Belgian-French psychodrama “Our Children” is one of five new selections coming to MMoCA’s “Spotlight Cinema” series this fall.
The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art and “Rooftop Cinema” kicked ample amounts of butt this summer, but with the cold weather finally upon us, one’s enjoyment of high-def projection and the Madison skyline can fall victim to the chilly winds of October. Fortunately, MMoCA is screening five new acclaimed documentaries and prestige dramas inside the Museum’s lecture hall with the return of the “Spotlight Cinema” series this fall.
The series begins this Thursday, October 10th, with the documentary American Promise. Reminiscent of Michael Apted’s “Up” series of films, co-directors Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson follow the lives of their son and his close friend from kindergarten to high school and the wildly divergent lives the youths go on to lead. Winning the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, American Promise looks to be an intimate chronicle of our nation’s continuing struggle with issues of race and class.
On October 17th, “Spotlight” features Belgian-French psychodrama Our Children, an intense re-imagining of the true story of Genevieve Lhermitte, a Belgian woman who murdered her five children. Émilie Dequenne earned critical praise for her lead performance, including Cannes’ Best Actress award last year.
Museum Hours, Jem Cohen’s arthouse bottle drama, screens on October 24th. Incorporating the actual biographies of lead actors Mary Margaret O’Hara and Bobby Sommer, Museum Hours gives new definition to the term “art film” as it merges life and culture during two strangers’ chance encounter in Austria’s Kunsthistorisches Museum.
November 7th will feature Let the Fire Burn, Jason Osder’s 2013 documentary on a 1985 altercation between Philadelphia authorities and the black liberation group MOVE — an event that resulted in law enforcement detonating explosives and leaving 11 people dead. Seizing archival footage from news reels and interviews, Osder contextualizes a forgotten piece of history with an innovative “historical vérité” approach.
Spotlight Cinema concludes a month later with a final December 5th screening of Claire Denis’ The Bastards, where a sea merchant returns to Paris to avenge the death of a loved one. Fashioned in the mold of a modern film noir, The Bastards also marks Denis’ first foray into digital cinematography.
- All “Spotlight Cinema” screenings begin at 7:00p. Tickets are $7 for general audiences and FREE for Museum members. See MMoCA’s website for additional event details.