The light, the lives, and the textures of contemporary, working-class Mumbai are explored and celebrated by writer/director Payal Kapadia, who won the Grand Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Centering on two roommates who also work together in a city hospital — head nurse Prabha and recent hire Anu — plus their coworker, cook Parvaty, Kapadia’s film alights on moments of connection and heartache, hope and disappointment to create a soulful study of the transformative power of friendship and sisterhood, in all its complexities and richness. ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT is deservedly one the years most critically acclaimed films and a lustrous achievement that announces Payal Kapadia as an essential filmmaker.
Friday January 17 --- 4:45pm and 7:30pm
Sunday January 18 --- 4:45pm and 7:30pm
Sunday January 19 --- 4:15pm
HELD OVER! GOLDEN GLOBE WINNER! A wondrous journey, through realms natural and mystical, FLOW follows a courageous cat after his home is devastated by a great flood. Teaming up with a capybara, a lemur, a bird, and a dog to navigate a boat in search of dry land, they must rely on trust, courage, and wits to survive the perils of a newly aquatic planet. From the boundless imagination of the award-winning Gints Zilbalodis (Away) comes a thrilling animated spectacle as well as a profound meditation on the fragility of the environment and the spirit of friendship and community. Steeped in the soaring possibilities of visual storytelling, Flow is a feast for the senses and a treasure for the heart.
Saturday January 17 --- 2:30pm
Sunday January 18 --- 2pm
HELD OVER! 1950. William Lee, an American expat in Mexico City, spends his days almost entirely alone, except for a few contacts with other members of the small American community. His encounter with Eugene Allerton, an expat former soldier, new to the city, shows him, for the first time, that it might be finally possible to establish an intimate connection with somebody. An adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ semi-autobiographical book by acclaimed filmmaker Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name), QUEER is a phantasmagorical distillation of Burroughs' ideas and preoccupations, featuring a commanding, brilliant performance from Daniel Craig.
Sunday January 19 --- 7pm
Both eerie and exquisite, writer-director Magnus von Horn’s latest film tracks young factory worker Karoline as she struggles to survive in post-WWI Copenhagen. When she ends up unemployed, abandoned and pregnant, the charismatic Dagmar takes her in to help run an underground adoption agency for unwanted children. The two women form an unexpected bond, until a sudden revelation changes everything. Based on a chilling true story, THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE presents a masterful gothic vision with profound contemporary resonance, a dark fairy tale about one woman’s search for tenderness and morality in a cruel world.
Showtimes TBA
Join for a special screening of the Sundance documentary THE UNREDACTED (Jihad Rehab) followed by an exclusive In-Person Q&A with filmmaker Meg Smaker. All seats $10
SOLD OUT, thank you! Additional screenings TBA
A group of men trained by al-Qaeda are transferred from Guantanamo to the world’s first rehabilitation center for terrorists located in Saudi Arabia. Filmed over three years, with unprecedented access, this film is a complex and nuanced exploration of the men we have heard so much about but never heard from. A riveting, undeniably vital film for intelligent people looking to have their preconceived notions challenged. Don't miss this special screening of this controversial, acclaimed film.
Saturday Jan 25 --- 3pm SOLD OUT
A fundraiser for Palestinian filmmaker Basel Adra's family/community in Tuwani in the West Bank. Sliding scale suggested donation: $5 - $20, no one turned away for lack of funds.
Basel Adra, a young Palestinian activist from Masafer Yatta, has been fighting his community's mass expulsion by the Israeli occupation since childhood. Basel documents the gradual erasure of Masafer Yatta, as soldiers destroy the homes of families - the largest single act of forced transfer ever carried out in the occupied West Bank. He crosses paths with Yuval, an Israeli journalist who joins his struggle, and for over half a decade they fight against the expulsion while growing closer. Their complex bond is haunted by the extreme inequality between them: Basel, living under a brutal military occupation, and Yuval, unrestricted and free. NO OTHER LAND was co-created by a Palestinian-Israeli collective of four young activists during the darkest, most terrifying times in the region, as an act of creative resistance to Apartheid and a search for a path towards equality and justice.
After the film there will be a short presentation by Rain about their recent solidarity trip to the West Bank, including the home area of Basel Adra shown in the film. Followed by open discussion.
Thursday Jan 30 --- 6:30pm
Divine G (Colman Domingo), imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn't commit, finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men, including a wary newcomer (Clarence Maclin), in this stirring true story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art, starring an unforgettable ensemble cast of formerly incarcerated actors.
Showtimes TBA
Shot entirely in secret, Mohammad Rasoulof's riveting, award-winning thriller, THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG, centers on a family thrust into the public eye when Iman is appointed as an investigating judge in Tehran. As political unrest erupts in the streets, Iman realizes that his job is even more dangerous than expected, making him increasingly paranoid and distrustful, even of his own wife Najmeh and daughters Sana and Rezvan. A searing indictment of oppressive rule, whether it be of a nation or in a household, THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG functions both as compelling drama and powerful political statement.
Showtimes TBA