LEADERSHIP CIRCLE

Christopher B. & Jeannie Meg Smith Jennifer Coslett MacCready INVESTOR CIRCLE

Ken and Jackie Broad Family Fund Drusie and Jim Davis, Drusie Davis Family Fund Gruber Family Foundation Daniel Kenyon and Michelle Marchetta Kenyon Michael and Susan Schwartz Fund Vickie Soulier PLATINUM CIRCLE

Jim Boyce Trust and Kris Otis Caroline Crawford Labe The Jay Pritzker Foundation Nancy and Rich Robbins Eric Schwartz, EAS Fund Lois and Mel Tukman GOLD CIRCLE

Lorrie and Mark Fishkin Griswold Family Fund, Bob and Alex Griswold

Margaret E. Haas Andree and John Jansheski Gertrud Parker Saul Zaentz Trust SILVER CIRCLE

Estate of Dodie Gann Mary and Bill Poland BRONZE CIRCLE

Richard C. Barker Liz Hume and Jay Jacobs Julie Erickson and Art Rothstein FAST PASS | CFI

Nancy Abodeely Anonymous Alice Corning Sharon A. Fox Lynne Hale Julie Hauser Katz Family Foundation Karen and Gregg Lund Cynthia Maram Kenneth and Vera Meislin Stephen and Mary Mizroch Cathy and Robert Nourafshan Maggie O’Donnell Floum

Jonathan and Deborah Parker Gordon Radley Patricia Tanoury Henry O. Timnick FAST PASS | MVFF

The Allen Family Fund Anonymous Brian and Nina Arellanes Laurie Bautista Jane Bay Susan and William Beech Andrew and Nina Berman Kamala Geroux-Berry and David Berry Susan Bolle Inez Brooks-Myers Marc and Robin Bussin Joe and Sue Carlomagno Joel and Justine Coopersmith Stephanie DiMarco Joanne Dunn Dennis P. Fisco and Pamela Polite Fisco Catherine and Peter Flaxman Janet Fox Frank Gaipa Lisa Graeber

Mera Granberg Michelle Griffin and Tom Parker Larry and Carie Haimovitch Ann-Eve Hazen Russell and Susan Holdstein Devorah Jacoby Elisabeth and Howard Jaffe Willa Jefferson-Stokes Vivian Kaufman Amy Keroes and Jeff Fisher Roxanne Klein K.C. and Steve Lauck Cindy and John McCauley Kevin and Rosemary McNeely Catherine and Ted McKown Monahan Parker, Inc. Linda Morgan Suki and Russell Munsell Tucky and John Pogue Mark and Dorian Polite Sylvia Reynolds Carolyn Cavalier Rosenberg, Sanford Rosenberg and Media Research Associates Karen and Harry Rosenbluth Jack and Judy Sherman Susan and Joel Sklar

Jann Stanley and Soren Dalsager Marjorie Swig Lucinda Watson and Ted Bell Skip and Aew Whitney Kate Wilson Paul Zaentz Zach and Marlies Zeisler MAJOR FOUNDATION SUPPORT

The Bernard Osher Foundation Fenwick Foundation Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Marin Community Foundation GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

County of Marin National Endowment for the Arts