Images Cinema

Conflicto Rumba: The Persistence of Memory

Friday, February 12th at 5:30 pm

With filmmaker Berta Jottar

The performance of rumba in Central Park is an internationally known music event, a trademark of Afro-Latina/o public culture. After 35 uninterrupted years of Rumba performances in Central Park, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani halted the events for two years under his Zero Tolerance rubric. This film is an experimental ethnography of the public conflict between the Rumba community and the New York City Police between 1999 and 2001.

Shown in conjunction with the Stalwart Originality events at Williams College. This event is free and open to all.

BEING JEWISH IN FRANCE (Comme un juif en France)

Monday, February 15th at 7:00 pm

This film is shown as part of "Faith, Hope, Identity: Religious and Cultural Diversity in Contemporary French Film," presented by the Williams College Department of Romance Languages. Admission is Free.

Yves Jeuland's sweeping documentary explores the rich and complex history of Jews in France - the first country to grant Jews citizenship. The film investigates the complex relationship that French Jews have had with the French Republic and, in turns, the multiple ways in which French society has dealt with its Jewish population over the course of history. Beginning with Revolutionary cries of Vive la France in Yiddish, the film explores well-known events, such as the explosive Dreyfus Affair and Vichy's murderous betrayal during WWII, as well as periods of history that have received less attention, such as the absorption into French society of Sephardic Jews from Arab countries in the 1960s. The film boldly continues into the 21st century, discussing charges of rising anti-Semitism and the country's complex attitudes toward Israel.

Kids First! Film Club

Saturday, February 20th at 10:00 am

Join us for a fun mix of independent animated short films! Suggested donation: $5

The Firefly and the Stars (ages 2-5; 7 min)
Out of the savannah from Venezuela comes a bright little classic animated tale about a tiny firefly who wants to dance and play with the other glowing fireflies but is rejected because she is different. Other creatures help her see her own worth.

My Homework Ate My Dog (ages 5-12; 20 min)
A modern tale about the boy who cries wolf. Lyle Licketti lies constantly. When his homework comes to life, he must persuade his disbelieving class to flee before the monster consumes them, like it did his dog. One thing stands in the way, his logical third grade teacher...Mrs. Cee.

Once Upon a Tide (ages 5-12; 10 min)
A fantastic journey where orcas swim through cornfields, scientists talk in rhyme and the power of dreams help us discover how the ocean touches all parts of our Earth and nurtures our existence.

The Happy Duckling (ages 8-18; 9 min)
An animated adventure set in a pop-up book world, the film follows the antics of a young boy in his struggles against a STACKING DUCK! In this pop-up book world, expect the unexpected.

The Legend of Ol' Goldie (ages 8-12; 8 min)
When a lonely young boy catches a mysterious goldfish while fishing on the lake, no one is prepared for what follows. They form a bond, but when the goldfish starts doubling in size after every meal, it becomes difficult to keep his new friend a secret.

THE WITNESSES (Les Témoins)

Monday, February 22nd at 7:00 pm

In The Witnesses, set in 1984–85, the body itself becomes a battleground. Or, as Adrien, a gay physician spearheading AIDS research, says to Sarah, a straight female friend, “You’re in love and I’m at war.” Within the film’s foursome—Sarah is a novelist who has a child with vice cop Mehdi, who begins a torrid affair with Manu, a country bumpkin who befriends Adrien while cruising in a park his first night in Paris — dyads will form, split, and recoalesce, particularly after Adrien discovers KS lesions on Manu’s chest. The Witnesses brilliantly combines the personal and the political, and is one of the rare films about the early years of the AIDS crisis. Beyond gay versus straight, Techiné’s film is equally committed to exploring other opposites: rich vs. poor, male vs. female, Muslim vs. non-Muslim.

MIRACLE IN MILAN with Laurie Anderson

Thursday, February 25th at 7:00 pm

Introduced by Associate Professor of Art Liza Johnson; Q & A with Laurie Anderson; followed by a reception

Vittorio de Sica's Miracle in Milan (1951) is one of Laurie Anderson's favorite films and one that she would love students at Williams to experience. It is very relevant to her current work, particularly DELUSION which she can talk about in the Q&A.

Shown in collaboration with the '62 Center for Theatre & Dance as part of Integrated Programming for Delusion: A new solo opera by Laurie Anderson

INTO GREAT SILENCE (Le Grand Silence)

Monday, March 1st at 7:00 pm

Nestled deep in the postcard-perfect French Alps, the Grande Chartreuse is considered one of the world’s most ascetic monasteries. In 1984, German filmmaker Philip Gröning wrote to the Carthusian order for permission to make a documentary about them. They said they would get back to him. Sixteen years later, they were ready. Gröning, without crew or artificial lighting, lived in the monks’ quarters for six months,filming their daily prayers, tasks, rituals and rare outdoor excursions. This transcendent, closely observed film seeks to embody a monastery, rather than simply depict one. It has no score, no voiceover and no archival footage. What remains is stunningly elemental: time, space and light. One of the most mesmerizing and poetic chronicles of spirituality ever created, Into Great Silence dissolves the border between screen and audience with a total immersion into the hush of monastic life. More meditation than documentary, it’s a rare, transformative theatrical experience.

A CHRISTMAS TALE (Un Conte de Noël)

Monday, March 8th at 7:00 pm

When it comes to insightful, humorous dissections of family dysfunction, Arnaud Desplechin can’t be matched. Set in Roubaix—the director’s hometown—a small city in northern France along the Belgian border, A Christmas Tale concerns the Vuillard family, a nominally happy clan that has nonetheless been torn apart by death and the sibling hatred between Elizabeth, the eldest child, and Henri, the middle child. When the indefatigable Vuillard matriarch, Junon, discovers she has a rare type of leukemia, the family’s Christmas gathering—which also includes the patient paterfamilias, Abel, the youngest sibling, Ivan, spouses, significant others, children, cousins, and old family friends—is marked by frequent discussions of who will be the most compatible bone-marrow donor for Junon.

“The gifted Desplechin, as "Christmas Tale" demonstrates, is drawn to powerful emotions and has a passion for finding new ways to tell stories, ways that expand the envelope of what is possible within the boundaries of traditional narrative. What results is a captivating portrait of the most gorgeously fractious dysfunctional family. All the love and hostility, warmth and mistrust that inevitably flow from family functions is on display, as is the often maddening, always inexplicable complexity of the human nature we all share.”-Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times