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AFTER THE STORM
Hurricane Katrina wrought much more than physical devastation in New Orleans. Its emotional impact, especially on children, was harder to see but equally affecting. When three New York theater veterans mount a production of the Broadway musical Once on This Island to raise funds for the storm-damaged St. Mark’s Community Center, the benefits prove to be much more than financial. Director Hilla Medalia’s uplifting documentary follows the personal stories of thirteen local teens cast in the show. As the production brings renewed vitality to their makeshift theater, the musical’s similarities to the cast’s real-life situations help them articulate a narrative for their own experiences, creating hope and purpose among the ruins. After the Storm provides an inspiringly celebratory example of the role art can play in reinvigorating the heart and soul of a wounded community. (USA, 2009, 89 min.) 12+ Read more...
AMREEKA
Drawing on her own immigrant family experiences, Cherien Dabis weaves humor and empathy into her feature debut about a single mother’s efforts to forge a better life for her teenage son and herself. Trapped in a dead-end life in the West Bank, Muna and her son, Fadi, unexpectedly get a chance to join relatives in Illinois. The problem is timing: They arrive just as the U.S. invades Baghdad. As the two struggle to adapt to their often perplexing new home, they discover the price of assimilation can be steep. In its depiction of displacement and changing definitions of cultural identity, Amreeka also portrays the confusion of first-generation teenagers caught between their parents’ ethnic heritage and their Western peers. With an irresistibly charming performance by Nisreen Faour as Muna, this fish-out-of-water story brings fresh insight, transforming the often-bittersweet immigrant experience into a universal expression of optimism and determination. (USA/Canada/Kuwait, 2009, 96 min.) 14+ Read more...
AN EDUCATION
A seductive coming-of-age story set in the pre-Beatles London of 1961, An Education features 16-year-old Jenny (up-andcomer Carey Mulligan), a bright, attractive schoolgirl who can’t wait to escape adolescence. As her parents focus on getting their daughter into Oxford, a dream that seems tantalizingly within reach, Jenny’s life is upended by the arrival of David (Peter Sarsgaard), a charismatic suitor twice her age. Suddenly, the sophisticated world she’s longed to join is at her doorstep, as David picks her up from school in his Bristol roadster, whisking her off to art auctions and smoky clubs, and on weekend jaunts. While Jenny’s traditional education is superseded by this infinitely more tempting version, her school life falls into chaos. Adapted to the screen by Nick Hornby (High Fidelity) and directed by Lone Scherfig (Italian for Beginners), this clever, nuanced film won top awards at Sundance. Alfred Molina and Emma Thompson also star. (UK, 2009, 95 min.) 17+ Read more...
BIG NIGHT
To celebrate Stanley Tucci, recipient of this year’s Independent by Nature Award on Saturday, come savor this beloved take on the American dream, which Tucci co-directed, co-wrote, and starred in. Two recent Italian immigrants open a restaurant in 1950s New Jersey. A talented chef, Primo (Tony Shalhoub) cooks impeccable Old World dishes. But all the customers really want is spaghetti and meatballs. To draw more clientele to the struggling eatery, Secondo (Tucci) urges his brother to relax his culinary standards, but Primo obstinately refuses. When the slick owner of a bustling nearby restaurant offers to invite a well-known bandleader and his entourage to eat at the brothers’ restaurant, Secondo grasps this last chance to keep the business afloat. As Primo begins to prepare a culinary masterpiece, all hopes are staked on this big night. Winner of numerous critics' and festival awards, this delightful debut also stars Sir Ian Holm, Isabella Rossellini, and Minnie Driver. (USA, 1996, 107 min.) 16+ Read more...
THE BOYS ARE BACK
Based on British journalist Simon Carr’s wryly confessional memoir, this latest feature from Scott Hicks (Shine) is a moving, frequently funny valentine to boys being boys and a dad who needs to grow up. Career-driven and self-obsessed, Joe Warr (Clive Owen) lives the dream. His job as a sportswriter gives him the courtside advantage and when the game’s over, he heads home to a loving family. When that idyll unexpectedly shatters, Joe is plunged into single parenthood with a six-year-old he barely knows. Ill prepared to be a father and loathe to deny his son Artie anything, Joe unwittingly creates a family life without rules — exuberant, chaotic, and constantly on the verge of disaster. When his teenage son from a previous marriage shows up, things only grow more complicated. As their tenuous family equilibrium threatens to unravel, Joe must finally confront his own inadequacies. (Australia/UK, 2009, 104 min.) 14+ Read more...
CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY
On the 20th anniversary of his groundbreaking film Roger & Me, Michael Moore returns to an issue he’s passionately examined throughout his career: the impact of corporate dominance on everyday Americans. With his trademark combination of humor and outrage, Moore investigates the answer to a taboo question: What price do we pay for our love of capitalism? Years ago, that love seemed innocent. Now, with the global financial meltdown and a beleaguered U.S. economy, the American dream looks more like a nightmare. Moore takes us into the upturned lives of ordinary people and down the corridors of power to uncover the corporate and political shenanigans behind the crisis. He finds the all-too-familiar symptoms of a love affair gone astray: lies, abuse, betrayal … and 14,000 jobs being lost daily. Yet Moore also offers his take on an alternative future, resulting in a film that is both soberingly of the moment yet somehow hopeful. (USA, 2009, 120 min.) 16+ Read more...
CRITICS' CHOICE: CLIPS AND CONVERSATION
Four stars. Rotten tomatoes. Thumbs up, thumbs down. Lately there’s been lots of press and industry discussion regarding the current role of film criticism, especially in light of newer media like blogs, Facebook, and Twitter that give everyone a voice. Do traditional reviews still matter? And, if so, why are they important to audiences and American film culture? Our morning session features two well-versed guests, John Powers and Mark Olsen, who will screen clips from movies that have profoundly influenced their approach as critics and also lead a conversation on the evolving role of the film reviewer.
John Powers is the film critic at Vogue and Critic at Large for NPR's "Fresh Air with Terry Gross." His 2004 book, Sore Winners, is a study of American culture during the Bush years. Before entering journalism, Powers taught at Georgetown University. In 1985, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked at L.A. Weekly. His work has appeared in New York, Rolling Stone, Harper's, The Nation, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and Gourmet, for which he served as Southeast Asia correspondent. In 1993, he co-directed the BBC documentary I Am a Sex Addict with Vikram Jayanti (who, like Mr. Powers, is not a sex addict). He and his wife Sandi Tan live in Pasadena.
Mark Olsen writes about movies from Los Angeles. He currently produces the weekly feature "Indie Focus" for the Los Angeles Times and is a contributing editor to Film Comment magazine. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, LA Weekly, Sight & Sound and Interview. He is from Kansas. (Program runs 90 min.) 12+
FOR MY FATHER
Tarek, a young Palestinian seeking to redeem his father’s honor, reluctantly travels to Tel Aviv on a terrorist mission. When his weapon suffers a “wardrobe malfunction,” however, he must spend the weekend awaiting its repair. Befriended by elderly immigrants Mr. and Mrs. Katz, and Keren, a beautiful 17-year-old estranged from her ultra-Orthodox family, Tarek learns about their lives, and we learn about his. Gradually, Tarek starts to reconsider his options, knowing that when the weekend ends, he will have to make the decision of his life. By turns suspenseful, comic, romantic, and tragic, Israeli director Dror Zahavi’s tale takes an even-handed, humanistic look at the unexpected commonalities among individuals unwillingly caught up in the region’s cycle of political violence. Nominated for the Israeli Academy Awards in seven categories and winner of the Audience Award at the Moscow International Film Festival. (Israel, 2008, 100 min.) 16+ Read more...
HIGH TURNS, SKIING ASPEN TO EVEREST
Many consider the world’s toughest physical challenge to be climbing 8,000-meter peaks — in the notorious “death zone” — without the aid of bottled oxygen. Yet it’s a challenge willingly undertaken by a small fraternity of ski mountaineers who tackle the highest peaks in this pure Alpine style. They then lock into their skis and descend the most dangerous slopes on Earth, navigating hidden crevasses, sheer 10,000-foot drops, and perilous weather. In this freshly edited, fast-paced profile of this elite group, filmmaker Mike Marolt, his brothers Steve and Roger, and their intrepid friends passionately push the limits of skiing to its highest frontier. Fourth generation Aspenites whose father was on the 1960 Olympic ski team, the Marolts take us for thrilling rides on Mustagh Ata, on the China-Pakistan border; Ojos del Salado, the world’s highest volcano, in Chile; and a Himalayan trio of renowned peaks, including Mount Everest. (USA, 2009, 70 min.) 12+ Read more...
INDEPENDENT BY NATURE AWARD
AN EVENING WITH STANLEY TUCCI
We are delighted to honor Stanley Tucci, whose body of work embodies moviemaking at its richly satisfying best. Mr. Tucci joins us for conversation and clips spotlighting an eclectic career spanning independent and Hollywood films, and television. Not only a gifted actor, he also writes, directs, and produces, having earned awards and accolades beginning with his feature Big Night (shows Wednesday). Known for creating distinctive characters, Mr. Tucci has appeared in more than 50 movies, including The Devil Wears Prada and films by Steven Spielberg, Barry Levinson, Woody Allen, and Sam Mendes. He currently co-stars in Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia, opposite Meryl Streep. Later this year, he will appear in Peter Jackson’s highly anticipated adaptation of Alice Sebold’s novel The Lovely Bones.
Following the presentation, join our 30th Anniversary Celebration with Mr. Tucci as an honored guest. (For event information, contact Aspen Film.) (Program runs 90 min.) 12+ Read more...
MARY AND MAX
Fresh from its honors at the world’s leading animation festivals, this disarmingly idiosyncratic debut feature from director Adam Elliot (Oscar-winning Harvie Krumpet) explores an unusual friendship between two unlikely pen pals: Mary (voiced by Toni Collette), a lonely eight-year-old Australian and Max (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a middle-aged, reclusive New Yorker with Asperger’s syndrome. Over 20 years, as Mary grows up and Max grows older, this mismatched pair’s amusing yet poignant correspondence gives news of their daily lives and expresses their views on friendship, aging, taxidermy, and more. On the way, we are introduced to Mister Alfonso Ravioli, Max’s cigarsmoking invisible friend; Mary’s father, who works in a factory attaching strings to teabags; and Hal(itosis) the cat. Inspired by his own pen-pal experience, Elliot has created an imaginative, bittersweet examination of the human heart’s irrepressible desire for love and acceptance. (Australia, 2008, 92 min.) 16+ Read more...
MID-AUGUST LUNCH
It’s Ferragosto, a summer holiday that many Italians celebrate by taking a brief family vacation. Devoted middle-aged son Gianni, however, is looking forward to staying in Rome with his mother, a genteel octogenarian. They plan to spend a quiet holiday in their lovely apartment. Then fate intervenes, and Gianni soon finds himself caring for not one, but four dear old ladies. While a few of his “guests” are a bit feistier than the others, he caters to their every need with barely a complaint (and the consoling aid of some lovely vino bianco). Gianni di Gregorio, the versatile writer, director, and star of this fine comedy, won honors at the Venice Film Festival. Light and playful, but anchored by spirited performances by an ensemble of mostly nonprofessionals, Mid-August Lunch makes a charming and mouth-watering case that youth may indeed be wasted on the young. (Italy, 2008, 75 min.) 14+ Read more...
MORE THAN A GAME
In this true-life story, five talented young basketball players in Akron, Ohio, including future NBA superstar LeBron James, undertake an improbable nine-year journey to a national high school championship. Along the way, they are repeatedly tested, on and off the court, as James’ exploding celebrity — he’s dubbed the “Chosen One” on the cover of Sports Illustrated — threatens to overshadow what they’ve set out to achieve together. At the story’s emotional core is Coach Dru Joyce II, the charismatic but inexperienced father of one of the players, who gave up a successful corporate career to lead the team. First-time filmmaker Kristopher Belman had the foresight to document the team’s rise, which he augments with interviews, rare news footage, and home videos. Much more than just a sports film, this adrenaline-fueled documentary captures the exceptional pressures, hardships, and triumphs these lifelong friends experience on their passage from inner-city gym to national spotlight. (USA, 2008, 102 min.) 12+ Read more...
NOMAD'S LAND
Swiss adventurer, philosopher, and travel writer Nicolas Bouvier set out on an epic journey in 1952, driving from Geneva to Sri Lanka. Inspired by Bouvier’s account, young Swiss filmmaker Gael Metroz intends, alone and camera in hand, to retrace his hero’s route. He soon discovers that between urbanization and political upheaval, the world Bouvier described is unrecognizable. Trading his car for jeeps and camels, Metroz abandons his original plan and forges his own path, making a profound connection to nomadic peoples and the physical and spiritual beauty of their environment. In doing so, Metroz comes closer to Bouvier’s philosophy than he could ever have imagined: “A journey does not need reasons. Before long, it proves to be reason enough in itself.” Through stunning photography and an immersion in worlds most of us will never experience, Metroz delivers unassailable proof of the transformative power of travel. (Switzerland/Turkey/Iran/Pakistan/Afghanistan/China/India/Sri Lanka, 2008, 90 min.) 12+ Read more...
PRECIOUS: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
One of the most audacious, raw, and impressive films of the year, this second feature from Lee Daniels (producer of Monster’s Ball) is the story of Claireece “Precious” Jones (Gabourey Sidibe), a Harlem teenager caught in a seemingly insurmountable chain of harrowing circumstances. Nearly illiterate and morbidly obese, she is regularly teased at school. Her home life is worse — a tyrannical mother (Mo’Nique) makes constant demands, and her father abuses her. With the guidance of a teacher (Paula Patton) and a welfare counselor (Mariah Carey) who somehow penetrate her stolid isolation, Precious begins summoning all the emotional energy she possesses to find her voice. Winner of both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance, Precious is an unsparing and ultimately elevating account of the inner strength to be found in the unlikeliest of places. (USA, 2008, 109 min.)
Actress Paula Patton will receive Aspen Film’s new Artist to Watch Award for her vivid performance as Ms. Rain, the inspiring alternative school teacher who instills her young charges with a glimmer of hope and self-respect.
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SERGIO
A cross between James Bond and Bobby Kennedy, charismatic Brazilian diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello was lauded for his ability to defuse the most complicated situations in countries with the worst human rights abuses. As a U.N. envoy, he negotiated with Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge, served in Bosnia and Croatia, and helped East Timor achieve independence, along the way incurring the wrath of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Based on Samantha Power’s book Chasing the Flame, this riveting film follows Sergio’s seemingly charmed career to its tragic conclusion in the ruins of the U.N. embassy in post-invasion Iraq. Filmmaker Greg Barker, a former war correspondent and award-winning producer of PBS’s Frontline, intercuts Sergio’s compelling life story with the intensely emotional narrative of his final day, delivering an inspiring tribute to a man who put humanitarianism above all else. Winner of the U.S. Documentary Editing Award at Sundance. (USA, 2008, 94 min.) 14+ Read more...
SHAMELESS
This lively farce from director Jan Hrebejk (Beauty in Trouble, Teddy Bear) follows Oskar (Jiri Machacek), a popular TV weatherman whose marital dissatisfaction becomes acute as he looks anew at wife Zuzana. When he cheats on her with their comely Hungarian au pair, Oskar embarks on a midlife flight from self-awareness, meeting up with a series of women from young, shallow beauties to the aging but enchanting singer Nora (popular Slovak vocalist Emilia Vasaryova). Oskar’s parents, meanwhile, offer Zuzana (Simona Babcakova) some hilarious advice in her dating ventures as she uncertainly stumbles toward a new kind of happiness. Hrebejk draws on a talented ensemble cast to effortlessly weave together multiple storylines. Loosely based on best-selling Czech writer Michal Viewegh’s Short Stories of Marriage and Sex, this cleverly detailed, ironic comedy offers droll yet recognizable insights on losing and finding love. (Czech Republic, 2008, 88 min.) 17+ Read more...
SNOW
The battles are over, but questions linger in this gently evocative drama set in a mountaintop community following the Bosnian-Serbian war. Fall has come to a remote village where the spirited residents, mostly women and girls, are busy spinning, sewing, harvesting fruit, and making jam. The men have disappeared, their exact fates unknown. As the strong-willed widows and orphans banter, remember, and wonder about their future, two Serbs arrive with an offer that could save the villagers, yet undo the village. With deft touches of wry humor and magical realism, first-time director and co-writer Aida Begic weaves a visually poetic tale of one community’s journey toward reconciliation, self-determination, and the sweet pleasures of everyday life. Winner of the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival’s Critic’s Week. (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Germany/France/Iran, 2008, 99 min.) 14+ Read more...
SUPERMEN OF MALEGAON
This terrifically fun story of underdogs bursting with celluloid dreams is set in the hardscrabble hub of Malegaon, home to both Muslims and Hindus, many of whom labor at the clothproducing looms for which the Indian city is famous. Movies have long offered a diversion from the daily grind of such exhausting, low-wage work and, more recently, making movies holds even greater appeal. Self-taught filmmaker Sheikh Nasir adapts popular films into quirky spoofs, drafting enthusiastic locals as cast and crew, and creatively capturing the action with his hand-held camera. Faiza Ahmad Khan follows Nasir and his ragtag cohorts as they undertake their most ambitious project yet, a remake of Superman. Hilarious and compelling, Khan’s documentary captures the joys and tribulations of a very particular love affair with movies and the indomitable spirit of those who find solace through their temporary fantasy. (Singapore/Japan/South Korea, 2008, 79 min.) 12+ Read more...
UP IN THE AIR
Smart, funny, and unexpectedly affecting, this new feature from writer-director Jason Reitman (Juno, Thank You for Smoking) stars George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a corporate suit whose job is to fire people. While Ryan coolly executes his charge, his one real emotional investment is in racking up an unfathomable number of frequent flier miles — until his own job security is threatened and he simultaneously gets involved with a fellow business traveler. With dark humor and razor-sharp insight, this timely film adaptation of Walter Kirn’s novel perfectly satirizes corporate culture and delves into the psychic toll of Ryan’s rootless, superficial lifestyle. Clooney gives a comically spot-on performance that also reveals the angst of a man searching for a soul he hopes is still there. Jason Bateman, Vera Farmiga, and newcomer Anna Kendrick also star. (USA, 2009, 108 min.)
Longtime fans of Jason Reitman, we welcome him back to receive Aspen Film’s first New Directions Award in recognition of his creative evolution as a significant and always surprising film artist. 17+ Read more...
White Ribbon
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WILDFLOWER: Naturalist Joan Root On the Page and in the Bush
Join us for an afternoon of readings and film in celebration of Kenyan naturalist and wildlife filmmaker Joan Root. Aspenbased Vanity Fair contributing editor Mark Seal will read from his new book, Wildflower: An Extraordinary Life and Untimely Death in Africa, and we will screen Lights, Action, Africa (Filmfest 1986) and other clips. Armed with patience, adventure, and a profound love for the African wildlife they documented, Ms. Root and her husband, Alan, astonished audiences with footage that included spitting cobras, raging hippos, and thundering wildebeests. Hosted by Queen Elizabeth and receiving countless awards, the Roots defined wildlife filmmaking in the 1960s and ’70s. From introducing Dian Fossey to the gorillas to protecting her beloved Lake Naivasha from ecological ravaging — an ultimately tragic struggle — Ms. Root possessed an uncanny ability to connect with her surroundings. Julia Roberts has optioned the rights to her story. (Program runs 90 min.) 12+ Read more...
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