Sundance Channel : Printable Film Descriptions

Printable Film Descriptions

February 2010

Find out more about the films and series Sundance Channel has in store this month.

14 Women

When the 109th Congress convened for business in January 2005, 14 senate seats were held by women, the greatest number in the 228-year history of the legislative branch. (Two years later, the number had risen to 16.) With rare personal access, filmmaker Mary Lambert presents a bipartisan profile of 14 extraordinary women who are radically altering the profile of American politics: from feisty Barbara Mikulski and down-to-earth Olympia Snowe to outspoken Barbara Boxer and presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton. Annette Bening narrates.

(2005) Color (69 mins)

TUESDAY FEB 9 6:05AM

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

Director - Cristian Mungiu

Cristian Mungiu's wrenching thriller won both the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival and the Best Foreign Language Film Award from the National Society of Film Critics. Following the saga of two college roommates during Romania's late Ceausescu era trying to arrange an illegal abortion, Mungiu's exquisite and matter-of-fact horror tale examines the everyday reality of living in a totalitarian state and the human will to resist, survive and carry on. "Ferocious, unsentimental, often brilliantly directed" - New York Times.

(2007) Color (113 mins)

SUNDAY FEB 7 2AM | TUESDAY FEB 23 10:30PM

Adaptation

Director - Spike Jonze

Director Spike Jonze and writer Charlie Kaufman, who memorably melded screwball comedy and existentialist philosophy in BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, return with a more audacious foray into pop metafiction. Nicholas Cage plays Kaufman (and his fictitious hack-writer twin) as he struggles to bring to the screen writer Susan Orlean's non-fiction book "The Orchard Thief". As desperation turns to cliché, Kaufman's life and screenplay begin to spin out of control. With Oscar®-winning Best Supporting Actor Chris Cooper as the book's titular orchid obsessive.

(2002) Color (115 mins)

THURSDAY FEB 4 10PM

Alexander The Last

Director - Joe Swanberg

In his fifth feature, nano-budget filmmaker Joe Swanberg (HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS) continues his frank exploration of 20-something relationships with a story of an immature marriage and the intersection of art and life. Jess Weixler delivers a vibrant and charismatic performance as Alex, a young actress living in New York who is left alone when her musician husband (Justin Rice) goes on tour. She soon develops a vague, flirty interest in her on-stage leading man (Barlow Jacobs) even as she introduces him to her attractive sister (Amy Seimetz).

(2009) Color (72 mins)

SATURDAY FEB 6 7:30PM | SUNDAY FEB 7 4:35PM | WEDNESDAY FEB 17 11PM

All God's Children Can Dance

Director - Robert Logevall

A short story by renowned Japanese cult author Haruki Murakami serves as the source for this dreamy and atmospheric drama about a young man's search for love and identity. Jason Lew plays Kengo, an emotionally detached teen whose mother (Joan Chen) insists he was fathered by God. However, a chance encounter with a man Kengo suspects knows something about his paternity ignites in Kengo a personal quest for truth. First-time feature director Robert Logevall presents a story of eroticism and metaphysics set against Los Angeles's Koreatown.

(2008) Color (85 mins)

THURSDAY FEB 25 11:45PM

Aloha, New York

Director - Carolina Cruz Santiago

Making her directorial debut, filmmaker Carolina Cruz Santiago documents a community of surfers living in an unlikely island paradise: New York City. A fellow surfer and former native of Hawaii and California, Santiago wanted her film to show how a sport transcends place and allows its participants to connect to nature and each other.

(2007) Color (21 mins)

MONDAY FEB 1 4:50PM | TUESDAY FEB 2 12:35AM | SUNDAY FEB 7 7:10AM | FRIDAY FEB 12 6:35PM | MONDAY FEB 15 9:05AM

Alone In Four Walls

Director - Alexandra Westmeier

Appeared at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival
Objective and riveting, Alexandra Westmeier's acclaimed documentary opens a window to a tragic segment of Russian society invisible to outsiders. At an unnamed rural reform school, the residents --ranging in age from 10 to 14 --tell their stories. Their offenses range from theft (often for food) to rape and multiple murder, yet their backgrounds testify to upbringings in unstructured homes ravaged by alcoholism, frequent beatings and absent parents. Not surprisingly, most have no desire to leave their present surroundings.

(2007) Color (86 mins)

MONDAY FEB 22 8:45AM | MONDAY FEB 22 3:40PM

Angel

Director - Francois Ozon

Working in English, France's François Ozon (SWIMMING POOL) presents a sly satire of literary ambition and self-delusion, adapted from a novel by British writer Elizabeth Taylor. Romola Garai plays Angel Deverell, a conceited young author of florid, lowbrow romances, who finds a huge readership when a savvy publisher (Sam Neill) takes a chance. Yet much as she might wish, Angel's life fails to mirror her fiction, especially her pursuit of a philandering artist (Michael Fassbender). "The wittiest costume drama for some while" — The Telegraph.

(2007) Color (119 mins)

SUNDAY FEB 7 10PM | MONDAY FEB 8 4:15AM | THURSDAY FEB 18 11:40PM

Approaching Union Square

Director - Marc Meyers

The lives of eleven passengers on a New York City bus are revealed in a series of individual monologue vignettes in this debut feature from Marc Meyers. While largely anonymous to each other, the travelers - including a tourist, an immigrant, a sex addict and a psychic - harbor secrets, longings, connections and intriguing inner lives otherwise invisible. Adapted from Meyers's original stage play Love & Sex: Tales From the Trenches. "A startlingly accomplished debut ... smart, confessional, rueful, funny and sad" - Montreal Gazette.

(2006) Color (81 mins)

Iconoclasts - Season 4: Archbishop Desmond Tutu + Sir Richard Branson

Nobel-prize recipient Archbishop Desmond Tutu devotes himself to ending injustice worldwide, fighting HIV and serving as an outspoken advocate for youth at risk. He's also chairman of the Elders, a peacekeeping group that intervenes in conflict areas around the globe, established in part by Sir Richard Branson. Branson, Virgin founder, entrepreneur and renowned adventurer, pledges his time and considerable resources to environmental and humanitarian causes. Join these surprisingly playful spirits and extraordinary allies as they reveal their inspirations and shared belief in the power of the individual to change the world.

(2008) Color (60 mins)

SUNDAY FEB 14 at NOON

Arranged

Director - Diane Crespo
Director - Stefan Schaefer

Orthodox Jew Rochel (Zoe Lister-Jones), and Nasira (Francis Benhamou), a Syrian-American Muslim, are fledging Brooklyn public school teachers who discover they have much in common. Both are expected to wed in arranged marriages and must endure endless "concern" from skeptical secular colleagues - especially a principal set on liberating them from the repressive patriarchy. Stefan Schaefer and Diane Crespo's charming, insightful and spiritually literate film about two unlikely friends is distinguished by radiant performances and rare sensitivity.

(2009) Color (92 mins)

MONDAY FEB 15 7:30AM | MONDAY FEB 15 2PM

Audience Of One

Director - Michael Jacobs

Cinema's colorful history is rich with tales of misbegotten epics and obsessive visionary filmmakers, yet the saga told in Michael Jacobs's jaw-dropping documentary has no peer. Pentecostal Pastor Richard Gazowsky contends God told him to found a film studio. His mission: direct a big screen sci-fi reworking of the story of Joseph, which Gazowsky pitches as "STAR WARS meets THE TEN COMMANDMENTS." However, when problems mount and the budget soars past $200 million, it's time to wonder if Satan has signed on for an unbilled cameo appearance.

(2005) Color (88 mins)

MONDAY FEB 8 10:15AM | MONDAY FEB 8 3:15PM

Be Good Johnny Weir: Be Good Johnny Weir - Episode 1

Episode one follows Weir as he experiences career setbacks, media backlash and a change in his relationship with his long-time coach Priscilla Hill. On view also are Weir's flamboyant lifestyle and his signature sense of fashion. (Weir has designed his own skating costumes and modeled in runway shows.) "Undeniably moving" - The Seattle Times.

(2009) Color (85 mins)

WEDNESDAY FEB 10 1PM | SATURDAY FEB 13 1PM | SUNDAY FEB 14 at MIDNIGHT | TUESDAY FEB 23 1PM

Be Good Johnny Weir: Be Good Johnny Weir - Episode 2

In the second episode, Johnny and his tough Soviet-trained coach, Galina, head to Sweden for the 2008 World Championships; later, he faces off against long-time rival Evan Lysacek.

(2010) Color (25 mins)

Be Good Johnny Weir: Be Good Johnny Weir - Episode 3

Director - David Barba
Director - James Pellerito

In the third episode, Johnny heads into the 2009 U.S. nationals in a weakened state and later must confront some of the most devastating and challenging weeks in his long career.

(2010) Color (10 mins)

Be Good Johnny Weir: Be Good Johnny Weir - Episode 4

Director - David Barba
Director - James Pellerito

In the fourth episode, Johnny deals with the expenses of being an elite skater and reflects on the sacrifices he has made in favor of his athletic pursuits.

(2010) Color (10 mins)

Best of Béjart

Director - Gilles Amado

Many dance connoisseurs consider choreographer Maurice Béjart’s creations the most exciting dance theater of recent memory. Béjart is celebrated in this collection of pieces performed by Le Béjart Ballet Lausanne two years before his death in 2007. Béjart brought new audiences to ballet with showmanship and energy, as he tried to make dance as popular as cinema. Included in this selection are excerpts from his erotically charged version of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and settings of songs by Queen, U2 and Jacques Brel. Gilles Amado directs

(2005) Color (95 mins)

MONDAY FEB 1 10:30AM | MONDAY FEB 1 3:15PM

Bigger Splash, A

Director - Jack Hazan

Revelatory and controversial when released, Jack Hazan's semi-fictional portrait of painter David Hockney offered one of the first glimpses into the personal life of a living artist, as well that of an openly gay man. Filmed over the course of three years - during which Hockney split with his long-time boyfriend Peter Schlesinger - A BIGGER SPLASH follows the artist as he struggles to find the inspiration to paint. Close friends Celia Birtwell and curator/critic Henry Geldzahler play themselves. "Captivating ... mysterious"- Los Angeles Times.

(1975) Color (105 mins)

MONDAY FEB 8 11:45AM | MONDAY FEB 8 4:45PM

A Bittersweet Life

Director - Ji-woon Kim

Korea's Kim Jee-woon (A TALE OF TWO SISTERS) serves up an energetic thriller in which a cool, efficient mob enforcer makes a dangerous mistake when asked to spy upon his jealous boss's young girlfriend. Sunwoo (Lee Byeong-hun) is supposed to use deadly force to "take care of things" if he discovers Heesoo (Shin Min-ah) is unfaithful. However, when suspicions prove true, Sunwoo has a change of heart, setting in motion a visceral tale of mayhem and retribution. "Fierce and stylish... [with] hints of Sergio Leone [and] John Woo" - Guardian. (2005)

(2005) Color (119 mins)

SUNDAY FEB 7 at MIDNIGHT | SATURDAY FEB 13 8AM | FRIDAY FEB 19 1:40AM

Bittersweet Place

Director - Alexandra Brodsky

Seymour Cassel, veteran player in many John Cassavetes classics, stars in Alexandra Brodsky's directorial debut as the patriarch of a troubled Long Island family. Weary Pappy Schaffer (Cassel) oversees a limo business that's seen better days and his two daughters, Paulie (Elizabeth Moss) and Susannah (Jen Albano), who are still living at home. When Paulie defiantly goes off her meds and Pappy becomes concerned about his daughters' future, his mortality and the meaning of life, the Schaffer clan must face their greatest challenge.

(2005) Color (89 mins)

MONDAY FEB 1 7:30AM | TUESDAY FEB 2 3AM | FRIDAY FEB 5 11:45AM | WEDNESDAY FEB 24 10:35AM | WEDNESDAY FEB 24 4:30PM

Body of War

Director - Ellen Spiro
Director - Phil Donahue

Framing a condemnation of America's invasion of Iraq with the personal story of Tomas Young of Kansas City, filmmakers Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue present an unforgettable and heartbreaking portrait of war's legacy. Young, who enlisted immediately after September 11, 2001, was paralyzed from the chest down after being shot in Sadr City, Iraq. BODY OF WAR follows the 24-year-old as he copes with chronic pain, depression, incontinence and urinary infections - and Young's political awakening as he emerges as a powerful voice against the war.

(2007) Color (88 mins)

MONDAY FEB 22 12:10PM

Born Into Brothels

Director - Zana Briski
Director - Ross Kauffman

Appeared at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival When trying to document Calcutta's red light district, photojournalist Zana Briski encountered such pervasive resistance that her project seemed doomed. However, everything changed after she befriended the district's street children and taught them how to take photographs. With filmmaker Ross Kaufmann, Briski shares her experiences with seven talented kids and her efforts to help them escape their surroundings. Winner of an Oscar® for Best Documentary and a Sundance Film Festival Audience Award. "Moving, charming and sad" - New York Times.

(2004) Color (83 mins)

MONDAY FEB 22 8:40PM | TUESDAY FEB 23 4:45AM | FRIDAY FEB 26 9:55AM | FRIDAY FEB 26 5:30PM

Caramel

Director - Nadine Labaki

Conventional wisdom may link "Beirut" with the words "war-torn," yet Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki's delightful comic melodrama presents a friendly vision of the coastal resort seldom seen in the West. Labaki plays the gorgeous owner of a beauty parlor where Christians and Arabs intermingle, confide intimacies and confront personal secrets - which include adultery, hymen plastic surgery and Sapphic desire. (The title refers to the hot, sugary goop used in hair removal.) "A celebration of female sensuality ... reassuring and delicious" - Salon .

(2007) Color (95 mins)

SUNDAY FEB 7 7:25PM | FRIDAY FEB 12 6AM | FRIDAY FEB 12 12:30PM | TUESDAY FEB 16 9:15AM | TUESDAY FEB 16 5:15PM

Carts Of Darkness

Director - Murray Siple

Award-winning documentarian Murray Siple lived a life of pure adrenaline, making films about extreme sports, until a car accident left him a quadriplegic. Now, following a ten-year absence, Siple makes a triumphant return to filmmaking with this groundbreaking and entertaining profile of a brotherhood of homeless men from the Pacific Northwest who collect bottles and cans and get their kicks racing supermarket shopping carts down steep mountain roads at speeds pushing 50 miles per hour. "Beautiful, thoughtful and ... quite fun." - Monday Magazine.

(0) Color (59 mins)

THURSDAY FEB 11 2PM

Changing Times

Director - Andre Techine

Gallic cinema icons Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu costar in Andre Techine’s "rich, warmhearted" (New York Times) story about making and sustaining emotional connections. In Tangiers to oversee a construction project, Antoine (Depardieu) intends to win back Cecile (Deneuve), the love of his life, whom he hasn't seen for three decades. Cecile, a radio host whose marriage to a Moroccan doctor (Gilbert Melki) has lost its spark, has little time for nostalgia and must deal with the unexpected arrival of her bisexual son (Malik Zidi).

(2004) Color (90 mins)

WEDNESDAY FEB 3 11PM | THURSDAY FEB 4 5:05AM | SUNDAY FEB 14 10:30PM

Children Of The Sun

Director - Ran Tal

Documentary filmmaker Ran Tal reveals a fascinating slice of Israeli history with the story of the first generation of children raised under the utopian kibbutz experiment. Following a Zionist ideal to create a new kind of human, kibbutz children were separated from their parents at birth and brought up collectively in a world of synchronized sports and manual labor. Tal, himself one of the kibbutz children, tells the story with archival home movies and colorful recollections from many of the surviving children. "Engrossing" -- Jerusalem Post.

(2007) Color (70 mins)

MONDAY FEB 15 11:15AM | MONDAY FEB 15 5:30PM | SATURDAY FEB 20 8:45AM

Chop Suey

Director - Bruce Weber

Noted fashion photographer and filmmaker Bruce Weber celebrates his personal enthusiasms in a fascinating and wide-ranging documentary essay. Weber, whose 1988 portrait of Chet Baker Let's Get Lost introduced the jazz legend to new generations, here shares his passion for lounge singer and lesbian icon Frances Faye; British adventurer/writer Sir Wilfred Thesiger; fashion editor Diana Vreeland; actor Robert Mitchum; a Brazilian jujitsu champ; and Peter Johnson, a photogenic young wrestler from Wisconsin who serves as Weber's muse.

(2001) Color (98 mins)

WEDNESDAY FEB 10 11PM | THURSDAY FEB 11 5:20AM | MONDAY FEB 15 11PM

Chris & Don

Director - Tina Mascara
Director - Guido Santi

Guido Santi and Tina Mascara's "tender, extremely touching" New York Times documentary reveals the story of British author Christopher Isherwood and his long-time companion, artist Don Bachardy. When they became lovers, Isherwood was 48, internationally famous for books like Goodbye to Berlin (the basis for Cabaret); Bachardy was 18, yet looked much younger. The evolution of their long relationship, how it endured and overcame ridicule, power imbalances and infidelities, is inspiringly told here by Bachardy, now 74.

(2007) Color (90 mins)

MONDAY FEB 15 9:35AM | MONDAY FEB 15 3:35PM

Confessions Of An Innocent Man

Director - David Paperny

In 2000, William Sampson, a Canadian working in Saudi Arabia, was arrested as an accessory to a deadly car bombing for which he produced a staged confession under torture. Sentenced to death, Sampson spent 31 months in solitary confinement before finally regaining his freedom. In this award-winning documentary, David Paperny presents the alarming story of Sampson's ordeal and its aftermath, as well as damning testimony of Canadian and British government diplomatic inaction. Martin Sheen narrates. "Riveting, terrifying" - Montreal Mirror.

(2007) Color (90 mins)

MONDAY FEB 22 10:40AM | MONDAY FEB 22 5:10PM

Eco Documentaries - Season 2: Contested Streets : THE GREEN

Director - Stefan Schaefer

New York City prides itself as the world's most vibrant and dynamic metropolis. Unfortunately, it is also plagued by gridlock, noise, exhaust-filled air and a transit system that favors cars and trucks. Filmmaker Stefan Schaefer examines the city's past to reveal how this came to pass. CONTESTED STREETS offers contrasting lessons from three European cities - Paris, London and Copenhagen - which successfully introduced alternatives to limit automobile congestion, promote public transportation and facilitate walking and bicycle use.

(2006) Color (57 mins)

WEDNESDAY FEB 10 1:30AM | SUNDAY FEB 14 10:30AM

Curse Of The Golden Flower

Director - Zhang Yimou

Zhang Yimou, one of the leading filmmakers of the Chinese cinema renaissance, presents a tale of intrigue, corruption and tragedy set in the 10th century. As the Tang Dynasty wanes, behind the jade and gold walls of the royal palace the emperor (Chow Yun Fat) and his wife (Gong Li) plot each other's annihilation. Following a decade-long separation, this operatic "eye-popping spectacle" (Salon) reunites Zhang and his muse, Gong Li, who memorably collaborated on a string of triumphs during the '90s, including Raise the Red Lantern and Ju Dou.

(2006) Color (114 mins)

The Danish Poet

Director - Torill Kove

Inspired in part by the story of her own parents, animator Torill Kove tells the tale of a blocked poet who goes on a pilgrimage to meet famed Nobel Prize-winning novelist Sigrid Unset. En route he meets and falls in love with a Norwegian farmer's daughter, who is already engaged to another. Liv Ullmann narrates this wise and witty modern fairy tale about fate and personal choice, which won an Oscar® for Best Animated Short of 2007.

(2006) Color (15 mins)

WEDNESDAY FEB 17 5:30AM | SUNDAY FEB 21 12:45PM

The Day Before: The Day Before: Fendi by Karl Lagerfeld

Director - Loic Prigent

In this episode, the Italian house of Fendi and its creative director Karl Lagerfeld prepare a Milan showcase of new Fendi fur, ready to wear and accessories.

(2009) Color (0 mins)

SATURDAY FEB 13 6PM

The Day Before: The Day Before: Jean Paul Gaultier

Director - Loic Prigent

In this episode, France's Jean Paul Gaultier, renowned for his unforgettable costumes for Madonna and Kylie Minogue, mixes wit and magic in a Parisian haute couture show.

(2009) Color (52 mins)

SATURDAY FEB 13 7PM

The Day Before: The Day Before: Proenza Schouler

Director - Loic Prigent

In this episode, Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough, the young visionaries behind the edgy and elegant Proenza Schouler label, prepare to debut their Fall 2009 line.

(2009) Color (0 mins)

SATURDAY FEB 13 5PM

The Day Before: The Day Before: Sonia Rykiel

Director - Loic Prigent

In this episode, France's "Queen of Knits," designer Sonia Rykiel, prepares to celebrate her independent family-owned firm's 40th anniversary with an October Parisian show.

(2009) Color (52 mins)

SATURDAY FEB 13 4PM

Days Of Darkness

Director - Denys Arcand

Quebec filmmaker Denys Arcand presents a caustic satire about contemporary society — the third part in a trilogy made up by The Decline of the American Empire (1986) and the Oscar® -winning The Barbarian Invasions (2003). In the near future, when smoking is a crime, medical care is horrendous and many words are banned from politically correct vocabulary, an everyman bureaucrat (Marc Labrèche) escapes his dreary existence with glamorous sexual fantasies. Singer/composer Rufus Wainwright appears in a supporting role as an operatic prince.

(2007) Color (100 mins)

THURSDAY FEB 11 10:05PM | FRIDAY FEB 12 2:35AM | SATURDAY FEB 20 1:45AM

The Dead Girl

Director - Karen Moncrieff

Toni Collette, Marcia Gay Harden, Mary Steenburgen, Mary Beth Hurt, Rose Byrne, Brittany Murphy, Josh Brolin and Piper Laurie head an ensemble cast in Karen Moncrieff's moving and mournful exploration of human isolation. Five linked short stories observe a woman who discovers the body of a murder victim; a young graduate student who suspects the victim may be her sister; a wife who wonders if her husband is the killer; a mother delving into the hidden life of her daughter; and the story of the victim's last day. "Gripping" — Los Angeles Times.

(2006) Color (85 mins)

WEDNESDAY FEB 3 8:25PM | THURSDAY FEB 4 3:30AM | SUNDAY FEB 21 11:45PM

The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years

Director - Penelope Spheeris

Take a trip back to the heavy metal world of late 1980s in this unvarnished documentary by Penelope Spheeris. Performance footage of Aerosmith, Kiss, Megadeth and emerging groups of the era is intercut with eye-opening interviews with strutting superstars and wannabes. Highlights include a prescient visit with Ozzy Osbourne at home as he struggles to make breakfast, and W.A.S.P drummer Chris Holmes blissfully guzzling an entire bottle of vodka. "The overriding dimness of most of the fans and musicians is frightening" — New York Times.

(1988) B&W (93 mins)

MONDAY FEB 1 11PM | TUESDAY FEB 2 4:30AM | MONDAY FEB 22 1:25AM

A Dirty Carnival

Director - Yoo Ha

Korean filmmaker Yoo Ha's action-packed gangster saga has been dubbed the "Asian GODFATHER" for its accomplished melding of the story of a mobster's rise and fall with tightly choreographed fight sequences. Jo In-Seong stars as Kim Byung-Doo, a bright but poor low-level enforcer who seizes an opportunity for advancement with the murder of a troublesome public prosecutor. Yet the seeds for Kim's later downfall are already sown. "Full of swiftly etched, well-developed characters ... elevates the genre to an epic narrative level" - Variety. (2006)

(2006) Color (140 mins)

SUNDAY FEB 21 at MIDNIGHT

Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie

Director - Luis Bunuel

In the last decade of his career, Spanish filmmaker Luis Bunuel achieved his greatest popular and critical success with this Best Foreign Language Film Oscar winner, a caustic and surreal social comedy about hypocrisy and frustration. Fernando Rey, Delphine Seyrig, Jean-Pierre Cassel and Stephane Audran play middle class friends who, in fact, are neither discreet nor charming and discover that their plans for dinner together invariably go awry. "A stiletto heel of a film ... his most fully realized work" - John Baxter, Bunuel's biographer.

(1972) Color (101 mins)

SATURDAY FEB 6 10PM | SUNDAY FEB 7 4AM | SATURDAY FEB 27 at MIDNIGHT

Donkey In Lahore

Director - Faramarz K. Rahber

Over the course of five years, Australian-based documentarian Faramarz K-Rahber followed the quixotic courtship of Brian, a Goth puppeteer from Brisbane, and Amber, a 17-year-old Muslim whom Brian meets at a festival in Lahore, Pakistan. Despite Brian's conversion to Islam and taking the name Aamir to impress Amber's devout family, complications arise that appear to forecast doom for this star-crossed romance. Much more than an individual story of culture clash, Donkey in Lahore is a penetrating examination of the emotional need for love.

(2008) Color (107 mins)

MONDAY FEB 1 5:15PM

Drama/mex

Director - Gerardo Naranjo

Mexican New Wave filmmaker Gerardo Naranjo presents an earthy, prismatic narrative intertwining dual stories of life, love, sex and violence. The first observes an unexpected physical encounter between a spoiled rich girl (Diana Garcia) and her rakish ex (Emilio Valdes). In the second, a suicidal office worker (Fernando Becerril) forms an unusual relationship with a novice teen hooker/scam artist (Miriana Moro). A strong cast, erotic tension and a sharp eye for detail distinguish this energetic blend of gritty realism and steamy melodrama.

(2007) Color (92 mins)

SATURDAY FEB 13 1:30AM

Duchess Of Langleais, The

Director - Jacques Rivette

Jeanne Balibar and Guillaume Depardieu costar as French aristocrats trapped in a spiraling, passionate, obsessive affair of the heart in filmmaker Jacques Rivette's sly adaptation of Balzac's novel. Armand de Montriveau (Depardieu), a general recently returned from Africa, is the talk of the salons of 1820s Paris. When he declares he will make the Duchess of Langeais (Balibar) his mistress, he unexpectedly embarks on a campaign unlike any in his illustrious career. "A nearly impeccable work of art - beautiful, true, profound" - New York Times.

(2006) Color (138 mins)

Eco Trip: Eco Trip: Season 1, Episode 2

Director - Remy Weber

In this episode, David traces the journey of a t-shirt from cotton fields in the United States to a trendy store in Manhattan. In the process, David learns about organic cotton farming, the legacy of herbicides and pesticides in many farming communities and the astounding fact that the largest portion of harvested cotton ends up in the food chain.

(2009) Color (25 mins)

SUNDAY FEB 21 3PM

Brick City: Episode 1 : Summer Is Ours

Director - Marc Levin
Director - Mark Benjamin

As Summer 2008 approaches, no one has forgotten the bloody summer of '07, when three college students were murdered, execution-style, on the playground of Mt. Vernon Elementary School. Thus far in 2008, Newark is leading the nation in homicide reduction, but the traditionally violent months of July, August and September could erase those gains. So it is with no small sense of urgency that Mayor Cory Booker and Police Director Garry McCarthy are putting new programs and systems in place to keep the streets safe during the hot months to come. Longtime Blood gang member Jayda juggles motherhood with her work as a youth counselor, while her romance with Crip gang member Creep serves as a living example that violence and enmity can be overcome. Jayda and Creep are delighted to learn that she is pregnant, but an ugly episode in Jayda's past suddenly returns to the fore, threatening all their plans for the future.

(2009) Color (51 mins)

TUESDAY FEB 2 7PM

Brick City: Episode 2 : Struggle

Director - Mark Benjamin
Director - Marc Levin

Jayda remains in jail as Creep struggles to take care of his and Jayda's children, while his boss at Integrity House, a respected therapeutic center, contacts authorities on her behalf. Mayor Booker attends public ceremonies relating to trade and housing, and faces skepticism and criticism at a community meeting in the city's middle-class North Ward. Business Administrator Michelle Thomas lays out the grim facts about the city's budget for Mayor Booker. At the regular CompStat (crime statistics) meeting, Garry delivers good news about the homicide numbers, and Mayor Booker joins Governor Corzine to announce a new state program to help ex-offenders find regular employment. Jayda's plans for a nonprofit mentoring group are gaining steam, but her relationship with Creep is headed for crisis. And though the number of homicides may be down, senseless murders continue to occur, bringing with them anguish and rage.

(2009) Color (55 mins)

TUESDAY FEB 9 7PM

Brick City: Episode 3 : Central

Director - Mark Benjamin
Director - Marc Levin

It is July, and the word comes down that Newark's new Central High School building - now nearly 10 years and $100 million in the making - may not be ready for the start of the school year. It's a development that leaves everyone angry, and it's up to Principal Ras Baraka and Vice Principal Todd Warren to prepare contingency plans and maintain morale among students, parents and staff. Creep and Jayda reconcile, and Jayda meets with the straight-talking, savvy defense lawyer Brooke Barnett about her pending criminal case. At City Hall, all departments are grappling with cost-cutting necessities, and a sign in Mayor Booker's office says it all: "We are in a budget crisis." But the life of the city goes on, with an opening parade for a renovated park, a back-to-school fair and other activities. As the school year begins Central High opens. Camaraderie and serious discussions share the agenda at overnights given by Principal Baraka and Vice Principal Warren for Central High's freshman boys, and by Jayda for her young female mentees.

(2009) Color (55 mins)

TUESDAY FEB 16 7PM

Brick City: Episode 4 : Circus

Director - Mark Benjamin
Director - Marc Levin

For the first time in more than 50 years, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus comes to Newark, an event that is a testament to the city's increased viability and improving public profile. Meanwhile, Director McCarthy's efforts to change Newark's policing methods have begun encroaching on areas traditionally overseen by the Chief of Police. Jayda makes her first court appearance in her pending case, and her lawyer investigates the claims made against her. The Newark Police Department and the Bloods mourn deaths in their families. Jiwe, a Blood author, wins his literary award. News reports alert McCarthy to a potential coup against him - and it will be up to Mayor Booker to determine the outcome.

(2009) Color (55 mins)

TUESDAY FEB 23 7PM

Eramos Pocos

Director - Borja Cobeaga

Borja Cobeaga's "darkly amusing" (San Francisco Chronicle) Oscar®-nominated short film follows the fortunes of Joaquín (Ramón Barea), and his son (Alejandro Tejerías), after his wife suddenly walks out. After trying to manage the house on his own, Joaquin decides to invite Lourdes (Mariví Bilbao), his mother-in-law, to leave her nursing home and move in as cook and maid. While this may be the perfect solution, Lourdes has her own agenda.

(2005) Color (16 mins)

THURSDAY FEB 18 11:25AM | SATURDAY FEB 20 8:40PM

Eco Documentaries - Season 2: Escape From Suburbia: Beyond the American Dream

Director - Gregory Greene

Half a century ago, suburbia was hailed as the solution to urban decay. Now, in the light of diminishing oil supplies, economic woes and unsustainable lifestyles, many concerned citizens are rethinking their options. In the second part of a projected documentary trilogy, filmmaker Greg Green follows the journeys of people who alter their lives in light of our addiction to fossil fuels. One family moves to a Canadian ecovillage; another couple leaves New York to till the land, and a third reworks suburbia by making it green and sustainable.

(2007) Color (95 mins)

TUESDAY FEB 16 9PM | WEDNESDAY FEB 17 2:30AM | SUNDAY FEB 21 11AM

Fear Me Not

Director - Kristian Levring

Danish filmmaker Kristian Levring charts the mysterious line between normal and psychopathic behavior in this simmering psychological thriller about Mikael (Ulrich Thomsen), a successful professional, who volunteers to be part of a trial study of a new anti-depressant. When other trial subjects begin to suffer emotional ill effects, the study is abandoned. Yet Mikael, who is already becoming addicted, ignores the warnings. Meanwhile, friends and family note Mikael’s gradually increasing erratic, odd and occasionally belligerent behavior.

(2008) Color (95 mins)

THURSDAY FEB 11 11:45PM | FRIDAY FEB 12 4:15AM | WEDNESDAY FEB 24 1:30AM

Feel

Director - Matt Mahurin

Photographer and music-video filmmaker Matt Mahurin presents a provocative character study of four American men whose need for human connection brings them to a New York massage parlor. A married businessman (William Baldwin), a widower (Tom Bower), an angry mama's boy (Kevin Corrigan) and a traveling salesman (Clayne Crawford) hope an Asian Garden afternoon will grant them temporary escape from their personal frustrations. Later, as fantasy and reality collide, the temptresses assigned to the needy quartet discover their own form of escape.

(0) Color (88 mins)

SATURDAY FEB 13 at MIDNIGHT | THURSDAY FEB 25 8:30PM | FRIDAY FEB 26 3:15AM

Flight Of The Red Balloon

Director - Hou Hsiao-hsien

In his first film set in the West, Taiwanese master Hou Hsiao-hsien presents a masterful love letter to Paris and a cinema landmark -- Albert Lamorisse's 1956 children's classic The Red Balloon. Juliette Binoche -- earthy, appealing and with blonde tresses -- stars as Suzanne, a puppeteer and mother of a lonely seven-year-old. While vibrantly passionate, Suzanne's personal life is as chaotic as her Parisian apartment, leading her to hire a Taiwanese film student as her son's nanny. "In a class by itself... a movie of genius" -- Village Voice.

(2007) Color (115 mins)

Flutter

Director - Just

In this wordless animated short film, award-winning artist and illustrator Howie Shia tells the story of a schoolboy who undertakes an odyssey to investigate the immense scope of the world. Meanwhile back at school, his best friend awaits her own adventure.

(2006) Color (7 mins)

For The Bible Tells Me So

Director - Daniel Karslake

Appeared at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival
Bravely tackling one of the most politically and religiously divisive issues in contemporary America, documentary filmmaker Daniel Karslake presents a consideration of the intersection of scripture and homosexuality. Profiled are five devout families who each have dealt with the disclosure that a relative was gay or lesbian. Discussion is given to the importance of mutual understanding and unconditional parental love, while often-cited Biblical passages come in for scholarly interpretation and reconsideration. "Admirable and moving." - Salon.

(2007) Color (101 mins)

WEDNESDAY FEB 3 11:15AM | WEDNESDAY FEB 3 4:45PM | THURSDAY FEB 25 8:15AM | THURSDAY FEB 25 1:10PM

Fraulein

Director - Andrea Staka

Swiss filmmaker Andrea Staka's directorial debut focuses on shared boundaries and heritage as it follows the relationship of three women from the former Yugoslavia now living in Zurich. Coldly efficient, middle-aged Ruza (Mirjana Karanovic) runs a cafeteria where the new help (Marija Skaricic), a free-spirited young Bosnian with a scarred past, infectiously prompts Ruza to blossom. Meanwhile, an elderly waitress (Ljubica Jovic) dreams of retiring to a house she and her husband are building in Croatia. "A beautiful sight" -- New York Sun.

(2006) Color (75 mins)

SATURDAY FEB 27 2:45AM

French Film

Director - Jackie Oudney

British writer Aschlin Ditta and director Jackie Oudney serve up a likeable and incisively truthful romantic comedy about a hapless journalist (Hugh Bonneville) whose relationship with his longtime girlfriend (Victoria Hamilton) has hit the skids. To make matters worse, his latest assignment is to interview smug Thierry Grimandi (soccer player Eric Cantona), France's auteur of cinematic romance. "Brings together the best elements of Richard Curtis' London movies and Nora Ephron's romantic comedies, with a strong whiff of Woody Allen" - The Observer.

(2009) Color (87 mins)

Full Grown Men

Director - David Munro

Filmmaker David Munro presents a psychologically savvy, serio-comic contemplation of male arrested development. When his exasperated wife throws Alby (Matt McGrath) and his collection of action figures out of his home, he reunites with his buddy Elias (Judah Friedlander) and heads off on a presumptively redemptive road trip, which becomes a search for his lost childhood. Featuring memorable cameos from Alan Cumming, Deborah Harry and Amy Sedaris.

(2006) Color (79 mins)

TUESDAY FEB 9 10PM | WEDNESDAY FEB 10 3:30AM | SATURDAY FEB 20 10PM | FRIDAY FEB 26 10PM | SATURDAY FEB 27 4:05AM

Garage

Director - Leonard Abrahamson

Comedian Pat Shortt costars with the breathtaking beauty of the west Irish countryside in filmmaker Lenny Abrahamson's acclaimed look at a dying community. Expectations are modest for middle-aged, mentally challenged Josie (Shortt), who oversees a decrepit rural filling station. However, after he forms the first friendship of his adult life with a teenage assistant (Conor Ryan), Josie senses life offers more than he previously assumed. Anne-Marie Duff costars. "Gentle and elegiac... beautifully shot and just as beautifully acted" - Guardian.

(2007) Color (82 mins)

MONDAY FEB 8 2:45AM | THURSDAY FEB 18 12:15AM | THURSDAY FEB 18 4:15AM

Garbage! The Revolution Starts At Home

Director - Andrew Nisker

What if an average North American household was compelled to account for their personal garbage? Spurred by the belief that revolutions start at home, filmmaker Andrew Nisker persuaded Glen and Michele MacDonald, parents of three growing children, to measure their garbage output by retaining the family's refuse for three months. While the MacDonald's garage fills up with waste bags, foul odors and maggots, Nisker provides illuminating reporting revealing what actually happens to refuse after it disappears into a garbage truck.

(2008) Color (76 mins)

TUESDAY FEB 23 9PM | WEDNESDAY FEB 24 4:15AM

Ghost Writer

Director - Alan Cumming

Alan Cumming delivers a memorable, over-the-top performance and makes his solo directorial debut in an unnerving black comedy that Salon hailed as "an outrageous...midnight movie cult hit in the making." Cumming plays John Vandermark, a controlling and increasingly unstable music teacher with a penchant for assisting young, attractive male artists. However, when he suspects an opportunistic writer (David Boreanaz) has used him, Vandermark takes cruel revenge. Featuring juicy cameos from Anne Heche, Carrie Fisher, Jane Lynch and Karen Black.

(2007) Color (93 mins)

FRIDAY FEB 5 9PM | SATURDAY FEB 6 3:15AM | SATURDAY FEB 20 at MIDNIGHT | THURSDAY FEB 25 1:45AM

The Glass House

Director - Hamid Rahmanian

Documentarian Hamid Rahmanian lifts the veil on a segment of Iranian society with inspiring profiles of four independent women coping with poverty, repression and physical brutality. At Tehran's unique Omid e Mehr rehabilitation center for women, Nazila, an aspiring rap singer; Samira, a 14-year-old with a drug addiction; and Mitra and Sussan, who have endured insults, beatings and rape at home, learn the importance of self-esteem, personal expression and tools to take control of their lives. "Moving and harrowing" -- Philadelphia Weekly.

(2009) Color (93 mins)

MONDAY FEB 8 11PM | TUESDAY FEB 9 3AM | MONDAY FEB 22 7:05PM | TUESDAY FEB 23 8:05AM

The Grandmother

Director - David Lynch

In his first extended short film, David Lynch (Mulholland Drive) presents a surreal vision of youthful alienation within the American family. A boy who is berated by his parents for bedwetting plants some special seeds to create the ideal playmate/parent.

(1970) Color and B&W (34 mins)

FRIDAY FEB 12 10:20PM | SATURDAY FEB 20 11:20PM | SUNDAY FEB 21 8:05AM | WEDNESDAY FEB 24 5:35AM | SATURDAY FEB 27 1PM

Eco Documentaries - Season 2: The Great Warming : THE GREEN

Director - Michael Taylor

Less a prediction of oncoming disaster than a global call to arms, Michael Taylor's primer on climate change raises provocative questions. Prominent among the voices heard in this Canadian documentary is Rev. Richard Cizik, head of the National Association of Evangelicals, who promotes a Biblical form of eco-activism. Vignettes from around the world tell personal stories of lives upended by the industrial world's dependence on fossil fuels, and highlight individuals working for corrective change. Alanis Morissette and Keanu Reeves narrate.

(2006) Color (83 mins)

TUESDAY FEB 2 9PM | WEDNESDAY FEB 3 6:20AM | SUNDAY FEB 7 11AM

Guest Of Cindy Sherman

Director - Tom Donahue

Among the most influential artists of her generation, photographer Cindy Sherman is famed for her chameleon-like self-portraits deconstructing women's images in pop culture and art. For five years Sherman and Paul H-O (aka Paul Hasegawa-Overacker) lived together, a romance revisited in this "weirdly compelling" Village Voice memoir-documentary. While offering a rare glimpse of an art world superstar, H-O and Tom Donahue's film is also a scathing examination of art, hype, celebrity and the dangers of playing second fiddle to a media icon.

(2008) Color (90 mins)

MONDAY FEB 8 6:30PM | TUESDAY FEB 9 4:35AM | TUESDAY FEB 9 12:15PM

Helmer & Son

Director - Søren Pilmark

Søren Pilmark's darkly comic Oscar®-nominated short film presents the story of a dysfunctional Danish family in crisis. Jess (Steen Stig Lommer), an overworked businessman overseeing the family business, rushes to his father's nursing home to discover that the patriarch (Per Palleson) has locked himself in a large wardrobe. Sure to resonate with boomers who have had to deal with aging parents.

(2006) Color (13 mins)

SATURDAY FEB 6 11:45PM | WEDNESDAY FEB 10 11:15AM | WEDNESDAY FEB 10 4PM | SATURDAY FEB 27 6:30AM

Hotel Gramercy Park

Director - Douglas Keeve

While perpetual change is part of daily life in Manhattan, one constant is the complaint that the best of the city is disappearing. Documentary filmmaker Douglas Keeve (UNZIPPED; SEAMLESS) watches as the iconic Gramercy Park Hotel undergoes a controversial redesign by hotelier Ian Schrager and artist Julian Schnabel. Once a society mecca, and later a seedy-chic favorite for rockers and celebrities, The Gramercy Park's colorful and tragic history is told by many long-time residents and surviving members of the family who owned it for decades.

(2008) Color (73 mins)

MONDAY FEB 15 7PM | TUESDAY FEB 16 4:50AM | TUESDAY FEB 16 11AM

Hunger

Director - Steve McQueen

In 1981, Bobby Sands and nine other Irish Republican Army prisoners captured headlines with a dramatic hunger strike at Belfast's Maze Prison. In his award-winning feature debut, British artist/filmmaker Steve McQueen uses this story for a harrowing meditation on human dignity and resolve. No conventional political drama, HUNGER is told in striking set pieces ranging from an extraordinary 20-minute dialogue to controversial allusions to religious art. Winner of the Caméra d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. "Enthralling" -- The Independent.

(2008) Color (96 mins)

I Love Your Work

Director - Adam Goldberg

The psychological danger of living in the eye of a celebrity media hurricane is the focus of this cautionary tale starring Giovanni Ribisi, written and directed by actor Adam Goldberg (SAVING PRIVATE RYAN). Gray Evans (Ribisi) is one of the hottest new stars, married to an equally famous actress (Franka Potente). He is mobbed at openings and surrounded by wealth and power, fans and sycophants. Yet Evans is also depressed, confused and obsessed with stalkers. For him, the life of an ordinary video-store clerk (Joshua Jackson) appears idyllic.

(2005) Color (111 mins)

Iconoclasts - Season 2: Iconoclasts: Season 2 - Isabella Rossellini + Dean Kamen : Episode 4

Director - Bruce Sinofsky
Director - Joe Berlinger

In this episode, actress/filmmaker Isabella Rossellini and inventor/scientist/entrepreneur Dean Kamen discuss approaches to helping others as they try out innovative devices under development at Kamen’s research labs in New Hampshire. Later, Rossellini tours New York with a seeing-eye dog she is training.

(2006) Color (45 mins)

SATURDAY FEB 6 4:45PM

In Short: Bruce Weber: Wine And Cupcakes

Director - Bruce Weber

Filmmaker and photographer Bruce Weber presents a valentine to New York City featuring Scottish songstress Angela McCluskey and her husband, the composer Paul Cantelon. The pair takes a stroll through Central Park to the strains of "Autumn in New York."

(2007) Color (0 mins)

FRIDAY FEB 5 3:25AM | TUESDAY FEB 9 1:45PM | MONDAY FEB 15 5:15PM | TUESDAY FEB 16 12:45AM

Involuntary

Director - Ruben Östlund

A rising star of Sweden's new cinema, filmmaker Ruben Östlund presents an audacious and experimental departure from conventional narrative filmmaking. As he considers group dynamics, peer pressure and moments in which average people act contrary to their true nature, Östlund unreels five serio-comic vignettes that coolly limn many variations of human folly and misbehavior. Using unconventional camerawork and a detached point of view, Östlund provokes and encourages active viewing. Sweden's entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar®.

(2008) Color (98 mins)

WEDNESDAY FEB 3 2AM | SUNDAY FEB 21 2:25AM

Is Your House Killing You?: Is Your House Killing You?: Episode 7

In this episode, parents-to-be inquire about the harmful effects of exposure to chemical compounds.

(2007) Color (24 mins)

WEDNESDAY FEB 10 1AM | SUNDAY FEB 14 10AM

It's a Free World

Director - Ken Loach

Following their Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm triumph, THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY, filmmaker Ken Loach and writer Paul Laverty return to current political affairs with a nuanced drama about the exploitation of immigrant labor in Britain. Beset by family problems after losing her job, a feisty single mom (Kierston Wareing) teams up with a flatmate (Juliet Ellis) to create a shady employment firm specializing in exploiting loopholes and selling fake papers. "Relentlessly gripping .... fiercely uncompromising" - New York Sun.

(2007) Color (93 mins)

Jack Taylor of Beverly Hills

Director - Cecile Leroy Beaulieu

For more than 60 years, the fashionable custom-made suits Jack Taylor created for stars like Cary Grant, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Elvis defined Hollywood glamour, status and good taste. Now in his 90s, Taylor remains active and in demand even as some speak of him as an endangered species in an era of shoddy workmanship and casual dress. Cecile Leroy Beaulieu's fascinating documentary profiles the life and times of an outspoken and witty Beverly Hills icon as he discusses his career and commitment to excellence in men's attire.

(2008) Color (72 mins)

TUESDAY FEB 9 9PM | WEDNESDAY FEB 10 2:30AM

Jar City

Director - Baltasar Kormakur

Set amongst the cheerless outlying neighborhoods of Reykjavik, Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormakur's taut, cerebral police thriller from a novel by Arnaldur Indridason is additionally an eerie exercise in sense of place. Depressive detective Erlendur (Ingvar E. Sigurdsson) is investigating what he describes as "a typical Icelandic murder: messy and pointless." However, linkages soon arise, prompting him to delve into the mysterious death of a little girl two decades earlier. "Unusually forceful and thought-provoking" - New York Times.

(2006) Color (95 mins)

THURSDAY FEB 4 12:45AM

Live From Abbey Road - Season 1: John Mayer, Norah Jones & Richard Ashcroft

Director - AJ Jankel

This episode features John Mayer, Norah Jones and Richard Ashcroft.

(2007) Color (53 mins)

FRIDAY FEB 19 11PM | SATURDAY FEB 20 3:30AM | SATURDAY FEB 20 at NOON

The Killing of John Lennon

Director - Andrew Piddington

Filmmaker Andrew Piddington presents an examination of the dark side of celebrity worship with a carefully researched recreation of the 1980 assassination of John Lennon by 25-year-old Mark David Chapman (Jonas Ball). Using Chapman's own words, and filmed in many actual locations, Piddington takes a non-judgmental approach that nevertheless paints a devastating portrait of an angry, pathological narcissist. Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Tribeca Film Festival. "Harrowing … unfolds with propulsive urgency" - Variety.

(2006) Color (114 mins)

SUNDAY FEB 21 7PM | MONDAY FEB 22 3AM

Kippur

Director - Amos Gitai

Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai presents an unrelenting portrait of the chaos of battle, inspired by his own experiences as a member of a helicopter rescue team during the Yom Kippur War. When Syria and Egypt launch a surprise attack on October 6, 1973, two young Israelis, Weinraub (Liron Levo) and Ruso (Tomer Ruso), attempt to rendezvous with their unit. Soon they are immersed in a war where battle lines are unclear, confusion and fatigue rein and glory is nonexistent. "A classic war film, at once elegiac and immediate" - Los Angeles Times.

(2000) Color (123 mins)

FRIDAY FEB 26 1:15AM

Lady Chatterley (2006)

Director - Pascale Ferran

This French treatment of D.H. Lawrence's story of class and sexual awakening is not the first, yet many critics acclaimed it the best. Notably, it adapts Lawrence's earlier draft, John Thomas and Lady Jane and has a woman, Pascale Ferran, as director and co-writer. As the title indicates, Constance Chatterley (Marina Hands) is the focus, rather than her lover (Jean-Louis Coulloc'h). Stunning cinematography and notable performances distinguish this multiple award-winner, which The New York Times hailed as "bracingly fresh, vital and modern."

(2006) Color (161 mins)

MONDAY FEB 8 at MIDNIGHT | WEDNESDAY FEB 24 11PM

Lagerfeld Confidential

Director - Rodolphe Marconi

Iconic in dark sunglasses, white ponytail, high starched collars and beringed hands, Karl Lagerfeld is one of the fashion world's most powerful tastemakers - and one of its most enigmatic. Filmmaker Rodolphe Marconi attempts to uncover the man behind the image as he follows the shark-like ruler of the House of Chanel in an extended interview. Articulate, epigrammatic and down to earth, Lagerfeld talks of his first sexual experience, fashion's ephemeral nature ("dangerous and unfair") and solitude ("I hate people who can't be alone").

(2007) Color (89 mins)

SUNDAY FEB 14 9PM

The Last Mistress

Director - Catherine Breillat

French filmmaker Catherine Breillat (ROMANCE; FAT GIRL) is famous for her uncompromising features examining varied forms of human sexuality and eroticism. In her most accessible film, Breillat parts 19th century bedchamber doors to tell a story about a sexually insatiable courtesan (Asia Argento) and her longtime lover, a penniless young rake (Fu'ad Ait Aattou) who tries to end their affair when he marries a young, wealthy aristocrat. A sumptuous and passionate period piece examining the anarchy of desire. "Like an erotic dream" -- Salon.

(2007) Color (114 mins)

THURSDAY FEB 11 12:45AM | MONDAY FEB 15 12:15AM

Left Bank

Director - Pieter Van Hees

With his feature debut, Belgium’s Pieter Van Hees serves up a thoughtful, atmospheric exercise in psychological horror, which many critics favorably compared to classic thrillers by Roman Polanski (Rosemary’s Baby). Marie (Eline Kuppens), a dedicated athlete sidelined when a doctor orders her to rest, falls for a handsome archer (Matthias Schoenaerts) and soon moves in with him. Yet all is not well in Antwerp. Marie’s health mysteriously begins to deteriorate and she is haunted by lucid nightmares and engulfed in doubt, paranoia and dread.

(2008) Color (98 mins)

THURSDAY FEB 18 10PM

Lemon Tree

Director - Eran Riklis

With restraint and elegant simplicity, Israeli director Eran Riklis (THE SYRIAN BRIDE) considers some familiar political/cultural differences in the form of a resonant parable. Salma (Hiam Abbass), a dignified Palestinian widow, lives near the Green Line between Israel and the West Bank. When the Israeli defense minister (Doron Tavory) and his wife (Rona Lipaz-Michael) buy a fancy house next to Salma's beloved grove of lemon trees, security forces see an imminent threat and demand they be cut down. "Wrenching, richly layered" — New York Times.

(2008) Color (106 mins)

Liberty Kid

Director - Ilya Chaiken

Acclaimed by many critics as the most affecting dramatic film about New York after 9/11, writer-director Ilya Chaiken's (MARGARITA HAPPY HOUR) feature follows the paths of two friends, Derrick (Al Thompson), a self-described visionary, and his buddy Tico (Kareem Savinon). Both lose their jobs when the Statue of Liberty closes, forcing Derrick to evaluate his dreams of going to college and Tico to consider working the streets. Named Best Film at the New York Latino Film Festival. "A simple story, engagingly told, wonderfully acted" -- Salon.

(2007) Color (92 mins)

Live From Abbey Road - 301

Director - AJ Jankel

As a tribute to the 40th anniversary of The Beatles iconic album Abbey Road, LIVE FROM ABBEY ROAD pays homage to the fab four with musical stars, including Seal and Counting Crows, performing their interpretations of songs from the album. Also includes an exclusive interview with legendary Beatles producer Sir George Martin.

(2009) Color (49 mins)

FRIDAY FEB 26 8PM | SATURDAY FEB 27 1:45AM | SATURDAY FEB 27 at NOON

Live From Abbey Road - Season 2: Live from Abbey Road: Season 2 - Ben Harper, Justin Currie & Bryan Adams

Director - AJ Jankel

This episode from the second season features Ben Harper, Justin Currie & Bryan Adams.

(2008) Color (51 mins)

FRIDAY FEB 5 11PM | SATURDAY FEB 6 at NOON

Live From Abbey Road - Season 2: Live from Abbey Road: Season 2 - Brian Wilson, Martha Wainright and Teddy Thompson

Director - AJ Jankel

This episode from the second season features Brian Wilson, Martha Wainright and Teddy Thompson.

(2008) Color (51 mins)

FRIDAY FEB 12 11PM | SATURDAY FEB 13 3:05AM | SATURDAY FEB 13 at NOON

The Lives Of Others

Director - Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

This winner of the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar® presents "a teasingly complex political thriller" Salon about state power, paranoia and emotional connections with others. Set during the twilight years of the German Democratic Republic, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's film focuses on a loyal secret police surveillance expert (Ulrich Mühe) who is assigned to monitor the private lives of a playwright (Sebastian Koch) and his actress girlfriend (Martina Gedeck). "Suspenseful, ethically exacting … beautifully realized" - New York Times.

(2006) Color (0 mins)

THURSDAY FEB 18 7:40PM | SATURDAY FEB 27 10PM

Looking for Leonard

Director - Matt Bissonnette
Director - Steven Clark

Montreal supplies the unlikely noirish setting for Matt Bissonnette and Steven Clark's comic deadpan tale of a Czech computer technician (Joel Bissonnette), a cynical crook (Kim Huffman) with a Leonard Cohen obsession, her boyfriend (Ben Ratner) and his dimwitted brother (Darcy Belsher). Outstanding lead performances, a smart script and a wonderful sense of place highlight this critical favorite, which prompted comparisons to the work of Jim Jarmush, Hal Hartley and Aki Kaurismäki. "Bemusing and delightful" - The Austin Chronicle.

(2002) Color (87 mins)

Love Songs

Director - Christophe Honoré

French filmmaker Christophe Honoré (DANS PARIS) recaptures the invigorating spirit of early New Wave cinematic classics in this playful polysexual musical romance following a group of young Parisians as they experience love, loss and intimacy. An attractive cast headed by Louis Garrel, Ludivine Sagnier, Chiara Mastroianni and Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, and 13 comic and heartbreaking songs by French pop composer Alex Beaupain, highlight Honoré's "rapturous and compelling" (Salon) tale that mixes the erotic, the farcical and the tragic.

(2007) Color (95 mins)

Luckey

Director - Laura Longsworth

Documentarian Laura Longsworth paints a memorable profile of a forceful artistic visionary that is also a moving portrait of a divided family confronting adversity. Sculptor Tom Luckey is renowned for his abstract climbing structures for children. However, when an accident during the creation of his most ambitious commission leaves him completely paralyzed, Tom is forced to cede some control to his caretaker/wife and rely on the help of Spencer, Tom's strong-willed architect son from an earlier troubled marriage.

(2006) Color (84 mins)

MONDAY FEB 1 9AM | MONDAY FEB 1 1:35PM

Iconoclasts - Season 3: Madeleine Albright + Ashley Judd

Director - Joe Berlinger

Two distinctly different stories of female empowerment are reflected in the life stories of Madeleine Albright and Ashley Judd, who are featured in this episode. In Washington, D. C. they discuss their recent volunteer work with international organizations promoting democracy and health in developing countries.

(2007) Color (60 mins)

SATURDAY FEB 6 9PM | SUNDAY FEB 7 1PM

The Metamorphosis

Director - Ari Mark

With a sly nod to Franz Kafka, filmmaker Ari Mark presents the comic story of Stanley Leiber (Hal Peller), who awakens with a pain in his skull and discovers that he has been profoundly transformed during the night.

(2007) Color (10 mins)

SATURDAY FEB 6 8:45PM | MONDAY FEB 8 3:05PM | WEDNESDAY FEB 10 9:50PM | SATURDAY FEB 20 1:35AM | TUESDAY FEB 23 10:20PM

Metropolitan

Director - Whit Stillman

Appeared at the 1990 Sundance Film Festival
Whit Stillman's witty and nostalgic comedy of manners about a circle of Manhattan prep school teens marked the directorial debut of a fresh new voice in American cinema and offered one of the very few sympathetic depictions of upper-middle-class society. The closed world of Nick (Christopher Eigeman) and his pals is rapidly becoming irrelevant; even males are in short supply this social season. As a quick remedy, an outsider (Edward Clements) is enlisted to join their group. Stillman earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

(1990) Color (98 mins)

Milton Glaser: To Inform & Delight

Director - Wendy Keys

Celebrated for the wit, simplicity and elegance of his posters, album covers, book jackets and logos, Milton Glaser is also a natural born teacher, an articulate and passionate philosopher about art and communication. In her warm profile of the graphic design superstar, filmmaker Wendy Keys provides a vivid portfolio from Glaser's long career -- ranging from the iconic "I ♥ NY" campaign to the '60s silhouette poster portrait of Bob Dylan with a multi-colored rainbow of hair -- and listens as Glaser, now 80, reflects on his life and work.

(2009) Color (73 mins)

MONDAY FEB 1 7:15PM | TUESDAY FEB 2 10:35AM | TUESDAY FEB 16 10:45PM | WEDNESDAY FEB 17 4:15AM

Milwaukee, Minnesota

Director - Allan Mindel

A nuanced performance from Troy Garity highlights Allan Mindel's debut feature, a Midwestern comedy which won the Young Critics Award at the Cannes Film Festival. Garrity plays a mentally challenged boy with a unique gift. He's so good at ice fishing, he's amassed a small fortune in tournament winnings. So when his overbearing mother dies suddenly, the hawks descend - including a sinister traveling salesman (Randy Quaid) who claims to be his father and a sexy blonde hustler (Alison Folland). Costarring Bruce Dern and Josh Brolin.

(2005) Color (95 mins)

MONDAY FEB 1 8:30PM

Monster In A Box

Director - Nick Broomfield

Appeared at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival
Master monologuist Spalding Gray acts as tour guide for his third autobiographical journey, venturing from a New Hampshire artists' colony to rabble-rousing at Russia's Hermitage Museum. The monster of the title (and the monologue's point of origin) is Gray's 1900-page novel manuscript already two years past deadline. Features music by Gray's pal Laurie Anderson plus direction (and visual verve) by Nick Broomfield (1998's KURT AND COURTNEY).

(1991) Color (87 mins)

Nothing But a Man

Director - Michael Roemer

This powerful examination of African American life and the importance of self-respect had a spotty release in 1964 and remains woefully underappreciated despite its inclusion on the esteemed National Film Registry. Michael Roemer and Robert Young's landmark independent film stars Ivan Dixon as a railroad worker of strong moral character and Abby Lincoln as the minister's daughter who catches his eye. When revived in 1993, the Washington Post proclaimed it "a quietly stirring, beautiful little movie … [that] hasn't aged a microsecond."

(1964) B&W (95 mins)

Oldboy

Director - Park Chanwook

Korean filmmaker Park Chanwook (SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE), vaulted to international prominence when a Cannes Film Festival Jury headed by Quentin Tarantino awarded OLDBOY the Grand Prize. Intense, visceral and disturbing, Park's fifth feature is a violent philosophical parable of revenge and redemption in which an ordinary businessman, mysteriously held captive in a room for 15 years, is granted five days of freedom to discover the reason for his imprisonment. "A grand, gritty, indelible experience...infused with tragic poetry" - Salon.

(2003) Color (76 mins)

Paris Je T'aime

A stellar international cast joins 21 noted filmmakers to serve up a bouquet of valentines to the City of Light. From the Eiffel Tower and the Tuileries to the Bastille and Montmartre, different Parisian locations supply the settings in 18 delightful vignettes about love and romance from an academy of filmmakers including Olivier Assayas, Joel and Ethan Coen, Gus Van Sant, Alfonso Cuarón and Tom Tykwer, and featuring Juliette Binoche, Steve Buscemi, Ben Gazzara, Natalie Portman and Gena Rowlands. "A lovely journey" - Seattle Post Intelligencer.

(2006) Color (121 mins)

The Piano Tuner Of Earthquakes

Director - The Brothers Quay

Filmmaking twins Timothy Quay and Stephen Quay, best known for poetic, dreamlike animated shorts of the '80s (The Street of Crocodiles), collaborate on their second live-action feature, a visually exquisite fable about desire, madness and art. Amira Casar plays a beautiful opera singer whose body is spirited away to the villa of a demented scientist (Gottfried John), where a lovesick piano tuner (Cesar Sarachu) and a flirtatious, fetishistic housekeeper (Assumpta Serna) also reside. "A unique experience ... highly original" -- New York Times .

(2005) Color (0 mins)

WEDNESDAY FEB 3 7:50AM | WEDNESDAY FEB 3 3:05PM | THURSDAY FEB 11 7AM | THURSDAY FEB 11 12:15PM | SATURDAY FEB 20 1PM

Pleasure Of Being Robbed

Director - Joshua Safdie

Earning critical comparisons to early efforts by Godard, Truffaut and Bresson, American filmmaker Joshua Safdie's low-budget independent feature debut was honored with the prestigious Directors' Fortnight slot at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. This sweet yet challenging comedy follows the exploits of Eléonore (co-writer Eléonore Hendricks), a crafty, free-spirited kleptomaniac who haunts lower Manhattan, palming purses and much more. However, when she steals a Volvo, Eléonore has a problem: she can't drive. "Invigorating" -- Salon.

(2008) Color (69 mins)

A Prairie Home Companion

Director - Robert Altman

The illustrious career of filmmaker Robert Altman concludes with a sweetly elegiac backstage comedy about the final performance of a 30-year-old radio variety show, a fictional extension of Garrison Keillor's beloved creation. It's agreed this evening's swan song will be like any other broadcast, which means it will include performances by the rhapsodizing and bickering Johnson Sisters (Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin) and singing cowboys Dusty and Lefty (Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly). "Lovely — simple and profound" - Roger Ebert.

(2006) Color (105 mins)

Ralph Rucci: A Designer and His House

Director - David Boatman

Martha Stewart narrates this profile of Ralph Rucci, an American fashion designer whose thoroughly modern creations are as renowned for their ability to reflect their wearer's personality as they are for their elegance, exquisite detailing and high quality materials. David Boatman's documentary follows Rucci during the creation of his Spring 2008 ready-to-wear and Fall 2008 couture collections, and features interviews with a number of the fashion world's leading insiders.

(2008) Color (46 mins)

WEDNESDAY FEB 10 9PM

Ran (1985)

Director - Nicholas Winding Refn

Nicolas Winding Refn's directorial debut, released when he was only 25, charts the evolving daily existential crisis of a small-time drug dealer in Copenhagen. Refn won international recognition nearly a decade later with the release of two follow-up features, Pusher II: With Blood on My Hands and Pusher III: I'm the Angel of Death. Kim Bodnia plays a stone-faced tough guy who senses the noose slowly tightening when his big score runs into serious trouble. "Vibrates with youthful aggression, sly humor and gathering tension" - Los Angeles Times .

(1985) Color (163 mins)

WEDNESDAY FEB 10 7AM | SATURDAY FEB 20 6AM | SATURDAY FEB 20 4:15PM | THURSDAY FEB 25 5:45PM | FRIDAY FEB 26 11:20AM

The Red Carpet Issue

Director - Olivier Nicklaus

How has a formerly exclusive private ceremony been transformed into a popular public phenomenon and an extension of the multi-million dollar fashion industry? With trenchant insight and plenty of humor, French journalist and filmmaker Olivier Nicklaus explores the mystique, risks and rewards surrounding the fabled red carpet on which designers, stylists, and celebrities vie for the attention of the world's media. Featuring interviews with red carpet veterans Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs, Monica Bellucci, Milla Jovovich and Perez Hilton.

(2010) Color (10 mins)

MONDAY FEB 8 9PM | SUNDAY FEB 14 1PM | TUESDAY FEB 16 6:05AM | TUESDAY FEB 16 2:05PM

River Cottage Treatment: The River Cottage Treatment: Episode 101

Director - Phoebe Collins

Best-selling British celebrity chef and organic food activist Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall presents a three-part series in which he invites average, urban-dwelling citizens to his farm in the English countryside. Here his guests work the land, meet livestock and learn cooking basics with the goal of better understanding the daily choices they make about the food they eat. In episode one, Hugh reveals the sobering reality of mass-produced poultry to a group of chicken addicts, and later offers them some hands-on experience on his organic farm.

(2006) Color (48 mins)

TUESDAY FEB 2 8PM | WEDNESDAY FEB 3 5:20AM | SUNDAY FEB 7 10AM

River Cottage Treatment: The River Cottage Treatment: Episode 102

Director - John Lonsdale

Best-selling British celebrity chef and organic food activist Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall presents a three-part series in which he invites average, urban-dwelling citizens to his farm in the English countryside. Here his guests work the land, meet livestock and learn cooking basics with the goal of better understanding the daily choices they make about the food they eat. In the second episode, Hugh teaches some microwave-addicted, convenience-driven non-cooks how to prepare home-made versions of their favorite dishes using organic produce.

(2006) Color (47 mins)

TUESDAY FEB 16 8PM | WEDNESDAY FEB 17 1:30AM | SUNDAY FEB 21 10AM

River Cottage Treatment: The River Cottage Treatment: Episode 103

Director - Richard Nash

Best-selling British celebrity chef and organic food activist Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall presents a three-part series in which he invites average, urban-dwelling citizens to his farm in the English countryside. Here his guests work the land, meet livestock and learn cooking basics with the goal of better understanding the daily choices they make about the food they eat.

In the concluding episode, Hugh confronts the world of fast food as he encourages a group of take-out fanatics to cook for themselves using healthy, fresh ingredients.

(2006) Color (47 mins)

TUESDAY FEB 23 8PM | WEDNESDAY FEB 24 3:15AM

Rufus Wainwright: Prima Donna

Director - George Scott

During the last 12 years, Rufus Wainwright has established himself as one of music's most mercurial talents, fearlessly challenging convention and famed for soaring melodies and haunting lyrics. While preparing his most ambitious project, a full-fledged opera entitled Prima Donna, Wainwright and his famous family — father Loudon Wainwright III, mother Kate McGarrigle and sister Martha Wainwright — recall his eccentric childhood, inspirations, demons, and obsession with opera, which Rufus calls "my religion and saving grace." Directed by George Scott.

(2009) Color (60 mins)

MONDAY FEB 22 11PM

The Saddest Music In The World

Director - Guy Maddin

Canadian auteur Guy Maddin, whose camp and uncanny evocations of early sound cinema have made him one of the truly visionary film artists of his generation, presents a Depression-era musical melodrama set in cosmopolitan Winnipeg. Isabella Rossellini plays Lady Helen Port-Huntly, a legless beer tycoon who sponsors a contest to find the saddest music in the world in hopes that spreading a little musical weltschmertz will revive sales. Based on an original screenplay by novelist Kazuo Ishiguro. "Beguiling and hallucinatory" -- New York Times.

(2003) Color and B&W (100 mins)

SATURDAY FEB 6 3PM

Savile Row - Part 1: Love Thy Neighbor

Director - Ian Denver

Long famed for its bespoke tailoring establishments and their elegant, hand-made wares, intended to last a lifetime, London’s Savile Row is in transition. Its craftsmen and women are aging — the average tailor on the Row is 55 — and international merchandisers are entering the marketplace. In this three-part series, documentarian Ian Denyer explores Savile Row’s illustrious tradition and how it is adjusting to the challenges of the 21st century. In episode one, eyebrows are raised when retailer Abercrombie & Fitch opens an outlet on the Row.

(2008) Color (59 mins)

MONDAY FEB 8 8PM | SUNDAY FEB 14 5PM

Savile Row - Part 2: Foreign Affairs

Director - Ian Denver

Long famed for its bespoke tailoring establishments and their elegant, hand-made wares, intended to last a lifetime, London’s Savile Row is in transition. Its craftsmen and women are aging — the average tailor on the Row is 55 — and international merchandisers are entering the marketplace. In this three-part series, documentarian Ian Denyer explores Savile Row’s illustrious tradition and how it can meet the challenges of the 21st century. In episode two, the Row’s tailors visit an expo in Florence to promote themselves to customers abroad.

(2008) Color (59 mins)

TUESDAY FEB 9 8PM | SUNDAY FEB 14 6PM

Savile Row - Part 3: New Blood

Director - Ian Denver

Long famed for its bespoke tailoring establishments and their elegant, hand-made wares, intended to last a lifetime, London’s Savile Row is in transition. Its craftsmen and women are aging — the average tailor on the Row is 55 — and international merchandisers are entering the marketplace. In this three-part series, documentarian Ian Denyer explores Savile Row’s illustrious tradition and its challenges as it enters the 21st century. Episode three observes the coming generation as apprentice tailors compete for the profession’s top award.

(2008) Color (59 mins)

WEDNESDAY FEB 10 8PM | SUNDAY FEB 14 7PM

The Saviour

Director - Peter Templeman

Thom Campbell plays an elder of the Mormon Church in Peter Templeman's dryly humorous Australian short, which was nominated for a Best Dramatic Short Film Oscar®. While visiting the suburbs on a missionary crusade, Malcolm (Campbell) is confronted with a spiritual dilemma when he falls for a woman (Susan Prior) whose marriage appears to be in trouble.

(2005) Color (17 mins)

Seamless

Director - Douglas Keeve

Overshadowed by the glamour and hype is the sobering fact that making it in the fashion industry is incredibly difficult. Concerned as to where the next generation of visionary designers will come from, a group of industry insiders established a mentoring prize competition for young designers. Filmmaker Douglas Keeve (UNZIPPED) follows four of the most promising finalists, who range from the shy daughter of dry-cleaner to a charming couple who sold their work to a major retailer while they were still in school.

(2005) (75 mins)

FRIDAY FEB 12 9PM | SATURDAY FEB 13 4:05AM

Shameless Season 5: Shameless - Episode 11 - Season 5

Director - David Threlfall

In this episode, Paddy is caught on a surveillance tape during a robbery and faces a long jail sentence.

(2008) Color (47 mins)

FRIDAY FEB 5 8PM

Shameless Season 5: Shameless - Episode 12 - Season 5

Director - David Threlfall

In this episode, Stan attempts to rescue Yvonne during an armed robbery not long after a nasty domestic quarrel.

(2008) Color (46 mins)

FRIDAY FEB 19 8PM

Shameless Season 5: Shameless - Episode 13 - Season 5

Director - David Threlfall

In this episode, Karen, Jamie and Ian persuade Mandy (Samantha Siddall) to go on an unforgettable blind date.

(2008) Color (45 mins)

FRIDAY FEB 26 9PM | SATURDAY FEB 27 5:30AM

Signe Chanel: Signe Chanel Episode 1: Anticipation

Episode one visits the legendary Chanel atelier on the rue Gambon where the staff eagerly awaits the arrival of Karl Lagerfeld's annotated illustrations.

(2005) Color (26 mins)

FRIDAY FEB 12 at MIDNIGHT

Signe Chanel: Signe Chanel Episode 2: Doubts

In episode two, the head seamstresses present mockups of several garments to Lagerfeld, who immediately begins re-thinking details large and small.

(2005) Color (26 mins)

FRIDAY FEB 12 at MIDNIGHT | SATURDAY FEB 13 at MIDNIGHT | SUNDAY FEB 14 at MIDNIGHT

Signe Chanel: Signe Chanel Episode 3: Rituals

Episode three visits a farm outside Paris, where Madame Pouzieux, a no-nonsense 75-year-old who has been weaving Chanel's signature braided trim since 1947.

(2005) Color (26 mins)

SATURDAY FEB 13 at MIDNIGHT | SUNDAY FEB 14 at MIDNIGHT | SUNDAY FEB 14 at MIDNIGHT | SUNDAY FEB 14 at MIDNIGHT

Signe Chanel: Signe Chanel Episode 4: Sleepless Nights

In episode four, the pressure mounts during the final days of production, and even head seamstress Madame Jacqueline is beginning to show the strain.

(2005) Color (26 mins)

SUNDAY FEB 14 at MIDNIGHT | SUNDAY FEB 14 at MIDNIGHT | MONDAY FEB 15 at MIDNIGHT

Signe Chanel: Signe Chanel Episode 5: The Collection

The concluding episode captures the excitement and last-minute panic as the fashion media and celebrities gather to see the new Chanel collection.

(2005) Color (26 mins)

MONDAY FEB 15 at MIDNIGHT

Slim Peace, A

Director - Yael Luttwak

Israeli-American documentary filmmaker Yael Luttwak was passionate about peace and troubled by the unending conflict in the Middle East. In a novel idea to bring together people who would never otherwise meet, Luttwak enlists Israeli, Palestinian and Bedouin Arab women concerned about their weight to battle the bulge as part of a Jerusalem weight-loss group. Luttwak's fascinating film reveals that despite years of mutual distrust, these women quickly transcend political divisions when they embrace their shared mutual goals.

(2007) Color (59 mins)

TUESDAY FEB 23 6PM

Somebody Told Me about Carla Bruni

Director - George Scott

A funny thing happened while filmmaker George Scott was shooting a profile of supermodel and singer Carla Bruni: she fell in love with the French President. Now the woman famed for dating everyone from Mick Jagger to Eric Clapton is the First Lady of France. In this candid portrait, Carla reveals why she refuses to let her ceremonial duties interfere with her singing career, the stresses of modeling and the attraction she felt when she and Nicolas Sarkozy first met. Her husband appears here briefly at an unexpected domestic moment.

(2009) Color (80 mins)

SATURDAY FEB 13 9PM

Spectacle - Season 2: Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... Bono & The Edge : Season 2

Director - Dave Russell

Elvis Costello and friends return for a second season of "Spectacle," a refreshing mix of intimate conversation and live musical performances. Internationally acclaimed during its first season, this original series allows some of the most interesting and influential artists and personalities of our time a rare opportunity to reflect on their work and jam with Elvis. In this episode, the Grammy® Award-winning singer-songwriter welcomes U2's Bono and The Edge, who join Elvis and The Imposters to perform "Alison" and "Pump It Up."

(2009) Color (60 mins)

Spectacle - Season 2: Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... Levon Helm, Nick Lowe, Richard Thompson, Allen Toussaint : Season 2

Director - Dave Russell

Elvis Costello returns for a second season of "Spectacle," a refreshing mix of intimate conversation and live musical performances. Internationally acclaimed during its first season, this original series allows some of the most interesting and influential artists and personalities of our time a rare opportunity to reflect on their work and jam with Elvis. This time, the Grammy® Award-winning singer-songwriter welcomes Levon Helm, Nick Lowe, Richard Thompson and Allen Toussaint, who join Elvis in a memorable version of "The Weight."

(2009) Color (60 mins)

Spectacle - Season 2: Spectacle: Elvis Costello With... Neko Case, Sheryl Crow, Ron Sexsmith, Jesse Winchester : Season 2

Director - Dave Russell

Elvis Costello and friends return for a second season of "Spectacle," a refreshing mix of intimate conversation and live musical performances. Internationally acclaimed during its first season, this original series allows some of the most interesting and influential artists and personalities of our time a rare opportunity to reflect on their work and jam with Elvis. In this episode, the Grammy® Award-winning singer-songwriter welcomes Neko Case, Jesse Winchester, Sheryl Crow and Ron Sexsmith, who join Elvis to sing "Payday."

(2009) Color (60 mins)

The Squid And The Whale

Director - Noah Baumbach

Appeared at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival
Critical acclaim, as well as top directing and screenwriting awards at the Sundance Film Festival, came to Noah Baumbach for this acutely observed, semi-autobiographical tale about a Brooklyn family in the midst of a divorce. Sixteen-year-old Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) and his younger brother (Owen Kline) find it impossible not to take sides when their parents (Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney) -- writers who duel with words -- undergo a messy split. A wise, witty and honest consideration of familial disappointment and forgiveness that never flinches.

(2005) Color (81 mins)

WEDNESDAY FEB 17 8PM | THURSDAY FEB 18 2:45AM

Standing In The Shadows Of Motown

Director - Paul Justman

Documentarian Paul Justman pays tribute to the anonymous house musicians behind the singular '60s Motown sound. Collectively called The Funk Brothers, elite instrumentalists such as bassist James Jamerson, drummer Benny Benjamin, pianist Joe Hunter and guitarist Eddie Willis received no credit for their immortal contribution to hits by the Supremes, Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye and the Temptations. "Smashing entertainment, inspiring and mesmerizing" - New York Times. Best Non-Fiction Film of 2002 - New York Film Critics Circle.

(2002) Color and B&W (108 mins)

MONDAY FEB 15 8:15PM | TUESDAY FEB 16 3AM | TUESDAY FEB 16 12:15PM | SUNDAY FEB 21 6:10AM | SUNDAY FEB 21 3:30PM

Stefan Braun

Director - Itamar Alcalay

Documentarian Itamar Alcalay opens a door to Tel Aviv's hidden gay culture of the '60s and '70s with the story of Stefan Braun, a celebrated socialite whose upscale fur shop catered to the chic and wealthy from around the world. When Braun died in the early '90s, his closeted life went public. He left nearly everything to his lover and life-partner of 39 years, Eliezer Rath, prompting Braun's family to fight the will in court. Old home movies, diaries and interviews recall Braun's private life, his circle of friends and his swinging parties.

(2007) Color (62 mins)

THURSDAY FEB 11 9PM | FRIDAY FEB 12 1:30AM | FRIDAY FEB 12 2:15PM

Iconoclasts - Season 4: Stella McCartney + Ed Ruscha

Fashion designer Stella McCartney's line of clothing and organic beauty products is one of the most sought after luxury brands today. Ed Ruscha is an artist's artist, whose 'urban vernacular' of paintings, drawings, photographs and prints are some of the most influential works of the 20th century. From the studio to the atelier, Ruscha and McCartney push the boundaries of art and fashion, sharing a creative passion for their own work and each other's. Witness a rare glimpse into the worlds of this visionary duo as they engage one another across generation, medium and expression.

(2008) Color (60 mins)

SATURDAY FEB 20 9PM | SUNDAY FEB 21 5:50AM | SUNDAY FEB 21 1PM

Stone Time Touch

Director - Garine Torossian

Experimental filmmaker Garine Torossian collaborates with actress Arsinee Khanjian (Ararat) to present a personal and poetic documentary essay about the Armenian disapora and the idea of homeland. Rich visual imagery, recollections of a tragic history - genocide, earthquakes and poverty - and colorful vignettes of village life combine to create a powerful mosaic capturing the essence of Armenian life. An elegiac exploration of memory, loss and expectation, which was awarded the prize for Best Creative Documentary at the Warsaw Film Festival.

(2007) Color (72 mins)

WEDNESDAY FEB 17 11:50AM

Summer Hours

Director - Olivier Assayas

Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling, Jeremie Renier and Edith Scob star in Olivier Assayas’s wistful Chekhovian family drama about the passing of time, the power of possessions and one’s duty to the past. Hélène (Scob), the family matriarch, lives in rural France in an old house filled with treasures — including two Corot paintings — many once owned by Hélène 's uncle, a noted French artist. Soon her three children, who reside on three different continents, must deal with what is left after her death. “Quietly ravishing” — New York Times.

(2008) Color (103 mins)

SUNDAY FEB 21 10PM | MONDAY FEB 22 5AM | THURSDAY FEB 25 10PM | FRIDAY FEB 26 4:45AM

Swimming With Sharks

Director - George Huang

In one of the signature roles of his screen career, Kevin Spacey plays Buddy Ackerman, an arrogant Hollywood studio VP and "boss from hell" to an ever-rotating cadre of ambitious underlings. Told from the viewpoint of Buddy's new assistant (Frank Whaley), SWIMMING WITH SHARKS is an entertaining series of trenchant observations of bad behavior and the abuse of power. Making his directorial debut, filmmaker George Huang called upon his own experience working for various movie executives in this witty cinematic variation of sweet revenge.

(1994) Color (93 mins)

WEDNESDAY FEB 3 12:15AM | WEDNESDAY FEB 10 6:15PM | THURSDAY FEB 11 3:45AM | SATURDAY FEB 20 7PM | SUNDAY FEB 21 4:10AM

Theater Of War

The 2006 Public Theater production of Bertolt Brecht's "Mother Courage and Her Children" starring Meryl Streep serves as the centerpiece for John Walter's "inspired, inspiring essayistic" (New York Times) documentary about war, business, theater, activism and the importance of art. The legacy of Brecht -- who died a half-century before this production in Central Park -- is explored in reflections from Streep, theater director Carl Weber, playwright Tony Kushner, novelist Jay Cantor (who delivers a mini-lecture) and Brecht's daughter.

(2008) Color (96 mins)

FRIDAY FEB 5 at MIDNIGHT | TUESDAY FEB 23 3AM

The Tiger and the Snow

Director - Roberto Benigni

After creating LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL, the Oscar-winning comedy set during the Holocaust, actor/filmmaker Roberto Benigni takes on a no-less-audacious project: a romantic comedy set during the opening days of the Iraq War. Benigni plays a madcap poetry professor hopelessly infatuated with an elegant writer (Nicoletta Braschi). When he learns his beloved is wounded and lying near death in a Baghdad hospital, our hero impersonates a doctor and is soon dodging bullets and bombshells to win her heart. "Winsome, charming and irresistibly romantic" -Salon.

(2005) Color (114 mins)

THURSDAY FEB 11 10:15AM | THURSDAY FEB 11 4:30PM | WEDNESDAY FEB 24 6:10AM | WEDNESDAY FEB 24 12:05PM

The Tonto Woman

Director - Daniel Barber

Making his directorial debut, filmmaker Daniel Barber presents an adaptation of an Elmore Leonard short story about the unlikely relationship between a Mexican cattle rustler (Francesco Quinn) and the wife (Charlotte Asprey) of a rich cattle owner who has been disowned after 11 years in captivity as an Indian slave. Nominated for an Oscar® for Best Live Action Short Film.

(2007) Color (35 mins)

FRIDAY FEB 26 11:20PM

Iconoclasts - Season 4: Tony Hawk + Jon Favreau

Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk has revolutionized the sport and catapulted it to unprecedented international popularity, while becoming a household name in the process. Iron Man director Jon Favreau is a Hollywood success story whose achievements range from acting to writing to directing. Experience big ramp skating, take a tour of a renowned industry special effects studio, and discover their shared passion for redefining the mainstream landscape and giving back along the way.

(2008) Color (45 mins)

SATURDAY FEB 27 9PM

West Bank Story

Director - Ari Sandel

Appeared at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival
With an affectionate nod to WEST SIDE STORY, filmmaker Ari Sandel presents an all-singing, all-dancing comic parable about feuding falafel stands — the Palestinian Hummus Hut versus Kosher King ("the chosen restaurant") — in Israel's occupied territory. Winner of the Best Live Action Short Oscar® of 2007. "A hoot" — San Francisco Chronicle.

(2005) Color (21 mins)

TUESDAY FEB 9 11:30PM | SUNDAY FEB 14 11:30AM | WEDNESDAY FEB 17 9:30PM

You're Gonna Miss Me

Director - Keven McAlester

In the mid-1960s, Roky Erickson was frontman for the cult rock band 13th Floor Elevators. He was renowned for his distinctive voice - often cited as an influence on Janis Joplin - and as a pioneer of "psychedelic rock." However, within a few years, schizophrenia, a drug arrest, time in an asylum for the criminally insane and electric shock treatments had changed his life. Documentary filmmaker Keven McAlester follows Erickson's long journey in a moving story of pain, healing, family co-dependency, survival and new beginnings.

(2005) Color (92 mins)

MONDAY FEB 8 8:35AM | MONDAY FEB 8 1:30PM | THURSDAY FEB 18 5:45AM | THURSDAY FEB 18 11:45AM

Zoo

Director - Robinson Devor

Appeared at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival
Robinson Devor's controversial documentary delves into troubling questions about love, liberty and sexual fantasy with a non-sensational consideration of what has been called "the last taboo." Pseudonymous men who call themselves "zoos" (short for zoophiles) speak of their secret passion for animals, as Devor and writer Charles Mudede present dreamy reconstructions of an incident that elicited headlines and outrage when a Pacific Northwest man died after having sex with a stallion. "Elegantly made and eerily lyrical" -- Los Angeles Times.

(2007) Color (80 mins)

SATURDAY FEB 6 at MIDNIGHT | SATURDAY FEB 6 4:50AM