Category: Newsletters

Former Mayor Ed Koch was the quintessential New Yorker. Ferocious, charismatic, and hilariously blunt, Koch ruled New York from 1978 to 1989 — a down-and-dirty decade of grit, graffiti, near-bankruptcy and rampant crime. First-time filmmaker (and former Wall Street Journal reporter) Neil Barsky has crafted an intimate and revealing portrait of this intensely private man, his legacy as a political titan, and the town he helped transform. The tumult of his three terms included a fiercely competitive 1977 election; an infamous 1980 transit strike; the burgeoning AIDS epidemic; landmark housing renewal initiatives; and an irreparable municipal corruption scandal. Through candid interviews and rare archival footage, KOCH thrillingly chronicles the personal and political toll of running the worlds most wondrous city in a time of upheaval and reinvention.

Advance tickets may by purchased at http://www.theavalon.org/filmspecific/?ttl=koch

When Oscar Diggs (James Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks hes hit the jackpotfame and fortune are his for the takingthat is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyones been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuityand even a bit of wizardryOscar transforms himself not only into the great wizard but into a better man as well.

In director Pablo Larrain’s political drama NO, Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet is forced by international pressure to call a plebiscite on his presidency in 1988. The country will vote YES or NO to Pinochet extending his rule for another eight years. Opposition leaders for the NO camp persuade a brash young advertising executive, Rene Saavedra (Gael Garcia Bernal), to spearhead their campaign. Against all odds, with scant resources and under scrutiny by the despot’s minions, Saavedra and his team devise an audacious plan to win the election and set Chile free. Official Selection at the Toronto International and Telluride Film Festivals, and Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film. (Fully subtitled)

Don’t miss your last opportunity to see all five Academy Award nominees in the category of Best Animated Short before the Oscars air Sunday night. We will enjoy this afternoon screening at AFI and then head out for a snack to discuss the shorts as well as our Oscar picks and predictions.

This year’s program is being hosted by last year’s winners: William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg, directors of “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.” Program includes: “Head Over Heels” (UK), in which a couple who have grown apart (he lives on the floor and she on the ceiling) seek a way to put their marriage back together; “Maggie Simpson in ‘The Longest Daycare’ ” (USA), in which Maggie, longing to be grouped with the gifted children at the Ayn Rand Daycare Center, finds her destiny by rescuing a lonely cocoon from Baby Gerald; “Paperman” (USA), the story of a lonely young man in mid-century New York City who only has his heart, imagination and a stack of papers to get the attention of the girl of his dreams; “Fresh Guacamole” (USA), in which we learn how to transform familiar objects into fresh guacamole; and “Adam and Dog” (USA), the story about the dog of Eden, and what happened in those first days of Creation that made Man and Dog so inseparable.

Advance tickets can be purchased with no booking fee by visiting afi.com/silver.

“Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man.” Starting in 1964 with Seven UP, the UP series has explored this Jesuit maxim. The original concept was to interview 14 children from diverse backgrounds from all over England, asking them about their lives and their dreams for the future. Every seven years, renowned director Michael Apted, a researcher for Seven UP, has been back to talk to them, examining the progression of their lives. From cab driver Tony to schoolmates Jackie, Lynn and Susan and the heart-breaking Neil, as they turn age 56 more life-changing decisions and surprising developments are revealed. Success and disappointment, marriage and childbirth, poverty and illness–nearly every facet of life is discussed with the group, as they assess whether their lives have ultimately been ruled by circumstance or self-determination. An extraordinary look at the structure of life in the 20th century, the UP series is, according to critic Roger Ebert, “an inspired, almost noble use of the film medium. Apted penetrates to the central mystery of life.”

A funny new twist on a classic love story, WARM BODIES is a poignant tale about the power of human connection. After a zombie epidemic, R (a highly unusual zombie) encounters Julie (a human survivor), and rescues her from a zombie attack. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies, and as the two form a special relationship in their struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human setting off an exciting, romantic, and often comical chain of events that begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the whole lifeless world.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see all five Academy Award nominees in the category of Best Live Action Short! This year’s program will be hosted by last year’s winner: Luke Matheny, writer/director of “God of Love.” Program includes: “Asad” (South Africa/USA), a coming-of-age fable of a Somali boy who is faced with either falling into a life of piracy, or choosing the path of an honest fisherman; “Buzkashi Boys” (Afghanistan/USA), the story of two best friends, a street urchin and a blacksmith’s son, who struggle to realize their dreams as they make their way to manhood in war-torn Kabul; “Curfew” (USA), in which Richie, at the lowest point of his life, gets a call from his estranged sister, asking him to look after his nine-year old niece Sophia for the evening; “Death of a Shadow” (Belgium/France), in which a strange collector imprisons the shadow of Nathan (Matthias Schoenaerts, Rust and Bone), a soldier who died during World War I, and gives him a second life against 10,000 captured shadows; and “Henry” (Canada), in which Henry, a great concert pianist, has his life thrown in turmoil the day the love of this life, Maria, disappears mysteriously.

Dustin Hoffman makes his directorial debut with Quartet, a dramatic comedy written by Ronald Harwood (The Pianist, Being Julia), based on his play of the same name. Beecham House is abuzz. The rumor circling the halls is that the home for retired musicians is soon to play host to a new resident. Word is, it’s a star. For Reginald Paget (Tom Courtenay), Wilfred Bond (Billy Connolly) and Cecily Robson (Pauline Collins), this sort of talk is par for the course at the gossipy home. But they’re in for a special shock when the new arrival turns out to be none other than their former singing partner, Jean Horton (Maggie Smith). Her subsequent career as a star soloist, and the ego that accompanied it, split up their long friendship and ended her marriage to Reggie, who takes the news of her arrival particularly hard. Can the passage of time heal old wounds? And will the famous quartet be able to patch up their differences in time for Beecham House’s gala concert?

Provocative writer/director Michael Haneke (CachA(c), The Piano Teacher), who previously won the Palme d’Or for The White Ribbon, won the prestigious Cannes award again for Amour (“Love”). Treating his characters with unusual warmth and sympathy, his new drama shows old age and death with unflinching honesty, but nevertheless lives up to its title. This is a touching portrait of a longtime married couple, whose bond of love remains strong facing any hardship. It stars two of France’s best-loved actors, both in their eighties: Jean-Louis Trintignant (A Man and a Woman, Z, The Conformist) and Emmanuelle Riva (Hiroshima Mon Amour); both are superb. Georges and Anne are retired music teachers, living in a spacious apartment in Paris, venturing out occasionally to attend a concert by one of their former students. When Anne has an attack, Georges devotes himself to her care. Heartbreaking, uncommonly tender and haunting. With Isabelle Huppert. Nominated for 5 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Actress (Riva). In French. (Fully subtitled)

Set in 1980, director Christian Petzolds latest work centres on a doctor (Nina Hoss) exiled to a small town from East Berlin as punishment for applying for an exit visa from the GDR (East Germany). Planning to flee for Denmark with her boyfriend, Barbara remains icy and withdrawn around her colleagues, particularly with the lead physician (Ronald Zehrfeld), who is hiding a secret of his own. With her patients, however, the guarded doctor is kind, warm, and protective, even risking her own safety for one of her charges. But as the day of her planned escape quickly approaches, Barbara starts to lose control, over herself, her plans and over love. Masterfully controlled and totally absorbing, this Cold War thriller expertly details the costs of telling and withholding the truth.