THE 2012 OSCAR NOMINATED SHORT FILMS

Ensemble (Global, 2011, HD)
OFFICIAL WEBSITE

FEATURING THE BEST IN GLOBAL SHORTS
IN THREE SEPARATE PROGRAMS: ANIMATION, LIVE ACTION, AND DOCUMENTARY

VIEW TRAILER HERE

Always a crowd-pleaser - and often a game-changer in Oscar pools - The Oscar Nominated Short Films – Live Action, Animation and Documentary are your opportunity to see all the nominees for best short ahead of the 2012 Academy Awards, which will take place on February 26.

ANIMATION NOMINEES

DIMANCHE/SUNDAY
Patrick Doyon

THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. MORRIS LESSMORE
William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg

LA LUNA
Enrico Casarosa

A MORNING STROLL
Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe

WILD LIFE
Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

LIVE ACTION NOMINEES

PENTECOST
Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane

RAJU
Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren

THE SHORE
Terry George and Oorlagh George

TIME FREAK
Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey

TUBA ATLANTIC
Hallvar Witzø

DOCUMENTARY NOMINEES

GOD IS THE BIGGER ELVIS
Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson

INCIDENT IN NEW BAGHDAD
James Spione

SAVING FACE
Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

THE TSUNAMI AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOM
Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

THE BARBER OF BIRMINGHAM: FOOT SOLDIER OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin

THE WOMAN WITH THE FIVE ELEPHANTS

Vadim Jendreyko (Switzerland, 2009, 35MM)

THE TRUE STORY OF DOSTOEVSKY'S TRANSLATOR

A revelatory investigation into language, meaning and the tides of history, THE WOMAN WITH THE FIVE ELEPHANTS unravels the mystery behind the life and work of Svetlana Geier, the world’s greatest translator of Russian literature. Geier’s renown stems from her groundbreaking translations of Dostoevsky’s five great novels – referred to as the five elephants. But her great success has come with its share of loss. Born in Ukraine in 1923, she witnessed first-hand the impact of Stalin’s purges. As a young girl, she watched Nazi forces occupy her country and execute 30,000 Jews. It was her unique gift for languages that ultimately saved her. But it forced her to make a choice that forever altered her life.

VIEW TRAILER HERE

"Wonderful. Director Jendreyko elegantly sketches in the details of his subject’s life and the historical events surrounding her coming-of-age—out of which emerges a fascinating subtext about the malleable powers of language."
-Keith Uhlich, Time Out New York

"A beautifully composed gem."
- Jay Weisberg, Variety

"A quietly astonishing documentary."
- Mark Jenkins, NPR

"Fascinating."
- Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine

PERFORMANCE: IL TRITTICO (ROYAL OPERA HOUSE)

Royal Opera House, London, England
Composed by Puccini
Conducted by Antonio Pappano
Directed by Richard Jones
Starring Lucio Gallo, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Anja Harteros, Anna Larsson & Elena Zilio
Sung in Italian with English subtitles
3 hrs 45 mins including two intermissions

ENCORE FEBRUARY 19 - 11:00 AM

PART OF PERFORMANCE AT THE SCREEN

Puccini’s Il Trittico, a gem-box collection of three brief operas, runs the gamut from heart-wrenching drama to madcap farce. The tragic Il Tabarro and Suor Angelica are followed by the charming Gianni Schicchi, best known for its resplendent soprano aria, “O mio babbino caro.” Lucio Gallo, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Anja Harteros, Anna Larsson and Ekaterina Siurina are featured throughout this very special evening from the Royal Opera House.

“Bodice-ripping melodrama, cloistered nuns, brilliant farce, and three hours of gorgeous music that allows big voices to let emotion rip… I can’t recommend this new Royal Opera production (the first for nearly half a century) too highly.”
- Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph

"Unmissable."
- Paul Levy, The Wall Street Journal

"Trust me, you'll never see a finer production of the opera."
- Edward Seckerson, The Independent

RENDEZVOUS WITH FRENCH CINEMA

Ensemble (France, 2011, HD)
OFFICIAL WEBSITE

STARTING MARCH 2
17TH ANNUAL SHOWCASE OF THE BEST IN CONTEMPORARY FRENCH FILM

FEATURING INTERACTIVE Q/A'S FROM
THE FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER

Presented in association with Film Society of Lincoln Center and UniFrance. North America’s leading showcase for the best in contemporary French film, presented annually at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, is coming to The Screen.

"PATER"
Directed by Alain Cavalier
France’s most unpredictable filmmaker, Alain Cavalier, teams up with actor Vincent Lindon for a witty, semi-improvised look at men, power and politics, starring Cavalier himself as a fictional French President and Lindon as his newly appointed Prime Minister.
PREMIERES MARCH 2 - 1:45
INTERACTIVE Q&A WITH ACTOR VINCENT LINDON


"17 GIRLS"
Directed by Delphine Coulin and Muriel Coulin
Based on a headline-grabbing incident in the U.S., sisters Delphine and Muriel Coulin’s provocative debut feature follows the fallout in a sleepy French coastal town when a group of teenage girls all decide to become pregnant at the same time.
PREMIERES MARCH 2 - 7:15
INTERACTIVE Q&A W/ CO-DIRECTORS DELPHINE AND MURIEL COULIN


"MOON CHILD"
Directed by Crystel Fournier
Romain is a "moon child", afflicted since birth by a rare genetic deficiency that makes him unable to stand exposure to daylight. Since infancy he has been cared for by David, a consultant dermatologist who is fascinated with his case  and with whom he has developed an unusually close relationship. Now David has to leave, and doesn't know how to tell Romain. The day of the separation draws near... a new ordeal for them both. Cast includes Vincent Lindon, Emmnauelle Devos and Quentin Challal.
PREMIERES MARCH 4


"THE SCREEN ILLUSION"
Directed by Mathieu Amalric
Commissioned by La Comédie-Française, actor-director Mathieu Amalric’s wildly inventive update of Corneille’s popular 17th century tragicomedy follows a hotel concierge on the trail of a missing young man who seems to have left many a young female heart aflutter.
PREMIERES MARCH 4 - 4:15
INTERACTIVE Q&A WITH DIRECTOR & STAR MATHIEU AMALRIC


"THE LAST SCREENING"
Directed by Laurent Achard
CINEMA PARADISO meets PSYCHO in a provocative genre film about the dutiful manager/projectionist of a repertory cinema in the French provinces... and the many secrets he holds. 
PREMIERES MARCH 6 - 6:30


"SMUGGLER’S SONGS"
Directed by Rabah Ameur-ZaÏmeche
The 18th century folk hero and bandit Louis Mandrin is the inspiration for this strikingly relevant period tale, tracing the efforts of Mandrin’s followers to distribute his songs and stories in the build-up to the French Revolution.
PREMIERES MARCH 7 - 7:30


"THE WELL-DIGGER’S DAUGHTER"
Directed by Daniel Auteuil
Daniel Auteuil, veteran of Marcel Pagnol adaptations JEAN DE FLORETTE and MANON DES SOURCES, returns to Pagnol for his first work as a director, telling moving story of a hardscrabble well digger, his eldest daughter and her passion for the son of a local shopkeeper. The cast also includes Jane-Pierre Daroussin, Sabine Azema, and Kad Merad.
PREMIERES MARCH 8 - 6PM

PERFORMANCE: TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (LA SCALA)

Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Italy
Composed by Wagner
Conducted by Daniel Barenboim
Directed by Patrice Chéreau
Starring Ian Storey and Waltraud Meier
Sung in German with English subtitles
4 hrs 28 mins plus two intermissions

PREMIERES MARCH 3 - 11:00 AM
PART OF PERFORMANCE AT THE SCREEN

PRESENTED BY THE WAGNER SOCIETY OF SANTA FE

Special discount offer to ticket-holders of the Jan. 28
"Notes on Music - Tristan and Isolde" by the Santa Fe Concert Association

Tristan und Isolde was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich.  Wagner referred to it not as an opera, but called it "Eine Handlung" (literally drama or plot).

Wagner's composition of Tristan und Isolde was inspired by his affair with Mathilde Wesendonck and the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer. Widely acknowledged as one of the peaks of the operatic repertory, Tristan was notable for Wagner's advanced use of chromaticism, tonality, orchestral color and harmonic suspension.

The opera was profoundly influential among Western classical composers and provided inspiration to composers such as Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Karol Szymanowski, Alban Berg and Arnold Schoenberg. Many see Tristan und Isolde as the beginning of the move away from conventional harmony and tonality and consider that it lays the groundwork for the direction of classical music in the 20th century.

SAVING ISIS: CROSSING THE LINE

Love Jordina (USA, 2012, HD)
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WORLD PREMIERE!
ONE SHOW ONLY - SATURDAY MARCH 3 - 6:45
FEATURING INTRODUCTION BY DIRECTOR LOVE JORDINA
FILMED IN SANTA FE BY SANTA FE LOCALS

TICKETS NOW ON SALE HERE

SAVING ISIS is an independent film about the deep and eternal love between a mother and her child. It is set in 2014 post-apocalyptic Santa Fe. The human are becoming extinct. The air, water and food supplies are highly contaminated. The few humans left must wear gas masks. Hope is not in anybody's mind.

Isis Star, a legendary performer, was always lost and depressed. She managed to be found by her beloved daughter who she had given up for adoption at the age of six. She and her daughter enjoyed three wonderful years together but now Isis is ready to die. She disappears, committed to kill herself by the full moon. Eva Moon, her daughter, is in a quest to find her mother again and save her. While in her searching, she has a serious car cash. Eva is trapped in a fine line between life and death. Reality and dreams are in the same dimension.

Eva, in her unconscious mind she is still trying to save her mom Isis.  Eva's worst nightmare is her unmet father Mister Macguffin. He wants to stop her from finding her Mom and tries desperately to take her daughter to his Hidden Dark World.
They all cross the line...

VIEW TRAILER HERE

PERFORMANCE: LE CORSAIRE LIVE (BOLSHOI)

Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, Russia
Choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky after Marius Petipa
Casting TBA 2-3 weeks before broadcast
3 hrs 35 mins including two intermissions

LIVE PREMIERE MARCH 11 - 9:00 AM
ENCORE APRIL 1 - 11:00 AM

PART OF PERFORMANCE AT THE SCREEN

 In the Bolshoi Ballet’s new staging of Le Corsaire, Marius Petipa’s original choreography is revived and refreshed by Alexei Ratmansky and Yuri Burlaka to breathe new life into this production. The ballet follows Medora, a young Greek girl, and Conrad, a dashing pirate, as they journey through a tapestry of dramatic events, culminating in a shipwreck considered to be one of ballet’s most dazzling spectacles.

“The final scene has one scenic masterstroke after another. Moonlight upon the Mediterranean, then the corsairs' ship…filling most of the stage with characters on board, trumped by thunder, lightning, storm, rising waves, and the boat splitting before our eyes: the kind of special effect that in recent decades has belonged to film alone.”
–The New York Times

“…fairly bursts with dazzling ingredients...the final ocean scene is Kaminsky's crowning glory.”
– Washington Post

PERFORMANCE: LA BOHEME (LICEU)

Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, Spain
Composed by Puccini
Conducted by Víctor Pablo Pérez
Directed by Giancarlo del Monaco
Starring Ramon Vargas & Fiorenza Cedolins
2 hrs 50 mins including intermissions

PREMIERE MARCH 13 - 1:00
ENCORE APRIL 8 - 11:00 AM

PART OF PERFORMANCE AT THE SCREEN

 A warm coat, a glowing fire, a true friend, a lover’s kiss – La Boheme is the most romantic opera ever written. Puccini’s beloved melodies perfectly convey the heartbreak and passion of young, poor, Parisian artists falling in love. Let La Boheme break your heart for the hundredth time, or the very first time, in this intimate and moving production from the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona. Starring Fiorenza Cedolins and Ramon Vargas.

From the mid-19th century onwards — against the background of industrialization, the supremacy of bourgeois values, and an intellectual climate dominated by secular materialistic and scientific positivism — art became realistic, seeking to show things as they really were — almost photographically —, rather than making them more amiable or more beautiful. An opera such as La Bohème, which talks of the fragile nature of happiness in a world of poverty, cold and disease, is an obvious example of this trend.

In La Bohème, however, the aesthetic of Verism — the Italian equivalent of the French Naturalism of Émile Zola — becomes more sentimental and the brutality of social reality is depicted less crudely than elsewhere. Four young artists live out their everyday lives amid dreams and disappointments, waiting for the event that is to win them renown, but poverty and misfortune deprive the leading characters — Mimì and Rodolfo — of the joy of mutual love. The text and music relate all this with a pleasant melodramatic tenderness with which it is easy to identify.

VIEW TRAILER HERE

"Honey-toned Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas sang the romantic hero with passion, conviction and refreshing innocence, his beautifully launched high notes unforced and amply projected.”
– David Mermelstein, Opera News

“There is a reason La Boheme is one of the most beloved operas: the music soars, the simple story is easy to follow, the lyrics are sincere, the characters are all youthful and charming, and it is a genuine heartbreaker.”
– Pegasus News

PERFORMANCE: ROMEO AND JULIET LIVE (ROYAL BALLET)

Royal Ballet, London, England
Composed by Sergey Prokofiev
Choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan
Starring Lauren Cuthbertson and Sergei Polunin
Estimated running time: 3 hours

LIVE PREMIERE MARCH 22 - 1:30
ENCORE APRIL 15 - 11:00 AM

PART OF PERFORMANCE AT THE SCREEN

Romeo and Juliet was Kenneth MacMillan’s first full-evening ballet, and, from its premiere in 1965, has been one of The Royal Ballet’s signature works, popular all over the world.

At the beginning of the ballet MacMillan’s crowd scenes teem with life and colour. It’s a pleasure to be able to follow the characters created by members of the corps de ballet as they portray the townspeople, market traders and servants of the rival Montagues and Capulets. However, once Romeo and Juliet meet, everything else on stage can only be scenery for their story.

Three great pas de deux: the meeting in the ballroom, the balcony scene and the morning after the wedding, eloquently convey the narrative: adolescent shyness and fascination; the headlong rush of love declared, and the grief of parting. The final scene in the tomb, a pas de deux with a lifeless partner, is devastating. The Royal Ballet has performed Romeo and Juliet well over 400 times, yet each performance is subtly different. Every pairing in the title roles brings fresh nuances to the young lovers’ characters, while the wealth of supporting roles, from the exuberant trio of harlots in the town square to the murderous rage of Tybalt, offers scope for dancers throughout the Company. Nicholas Georgiadis’s earthy Renaissance designs, with some of the original details recently restored, are the perfect backdrop.

“[Kenneth MacMillan’s] Romeo and Juliet is built on a core of emotional truth, and its choreography does not age. Instead, every cast sees the work born anew.”
–The Guardian

“…a heartening, rousing triumph.”
–The Telegraph

PERFORMANCE: RIGOLETTO LIVE (ROYAL OPERA HOUSE)

Royal Opera House, London, England
Composed by Verdi
Conducted by John Eliot Gardiner
Directed by David McVicar
Starring Dimitri Platanias, Ekaterina Siurina, Vittorio Grigolo, & Pablo Bemsch
Sung in Italian with English subtitles
2 hours and 9 minutes

LIVE PREMIERE APRIL 17 - 12:30
ENCORE APRIL 22 - 11:00 AM

PART OF PERFORMANCE AT THE SCREEN

A classic of opera, Verdi‘s famous score is loved for its melody and its drama. David McVicar‘s immensely popular production, in period costume, brings the 15th-century court of Mantua alive: its womanizing Duke, the court jester Rigoletto bent on revenge and his daughter, Gilda, who the Duke loves but still destroys. A celebrated score of familiar music conducted by John Eliot Gardiner, and a drama of the passions of love and hate.

Undeniably shocking when it first appeared, for its offstage rape, onstage murder and general ambience of sexual licentiousness, Rigoletto has emerged triumphant from transposition to different times and locations. Its hit tunes, as Verdi well knew, are eminently whistleable; but its fast-moving drama can be lethal.

In Rigoletto, Verdi charts the fate of his larger-than-life characters – the tormented jester trying to avenge himself on his heartless playboy employer the Duke of Mantua, who has carelessly seduced Rigoletto‘s innocent daughter Gilda – in music of immense theatrical punch and instant memorability.

"The most impressive singer was the baritone Dimitri Platanias, who on this showing could sing Rigoletto anywhere in the world: beautifully warm, heroic tone, a dynamic range from stirring forte to a pianissimo that lost nothing in colour or substance, musicianship and instinctive feeling for text – a name to watch out for in the current dearth of Verdi baritones."
- Rodney Milnes, Opera Magazine

“Vittorio Grigolo, hot new favorite, comes over very well indeed as the Duke of Mantua. He‘s a film natural, good looking and sexy, moving as if he inhabits this set like he was born to it.
- Anne Ozorio, Opera Today

"[Grigolo‘s] communicative ability — the sense that there's an appealing personbehind the singing — calls to mind the young Pavarotti."
– Fred Cohn, Opera News

"...Ekaterina Siurina, whose delicate Gilda walks off with the evening's vocal honours. Limpid high notes are her trademark and she makes her aria 'Caro nome' the highlight of the performance..."
- The Financial Times

BLUE ALCHEMY: STORIES OF INDIGO

Mary Lance (USA, 2011, HD)
OFFICIAL WEBSITE

ONE NIGHT ONLY!
FEATURING INTRODUCTION BY DIRECTOR MARY LANCE
ADVANCE TICKETS ON SALE HERE

BLUE ALCHEMY: STORIES OF INDIGO is a feature-length documentary about indigo, a blue dye that has captured the human imagination for millennia. It is also about remarkable people around the globe who are reviving indigo in projects that are intended to improve life in their communities, preserve cultural integrity, improve the environment, and bring beauty to the world. BLUE ALCHEMY was filmed in India, Japan, Bangladesh, Mexico, El Salvador, Nigeria, and the USA.

VIEW TRAILER HERE

"Takes the viewer on an astonishing adventure around the world exploring indigo farming and many of the traditions and rituals surrounding it."  
- Wild Fibers Magazine

PERFORMANCE: THE BRIGHT STREAM LIVE (BOLSHOI)

Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, Russia
Composed by Shostakovich
Choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky
Casting TBA 2-3 weeks before broadcast
2 hrs 5 mins including one intermission

LIVE PREMIERE APRIL 29 - 9:00 AM
ENCORE MAY 12 - 11:00 AM

PART OF PERFORMANCE AT THE SCREEN

A laugh-out-loud comical ballet in two acts, The Bright Stream celebrates the maddening, baffling disillusion of love with both hilarious deceptions and joyful resolutions. The libretto, by Adrian Piotrovsky and Fyodor Lopukhov, tells the story of the members of a Russian farm collective in the 1930's and their humorous interactions with a group of visiting performers during the harvest festival. Known for his precise characterization in movement, Ratmansky uses Shostakovich’s robust folk music to tell this zany tale, broadcast from the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow.

“It’s good to see it once; it’s better – and funnier – to see it twice.”
– The New York Times

THE SALT OF LIFE

Gianni Di Gregorio (Italy, 2011, 35MM)
OFFICIAL WEBSITE

FROM THE DIRECTOR AND STAR OF "MID-AUGUST LUNCH"

In his warm and witty follow-up to the 2010 sleeper hit MID-AUGUST LUNCH, writer-director-actor Gianni Di Gregorio has created another sparkling comedy - this time with a dash of the bittersweet.

In THE SALT OF LIFE, Gianni plays a middle-aged retiree who has become invisible to all distaff Romans, regardless of age or relation. He contends with an aristocratic, spendthrift mother (again played by great nonagenarian Valeria de Franciscis); a wife who is more patronizing friend than romantic partner; a daughter (played by Di Gregorio’s daughter Teresa) with a slacker boyfriend whom Gianni unwillingly befriends; and a wild young neighbor who sees him merely as her dog walker. Watching his “codger” friends snare beautiful younger women on the sun-kissed cobblestones of Trastevere, Gianni tries his polite, utterly gracious best to generate some kind of extracurricular love life - with both hilarious and poignant results.

VIEW TRAILER HERE

“A tremendous achievement. Di Gregorio navigates his film with such a sense of delicacy that its tone is never coarsened.”
- Jay Weissberg, Variety

“Full of rich visual detail that will make you smile.”
- Val Kermode, Eye for Film

“Gianni Di Gregorio is fantastic and should be getting more attention.... Of all of the movies I’ve seen this time in Rome, this is the one I most hope will make it to American theaters.”
- Cheri Passell, I Love Italian Movies