Special Events
May December (2023)
Todd Haynes · 113m · DCP
A Night Owls Screening with Professors Agnes Callard and Arnold Brooks. Free for those with UCID.
Actress Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman) visits Gracie and Joe Yoo (Julianne Moore and Charles Melton) — whose relationship began when Gracie was 36 and Joe 13 — to uncover the “truth" behind Gracie's behaviors, for an upcoming role in a movie based on their relationship. Viewers will struggle to keep up with who deserves their sympathy and eventually question their own presence in these "stories"
Saturday, January 13th 6:30PM · Friday, January 12th 9:30PM
The Polar Express (2004)
Robert Zemeckis · 100m · 3D DCP
At the Logan Center for the Arts, room 201.
A Tom Hanks-Rob Zemeckis motion capture passion project, The Polar Express stars Hanks in five(!) different roles centered around a mysterious train ride that takes kids to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. It was the first feature to be released in stereoscopic Digital 3D, and according to a VFX supervisor, it’s “the way everyone [should] see the movie, since [the graphics] all originated in 3D.”
Saturday, January 20th 7:00PM
O Brother Where Art Thou (2000)
Joel Coen · 107m · DCP
Screening sponsored by UChicago Folk Festival (Feb 9-10).
Loosely based on the Odyssey and set in rural 1930s Mississippi, the film follows escaped convicts Pete, Delmar, and Ulysses as they search for hidden treasure with a sheriff on their tail. This satirical Coen brothers film is shaped by a diegetic soundtrack of gospel, bluegrass, pre-war blues, and Southern folk music that was perhaps even more popular than the film, winning Album of the Year and selling over eight million copies.
Saturday, February 3rd 4:00PM
Mississippi Masala (1991)
Mira Nair · 118m · DCP
Co-sponsored by South Asian Students Association (SASA)
Starring Denzel Washington and Sarita Choudhury, Mississippi Masala (1991) has proven to be a complex and groundbreaking work, even three decades later. Mina is an Indian woman whose family was expelled from Uganda during Idi Amin's reign and finds herself growing up in Mississippi, where she eventually falls in love with Demetrius. Director Nair, with cinematography from Ed Lachman, creates a passionate and thorny romantic drama intertwining issues of both race and love.
Sunday, February 4th 4:00PM
Punch 9 for Harold Washington (2021)
Joe Winston · 113m · DCP
Co-sponsored by the Harris School of Public Policy. Quarter passes cannot be used for this screening.
In 1983, Harold Washington was elected as Chicago's first Black mayor. Featuring interviews with Reverend Jesse Jackson, Vice Mayor Richard Mell, and others, this documentary provides a look at how Harold Washington took on an unlikely, difficult, and ultimately victorious campaign amidst a racist and corrupt landscape — and how his legacy during his time as mayor lives on today.
Tuesday, February 6th 7:00PM
Return to Seoul (2022)
Davy Chou · 119m · DCP
Free screening followed by a Q&A with Director Davy Chou. Co-sponsored by the France Chicago Center with special thanks to Villa Albertine Chicago Cultural Services of the French Embassy for the organization of Davy Chou's US tour.
On an impulsive trip to Seoul, headstrong and carefree Freddie Benoît, a South Korean adoptee living in France, decides to search for her birth parents. In her reckless search, Freddie is brought face-to-face with emotional responsibility and consequences. A powerful acting debut from Park Ji-min and an unpredictable, absorbing story, Davy Chou’s Return to Seoul navigates the messy journey of confronting a past you may not be prepared for.
Wednesday, February 14th 6:00PM
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Michel Gondry · 118m · DCP
To have loved and lost or never to have loved at all? This commentator's inclined to say the latter... but Eternal Sunshine says differently! Celebrate Valentine's Day with Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet), who break up and undergo a medical procedure to have each other removed from their memories. What follows is a hilarious yet poignant exploration of what it means to love (complete with a great song by Beck!).
Wednesday, February 14th 9:30PM · Saturday, February 17th 4:00PM
Problemista (2024)
Julio Torres · 98m · DCP
Presented with A24. Free screening, for UCID holders only.
Hoping to become a toy designer, Alejandro (Julio Torres) travels from El Salvador to New York in hopes of bringing his unusual ideas to life. As his work visa gets closer to expiration, Alejandro must turn to an eccentric artist (Tilda Swinton) for help.
Friday, February 23rd 5:00PM
A New Old Play (2021)
Qiu Jiongjiong · 179m · DCP
Co-sponsored by the University of Chicago Center for East Asian Studies (with generous support from a Title VI National Resource Center Grant from the U.S. Department of Education), the Franke Institute for the Humanities, Film Studies Center, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, and Department of Cinema and Media Studies.
A daring epic that blends personal and national history, experimental theater and cinema. Qiu Fu, a Sichuan opera "clown," dies and is led to the underworld, revisiting 50 years worth of memories as he goes. Followed by a Q&A with director Qiu Jiongjiong.
Saturday, February 24th 4:00PM
Oppenheimer (2023)
Christopher Nolan · 180m · DCP
In collaboration with Society of Physics Students.
Now I am become Doc, the watcher of movies... Nolan's latest visual epic dives into the world of J. Robert Oppenheimer, from the enthralling inception of the Trinity Project to the morally tumultuous aftermath of his work. Cillian Murphy's tour-de-force performance accompanied by a stacked cast and grand score by Ludwig Göransson (along with some rather delightful moments with Albert Einstein!) make Oppenheimer a heartwrenching thriller.
