Film Series

Produced by Mika Kaurismaki
Cinematography by Timo Salminen
Edited by Raija Talvio
Finland, 1986, distributed by Janus Pictures, DVD, color, 1.85:1, 76 min.
Cast: Matti Pellonpaa, Kati Outinen, Sakari Kuosmanen, Esko Nikkari
Finnish/Swedish/English with English subtitles
Nikander, a reticent garbageman, has few dreams and little to enjoy in life, but when he meets Ilona, a grocery clerk, he begins to hope that his life can be more enjoyable. However, choosing a bingo parlor for his first date with Ilona really doesn’t make a good impression.

Austin Film Society presents: The Chilly Humorist of Finland: Aki Kaurismaki.  Nov 17–Dec 15, 2009.  Tickets available at www.austinfilm.org - Free for members of AFS or $6 at the door.

Cinematography by Timo Salminen
Edited by Timo Linnasalo
Finland, 2002, distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, 35mm, color, 1.85:1, 97 min.
Cast: Markku Peltola, Kati Outinen, Juhani Niemela
Finnish with English subtitles

Beaten and left for dead, a man awakens in a hospital with no idea of his identity, profession, or origins. When his true identity is discovered and revealed to him, he faces a real existential dilemma. Three awards at Cannes and an Oscar nomination, which Kaurismaki asked to be withdrawn because of the war in Ira

Austin Film Society presents: The Chilly Humorist of Finland: Aki Kaurismaki.  Nov 17–Dec 15, 2009.  Tickets available at www.austinfilm.org - Free for members of AFS or $6 at the door.

Cinematography by Timo Salminen
Original music by Melrose Finland, 2006, distributed by Strand Pictures, 35mm, color, 1.85:1, 78 min.
Cast: Janna Jyytiainen, Maria Jarvenhelmi, Maria Heiskanen
Finnish and Russian with English subtitles

When an attractive blonde inexplicably befriends him in a café, Koistinen is initially confused but then intrigued. He finally begins hoping for a relationship, before realizing that Mirja has something else in mind.

Austin Film Society presents: The Chilly Humorist of Finland: Aki Kaurismaki.  Nov 17–Dec 15, 2009.  Tickets available at www.austinfilm.org - Free for members of AFS or $6 at the door.

Rated NR; 60min; Director:Jim Henson 

Christmas is approaching in Frogtown Hollow, and Emmet Otter and his Ma hope to buy gifts for each other. Unfortunately, Emmet doesn't make enough from the odd jobs he does, and Ma doesn't make enough as a laundress. They decide to compete in the Frog Town Hollow Talent Contest in order to win money, but Ma will have to hock Emmet's tool chest to buy a costume, and Emmet will have to put a hole in Ma's washtub for his band! Kermit the Frog hosts this classic Muppet musical Christmas tale, based on the book by Russell and Lillian Hoban, with original songs from master tunesmith Paul Williams. Presented through the good graces of the Henson Legacy Foundation.

Guests in attendance!!  It's a hilarious road trip that Martha and Lavonne, two lesbians from New Jersey, will never forget! Follow Martha and Lavonne as they load up their Ford F250 pickup truck, hitch up their 1956 Airstream Camper, and move their lives from New Jersey to California. The couple has been together for almost two decades and their patience with each other is tested (and wicked banter ensues) as they navigate their way across the country.

It even as a brief scene on Congress Avenue, as they stop in Austin.  The film was directed by Austin-based filmmaker Liz Welch Tirrell. Martha and Lavonne will be at the screening and will hold a Q&A moderated by Mocha Jean Herrup.

This is a must-see, it's so funny my face hurt from laughing. Seriously, you won't be disappointed, and you'll probly recognize some family members in Martha and Lavonne (or maybe yourself).

For this very rare screening George Stevens' last comedy with Cary Grant, Alamo chef extraordinaire John Bullington will prepare an even rarer feast inspired by the golden age of Hollywood!

Grant stars as Leopold Dilg, a political activist who is wrongly indicted for arson and murder when a factory worker dies in a mill fire in the town of Sweetbrook. Believing that he'll be executed if he remains in jail, he escapes and breaks into a cottage that schoolteacher Nora Shelley (Jean Arthur) is preparing for Professor Michael Lightcap (Ronald Coleman), the dean of a law school. She allows Grant to stay in the attic, without alerting the professor. The next day, a reporter arrives to question Lightcap about Dilg's case, along with Sam Yates (Edgar Buchanan), Dilg's lawyer, who comes at Nora's behest. Since Yates and Lightcap know each other from law school, Yates asks Lightcap's help in defending his client, who he claims to have been framed. The professor refuses, intent on writing a legal treatise. Before Yates leaves, he persuades Nora to house Dilg, who she introduces to Lightcap as a gardener. Before long, the professor begins to realize that the gardener is well versed in the intricacies and inequities of the U.S. legal system.

Stevens' entertaining romantic triangle, in which the atmosphere of legal debate is leavened by wit, and low comedy, is brilliantly played by all, especially an atypically dark and impulsive Grant. The director's characteristically deft touch with comic business is evident throughout the film.

one
House cured bacon wrapped diver scallop, radish-baby poblano relish, daikon greens

two
Borscht, quail egg

three
Wild mushroom risotto, herbed seared t bone, maytag blue cheese butter, grilled asparagus

four
Lemongrass-sweet potato pie, ginger cream, chocolate nibs

REPULSION
Dir:  Roman Polanski
35mm
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Roman Polanski followed up his international breakthrough Knife in the Water with this controversial, chilling tale of psychosis. Catherine Deneuve is Carol, a fragile, frigid young beauty cracking up in her London flat when left alone by her vacationing sister. She is soon haunted by specters real and imagined, and her insanity grows to a violent, hysterical pitch. Thanks to its disturbing detail and Polanski’s adeptness at turning claustrophobic space into an emotional minefield, Repulsion is a surreal, mind-bending odyssey into personal horror, and it remains one of cinema’s most shocking psychological thrillers. -Criterion

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All screenings are held at the Texas Union Theater on the UT campus and are FREE and open to the public

Sandrine Bonnaire won the Best Actress César for her portrayal of the defiant young drifter Mona, found frozen to death in a ditch at the beginning of Vagabond. Agnès Varda pieces together Mona’s story through flashbacks told by those who encountered her (played by a largely nonprofessional cast), producing a splintered portrait of an enigmatic woman. With its sparse, poetic imagery, Vagabond (Sans toit ni loi) is a stunner, and won Varda the top prize at the Venice Film Festival.

All screenings are held at the Texas Union Theater on the UT campus and are FREE and open to the public.

Germany in the autumn of 1957: Lola, a seductive cabaret singer-prostitute (Barbara Sukowa) exults in her power as a temptress of men, but she wants out—she wants money, property, and love. Pitting a corrupt building contractor (Mario Adorf) against the new straight-arrow building commissioner (Armin Mueller-Stahl), Lola launches an outrageous plan to elevate herself in a world where everything, and everyone, is for sale. Shot in childlike candy colors, Fassbinder’s homage to Josef von Sternberg’s classic The Blue Angel stands as a satiric tribute to capitalism. - Criterion

All screenings are held at 7:30pm in the Texas Union Theatre on the UT campus. The Austin Cinematheque film series runs during the school year at UT. 

This month's Documentary Tour offering from Austin Film Society is Harvard Beats Yale 29-29, about the famous 1968 game. Filmmaker Kevin Rafferty will be in attendance.