I Am

Aug 2, 2019 — 1. Spike Lee was inspired to write Do the Right Thing by what is now known as the Howard Beach incident. On December 20, 1986, a mob of twelve angry white men chased down and beat three black men who...

Sep 3, 2018 — The producers behind our edition of Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s masterpiece share stories they discovered from researching the film and the turbulent political climate that inspired it.

May 9, 2018 — 1. Born Arutin Sayadyan, eighteenth-century Armenian poet Sayat-Nova—whose pen name means “King of Songs”—served as the initial inspiration for The Color of Pomegranates. Sayat-Nova was an ashugh, a troubadour whose verses were set to music that he played on a...

Oct 7, 2016 — Among the discoveries are details about the Valley of the Dolls cruise, author Jacqueline Susann’s casting anger, and John Waters’s homage to Russ Meyer’s follow-up Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

Nov 29, 2011 — 1. Krzysztof Kieślowski directed all three films in the trilogy, Blue, White, and Red, in less than ten months (from September 1992 to May 1993). 2. The ending of Red was the first scene shot in the entire trilogy. Cinematographer Piotr Sobocinski decided that the image...

Nov 5, 2014 — A review of the American auteur’s posthumously published novel

Apr 19, 2024 — Revivals of work by Frank Borzage, Ken Loach, and David Fincher are among this week’s highlights.

Feb 25, 2022 — A young Luc Moullet’s thoughts on Luis Buñuel and Ethan Hawke’s work with Richard Linklater are among this week’s highlights.

Oct 6, 2021 — A rediscovered anti-fascist short is among the highlights of this year’s program of restorations and revivals.

Dec 16, 2020 — Edgar Wright, Sion Sono, Nanfu Wang, Robin Wright, and Ben Wheatley are among the filmmakers premiering new work next month.