Anna Karenina: Q&A with Director Joe Wright
By Ron Gordner, DC Film Society Member
Joe Wright at the AFI. Photo by Brian Payne
Anna Karenina is an epic drama based on the Leo Tolstoy novel, directed by Joe Wright, with glorious art and production design by Sarah Greenwood and a script by Academy Award winning scriptwriter Tom Stoppard. Anna is played by Keira Knightley, her husband Karenin played by Jude Law, and Count Vronsky played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson. The screening and Q&A took place on a Friday evening, November 2, 2012 at the AFI American Film Institute's Silver Theatre. Todd Hitchcock, AFI Programmer asked Joe Wright some questions and then opened questioning to the audience.
Todd Hitchcock: You have directed other films such as Hanna, Atonement, and Pride and Prejudice. What was the process of distilling down the 800 page novel with Tom Stoppard and incorporating the theatricality in the film?
Joe Wright: The first thing I did was to get Tom Stoppard to write the script. He was vital to the film and kept the love scenes somewhat in the background and used Levin as a character and point of contact for the audience and making Anna a heroine of a kind instead of just highlighting her lustful stories. There were challenges to producing this film on location. Many versions have been done, so I didn't want to tread down the same path. I wanted to do it for years but didn't have the balls to do it. I wanted acting that broke with the standard method acting, so the locations became important and I decided to shoot it primarily in a theatre. This was a perfect metaphor for the Russian society of the time, who tried to emulate the French society with language and dress.
Todd Hitchcock: So the Levin and Kitty story was for counterweight action.
Joe Wright: Also Matthew MacFadyen who was fabulous in Pride and Prejudice was sitting on stepladders and letting his playful or silly side come out which was great in the film.
Audience Question: This was a highly creative film, against an operatic Russian society. Vronsky says "I need to get out of this opera." Do you or Tom Stoppard feel you took liberties with the Tolstoyan spirit of the novel?
Joe Wright: No, Tolstoy was upset with society. I tried to stay fatithful to his intentions and themes of the story. I think his intentions were ignored in many previous film versions. I'm sure Tolstoy would hate what society has become today across the world.
Audience Question: I loved the film, and the adaptation, but also the new concept of art, edifice, and acting together that made it magical. You gave us the essence of the story without going over the top with the love and lust themes.
Joe Wright: The love and happiness that Levin finds by the end of the movie is love and you can't analyze love, spirituality or faith really.
Todd Hitchcock: Magical shots and stagecraft using theatre, opera, and dance; although real it looked like old silent cinema.
Joe Wright: Yes, like silent cinema from Russia and more like theatrical producer Meyerhold than Stanislavski, many of his actors also worked for Eisenstein and had a highly stylized acting, not decorative, but using a very physical acting style. I wanted a film that was inherently cinematic so I shot in the proscenium, stage center, and scenes like Vronsky being shaved, and then cut to scenes where he was clean shaved. It's a gag, you can't do that on stage, only in a film. So although it is set in a theatre it is really cinema.
Audience Question: The character of Karenin in this version seems much more sympathetic than in the book or other film versions. Also the casting of Jude Law, who is usually a positive leading man.
Joe Wright: There are many versions of interpreting the book and films, as many as there are readers. To me Karenin is not a creep, but a man who is put in a horrible situation. Being cheated on makes one feel and behave very differently. When Tolstoy started the book it was about a criminal woman but later he began to understand her actions and fell in love with Anna. So you find yourself changing allegiance to different characters in the book and film. I wanted a balance; no one is all right or all wrong. I actually first cast the role of Karenin with Jude Law because he had to be believable as a husband and someone who was a good catch for a young Anna. He was not just a man with wealth, but had to be suitable. There is also a problem in the marriage with communication and possibly they don't have great sex.
Audience Question: How did you decide what to shoot as cinema versus what was shot on the theatrical stage, for example, the horse race on stage was interesting, was this always in the script or when was it changed?
Joe Wright: I have been asked that question many times. Levin's story is outside the theatre and doesn't have the artificiality of the stage. Anna's story is mostly in the theatre, except a few outside scenes to show that their love has attained a true authenticity. Levin's story is reality and Anna's is more an autobiographical portrait of Tolstoy's world. Tolstoy said, "I am Levin and that is my journey, so I wanted to show the contrasts with Anna's story.
Todd Hitchcock: An earlier version of the script I believe was to be filmed outside in Russia before being changed to the stage.
Joe Wright: Yes, Levin's story was shot on location including the island of Kizhi where it was 28 degrees when we filmed.
Audience Question: I liked the scenes with Levin and the haymaking and noticed credit was given to the West Country Scything Association.
Joe Wright: Yes we were very lucky to find them as advisors and they acted in the scenes and showed us how to scythe. They are a very dedicated bunch who get to get together and drink scrumpy (cider).
Anna Karenina opened in DC theatres in mid-November and is still presently playing on a number of screens.
Rust and Bone: Short Q&A with Director Jacques Audiard and Actors Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts
By Ron Gordner, DC Film Society Member
Director Jacques Audiard, Actress Marion Cotillard and Actor Matthias Schoenaerts at the Toronto Film Festival. Photo from the TIFF website.
Rust and Bone (Jacques Audiard, France/Belgium, 2012). Winner of the 2012 BFI London Film Festival's Star of London best feature and Audiard's first feature film after his Grand Prix-winning The Prophet at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. A tour-de-force film and acting by Marion Cotillard (who should receive a best actress Oscar nomination) and Matthias Schoenaerts from Bullhead. An emotionally charged film about individual survival and the relationship dynamics of two damaged individuals: Stephanie, a trainer of killer whales at a Sea World-like park and Ali, a bruising nightclub bouncer and a sometime-boxer who has his young son with him but doesn't have the time or money to properly care for a child. A wonderful score and soundtrack mixes Alexandre Desplat's score with current hits from Katy Perry and others. A wide ranging contrast of emotions, and contrast and marriage of brutality with tenderness and vulnerability. Rust and Bone was screened in early November at AFI's EU Film Showcase and has now been rescheduled to be in DC theaters around December 21st, 2012. This question and answer session followed a screening at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival in early September 2012.
Jacques Audiard: I want to welcome to the stage my producer Martine Cassinelli, and actors Matthias Schoenaerts and Marion Cotillard. (Standing ovation and cheers from the audience). (A translator is also present.)
TIFF Moderator: Where did you get the idea for this film? I understand there may be a bit of a local story involved.
Jacques Audiard:Pardon my English, I will have my words translated. I read the story from the book called "Rust and Bone: Stories" from a Toronto, Canadian writer, Craig Davidson, and we liked it very much and I and Thomas Bidegain adapted it as screenwriters.
Audience Question: How did you film the part about the legs?
Jacques Audiard: We used CGI and the actress had to wear green stockings and then in postproduction we have to erase the legs.
Audience Question: The music was very energetic with pop music and fresh, what inspired your musical choices?
Jacques Audiard: In my earlier film The Prophet I used more score music. In Rust and Bone there are many very emotional moments and scenes and I used my choices to match those scenes. So I used some pop songs, but the main score was by Alexandre Desplat.
Audience Question: Ali seems to have gained and lost some weight in the film or since, how was this done?
Matthias Schoenaerts: It was all CGI (audience laughter since he is much thinner in person on stage). No, I gained weight for the film, which was ok at my age but I wouldn't do it again at 50. I had to have a compulsion to eat and a structured weightlifting program. I had to gain a lot of weight for this film. I had just lost all the weight I had gained for Bullhead when he came and said can you please gain the weight again for this character?
Audience Question: Can you talk about what it was like working with the whales?
Marion Cotillard: Well, I am not that knowledgeable about places like Sea World and places that keep animals in captivity. It is really something that I do not understand. Taking these giant magnificent animals and putting them in a swimming pool. (Audience applause). I had heard about Jacques' movie several months before he contacted my agent, and I thought I would love to work with Jacques, but don't think I could stand doing this kind of role. The first day at Sea World I still had reservations, but spoke to the trainers who changed my opinion somewhat since they were so passionate about their work and loved the animals, but I have still not really changed my opinion about places like Sea World. I finally got to meet the animals, who I thought must be treated like freaks because of us and crowds watching them, but when I started working with them I found it was amazing. Also if you give them food, they will do whatever you want them to do. So we made it work.
Audience Question: How did you created this visual style?
Jacques Audiard: I have always liked films like The Night of the Hunter and similar films that tell a type of fairy tale and that is what guided us and the lighting used.
Audience Question: It appears that the actors are also caged with their problems. Do you feel by the end of the movie they have left those cages?
Jacques Audiard: Yes, we worked a lot with the characters Ali and Stephanie and to get them out of their cages. The accident also forces them out of their cages and the film hopefully magnifies the life experiences they have.
The 56th BFI London Film Festival
By James McCaskill, DC Film Society Member
Closing Night Gala: Helena Bonham Carter and fans. Photo from the LFF website.
2012 was London's year to shine and shine brightly it did. The summer started with the pageantry of Queen Elizabeth's Jubilee Year which was followed quickly by the pageantry of the Olympics and ParaOlympics. The 56th BFI London Film Festival (LFF) provided a twelve-day celebration of film with all the pageantry of film stars and directors one would expect of a top notch film festival. Hollywood royalty trod the red carpet at Leicester Square cinemas. The LFF has long been a compilation festival bringing the best films from Sundance, Cannes, Venice and Toronto to one spectacular festival along with top recent British and world cinema. Can't go to those four? Then come to London and see the Best Films. London has long been the setting for important films. Tom Cruise just closed down Trafalgar Square to be helicoptered in to battle aliens for his sci-fi film All You Need is Kill. Noted film director Danny Boyle won the Beyond Theatre Award for his theatrical Olympic opening ceremony.
Clare Stewart, LFF Festival Director, welcomed this year's film seekers by saying, "Whether you're a film aficionado diving straight in or a movie-goer coming to the Festival for the first time - this year's programme is bursting with films and events that will entertain, confront and delight you." The public must have agreed with her as attendance rose 12% with a record 149,000 tickets sold.
Winners of festival awards
Best Film Award went to the French movie Rust and Bone starring Oscar winner Marion Cotillard. Most Original Feature Debut at the festival went to the American film Beasts of the Southern Wild. Best Documentary was won by Alex Gibney for his film about the 25 years Father Lawrence Murphy sexually abused students at Wisconsin's School for the Deaf, Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God and Sally El Hosaini was named best British newcomer for her feature My Brother the Devil, story of two Egyptian teen aged brothers and the lure of gang life.
MUST SEE FILMS
Bayou Blue (Alex Lambert & David McMahon, USA, 2011). Serial killer Ronald Domique raped and killed 23 men and boys in the Bayou Blue country of Louisiana, a crime which escaped national attention. Because the area was rural and isolated and the murders occurred in several jurisdictions, Domique's killing spree went unnoticed as Hurricane Katrina dominated the news for much of that time. Local authorities didn't connect the murders as the bodies were found in different jurisdictions. Directors Lambert and McMahon film interviews with families and police against the filmed confession of Domique, resulting in an intelligent film.
Caesar Must Die (Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, Italy, 2012). At the Q&A Vittorio Taviani said, "It was chance that brought us to this movie. We believe in will but chance is important too." A friend of the brothers told them that there is something important and you must go. "Where? In a prison." Dubious, they went. In the intimacy of the highest security wing where really, really serious criminals are housed, "There we saw a young man, 35 years old, reading from the 5th Ring of Dante. This was the great love story of Paolo and Francesco where Paolo killed his unfaithful wife and her lover. Dante had to send them to hell. The young man said, 'They were in hell, we are in hell. If our wives love us they will wait'." He cried as he told this story. The brothers came out of this experience very much touched. "We have to make a movie when something touches us. It had to be Julius Caesar, also a Roman with a story that belongs to everybody." Caesar Must Die won the Golden Bear at this year's Berlin Film Festival and it is easy to see why this powerful and moving film would take top honors.
The Hunt (Jagten, Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark 2012). Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen) has his life shattered when he is falsely accused of child molestation. Before the charge Lucas is a much loved elementary teacher and member of the community. Now shunned by everyone, Lucas' life is turned upside down. This film, which got Mikkelsen the Best Actor award at Cannes, is certain to generate strong opinions.
Laurence Anyways (Xavier Dolan, Canada/France, 2012). A very different love story. Laurence and his girlfriend, Fred, have a relationship that is made melodramatic when Laurence decides to become a female. In the course of this film they move in and out of each other's lives. Laurence's life is filled with characters who also live unusual lives. A fascinating film greatly enhanced by the acting skills of Melvil Poupaud and Suzanne Clement. Poupaud said at the film's Q&A, "He (Dolan) knows what he wants but he can be challenged which results in a very special relationship. He has an interesting way of working: he speaks during the scene which keeps you off balance."
Lore (Cate Shortland, Germany/Australia/UK). As World War II ends, 14 year old Lore has to take her four younger siblings across a now divided Germany to their grandmother's house in Hamburg. Struggling with the responsibility caused by her parent's arrest for their Nazi activities, Lore faces daily obstacles. Photographed by Adam Arkapaw whose intimate work with last year's Australian horror film Snowtown is augmented by the lush German countryside. Lore will be shown during the Washington Jewish Film Festival in January 2013.
Quartet (Dustin Hoffman, UK, 2012). You might call Quartet a genre film, a familiar film form where you take four old British dears and place them in the Tuscan hillsides, a run down hotel in India or the lush British countryside. It is always a pleasure to watch such talent as this (Maggie Smith, Tom Courtney, Billy Connolly and Pauline Collins) and when you throw in Michael Gambon you have reason enough to watch Quartet. It is based on a 1983 Italian documentary, Tosca's Kiss, where the mansion Verdi built for retired musicians needs a financial shot in the arm. At the press conference following the press screening, Dustin Hoffman had this to say about Quartet, "Tom and Maggie were already cast. I added Pauline and Billy. I asked Maggie whom I should cast and without a hesitation she said Pauline. I hadn't seen Shirley Valentine. I saw it and her Woody Allen films." The film was shot in the South East home county of Buckinghamshire.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist (Mira Nair, USA/India/Turkey/Pakistan, 2012). Based on Moshin Hamid's best selling novel, Mira Nair looks at what would cause a Wall Street stockbroker whose career is rising to suddenly turn into a fundamentalist. The destruction of 9/11 causes this Pakistani to be considered suspicious and forced into the conflict between Pakistani extremists and the US military.
Rust and Bone (Jacques Audiard, France/Belgium, 2012). A follow up to his his highly successful A Prophet, Jacques Audiard brings to the screen Canadian writer Craig Davidson's stories of a relationship that develops under trying circumstances. Marion Cotillard is brilliant in this original and highly moving film. (A HREF="rustandbone">See the short Q&A above
).
Calendar of Events
FILMS
American Film Institute Silver Theater
"Sherlock Holmes and the Cinema" celebrates the 125th anniversary of Sherlock Holmes' first appearance. Titles for December include four double features with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce: The Scarlet Claw (1944) shown with The Pearl of Death (1944); Terror by Night (1946) shown with Dressed to Kill (1946); Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943) shown with The Spider Woman (1944); and The House of Fear (1945) shown with The Woman in Green (1945). Other titles are They Might Be Giants (1971), Without a Clue (1988), Sherlock Holmes (2009), and The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970). A silent film with John Barrymore as Sherlock Sherlock Holmes (1922) is on December 1 at 2:00pm; Ben Model will accompany the film.
"Holiday Classics" is a series running throughout December. Titles include Black Christmas, The Shop Around the Corner, Holiday Affair, Miracle on 34th Street, Remember the Night, Metropolitan, It's a Wonderful Life, Christmas in Connecticut, A Christmas Story, The Apartment, The Muppet Christmas Carol, A Christmas Carol, Gremlins, Diner, Holiday, The Bishop's Wife, After the Thin Man, Meet John Doe, Sunset Boulevard, The Godfather Part II, Strange Days and The Poseidon Adventure.
"Lyle Talbot, The Entertainer" is a series of films shown in connection with the release of the book "The Entertainer: Movies, Magic, and My Father's Twentieth Century," by his daughter Margaret Talbot. Films include Three on a Match (1932) with Margaret Talbot in person, 20,000 Years in Sing Sing a double feature of Heat Lightning shown with Havana Widows, a double feature of The Purchase Price shown with Ladies They Talk About, a double feature of College Coach shown with Fog Over Frisco, and a double feature of No More Orchids shown with Mary Stevens, MD.
"The Whimsical World of Wes Anderson" covers these titles: Fantastic Mr. Fox, Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom, The Darjeeling Limited and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
Ang Lee's new film Life of Pi prompts a look back of some of his other films. This series which began in November, continues in December with Sense and Sensibility, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountain. More Ang Lee films in this series are shown at the Freer.
The opera on film for December is Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro" performed by The Royal Opera House of London.
The ballets on film for December are Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" performed by the Royal Ballet of London and "The Pharaoh's Daughter" performed by the Bolshoi Ballet of Moscow.
Freer Gallery of Art
A series of films by Ang Lee continues in December. On December 2 at 1:00pm is Pushing Hands (1992); on December 2 at 3:00pm is The Wedding Banquet (1993); and on December 7 at 7:00pm is Eat Drink Man Woman (1994). More Ang Lee films in this series are shown at the AFI.
"Nudes! Guns! Ghosts! The Sensational Cinema of Shintoho" is a series of films from Shintoho studio (Japan) which specialized in exploitation flicks which have now become cult classics. On December 9 at 1:00pm is Ghost Story of Yotsuya (Nobuo Nakagawa, 1959); on December 9 at 2:30pm is Ghost Cat of Otama Pond (Yoshihiro Ishikawa, 1960); on Decmeber 9 at 4:00pm is Vampire Bride (Kytaro Namiki, 1960); on December 14 at 7:00pm is The Horizon Glitters (Michiyoshi Doi, 1961); on Decembe 16 at 1:00pm is Flesh Pier (Teruo Ishi, 1958); on December 16 at 2:30pm is Death Row Woman (Nubuo Nakagawa, 1960); on December 16 at 4:00pm is Yellow Line (Teruo Ishii, 1960), and on December 21 a 7:00pm is Revenge of the Pearl Queen (Hideo Shimura, 1956).
National Gallery of Art
"From Tinguely to Pipilotti Rist--Swiss Artists on Film" is a series of new documentary works by contemporary artists. The series concludes in December with Max Bill, the Master's Vision (Erich Schmid, 2008) on December 1 at 4:30pm, Bon Vent Claude Goretta (Lionel Baier, 2011) on December 7 at 12:30pm, Bird's Nest-Herzog and De Meuron in China (Christoph Schaud and Michael Schindheim, 2008), The Visual Language of Herbert Matter (Reto Caduff, 2011) on December 27 and 28 at 12:30pm, and The Color of Your Socks-A Year With Pipilotti Rist (Michael Hegglin, 2009).
"American Originals Now: James Benning" looks at Benning's recent works. On December 8 at 12:30pm is Twenty Cigarettes (2011), on December 8 at 4:30pm is Small Roads (2011), and on December 9 at 4:30pm is The War (2012), a work in progress with James Benning in person.
"On Pier Paolo Pasolini" is a lecture and two films, including one DC premiere. On December 15 at 4:00pm is the lecture "From Giotto to Pasolini: Narrative in Fresco and Film," an illustrated lecture by David Gariff discussing the life and career of Pasolini and focusing on his use of Italian medieval and Renaissance painting. On December 16 at 4:30pm is Hawks and Sparrows (1966) and on December 29 at 3:30pm is La Rabbia: The Rage of Pasolini (1963-2008).
"Marcel Carne Revived" is a two-part series of Carne's most popular films. On December 22 at 2:00pm and 4:00pm is Port of Shadows (1938) and on December 23 and 30 at 2:00pm is Children of Paradise.
Other art films and special events in December include an illustrated lecture by Thomas Elsaesser "Germany in the 1920s: Expanding the Film Avant Garde" on December 2 at 2:00pm, selections from the International Festival of Films on Art in two parts on December 14 at 12:30pm and December 15 at noon, and Barnett Newman (Lane Slate, 1966) on December 13, 21 and 22 at 12:30pm.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
On December 6 at 7:00pm is Ai Weiwi's film So Sorry (2011), a documentary about his journey to witness the identification of bodies of students killed during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, shown with Alan Yentob's Without Fear or Favor (2010), a documentary about Ai's career produced for the BBC. On December 11 at 7:00pm is Fairytale, a documentary about artwork produced for Documenta 12 in which Ai Weiwei invited 1001 Chinese citizens to Germany.
National Museum of the American Indian
Shown daily at 12:30pm is Canes of Power (Pam Pierce and Nick Durrie, 2012) about the silver headed canes presented by Abraham Lincoln to New Mexico's pueblos.
On December 3 at 6:30pm is Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings (Tadashi Nakamura, 2012), a documentary about an inventive musician, Jake Shimabukuro, who will be present following the screening for Q&A.
On December 16 at 3:30pm is Dakota 38 (Silas Hagerty, 2011) with Silas Hagerty and film participant Alberta Iron Cloud present for Q&A after the documentary film.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
On December 6 at 6:30pm is Shenandoah (1965) shown in conjunction with the exhibit "The Civil War and American Art."
Washington Jewish Community Center
On December 10 at 7:00pm is There Was Once... (Gabor Kalman, 2011), a film about a high school teacher who discovers a forgotten part of local history. See Library of Congress for a related lecture.
On December 16 at 3:00pm is Beauty is Embarrassing (Neil Berkeley, 2012).
Goethe Institute
Films by Werner Schroeter continue at the Goethe Institute. On December 3 at 6:30pm is Willow Springs (1973), on December 10 at 6:30pm is Dress Rehearsal (1980), and on December 17 at 6:30pm is The Smiling Star (1983).
National Geographic Society
Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure 3-D is shown Sundays at 1:00pm, 2:00pm and 3:00pm, and select Saturdays at 1:00pm and 3:00pm, and Wednesday December 26, Thursday December 27, and Friday December 28 at 1:00pm, 2:00pm, and 3:00pm.
French Embassy
On December 5 at 7:00pm is Two Days in New York (Julie Delpy, 2012).
The National Theatre
Holiday films are shown in December. On December 3 at 6:30pm is Miracle on 34th Street (1947), on December 10 at 6:30pm is Scrooge (1951) with Alastair Sim as Scrooge, and on December 17 at 6:30pm is White Christmas (1954) with Bing Crosby.
Arlington Arts and Artisphere
On December 13 at 9:00pm is Belly of the Beast (Allen Danze) about skateboarders. Two holiday films are shown: on December 21 at 8:00pm is Scrooged with Bill Murray and on December 22 at 8:00pm is It's a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra) with James Stewart.
National Archives
On December 8 at noon is Thirteen Days (Roger Donaldson, 2000) in conjunction with the exhibit "To the Brink: JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis." On December 11 at noon is A Life: The Story of Lady Bird Johnson (Charles Guggenheim, 1992). On December 30 at noon is A Fatal Contradiction and A War to End Slavery (2003) and on December 31 at noon is Underground Railroad: The William Still Story (2012); both shows are in conjunction with the exhibit "150th Anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation."
The Avalon
The "Czech Lions" film for December is House (Zuzana Liova, 2011) on December 12 at 8:00pm.
On December 6 at 8:00pm is a special showing of Hellbound?, a documentary with a Q&A session following the screening, hosted by local minister Glenn Zuber and featuring director Kevin Miller and cast members Frank Schaeffer and Michael Hardin.
The Corcoran
On December 4 at 7:00pm is United in Anger: The History of ACT UP (Jim Hubbard) a documentary about ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) with a discussion following the screening.
The Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital
In commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the first publication of Grimm’s Fairy Tales in 1812, the Goethe-Institut, in cooperation with Hill Center, presents ten new family-friendly fairy tale film adaptations originally produced for German public television. On December 2 at 2:00pm is "Puss in Boots." On December 9 at 2:00pm is "The Wishing Table."
University of Maryland, Hoff Theater
On December 7 at 5:00pm is The Man Who Would Be King (John Huston, 1975), followed by a discussion.
Reel Affirmations XTra
On December 21 at 7:00pm and 9:00pm is Scrooge and Marley at the Carnegie Institute of Science, 1530 P Street NW. Reel Affirmations Xtra is a once-a-month screening; series passes are available.
Busboys and Poets
On December 6 at 6:30pm is The Invisible War (Kirby Dick, 2012), an award-winning documentary about rape in the US military. This is held at the Hyattsville location.
Alliance Francais
On December 7 at 6:30pm through December 8 is "Focus! On Video Art and Short Film," a two-day series of screenings and discussions.
On December 14 at 7:00pm is Polisse (Maiwenn, 2011), about Parisian police working in the Child Protection unit.
Filmmakers for Conservation
American University's Center for Environmental Filmmaking And Filmmakers for Conservation Present the 8th Annual Fall 2012 Film Series held at Wechsler Theater, 3rd Floor, Mary Graydon Center, American University 4400, Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. On December 11 at 7:00pm is a sneak preview of two documentaries produced by AU students. The filmmakers will be there to discuss the films.
The Phillips Collection
On December 20 at 6:00pm is Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier, 2000) and on December 27 at 5:30pm is Breaking the Waves (Lars von Trier, 1996).
Library of Congress
A documentary film on Jews of Hungary is the subject of this program. Gyöngyi Magň, a high-school teacher in Kalocsa, Hungary, uncovered the story of the Jews that were deported from that town in the summer of 1944. She turned to filmmaker Gabor Kalman—himself a survivor of Kalocsa—to tell their story. Kalman will deliver a lecture at the Library with clips from his film titled "There Was Once …" at noon on Monday, Dec. 10 in the Mary Pickford Theater, located on the third floor of the James Madison Building at 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. See the Washington Jewish Community Center for a showing of the documentary.
