Green Cities, the Anthropocene, Sylvia Earle and Snowy Owls: The Environmental Film Festival Marks 22 Years in DC
From the press release
The 22nd annual Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital, March 18-30, presents over 200 documentary, narrative, animated, archival, experimental and children’s films selected to provide fresh perspectives on environmental issues facing Earth. “Our Cities: Our Planet,” a special Festival focus, will explore the challenges of the world’s urban environments as they strive to meet environmental and economic needs. The 2014 Festival features cinematic work from 38 countries and 115 Washington, D.C., United States and world premieres.
Sustainable DC, a city-wide initiative to make Washington, D.C. the greenest, healthiest and most livable city in the nation, will be highlighted through films on the city’s Bikeshare program, green roofs and the DC sewer system with discussion by D.C. government officials, including Mayor Vincent Gray and Keith Anderson, Director of the District Department of the Environment.
The 2014 Festival inaugurates two new awards: the Documentary Award for Environmental Advocacy, won by DamNation, a film capturing the growing momentum behind river restoration and dam removal across the country, and the Eric Moe Sustainability Film Award, recognizing the short South African film, Amazing Grace, for its creative response to threatened forests in Zambia. The Festival’s fifth annual Polly Krakora Award for Artistry in Film goes to the French film, Once Upon a Forest, a spectacular journey through the tropical rainforest.
Opening night features two outstanding premieres. Watermark, filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal and photographer Edward Burynsky’s latest collaboration, explores humanity’s relationship with its most vital resource: water. Your Inner Fish is a scientific adventure story tracing the origins of the human body with evolutionary biologist Dr. Neil Shubin. Another notable Festival premiere is Bill Benenson’s The Hadza: The Last of the First about a hunter-gatherer group in Africa’s Rift Valley believed to be our last link to the earliest humans. Mission Blue, a Washington, D.C. premiere, profiles renowned oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle and her mission to save our oceans. Happiness, also a Washington, D.C. premiere, and a Sundance Award-winner, looks at the impact of TV on the ancient culture of Bhutan.
This year’s Festival presents films in collaboration with the Smithsonian initiative, “Living in the Anthropocene: The Age of Humans,” examining the tangible impact of humans on the planet’s ecosystems. The Last Call asks whether earth can continue to support life without permanently depleting its resources. Extreme Realities, a world premiere, explores the links between human-induced climate change, extreme weather and national security. Issues surrounding coastal development, erosion and rising sea levels are also considered, as well as changing conditions at Earth’s polar extremes.
The Festival’s cities theme also encompasses Danish architect Jan Gehl’s vision to design cities with people in mind, explored in The Human Scale, and the legacy of urban activist and critic Jane Jacobs. The sustainable architecture of Hamburg’s HafenCity and China’s Tianjin is highlighted in Eco-Cities; The Sky’s the Limit looks at green skyscrapers. Growing Cities spotlights the role of urban farming in America and Naturopolis: New York, The Green Revolution shows how nature and wildlife are being integrated into urban life today. The underside of great cities is revealed in Tokyo’s Belly and Slums: Cities of Tomorrow, while Haiti Redux documents efforts to rebuild that country’s cities to withstand future earthquakes.
Additional Festival films investigate the effect of GMOs on our health, the importance of lithium to our energy future, the toxic legacy of chemical flame retardants in our homes, the far-reaching impact of Africa’s ivory trade, the rampant poaching of songbirds in Europe, the escalating demand for sand across the globe, the impact of tourism on our planet and the debate over a proposed uranium mill in the Western U.S. Filmgoers can also journey along Ireland’s River Shannon and take a cable car ride through a vast valley in Nepal, to the famous Manakamana Temple. Wildlife, including kangaroos, rhinos, chimpanzees, bonobos, Snowy Owls and Chesapeake oysters, will be spotlighted, along with winners from the 2013 Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival.
Celebrating 22 years in Washington, D.C., the Environmental Film Festival has become the leading showcase for environmental films in the United States. Presented in collaboration with over 100 local, national and global organizations, the Festival is one of the largest cooperative cultural events in the nation’s capital. Films are screened at over 65 venues throughout the Washington metropolitan area, including museums, embassies, libraries, universities and local theaters. Most screenings include discussion with filmmakers and environmental experts and many are free.
For a complete schedule, visit the Festival website.
The Rotterdam International Film Festival
By James McCaskill, DC Film Society Member
For 43 years Rotterdam has remained an outstanding film festival. Today it's a great deal more than just a film festival. In fact it is a mammoth event. Film continues to be the center of it all but you must add discussions, art displays, film sales and programs that assist would-be filmmakers. This year a special emphasis was placed on what it means to be European.
International Film Festival Rotterdam's Cine Mark helps launch new talent. Igor Drljaca's Tabija and Alessandro Comoin's Happy Times Will Come picked up cash awards to help develop their films.
Tiger Award Winners. Photo from the IFFR website.
Tiger Awards are an annual grant given to talented directors' first or second film. A jury of distinguished filmmakers makes the award of 15,000 Euros to the three directors. This year the awards were given to Anatomy of a Paper Clip, Han Gong-Ju and Something Must Break.
The 10,000 Euro audience award went to Another Year, one of my Must See selections (Yeshohe odin god, Oxana Bychkova, Russia, 2014). This is the Ukrainian director's first feature film. A Russian distributor has the international sales so it remains to be seen if the rising tension between Russia and the Ukraine will harm its international screenings. Among the other international sales Netherland's Dick Tuinder's Farewell to the Moon was nabbed by Media Luna New Films. New Europe Film Sales signed up to distribute Caroline Strubbe's Belgian/Netherlands/Hungary production, I'm the Same, I'm Another.
The Oscar nominated Nebraska (Alexander Payne, USA, 2013) was the Rotterdam audience's favorite film and received 10,000 Euros. Also receiving 10,000 Euros was the most highly rated film supported by the Hubert Balks Fund (this fund is another arm of this sprawling festival) Qissa (Anup Singh, Germany/India/Netherlands, 2013), a story set just after the partition of India about a Punjab family's desire to have a male heir but one in which only female offspring are born.
As a people the Dutch are movie mad, seeing more films per person than anywhere else in Europe so their film taste can be considered above average. At this year's festival Nebraska was their number one choice; the rest of their top ten are: Zombie: The Resurrection of Tim Zom (Billy Pols, Netherlands, 2014), a documentary about a Dutch skateboarder that I wish I had seen. His dad considers it a waste of space, his mom regrets that she had children. Zom is an aggressive street kid that skateboarding made into an international celebrity My London Film Festival Number One film came in third, David Mackenzie's Starred Up. That was reviewed in the December Storyboard. The rest of the moviegoers top film was rounded out by Feel My Love (Briet Teck, Belgium, 2014), The Selfish Giant (Clio Barnard, UK, 2013), Papusza (Joanna Kos-Krauze, Krzysztof Krauze, Poland, 2013), The Creator of the Jungle (Jordi Morato, Spain, 2014) and The Other side of the Heart is White, Leonard Pansier, Netherlands, 2014), Her (Spike Jonze, USA, 2013).
MUST SEE FILMS
Anatomy of a Paper Clip (Yamamori clip koujo no atari, Ikeda Akira, Japan, 2013). A Tiger Awards winner. In making the award the jury said, "Challenging narrative form with precision and economy, this film elevates observations of the absurd in human behavior, and brings it into the poetic domain." Akira (1976, Japan) began to make his own short films while studying English literature at Bunkyo University. This is his second film, his first was The Blue Monkey, 2006.
Another Year (Yeshohe odin god, Oxana Bychkova, Russia, 2014). An unsentimental and touching film that slowly reveals the disintegration of a young couple's marriage. What seems at first to be insignificant life goals in time forces them apart.
Blood in Bahia's Hot (O sangue e quente da Bahia, Aurelio Grimaldi, Italy/Brazil, 2014). A love story of 16 year olds living in a community of high crime and exuberant carnival life. When Vandinha is pregnant with their second child Joao disappears. Vandinha searches the favela looking for him. What sets this film apart from others is Grimaldi's use of young people with no acting experience who come from the favelas.
Canopy (Aaron Wilson, Australia, 2013). More than just a man vs. nature film, more than just another war story, Canopy uses war and the jungle for insight into a man's psyche of desperation on the run. The jungle protects him from Japanese soldiers but becomes a dangerous enemy and threat. Outstanding sound design heightens the claustrophobic jungle.
Creator of the Jungle (Sobre la marxa, Jordi Morato, Spain, 2014). This film had its World Premiere here. In a Catalan woods an eccentric recluse built amazing dreamlike structures. Just to keep busy he constructed a dreamlike tree house, mazes and waterfalls that looked like the set of a jungle adventure movie. Garrell, who also calls himself the Tarzan of Arglaguer, is caught on film by a local teenager. Those early films are incorporated into Morato's film showing Garrell's altercations with wicked intruders. A fascinating documentary of the enigmatic Tarzan of Arglaguer.
Feel My Love (Griet Teck, Belgium, 2014). This film held its World Premiere here. Teck presents a highly respectful film about people living with dementia. Filming was done over four years in order to present an intimate portrait about living and growing older in a caring situation. Feel My Love looks at a few of the six million people in the EU in this situation. We watch Louise, Bes, Denise, Louisa, Betty, Rosa and Jean bid farewell to life in this touching film by the Flemish filmmaker. The director said, "In this film I endeavor to pierce the veil of perception. Despite the gravity of the topic, there is nevertheless a world of lightness tucked into the smallest things, a world full of wonderment, where everything can "be".
Director Lee Su-Jin at the Rotterdam Film Festival. Photo from the IFFR website.
Han Gong-Ju (Lee Su-Jin, South Korea, 2013). This was a Tiger Awards winner. The jury said, "A skillfully crafted and highly accomplished debut - deviating from classicist structure, this film lures the spectator to participate in the pleasures of storytelling through an extraordinary and intricate narrative puzzle."
In Darkness We Fail (La Clueva, Alfredo Montero, Spain, 2014). This film had its World Premiere here. Not certain what the English title will be; could very well be The Cave. Spanish films have a lock on horror mystery films and this film just cements that reputation.
Ida (Pawel Pawlikowski, Poland, 2013) This film is in the Jewish Film Festival that is going on now. Urge you to get tickets as no US distributor has been announced and this could be your only chance to see this outstanding film. In 1961 Poland, Anna is a beautiful eighteen-year-old woman preparing to become a nun at the convent where she has lived since she was orphaned as a child. She learns she has a living relative whom she must visit before taking vows--her mother's sister, Wanda. Together the women embark on a voyage of discovery of each other and their past. Her aunt, Anna learns is not only a former hard line Communist state prosecutor notorious for sentencing priests and others to death, but also a Jew. This revelation sets Anna, now going by her birth name Ida, on a journey to uncover her roots and confront the truth about her family. Ida must choose between her birth identity and the religion that saved her from the massacres that occurred during Nazi occupation of Poland.
Once Upon a Time in Shanghai (Shanghai tan ma yongzhn, Wong Ching Po, Hong Kong, 2014). This film held its International Premiere at Rotterdam. An action adventure film that ranks with the best of the martial arts films. An innocent lad from the country comes to Shanghai seeking a better life. Refusing to betray his country to the Japanese, Ma Yongzhen (Philip Ng) uses his amazing talent to waylay the enemy. With the film's Action Director being Yuen Wo Ping who was the action choreographer on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Kill Bill: Vol 1, Kill Bill Vol 2 you know you are in for fantastic fight scenes.
Police Officer's Wife (Die Frau des Polizisten, Philip Groning, Germany, 2013). A film of 59 playful chapters. Playful yet quietly revealing the underlying aggression of a small town policeman. Realistic scenes are combined with unexpected fantasy: all the family members suddenly face the camera and sing, a bathtub expands into an incredible size, the leading role suddenly is played by an old man or the lead is played a succession of animals like a fox, rabbit or squirrel. A film to ponder.
See No Evil (Jos de Putter, Netherlands/Belgium, 2014). Remember the three monkeys of the saying Hear No Evil, See No Evil and Say No Evil? Here the highly regarded documentarian Jos de Putter has three famous apes look back at their lives. First is Cheetah, Tarzan's friend, who eats porridge with a spoon and augments his pension by making ape-stract art. On his 80th birthday guests gather to watch him blow out the candles. Next up is Kanzi, the cleverest monkey in the world. Subject of a famous study about acquiring language. Kanzi now tries to teach his two-year old son. Knuckles is the most unfortunate ape. He underwent scientific experiments that affected his body and brain. The film's coda is provided by one of Knuckles mates. Knuckles reminds us that in all the years we tried to teach apes human things, didn't we forget something important?
Something Must Break (Nanting maste ga sonder, Ester Martin Bergsmark, Sweden, 2014). In making the Tiger Award the jury said, "A free floating personal voyage traces the pains and pleasures of intimacy, recounted in a tender depiction of characters, with a sincere and playful use of cinematographic language." Bergsmark (1982, Sweden) trained at the Swedish University of Arts, Crafts and Designs. He made the award winning She Mail Snails in 2012.
Trespassing Bergman (Jane Magnusson and Hynek Palias, Sweden, 2013). No film fan should miss this film. "If cinema was a religion, this would be Mecca and the Vatican. This is the center of it all." so said director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu when he set foot upon Ingmar Bergman's remote island home. That feeling of reverence is echoed by just about every major director: Ang Lee, Francis Ford Coppola, Wes Anderson. The list goes on. Holly Hunter, Ridley Scot, Woodly Allen, Wes Cravin and more all spoke of Bergman's influence upon their work. The film was originally part of a TV series about Bergman's collection of 1,711 videotapes. He watched three tapes a day. Trespassing Bergman takes you to his mystical home as Claire Denis and others walk gently upon, to them, this hallowed ground. This superb documentary tells the story of Bergman making some of his most important films: Summer with Monika (1953), Persona (1966) to Fanny and Alexander (1982) to list a few of the films. My list goes on but so do the filmmakers. They never wanted to stop talking about how much Bergman meant to them.
War Story (Mark Jackson, USA/Italy, 2014). Catherine Keener shines as a war photographer, Lee, who is slowly recovering from the stress of being held captive in Libya. Recovering in Sicily, she cuts herself off from all human contact--spending her days in solitude and chain-smoking. When she ventures out her camera is always with her. Looking at the world through a viewfinder helps keep her distance. Ben Kingsley has a crucial role as Lee's mentor and ex-lover. Keener, in an award-worthy performance, meets a Tunisian refugee who provides a breakthrough in the healing process. The turmoil within Lee is slowly revealed in Jackson's second feature. Without was his first film.
EXCELLENT FILMS
A House in Berlin (Cynthia Beatt, Germany/UK, 2014). This film held its World Premiere at Rotterdam. Stella's inheriting an old house in Berlin leads to unexpected revelations about her family history. Finding this 'secret homeland' is a journey filled with complex twists.
Arwad (Samer Najan and Dominique Chila, Canada, 2013). This film had its International Premiere at Rotterdam. Ali has lived for years in Canada yet still feels like an outsider. Returning to his childhood island home off the coast of Syria does not quell this feeling of lost identity. Ali's death poses the question that his wife and mistress try to unscramble: was his death an accident or suicide?
Fish and Cat (Mahi va gorbeh, Shahram Mokn, Iran, 2013). This film was a prize winner at Venice. A group of friends flying kites by a remote lake provides the framework for this intriguing mystery. Is that local restaurant serving human flesh as many believe? The film, shot in a single take, provides an ingenious twists of a oft told tale. Horror is revealed without graphic violence.
Happily Ever After (Taljana Bozic, Croatia/Netherland, 2014). Another Rotterdam World Premiere. An honest portrait of a woman trying to discover why she can't hold onto a man. Bozic does this in a film of self-revelation by revisiting every man with whom she has had a relationship. Painful at times but always honest.
Hope Factory (Kombinat Nadezhda, Natalia Meschaninova, Russia, 2014). This film held its World Premiere at Rotterdam.
It's Us (Ni sisi, Nick Reding, Kenya, 2013). This film had its European Premiere at Rotterdam. More than 1,200 Kenyans lost their lives in the aftermath of a disputed 2007 election. To send out a message of national unity and peace the theatre group SAFE produced the play "It's Us." After travelling around Kenya the play has now been filmed. Cutting between scenes of political intrigue and staged music from the play, director Reding has made a film that is more than focus on trouble makers, he has a film that questions individual responsibility on all involved.
Metalhead (Malmhaus, Ragnar Bragason, Iceland, 2013). When Icelandic Hera's beloved older rock 'n roll brother dies in a farm accident her life is sent into a whirlwind. She assumes his persona and wants to be a rock star. Her rebel actions distress her parents--a metalhead daughter was not in their plans. Director Bragason defly handles the transition from rebellious youth to adulthood in this film, by turns humorous and emotional.
Of Horses and Men (Hross I oss, Benediki Erlingsson, Iceland/Germany, 2013). Iceland's Oscar nominee by freshman director Benediki Erlingsson reveals yet another Icelandic director of note. This film has racked up awards on the international film festival circuit and has been picked up for US distribution. The special relationship between horses and men is, in this film, a relationship best visually told. As their press release says, "A country romance about the human streak in the horse and the horse in the human." Ever wonder how the horse sees us? This film, using Icelandic quirky humor, makes the point.
Salvation Army (L'armee du salut, Abdellah Taia, France/Morocco, 2013). A film of two parts. The first has a light touch as the 15 year old Abdullah (Said Mrini) finds his homosexual nature (picking up older men, fascination of older brother) the second half turns dark as the older Abdullah, now filled with self-loathing in Geneva where the destitute student turns to the Salvation Army as a place of refuge, the only place he can eat and sleep.
FILMS THAT MIGHT BE WORTH A GAMBLE
Club Sandwich (Fernando Eimbcke, Mexico, 2013). A mother is faced with a choice that at times is tragic and other times comical. When does she let go of her adolescent son and when does she cling to her best friend?
Gare du Nord (Claire Simon, France, 2013). This Parisian train station is a metaphor for modern Europe. A place filled with people looking for a better life all seen by a grad student in sociology researching his doctoral thesis. At times the stories of those he interviews are humorous, others are touching.
Hotel Nuera Isa (Irene Gutierrez and Javier Labrador, Cuba/Spain, 2014). This film had its World Premiere at Rotterdam. A once glamorous hotel in Cuba is now a run down derelict with ceilings falling down, walls covered in mold; it is now a home for the homeless. An old man, our guide to this symbol of times past, strives to stay ahead of the rot and maintain something of the era now gone.
I'm Not Him (Tayfun Pirselimoglu, Turkey/Greece/France, 2013). Loosely based on Hitchcock's Vertigo, Nihat (Ercan Kesal, lead actor in Once Upon a Time in Anatolia) is a restaurant cleaner attracted to a young woman whose husband is in jail. Nihal gradually takes on the appearance of his criminal double with the expected consequences.
You and the Night (Les rencontres d'apres minuit, Yann Gonzalez, France, 2013). Voted best film at the Athens and Milano film festivals, the country home of a young couple becomes the setting for a night of debauchery that reveals the complex relationship between the couple.
Visit the International Film Festival Rotterdam website for more information. The 44th edition will be January 21-February 1, 2015.
Calendar of Events
FILMS
American Film Institute Silver Theater
"Screen Valentines: Great Movie Romances" started February 7 and ends March 20. Film titles for March are While You Were Sleeping (1995), Before Sunset (2004), Think Like a Man (2012), My Fair Lady (1964), and Swept Away (1974).
Vivian Leigh's 100th anniversary gives us a series of films including Waterloo Bridge (1940), Sidewalks of London (1938), A Yank at Oxford (1938), The Deep Blue Sea (1955), and That Hamilton Woman (1941). More in April.
Part I of the Burt Lancaster series continues in March with Apache (1954), Crimson Pirate (1952), All My Sons (1948), Sorry Wrong Number (1948), Trapeze (1956), From Here to Eternity (1953), The Rose Tattoo (1955), Vera Cruz (1954), Come Back Little Sheba (1952) and The Kentuckians (1955). More in April.
"Play Ball: The Hollywood and American Pastime" looks at baseball movies. Titles for March are Field of Dreams (1989), The Bad News Bears (1976), Knuckleball (2012), The Natural (1984), A League of Their Own (1992), Bull Durham (1988), Major League (1989), The Sandlot (1993) and Eight Men Out (1988). More in April.
"Action! The Films of Raoul Walsh Part I" continues in March. The silent film The Thief of Bagdad (1924) will have recorded music by Carl Davis. Other titles in March are The Bowery (1933), What Price Glory (1926) with live music by Andrew Simpson, and Every Night at Eight (1935). More in April.
"Overdrive: L.A. Modern, 1960-2000" is a series co-presented with the National Building Museum and runs from February 8 to April 17. It is inspired by the National Building Museum's exhibition, "Overdrive: L.A. Constructs the Future, 1940-1990" on view through March 10. This is the second of two series exploring L.A.'s modern architectural legacy in film. Titles in March are Hickey and Boggs (Robert Culp, 1972), Save the Tiger (John G. Avildsen, 1973), The Savage Eye (Ben Maddow, 1960), The Driver (Walter Hill, 1978), Smog (Franco Rossi, 1962), Lost Highway (David Lynch, 1997) and Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001). More in April.
A retrospective of the Haitian director Raoul Peck has two films remaining: Lumumba (2000), and Haitian Corner (1988).
The 10th annual New African Films series runs from March 13-20. Titles include Half of a Yellow Sun from Nigeria, Burn It Up Djassa from Ivory Coast, Le President from Cameroon, The Forgotten Kingdom from South Africa, Under the Starry Sky from Senegal, Horizon Beautiful from Ethiopia, Ata of Yop City from France, Something Necessary from Kenya, Difret from Ethiopia, B for Boy from Nigeria, Felix from South Africa, Ninah's Dowry from Cameroon, The Kampala Story from Uganda, Imbabazi: The Pardon from Rwanda, Fynbos from South Africa, Grigris from Chad, The Last Fishing Boat from Malawi, and The Great Kilapy from Angola.
The AFI takes part in the Environmental Film Festival. A series of "City Silents" includes Berlin Symphony of a Great City (1927), East Side West Side (1927) with music by Ray Brubacher, Metropolis (1927) with music by the Alloy Orchestra, Speedy (1928) with music by Alloy Orchestra, and Lonesome (1928) with music by the Alloy Orchestra. Other films include Beyond the Edge, Blood Glacier, The Galapagos Affair, Polluting Paradise, Metamorphosen, After Winter Spring and Calle Lopez.
The AFI is one of the locations for the Washington Jewish Film Festival. See the website for titles and times.
Freer Gallery of Art
"Kurosawa's Shakespeare" is a series of three adaptations of Shakespeare's plays by Akira Kurosawa. On March 2 at 2:00pm is Ran (1985) based on King Lear. On March 9 at 2:00pm is The Bad Sleep Well (1960), based on Hamlet. On March 14 at 7:00pm is Throne of Blood (1957) based on Macbeth.
The Freer takes part in the Environmental Film Festival, showing Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above (Chi Po-Li, 2013), an award winning documentary about the island.
The Turkish film Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011) will be shown on March 30 at 2:00pm, as part of a special event "Food and Film at the Freer."
"Cartoons from Iran" is an hour long program which runs continuously 11:00am-3:00pm.
National Gallery of Art
On March 1 at 2:30pm is a Cine-Concert, The Yellow Ticket (Victor Janson and Eugen Illes, 1918), starring Pola Negri, shown as part of the Washington Jewish Film Festival.
Caroline Martel will be in person for two films Wavemakers (2012) and Phantom of the Operator (2004) on March 2 at 4:00pm.
On March 9 at 4:00pm is a program "Early Video Pioneers: Videofreex with Portapaks" with Skip Blumberg, Tom Colley and Parry Teasdale in person.
Rivers and Tides (Thomas Riedelsheimer, 2001) is shown on March 20 and March 21 at 12:30pm.
As part of the Environmental Film Festival is Breathing Earth (Thomas Riedelsheimer, 2012) on March 22 at 4:00pm.
On March 23 at 4:30pm isLe Cousin Jules (Dominique Benicheti, 1973).
Pacho Velez will be present for his documentary Manakamana (2013) on March 29 at 4:30pm.
On March 30 at 4:30pm is Northern Lights (Rob Nilsson and John Hanson, 1979).
On March 15 at 2:00pm is a documentary about Hans Richter Everything Turns, Everything Revolves (David Davidson, 2013) shown with Everyday (Hans Richter, 1929). On March 15 at 4:30pm is Dreams That Money Can Buy (Hans Richter, 1947).
"Masterworks of Czech Animation" is a program of short films. Part I is on March 16 at 4:30pm and Part II is on March 29 at 1:30pm.
On March 22 at 2:00pm is "As I Went Walking," a program of four short artist-made films about walking. Broadwalk (William Raban, 1972), A Journey to Avebury (Derek Jarman, 1971), Stones and Flies (Philip Haas, 1991) and Rain (Joris Ivens and Mannus Franken, 1929).
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
On March 16 at 11:00am and 2:00pm is a program of films to complement the exhibit "Damage Control: Art and Destruction Since 1950."
As part of the Environmental Film Festival, on March 27 at 8:00pm is Weather War (2012), a documentary about attempts to control the weather and tornadoes.
Museum of American History
On March 22 at noon, as part of the Environmental Film Festival, two short films are shown: Shored Up (Ben Kalina, 2013), about how the rising sea may affect the East Coast, and Ocean Frontiers (Karen Anspacher-Meyer and Ralf Meyer, 2013).
Also part of the Environmental Film Festival on March 29 at 1:00pm is The Phantom Wolves of Sun Valley (DeSiree Fawn, 2011) about the war on wolves and Naturopolis: New York, the Green Revolution (Bernard Guerrini, 2013), a documentary about how cities try to integrate nature and wildlife into urban life. Discussion follows each film.
National Portrait Gallery
A fundraiser, reception, and screening takes place March 19 at the National Portrait Gallery. Meet TCM's host Robert Osborne in conversation with Amy Henderson, Curator of the exhibit Dancing the Dream, followed by a screening of Flying Down to Rio (1933) starring Dolores Del Rio, Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire.
Tickets for the film program only at 6:30pm are $15. This includes the interview and discussion with Amy Henderson and Robert Osborne, followed by the film which is shown in conjunction with the exhibit "Dancing the Dream" on view at the Portrait Gallery. Tickets for the private reception at 6:00pm and film program are $50. This includes a wine and cheese reception plus the film program described earlier. Tickets must be ordered in advance, they will not be available at the door.
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers first appeared onscreen in Flying Down to Rio (1933). Their performance of “The Carioca” generated such an enthusiastic response that RKO quickly cast them in what became a historic movie series—The Gay Divorcee (1934), Roberta (1935), Top Hat (1935), Follow the Fleet (1936), Swing Time (1936), Shall We Dance (1937), Carefree (1938), and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939). For MGM, they teamed once again for The Barkleys of Broadway (1949).
Order here for the Reception, Interview and Film. Order here for the Interview and film.
National Museum of Women in the Arts
As part of the Environmental Film Festival, on March 24 at 7:00pm is The Barefoot Artist (Glenn Holsten and Daniel Traub, 2013), a documentary about artist Lily Yeh, who will participate in a discussion with the filmmakers after the screening.
Also part of the Environmental Film Festival, on March 25 at 7:00pm is Sokola Rimba (Riri Riza, 2013), about the career of Butet Manurung, award-winning Indonesian anthropolgist who brings literacy to indigenous people living in Indonesia's forests. After the film there will be a discussion with Riri Riza and Butet Manurung.
Washington Jewish Community Center
The Washington Jewish Film Festival which began in February continues in March. See the press release from February's Storyboard.
As part of "Community Cinema" on March 30 at 3:00pm is Medora (Andrew Cohn and Davy Rothbart, 2013), a documentary about the declining small town of Medora, Indiana.
Goethe Institute
The 10-part miniseries In Face of the Crime (Dominik Graf, 2010) concludes in March with two episodes on March 3 at 6:30pm, three episodes on March 10 at 6:30pm and the final two episodes on March 17 at 6:30pm.
Another film by Dominik Graf is on March 24 at 6:30pm A Map of the Heart (Dominik Graf, 2002), about an architect and his lover who separate while on vacation in Corsica.
The Goethe Institute takes part in the Environmental Film Festival on March 25 at 6:00pm with Tokyo's Belly (Reinhild Dettmer-Finke, 2013), a documentary about Fukushima and its aftermath. At 7:00pm on March 25 is The Venice Syndrome (Andreas Pichler, 2012), about Venice as a tourist town and the difficulty of living there as a resident.
Also in the Environmental Film Festival on March 26 at 6:00pm is Ecopia: Eco-Cities and Ecopia: The Sky's the Limit, both television productions about intelligent building and sustainable living. "Eco-Cities" is about model cities in Germany and China and "The Sky's the Limit" is about skyscrapers and how to make them both green and efficient. On March 26 at 7:15pm is Food Savers (Valentin Thurn, 2013), about finding solutions for wasting food. Discussion follows the film.
"German Expressionism" is a series of films shown in conjunction with the National Gallery of Art's exhibition Modern German Prints and Drawings from the Kainen Collection." On March 31 at 6:30pm is Draw Til You Drop – The Painter Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (Michael Trabitzsch, 2001), about one of the most famous and influential artists of German Expressionism. Two more in April.
The Goethe Institute is one of the locations for the Washington Jewish Film Festival. See the schedule for titles, dates and times.
National Geographic Society
National Geographic takes part in the Environmental Film Festival. On March 20 at 7:30pm is the "Eric Moe Sustainability Film Award," an evening of short films on sustainability. The award-winner Amazing Grace and runner up Hope will be shown along with four other short films.
On March 24 at 7:30pm is Kingdom of the Apes: Brother vs. Brother, about chimpanzees in Tanzania's Gombe National Park. Q&A follows the film.
On March 26 at 7:30pm is "What’s the Score: Music in Film," an evening with Chris Beaty, a professional composer and performer who has written the music for numerous National Geographic productions.
French Embassy
On March 7 at 7:00pm is Keep Smiling (Rusudan Chkonia), from Georgia and set in Tbilisi.
Emmanuelle Riva will be appearing at the Kennedy Center during March and the French Embassy presents a three-film retrospective of actress Emmanuelle Riva's work. It starts on March 10 at 7:00pm with Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012). On March 11 at 7:00pm is Liberté, la nuit (Philippe Garrel, 1983) and on March 17 at 7:00pm is Léon Morin, prêtre (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1961).
The Japan Information and Culture Center
On March 11 at 1:00pm and 6:30pm is Narrow Path to the Deep North (Joseph Krakora, 2013), a short film interweaving poetry with photographs and television footage of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. A panel discussion and Q&A session will follow the 6:30pm screening with director Joseph Krakora.
Arlington Arts and Artisphere
For the Environmental Film Festival on March 21 at 7:00pm and 9:00pm is "Himalaya Song," a merging of film, live music, and storytelling in a critically-acclaimed multimedia performance. With a Q&A.
National Archives
The Academy Award-nominated Documentaries and Short Subjects will be present all the nominees in four categories: Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, Live Action Short Film and Animated Short Film. The Documentary Features: on March 1 at 7:00pm is Dirty Wars (Richard Rowley and Jeremy Scahill, 2013), and on March 2 at 4:00pm is Cutie and the Boxer (Zachary Heinzerling and Lydia Dean Pilcher, 2013). The Live Action Short Nominees: on March 1 at noon is That Wasn't Me (Esteban Crespo), Just Before Losing Everything (Xavier Legrand and Alexandre Gavras), Helium (Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson), Do I Have to Take Care of Everything? (Selma Vilhunen and Kirsikka Saari), and The Voorman Problem (Mark Gill and Baldwin Li). The Animated Short Film Nominees: on March 1 at 3:30pm is Feral (Daniel Sousa and Dan Golden), Get a Horse! (Lauren MacMullan and Dorothy McKim), Mr. Hublot (Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares), Possessions (Shuhei Morita), and Room on the Broom (Max Lang and Jan Lachauer). The Documentary Short Subject Nominees: on March 2 at 11:00am is CaveDigger (Jeffrey Karoff), Facing Fear (Jason Cohen), Karama Has No Walls (Sara Ishaq), The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life (Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed), and Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall (Edgar Barens).
West End Cinema
The Human Rights Watch offers two films in March. On March 5 at 7:00pm is Deepsouth (Lisa Biagiotti, Duy Linh Tu and Joe Lindquist), about HIV in the American rural south. On March 12 at 7:00pm is Rafea: Solar Mama (Jehane Noujaim and Mona Eldaief), about a Bedouin woman who travels to India to become a solar engineer. Q&As after both films.
National Museum of Natural History
On March 20 at 7:00pm is Journey to the South Pacific, an IMAX 3-D documentary about the tropical islands of West Papua.
As part of the Environmental Film Festival, on March 22, starting at noon is "World Water Day - Oceans & Watersheds," a program of films including The Great Flood (Bill Morrison, 2013) about the 1927 Mississippi River Flood, What Is a Dead Zone (2013), Spat! Bringing Oysters Back to the Chesapeake (Sandy Cannon-Brown, 2014), Mission Blue (Bob Nixon and Fisher Stevens, 2014). Discussion with filmmakers follows many of the films.
Also part of the Environmental Film Festival, on March 23 starting at 1:00pm is a program of films including Critical Mass (Mike Freedman, 2012) about social crowding, Arboraceous (2012), Antarctica: A Year on Ice (Anthony Powell, 2013) about photographer Anthony Powell's 10 years photographing the Antarctic, Expedition to the End of the World (Daniel Dencik, 2013) about a group of scientists' journey to northeast Greenland, Extreme Realities (Marilyn and Hal Weiner, 2013) about severe weather events and global warming. Discussion with filmmakers follows many of the films.
The Corcoran
On March 5 at 7:00pm is Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin) about the Little Tramp's struggle to survive in the modern industrialized world.
Italian Cultural Institute
To celebrate Sophia Loren's 80th birthday is Sunflower (Vittorio De Sica, 1970) on March 18 at 6:30pm. With Marcello Mastroianni.
As part of the Environmental Film Festival on March 24 at 6:30pm isThe Last Shepherd (Marco Bonfanti, 2013) about the last man to tend sheep in Lombardy.
Anacostia Community Museum
On March 6 at 11:00am is Yesterday (2004), filmed in the KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa, about a South African woman who copes with AIDS. Discussion follows the film.
On March 13 at 11:00am is Fate of A Salesman (2013), a documentary about the rise and demise of a DC clothing store.
On March 21 at 6:30pm as part of the Environmental Film Festival is Fishing the Anacostia (2014), shown with My Brooklyn (Kelly Anderson, 2012), a documentary about the gentrification of the filmmaker's neighborhood. Discussion follows. On March 28 at 6:30pm is Drill Baby Drill (Lech Kowalski, 2013), about farmers in a small village in Poland who discover that a gas well is to be built nearby.
The Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital
"Documentary Fridays": On March 7 at 7:00pm is Parrot Confidential (Allison Argo). On March 14 at 7:00pm is Wayfaring - A Jaunt along the Camino de Santiago (Scott Herriott). On March 21 at 7:30pm is Battle for the Elephants, a documentary about African elephants.
For the Environmental Film Festival: On March 23 at noon is Ground Operations: Battlefields to Farmfields (Dulanie Ellis, 2012). On March 21 at 7:00pm is Tiny: A Story About Living Small (Christopher Smith and Merete Mueller, 2013). On March 22 at 1:00pm is Backyard Bugs (2014). On March 22 at noon is a program of children's films.
On March 11 at 7:00pm is Medora (Andrew Cohn and Davy Rothbart, 2013), a documentary about the declining small town of Medora, Indiana.
Alden Theater
On March 5 at 1:00pm is West Side Story.
Busboys and Poets
On March 31 at 7:00pm is The Irish Pub, a documentary about Irish pubs and those who run them. At the 14th and V location.
The Jerusalem Fund
On March 12 at 12:30pm is Palestine in the South (Ana Maria Hurtado, 2011), about Palestinians in Iraq who immigrated to Chile after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
George Mason University
As part of the Visiting Filmmakers Series, on March 19 at 7:30pm Jason Osder will be at the Johnson Center Cinema with Let the Fire Burn. Open to the public.
Landmark's E Street Cinema
The "Studio Ghibli Collection" starts March 8. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind in 35mm and other films from the famed animation studio will be shown every Saturday and Sunday at 10:30am and 1:00pm. See the website for titles.
FILM FESTIVALS
