NEW FEATURES

Saturday, July 9 3:30 P.M. | RR1

Friday, July 15 6:00 P.M. | RR3

Australia 2021 - DCP - 75 minutes, in English

Directors: Jennifer Peedom, Joseph Nizeti

Maine Premiere RIVER

Producers: Jo-Anne McGowan, Jennifer Peedom, John Smithson

Narrator: Willem Dafoe

Print Courtesy: Greenwich Entertainment

Take the ultimate trip downriver from mountain to sea, as RIVER takes us on a collective, worldwide terrestrial journey through space and time. Spanning six continents, and drawing on extraordinary contemporary cinematography, including satellite filming, the film shows rivers at scales and from perspectives never seen before. Its union of image, music, and sparse, poetic script creates a film that is both dream-like and powerful, honoring the wildness of rivers, yet also recognizing their vulnerability. It’s an orchestral concert film (using the Australian Chamber Orchestra) and an extraordinary cinematic experience, an ode to the natural world and a retelling of the history of both rivers and human civilization. Willem Dafoe graces us with some spare narration, but this is, most of all, an immediate, experiential movie. Your mind and senses will be full, but you will not get wet. —Ken Eisen

Sponsored by Ross A. Metzman

Sunday, July 10 6:30 P.M. | RR1

Saturday, July 16 6:30 P.M. | WOH

New England Premiere ANNÉES 20 (ROARING 20s)

France 2021 - DCP - 85 minutes, in French with English subtitles

Director: Elisabeth Vogler

Screenplay: François Mark, Elisabeth Vogler, Noémie Schmidt, Joris Avodo

Producer: Laurent Rochette

Cast: Vladimir Seguin, Alice de Lencquesaing, Aurore Déon

Print Courtesy: Films Boutique

Do you believe in miracles? There are two at work in ROARING 20s, Elisabeth Vogler’s—yeah, miraculous—new film. One is that it’s shot in one continuous, mind and time-and-space-boggling long take—with no cuts or editing— that traverses Paris in all its glory, following its characters through subways, parks and motorcycles, a take that is one of the wonders of contemporary cinema because not only is it an amazing technical feat, it’s one that perfectly fits both the city and the feel the film is aiming for. And that’s the second miracle: the film was shot in Paris the day after hard pandemic restrictions were lifted in May of 2020 in the city of love and light. On one beautiful afternoon, 24 different characters roam the streets of the city with a sense of giddy abandon after a spring of lockdown and confinement. Creatively and meticulously choreographed by director Vogler, and shot through many neighborhoods, ROARING 20s is a SLACKER for our new decade; a series of local vignettes that help bring to full life a dynamic city and its young people who can find joy even in crisis. —Ken Eisen

Sponsored by Colby Cinema Studies