2016-17 SEASON
Masters: WIM WENDERS
Calgary Cinematheque is pleased to bring a restored six film retrospective from one of the leading masters of the New German Cinema movement, Wim Wenders. We will focus on key touch points in his career-- stemming from the seventies aimlessness, through the auteur’s uneasy embrace of Americana, and finishing with his worldwide arthouse acceptance in the late eighties.
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FOCUS: AMERICAN INDIES OF THE NINETIES
Defining American independent film is not a simple task, but the 1990s brought a genre concept to the term, a new high point in their production, and most importantly, a media profile. Changes that took place in the previous decade set the stage for the sudden surge in growth. These included new labor policies which allowed union members to “slum it” without losing their union standing; new funding sources such as public television, a vibrant video market and ancillary markets including US cable and European TV; and of course the growth of the Sundance Film Festival, which provided an inexpensive publicity goldmine, combining screenings, actors, and social events in one contained setting. Sundance, along with the Independent Spirit Awards, also gave indies their own award circuit. Mini-major studios had gained momentum, with New Line branching out from low-budget horror to create Fine Line, and Miramax breaking out with sex, lies and videotape (1989), the low-budget award-winner that grossed nearly $100 million. These all contributed to a decade that defined “American indies.”
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SPOTLIGHT: TILDA SWINTON
This season the subject of Cinémathèque’s Annual SPOTLIGHT Series is the artist Tilda Swinton. A staple resident in the small community of paragon performers, she has sustained an idiosyncratic momentum throughout her career. Presently, Swinton is a somewhat simultaneous fixture in the world of visual art. As an occasional collaborator and frequent muse, she has established herself as a performance artist; debuting a live art piece in 1995 with Cornelia Parker and then again in 2013 as the MoMa installation The Maybe, and as a model; as the omnipresent face of Chanel in 2013. Our focus however, is Swinton’s durative presence in the realm of cinema. Admittedly, a comprehensive collection is difficult to navigate for such a dimensional talent. Instinctively, we have located Swinton’s demonstrative range in four films: The Last of England (1988), Young Adam (2003), Julia (2008), and I Am Love (2009). Showcased in the ensuing collection is a notable progression of Swinton’s flexibility as a performer and her unwavering affinity for unique projects.
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Contemporary World Cinema
One-time opportunities to find rising masters and see critically acclaimed, under-exposed world cinema.
